Priniples of Church Growth.

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Biblical Definition of the Church
The church is the people who are called by God in Christ. It is the living, systematic,
and public expression of God's sovereignty initiated by Christ's incarnation.
The church is a chosen generation and a holy nation, and is represented by more
than 100 instances of words, parables, and symbols in the New Testament.
The universal church is composed of all genuine believers from all denominations
and represents different cultures, languages, ethnicity, tribes and castes.
The local church is a human institution ordained by God that comprises both
believers and non-believers who profess to be the followers of Christ.
The church is in a period of transition, but is on its pilgrimage toward the eternal city.
When the king comes, the church will inherit the kingdom and this kingdom will be
realized throughout the whole universe.
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The Theological Definition of a Church
The church is New Testament doctrine and the word "church" never appears in the
Old Testament. It was introduced and initiated by Jesus Christ and has some
features and characteristics that are found in Matthew 18-20.
The Roman Catholic Church has maintained that the church was built on the person
of Peter, but the rest of the New Testament makes abundantly clear that Christ alone
is the foundation and only head of His church.
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Jesus pointed up the certainly of the church, declaring, "I will build My church." The
church will be built, no matter how liberal, fanatical, ritualistic, apathetic, or apostate
its outward adherents may be.
Jesus spoke of the invincibility of the church, which the gate of Hades shall not
overpower, because the Lord has conquered sin and death on her behalf.
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A church is an assembly of professing believers, under the discipline of the Word of
God, and reflects the spiritual gifts.
A New Testament church is an assembly of believers who are baptized upon
believing in Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ dwells in the midst of His people. The church is His body and He is its
Head.
Doctrinal commitment is essential for a New Testament church, for both Christ and
the Bible are the Word of God.
The early Church did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ, and had
an effective organized program for evangelism and discipleship.
A church exercises the two ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper when it
assembles together. Baptism signifies faith and the salvation act of God performed in
response to faith.
Every Christian receives spiritual gifts from the Holy Spirit, who is also the agent who
works all these things.
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The Description of the Church in the Scripture
The extended metaphor of the church as the body of Christ is used by Paul in 1 Cor.
12:12-27.
The human body is marvellously complex yet unified, with unparalleled harmony and
interrelatedness. The church is the complex structure of the body of Christ, which
carries on living activities by means of the individual believers.
There are many Christian organizations, denominations, agencies, clubs and groups
of every sort, but there is only one church, of which every true believer in Christ is a
member. There is no true church life without Christ life, and every believer therefore
is a part of Christ.
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Saucy states that the church is the member of Christ, and that the church owed its
very existence to the person and work of Christ.
If we remember that the church is the people, we will see that church is no longer
perceived as a program that some people put on for others to watch, and that
ministry is for everyone, not merely the clergy.
The Church as the Temple of the Holy Spirit This metaphor describes two things:
first, that Christians' bodies are not their own, but are the Lord's, members of Christ,
and temples of the Holy Spirit, who has been given by God to indwell us.
We were bought with a price, and our bodies are God's temple. We are to live so that
we can glorify God, who alone is worthy of our obedience and adoration.
Paul used the metaphor of a building when he wrote of the church, and the
foundation he laid was Christ Himself and His teaching. Some builders have tried to
make other foundations, but the only foundation is Jesus Christ.
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The figure of the building of God bears similarities to that of the body, and it grows
into a temple in Christ. The Gentiles are built together with the Jews to be a dwelling
of God in the Spirit.
The picture of the bride and groom is one of the most beautiful images of the church,
and it illustrates Christ's limitless love for His bride. He supplies her with every
necessity for health and welfare.
The church as the bride must submit unto Christ, just as the wife is to her husband in
the marriage relationship. A church that does not properly respond to the direction of
the head is crippled, paralyzed, or convulsive.
The New Testament church is composed of sheep from both Israel and the Gentiles.
Jesus purchased the church with His own blood and provides for its every need,
including spiritual nourishment through the ministry of the Word.
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The Purpose of the Church
Craig Van Gelder 4 says that the purpose of the church is to live as a unified
community in sacrificial love and fellowship, as a people of God, as the body of
Christ, and as the creation of the Spirit.
George Peters5 suggests three missions of the church: worship, discipleship, and
evangelism.
Millard Erickson6 presents four purposes with which the church is charged to carry
out: (1) evangelism, (2) edification, (3) worship, and (4) social concern. He strongly
stresses the social concern.
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Robert Lightner lists three missions of the church in the world: to exalt the Savior, to
edify the people of God, and to evangelize the lost. Zuck emphasizes three purposes
of church: worship, community, and testimony.
Rick Warren8 states that the purposes of the church are to worship the Lord, love
your neighbour as yourself, minister to them, make disciples, and teach them to
obey.

Importance of Church Growth

A Biblical mandate for church growth is probably best associated with Jesus'
commission for His church to go and "...make disciples" (Matt. 28:19). The
environment of the church is required for new believers to develop spiritual virtues,
including a deeper love for God and others.
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Dr. C. Peter Wagner views evangelism as the strongest motive for a growing
congregation. He says that God wants men and women ever ywhere to come to Him
and into the church of Jesus Christ. The majority of churches are still not growing,
perhaps because they are putting the cart before the horse. Pastors and leaders
need to remember that Jesus is the one who builds His church, not them, and they
need to concentrate on living for Jesus and preaching Jesus.
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When a church begins to absorb and emulate the character of Jesus, it will exhibit
the qualities and climate that naturally lend toward growth. The spiritual character of
the church bears spiritual seed that contributes toward the harvest of souls.
Love, commitment, openness, unity, flexibility and vision are the qualities that make
a good leader.
Statistics show that the primary agent of church growth is not the preaching and
warm personality of the pastor, or the visitation programs, or the crusades with well-
known speakers. Instead, it is the influence of a friend or relative.
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The most potent agent of church growth is the person in the pew, and the two great
reasons why persons stick in a church are (1) relationship bonds, and (2) a task or
role of service that provides a sense of purpose.
In order for a church to grow larger, it must also grow smaller. Cell groups are
believed to be the best environment for developing relationship bonds and being
able to use gifts and roles in service.
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There are many opinions on church growth, including seven simple steps to explode
growth now and organizations that reveal the secret to growth for money.
Two very different opinions on church growth from two very different camps: The
modern church growth movement and pragmatists. The modern church growth
movement focuses on leadership, engaging culture and executing at a high level.
Jesus used a farming analogy to explain how the kingdom of God grows: the farmer
plants the seed, and it grows by itself, but the farmer isn't in control of that process,
and doesn't even fully understand it.
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Paul says he planted churches, Apollos came along and watered the seed, but God
gave the increase. Pragmatists and spiritualists agree that both approaches are
required for church growth.

Different Kinds of Church Growth

Church growth happens when people share the gospel with friends and neighbours.
The Outreach 100 Fastest-Growing Churches list is based exclusively on this type of
growth.
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Spiritual growth happens when the people in the church come to love and follow
Jesus. This kind of growth is reported in the book of Acts, as new believers gathered
in homes for community and prayer.
Kingdom growth happens when there is both spiritual and numerical growth. The
Bible says the Church grew through multiplication, and the church at Antioch
intentionally got smaller, which resulted in the Church getting larger.

The Tension Between Growth and Health

Since the formation of the early church, Christians have been arguing over where we
should put our focus. Some churches are focused on church growth, while others are
focused on church health.
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The tension between growth and health is a good thing. When the church loved God
and loved their neighbour, the Gospel spread, and the church grew because of
Jesus-cantered teaching, a community built on love and investing in one another's
lives, and living a life of faith.
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Many churches fail to involve leaders, have a top-down decision-making structure,
and offer too many programs and ministries that don't lead people to follow Jesus.
These three things can be addressed through practical and intentionally corrective
steps.
Pastors must continually remind the church why she exists, cast a clear and
compelling vision for the future, focus on leadership development, and equip people
to discover their callin g, use their gifts, and build up the body of Christ.
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A Brief History of the Modem Church Growth Movement
A Movement is born in 1955-1970, but many factors precipitated and influenced the
Church Growth Movement years before its official inception.
Donald A. McGavran was a professor of mission, church growth, and South Asian
studies at Fuller Theological Seminary. His work changed the methods by which
missionaries identify and prioritize groups of persons for missionary work.
In time, church growth has evolved into three definitions: growth in numbers, growth
in terms of church planting, and growth in terms of the church of Jesus Christ
reaching new groups of people.
The third aspect of church growth is seen in its scientific base of research.
Researchers began with a problem, gathered all the data possible, established a
hypothesis, tested the hypothesis, and established new laws of evangelism and
church growth.
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Dr. McGavran isolates five key events that have contributed immeasurably to the
expansion of the church growth movement: (1) the establishment of the Institute of
Church Growth; (2) the publication of Church Growth Bulletin; (3) the William Carey
Library.
Church growth ideas have been placed under a microscope from their very
beginning. Evangelical ecumenicity was the first such development, and brought
many evangelical leaders together for the first time.
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Wagner was a missionary in Bolivia and a professor of church growth at Fuller
Theological Seminary. He authored 80 books and provided the personal leadership
to keep church growth at the forefront of evangelical Christianity.
C. Peter Wagner listed six irreducible presuppositions on which church growth was
founded: non-growth displeases God, numerical growth is a priority with God,
disciples are tangible, identifiable, countable people who increase the Church
numerically, and research is essential for maximum growth.
C. Peter Wagner's ministry and writings influenced many students to become leaders
of denominations, mission boards, or to influence their churches with church growth
principles.
By the late 1980s church growth had become a dirty word for many people.
Churches turned back to the principles and foundation of the Bible from the artificial
methods and skills, and healthy growth naturally occurred.
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The Characteristics of the Healthy Church Growth
Some experts have published their own books on healthy church growth. They have
gained experience in many areas affecting church growth.
Rick Warren began Saddleback Church in 1980 with just one family and is
recognized as the fastest-growing healthy Baptist Church in the history of America.
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Rick Warren's book The Purpose Driven Church teaches that a healthy church must
be built around the five New Testament purposes given to the church by Jesus.
These five purposes are: Love the Lord with all your heart, Love your neighbour as
yourself, Go and make disciples.
Gary McIntosh is a professor of pastoral ministry and a church growth expert who
has published over 100 articles and reviews in Christian magazines and theological
journals.
Biblical church growth is founded on the authority of God's Word. The Bible is
sharper than any two-edged sword.
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George Barna founded the Barna Research Group in 1984 and has written 41
books, mostly addressing leadership, trends, church health and spiritual
development.
George Barna lists 14 factors in Turn-Around Churches, including the presence of
the Holy Spirit, a new pastor, releasing the past, intentional defining types of
outreach, equipping the laity for effective, targeted ministry, widespread and heartfelt
prayer, and a long-term pastor.
John MacArthur is an evangelical writer and minister known for his radio program
Grace to You. He has authored or edited more than 150 books.
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According to MacArthur, an effective church has twelve marks: Godly leaders,
functional goals and objectives, discipleship, penetration of the community, active
church members, concern for one another, devotion to the family, Bible teaching and
preaching.
Moorhead asks what makes a visionary church: a power-conscious church, a
witnessing church, a giving church, a growing church.
Moorhead speaks of nine principles of evangelism, including the fact that God
intends for His church to grow, evangelism is for the whole church, and evangelism
is done in the power of God.
Moorhead covers the following subjects in his teaching on maturity: what we believe
about the Bible, the plan of salvation, assurance of salvation, Christian growth, the
church, spiritual gifts, Christian stewardship.
Moorhead says that God is worthy to be praised for who He is, and what He has
done.
Moorhead believes that preaching must be restored to its proper place in the church
if growth is to come.
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Moorhead holds that a leader must be a man of God in character and life, have
compassion for people, be motivated, be a visionary, be decisive, assume authority,
stay transparent, communicate well with followers, and stay steadfast. Moorhead
suggests several principles regarding the giving factor, including: making a great
commission commitment, defining clearly your meaning of missions, establishing a
mission council, staging an annual faith-promise mission conference, raising up
missionaries, and developing a world mission strategy.
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Bob Logan's ten principles regarding healthy church growth are as follows:
Visionizing Faith and Prayer, Effective Pastoral Leadership, Culturally Relevant
Philosophy of Ministry, Celebrative and Reflective Worship, Holistic Disciple Making,
Expanding and Network of Cell Groups, Developing and Resourcing Leaders.
Expositional preaching is the kind of preaching that takes a particular passage of
Scripture, explains it, and then applies the meaning of the passage to the life
congregation.
Biblical sound theology emphasizes the teaching of the entire Bible and is faithful to
the parts in terms of the whole.
A biblical understanding of the good news of Jesus Christ should inform every
sermon, every act of baptism and communion, every song, every prayer, and every
conversation.
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The biblical understanding of conversion is to repent and believe the good news.
True conversion may or may not involve an emotionally heated experience.
Evangelism is sharing the good news that Christ has secured a way for a holy God
sinful people to be reconciled. God will produce true conversions when we present
this good news.
A Biblical understanding of church membership helps make the witness of our
churches to non-Christians more clear, and helps shape the discipleship of more
mature Christians.
Paul hoped that the Corinthians and Ephesians would grow in their faith and in their
ability to administer discipline and to encourage discipleship.
Until recent times, almost all Protestants agreed that there should be a plurality of
elders, and that public affirmation of godly, discerning, trusted laymen as elders was
a healthy church practice.
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Gene Mims tells of the 1. 5. 4 Principle, which states that church ministry actions
must be built on fulfilling the Great Commission, discipleship, fellowship, ministry,
and worship, and achieving one or more kingdom results.
Elmer Towns is the cofounder with Jerry Falwell of Liberty University and the vice
president and dean of the school of religion. He has published over fifty books and
received four honorary doctoral degrees.
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Thorn S. Rainerr9 identified Thirteen Principles of Church Growth as follows: Prayer,
Leadership, Laity and ministry, Church planting, Evangelism, Worship, Finding the
people, Planning and goal setting, Small groups, and Signs and wonders.
Christian Schwarz's Natural Church Development(NCD) primarily targets the globe's
pastors, church leaders, and church planters. It is intended to free these leaders
from debilitating mythologies while helping them revitalize their congregations.
Schwarz identifies eight principles that characterize all growing churches. These
principles will produce a soil suitable for viable church growth.
Healthy, growing congregations are led by leaders who focus on the empowerment
of other Christians for ministry. These leaders equip, support, motivate, and mentor
individual members, enabling them to be all God wants them to be.
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The role of church leadership is to assist members in identifying their spiritual gifts
and to integrate them into appropriate ministries. The most effective churches
provide lay-training for their staff to help them minister within the realm of their
engiftedment.
Passionate spirituality comes from every believer realizing his/her place in Christ and
the Body, and from praying and reaching the lost with the compassion of the Lord.
Functional Church Structures asks leaders to consider whether their leadership style
is demeaning, whether church services are conducted at inconvenient times, and
whether church programming is really reaching its intended audience.
Members of growing churches describe their worship services as inspiring, and this
inspires people to attend the church. However, Schwarz warns against trying to
reproduce a particular worship model.
Schwarz states that the most important principle for growing churches is to multiply
small groups. These groups must be holistic, going beyond just discussing Bible
passages to applying its message to daily life.
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All believers must use their gifts to serve non-Christians with whom they have a
personal relationship. Churches with the highest growth rates understand this.
Growing churches practice hospitality, have a high love percentage, and are
characterized by a light heartedness where there is laugher and joy. These
characteristics help to bring about consistent growth in the local church.
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A gifted team strategically trains its people, but more often they are trained on the
job. Service is more important than position, respect for the leader and for other
team members, communication is crucial, and unity drives impacts.
A great pastor will build and maintain a great team by trusting the members, giving
open communication, letting members experience a completing task within an
ongoing function or goal, affirming the team members' efforts, loyalty, differences,
and ideas, spending much time in prayer together, and sharing tough love.
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Every Christian has received a spiritual gift, a divine enablement for ministry to the
body. If members do not discover and use their spiritual gifts, a church cannot expect
great progress in any area of church development.
Some members do not work according to their gifts, and as a result, they do not
enjoy what they do.
There are several resources which can help all Christians discover their gifts,
including the workbook "The Three Colours of Ministry".
Church leadership must receive the results of the gift test and assess the strength of
the different gifts in ones church to align future ministry with the rightly gifted people
God has already given to the church.
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Gift counsellors can evaluate the results of the gift test and address other factors that
go beyond the question of giftedness.
Every new Christian and each new worker should be able to profit from gift
counselling. Leaders should help these persons find a place in the church that
corresponds to their gifts and thus their calling.
Cut those tasks that do not contribute to the growth of the church. Concentrate on
key activities.
After six months, you should conduct a new church profile to monitor how effective
your steps have been.
Extroverted people prefer learning while working at a real field to studying while
sitting in a chair. However, if an extroverted person has an interest in sermon, he can
sit still and steadily study for a long time.
Members who do not serve the church according to their gifts are easily burnout. The
most effective approach is to let members develop areas of ministries where they
love and are interested, so a variety of ministries can be established and people can
join the ministry with joy and happiness.
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Leaders in the church should be passionate about learning something new from God
and expecting God to "show up" and do a miracle. They should block out two
consecutive days devoted to prayer and fasting.
The concept of "gift-oriented ministry" greatly affects passion in the spiritual life.
Church leaders must ensure that all Christians discover their spiritual gifts and get
involved in a ministry that fits their giftedness.
Identify those Christians to whom God has given the gift of praying and encourage
them to exercise this gift by sharing about their prayer ministry during church
programs.
The gift of counselling can significantly impact the spiritual life of the church.
Churches must create an infrastructure that makes it feasible for Christians to care
for one another.
Recruit small groups in your church for a multi-week training course in praying. This
course incorporates additional principles of a passionate yet down-to-earth
spirituality.
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Leaders who appeal to guilt can motivate Christians in the short run, but this
approach is counterproductive in the long run.
Monitor the atmosphere of all events and programs in your church to ensure a
positive atmosphere.
To evaluate existing structures, it is important to define your church mission
statement in writing. Ask yourself what makes us distinct and what kind of persons
feel especially at home in our church.
Develop measurable goals for the handling of church structures. Extend those
structures that serve overall goals, and change or even dismantle those structures
that seem to be barriers.
There is no one suitable infrastructure for church growth which is generally valid
everywhere. The six biotic principles describe the criteria with which any kind of
structure can be evaluated.
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All active church members should identify their gifts and devote the greatest number
of gifts possible to the ministry of the church.
In natural church development, the goal is not to increase energy investment, but to
concentrate it on the most important point. This means evaluating existing activities
and programs in view of their effective use of the energy invested in them.
If you are developing an organizational chart from scratch, consider having a
responsible person for each of the eight quality characteristics.
Tom Sparing, Vision New England's director of worship renewal, says that man was
created to worship God out of loving relationship with God as our Father. Elmer
Towns raises three basic questions concerning worship, including how we worship,
who we worship, and what Christian essence is.
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To upgrade worship experience, the pastor must build an effective worship team and
prepare with them during the weekend ministry.
There is no correct style of worship, because God is spirit, and his worshipers must
worship in spirit and in truth. Pastors must know their congregation, member's ages,
cultures, and situations, so that they should one or combined worship style.
Elmer Towns and Warren Bird stated that worship styles in the future will be more
diverse and that Christians increasingly want to participate in worship as an
experience.
Effective worship leadership requires a strong relationship with God, knowledge of
Scripture, attitudes, life style, self-discipline, and understanding of music.
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Preaching is an essential element of worship, and music leaders should begin to find
out how to use music to its full potential.
In modern society, many people feel alone, so the small group concept is one of the
most discussed topics and is spreading rapidly in Korean. A well-trained leader is
one of the most important factors in a small group.
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Plan group fellowship activities to help new people make friends with the others in
your group. Have some type of social gathering at least every seven weeks.
Be committed to personal growth. As you grow, your goals will grow, and you will
find new areas to add to your plan.
1. Make sure small group leaders are trained for their work. Many churches offer
training themselves, others send their leaders to outside seminars.
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Many churches insist on one type of group, but people have different needs, and this
should be reflected in the way we design our group ministries.
The English word evangelism comes from the Greek word euaggelidzo, which
means to preach the gospel. The word evangelize means to gospelize.
According to Michael Green's definition, evangelism is proclaiming the good news of
salvation to men and women with a view to their conversion to Christ and
incorporation in his church. George E. Sweazey defined evangelism as every
possible way of reaching outside the church to bring people to faith in Christ.
If you want to evangelize, you have to know who you are trying to reach, have a
warm and loving fellowship, and budget for training.
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Stephen Macchia stresses the importance of people's relationships in church, and
George Barna emphasizes the importance of true concern, compassion and caring
for others.
The church and the family need each other in order to properly and effectively
function, for both learn from the other about relate in this hurting world.
Concentrate on Powerful Prayer Meetings Prayer was a hallmark of the church in its
early days. The prayer of one person alone is certainly not wasted, but prayer of two
in agreement is better.
The seven are chosen so that the apostles will not be distracted from their prayer
and their service of the word. The prayer of the local church will rise or fall on the
leadership role of the pastor.
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Pastors must be a model for effective and fervent prayer life. Only a praying pastor
can build a praying church.
A pastor's prayer life must be dynamic, satisfying, effective, fulfilling, and productive
if he wants to be like the people of God in the Bible.
Pastors must equip potential prayer leaders with practical tools for how to pray, and
encourage people to pray. Modeling by the pastor is always the key to train leaders.
4. Open various prayer groups: personal prayer, early morning prayer meetings,
Wednesday prayer meetings, Friday midnight or overnight prayer meetings, relay
prayer, intercessory prayer, prayer walking, silent prayer, spoken prayer, corporate
prayer, single and two persons prayer, fasting prayer.
Intercessory prayer is the most powerful weapon for warfare, and it will bring the lost
people to Christ.
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When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we don't leave anything out, and we fast and pray a
lot. Dr Jerry Falwell also fasted and prayed a lot.
Pursue a Spirit-Filled Ministry. Holy Spirit is the Christian's Guide, Teacher,
Reminder, and Comforter, and works in the Christian life to bear the fruit of the Spirit.
In the book of Acts, wherever Christian were filled with the Holy Spirit, they won the
souls to Christ and experienced church growth. The Holy Spirit caused the church to
explode in one day from an upper room prayer meeting of one hundred and twenty.
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Reinforce Pastors' Character and Leadership
Carl George states that church growth is like planted grass. Pastors have to grow
before their churches grow, and when they exercise healthy and right leadership, the
church will naturally grow.
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A pastor can lead the church to grow if he or she is open to change and builds a
leadership team with co-pastors and lay-leaders.
Preaching is a significant factor of healthy church growth, yet effective preaching is
lacking in many churches. Expository preaching has been suggested as an effective
form of sermon.
Preach biblical preaching, which is rooted in the Bible. It is the oral communication of
biblical truth by the Holy Spirit through a human personality to a given audience with
the intent of enabling a positive response.
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6. Preach the gospel through an expository preaching, which includes deriving a
theme from the text and using rhetorical suggestion.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon declared that the preacher should rely upon the Holy
Spirit and burn his manuscript if the Spirit does not come to help him.