It's the Best Kept Secret
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… [ If you would like to read these books, CLICK HERE for links to both digital and printed copies. ]
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
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) Church growth. It’s a million dollar business for publishers. Literally hundreds of books have been written over the years. More recently, the birth of the mega-church, has added to the frenzy as church leaders have wonder just how these churches have grown, in some cases, substantially, in the matter of years.
Beyond the books, many of these pastors have join the speaking circuit, traveling around hosting conferences and telling their stories of of church growth. It’s like someone had this great big secret, maybe the best kept secret, and if you were willing to buy the book, or pay for the conference, you too can know this amazing secret. But after 25 years of experience working in the church, I have come to know and believe, the secret really isn’t a secret. In fact it’s right here. and here in Acts 2, if we were to look carefully, we will see the secret. Are you ready? Worship. Discipleship. Ministry. Worship…
We can define it this way… "The adoration and praise of God, ascribing to him the value and worth that is due to him. Worship includes a recognition of one’s own dependence on God and is inspired by God’s greatness as well as God’s goodness as extended to oneself and others." Evans, C. S. (2002). In Pocket dictionary of apologetics & philosophy of religion (p. 124). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. The dictionary defines it as... worship verb -shipped also -shiped; -ship•ping also -ship•ing verb transitive 13th century 1: to honor or reverence as a divine being or supernatural power 2: to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster, Inc. But I like Jesus’ definition of worship… Matthew 22:35-38… 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. 36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. (ESV) Worship, our worship, is all about our response to God. What does God want most from us?
Discipleship…
Francis Chan, in his book Multiply, writes this about being a disciple… “The word disciple refers to a student or apprentice. Disciples in Jesus’s day would follow their rabbi (which means teacher) wherever he went, learning from the rabbi’s teaching and being trained to do as the rabbi did. Basically, a disciple is a follower, but only if we take the term follower literally. Becoming a disciple of Jesus is as simple as obeying His call to follow.” I love this definition because it convicts me. Every time. And I am reminded, To be a disciple is to follow…
Remember the whole, WWJD, fad. What Would Jesus Do? Who had one of those bracelets or t-shirts or dog tags or frisbees or poster or bumper stickers…Yeah, there was marketing genius at work. The idea was, You find yourself in a tough situation, WWJD, What Would Jesus Do? Did you do it? Did you ever do it? But discipleship isn’t just following Jesus. Discipleship is also about discipling someone else. Jesus said, in Matthew 28:19&20… "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." (NIV) In other words, “Guys, what I have just taught you, you now go and teach these things to someone else.” Ministry…
In the Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary, we read… MINISTER, MINISTRY One who serves another. God’s call to Abram (Gen. 12) contains the foundations of ministry. God’s promise was to begin with Abram and Sarai and from them make a nation God would bless, which would be a blessing to all nations. The English words “minister” or “ministry” appear as translation of the Hebrew word sharat that literally means “to wait on” or “serve” as Joseph did for Potiphar (Gen. 39:4; Exod. 24:13; 1 Sam. 2:11). A related Hebrew word is ebed which has a more general meaning than sharat. Ebed can mean “work” or “work the ground.” Bond, S. (2003). Minister, Ministry. In C. Brand, C. Draper, A. England, E. R. Clendenen, & T. C. Butler (Eds.), Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 1134). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers. Jesus tells his followers a story about Sheep and Goats. You know the story, right? Matthew 25, starting at verse 21, Jesus talks about the day of judgement. And on that day he will gather the nations together, and then separate the people, as a shepherd separates the goats from the sheep. To the right go the sheep. To the left, the goats.
Ministry is all about serving someone else.
Ministry is caring for and meeting the need of those around you. Ministry is what we are called to as we utilize our gifts, talents, time, and resources. Worship. Discipleship. Ministry.So our first question of the series…
- Do we see Worship, Discipleship, and Ministry in heart of the early church? Yes. Let’s look quickly at our text. Read it one more time. As your read, do the following... - Every time you read an example of WORSHIP, underline it. - Every time you read an example of DISCIPLESHIP, circle it. - Every time you read an example of MINISTRY, draw a box around it. Go ahead and read it. We see, the examples of Worship, Discipleship, and Ministry. And I don't believe it was just a one time thing. I believe we see evidence of this throughout the church as it grows. Here it is, the best kept secret… What is it that causes the church to grow?Growth comes when God’s people are passionate about worship, discipleship and ministry. |
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