Church Growth God’s Way
Sermon by the Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo at True Life BPC,
17 April 2011
Many books have been written about church growth. How to have a big church, megachurch of 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 members? The modern-day church growth gurus say, “The secret is to give the people that they want, give them what they like. It is a consumer’s world, it is a buyer’s market, the customer is king. So make the church exciting and entertaining, not stiff and stuffy. Make the church user-friendly. Image is important, so learn from the multinationals about marketing, advertising, branding. Print glossy leaflets and banners. Make the church look good and relevant for the 21st century—away with the old-fashioned and outdated ways which do not work anymore.”
The Need for the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures
Is this God’s way of growing the church? The church in the early days grew for sure. Acts 6:1 tells us that “the number of the disciples was multiplied.” How did the church grow in terms of number? Let’s look at the historical background. Jesus had already died on the cross, risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, and commanded His disciples in Acts 1:8, “And ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” This is the secret to church growth, not through worldly means and ways but through the power of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scriptures. When the Holy Spirit came and filled the disciples they preached the Word of God, and the Word of God powerfully convicted the heart of sinners to confess their sins and believe in Jesus Christ.
So, from a small group of 120 in Acts 1:15, they grew to 3000 after Pentecost (Acts 2:41), and then 5000 more in Acts 4:4, the number kept increasing (Acts 5:14). In Acts 6:7, we find even “a great company of priests” believing in Christ, adding to the membership. It is all due to the Word of God. The church grew as a result of (1) the faithful exposition of the Scriptures (Acts 2:16-21), (2) the preaching of the gospel viz, the death, burial and resurrection of Christ (Acts 2:22-24, 29-32), and (3) the application of the Word to the hearers without fear and favour of men (Acts 2:23, 36). What happened next? There was powerful conviction of sin and a great turning towards God and Christ for salvation (Acts 2:37-41). Note that it was not a popular message that Peter preached. He rebuked them for their sins and their errors. It was not a man-pleasing message. In fact, you can say it was quite offensive. But when the Holy Spirit works in the hearts of men, it brings results.
The Apostles preached the simplicity and purity of the Gospel (Acts 4:1-5) which led to the conversion of so many. They did not offer the people money to win them to Christ. The Apostle Peter said in Acts 3:6, “Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.” Peter went on to testify before the Sanhedrin, “Be it known unto you all, to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole” (Acts 4:10). The Apostles were filled with the Spirit and preached the gospel boldly (Acts 4:31, 33). The Apostles engaged in solid doctrinal preaching and teaching (see Acts 5:28-32). And despite being threatened and beaten, they did not cease “to teach and preach Jesus Christ” (Acts 5:43).
Do we hear this kind of a preaching and teaching nowadays? A lot of preaching today is done to please man not God, to make people feel good about themselves, making them think that with wealth and health they are fine and well with God when they are not. A lot of preaching today uses the philosophy and psychology of the world like the positive/possibility/selfesteem thinking and teachings of Robert Schuller and Joel Osteen, of Kong Hee and Joseph Prince. Be warned, beware!
The Apostle Paul was perhaps the greatest missionary of the Christian church. What was the secret of his success? He testified in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, “And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” The pulpit ministry of True Life will be this kind of a ministry, God-honouring, Christ-centred, Spirit-filled, Word-based. Do pray for it.
The Priority of Feeding God’s Flock with God’s Word
There is a need to care for the spiritual as well as the physical needs of God’s people, especially those who are poor and destitute. James 1:27 says, “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.” That was what the first believers did. They demonstrated their faith in Christ by showing charity to others especially fellow believers who are in material need. However, with an increasing number of believers in the church, the 12 Apostles found it difficult to cope (Acts 6:1). Eventually, the Greek speaking Jews became unhappy with their Hebrew-speaking brethren because their widows were neglected in the distribution of food and funds. This could be due to a communication problem because those in Jerusalem spoke Hebrew or Aramaic and not Greek, and so due to a lack of communication or to miscommunication, the Greek-speaking Jews missed out.
The Apostles wisely said that their main duty was a spiritual one, feeding the members with spiritual food and taking care of their spiritual needs (Acts 6:2). They needed to appoint men to help them “serve tables.” The word for “serve” here is the word for “deacons” (diakoneo). The word for “tables” here refer to the dispensing of funds—tables were used by bankers in those days to conduct their business (cf Matt 21:12). Seven men were chosen from among the church members to serve as deacons. They had to be “honest” (morally clean, “not greedy of filthy lucre”), and “full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom.” They need the wisdom to size up every situation and make the right decisions. They also need to be discerning for some could be swindlers and cheats. We should not give money to people who will use it for sinful activities (eg, gambling, drugs). I have come across a few of them, and they are very good at spinning a convincing tale of why they need the money, cleverly hiding the real reason.
There are however those with genuine needs. For example, Niang Hoi the young girl from the Yangon New Life Orphanage who had to be hospitalised for appendicitis and later for a heart disease, and we sent money to help with the hospital and medical expenses. She is now fully recovered and very happy and grateful to the Lord. Galatians 6:10 tells us, “As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.”
In Acts 6:5, we find seven appointed to take care of over 5000 members, the two prominent ones being Stephen and Philip. We at True Life have six (we could not have more because our constitution limits one deacon to every 40 communicant members). Praise the Lord all have been voted in, namely Philip Goh, Charles Kan, Leong Kwok Whye, Tai Mern Yee, Wilson Tan, and Tan Beng Lee. They are all worthy to be deacons of True Life with the necessary spiritual qualifications.
The appointment of deacons to assist in the administrative affairs of the church allowed the Apostles to give themselves fully to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Elder Joseph and I have both been elected into the office of overseers or presbyters, he as a ruling elder, and I a teaching elder or the pastor. By God’s grace we will be overseeing primarily the spiritual affairs of the church. It goes without saying that I will be preaching more often from this pulpit and Elder Joseph will continue in his excellent ministry of teaching at the Adults Sunday School which is a very important ministry. May more attend FEBC classes so as to be equipped to teach God’s Word.
God’s Work Done in God’s Way Will Achieve the Impossible
Such an arrangement in the first church brought about a good result. Verse 7 says, “And the word of God increased.” With the increase of God’s Word also came an increase in membership for many more believers were added into the church through the faithful preaching of God’s Word. “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom 10:17). What is remarkable is that many of the priests serving in the Jerusalem temple got converted as well (Acts 6:7). The religious leaders were the ones who crucified Christ and persecuted the Christians, and yet now we see them getting converted repenting of their sins. How was this possible? How could such men be saved? They were so proud, so hardened, so unbelieving, so stuck to their old ways. Listen to what Jesus said, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.” (Matt 19:26).
True Life BPC has completed her first seven years as a church which upholds without equivocation the Word of Life fully inspired and fully preserved (Ps 12:6, 7; Matt 5:18). Our first sabbatical jubilee was celebrated last year. What will the next seven years be like? What more can we do for the Lord? How will the Lord use us? Let us press on for Christ with full of faith. “Press on for Christ” is the theme for this year’s church camp. I will be the speaker. Make the effort to come. I am sure all who
come will be blessed by the Lord, and will taste a little of heaven on earth.
