| MULTIPLICATION | |
Every pastor in every city desires and prays for church growth. After many years of observing and watching how church grows and seeking the scripture how it is done, there is one truth I have realized.
Jesus said make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you (Mt 28:19-20). Paul through the Holy Spirit wrote in Eph 4:11-12, “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ. The truth is- it is the body of Christ after being equipped shall do the works of service to the building up of the body of Christ.” Also Paul in his letter to the Corinthians the Lord has commanded every saint, the beloved brethren to abound in the work of the Lord (1Cor 15:58). We can sum all these into one word- MULTIPLICATION.
It is a God given mandate to every believer to multiply himself, to reach out to his friends, family and relatives. This is overlooked in our churches today. Every Sunday after Sunday we can see the same faces in every pew and seat in our churches and sometimes vacant. It is because some believers if not many are saved, satisfied and seated. These are not the kind of branches that the Vine desires to have. The disciples have to bear fruit and by bearing fruit God is glorified and we shall be rewarded (Jn 15:8), “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be my disciples.”
To fulfill this to our churches we can have a program that everybody is involved from the pastor to the members of the church. I call this MULTIPLICATION. The core of the activity is that every Sunday every believer should bring a visitor to the church to hear the gospel and be saved. The rest follows from being a member into being an active disciple multiplying himself. It is a continuous living cycle reaching steadily, consistently more people and putting the members of the church in a spiritual accountability and maturity.
If you have 100 members today, the following Sunday that can be 200. In a month’s time 400 people have visited your church. One hundred to two hundred or more might have received the Lord. What is good here we are teaching our people to reach out their immediate friends, relatives and people they have in contact with every day and they are involved in the work of the Lord. They too will guide and monitor these new believers. Everybody shall be busy in the Lord’s vineyard. They have one week to prepare and do this for the next Sunday.
The body of Christ shall advance in the kingdom. We can use the acronym S.T.E.P.S. which means effective steps toward salvation and multiplication a program for the member-oriented church growth.
FIVE(5) EFFECTIVE S.T.E.P.S. TOWARD SALVATION AND MULTIPLICATION Each Member is to: 1. Set aside list of names of your friends, relatives and contacts. 2. Take time to call, invite and follow-up. 3. Encourage and bring to the church. 4. Proclaim the gospel. 5. Support their christian growth.
CHURCH PREPARATION The Church will work hand in hand with the members. 1. Present the MULTIPLICATION A Dynamic Member-Oriented Church Growth Program to the church. 2. Encouragement, leaflets and campaign should be continuous all year round if we want the fire to continue and produce members working for the kingdom. 3. After the praise and worship and some activities and right before the preaching of the word the pastor should welcome the first time visitors and ask them to move into a separate room or it can be done after the message during the invitation at the altar call. 4. Here the visitors are divided into two groups. The Gospel is shared to the unbelievers and if any are sick they shall be prayed for. Christians visiting for the first time can be prayed for or counseled, if there are any concerns like maybe they have not been attending any church lately, looking for a new church, needing guidance, etc. … 5. They shall fill out the forms for their names, addresses, contact numbers and other concerns for that matter. Forms shall be submitted to care group leaders and workers for follow up. The person friend or relative who invited them shall also monitor their Christian growth.
If you are a pastor or a member of a church and have been reached by this campaign, why not begin now. In my lists I have 50 people I personally know who have not known the Lord. I can begin from here and care for them. Every one of us can have his own personal ministry before the Lord and bear fruit. Paul said, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord ” (1Cor 15:58).
Come on church let’s reach out the people we know, bear fruit and glorify God. This is what we have been missing before in our churches let us not miss it again. The members are not doing the work of the Lord because we have not equipped them. Who will be reaching these people? Who know and have in contact with them? It is you. Let us reach out now. I will end with a true experience. During my college years, one day in our student military training. I met the security guard assigned for our things and I had a lot of time talking with him. I should have spoken about the Lord to him that day. The following week I tried to look for him for my watch was still on him but he was not on his post. I went to the security office and found out that the same night the first and the last time we met he was held-up by a robber and a knife was struck right into his heart. He died that night. When I heard it I went out the office speechless and disturbed thinking where his soul went. I should have shared the gospel…
This was not the last time I had an experience of the same life and death situation. It was during my early Christian years that the Lord moved me to share the gospel to my uncle in the province seated beside me. He used to be drunk most of the time. I postponed it and told myself to do it another day. After a few weeks while I was taking a nap I had a vision. I saw fire and there was someone screaming and calling my name. Later I found my uncle had died.
I remember the Lord’s word to Ezekiel the prophet, “But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand” (Ezek 33:6-8). I repented and asked the Lord’s forgiveness. I thank Him now almost most of the time when my relatives and some people I do not know personally on their sick bed whenever I visited I shared the gospel. All accepted the Lord with tears and joy. Many after a few minutes of their acceptance of the Lord went home to Him.
This truth of moving the body of Christ into an active, continuous bringing of souls to our churches is a lifetime cause for doing the ministry. It is a calling and ministry for everybody- the pastors, workers and the members.
My beloved brethren, let us do this together. Let us bring them to the Lord, bring them to our churches….
Let us take the S T E P S …
Let us MULTIPLY …
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