The Church as a Growing Community
Acts 2:42-47 (vs. 47)
Do you remember those little choruses we learned at Vacation Bible School? There were several little ditties that were brought out only at VBS time.
One came to my mind as I was preparing this sermon:
Deep and wide; Deep and wide,
There’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.
Deep and wide; Deep and wide,
There’s a fountain flowing deep and wide.
What did that song mean? I’m not sure I knew then or know now, but it must have something to do with growth—going deeper with Jesus and reaching out to include others in the fold of the Christian church.
That’s the focus of this sermon—growth.
This is the last of the 5 sermons I am preaching from Acts 2:42-47. In these 5 messages I lifted up what I believe are 5 essential ingredients to the Christian faith; essential elements that compose the core characteristics of the Christian Church; stands in the DNA that shapes who we are.
I’ve been saying, that wherever the church exists and is what God intends it to be, It will be
Devoted, to the Lord and his teaching,
Filled, with awe at his presence,
Caring for each other’s real needs
Praising God
And now, a growing community
Our text for today is the latter part of Acts 2:47; the last sentence in this section:
And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
1. ADDED suggests Growth.
What is Growth?
First of all, there is individual growth and there is corporate growth; that is growth as individual in your Christian faith and growth for the church as part of the Body of Christ.
God is concerned that as individual believers, we are continually growing in our walk with him. Nothing is more dangerous to the Christian life than complacency. Peter used the word, add, to describe the growth journey of the believer.
2 Peter 1:5-9
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
We know that God desires our continual growth. Actually, I’m of the opinion that one cannot remain stagnant in faith; either one is growing forward or slipping backward. There is no stationary platform on the moving sidewalk of Christian faith.
However, this passage—Acts 2:47—is not talking about individual growth. Clearly it is a reference to the growth of the church—the focus in this text is on corporate growth.
God desires the church to grow, and there are many kinds of growth.
There is growth in faith, in obedience, in program, in finances, etc.
However, this passage is mainly about one kind of growth, as suggested by the word number.
2. Added to their NUMBER suggests numerical growth.
The focus here is on adding more people to the church—growing in numbers.
Now right from the get-go, let me state what I have stated before: my goal is not to simply add people to the church—not to count numbers. My passion is to build a healthy church. However, all healthy organisms grow; and the church, if it is truly healthy, will grow numerically. Growth in quality and quantity is the natural outcome of a healthy organism. If there is no growth; especially if there is decline, then clearly something is wrong with the health of the organism.
Growth for the sake of growth is the ideology of the cancer cell.
Citation: Edward Abbey, Leadership, Vol. 1, no. 1
But growth as a part of church health is the natural design of the Body.
Take the simple example of our granddaughter Yolaine. Every week we are excited to see what new level of development she has achieved.
And why were we so anxious to see at her first and second visits to the Dr, if she had gained any weight?
Because healthy organisms grow.
Other than the modest loss of a few ounces after birth—any further weight loss, would have singled a problem. Immediate attention would have been needed.
But she put on weight, and continues to do so. Now admittedly, the human organism gets to a place in life when enough is enough. I really do not want to add any more weight to my frame—actually, I’m trying to lose 10 lbs (though I’m not trying very seriously. I’ve discovered that simply making the proclamation that I’m going to lose 10 lbs somehow does not make it happen.).
When considering the numerical growth of the church, we must ask ourselves, When is enough, enough?
· Are we big enough when our sanctuary is full?
· Are we big enough when our sanctuary is full once a Sunday, or twice, or three times a week?
· Are we big enough when you can still know everyone who comes here?
· Are we big enough as long as you can know everything that’s going on in the church?
Some things break a pastor’s heart.
At one of my former churches, we were enjoying some modest growth. The congregation had grown about 50% over the last several years. The sanctuary had reached its optimum seating capacity; actually surpassing it on many Sundays. We began to meet to discuss the possibilities; multiple services, building bigger, etc. During this time, several people began to say things like this: The church is big enough; if we grow larger I want know everyone anymore (not that they ever did!)
That attitude broke my heart, and I do not even place a high priority on adding numbers.
It broke my heart because it was so selfish. Our community had hundreds of people who were not going to church and we were worried about being too big!
Here is my simple answer to the question When is enough, enough?
The church is large enough when everyone in it ministry area is going to church somewhere. They do not have to come here. But we cannot rest until everyone in our community is in church somewhere. The church is never big enough until that goal is reached, and don’t ever let yourself think other wise!
3. Added their number DAILY suggests regular growth.
Growing deep and wide needs to be the regular, ongoing focus, mission, and passion of the church. We dare never let up, until all are in the fold. Even if 99% are in the church, we must still ask the question of the Good Shepherd; Where is the one who has gone astray? (Luke 15).
There is no doubt in my mind that God is still adding to his church daily. The church today exist around the world and has organized under thousands of names and worships in a myriad of styles—but it is still one church and God is adding to its numbers daily.
As one individual entity of the Body of Christ—one congregation-- We may not see daily growth in numbers, but we should see regular growth.
Of course my principle that the church will never be collectively more than it is in its individual parts applies here.
Can you say that you, individually, are growing regularly in your faith? If you are, it will show collectively in the church.
I have just reviewed the results of the worship survey that we have taken over the last several weeks. Thanks to each of you for your response, and I will be addressing the survey more fully though another forum. However, I want to say here that I was pleased to see that well over 90% of you find worship here to help you in your spiritual growth. And I was very pleased to see that 51% of you have invited someone to attend church with you in the past 6 months.
There remains yet one more important segment in our focus verse today.
4. Added to their number daily THOSE WHO WERE BEING SAVED suggests new conversion growth.
Is it enough to simply fill our sanctuary?
The concern in the passage before us, and one that resonates with my heart, is not simply about filling the church with people—the focus here is on filling the church with people who were not previously Christians. This verse is about new conversion growth.
There is something else about the church today that breaks my heart—and I want to say this very carefully so as not to be misunderstood.
I frequently hear about this church or that church that has just had a wonderful program. Maybe it was a concert with some leading person in the music ministry; Maybe it was play or drama of some kind; Maybe a diner theater; whatever.
And I hear how wonderful it was. The house was packed out; maybe even repeatedly for several shows or performances.
But when you look around in those crowed halls all you see are the faces of the Christian community of your area. All the church has done is provide a nice evening of what is, at best, inspiration, and at worst, entertainment, for the Christians from other churches.
Oh, they came in busloads, by the carloads, and jammed the place with their presence. The church filled its room; the attendance averages for the year went way up.
But we must ask; what difference did it make? Was anyone added to the church of Jesus Christ?
I do not mean did that church gain a new attendee by luring a member from another church. I mean, was a lost soul converted?
But, you say, it was so inspirational. Really!
Maybe the attendees were inspired—but did it change their lives? Did they leave and begin to share their faith with their neighbors? Did they begin bringing the unchurched to church with them?
We know the answer to these questions. It makes very little difference.
My conviction is simply this: if what we do as a church does not either
· reach the lost or
· move us as Christians deeper in our faith so that we become more obedient to God,
then we are just being busy, and being busy is not good enough.
It is time for the church to stop simply entertaining itself—to stop merely putting on programs for the Christian community--and to get on with its real mission.
Somehow we have to make disciples instead of inspiration junkies.
Citation: Bill Self, Leadership, Vol. 5, no. 1.
Now let me carefully say that I am not against Christian entertainment. There is a time and place for it. But right now, that’s about all I see the church doing.
It is not that programs of inspiration are wrong—but if they do not contribute to our growth—either individually or corporately—then we are missing the mark.
I care very little about simply filling a sanctuary, if it is only re-corralling the sheep of another sheepfold; or providing entertainment for the sheep.
We are called to
Rescue the perishing
Care for the dying
God desires to add to the church daily those who are being saved.
I know someone will say: But before we reach out, we must take care of our own needs.
I like what Elizabeth O’Connor says in her book Journey Inward, Journey Outward:
While it is a crucial mistake to assume that churches can be on an outward journey without being on an inward one, it is equally disastrous to assume that one can make the journey inward without taking the journey outward.
Christianity Today, Vol. 34, no. 4.
I think O’Connor is right on with this one.
It is not either/or but both/and.
In other words, our choice is not to either take care of our needs or reach out to the lost. Our only option is to both take care of our needs and reach out.
The fact is, many of our spiritual ills result from our own ingrown nature. If we get involved rescuing the lives of others, our own issues often fade away.
That is growth.
May the Lord add to his church—here and wherever it exists—today, everyday, for forever more!
