The forgotten church growth method

   We are bombarded with a litany of church growth methods: seeker service; loud, contemporary music; bright, colorful lights; dress-down attire; feel-good sermons; relevant video clips.  And the list grows longer each day.

   I have found one effective church growth paradigm for the church I pastor, and it is based on the promise of our Lord Jesus Christ, "I will build my church" (Matt. 16:18).  The Lord, not I, will build His church: not just the universal church, the body of Christ, but the local assembly as well.   I have daily claimed this promise.  In addition, the Lord has given me another promise to claim: upon my knees He will build His church.  Daily I kneel before Him, asking Him to bring the increase.  I simply preach His Word: no powerpoint; no video clips; no gimmicks. The result of implementing this new concept of trusting Jesus daily on my knees is: within the last 3 1/2 months of this year I have seen more new faces show up, old faces return, and increase in membership than previously.

   Claiming Jesus' promise on my knees each day has been more effective than other church growth paradigms that I have relied upon in the past.  To Him I am thankful, and to Him I give all the glory.

Man's Constant Search for an Easy Religion

   In every man's soul is a search for God, evidenced by some form of worship or religion in all cultures, including the most primitive.  But for many, that search ends in the discovery of an easy religion, one that cost little.  We find this inclination in King Jeroboam, ruler of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.  God had commanded all Jews to worship in the holy city of Jerusalem.  Jeroboam was fearful that if Israel were to worship in that holy city, they would join forces with the Southern Kingdom and unite against him.  To prevent worship in Jerusalem, Jeroboam set up two cities of worship: one in the city of Dan and the other in the city of Beersheba.  The reason Jeroboam gave to curtail worship in Jerusalem was that the city was too far to travel. 

   We read in 1 Kings 12:28, "So the king consulted, and made two golden calves, and he said to them, 'It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel.'"  In other words, the journey to Jerusalem is "too much for you" for worship.  I have built two cities of worship much closer to you; worship there instead.  Thus, the inhabitants of Israel worshipped in these two nearby cities rather than in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had appointed. 

   For many, this has been their search: a religion that cost little, offers minimal sacrifice, and least commitment.

   King David, on the other hand, sought a form of worship that cost him much with a price to pay.  In 2 Samuel 24:24 David uttered, "'For I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God which cost me nothing.'" So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver."

   Herein is the contrast: disciples of the Lord seek a religion that is demanding; those who are not His disciples do not.

   True worship cost.