Explosive Growth
Acts 2:42-47
In the Book of Acts, we see nothing short of explosive, exponential growth. In Acts Chapter 1, there are 12 disciples and 120 believers. Jesus is no longer physically with them. They are bewildered and frightened but all that changes on the day of Pentecost. The Holy Spirit comes upon them and they’re filled with power. These timid disciples are changed into bold witnesses for Jesus, who take the transforming Gospel into the streets. The results are electrifying. In response to Peter’s first sermon, 3000 were baptized and became followers of Jesus. (Acts 2:41 NIV) Then in Chapter 4, we read of Peter and John speaking to the Jewish leaders in the Sanhedrin. “Many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about 5000.” (Acts 4:4) From there, the Gospel message goes back out onto the streets, where there are miraculous signs and wonders performed by the Apostles. The result is “…more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number”. (Acts 5:14 NIV)
In fact, Acts tells us that “each day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47 In every chapter of Acts, we see that the church is growing. But it really took off when the gospel jumped the cultural barrier, as Peter and then Paul began telling non-Jews, and the Christian faith began to spread far beyond Jerusalem and Judea. The best estimates are that by 350 AD, 33 million of the 60 million in the Western world were followers of Jesus.
One of the lessons of the Book of Acts is that the church is a living, dynamic organism and all organisms are wired for growth. The explosive growth of the early church is testimony to the nature of the church to grow. Growth is inbred in the very genes of the church is critical and thus every part of the church’s life and mission is meant to lead to growth. Even when it reaches maturity, growth still occurs. For example, the human body in adulthood, completely replaces itself with new cells every seven years, renewing it for the work ahead. If growth is in¬herent in the life of the body of Christ, then renewal is central to that growth as the body reaches adulthood. Essential to renewal is that the church must reclaim its purpose to grow. God’s hope and dream is that every church would grow because its mission is reaching his children with the Gospel to return to a personal relationship with Him and to join Him in building His kingdom here on earth.
I want to be very clear here. We’re not talking about numbers. We’re talking about people. We’re talking about souls. If you don’t realize that then you need to re-read the Gospels and the Book of Acts. There’s an eternity hanging in the balance. And if a person is not reached for Jesus Christ, the Scriptures tell us they will live eternally separated from God. Numerical growth is never just numbers but rather individual persons who encounter the forgiving grace of God and are transformed by the renewing work of Jesus Christ.
Secondly, it’s not about growing our church. It’s about reaching our city. There are far more people in the city than there are in our church and there always will be. But we are called to transform the city as we establish the kingdom of God. You have to be more focused on the kingdom than Gretna UMC. The concept of church gets in the way of explosive growth. Because when you begin to think about the church first, you begin to think that you’re responsible for the church and its members. No, you’re responsible for your city. Because biblically, there’s only one Church in a city and the purpose of that Church isn’t to grow but to transform the city by building the kingdom of God. But you can’t transform the city and build the kingdom of God if we’re a small church. Even if you gather many small churches together, you can’t transform the city. Cities begin to change when a church grows and exerts more influence on its city.
So that raises a question? What’s your vision for this church? Growth starts with your dream or vision for the church. If your dream is small enough that we can accomplish it, then it means we don’t need God. That’s a recipe against explosive growth. God’s dream is always bigger than the dream you have for your life or for your church. What you need to do is take your goal for this church or for your life and stretch it beyond what you can accomplish on your own. Explosive growth is possible. It’s possible to double, triple or quadruple the size of a church. We see this in the Book of Acts. Dynamic, explosive growth is God’s will and design for the church down to its very DNA. But let me also warn you that explosive growth is difficult. Everything great for the kingdom of God or for Jesus Christ always is. It calls for you to invest everything you have and everything you are in God and His call for your life. It takes time and effort, sacrifice and hard work. And first of all, it starts with you.
First, pray for exponential growth. Is your goal doubling or tripling the number of people finding Christ and worshipping with us every Sunday. That starts with praying specifically for your oikos, the people they know who need God. We cannot ignore the prayer principle: When we pray diligently, we get big results. Every great movement of God and every significant growth of the church and the Kingdom has been bathed in prayer.
Second, be committed to your spiritual growth and renewal. In our Scripture today it says, “they (that is, the early church) devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching (that’s daily Scripture reading) and to fellowship (that’s accountability), to the breaking of bread (that’s Holy Communion) and to prayer.” Now listen to the result of this: “Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need…(and they enjoyed) the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” Did you see the Means of Grace in the practices of the early church which led to the explosive growth the church experienced? Explosive growth starts first with you invest in your personal relationship with Jesus Christ and in the unity of the Body of Christ. You cannot be bold in your faith if you aren’t excited and passionate about your faith and Jesus Christ. For the church to grow and grow dramatically, it starts first with your growth. Methodism is one of those stories of explosive growth in the church’s history but it started first with John Wesley’s encounter with Jesus and passionately pursuing his relationship with Christ. Alan Hirsch writes, “Following a life changing encounter with God, (John) Wesley began to travel throughout Great Britain with a vision for the conversion and discipling of a nation and a renewal of a fallen church….Within a generation, one in 3 people in Britain had become Methodist and the movement was becoming a worldwide phenomena.” When your faith comes alive and your passion fires for Jesus ignite, it’s then that God can do great things through you! So how’s your relationship with Jesus? How are the passion fires of faith burning in your life? Are you on fire for Jesus?
Third, become a missionary to our city rather than just a member of the church. We are becoming one of the most unchurched nations in the world. Less than ¼ of Americans are in church every week. We now have the first generation of people in America’s history who have no church experience as they were growing up. We are a biblically illiterate nation. The church is growing on every continent except in North America. That type of situation calls for missionaries. To be a missionary, you have to move beyond being a member. Members always think they’re entitled. Remember the old American Express commercial which said, “Membership has its privileges”? That’s the mentality that most members bring with them to church. They think the church is here for them, the resources of the church are for them and even the pastor is here for them. But that’s not the church! The church is the only organization in the world where people come together and focus on others. Jesus said he “came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.” And we are to follow in His footsteps! You have to move beyond being a member and become a missionary.
There are three things missionaries always do. First, they speak in the language of the people they’re trying to reach. What’s the language (music) of the day in New Orleans? Every church on the WestBank that has grown in the last four decades has done so through contemporary music. Second, they speak in the technology of the day. What’s the technology of the day in New Orleans? It’s visual. My mom’s church just added a screen in their sanctuary. I told here “That’s great mom, but you’re 15 years after the curve.” Everything is visual and communicates not only the mission of this church but the Gospel as well. That includes the lobby, the sanctuary backgrounds, the decorations on stage and the list goes on and on. The visual is part of the message.
Third, they speak in the culture of the day. You have to know the culture to identify with people. For too long, we’ve asked people to come into a foreign culture the church and they’ve heard a safe Gospel of love, grace and salvation. The problem is they never hear it because they’re not comfortable. Most churches that are stagnant or dying have an uncomfortable culture foreign to most unchurched peopled because they’re filled with pews, songs 100’s of years old, an organ, robes etc. Please hear me, those are not bad things. They just don’t reach the majority of people today with the Gospel. People need to enter a safe culture, their culture, to hear a dangerous Gospel where God calls them beyond themselves and into his dangerous activity in the world. Nothing is more important than a church’s worship. This is the place that most unchurched people encounter the church and the beginning point where everything else in church happens. This is where we need to invest a significant amount of money to have a worship experience that communicates to people today through their language, technology and culture.
Missionaries are always available to share the Good News of Jesus and their personal relationship with Jesus. Missionaries are willing to be inconvenienced to bring other people along the spiritual journey. They’re willing to leave comfortable places and live a sacrificial lifestyle. Missionaries know that no matter what you are doing, you can be a missionary. Whether you are at work, out shopping, at school or doing anything in your neighborhood or community, you can be a missionary for Christ.
Fourth, understand and claim that your mission in life is to share your faith story with your oikos. If the pastor is the sole evangelist, the church will not have explosive growth. The only way a church will ever experience explosive growth is when everyone becomes an evangelist. You are the church’s primary evangelist. It takes a church to reach the city. For too many years, churches have had Evangelism Committees and Outreach Committees. That’s just wrong because what it does is allow the people in the pews to think they don’t have to do evangelism or outreach because the church has a committee to do it. No! You’re the primary evangelist and outreach person of the church. Say it with me, “I am the primary evangelist and outreach of the church.” You have to invite people to church and bring them to church with you. 50% of all people who are invited to church will attend. Where explosive growth occurs is when people are invited to church every week and when they become committed missionaries, they begin inviting their friends. That’s when growth becomes exponential and explosive.
Fifth, be sold out to the Gospel and the mission of the church. Every church that experiences explosive growth has a core group who have become sold out to the Gospel and the mission of the church. You can be in that number! That means some of you have a decision to make. You see, some of you are still on the fence with the mission of this church, “Connecting diverse communities to a lifestyle devoted to Jesus.” Some of you are still trying to hold onto what this church was. The problem is it’s not 1955 or 1975. It’s 2013 and the world is different, New Orleans is different and the WestBank is different. We’ve got some complainers in this congregation and they’re trying to hold back the mission of God from this church. They’re hurting people, they’re hurting ministries, they’re hurting a new initiative of God and most of all, they’re hurting their own spiritual journeys and the possibility of working with God right here in our midst. We’ve lost new Christians who were just babies in the faith because of some of the complaining, negativism and hurtful things said and done in the name of Jesus. That’s not just wrong, it’s a sin. You’re either with the mission of God in Gretna or you’re against it. You’re either with God and what he wants to do through this church or you’re against him. It’s time to get on board with God’s mission for our church so that we can have unity as we move forward
There are four keys on the church level to attain explosive growth. First, we need to have big days like “Invite a Friend” and outreach events like our concerts. It’s one thing to have visitors come now and then, but we’re talking about going big and changing a city. The biggest influx of people results when your friends bring their friends, who bring their friends and so on. Second, we need to advertise. The No. 1 way to invite people is by word of mouth. And the cost ratio for word of mouth is phenomenal: zero. If God is leading us to do something big, don’t invite three or four people; invite thousands! But we also need to underwrite your efforts of inviting people with direct mail, television and cable ads as well as billboard. Third, more people have to step up and serve, freeing the pastor from administration, hospital visits, giving out assistance and even teaching responsibilities. In the end, the key is that the pastor and lay people have one on one conversations with the unchurched that leads to their conversion or their participation in the church. Together, we can experience explosive growth!
