Church growth principles in the book of acts chapter 1

Ludlow whereas the gospel of luke focuses on the life and ministry of jesus christ, the acts of the apostles builds upon what jesus did and taught see acts 1. In acts we see basic principles being applied to specific situations in the context of problems and persecutions. Students will learn how they too can live a powerful life serving jesus as the holy spirit empowers them. He shows us how god is working and speaking in this story and our own stories. Church growth is a very popular topic that even nonchristians heard of this term before. We saw that were not supposed to model our behavior after everything some biblical character does. The book begins with the ascension of jesus into heaven acts 1. I read a pile of books and attended most of the big churchgrowth conferences. In the pages of this farsighted, uncompromising book, bob russell and his son rusty share the ten principles upon which this remarkable church was founded. It contains many particulars concerning the apostles peter and paul, and of the christian church from the ascension of our saviour to the arrival of st. Up to this point the apostles had been through a lot already.

Acts 12 the church of jesus christ of latterday saints. To prove this point, let us take a quick look at church growth in the book of acts, with a special view to the church in jerusalem. Mcgavran developed his church growth principles after rejecting the popular view that mission was philanthropy, education, medicine, famine relief, evangelism, and world friendship and become convinced that good deeds while necessary must never replace the essential task of mission, discipling the peoples of the earth. Last week, we talked about how to read the book of acts.

In my former book, theophilus, i wrote about all that jesus. The apostles were ordained, not to wordly dignity and dominion, but to preach christ, and the power of his resurrection. Chapterbychapter bible studies acts kathleendalton. The principle of unified prayer, or prayer with one mind and purpose, is a. They had been following jesus and were witnesses of the many miracles he had performed. It is the historical link that joins the life of christ with the growth of the christian church. One cannot replace the methods or the principles that brought church growth in the new testament in our own era. In the first half of chapter four, paul makes his appeal for unity and growth. Up to this point, the book of acts recounts the churchs growth among jews in jerusalem and judea. The book of acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of jesus christ. In chapter, we see the work of the holy spirit in several ways. In the past, people looked to the west for examples of growing a church. Recently however, people shifted to the east as well for examples of church growth. Whenever i read through the book of acts im struck with the number of times luke comments on the growth of the church.

Second, we will look into the pattern of church growth that appears in acts. Paul and the early church were not at odds with the laws of the old testament. Philips only requirement was that the man believe the message philip proclaimed to him. Acts 1 commentary matthew henry commentary on the whole. Verse 42 lists four of the activities to which the church devoted itself. Biblical strategy and shift to spiritual driven church growth. A church of christ can and will grow spiritually and numerically when it is faithful to the word of god. The writer of the book of acts luke, the physician and friend of the apostle. Here are some of the key themes that luke highlights for. Its initial chapters describe the churchs founding and early years. Is this principle taught elsewhere, especially in the letters to the churches. Stay tuned for second half of this post where we will address 5 more key principles of church planting from the book of acts. The first chapters of acts help us understand the power that came into the lives of the early church leaders as a result of christs ministry and the operation of the holy spirit.

The beginning of the church and its growth t he book of acts records the growth and progress of the church in the first century. And the lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. If we were to employ these same factors, we too, can have church growth. The record from the book of acts couldnt be clearer. Jesus had shown himself alive by many proofs for 40 days. Throughout the book, you will see gods mighty power at work in a church that began in 1962 with only 50 members and has now grown to over 14,000 and has become a bustling city on a hill. The first churches in the book of acts began in prayer acts 1.

As mentioned in the introduction, you may be wondering what the answers are to several questions that this lesson has raised. While acts is a record of history, luke weaves many theological themes into these stories to teach us about god and his mission. While many scholars would posit other themes as the authors main concern, luke certainly punctuates his account with many summary statements about church. Later on, we see that the church gathered weekly see acts 20. Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers. The book of acts tells the story of the beginning of the church of jesus christ. The early believers were constantly praying, both individually and corporately acts 2. Schwartzs book natural church development and its application to the new testament ministry system being studied from acts chapter 2. Take your students on a journey through the book of acts where they will learn lessons from the early church after jesus ascended to heaven and believers received the gift of the holy spirit. Church growth statements in the book of acts barnes bible charts 2. Church growth, church growth principles, church growth factors. A history of the early church gene taylor2an outline of the book i. To my knowledge, however, no church growth book with a complete focus on acts has been written. Chapter 1 has provided the background and set the scene for the events of chapter 2.

Acts is not just the acts of the apostles but the empowering continuing work of jesus. Acts has been called a transitional book because it serves as a bridge between the gospels and the epistles. The book of acts is clearly a sequel, a second volume to be read in conjunction with the first, the book of luke. Luke had no way of knowing how long the church would continue on this earth, but as long as it pursues its course, the book of acts will be one of its major guides. The book of acts records the amazing growth in spite of huge obstacles after the disciples were filled with the. This is about principles not techniques for healthy church growth. For an example of one church growth writers use of acts, see c. Chapter 1 introduction the history of the church growth started from the moment of the first church. The key to healthy church ministry is that it is the continuing ministry of jesus. Persecution arose at jerusalem, and the disciples had to leave for safety.

Acts shows what the early church believed and practiced. Lesson 1 investigates the author, historical setting, and the theological background of the book of acts. The growth of the church in the book of acts ryan wentzel. The book of acts course a, lesson 1 free bible study. Studies in the book of acts previous page next page. Written by luke, the book of acts has a prominent missionary theme because it details the rapid growth of the early church and the first missionary efforts. The second half of acts is dominated by the conversion, development, and evangelical ministry of the apostle paul. An analysis of dissertations on church growth published.

The beautiful, amazing, powerful, weak, dysfunctional church a chapterbychapter bible study of the book of acts 2 acts the beautiful, amazing, powerful, weak, dysfunctional church table of contents scripture passage page 1. The scriptures tell us how a new testament church should grow. Their belief was that god would cause the lot to fall to the more worthy one. Church growth principles free download as text file. Right relationship is established with god and man. The language of growth in acts can be grouped into two broad categories. Read acts 1 commentary using matthew henry commentary on the whole bible concise. In church growth, we should not copy the methods, but the spirit and the principles. It traces christianity from its beginnings in jerusalem, following jesus resurrection, to the arrest of the apostle paul in rome, the heart of the empire.

But in the book of acts there is a verse that speaks of growth, and factors are named there that helped this growth occur 3. Commentary for acts 1 this book unites the gospels to the epistles. For a period of forty days, the resurrected christ visited his disciples and spoke with them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of god. Acts begins with jesus teaching the apostles about the kingdom of god outside jerusalem, and ends, about thirty years later, with paul teaching gentile christians about the kingdom of god in rome.

Now with matthias added to the eleven, the twelve apostles were complete again. In the prologue to his gospel in luke chapter 1 verses 1 through 3, luke indicated. Bible verses about church growth bible verses related to church growth from the king james version kjv by relevance sort by book order. Church growth in the book of acts a church of christ can and will grow spiritually and numerically when it is faithful to the word of god. In acts 8 we read about philip, one of the seven leaders called to assist the twelve see acts 6. With the teachings from the bible, the principles and standards of the church growth movement, and the shift from programcentered methods to. Pdf the depiction of church growth in acts ben wilson.