The Apostles' Pattern For Church Growth (Part 2)

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GOG - 20 - 291: The Apostles’ Pattern For Church Growth (Part 2)

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(Part 1) Pastor Nkechi Ene (Mrs.) In the rst part of this article, we learnt about two strategies to adopt for church growth; evangelism and soul-winning at every opportunity and utilizing the power of the Holy Ghost. In this part, we will learn more from the second point: Utilizing the power of the Holy Ghost.

To utilize the power of the Holy Ghost, you have to stay in line with God's Word, and God's purpose over your life. You are unique, and God has a unique purpose for your life. In Acts 2:12-47, when the people came to Peter and accused them of being drunk on wine, what did he do? He began to say what the Word of God was over that situation. He said, “This is what Prophet Joel talked about. It may look unusual to you, it may look strange to you, but this has been the purpose of God from time”.

When people don't understand something different, they can slander or talk about it negatively. Although People ght or attack something different, there is still a part of them that is attracted to something different. You don't have to change your uniqueness to have church growth. You can maintain your uniqueness and maintain God's purpose for your life. It may take you some time, people may ght back on something different, but when you persist with what God has said over your life and persist with the pattern that God has given to you, that part of them that is interested in something different will be drawn to you.

Do not do certain things in order to get people to respond to the gospel, do things

according to the pattern, purpose, and the Word of God over your life. This applies greatly to Christian businessmen as well. As long as you stay with what God has said over your life, people will respond to the gospel.

When you want to activate the power of the Holy Ghost over any area of your life, speak what God says about you over that area. During the early years of The Carpenter's Church, when two or more members bought new cars, a few people will say to our Pastor, “Ahh! Charlie, you have a millionaire church”. Pastor Charles will always respond, “Amen!

God promised me that we would have abundance. Yes, it's a millionaire church”. Today, we are indeed a wealthy church. The man of God kept his confession in line with what God had to say. Do not put yourself under any pressure to defend the gospel to people.

If your spouse is not born again, keep telling him or her, “You won't only get born again, you will serve actively in God's house”. Speak the Word over situations, and you will see the power of God at work. I remember when my oldest sister got born again, and she came home and was generally wanting to show everybody that she had received something that the others didn't have, and we all generally harassed her. We called her all kinds of names. On a particular day, we said all kind of mean things to her, then she looked right in our eyes and said, “Look, I have prayed with my Pastor, and I have believed God that

every single one of you will serve God and get born again before you ever leave the face of this earth”. She could have taken offence at her younger ones teasing her, but she didn't. Today, every single one of us is saved, and my father got saved before he passed on. When you say what God's Word has to say over any situation in spite of the mockery you face, God's power will be released. There may be people who have said all kinds of things to you, and because of that, you are afraid to minister to them or invite them to church. No, you don't need to be afraid, go ahead, and reach them with the gospel.

Center Your Message Around The Resurrected Christ 22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, (everybody say Jesus of Nazareth) a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucied, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.

Acts 2:22-24

The third strategy we will look at is to center your message around the resurrected Christ. If you want the unbeliever to get born again, and you want real and lasting church growth,

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GOG - 20 - 291: The Apostles’ Pattern For Church Growth (Part 2)

you've got to center your message around the resurrected Christ. There was a statement Pastor Charles always made when the Carpenter's Church began, and that was, “I don't want to raise banana Christians”. He wanted people who were ready to serve God. Peter said, “Men of Israel”, having told them what Prophet Joel said, he continued, “This Jesus, whom you crucied … God has raised Him up and now, He is the Lord and Christ”. Church growth is not about building monuments to yourself. It's not about propagating one particular person, and the person becomes the god over the people, no! Centre your message around the resurrected Jesus when you preach to people. Many things might attract them to you, but make sure that doesn't take your focus off the gospel.

The gospel is the good news that Jesus loves them, and died for them.

If somebody very thirsty meets you, and you give such a person a glass of very cold water; two days later, the same person meets you, and you still give the person a glass of very cold water, after a while, the person will ask you, “Where are you getting this water from?”

Somebody once made a very profound statement on a Christian channel, he said, “These days, Christians are known for what they don't believe in more than for what they believe in”. You don't see them with as much courage and conviction declaring what they believe in. Christians are quick to say even in political circles, and it is right, that abortion is not good; that's okay, but for the same Christians to extend the love of God to somebody who had hurt them, it's rare. When the unbeliever comes in contact with you, you can tell him the good news, which is the core of your belief.

Do people know you believe in unconditional love? Do they know that you believe it doesn't matter how far somebody has gone in sin, that God can take the person, use the person and make the person brand new? Are you willing to go to the prison or clubs to minister to people and get them saved because you know the unconditional love of God? Can you declare what you believe?

Center your message around the resurrected Jesus who has been raised from the dead, and because He's alive today, He can give life to other people.

38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of

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sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

39 For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”

Acts 2:38-39

Salvation cuts across racial barriers, educational barriers, generational barriers, and every kind of barrier. There are some people you will reach by virtue of where you are. It's good to have targeted evangelism, but don't exclude anyone. Don't look at somebody and conclude that the person cannot t in. Your responsibility is to preach the gospel and invite people to church. Nobody is excluded, because the Word says, “For God so loved the world that He gave …”. God didn't exclude anyone, so you don't have a right to.

Your housemaid lives with you for four years and goes back an unbeliever because you never spoke the Word, you excluded her

from the gospel. You shouldn't do that.

Getting her born again could be the beginning of a change in her life and family, she can now go home and get the members of her family saved. You don't know what point of contact God made by letting that lady come to live with you, but you just shut the person out. You've never preached the gospel to her, and then you wonder why she knocked your children's teeth out when you were not there. Your driver brings you to church and leaves, and you never preach the gospel to him because you think he's not worthy of the gospel or can't t in. You miss the whole point when you do that. Won't it be nice to have a driver, a cook, a steward, and a housemaid who are born again?

Be A Worthy Ambassador Of Your Message 44Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, 45 and sold their possessions and goods, and dividedthem among all, as anyone had need.

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,

the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.

Acts 2: 44-47 The fourth strategy we will look at is to be a worthy ambassador of your message. To enable church growth, you must be a worthy ambassador of your message, and a worthy ambassador of the gospel. Let your character line up with what you preach. Let it not be said that somebody left the church or the faith because of you. A city on a hill, Jesus said, will be seen. Your lifestyle and Christian character in your workplace can attract people, you don't have to necessarily call them and preach the gospel. Your exhibition of the love of Jesus Christ, your exhibition of integrity, your exhibition of excellence in the things you do can cause people to ask questions and follow in your footprints.

God is causing people to have promotions, causing them to prosper nancially, causing them to have divine healing testimonies, and all kinds of things are happening, but you must remember the core purpose for it. The core purpose is that somebody else will say, “If God can do this, then I want to be a part of what God is doing”.

That's the purpose at the end of the day.

That trial you're going through, that seems to be defying medical solution or defying even legal understanding, when the miracle comes, and you are able to have stood on God's Word on whatever you needed or trusted God for, and the miracle went through, when you give the testimony, people will come. That's the purpose, that's the passion in the heart of God. People are dying every day and going to hell; people that think they experienced hell on earth will nd out that it was heaven on earth they experienced by the time they die without Jesus. Some of our classmates, our friends, our neighbours, our family members, and even blood members in our families are dying and going to hell, or they are on their way there, and we can just sit back and check our bank accounts, no!

That's not the heart of Jesus.

Get far away from lethargy, and inertia. Get up and do what God wants you to do so that you can make the impact that He has called you to make. Having a purpose is not enough, you must activate that purpose and walk in it. Evangelize and win souls at every opportunity, utilize the power of the Holy Ghost, center your message around the resurrected Jesus, and be a worthy ambassador of your message.

47 praising God and having favor with all

The Carpenter’s Church, Greenville, Port Harcourt. All rights reserved. No portion of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means - electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording or any other form, without the prior permission of the above.