How The Church Grows
1-22-2012
Pastor Dan Little
Adfontes.djl@gmail.com
The Landmark Church
Scripture Reading
Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
…. Going to verse 35 we read
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
The point that I want to make this morning is that the love of God made know to us through Jesus, is the animating force behind the phenomenal church growth taking places where becoming a Christian and getting baptized is dangerous.
One of many areas in the world where amazing church growth is happening is among the Dalit people who live in the North-east part of India. In former days (and in certain places still today) they are viewed as less than human. In the English language they are called the untouchables. They have no place in any society except their own. They are not allowed to speak to people other than their own untouchable group. For thousands of years they have lived on nothing, been treated like slaves, and even today live on a dollar or two each day.
But something is happening. They are finding Jesus, and in have found His love so complete, so perfect, so healing, so lifting, so freeing and empowering that they now have a whole new view of themselves, others, and the world they live in.
His healing love is such a deep and daily reality in their lives that they continually seek for ways to share what they have found with others. It is with them as it was with the Apostle Paul;
2 Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ controls and urges and impels us, AMP
They still don’t have much in the way of material wealth but the are rich with the love of Jesus. And if you asked them why they love Jesus so much they will say; 1 John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
He went to the cross in order to forgive our sins. He rose again to give us eternal life. He listens when we pray and every day He is with us and helping us.
The miracles that they see Jesus doing in their own lives and families and villages moves them to ’Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that Jesus’ house may be filled. Luke 14:23
And what is the result?
Thousands of people are being brought to Christ, the churches are filled with joy and expectation and hundreds of new churches are being established every day. These are not mega-churches with sprawling campuses, but local churches that are thriving on the love of God.
So it’s not a church growth program that is behind this. It is happening spontaneously as people hear about and then experience a new kind of life and the amazing and healing love of Jesus.
They find that he defeats sorrow and fear and sadness and depression. He heals their bodies and gives them wisdom, makes them in to new persons and they want to tell everyone about Jesus.
They can’t wait to go tell their families and friends. So what happens is 1 believer becomes 2 becomes 4 becomes 8, becomes 16, becomes 32 and in about 10 or 15 weeks they have hundreds who out of pure joy are bringing others. They begin to see this astounding mathematical progression in the number of believers, all of whom are actively engaged in sharing the love of God with others.
Here in America we very often try to make this kind of growth happen by a means of a church growth program, but among these people it is the love of God that is growing their churches. His love fills their hearts and transforms their lives, and what they have freely received they are freely giving away.
Why do we not see this going on in every church in the United States? Isn’t it because we have all kinds of material things to trust in so we don’t see the need to make a total surrender to a pure trust in God?
We are too busy for God and too busy for each other.
A heart that is convinced and living by faith in the perfect love of Jesus is able to rest wherever it is, or in whatever circumstances it finds. It learns from Jesus how to walk in the unforced rhythms of grace.
I can say as Paul said the Philippian believers: Philippians 4:12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. (NLT)
It is able to rest and feast at the Lord’s table even when surrounded by difficulties. Psalms 23:5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
There is a portion of the Scripture in Hebrews that ends by saying this; Hebrews 13:5 …be content with what you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
What do you think? Is God’s love that constant, that steady, and that reliable? “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Is this claim…
1. absolutely true,
2. sort of true, or
3. not true at all?
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Roman believers saying; Romans 8:28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
…. Going to verse 35 we read
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered."
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
So here are three questions:
1. Do you believe that NOTHING can separate you from the love that God has for you?
2. Do you believe that Jesus loves you so perfectly and so completely and so competently that NOTHING can conquer or harm you?
3. Do you believe that as you rest yourself in Jesus love for you (which simply means you love Him back by trusting Him), that all things work together for you ultimate and final good?
Romans 5: 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
1. Do you believe that it was the pure and undefiled love of God that was shown to you when Christ died for your sins?
2. Do you believe that what Jesus did on the cross for you was so complete and pure that He has removed every trace of every sin from your life at the expense of His own death so that God has no reason to punish you, but only reason to love and care for you?
3. Do you believe that through the love of Jesus you have been perfectly and totally reconciled to God?
You don’t have to agree with everything Brennan Manning says to know that he is right about the irrepressible love of Jesus. Here is near-quote taken from one of his sermons.
In the 48 years since I was first ambushed by Jesus, I am now convinced, that at the end of our journey on Judgment Day the Lord Jesus will ask each of us one question: “Did you believe that I loved you, that I desired you, that I waited for you day after day, that I longed to hear the sound of your voice?”
The real believers there will answer, “Yes Jesus I believed you loved me and I tried to shape my life as a response to your love.”
But many of us who are so faithful in our ministry, in our practice, in our church attendance are going to have to reply, “Frankly, No Sir. I never really believed it. I heard a lot of wonderful sermons and teachings about your love; in fact I gave quite a few myself, but I always had the nagging feeling it was just a way of speaking, a kindly lie, some Christian’s pious pat on the back to cheer me on.”
And there’s the difference between the real Christians and the kind of nominal Christians that abound in our churches across the land.
No one can measure like a believer the depth and intensity of God’s love, but at the same time no one can measure like a believer the effect of our gloom, pessimism, low self esteem, self-hatred and despair that block God’s way to us.
Do you see why it is so important to lay hold of this basic truth of our faith? Because you are only going to be as big as your own concept of God.
Remember the famous line of the French philosopher Blasé Pascal; “God made man in His own image and man has returned the compliment.”?
We often make God in our own image and he turns out to be as fussy, rude, narrow minded, legalistic, judgmental, unforgiving, and unloving as we are.
Just this year I have preached the gospel all over this country and in many places in the world, and honest, the God that I meet out there is a God who is too small for me, because He is not the God of the Word. He is not the God revealed by and in Jesus Christ who this moment comes right to your seat and says…:
‘I have a word for you. I know your whole life’s story, I know every skeleton in your closet, I know every moment of sin, shame and degraded love that has darkened your past. Right now I know your shallow faith, your feeble attempts at prayer, your inconsistent discipleship, and my word is this; I dare you to trust that I love you just as you are and not as you should be, because you are never in this life going to be everything you should be.You must trust that I love you now.”
Manning simply means that we need never doubt God’s love. We need never fear Him as if He might suddenly turn His attention to condemning us rather than saving us. It is in exercising a ruthless trust in His perfect love for us that works to cast out all fear.
He means we would trust God’s love so completely that we would walk through life and toward death without so much as an anxious thought.
1 John 4:16 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, … 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. … 19 We love because he first loved us.
Let us invest our whole selves and lean our entire emotional weight on the love of God that has been shown to us through Jesus Christ.
