Hello and welcome back to Cultivating Growth. I want to thank you all for joining us this week. Jeremy and I are going to be discussing the topic of growing as a local church.  It's important that we consider the responsibilities we have as God's people to grow and to work together in a local area as is described in the New Testament.

And we're going to spend some time talking today about how a local church grows and why it's important that a local church continue to grow. As we all individually serve God, but come together collectively to worship him. And so with that, let's get right to it. 

Well, John, when it comes to thinking about the importance of growing as a local church, I mean, there's a couple of different things that come, you know, to mind. Pretty quickly, you know, you can grow evangelistically as you are looking towards the lost, converting them to Christ, or you can grow together inwardly kind of building the church up itself.

And, you know, I think it's interesting as you open up the book of Acts specifically, and especially at the very beginning of the book of Acts, you, you see a a, both of those things  working. almost together in a lot of ways. You know, certainly there's evangelism taking place, Acts 5. You know, the gospel is being spread, the Lord's Church is growing numerically.

I mean, you know, I'm always struck by the very beginning of the book of Acts, you're seeing words like the Lord's Church is being multiplied. And so it has incredible growth as the  gospel is being preached and hearts are being affected by that. And that certainly It is the same way that it continues to, you know, to work and operate today.

The gospel can have an, you know, an effect upon a good heart.  But at the same time, you also see these brethren being together a lot and being there for one another, whether it is there at the end of Acts chapter two, whether it's in Acts three and four when Peter and John are arrested and, you know, they come back and the brethren are there, you know, kind of praying together.

You see them work together. Working and growing together, you know, in the book of Acts. You could turn, then turn the page into the epistles and now you're, you know, years later and there are some issues in these areas that Paul is writing and, you know, he's kind of starting to deal with some of those things.

But especially early on here in the book of Acts, it's a beautiful picture of these two things working almost together. It is. And, you know, as we talk about, you know, The church growing a lot of times when that topic is brought up, we're quick to almost qualify that a little bit and say, well, we're not worried about the numbers necessarily, but you know, the faithfulness of a local body and those types of things.

And I, I totally understand that and I can appreciate the sentiment behind that. We don't want to focus on the numbers on a board. Or, you know, how many people we can get here on a Sunday morning. That's not necessarily what is important. However, to your point the Holy Spirit clearly identifies numeric growth, especially in the early days of the church.

And honestly, that should be a focal point for us. As long as we are serious about converting them to Christ and making disciples of Jesus Christ. And if that is our focal point, then we should want. And expect our numbers to grow as well. That should be an encouraging thing for us to see as long as we're going about it, the way that God lays out the pattern that he gives us to follow in that regard.

And so, yeah, it is encouraging to think about numeric growth within a local church. That is a part of that. Now, obviously you want the faith of those to be, to be growing as well, and not just the numbers. But if we're going about it the way that we see it done in the early pages of the New Testament, both things will happen.

There will be significant numeric growth as well as growth within our faith when we're spreading the gospel, evangelizing, and edifying one another in the local body. Yeah, you know, you start to think about, you know, that word edifying, which, you know, is found several times throughout the New Testament, that's building each other up.

I mean, that's, you know, in essence, what, you know, the definition of that idea is. And even in the analogy that, you know, is so well used you know, by God for us, you know, Romans 12 and first Corinthians 12 about the church being the body, it lends itself to an understanding of that, of the fact that, you know, we need the others that are a part of the body.

And so if we can come to, you know, that level of realization,  even to that level of need, I need the others around me, that's going to have a huge impact on certainly my reaction to them and how I interact with them, but also their interaction with me. And, you know, it. Is, you know, it lends itself to just that level of cognition, if you will, of needing one another is going to Have an immediate impact then on the edification of the body.

Yeah, and we do we we need one another and that Analogy that's used several times in the New Testament about the Lord's Church being a body should highlight that for us You know, there's a passage there in first Corinthians chapter 14 that I think is, is really important on this topic. And you and I have talked about this recently as Paul's giving instructions to the church in Corinth.

And he's talking about some of the things that are taking place within their assemblies. He makes the point in chapter 14 and verse 26, that all things should be done for edification. And when we think about that analogy of the, the body, the church being a body, and we're building one another up, everything we do should be towards that objective and that goal.

Meaning when, when you and I put together sermons, we should be doing so with a mindset of how can I help build up those that are in our assemblies. Teachers and Bible classes, how can I help build up and strengthen the faith of those in this class? The song leaders, giving thought to songs that we sing or the prayers that we pray or whatever it might be, or even just your participation in the worship, your presence there, being a part of all that.

Our mindset should always be, what can I do to help build up this body so that the local church grows? What, what, what is my part in In that if all things are being done for edification and I'm an important piece of this body, that means I have a responsibility to be doing things that contribute to the edification of this body.

And so it's important that all of us give consideration to what is my role in this? What can I be doing to help build up the local body? We talked about, you know, this kind of phrasing. A little bit last week when we were talking about, you know, cultivating our growth when it comes to thankfulness and, you know, we may mention that throughout the New Testament, you get, you know, phrases like get in all things be thankful or in everything give thanks.

And we made the point that, you know, biblically, when you see words like that, that's what it's meant. And that's a word that's used right here again, the first Corinthians All things be done for edification. So that tells me, as a part of the Lord's Church,  in worship, and that's this context of 1 Corinthians chapter 14,  everything that I do has got to be for edification.

And so if I'm engaged in something  that is not building up, The people around me. I need not to be engaged in that thing. You know, that can be a host of different things, whether I'm, you know, not paying attention or I'm not, you know, I'm not engaged in worship or I'm sleeping or, you know, whatever the case, if I'm doing anything that's not involved in edifying the people around me, I'd need not to be doing whatever that thing is because it is let You know, there's another interesting contrast that's in 1 Thessalonians chapter 5.

When you read what Paul says there in 1 Corinthians, he's writing to a church that is struggling in a lot of ways. They're struggling with sinful members. They're struggling with their relationship with one another. They're struggling in their worship assemblies. They're struggling with a variety of different challenges. 

When Paul writes to the church in Thessalonica, it's a church that is doing well, and he commends them for their faith, and he commends them for what they're doing. And so when he writes 1 Corinthians, he gives them the instruction that you need to make sure that all things are done for edification. And then when he writes to the church in Thessalonica, in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 11, he says, Therefore, comfort each other, and edify one another, just as you also are doing.

And so, you can see the difference. A church that's struggling, hey, don't forget guys, you need to make sure that you're doing things for edification. A church that's thriving, keep edifying one another the way that you're doing it. You can see what's contributing, among other things, to edification. To the success or the struggles of a local church.

And one of the things that I think is highlighted is whether or not the church is serious about edifying one another. And when that's taking place on a regular basis, the church is going to grow and a church is going to thrive. And when it's absent, a church is going to struggle mightily. I think this is one of those areas, you know, where we kind of start to think about application of this. 

There's a great temptation of either doing kind of the comparison, you know, kind of thing that we like to do, or fully looking outward all the time. You know, brother, sister, so and so, they're not lifting me up. Brothers, sisters, so and so over there is not lifting me up you know, the song leader didn't lift me up, the prayers didn't lift me up, and you know, it's very easy, there's high temptation for that, but I think this is one of those things, certainly when it comes to edification, that we need to be looking within ourselves to make sure that we, that I am doing all things with edification, and I think that's a an important first step when we start to think about how can I grow in, you know, in building up the local church.

This is one of those ways that I need to make sure for my own sake that I am in my spot within the local church, that I am fulfilling that responsibility and I am lifting up the people around me. I think it goes back to the parable of the talents that Jesus tells, you know, what, what are you doing with what you've been given?

Whether it's a lot or a little, what are you doing with what you've been given? Are you using it to its fullest extent? Are you making the most of what God has entrusted to you? And that, and that means all of us have the opportunity and the responsibility to look inward and say, okay, what can I do? Not to Is so and so fulfilling their responsibility to me, but what can I do for them?

What has God put at my disposal to utilize to the growth of the local body? And so it is a, it is a responsibility to really look inward and make sure that We are doing our part. And if we do our part, and if everybody else does the exact same thing and goes through the exact same exercise, then they'll be doing their part as well.

And that's when the body will grow. But it does start with a, an inward look on our part to really acknowledge the fact that God has given me the ability. to help build up this local body in some way, what am I doing with that talent or that opportunity? And that same principle holds true for evangelism as it does for edification.

That I can be thinking about just that kind of personal responsibility that I have in this area, and if everybody is doing that, as kind of the New Testament model for the church kind of lays out, and then, you know, not just, you know, By way of edification, but also by way of evangelism, things are taking care of themselves.

Yeah. Do you have an opportunity to talk to your neighbor? You know, sometimes we think, well, the preachers are the evangelists, so they're going to do that job, and maybe they're the ones that may go places, and they're the ones that are going to preach the sermons. But, you probably live next door to somebody, you probably see somebody at the grocery store, or at school, or at work.

You know, are you doing your part to spread the gospel so that the church can continue to grow? Because if evangelism ceases, The growth of the church ceases right alongside of it. That's how people come to know Jesus is by Christians being willing to share the good news of Jesus with others. And so we have to make sure if we want to see the church continue to grow, then we need to do our part in taking the gospel to those that need it.

Yeah, there's no question about that. Let's close there with that thought. And let's close with a passage that we can think about and that we can meditate upon this week. Ephesians chapter 4, verses 12 through 16. We won't read all of that, but that really kind of hits a lot of what we've talked about specifically here.

But it gets down to verses 15. It talks about growing up in all things. Kind of fits our theme for sure, but in verse 16, it says the whole body joined and knit together by what every joint supplies according to the effect of working by which every part doesn't share causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.