Church Growth

How does your church grow? Not with silver bells and conkle shells but with two important activities going on simultaneously. Many mega-churches have recently admitted that they have pushed one without the other. Will miny-churches admit that they have pushed the opposite one without the first one?

Act Like Acts

Acts certainly sets the tone for how the church should function. In reviewing some of my old sermons, I stumbled across this one taken from Acts 16:5-15. Verse 5 reads this way “the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily” (NASB). So we see that there are two elements to a healthy, growing church. First, the disciples are strengthened in the faith and secondly, the lost are becoming saved. For those who may think that this is an isolated incident and that the model throughout Acts is not this way, let us look at other instances of “strengthening” and “increasing” in the book.


Strengthening

9:22 But Saul kept increasing in strength and confounding the Jews who lived at Damascus by proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

14:22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith,

15:32 Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brethren with a lengthy message.

15:41 And he was traveling through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.

18:23 And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.


Increasing

2:47 And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.

4:4 the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

5:14 And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number,

6:1 Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews,

6:7 The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem

11:21 the hand of the Lord was with them, and a large number who believed turned to the Lord

14:1 spoke in such a manner that a large number of people believed, both of Jews and of Greeks.

Conclusion

Let us be diligent and faithful to strengthen the faith of those in out congregations. Let us equally be diligent and faithful to rescue the perishing and thereby add to our number.