2010 and Stone Church

2010 is going to bring to us all kinds of opportunities and challenges as a church family.

I am excited about what's going to take place in our church in 2010, and I sense that you are also.

God has some great things in store for us!

One of our goals is grow spiritually and numerically.

We don't focus on numbers for numbers sake - I always say, "we are not here to fill up empty pews with people, we are here to fill up empty lives with Jesus Christ," - but when people are being touched by God - they come.

So what is to be our model in the coming year? What is to be our focus?

The early church in the book of Acts gives us a great model for a growing church.

Dr. Luke writes in Acts 2:47, “The Lord added to their number daily.” That means at least 365 new people every year! Some have estimated that the early church in Jerusalem had 100,000 members – half the size of the city.

We can learn from the New Testament Church.

Here are four quick principles and goals that we have for the coming year:

1. We must minister in the Holy Spirit’s power.

We must rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to minister through us each day. No ministry paradigm, strategy, or dynamic staff can replace the power of God’s Spirit.

Jesus says in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

To have the kind of church they had in the New Testament, we need the kind of members they had in the New Testament: Spirit-controlled members.

That’s anyone who’s making Jesus Lord of his or her life. To make Jesus Lord is to let the Spirit take control of your life.

That's taking advantage of the tools that God has given us by His Holy Spirit: Using our prayer language, ministering in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

A lot of people try to minister without the Holy Spirit, and it doesn’t work.

Not only does it NOT work, but we end up exhausted, never having enough energy to minister in the way that we want to.

But if we lean on the Holy Spirit, we’ll have all we need.

Jesus knew all that was before the apostles. He knew they couldn't’ do it without the Spirit, so he said, “Don’t leave Jerusalem without the Holy Spirit.” That’s where all ministry begins.

2. We must maintain a warm fellowship.

The New Testament church gives us a great example of warm fellowship.

In Acts 2:42-44, Dr. Luke writes, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.”

Notice that when Luke wrote this account of the early church, he didn’t write, “See what great buildings they built.”

He said, “See how they love one another.”

That’s a crucial mark of a world-changing church. A church that makes a difference in its community is one that truly loves one another.

When God has a bunch of baby Christians and soon-to-be baby Christians, he looks for the warmest incubator he can find. God blesses a warm church with new believers because he doesn’t want them in the church of the Frigid-Air. He wants them in a warm environment where they can grow.

Ten times in the first five chapters of Acts, the Bible says the early church was unified.

Luke uses phrases like, “They were of one accord…one heart…one purpose…one spirit...all united in thought.” God can overlook a lack of facilities, a lack of programs, and a lack of leadership. But he won’t overlook disharmony in the church.

3. We must multiply small groups.

Acts 2:46,47 says, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

You see two gathering places for the church in this passage: “house to house” and “temple courts.” Both types of meeting places were used by the early church.

Why use small groups?

They are infinitely expandable. No matter what size of a building that we are building, at some point we are going to max it out. We will have to start more services to continue to grow (take that any way you desire - either as a prophecy or the natural progression of what will be when we move out to 183rd street).

In small groups, we can grow through homes.

Why life groups in homes?

They promote fellowship. Put a guy in a classroom on Sunday morning in a suit and tie for Bible Study, and he won’t say a word.

But you put him in a Bible study in a home on a sofa on a Friday night with a cup of coffee in his hand, and he’ll talk his head off. Why? That home environment is relaxing.

They are unlimited geographically. If we have people attending services that live far away, they can’t be all that involved in our church.

But they can be a part of a small group in their neighborhood. We can have small groups across a wide spectrum of geography.

4. We must continue to be faithful in our giving.

Again, we go to Acts 2, which tells us in verse 45, "Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."

Let's don't miss the point of that verse. No one is asking anyone to sell their possession and goods. But let's all continue to be faithful with our tithes, our giving to missions and giving to the building fund.

As our national economy continues to struggle, we know that God can work miracles in the coming year! I encourage all of us to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us in this area. Thank you for your faithfulness!

We need you!

I could say a lot more - but for today - this is enough.

May God bless us as we endeavor to build His Kingdom!