EVANGELISM—GOD’S GREAT WORK                                                                          February 3, 2008

                                                                                                                              Central Church, Ocala, FL—Max Dawson

Introduction:

1.    The lesson before us is intended to challenge your thinking. It will challenge your collective thinking as a congregation; how do you view yourselves and the growth of the congregation? It will also challenge you individually and examine your mindset toward evangelism.

2.    Across the nation, many congregations of God’s people are barely surviving. Some are not surviving at all—they are dying. In some communities that used to have a church, you find a building closed or sold. Why is that happening? What’s in store for the rest of us?

3.    By contrast, some churches are growing. Yet, as they get close to 200, there is usually a suggestion to peacefully divide and start a new work. There was a time when that may have been well suited to our culture. But is that best for God’s cause at the present time? When I obeyed the gospel in 1969, I heard that a church shouldn’t have more than 150-200 members. That was a widely held view. Maybe we need to reexamine that view. You may find the things in this lesson to be controversial; give them a fair hearing before you make your judgments.

4.    We can talk all day long and all night long about evangelism, but if we don’t have the right view of the local church, we will never do the work of evangelism. This lesson is about the basics. It could be called “Evangelism 101” because it addresses the very concept of church growth and our attitudes toward it. This is something that needs to be addressed because some brethren think the church should not grow!

The Lesson:

I.      What God wants His church to be.

A.  Growth in the Jerusalem church, Acts 2:41, 47; 4:4; 5:14; 6:1; 6:7; 8:4. Was the Jerusalem church not what God wanted—growing, aggressive, and converting many souls?

1.   Today, many brethren think anything over 200 members is “too big.” Compared to what?

2.   Size is relative. What would a Jerusalem Christian say about the size of our congregations? Wouldn’t he wonder why they are so small? Something has happened in the thinking of Christians from the time of the Jerusalem church and our time.

3.   The Jerusalem church met in Solomon’s Porch where more than 10,000 could assemble.

B. It is not spiritual to be small, not denominational or liberal to be large.

1.   It’s almost amusing, that if a church grows today, we are sure something is wrong!

2.   Some have used “I like a small congregation” as a scapegoat for not working. Some have said, “We don’t want to grow. We are already big enough.” Big enough for what? What does that even mean?

3.   We have to change our thinking. God wants all men saved, 1 Timothy 2:4. Like farmers, we have to sow more seed, Galatians 6:7b. We have a great work to do!

4.   Most churches would not want 100 new converts this year, if they could get them. They think, “There would be too many problems. Our building is not large enough. We don’t have enough teachers. We don’t have enough leadership. Besides, we like a small congregation.”

5.   Because brethren think that way, they do not aggressively seek the lost.

II.     “What about the disadvantages of growth?”

A.  Things that are perceived as disadvantages:

1.   “Growth only brings on crowded conditions. And I don’t like crowds.”

2.   “Too many people make things noisy.”

3.    “I can’t know everyone in a larger congregation.”

B. Many things may be perceived as disadvantages—but do they outweigh our mission?

1.   Crowds are negative only if the condition is negative. As an example, a crowded grocery store is a negative for the shopper; but a large crowd at the ballgame is something everybody wants. For what we are doing, a crowd is a positive. Empty buildings are a negative.

2.   About the problem that “Too many people makes things noisy.”

a. Have you ever visited a small church where there are no children, no babies crying, and no kids who had to be called down because they were running in the halls?

b. Would you really like to be in a church where there are no noises, and few people greeting one another? Have you ever asked those people in those churches how much they like that? Have you ever thought of asking those brethren who have had to close their doors how pleasant it was not to have crowds and noise?

3.   About the “problem” of not knowing everyone. Did every saint in Jerusalem know every member? What verse says we must personally know and be intimate friends with everyone in the local church? Doesn’t our opinion in that area hinder our growth?

III.     Advantages of allowing a congregation to grow larger.

A.  The need for association can be better met in the larger congregation, Acts 2:46.

1.   Is smaller really better? Young people in small churches often have no one their own age—no Christian friends their own age. If their need for association is not found among God’s people, it will be found among people of the world, 1 Corinthians 15:33.

2.   We want our children to have more Christian friends (their own age) to associate with. A larger congregation provides an advantage, not a disadvantage.

3.   “But, when churches get big, they get impersonal.” Not necessarily, Acts 4:32. The family concept is not lost; it is just that the family is a whole lot bigger. Somehow, the Jerusalem church was able to maintain the “one heart and one soul” concept. Any church can maintain that if the brethren who comprise that church have a mind to!

4.   An advantage as you grow is you can associate more with those whom you have much in common. This is true among teens, college age, young married, widows, etc. At a weekend meeting with focus on teens, one church had well over 100 teenagers present. Would they have been better off to have fewer?

B. As a church grows, there are greater people resources from which to draw, Ephesians 4:16.

1.   The variety of backgrounds and abilities in a larger congregation means a larger talent pool from which to draw. What talents do you have among yourselves?

2.   On the other hand, consider what happens when a church divides; the talent pool is split; you have two struggling groups; probably no elders, etc.

C. In the larger congregation there are greater financial resources from which to draw.

1.   Smaller congregations often have trouble just surviving financially. They can do little outside support, because they have little or none to give. You can sometimes find two or three small churches in one community, each struggling to survive and none large enough to support itself. There is no virtue in a number of congregations, but in the number of Christians—the number of souls saved!

2.   An economy of scale is reached after initial expenses are paid. All excess can then be put toward evangelism. Doubling the size of a church does not double expenses. The preacher receives the same salary; meetings cost the same; media work costs the same—yellow pages, radio, bulletin mailings to the community, etc. While the meeting house and utilities may cost more, they are not doubled.

3.   What is doubled is the contribution. One church of 350 provided assistance to 27 preachers. If they divided into six small groups, none could support their own preacher.

4.   Another financial benefit is seen in 1 Timothy 5:17. Few congregations can support full time elders because they never grow large enough to afford it.

D. In the larger congregation there can be more efficient use of media.

1.   The smaller the church, the less media teaching it can do (radio, TV, newspaper, etc.).

2.   We ought to use all the means at our disposal, as did Paul, Acts 20:20.

3.   One church had a successful radio work, and converted many; they grew and divided because they were getting “too big.” That ended the radio program!

E. A larger congregation can have a more efficient Bible class program.

1.   The church is to be the pillar and support of the truth, 1 Timothy 3:15. The church is a teaching institution.

2.    A larger church can have a far more diverse and personalized course of study for all of its members and their children. Parents often say, “I like a small church,” then bemoan the fact that there are no adequate Bible classes for their kids in the small church.

F.  There can be an increase in edification in the larger congregation.

1.   One of the functions of the assembly is edification, 1 Corinthians 14:12, 26. What was it like to come together at Jerusalem in Solomon’s Porch and sing God’s praises with more than 10,000 believers? After fighting the world all week long, you have this multitude coming together to support one another.

2.    I would rather have four saints singing to encourage me than two. I would rather have forty than four. I would rather have four hundred than forty. I would rather have four thousand than four hundred. God deserves the praise of more, and I need the encouragement of more!

3.   Don’t you feel better about your assemblies when many come together as opposed to few? Certainly, a few Christians can gather together and edify one another effectively; and it is obvious that they can worship God acceptably. But, aren’t you more encouraged when more come together to praise God?

4.   At one dying church a brother said, “If one more person leaves, we might as well close the doors.”

G. Simply put, allowing a congregation to grow can be an aid in reaching the lost.

1.   Don’t forget our mission, Luke 19:10; 1 Thessalonians 1:8.

2.   The Assemblies of God denomination has been one of the fastest growing for the past 25 years. Why? One reason is that they realized that a little frame Assembly of God building on every corner was inefficient. They began to close and consolidate. That gave them more money, more visibility, more opportunities to teach by media.

3.   Listen to Jesus, Luke 16:8. Can’t we be as wise as others? We must have more concern for the growth of the kingdom as a whole, rather than what “I prefer.”

4.    A church in a large university town has a door to the whole world. It has students in its community from all parts of the globe. What an opportunity for evangelism! You can take Christ to where He is not named, Romans 15:20.

Conclusion:

1.    Do smaller congregations have a right to exist? Of course they do. There is nothing wrong with being in a smaller congregation. Yet, some of the attitudes we have about this may be wrong. When someone says, “I like a small church,” what will they do if the church grows? When people say, “Large congregations are unfriendly,” are they not painting with a brush that is too broad? When folks argue that “You can’t know everyone in a large church,” is that maybe an excuse for not doing evangelism? When someone says, “There is no work for me to do in a large congregation,” doesn’t that show a lack of understanding of what their real work is—evangelism?

2.        Statements like these are often accepted as gospel. As a result, we have lost the picture of what the church can be. It is much like fooling with the knobs on an old TV set; if you twist enough knobs, you will lose the picture. When people have lost the picture in evangelism, they sit, instead of go!

3.        Evangelism is God’s great work—a work He has given us to do! Let us not be convinced that the days of aggressive evangelism were limited to the first century, Acts 8:4. God wants all men to be saved. If we are content with the number of souls we have now, we will never take seriously our Lord’s work of saving the world!

4.    Let’s be, in this generation, what God intended us to be! Let us act from faith, not fear!