There is an urban legion floating around on the Internet that tells the story of how at the height of the space race during the 1960’s, NASA took on the challenge of finding a way to write in space. Normal pens wouldn’t work due to the zero gravity the astronauts would face in the space capsules. So scientists embarked on a way to solve the problem; they came up with the Astronaut Pen, after months of research and development, and at a cost of about $1 million. But after all that time and money had been invested NASA’s hard work paid off and they had a means of writing in space.
The Soviet Union also faced the task of writing in space. To solve this weighty problem, they used a pencil.
Research into this urban legion reveals that it is not true. The Fisher Pen Company did develop a pen for NASA at their own expense but at the beginning of the space program both the American and Soviet astronauts used pencils.
While this urban legend is false, the lesson conveyed by it is true: Doesn’t it seem that we oftentimes put in place the most difficult of solutions to solve the simplest of problems?
When it comes to church growth, many pastors and church leaders implement complex methods, strategies and gimmicks in order to get their churches to grow when the Bible has already outlined God’s simple solution.
Today I will be sharing with you one of God’s simple solutions to the problem of little or no growth in the church.
As we begin, I would like to submit to you that if a church is healthy it will grow. When people are about the Father’s business of living pure lives, sharing the Good News of Jesus, death, burial and resurrection, giving their time, treasures, talents and temples in loving and serving one another in the church, the church will grow.
However, a church will grow without any of these things happening.
It will grow as people flock to sit in air conditioned, spacious facilities, send their kids to exciting children’s ministries, hear awesome sounding choirs, praise groups and bands, and watch tear-jerking drama and laugh at comical skits.
It will grow as a result of people flocking to hear articulate preachers who preach messages that tickle the ears and numb the conscience, fail to preach against sin; fail to mention judgment, hell and the lake of fire to follow.
How is a church to experience true growth? This question will be answered as we look to Scripture.
Chapter two of the book of Acts begins with the day of Pentecost arriving some 50 days after Passover. We all know what happened during the week of Passover. The Passover Lamb Jesus Christ was crucified for our sins and raised from the dead so that we might be declared righteous (Romans 4:25).
The disciples were all together in one place and the Holy Spirit came with a noise like a violent, rushing wind and it filled the whole place where they were. They all began to speak with other languages and the Holy Spirit filled each person assembled.
Because it was the time of the observance of Pentecost, the Bible says in Acts 2, verse 5 that many foreigners from every nation under heaven were in Jerusalem and heard the disciples speak in their own native tongue.
These foreigners, “Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the districts of Libya around Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs” all heard the disciples speaking of the mighty deeds of God in their own language (vss. 8-12)
Some were both amazed and perplexed; others mocked and accused the disciples of being drunk.
The Apostle Peter stood up and preached saying that these men aren’t drunk because it was only 9am. He went on to say that what was happening was spoken of through the prophet Joel. Peter continued and preached a sermon that is summarized in verse 22 – 24:
Acts 2:22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know--
Acts 2:23 this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
Acts 2:24 "And God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.
The amazing thing is that at the end of Peter’s message you will find no invitation. You will find no chorus being sung by a choir with the words, “Come to Jesus, come to Jesus, come to Jesus just now…” There was no crusade choir singing, “Just as I am….”
Peter did not beg people to get saved. He hadn't even finished his sermon in verse 36 when in verse 37 the people “were pierced to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the disciples, “Brethren, what shall we do?”
Peter answers in verse 38, “Repent, and let each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Verse 40 says that Peter kept on encouraging them saying, “Be saved from the perverse generation!”
Verse 41 goes on to tell us the results of the preaching of God’s Word:
Acts 2:41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and there were added that day about three thousand souls.
Acts 2:42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Acts 2:43 And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
Acts 2:44 And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common;
Acts 2:45 and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.
Acts 2:46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart,
Acts 2:47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
This is true church growth. God grows the church. Now let’s unpack Church Growth, God’s Style. Beginning at verse 46 let’s look at the activity the church was involved in before God added to the church.
They were meeting
Acts 2:46 - “So continuing daily with one accord in the temple…and from house to house…”
Who were these people that continued to meet? Those that continued to meet are the three thousand souls of verse 41.
The word “continuing” - proskartereo, pros-kar-ter-eh'-o; means “to be earnest towards,” “to persevere,” “to be constantly diligent,” and “to attend assiduously all the exercises.”
The point of this verse is that the early believers were “earnest toward” or “constantly diligent” or “attending assiduously” all the opportunities for fellowship that were made for them.
They continued meeting with one accord in the temple.
They continued meeting from house to house.
They more than likely gathered together as a large group for worship on Sunday in the temple and then during the week as smaller groups of people in homes.
Churches today have gotten away from this model of Scripture. In many churches today the smile is bright, the handshake is firm, and the voice is warm. And then it's over, all in less than five seconds.
In many of our churches today it is just a long succession of five-second friendships…one after another. Some of these five-second friendships may be during the service while everyone is invited to move around and shake hands; for GraceWay they occur while we sing “Celebrate.” But in the first-century church, the infant church, we come away from Scripture seeing something altogether different.
There were a lot of meetings—two venues: the temple and the home. One can get an idea of what went on in the temple by reading Paul’s words to Timothy, a church planter. In 1 Timothy 4:13 Paul writes, “Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching.” This is what we attempt to do at GraceWay Church each Sunday.
Robertson’s Word Pictures (4:465) tells us that before the third century there is no certain evidence of special church buildings for worship.
Acts 2:46 says, “…breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food…”
Acts 5:42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Acts 8:3 But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.
When Peter was miraculously released from prison Acts 12:12 says that “he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.”
When Paul was about to leave for Rome to face Caesar he spoke to the elders of the church of Ephesus saying, “…I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house…” Acts 20:20
In Romans 16:5 and 1 Corinthians 16:19 Paul sends greetings to the church that met in Priscilla and Aquila’s house.
In Col 4:15 Paul writes, “Greet the brethren who are in Laodicea and also Nympha and the church that is in her house.”
In Philemon 1:2 Paul sends a greeting to Archippus and to the church in his house.
The Apostle John in 2 John 1:10 warns the churches concerning false teachers saying, “If anyone comes to you and does not bring the teaching of Christ, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting.”
Research shows that the family atmosphere that prevailed in the early house churches prevailed for four centuries but all that changed when Constantine came on the scene and legalized Christianity. When this happened, huge, lavish temples were built—with government financing.
One researcher notes that “Worship in elaborate cathedrals began to mark the landscape. The family atmosphere of the house church, for so long the badge and identify of the early church, was suddenly unnecessary. Church became equated with a cold, lifeless cathedral. The cathedral approach has created an impersonal church that acts more like a herd of cattle than an intimate family.”
Over the centuries the church has gone from the simple to the complex. The first church gathered together for the large group meeting and then convened during the week from house to house for the small group fellowship.
But what were the believers doing from house to house?
They were eating
Acts 2:46 – “And day by day … breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together…”
Not only did the early church continue to meet; they continued to eat. Acts 2:46 i is referring to one of two possible activities or both.
The first activity Luke, who wrote the book of Acts, could be referring to was the Lord's Supper. First Corinthians 11:17-34 lets us know that the Lord’s Supper was originally a full meal. It was meant to be a time of remembering the Lord's death and His return. It was a time of expressing love toward other believers, hence Jude's description of it as a "love feast" (Jude 12). Many churches have what they call the Agape Dinner—where each member brings a contribution to the meal and afterwards all join together for the Lord’s Supper.
The other activity Luke could be referring to was a casual meal where believers just came together to eat. Today, the expression “to break bread” means to have a time of friendship around a meal.
This week in my preparation I came across an interesting interview called Eating the Faith: (A Study of) Food and Religion in the Protestant Mainline.
The interviewer asked whether church socials, potlucks, and covered dish suppers had an important religious function. The person being interviewed had an interesting answer. He said, “If you were to ask the person attending a congregational potluck, "why are you here?," some of them may say, "because God wants us to be together, to eat together." Others may simply say, "Because this is where my friends are."
He goes on to say that “In either case I don’t think that we can dismiss these motives. I suspect that for a lot of folks what happens at a church potluck may be as important as or more important than what happens in the sanctuary in the worship service.
“(If you ask someone) “Why do you belong to this church?” “Because this is where my friends are. This is where my community is.” There are a lot of folks looking for community, and they come to the church and find that community in these social events. If we dismiss this, we dismiss the faith experience of a lot of folks in our churches.”
The interviewer followed up with another question: So, food is a faith vehicle for many?
A: Right. In the last few years there has been a great deal of talk in the study of American religion about practice, and how practice shapes our understanding of faith and our communities. There are kids for whom the high point of their Sunday at church is the coffee hour, when they get to run around with their friends and when they get to have some juice and cookies. We sophisticated theologians may look down upon that as being not particularly Christian, but they may get from that coffee hour a sense that "church is a good place to be, this is home and family for me." That coffee hour experience may shape their Christian practice for the rest of their lives.
It’s even more the case for youth groups, who live on their stomachs. When the person interviewed was doing campus ministry, he knew that the way to get students to come to things was to feed them. That’s an essential tool for ministry.
Food is a vital part of fellowship for the church back in the first century and it is for the church today.
The early church continued to meet and they continued to eat. Acts 2:46 says how they ate their food:
Acts 2:46 says “they ate their food with gladness…” This leads us to our third point:
They were leaping
The Greek word for “gladness” is agalliasis, ag-al-lee'-as-is, and means, “much leaping.” It is translated in other places of Scripture as: exultation and exuberant joy
The early Christians were happy; they were joyful. They had an exuberant attitude toward life. Why was this so?
They can come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! He had delivered them from their sins. Jesus had delivered them from the bondage to manmade legalism. They were on their way to heaven!
Psa 9:2 I will be glad and exult in Thee; I will sing praise to Thy name, O Most High.
Psa 13:5-6 But I have trusted in Thy lovingkindness; My heart shall rejoice in Thy salvation. I will sing to the LORD, Because He has dealt bountifully with me.
The joy of the Lord is your strength! (Neh. 8:10)
Paul says, “Rejoice in the Lord always! Again I say rejoice!”
The song says, “I will enter his gates with Thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter his courts with praise
I will say this is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice for he has made me glad.” The chorus says, “He has made me glad; He has made me glad, I will rejoice for he has made me glad. He has made me glad; He has made me glad, I will rejoice for he has made me glad.”
The early church was joyful. Fourthly, the 1st century church was real.
They were real
Acts 2:46 they ate their food with… simplicity of heart…
This is the Greek word (aphelotes) that means, “freedom from duplicity…deceit, deception or dishonesty.” In other words they were not frontin’ like they did at church. They did not put up a façade or make appearances. They did not come to impress. What you saw was what you got.
When the early church met together there was freedom. They were changed. They took off the cold, stiff mask they felt they were forced to wear in the world and were at ease as they were able to be themselves.
They praised God
Acts 2:47 - praising God… In the early church experience there was an open expression of what God was doing in their lives.
I will always remember the person epitomized this kind of lifestyle—Nelson Price. When I first met Nelson, he was a maintenance man at the apartment complex where my wife and I lived during the first couple years of our marriage. I remember the several times when I was leaving for work and just about to get into my car I would hear Nelson holler from across the parking lot, “Praise the Lord!” As a new believer, this was embarrassing to me!
However, “praising God” is much more than saying “Praise the Lord!” “Praise” is something we give when we are pleased with something. We praise our dogs for bringing us the paper, and our children for doing well on a test. We all love to be told we are appreciated for what we do. When we praise God we are telling Him that He is loved and appreciated.
Hebrews 13:15 says, “Through Him (Jesus) then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name.”
The word 'praise' comes from the same root as 'prize.' When we praise something, we are saying that we prize it; that is, we consider it to be valuable. We show that we value God by praising Him. This can be with words that express thankfulness and appreciation or in other ways, such as dancing or raising the hands.
Psalm 149:3 says, “Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with timbrel and lyre.” Psalm 134:2 reads, “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, and bless the LORD.”
I believe that this was how the early church operated. They praised God in the temple and they praised God in the house church. But I don’t think their praise was limited to the seclusion of the church. I believed they also praised God in their homes and they praised God in the community and marketplace.
“God is good” was not just a catch phrase with these Christians—they said it and they meant it.
They enjoyed favor
Acts 2:47 …and having favor with all the people
In verse 47, the word for the word “people” is laos, lah-os'. This word differs from demos, day'-mos, which denotes one's own populace. Laos refers to people in general; demos refers to one’s own people.
In other words, the “favor” spoken of in verse 47 wasn’t favor from the church members upon their own church; it was favor that was being bestowed upon the church by outsiders.
Last time in our message on the sin of Achan we learned that the church had a historic role in feeding the hungry, educating the children, housing the orphan, and caring for the sick. Then I asked the question, “Would the community weep if our church was to pull out of the city? Would anybody even notice if we left?”
Sometime ago USA Today, CNN and Gallup pulled together to poll people on the question, “How much confidence do you have in each of the institutions in U.S. society?” Concerning the Church, 57% of the people responded "A GREAT DEAL or QUITE A LOT". The sad thing however, is that this survey placed the Church 3rd - behind the Military (66%) and Police (60%).
One wonders if this may be the case because the church in some areas has lost its focus; maintaining the institution, keeping the people inside the church happy and protesting the sins of those who are outside the church.
In Luke 4:18 Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised…”
Matthew 4:23 – “Jesus went through Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.”
I believe that people have increasingly developed distaste for the church not because of the Word of God but because of the conduct of the church. We preach what we don’t live. We say that Jesus is love but we do not love the sinner like He did. The church is full of hypocrites just like many unbelievers say it is that this is why they do not venture to step foot in many of our doors.
Jesus did not preach sin and depravity; He preached repentance and faith. Mark 1:15 gives us a summary of His message: “The time has come! God’s kingdom is here! Repent and put your trust in the Good News.” The Greek word translated “repent” literally means “a change of mind” or “a change of purpose;” it was a turn away from sin and a turning toward God.
Jesus did not ignore sin, but His focus was on encouraging His audience to change their way of living and trust God.
When Jesus did have strong words about sin, His comments usually were directed toward the legalistic, self-righteous, religious people, not the “sinners” those religious people condemned.
When Jesus was with the “sinners,” He taught about God’s love for His lost children and His desire for them to have an abundant life. His message was a word of grace. He knew that in His presence people would understand how needy they were spiritually. His Sermon on the Mount gave people a direction to walk, not a critique of their mistakes.
As we have seen earlier, the Christians were a joyful people; they were a sincere and genuine people. They didn’t walk around with picket signs condemning the sinners for the sins they committed.
The community saw in these church folk genuine joy and optimism about life and wanted to be around them. The community saw that these Christians were recipients of God’s blessings and they wanted to be on the receiving end of God’s blessings too.
This is the way much of the community saw the early church. Acts 2:44-45 tells us that the early church cared for one another. Even when they were under persecution, they had the proper attitude. Their joyful hope in God and loving fellowship with one another was visible to the community and the community liked what they saw and showed them favor.
They were added to
Acts 2:47 And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
The Lord added to the church those who were being saved. In Acts 2:40-47 we see the progression:
* Peter finishes preaching his sermon
* Those who received his message about Christ were baptized—some 3000 souls
* These souls continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, meeting as a large group in the temple courts and in small groups they broke bread from house to house
* They experienced the joy of the Lord as they fellowshipped and what you saw was what they were—they were genuine.
* They praised God and had a good reputation with people outside their fellowship.
* God added to the church daily those who were being saved.
We began this message asking us to consider how we oftentimes put in place the most difficult of solutions to solve the simplest of problems. Many have ignored the simplicity involved in growing the church God’s style.
For example, there was a church that was declining in membership. The numbers were falling and people were becoming less and less satisfied. Some said the problem was the pastor while others said it was the worship. Some even said, “Our church is not a friendly church.” So the church members got together and elected three committees.
The first committee was assigned the task of either “pepping up” the pastor or finding a new one.
The second committee was instructed to “revamp” the worship services and make them more dynamic and exciting.
And the third committee was charged with the task of sprucing up the church’s image and making the church warm and inviting by developing guidelines for being friendlier.
Committee number one worked long and hard and spent a great deal of money on the pastor.
* They bought him some contemporary clothing so that he would have the “look”. They sent him to “whooping” school to help him become a more “polished” speaker.
* They bought him several motivational books and tapes as well as sending him to every “real good, feel good” conference within a 200 mile radius.
Committee number two spent four months visiting various churches and studying each one’s worship service.
* They would make notes of the number of people in the choir, did the church have a praise team and a band, and whether or not the worship leader wore a robe and did he play an instrument.
* They conducted surveys within the congregation on the style of music most preferred and if people felt more comfortable with the “raising of hands” in praise or with a more dignified and solemn approach to worship.
After several months of meetings they concluded that the church needed to hire a “big-name” artist to be the worship leader. This would cost over 150k per year and they would need to allow the artist 14 weeks per year for “touring”. Also the artist demanded that the sanctuary be renovated and lights installed for a weekly “laser show” set to the music of “How Great Thou Art”. These upgrades would run around 2.5 million but the committee had secured a loan with an interest rate of only 11.8 percent.
Committee number three determined that the church must hire a full-time “host and hostess” to take charge of the greeters.
This couple purchased uniforms and organized teams to be in the parking lot before each service handing out full-color programs, a coffee cart during the winter months and lemonade stand during the summer along with an assortment of cakes and snacks. They sent every greeter to “Hospitality University” where they were taught how to greet people with a smile.
“Hugs for Heavenly Healing” became the church’s new motto and all members were required to take a course in smiling and “warm handshakes”.
After two years the church was bankrupt and most of the members had become disgruntled and left the church altogether. Instead of growing, the membership had continued to decline and ultimately the church doors were closed.
Across town there was another church that was faced with the same dilemma as the first church.
Instead of trying to “polish-up” the preacher they began to pray for him. They asked God to give him the ability and boldness to preach the Word and lead them in the right direction.
The worship leader began to choose music, not based on popularity or style, but for the purpose of praise and substance.
Folks quit fretting over the size of the congregation and just joined together to lift high God in praise.
As a result God began to “show-up” in those services. People felt free to worship and praise God in their own manner and style without fear of ridicule. God’s love began to “blossom” within the hearts of that congregation and they truly started loving one another and genuinely caring for one another. Then something spectacular began to happen.
The members of the church started inviting their friends and family to come to church with them. They went out into the community and began to cut the widows’ grass and help the senior adults with their chores.
They went out in the community and started ministering and making friends. They would tell folks, “You are always welcome in our church.”
They would open the doors of the church and invite the community in for fun and fellowship (and a dose of Gospel preaching while they were there).
This small church, a church that had become stagnant and was dying, began to grow! They did not form any committees; they did not spend millions of dollars. They kept it simple and focused on loving and serving God and loving and serving others. And guess what? It worked and the church grew.
Now I know that growing a church is not rocket science. It is really a simple thing. We must love God and love others and preach the Gospel.
