Chruch Growth "Secrets" part 3

In our previous blog, we looked at the Early Church and saw that it grew because of its Message of Salvation.  It was the formula designed by God himself and the purpose for which The Church was created.  In modern terms, the Early Church was 'Seeker Friendly" or "Seeker Sensitive".  It's whole message, its meetings and functions were all designed to address the greatest need of the human soul; to be reconciled with God.  At the same time, they were maintaining an atmosphere in the church services where the non-believer could feel comfortable with the believers; and the messages were in understandable language where a non-believer did not need a degree in divinity to gain understanding.

In the Modern Church, the pastor often feels he has to make a choice; whether to build the church or build the believers.  It does not take a new pastor very long to figure out where his congregation is in regards to their spiritual experience. If his church is comprised mainly of established believers the congregation may desire biblical teaching concerning life issues, finances, child rearing, spiritual gifts, or any number of topics designed to build the Christian's faith and experience.

All of this is good, and it is the church's responsibility to provide guidance in these areas.  But, if the Sunday morning service is geared toward believers, visiting non-believers are not going to feel included, or the subject matter will have no application in their lives. The fact of the matter is that most visitors will attend Sunday morning services, and they will be there because someone invited them.  Or if they just happen to wander in off the street, or perhaps have decided that they need to attend church for their family's sake, they are not likely to return if the sermon content does not seem relevant to them.

On the other hand, regular attenders and members are not likely to invite non-Christian friends if they think their friend is going to be uncomfortable or "out of place" in their congregation. But the reluctance to invite friends can go even deeper than that. Often the regular attender or member is embarrassed to invite friends. In fact, several years ago a survey was conducted by a national Christian magazine, arriving at the ten top reasons churches did not grow. The number-one reason, as determined by their survey, was that members were embarrassed to invite visitors to their church.

How can this be true if the member is an earnest Christian? Several things can contribute to these feelings.  Maybe the church has a tendency to do things that would seem "strange" to outsiders. An extreme example would be the "snake-handling" practice of a small denomination in the South.  The story is told about the traveling Gospel quartet that was singing at one of these churches for the fist time.  (Not the same quartet that I was with!)  They sang their first set of numbers and sat down on the chairs provided on the platform, when the elders brought out a basket full of rattlesnakes!  The bass singer, who was sitting next to the pastor leaned over and asked him, "Do you have a door going outside from the platform?"  The pastor relied, "Why, no we don't have a door up here".  To which the bass singer asked "WHERE DO YOU WANT ONE?"

Many times visitors who find themselves in unusual worship situations can feel almost like the bass singer; "How do I get out of here?"  Of course, this is not the feeling we want to create in visitors.  We may not be snake handlers.  But some church practices and traditions can seem just as strange to the non-church going person.

Regardless of church doctrine, all evangelical churches have one common doctrine and goal: "You must be born-again", or saved, or repent of sins.  We say it in different ways sometimes.  But the gateway to becoming a Christian and a part of the Church of Jesus Christ is salvation by believing in, and  accepting Christ's gift of salvation. And the primary method given to accomplish the task of bringing people to a place of repentance is preaching.

Romans 10:9-16 (New International Version, ©2010)

⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”^{[a] 12} For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, ¹³ for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”^[b]

 ¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁵ And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”^[c]

So the key to growing a church is to have our main weekly service geared toward the non-believer by having the message of salvation presented regularly and consistently.  This does not mean repetitious messages presented over and over and over.  The Bible is packed from cover to cover with the Story of Salvation.


Of course the church meeting is comprised of more than preaching.  Along with offering, announcements, and scripture reading is Worship, or congregational singing.  Just as preaching can lead people to Christ, so can Worship.  We will talk about this aspect of the Sunday Service in our next blog.

Also, lets take a look at how to keep the Saints (established believers) connected and productive, while at the same time using every opportunity to grow the church through winning converts to the Christian Faith.