What Does Your Church Need?

 

Hello everybody, my name is Dean Davis and this is “Multiply,” the podcast that provides a word of encouragement to Village Church Planters.

Before you became a church planter, before you became a church leader, back when you were a new Christian, did you ever wonder how a pastor knew what he was supposed to do to lead a church?  Did you ever ask yourself, “How do the pastor and the elders know what they should do?  How do they decide about worship and preaching and visitation and small groups?  How do they know what they are supposed to do?

When we are new Christians, most of what we do with our church family is based on tradition.  They worship on Sunday so we worship on Sunday.  They give offerings, so we give offerings.  They sit in rows facing the preacher so we sit in rows facing the preacher.  If traditions are based on sound biblical teaching, if traditions help us obey the commands of Christ, tradition can be very helpful. But the problem with tradition is that tradition just tells us what to do, it does not tell us why we do what we do.

So should pastors just rely on tradition to know what to do?  Or do they have a better guide that helps them know how to lead their churches?

Jesus Christ is Lord of all.  Jesus is the Head of the church.  Pastors and church leaders follow Jesus in order to do his will.  He has made his will known in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and throughout the Bible. Seven of Jesus’ commandments summarize the others and guide us very clearly:

• Repent and believe the Good News.

• Baptize new believers.

• Love God and your neighbor.

• Partake of the Lord’s Supper regularly with other believers.

• Pray and meditate on the Word of God daily.

• Give.  

• Make disciples of Jesus.

The first church, the church in Jerusalem founded by Peter and the other Apostles, is described in Acts 2:37-47. The Jerusalem believers (as a church and as cell groups that met in homes) obeyed Jesus’ commands intentionally.  The Apostles taught the people Jesus’ commands and the people paid attention.  The Jerusalem church loved their neighbors and gave generously to meet their needs. They worshipped God and devoted themselves to prayer. And they made disciples of Jesus. Disciple-making caused their church to grow.

You are a church planter; you have recently started a new church.  What does your church need so it can grow strong and healthy?  Let me encourage you to look at the nine activities of a church described in Acts 2:37-47.  Which one of these activities most needs to be strengthened so your church will not be held back?   Is it prayer, or fellowship?  Is it teaching and obeying the Bible?  Is it evangelism or meaningful participation in the Lord’s Supper?  Is it giving or baptism? Is it training new workers?  Which of these activities described in Acts 2 does you church most need to strengthen so that it can grow healthy?

As a church planter and church leader, you will know what you need to do for your church if you remember and strengthen the nine activities of a church described in Acts 2:37-47. Let me say that again, As a church planter and church leader, you will know what you need to do for your church if you remember and strengthen the nine activities of a church described in Acts 2:37-47.

This has been “Multiply.” And I’m Dean Davis asking, “Who will you share this encouraging word with today?  E3-07

#EncouragementforVillageChurchPlanters  #Acts2 #7CommandsofJesus