WHAT CAUSES A
CHURCH TO GROW—GOD'S WAY
A. We are getting close to the
new year, and this is when people start thinking
about goals and new year's
resolutions.
1. One resolution that
congregations often make is to have more growth
during the new
year—both numerical and spiritual.
2. Statistics show that
membership, not only in the Lord's church, but
generally across the
board, is in decline in recent years.
a. Of course it is
normal for there to be times of expansion and contrac-
tion.
b. Smaller
congregations in our area have especially suffered, as people
pass on and wage
earners are driven by the economy to places where
they can find
better employment.
c. And, yet, that is
not necessarily a sign that church growth has ceased.
(1) Just like in
gardening when we have to prune back plants
does that
mean that plant growth has ceased?
(a) The dead
weight has been removed and the roots are being
strengthened
for the next round of growth.
(b) The
purpose of pruning, whether it be in our garden with
plants
or Jesus illustrating how he prunes away those who do
not
abide in Him and produce fruit for His cause—the pur-
pose is
to reactivate and stimulate growth for more production
(Read
JOHN 15:1-8)
(2) In China there
grows the Moso Bamboo tree—the largest of the
variety of
the bamboo trees on earth.
(a) When the
seed is planted in the ground, it is carefully tended
and
watered every day—365 days a year.
(b) The
farmer patiently continues this routine: The first year
nothing
seems to happen. The second year, nothing seems to
happen
. The third year, nothing seems to happen. The
fourth
year, nothing seems to happen.
(c) The fifth
year on the 1825th day from its planting, the ground
breaks
open and the tree emerges out of the ground and grows
and
grows and grows to 90 feet in 6 weeks—the equivalent of
a 9
story office building. It grows 3 feet every 24 hours. You
could
almost sit beside it and watch it grow.
Sherman—Page
2
(d) But,
what was happening in those 5 long years?
(1)
Underneath it was developing the required roots
(2)
and the strength to support the height and width of its
explosive
growth.
(e) The
Moso Bamboo tree was actually growing all the time
from
the time the seed was planted, although its growth was
not
visible to the human eye, until it was ready to reach out.
c. We are encouraged by
the fact that Jesus says “where two or three
are
gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them.”
MATTHEW 18:20
And
with Jesus in the midst, something is happening—growth
is taking place,
although we may not see it on the surface.
d. I remember when
Lydia and I went with a group to Wellington, New
Zealand back in
1973 to help establish a congregation there.
There was only one
elderly Christian man who prepared and set up
communion every
Sunday in his home, in case a visitor dropped in.
He had done that
for years. Our group was able through Bible
studies in his area
of the city to baptize 45 souls, and from that time
on to this day, a
flourishing congregation has existed in that city of
over 200,000 souls.
(1) There's a
saying, “God and one makes a majority”. I'd
like to
clarify that
and say “God and one righteous, faithful Christian
makes a majority”.
(2) Was not the
church in Wellington growing even with that one lone
Christian
faithfully coming before God at the Lord's table each
Sunday-in the
faith that one day the Lord would bless Wellington
with a
congregation of His people? Sure it was! The root was
growing
stronger in preparation for further growth one day.
(3) That one-man
church was a very strong church in faith and in
preparation
for what occurred years later!
e. Lee Wright tells a
similar story about the church in Crescent City,
California where
the church declined to only one man left. He
faithfully kept the
church alive for years, with the help of occasional
fishermen who came
to visit when they were in the area from time to
time. When a
prison was constructed there and more families moved
Sherman—Page
3
into the area, the
church began its numerical growth again.
f. We have a similar
opportunity coming into our area this next year, as
the prison now
under construction is to be completed in July and
employee families
will be moving into the area communities and
will become
neighbors and friends, among whom God may bless
us with souls
interested in Bible study and salvation.
g. We at Lancaster,
like many rural congregations in America, are small
numerically right
now, but that does not mean that our activity or
influence has been
small or weak.
(1) Over the
years, the Lancaster congregation has established an
excellent
reputation, both within the brotherhood and in the
area, for
being a strong Bible-based congregation, standing
uncompromisingly
for the truth and moral dignity.
(2) Several men
who grew up in, or were a part of this congregation
went on to
preach the gospel in other areas from Lancaster.
(3) Over the
years, when other congregations needed substitute or
fill-in
preachers, they often called upon the Lancaster congrega-
tion for
assistance.
(4) For over 40
years, Lancaster has had a presence on the airwaves
from Albany
to Cottage Grove through out radio program, first
on QWIL in
Albany and later on KORE in Springfield-spreading
the gospel
message to thousands of area residents. In fact, our
program is
the second longest continuous program in KORE
history—second
only to the Lutheran Hour, which is a national
program.
(5) Our building
for years was the official voting polling place for
area
residents. And, over the years we have helped with
weddings and
funerals for people we had never met, because
they had
heard that we were non-denominational.
(6) It was the
Lancaster congregation that first suggested and hosted
the first
area-wide fifth Sunday singings, which have offered
times of
great fellowship and made it possible for congregations
to get
acquainted with one another and share.
h.
Also, with our 50th
anniversary coming up in August, on the day
when we host the
fifth Sunday area singing, we have the
Sherman—Page
4
opportunity to
contact former member families, with whom we may
influence for
Bible study and possibly win to Christ, or restore back
into fellowship
those who grew weak in the past.
(1) We'll have
evangelism training opportunities to prepare for these
events for
any who want to avail themselves.
(2) I'll be more
than happy to work one on one with anyone wanting
to learn how
to use the Open Bible Study, or who wants to
become a WBS
(World Bible School) teacher on the internet,
or who may
want to work with correspondence courses, or
start a
tract outreach, or learn how to refer your friends and
others to
have someone contact them for a Bible study.
In fact I'm
set up in the fellowship room for anyone who might
want to take
an hour before or after services, or at another
appointed
time, to plan together.
(3) We may not be
seeing a large growth in numbers right now, but
that does
not mean that the congregation has been dormant.
(a) Because
of the activity of several in our Lancaster congrega-
tion,
through World Bible School, other internet outreach and
our
support of a dynamic work in Jamaica, the gospel is
being
taught and obeyed on 5 continents—helping increase
growth
of the Lord's church in Africa, Asia, Australia,
Europe
and North America.
(b) By way
of Skype on the internet, the Ladies Bible Class often
has
participation from Kuwait, England, Canada the Ukraine
and
various locations in the US from Pennsylvania to Oregon
(c) Through
WBS, two professional athletes in Kenya were
taught
by Aiden, they were baptized, and are leading others
to
Christ. They have begun preaching the gospel, and
they
are being trained by Ernest, Aiden, Lee Wright, myself
and
others through Bible study, by email, phone, and
mailings.
We have had other WBS students in Nigeria and
South
Africa. Ernest has students, and WBS is always
looking
for Christians who will grade lessons, since there are
far
more eager students waiting for teachers, than there are
teachers.
Sherman—Page
5
(d) We have
had a hard-working team improving the building
and
grounds.
(e) Over the
last 50 years I have the names of 142 people who
were
baptized at Lancaster from 1971 through today. I don't
know
the names of those baptized over the previous 6 years
from
1965. Some years from 1971 there was only one or
two
per year. In other years, there were many more. And,
according
to our semi-rural area statistical demographic, our
number
of baptisms per capita ranks well above the average
when
compared to larger city congregations.
(f) Every
household in Junction City, Harrisburg, Monroe
and
the rural area has received gospel mailings from House
to
House, Heart to Heart. A Baptist preacher in Junction City
said
he used many of the articles for his class lessons.
(g)
Lancaster has been blessed with generous givers that make
possible
the spread of God's Word. This is especially great
when
you consider that most of our wage-earners have left
the
area, in this economy, for jobs in other areas.
(h) We have
teachers and encouragers and exhorters. I
appreciate
Larry Wren's entree-tees for us to look first into
our
hearts for changes in our lives and attitudes. It reminds
me of
the psalmist David who prayed: “Create in me a
clean
heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast
me
not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit
from
me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and
uphold
me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach
transgressors
thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto
thee.”
(PSALM 51:10-13)
(i) Are not
all these things we have mentioned root-strengthen-
ing
for growth—both spiritually and numerically? Of course
they
are.
(j) Is not
the growth in the areas of the world where we have
been
planting the seed of God's Word , also a part of our
congregational
growth? Certainly it is.
(k) As we
are scattering the seed of the Word in this area and
Stanley—Page
6
abroad
we must pray more fervently for the harvest and
prepare
ourselves for the increase.
MATTHEW
9:37-38 “The harvest truly is plenteous, but
the laborers are
few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the
harvest, that he
will send laborers into his harvest.”
i. God gives the
increase when our faith becomes strong and our hearts
are
renewed and changed. Paul said, in I
CORINTHIANS 3:6
“
I have planted, Apollos
watered; but God gave the increase.”
j. So now let's go to
God's Word and see what makes churches
grow—as God
would have them grow.
B. In Acts 2 we read of the
beginning of Christ's church on the first day of
Pentecost, Sunday, 50 days
following His resurrection from the dead.
1. The Jews had come from
all over the world for the celebrations of
Pentecost. Some
historians estimate that as many as a million people
could have come to
Jerusalem for Pentecost.
2. Even though many, if not
most of the people, gathered there from all
over were religious
people, religion in general didn't seem to do much
for them.
a.
One reason for this, among other reasons, was that religion,
in
general,
and
the religious leaders and their followers didn't stand for
very much.
b. There was
ritualistic performance and religious profession, but little
spiritual depth.
Their heart was not in it.
3. You see, the during this
time the Roman Empire was in its “heyday”.
a. When Rome conquered
a nation, they did not wipe out the existing
religions practiced
in those countries.
b. Instead, Rome would
simply tolerate them and absorb these religions
into their own
culture, with the result that they became somewhat
complacent and
compromised within the society.
C. But, the church of Christ was
different. It did not compromise and it was
not complacent.
1. From the day of its
establishment on Pentecost it began exploding
from Jerusalem across
the Roman Empire, and shook the very
foundation of the
empire from one end to the other.
a. We know that ACTS
2:41 says that 3000 obeyed the gospel on the
Sherman—Page
7
Day of Pentecost,
the birthday of the church.
b. By ACTS 4:4 the
number of believing men was 5000 not counting
the women, who may
have even outnumbered the men in being
baptized into
Christ!
c. ACTS 6:7 says
that the number of disciples continued to multiply
daily in Jerusalem.
d. And as the disciples
were scattered abroad through persecution,
ACTS 16:5
says that the membership of the church “increased in
number daily”.
2. The church of Christ was
such a militant, dynamic force of influence
that ACTS 17:6
says it was referred to as those who had “turned the
world upside
down”.
a. ACTS 28:22
says Christians were “everywhere spoken against”.
b. However, In
spite of opposition, by the turn of the first century, its
estimated that
throughout the Roman Empire Christians numbered
around a million!
c. About 30 years
after the day of Pentecost, COLOSSIANS 1:23 says
that the gospel
had been preached to “every creature under heaven”
3. How did this happen?
Why was the church of Christ such a powerful
and forceful
influence? How did it grow so rapidly, dynamically and
wonderfully?
D. The answer to why the church
of Christ of the first century grew so
impressively is found in
simple, plain Bible teaching. And when it is
applied consistently
today, we will also see impressive results.
1. To illustrate this as
true to fact, I would like to go back nearly 50 years
ago to a wide-spread
study that was featured in newspaper articles
across the nation.
I'll be quoting from
an article as it appeared in the Memphis,
Tennessee
Commercial-Appeal newspaper dated June 17, 1967.
“The
fastest-growing major religious body in the United States is the
churches of
Christ,
an evangelical
protestant communion which has its greatest strength in the
South and West.
Its
membership has increased 135 percent—from one million to
2,350,000—since
l950.
During
the same period, a UPI survey showed, the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter
Day
Saints (Mormon Church) registered a membership gain of 61 percent,
to make it
the second
fastest-growing major body.
Sherman—Page
8
Other fast
growing denominations were the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, 60
percent; the
American Lutheran church , 58 percent; and the Southern Baptist
Convention 58
percent.
The average
growth rate for all Protestant bodies during the 15 year span was 31
percent.
The Roman
Catholic Church showed a gain of 37 per cent.
Of the 14
Protestant denominations with memberships larger than one million,
only one
showed a dedline during the period, That was the American Baptist
Convention
which had two-tenths of one percent fewer members in 1965 than it had
in 1950.
Growth
rates for other denominations were: Episcopal Church, 35 percent;
United
Presbyterian
Church, 31 percent; Lutheran Church in America, 29 percent; National
Baptist
Convention, Inc., 24 percent; Methodist Church, 15 per cent;
Disciples of
Christ. 9 per
cent; United Church of Christ, 8 percent; and National Baptist
Convention of
America, 1 percent.
If any
pattern can be discerned in the statistics,
it is that the highest growth rates
are found
in the more conservative
Protestant bodies, which place a great emphasis
on
personal evangelism.”
(emboldened
emphasis mine--SS)
2. A similar report was
cited by Time Magazine in 1975, when the
churches of Christ
were still number one. But in the 1980's the
growth rate began
to plateau out and began to trend down.
a.
By 2006, churches of Christ were the 6th
fastest in in growth.
Today we are
ranked number 13 in America.
b.The current
fastest growing groups are the large mega community
churches with
little doctrine and an emphasis on what's called the
social
gospel.
They attract the ignorant and folks more interested
in programs and
entertaining, feel-good services than the Truth.
E. Looking back to these
articles about church growth statistics, the question
arises--How
did churches of Christ have such phenomenal growth--to
number one in the USA?
And this brings up the second
question, Why
aren't we still there
now? As we answer these
questions we will learn
some important insights of
what makes the church grow—God's way.
1. First of all it's
obvious that we did not grow because of highly
educated
theologian-type preachers.
a. You may have noticed
that the denominations that require seminary
training for their
preachers were among those that had a low rate of
growth.
b. During the period of
the survey, between 1950 and 1965 very few
gospel preachers in
the church had theological degrees. Also...
Sherman—Page
9
(1) Most Christians
then were known as people of the Book, and
they had a
great love for the church—to keep it pure, just as the
Lord said to
do in Ephesians 5:27; and, free from the worldliness
that has now
become commonly accepted in the church today--
and is one
contributing reason for the church's decline today.
(2) Gospel
preachers of that era preached the truth without apology
and were not
afraid to declare the whole counsel of God.
(3) They exposed
sin for what it is and sought to bring folks to
repentance.
And...
(4) You will notice
that it was the conservative churches that grew--
Why? Because
honest souls are hungry for truth and righteous-
ness, and
can easily spot the arrogance and phoniness of
liberal
soft-soap preaching and the social gospel.
2. Secondly, you
notice the church of Christ was not the fastest-growing
church in America
because of expensive and ornate buildings.
a.
Denominational buildings are often very expensive, expansive and
ornate and meant to
attract. And those denominations that were in
decline in the
survey were housed in these palaces of worship.
b. But, during the
years of the survey, most churches of Christ had more
functional and
modest places of worship.
(1) Christians then
knew that truth, through simple gospel preaching
and
teaching, attracts those who hunger
and thirst after
righteousness
and want to worship God in
spirit and in truth,
more
than ornate buildings will.
(2)
And, the church grew to
number one
in America without style
and
entertainment.
3.
A third important
observation is that the
church of Christ did not soar
to number one in
church growth because of seeking fellowship with
denominations
or joining with the ecumenical
movement.
a.
The ecumenical movement
seeks to bring denominations together.
(1) However they
want to do it through union and compromise
instead of
the unity Christ prayed for.
(2) And the
participating denominations are still in membership
decline
today.
b. One reason we are in
decline today is because of the progressive
Sherman—Page
10
movement in the church
is seeking common ground and implementa-
tion of denominational
ideas to promote themselves.
4.
A fourth observation
is that we did not grow to number one by
seeking to avoid
prejudice, persecution and bad press.
a.
The church has always been hated by the world and by denomina-
tionalism. In the
first century it was “everywhere spoken against”.
b.
Jesus said, “Ye shall be hated of all men for my
name's sake; but he
that endureth
to the end shall be saved.” (MATTHEW 10:22)
c. The early church
grew like wildfire under the fire of hatred, opposi-
tion and
persecution, and so will we—if we equip ourselves with the
armour of Ephesians
6 provided for us by the Holy Spirit.
d. The church of 50
years ago did not grow because of compromise
and the attitude of
surrender—peace at any price.
e.
James DeForest Murch, a church historian, in his book—Christians
Only
(page
313)—tells
why the Lord's church has grown, in these
words:
“Its
people have stood like the Rock of Gibraltar for the faith that was
once delivered
unto the
saints, amid doubt super-induced by liberalism. They have challenged
the
spirit of
compromise and worldliness and dared to be a peculiar people teaching
and
practicing what they believe is the Bible way of life.”
CONCLUSION:
A. The Lord's church has always
had periods of growth and decline
throughout its history.
1. Thousands were added to
the church shortly after it was established
and it grew rapidly
because:
a. In great faith it
trusted the one true God consistently and without
compromise.
b. Early Christians
were totally committed to the Word and taught the
gospel with
faithfulness and zeal.
c. The church defended
the faith whenever the Word of God was
challenged without
fear or favor.
d. Those early
Christians lived the gospel with all their being—they
wanted people to
see Jesus through their lives. So, they sought to be
personally faithful
in their lives.
e. And, church members,
being the body of Christ, were united in love
for one another
(Acts 4:31-33) and for lost souls (Acts 8:1-4 5:42)
Sherman—Page
11
with a positive,
optimistic outlook.
(1) They recognized
that their mission is to continue Christ's mission
on the earth.
(2) They did not see
their Christianity as “Lord, what can you do for
me?” but
“Lord, how can I serve you today?”
2. There are many books
written on ideas for church growth.
a. Somewhere I have a
publication entitled 104 ways to grow a church.
b. But, if we start
with only two:
(1) Being united in
our love for the Lord and for each other;
(2) And you
developing a love for the lost that causes you to realize
you are an
instrument of God with the mission first of all to seek
and save the
lost...
(a) Watching
for opportunities,
(b) Having a
prayer list of people you would like to have with
you in
heaven,
(c) And
asking for help from a fellow Christian work with you in
reaching
out to these souls—until you gain the
confidence
of Hebrews 5:12 “When for a time ye ought to
be teachers...”
c. If you do these
things, we will grow as God would have us grow.
B. A poet has written:
Don't be concerned
nor be surprised if what you do is criticized
For there are
always those who usually can
find fault with
every different plan.
Mistakes are made,
we don't deny,
but only made by
folks who try.
God bless you in your
trying.
Stanley
Sherman
541-998-8989 541-729-2329 (cell)
29285 Lingo Lane Junction City, OR 97448
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