5/15/2011Five EEEEEs of Church Growth

praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved Acts 2:47

And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned." Mark 16:15-16 

  Today Pastor talked about the importance of church growth. He made the point that growth is not just desirable, but it is absolutely necessary. If a church is not growing then it is dying.  The scripture above clearly shows God's mandate that we are to preach the gospel to all the world and through that obedience God will save the lost and bring them to church.

  Lets get right to the five points. This will be a brief rundown, for the full sermon please follow the link below to the FWC Podcast to download today's podcast.

E 1) Evangelism. most people wouldn't argue here.  We are clearly commanded to share the gospel.  "for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19:10 The reason Christ came to Earth and died on the cross was to save the lost.  Without evangelism there is no reason for the church to exist.


E 2) Encouragement. "Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing." 1 Thessalonians 5:11 If we can't count on our fellow believers to encourage us then who will?  We should be uplifting each other and not tearing each other down or bringing condemnation to one another.

E 3) Edify.  Instruct and improve in moral and religious knowledge.  The heart of the righteous studies how to answer, But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil. Proverbs 15:28 We are to help each other grow in knowledge of scripture and what is good in God's eyes.  We are to encourage and rebuke when appropriate, for the purpose of edification.  We will often justify criticizing others as "constructive" criticism.  However, if we have not first established trust and breathed life into this person, demonstrating first our love for them, then can we really expect our correction to be taken well?  Pastor reminded us that people will care what you know until they know that you care.  Then are able to truly build each other up and grow spiritually.

E 4) Exaltation.  We must make time for prayer, one on one with God. And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. Acts 2:42  and Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:3 Not only must we make it a priority to have time daily that we spend with God, but we must spend much of that time praising Him and thanking Him for all that He has done for us.  It is only with a humble and grateful heart that we can truly approach the throne of God and fully enter into His presence.


E 5) Equip.  It is the fundamental purpose of the church as an organization to equip the saints for the spreading of the gospel.  And He Himself gave some [to be] apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ... Ephesians 4:11-12  The Holy Spirit gave many different people different gifts to the leaders but all for the singular purpose to equip the Saints for ministry to edify or grow and lift up the body of Christ.

  To bring it all together, the key to church growth is a body that is focused on telling others about the gospel, committed to encouraging and edifying each other.  A body that is committed to a regular prayer life that includes exaltation of God and a body that is dedicated to being equipped and equipping others for the work of the ministry.  If we can move in one accord as Pastor has laid out for us then not only will our church grow but so too will the entire body of Christ.

Recommended reading: Ephesians 4

Be Blessed
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5/8/2011 Mother's Day

Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth [is] far above rubies. -Proverbs 31:10

  "Here At Family Worship Center we are a a family."  This is how Pastor Stan summarized his thoughts for this week.  His point was that while today is Mother's Day, not every one has a mother nearby or even living to celebrate with.  Not all mothers have their children here with them.  We at Family Worship center are the mothers to the motherless and the fathers to the fatherless.  We honor the mothers in our church even if they are not our mothers.  This is what a family does.  He mentioned that many see him and his wife as surrogate parents or grandparents, and this is true.  Also I know kids who call each other cousin because their parents are so close they are family. 
  Pastor read us passages from Proverbs 31 and talked about what a virtuous woman is, but he also emphasized the powerful role mothers play in influencing the next generation.  We read:

You [are] witnesses, and God [also], how devoutly and justly and blamelessly we behaved ourselves among you who believe; as you know how we exhorted, and comforted, and charged every one of you, as a father [does] his own children, that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. -1 Thessalonians 2:10-12

  Here Paul talks about the steadfastness of the Disciples, and Pastor was comparing this to motherhood.  One day in a life does not make someone a mother. It is the every day little things that proves a mother's worth.  Motherhood is marked by a lifetime of loving and caring and serving, but most all, being there.  He talked about the examples his daughters got by watching their mother come to church every Sunday, praying and trusting God.  He also reminded us that we are to honor our mother because God tells us to in His word, not because she deserves it.  This is important because some mothers weren't very good.  Some mothers didn't set that Godly example and some mothers were not consistent and did not stick around.  God does not leave it in our hands to decide if our mother should be honored. He simply tells us to do it.
  It never fails to amaze me how God will command us to do things that seem to have no practical value, until we find out what we didn't know we didn't know.  The Old Testament has many rituals and rites the Nation of Israel had to perform around food and cleanliness that made no sense to them but that they must obey.  We now know that they lived longer with fewer diseases then all of their neighbors because these practices helped keep them germ free and their food safer.  It is my observation that God wants us to honor all mothers for several reasons. For starters, He loves mothers and wants everyone to know about it.  Also,  my children will learn to honor their mother in part based on how they see me honoring my mother.  Finally, by honoring my mother without regard to her imperfections, I model the love Christ showed when He willingly climbed onto that cross to die for me while I still hated Him.

For I, the LORD your God, [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth [generations] of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. -Exodus 20: 5,6

  If we rebel against God our children's children will rebel also. If we are faithful, generations will be blessed. The virtuous woman is steadfast, resolute in her love of God and consistent in her walk with Him and her caring for her family.

Her children rise up and call her blessed; Her husband [also], and he praises her: Proverbs 31:28

  From day to day our children can be loving and selfish.  Affectionate and mean, grateful and hurtful. Sometimes moment to moment.  The steadfast mother knows it is not her job to befriend her children or gain their approval from moment to moment and by knowing this she will gain their praise the rest of her life.  Maybe you are a single mom, maybe you know that your own decisions have created a situation that forces your children to grow up without a father or with a bad one.  You might feel guilty because you think you are a lousy mother.  It is possible that at the moment you read this you have been a lousy mother.  None of that matters.  What matters now is what you do from this moment on.  Will you be the virtuous woman or the lazy woman, who dishonors her family.  There is no special skill set here.  Just a decision to live the rest of your life, starting right now, in the service of God and faithful to His house.  By embracing your church family and seeking the counsel of faithful women, all mothers can be the virtuous woman. 

  It was once said that you don't go to war with the army you want you go to war with the army you have.  Stop wishing you were someone else and realize that God gave you children because He knew you could be a great mother.  It is up to you to simply go and be that woman He meant for you to be.

  My wife often refers to me as a Momma's boy and she likes it.  Her reasoning is that if I love my mother that much then I will always cherish and love her as well and our sons will grow up knowing they too should love and honor their mother.  On behalf of everyone that has ever been born of woman, thank you to all the mothers out their.

God Bless.

Recommended Reading: Mathew 1 and Mathew 2

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