“God wants His church to grow.”
This idea from Donald McGavran was pretty profound then. In some seminaries, in some places today that’s still very profound. When I teach the Growth Theories Workshop, I still have some people who are blown away by this idea that the church is expected to grow, and there should be an expectation that people are saved.
It reminds me of a Charles Spurgeon story. Somebody asked Spurgeon, “Why is it that every time he preaches somebody gets saved? Every time I preach nobody gets saved.” Spurgeon replied, “Sir, when I preach I expect people to get saved.” There is still this idea today that some people don’t expect the church to grow nor do they think it should. The idea is we just manage the people that we have, and don’t worry about the people that we don’t have.
There are plenty of people that would not buy into this principle of expectation.
Sometimes if you try to lead a church to growth the people will say, “Aren’t you happy with us? Pastor, don’t you just care about us? Why do you want to bring in everybody else? Just take care of us. Aren’t we enough? We’ll be your sheep. We’ll follow you. Don’t try to develop anything else.” In order to maintain this principle there’s some challenging decisions we have to make.
Decision #1:
God wants my church to grow. We have to really believe that, that God wants our churches to grow. That it is theologically proper, that it is Biblical, that it is the very reason, I would say, that God is withholding the end, the return of Jesus because he’s giving more time for everyone to repent. That God really does want His church to grow.
In fact, when a church chooses not to grow that is actually the most selfish decision a church can make, because if you’re choosing not to grow you’re choosing to basically say, “Let the rest of the world go to Hell. I found it. I’m going to heaven. I’m just going to be selfish. I’m going to keep this to myself.”
Decision #2
I want my church to grow. You have to believe in your heart that God wants your church to grow, but then there’s another decision. This is an alignment decision. It’s when I want my church to grow. It moves from God, it moves from the holy to me, where I say, “I want this. I want what God wants.”
That’s really what God’s will is. God’s will is you determine what God wants and then you align yourself with it. You walk in God’s will. You say, “This is what I want.” You have to make that decision.
The consequences of NOT making this decision can be dangerous. Don’t limit your ministry and hinder your calling to fulfill The Great Commission.
Join me in an examination of the history of church growth and go in-depth into the most innovative and inspiring aspects of church growth with specific tactics that you can start using right now to maximize your ministry.
You’ll fully engage with this three-hour seminar as I provide you with concrete applications to your church with each principle, consistently asking the question and challenging you to think about –“How do we apply that principle today?”
In addition to uncovering dozens of ideas that you can start using right now in your ministry, you will also discover:
- Where should you start in your evangelism efforts (ask this question first)
- The 3 things a pastor must be willing to pay the price for in order to grow
- What are the visible areas of the church that you can measure – the key metrics – and should
- The 9 church diseases afflicting churches of all sizes and how to recognize them in your church
- Why growth should be the norm, not the exception for your church
- And much more!
Fulfill The Great Commission championed by our founding fathers of church growth. Recharge your ministry: Make an impact for the Kingdom today – and secure the future of your church for tomorrow.
Your Partner in Ministry,
Nelson
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