The Marks of A Growing Church

The Marks and Signs of A Growing Church passage text: Matth.16: 15-19; Acts. 2:2

Introduction – Marks and Signs of A Growing Church

1. The head of the church is still building the church, Therefore, the church is going to perfection or being perfected, so make room for some shortcomings – Eph.4:11-13

2. The church serves or ministers to three distinct entities viz
a. Ministers to The LORD …in Worship
b. Ministers to one another … in service
c. Ministers to the world …. In her witness

3. (a) B/c we are a family of priest in 1Pet.2:9

Worship involves

• Prayers – Acts 1:12-14, Math.21:13
• Praise – Ezra 3:11 Psm.100:4, 119:171
• Provoking
• Mercy
• Release
• Insight/ understanding
• Thanksgiving – Psm.69:35; 95:2 – A thankful heart magnifies God
• Worship – John 4:19-23

In spirit and truth, worship – speaks of worth-ship

– Comes from our fellowship with and love of God – John 4:23
– We are 1st called to Worship and not to serve, service is secondary – Luk.10:38-42, Mary and Martha
– The Church in Antioch – Acts 13:1-2
Our order should be
i. First Worship the Lord,
ii. Then receive word from the Lord
iii. Then work for the Lord
– No worship, No rain – Zech. 14:17

3. (b) Ministry to one another – Acts 2:41-47 (LB)
– Emotional support system
– Financial
– Spiritual
Resulting in vs. 43 and 47 of Acts 2
From their ministry to God and each other came their witness to the world.

3. (c.) Ministry to the World
– Ambassadors with the word or reconciliation – 2Cor. 5:18-20
– Go – Mk.16:20
– The harvest is now and here John.4: 35

Remember Matth.24:14 and Rev.22:20

THE MARKS OF A GROWING CHURCH – WITH EMPHASIS ON THE CELL SYSTEM

TEXT: ACTS 2:41-47

Introduction – Marks and Signs of A Growing Church continued

The New Testament Church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ grows and expands through the deep committed involvement of men and women as the Head of the church finds the need to post them to different centers in the body.
This growth as seen in Acts 1-6, is enhanced by:

I. Good Preaching & word confirmation with signs
II. Good Organization
III. Good Administration

I. A. Good Preaching

This is the proper/orderly presentation of the word of God to an individual or audience to amongst other as in Rom.10: 17 and IITim.3: 16-17 to:
– Produce or provoke faith
– Communicate Doctrine (instruction/Teaching the truth)
– Rebuking error
– Correcting faults
– Giving instruction for right living 2Tim 2:2

Hearing implies:
a) Receiving an auditory(audio/video) communication
b) Understanding such communication
c) Acting on what is understood to receive a confirmation/testimony e.g David (the bear & the lion; then Goliath)
So as to effectively prepare an individual or group to be qualified and positioned to render an acceptable service. Eg Ezra in Ezr.7:10; 10:4,5a.

Good Organization

All activities or assignments are undertaken to:
– Coordinate and prepare the church for optimum function
– To arrange for the accomplishment of an objective.
– To form into a whole with mutually connected and dependent parts
– To give order /systems and definite structure to the body

Good Administration

– To manage as a steward i.e all activities that has to do with:
– Provision of direction
– Control
– Conduct
– Govern or operate or oversee or preside over
– To execute or dispense justice or praise
– To furnish, supply or give something beneficial

ORGANIZING & ADMINISTRATION IN THE EARLY CHURCH

– In Acts 1, God chose Men
– In Acts 2, He gave to those men Ministry
– In Acts 3, Great Multiplication occurred
– In Acts 4, notice the birth of a great Movement
– In Acts 5, Murmuring arose. This could have been handled in any of these three ways:
==> Outright condemnation and labeling of ‘murmurers’ as being carnal
==> Could have been viewed as a challenge to the leadership and submission demanded
==> Leadership listens with an objective mind, investigates, identify and deal with the root of such a problem. They opted for this solution which eventually resulted in the appointments.

– In Acts 6, the apostles appointed Administrators

RESULTS:

– Murmuring ceased
– Both Leadership & Laity got focused on their assignments Eph.4:11-13
– Proper distribution of God’s grace both physical & spiritual
– The church continued to witness growth & development.
Again, in Acts chapters 1-6, we seem to see a flow in the various steps taken to organize and administer viz:
– What are we going to do? i.e Goals defined
– How are we going to do it? I.e Action steps defined
– When will it be done? i.e Scheduling action steps ie the order
– With whom are we going to do it? i.e Personnel requirements
– What is the cost? i.e Budgeting

Organizing for Growth

The New Testament church is a living entity. As in the natural, living things are organized in cells, which form the basis of their growth or death.
. A Look into the early church,
Acts.2-1; shows that she was organized in two (2) distinct ministries viz:
House-to-House Ministry – Cells
Temple Ministry – Large gathering for corporate worship and . fellowship. 1Cor.14:23

WHAT IS A HOUSE FELLOWSHIP?

A House Fellowship is a basic unit of the congregation that would usually meet in a member’s home. It provides a warm, friendly non-threatening atmosphere, and leads to growth and multiplication.

1. HOME – the home of a church member during the week.

1.1 The PROMISE:
Jesus said, Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them? – Matt 18:20. Where better to gather together than in a home?

1.2 The PAST:
The early church used homes for Christian gathering – Acts 2:2, 46-47; 10:30, 44; 11:12; Col 4:15
e.g. other homes used: Lydia Acts 16:40,Jason Acts17:5, Justus Acts 18:7 Cryspus 18:8; Priscilla and Aquila Rom 16:5

1.3 The PRESENT
China – church growth through homes during persecution.
==> Between 1830 and 1950- there was a very high presence of Western missionaries and missions agencies in China. It is on record that 120 years of missionary efforts produced about 2 million Christians.
==> In 1950, the Chinese government banned all foreign missionaries and expelled all of them from China.
==> By 1952, the Chinese Christians began to meet in small groups in homes.
Result
==> 20 years later – by 1972 – The number of believers had grown to 20 million. By 1990, the figure was over 60 million, and between 2000-2005, the Christian population in China had risen to estimates of between 80-100 million.
==> This phenomenal growth and its preservation was produced by following the New Testament pattern of cells and small groups.

Korea – the cell group system of Pastor Yonggi Cho’s church.
Nigeria – The House Fellowship system includes many Pentecostal assemblies such as Christ Embassy, New Estate Baptist Church, RCCG, etc.

2. CORPORATE REASONS FOR HOUSE FELLOWSHIP

– Makes continuation in the teachings of the church easier because better understanding is made possible
– It enhances the building of a balanced New Testament church. The church is large enough to have a voice in the community and small enough to touch the life of each individual Christian.
– Helps in facilitating the building of strong relationships among brethren which is a very important element in sustaining the momentum of faith and Christian growth.
– Provides a workable pattern to leave for posterity 2 Tim 2:2

WHY THE TFCC?

1. IT IS SCRIPTURAL

The home was very important in the life of the church.
– Jesus Mark 2:1, 2; 9:33-37
– The Early Church Acts 2:46; 12:12
– Paul Acts 20:20

2. IT IS EFFECTIVE

– For Evangelism – Cornelius Acts 10:22, 24 – Paul Acts 28:30, 31
The growth of the church should depend largely on such home cell meetings.
– For Edification – they help believers grow to maturity in Christ. Acts 2:42
Both functions above are linked inseparably – Acts 2:44-47

3. IT IS ESSENTIAL

– For personal growth and equipping for ministry Acts18:1-4; 20:27-32
– Members can work together in evangelism, ministry, and prayer. Acts 10:30,44; 11:12-Cornelius’ home; Lydia’s-Acts 16:40; Jason’s Acts 17:5
– Leadership training is part of the process to allow for the multiplication of groups. -home of Pricilla and Aquila- Rom.16:3-5.
– The congregation is organized into smaller units for closer fellowship. Acts 16:40
– For church growth -Acts 2:41-47
– Evangelism: a strategic base for evangelism in a specific area – Matthew
5:14-16
– Pastoral care: shared effectively among a larger number of leaders – Exodus
18:13-26; Acts 6:1-7
– Teaching: by the Pastor through the Leaders.-Acts 20:20
– For survival during persecution i.e the Pastors can be removed, church buildings closed, and worship meetings banned, but Home Cell Groups can still continue as they have done in CHINA during the last thirty-five years. (See also Acts 8:1-8).

SEVEN (7) CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CELL CHURCH

– They met often – Acts.2:46-47
– They met to teach Acts.5: 42
– These groups were evangelistic – Acts 20:20
– People enjoyed meeting – Acts.2:46
– They prayed for special needs -Acts 12:12
– Households were key to several conversions – Acts.10:2; 16:32; 18:18
– They were very potent threats to the kingdom of the enemy and so were specially attacked or persecuted -Acts 8:3

The Sunday Worship, Mid-Week Service, and the Cell system complement one another in meeting the needs of the saints.
References: (a) Small Groups Tool kit- Curt Gunz
(b) RCCG Care Manual on the Internet.
(c) Various Writings of Dr. David Yonggi Cho
(d) The Shepherd’s staff – Dr. Raph Mahoney

THE MARKS OF A GROWING CHURCH (cont) – THE CONTAGIOUS CHURCH

TEXT: ACTS 2:41-47

Introduction – THE CONTAGIOUS CHURCH

TEXT: ACTS 2:41-47

Every church can be a contagious church but sadly enough not every church is. Among the contagious, growth consciousness that runs through the life and blood of the church they do all in their power to keep the commission in Matthew 28.

Everything is evaluated in the light of their contribution to the growth of the church. In such churches, they are not satisfied with the usual casual day-in-day-out routine existence of the church

CONTAGIOUS CHURCH DEFINED

Contagious means being infectious Spreading an outbreak. It means a church people love to come to. An inviting enchanting and lively place to be.

Every church should strive to be a positive contagious church. They should make a positive impact in their community. – The church must first win its Jerusalem before it can win the world.

In Matt.28:18-20. Jesus is giving here the agenda, now pick up the ball and run with it. But unfortunately, churches are afraid to pick up the ball.

Afraid to take risks, afraid to try something new, afraid to make themselves vulnerable and so people come in and walk out and don’t come back again.

We as Christians have been put here to make a difference. C.S Lewis in one of his books said “if Christianity is real, then it stands to reason that those who become Christians should be better people than they were before.”

Keys to becoming a contagious church

I. Vision Driven

Luke 4: 18-19 Different churches are driven by many things. Some are driven by traditions, money, prize competition, doctrinal issue, and the likes. Such churches do not usually become contagious. Some even make tradition more important than people.

Until the church is driven by a God given vision it will not become contagious. – Vision of what the church is there to do – i.e teach the faith, wake up apostolic prayer fire, etc. Father’s House… to raise sons and release potentials … – Vision of the people the church is sent to reach; a vision of greater future for the church must be very clearly explained and embraced by the people, it is then the people will come.

II. Sincere love for sinners

Until the church shows genuine love for sinners it will not make any appreciable impact in the community. The church must show love to sinners as Jesus did. He did not condemn them rather He went all out to bring them to himself, e.g. healing on the Sabbath day.

The religious leaders of the day considered that to be work and thus broke the Sabbath tradition of resting and not working.

Almost every time Jesus responded in the same way by saying that people’s hurts were more important than tradition.
* The Church that is inflicted with negative piety will not be contagious. We must welcome them, pray for them care for them, and stop condemning them – they are already under serious guilt- we should show them the saviour

III. Church programmes that meet felt needs

The church is so programme-oriented today. Yet the contagious church must not only have programmes, but they must be exciting and need filling. They must minister to the felt and real needs of the people. They must possess the power to minister to their innermost areas of needs and hurts.

The family, children, youth elderly e.t.c
Rick Alexander said,” … only churches serious about rescuing the hurting will survive and make a difference.”

IV. Mighty presence and working of the Holy Spirit. Luke 5:17, 6:19

Nothing can atone for the absence of the Holy Spirit in the church. The mighty presence of the Holy Spirit is the key to the contagiousness of the church. The presence of the blessed Holy Spirit that culminates in liveliness, powerful worship and miracles, healings, and deliverance will result in people coming in large numbers.

The testimonies of the mighty working of God will not fail to find responses from people in the community. The church must produce one incontrovertible witness in order to be contagious – changed lives.

V. Excellence (preached and modeled) -Col.3:23, Eccl.9:10

This is a very important mark of a contagious church. It honours God. Compare with ‘mediocre’ – of middle quality not good enough.
– Have you ever heard anyone say it’s just church? What difference does it make?
– That type of thinking can certainly be dangerous in a spiritual sense. -Rev.3: 15-16. I know your works … spue you out of my mouth”

Mediocrity makes Jesus sick! God is displeased with less than excellent service – the same goes for people who know what they want. Excellent attracts.

Excellence requires daily diligence example of a house well built, good landscaping, etc.. You can’t relax for long if your house is going to maintain that look of excellence – the work must be ongoing – and all hands must be on top of it. You can lose the edge really fast. Our duty is to live as stewards of what God has blessed us with.