Church growth principles book acts

Good leadership will develop a good plan for growth and how to use new members and existing members in the work of the church. Charles stone is the senior pastor of west park church in london, ontario, canada, the founder of stonewell ministries and the. From a small group of persecuted refugees, the church in antioch saw large numbers of people come to christ. In fact, three times luke underscores the large numbers 11. An analysis of dissertations on church growth published. Principles of church growth second edition paul young publications of paul young.

The multiplying principles of the new testament were affordable and. The book of acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of jesus christ. In some cases, rainer was prophetic, anticipating what church life would be like in the 21st century. Within the acts of the apostoloi there are theoretical and practical exemplars which the contemporary church may pattern to navigate a pathway to fruitful evangelism and sustainable growth. Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers. In my former book, theophilus, i wrote about all that jesus began to do and. Biblical strategy and shift to spiritual driven church growth. The recipe for church planting from the book of acts. Its initial chapters describe the churchs founding and early years. The leaders of the church heard of the situation, gathered the church, and responded by addressing the problem.

Pastors that embrace effective church growth strategies are like the leaders of the yankees organization. Acts shows what the early church believed and practiced. A return to the principles and prac tices unfolded in the book of acts is the only reliable answer. This is about principles not techniques for healthy church growth. Persecution arose at jerusalem, and the disciples had to leave for safety. The book of acts records the amazing growth in spite of huge obstacles after the disciples were filled. So the church throughout all judea and galilee and samaria enjoyed peace, being built up. But in the book of acts there is a verse that speaks of growth, and factors are named there that helped this growth occur.

Last week, we talked about how to read the book of acts. The unique aspects of these books of the bible are vividly presented through contemporary illustrations and poignant prayers. Repentance, nature of many in the church conversion, nature of revival, corporate. Church growth principles acts of the apostles christian church.

In the first few chapters of acts we are told how the early church centered her ministries in the city of jerusalem. Acts begins with jesus teaching the apostles about the kingdom of god outside jerusalem, and ends, about thirty years later, with paul teaching gentile christians about the kingdom of god in rome. Growth is an essential quality of the kingdom of god that jesus proclaimed and taught. Philips only requirement was that the man believe the message philip proclaimed to him. They too were involved in taking care of the poor, so as the church grew they struggled with not enough time. But not the kind of growth that would simply satisfy our craving for more members, but the kind of growth that is the result of saving souls. Pdf the depiction of church growth in acts ben wilson. Principles of church growth in the early church ezinearticles. The book begins with the ascension of jesus into heaven acts 1. A church with a steady diet of feelgood sermonettes in place of solid teaching from scripture might eventually grow to become a large congregation but it will be weak.

I read a pile of books and attended most of the big churchgrowth. If we were to employ these same factors, we too, can have church growth. Growth religious awakenings hand of god additions progress gods hand. When you look at the book of acts, you find at least eight characteristics of the early church that positioned them for this kind of blessing from god.

People and churches develop an appetite for what they are accustomed to being fed. Stay tuned for second half of this post where we will address 5 more key principles of church planting from the book of acts. Ludlow whereas the gospel of luke focuses on the life and ministry of jesus christ, the acts of the apostles builds upon what jesus did and taught see acts 1. Pdf evangelism and church growth in the book of acts. Now that we have scriptural leadership in this congregation it is appropriate to begin talking about growth. The testimony of acts is not so much that persecution causes church growth but that church growth and the spread of the gospel tends to cause persecution, as religious and political leaders rise up and try to stop this movement that has caused trouble all. Church growth, church growth principles, church growth factors. But in the book of acts there is a verse that speaks of growth, and factors a re named there that helped this growth occur 3.

What other biblical church growth principles should we add to this list. The book of acts is a story of mission, church planting and church growth and underlines that growth through the church is a significant. Divine empowerment of the early church movement and rapid growth in the apostolic age exegetical analysis of the book of acts xavier becerra using an aspect of exegetical sociorhetorical criticism, this paper identifies four principles of empowerment found within the book of acts in chapters 1, 2, 4, 6 and 15 that are very different. To prove this point, let us take a quick look at church growth in the book of acts, with a special view to the church in jerusalem. For an example of one church growth writers use of acts, see c. Most researchers have still accepted unintentionally these common church growth principles based on opinions of traditional church growth specialists like donald anderson mcgavran. Elmer towns reveals the relevance of the new testament books of acts, hebrews, james, the two books of peter, the three books of john and jude for todays living and learning. This is a theologically solid, albeit basic, survey of church growth principles. This is what cause such great growth in the early church. The book of acts tells the story of the beginning of the church of jesus christ. They had been following jesus and were witnesses of the many miracles he had performed. There is real and needed place for organization in the church. Rick warren asserts that the new testament itself is the most profound book written for the church growth.

At nearly twenty years of age, the book has become dated in places, yet many principles still apply. As the saying goes, you plan the work and work the plan. As god word increased, the church in the book of acts increased. Church growth statements in the book of acts barnes bible charts 2. So, i thought id share eight principles ive learned about church growth. The beginning of the church and its growth t he book of acts records the growth and progress of the church in the first century. The stores about why luke, james, peter, john, and jude wrote their letters set dramatic. While there are some areas of great detail of the acts of the apostles, many times you must use cross references to the gospels of matthew, mark, luke and john as well as some other epistles in the new testament to get the full picture of what was. In it is story after story of the lords hand in the growth of the church through missions and church planting. Church growth strategies that work for every church. Although the age of the apostles was an extraordinary time in the life of the church, the narrative of acts lays out many practical principles for church planting that abide in all times and places.

Lyle schaller, considered one of the best church consultants in the world, states in his book, the very large church. Persecution arose at jerusalem, and the disciples had to leave. They had not ventured out as jesus had commanded in. T he book of acts in the bible, written around 6263 a. Our remarks for this article will come from acts 4. If we echo the actions of the early church, we can expect gods blessing on our church as much as those ancient leaders saw a blessing on the church in jerusalem. Up to this point the apostles had been through a lot already. Professor of new testament studies acadia divinity college, wolfville, nova. The exemplars discussed here, though not exhaustive, may. The book of acts is a key historical record of what the early church believed and practiced. Whereas the old testament depicts evangelism as people coming to god, the lucan perspective demonstrates that gods servants will go to his people.

Find out what your church is hungry for and feed it to them. Begin with the end in mind and know how large you want to be. But the reason this church experienced such remarkable growth was not that the leaders employed the. Paul and the early church were not at odds with the laws of the old testament.

Commission there will be a tremendous increase in church growth. Five reasons the early church grew acts 4 forthright. And he will grow his church as we apply the biblical churchgrowth principles we see in the book of acts. In addition to the history, various kinds of the epistles to the churches record the words regarding the church growth. Church growth in the book of acts a church of christ can and will grow spiritually and numerically when it is faithful to the word of god. To my knowledge, however, no church growth book with a complete focus on acts has been written. The book of acts is a story of mission, church planting and church growth and. Careful examination of the new testament church depicts a vibrant.