Church Growth (1)

Introduction to Church Growth

Mike Johnson

What can we do to make our congregation grow? Church members often ask this question.

It is essential for a church to grow. First, to even continue to exist, it must grow. A church that is not increasing over a period of time is dying. Second, the growth of a congregation by obtaining new converts is a reflection of more and more people obeying the gospel and entering into a proper relationship with God. The more who become Christians and serve God faithfully, the better.

In the Old Testament, Isaiah 2 prophetically speaks of the growth, which would take place in the Lord’s church. Verses 2-3 say, “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days That the mountain of the Lord’s house Shall be established on the top of the mountains, And shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, To the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, And we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem’”

Jesus spoke of the growth of the kingdom when he presented the Parable of the Mustard Seed. In Matthew 13:31-32, He taught, “. . . the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”

The church at Jerusalem grew a great deal. Please note the following passages in Acts.

2:41– “Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.”
2:47– “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”
4:4– “However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”
5:14 – “And believers were increasingly addedto the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.”
6:7– “Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.”

Persecution did not even stop the growth of the early church. In contrast, it seems opposition caused a more significant increase. After Stephen’s death (Acts 7), there was a great persecution against the Jerusalem church. Saul was a leader in this, and the Scriptures point out how he made “havoc” of the church, entering into the houses of the early disciples and casting them into prison (Acts 8:3). Yet, instead of Christians being stifled, Acts 8:4 points out, “Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word.” This preaching resulted in even more growth.

When I was a child, I saw a large and dangerous-looking spider on our kitchen floor. I hit the spider with the heel of a shoe with one deadly blow. The instant I hit the spider, baby spiders shot out crawling rapidly from their mother, in every direction. In trying to kill the mother, I had spread the brood. Similarly, blows against the church only caused God’s Word to spread over a broader area.

Not only did the Jerusalem church grow, but also churches were started throughout the area. A church was established in Samaria; a man was converted from Ethiopia (Acts 8); the first Gentiles were taught in Caesarea (Acts 10); through various missionary journeys by Paul and others, churches started in many places. Paul even pointed out in Colossians 1:23 that God’s Word was preached to every creature under heaven.

In this series, we will discuss church growth. We will discuss different concepts of growth, improper methods of growth, factors in growth, and various reasons why churches dwindle. There is value in analyzing this issue.