Church Growth In Acts P.

Church Growth in Acts

Int.

1. Aim: To show how the gospel was extended from Jerusalem throughout Judea and

Samaria and “to the end of the earth.”

2. Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you

shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of

the earth.”

3. Acts is a source book for church growth

a. Church growth was not primary concern of Luke

b. Major purpose was to show a victory of Christianity

c. The gospel had to overcome racial and cultural barriers, but yet it became the

message for every creature

4. Even with all these barriers notice the GROWTH:

a. In Number

b. In area

c. In Appeal

d. In Spirituality

Discussion

I. NUMERICAL GROWTH

A. Attention by Luke to numerical growth with Jews

1. Jerusalem

a. Began with about 120 = 1:15

b. 3,000 on Pentecost = 2:41

c. Increase day by day = 2:47

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d. 5,000 men = 4:4

e. Multitudes of men & women = 5:14

f. Multiplied greatly = 6:1,7

2. Palestine - scattered by persecution

a. Acts 9:31

b. Acts 12:24 continued- were multiplied

c. Acts 21:20 many thousands. .. .had believed

3. Samaria

a. Multitudes responded - 8:16

b. Baptized 8:12

4. Ethiopian Eunuch

a. On road to Gaza

b. Converted - baptized - 8:26=39

5. Lydda & Dorcas turned to the Lord 9:35

6. Joppa - many believed in the Lord 9:42

B. Growth in numbers with Gentiles

1. Cornelius - 10

2. Antioch in Syria - 11:21 A great number ...turned to the Lord

3. Acts 11:24,26 “large company”

4. Paul & Barnabas - missionary journeys

a. Cyprus - Salamis - Sergius Paulus

b. Antioch of Pisidia 13:48-49 “Word of the Lord Spread throughout all the

region.”
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C. The Church today must be concerned with growth in NUMBER!

1. Numbers represent SOULS!

a. Every soul is worth more than whole world - Matt. 16:26

b. We must be interested in every soul

2. We must grow in number and be concerned about numbers

3. To be concerned with numbers just for the sake of bragging that we've grown

would be sinful!

4. BUT let us be interested in numbers for the sake of souls!

II. GROWTH IN AREA — Geographic

A. Acts is concerned with showing how the gospel went to all the world

1. It records how the church was planted in places where it did not yet exist

2. Acts 1:8 Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria & Uttermost part of the earth

3. Spread like circles that come when you throw a rock in a pool of still water

B. Key Cities — then go out from there

1. Jerusalem

a. It was the starting place for all

b. Judea, Galilee & Samaria all evangelized from Jerusalem

2. Antioch in Syria

a. Acts 11:21, 24, 26

b. Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Silas,

3. Antioch in Pisidia - Acts 13:49

4. Ephesus - All Asia heard Acts 19:10

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5. Rome - Acts 28:30-31

6. Romans 10:18 - ends of world

7. Col. 1:23 - to every creature

8. Acts 17:6 - turned world upside down

9. Mark 16:15

C. Mission Work

1. Be concerned with taking the gospel to all parts of this world

2. The people of Africa, Asia, Europe have souls that are valuable

3. Christ died for them just like He died for us!

4. If we are not interested in taking the gospel to all the world then we are not

really interested in taking the gospel to any of the world

5. The Church in Acts grew in area

a. Paul went on Missionary journeys -

b. Other churches sent him out

c. He received support from churches back home!

III. GROWTH IN APPEAL (to every creature)

A. The gospel is for every creature

1. Mark 16:15 - creature = the product of the creative act

2. Acts 2:17-18 - “all flesh” - Joel

a. It refers to all human beings, whole of humanity (Morgan p.57)

b. Persons of all nationalities (McGarvey p.28)

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B. In Acts the Gospel was taken to all flesh

1. 2:14 “All ye that dwell at Jerusalem”

2. 2:36 “All the house of Israel”

3. 5:15 “multitudes of men and women..

4. 8:12 “they were baptized both men and women”

5. People with different kinds of jobs and backgrounds

a. Priests -6:7

b. Sorcery - magician 8:9

c. Treasurer of Ethiopia - 8:27

d. Seamstress 9:39 - Tabitha

e. Tanner - 9:43

f. Centurion - 10:1

g. Proconsul 13:7 - Roman Deputy

h. Merchant -seller of purple - 16:14

i. Jailer - 16:27

j. Tentmakers 18:3

k. Ruler of Synagogue 18:8

C. The Church must grow in Appeal - we must take the gospel to all creatures

1. Rich and poor - all

2. We must not limit our prospects! Many are judged unworthy or uninterested

before any effort has been made !

3. Gal. 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there

is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
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4. Col. 3:11 “Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision,

Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.”

5. We must take the Gospel to all creatures

a. Farmer

b. factory worker

c. Black man - and white man d.

d. Rich and poor

e. School teacher

f. Truck driver

g. Merchant

h. Carpenter

i. young and old

j. Mechanic

k. Computer programmer

D. Appealing

1. Light shine

2. Peace that passeth

3. Love for All

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IV. GROWTH IN SPIRITUALITY

A. The Church in acts not only grew in number, area and appeal it also grew in

spirituality or quality! Not just quantity but also in quality

B. It grew to be more like Jesus

1. Acts 1:1 - He told before “of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.”

2. Jesus is described in Acts 3:14 as the “Holy one” and the just

3. In Acts 10:38 it is said that he “Went about doing good, and healing all that were

oppressed of the devil;”

C. Therefore it grew in Spirituality

1. Acts 9:31 “edified”

2. Acts 16:5 “established in the faith” as they increased in number

3. Acts 11:23 Cleave unto the Lord

D. God desires that we grow spiritually

1. II Pet. 3:18 - grow in grace and in Knowledge

2. I Pet. 2:2

3. Signs of spiritual growth

a. Obedience to all God's commands

b. Faithfulness in worshiping God

c. Increase of love to fellow man

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V. How did they accomplish all of this?

A. First, notice what they did not do to accomplish this.

1. They did not establish world-wide organizations of churches.

2. They did not storm Rome for a change in legislation.

3. They did not develop armies to take the world by force.

4. They did not take on social agendas to conquer social issues.

5. They did not develop parachurch organizations.

6. In fact, they did not really set out to change the world.

B. Notice what they did do.

1. They did not set out to change the world; they set out to change individuals.

a. While there were groups of people converted, conversion was always an

individual issue.

b. As more individuals put on the new man (Ephesians 4:22-24) the world was

changed.

2. They changed individuals by teaching.

a. In Acts 2, the multitude was changed based on the preaching of the apostles

(Acts 2:40).

b. In Acts 8, the Samaritans were changed because of the teaching of Philip

(Acts 8:5).

c. The eunuch was changed by teaching (Acts 8:35).

d. Saul was changed by teaching (Acts 9:6).

e. Cornelius was changed by teaching (Acts 11:14).

f. There is only one way to change people. We must teach them the gospel. As

Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.”
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3. They realized they weren’t the ones doing the changing.

a. In I Corinthians 3:5-7, Paul claimed that his job was simply to teach. God

would bring the increase.

b. The early Christians had success because they leaned on God, not on

themselves.

c. They understood that they could do all things through God who strengthened

them (Philippians 4:13).

d. They understood that God would work through them and accomplish great

things (Ephesians 3:20-21).

e. Because of this, the scripture records that the hand of the Lord was with

them (Acts 11:21).

4. If we are going to change people, we must lean on God to do the changing.

a. Our job is just to do the teaching.

b. If we do, God’s hand will be with us and He will accomplish great things for

His kingdom through us.

CONCLUSION

1. The book of Acts is a history of the ACTIONS OF THE early church

a. These actions or work resulted in growth

b. In A short while the church grew to such proportions that man has never been able

to reproduce it.

c. They grew in:

(1) Number
(2) Area
(3) Appeal
(4) Spirituality
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2. The reason they grew was that the word of God was spread

a. Acts 12:24 “But the word of God grew and multiplied

b. Acts 19:20 “So mightily grew the word of God and prevailed”

3. When we let the word of God grow in our hearts then our lives will show the increase

“it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall

prosper in the thing whereto I sent” Isa. 55:11

4. We can have this same kind of response and growth, but only if we do what those

Christians did, teaching others the Gospel.

a. At the beginning of the book there were only 120 disciples.

b. At the end there were thousands upon thousands and congregations all over the

known world.

5. We have the same Gospel. The question is what will we do with it?

Nelson Chapel Church of Christ 5039 Six Mile Road Maryville, Tn. 37803 Sunday Evening - April 9, 2017
www.nelsonchapelchurchofchrist.org

Serm on by Arthur Pigm an - 2705 Druid Hill Dr. Maryville, Tn. 37804 art65ann@ gm ail.com