 It's the Best Kept Secret Part One I started a teaching series last week called, It's the Best Kept Secret. This week, I want to share this series as a study, so I am going back through the material and reshaping it as a daily study. My hope is that as you think about your relationship with Jesus Christ, you might also consider how you live for him. So I hope this helps you as you chase after Jesus. What does it look like to live a balanced healthy life, a life that passionately chases after the things of God? What does it look like to live a life of worship? How does one grow as a disciple? And when it comes to ministry, how do you serve those around you? Like many church leaders, I was drawn to the idea that there was some miraculous method or model to inspire and accomplish growth. I wanted to see growth in both my personal spiritual life and growth in my ministry. So I read books, a lot of books. And I went to seminars, a lot of seminars. And I hoped, boy did I hope that I would find the secret that I though some many already knew.  I read books like... - The Purpose Driven Youth Ministry, Doug Fields… - Sustainable Youth Ministry, Mark DeVries… - Thriving Youth Ministry in Smaller Church, Rick Chrome... - The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren… - Leading with Love, Alexander Strauch… - Spiritual Leadership, J. Oswald Sanders… - Evangelism Explosion, D James Kennedy… - Radical, David Platt… - Multiply, Francis Chan… - The Church Planter, Darrin Patrick… - The Irresistible Church, Wayne Cordeiro… - Simple Church, Thom S Rainer and Eric Geiger… - 7 Practices of Effective Ministry, Andy Stanley, Reggie Joinier, Lane Jones… - Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, Mark Dever… - The Power of a Whisper, Bill Hybels… - The Circle Maker, Mark Batterson… - Verticle Church, James MacDonald… Now these aren’t books that I’ve just read. These are books that I have studied, dissected and pondered over. I was amazed by the stories that told of tremendous growth and ministry. Stories of how churches jumped from a handful of worshipers to the gathering of thousands celebrating together in weekly worship. With each book, I kept looking for some secret ingredient, a model or structure, a particular strategy or look, a common tread that ran through each church or growth story, something that would spark the growth in what I was doing. And after years of looking and studying, I think it’s safe to say, I found it. But to my surprise, I didn’t find it in any of these books. Despite all the experience, know-how, stories, methods, and models, the answer to my deep quest for understand the church and church growth wasn’t found in any of the books I read. In fact, it all comes down to not a method or a model, not even a strategy or a vision statement. It comes down to what we see happening in the early church as it is shared in Acts 2:42-47. So let's look at Acts 2:42-47.  Acts 2:42-47 English Standard Version (ESV) The Fellowship of the Believers 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (ESV) We see something special in the early church. Something that if we look close enough, we too will see. Growth doesn't comes because of a model or a method or a strategy. Growth comes as we pursue three things.  Worship. Discipleship. Ministry To Think About...Worship. Discipleship. Ministry. How would you define these terms based simply on what you understand as you consider the concept of WORSHIP, DISCIPLESHIP and MINISTRY. Print out the .pdf using the link below and answer the simple questions provided and keep them with your bible. See you tomorrow. 
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AuthorJay Higham is a veteran youth worker of over 30 years; having worked with students in the local church and Christian camping settings. Jay is currently serving as the director of family ministry at a church, located in West Virginia. Jay has been married to Amy for over 25 years. Together, they are raising 5 kids, (4 boys and 1 girl). Jay is an aspiring author, blogger, speaker, vlogger, and social media junkie. He is passionate about student ministry, family ministry, and training youth workers to love and serve their students with passion and excellence. 
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