Church Growth

I'm going to talk this morning about church growth.

! Church growth.

Everyone, I would assume, wants their church to grow, right?

! I mean, we don't want to just have a little spot for us and our friends.

We want the church to grow.

We want to reach new people.

We want to reach lost people.

Okay?

But there's a lot of thoughts on church growth.

People, you know, how a church grows.

Should a church grow?

And a lot of times when you talk about church growth, people talk about,

well, you got to get, you know, a really nice building

or you got to get a really good worship team.

You got to get a really charismatic preacher

or you got to have really good childcare.

Slick marketing campaign.

You know, I don't know.

Figure out the list, right?

You got to have all these different things.

And it's a good thing to want the church to grow.

We should want the church to grow.

But we have to ask the question, how does the church grow biblically?

Like, what does the Bible say about church growth?

As we seek, as a church, been a church for a year,

as we seek to say, okay, how do we grow in a healthy way?

How do we grow according to God's way?

How do we grow according to what the scriptures say?

We have to ask that question.

What do the scriptures say?

So I'm going to look at four verses

and extrapolate five different things out of these verses

that I think are relevant to us as a church.

Okay, first one's Acts chapter 9, 31.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 9, 31.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

It says,

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria

had peace and was being built up.

And walking in the fear of the Lord

and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.

Okay?

So here you see two different things

that caused the church to multiply.

Notice it doesn't say anything about the slick marketing campaign

or their new worship pastor or whatever else.

It says,

Walking in the fear of the Lord and the comfort,

some versions say encouragement of the Holy Spirit,

it multiplied.

It multiplied.

You know, a lot of times we can think of

so many different things as far as it comes to church growth.

And how often do we ignore just the plain teaching of Scripture?

Just what the Scripture just lays out, right?

Here we see plainly that in Acts chapter 9,

Acts 9 · chapter mention

the church was growing.

It was multiplying.

How?

They were walking in the fear of the Lord

and the comfort of the Holy Spirit.

Okay?

Second verse.

Acts chapter 6, a little earlier.

Acts 6 · chapter mention

Acts chapter 6, verse 7.

Acts 6:7

It says,

The word of God continued to increase.

The CSB says spread.

So the word of God continued to increase or spread.

And the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem,

and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Okay?

So here we see another verse talking about the church growing.

Disciples multiplying greatly.

What was going on there?

The word of God was being spread.

The word of God was increasing.

Or you could say the gospel.

Okay?

Was being spread all over the place

and increase the number of the disciples greatly.

Greatly.

Okay?

Third verse.

Ephesians 4, verse 16.

Ephesians 4:16

I'm going to read this one in the NIV.

It says,

From him the whole body,

joined and held together by every supporting ligament,

grows and builds itself up in love

as each part does its work.

As each part does its work.

How did it grow?

How did it get built up?

Well, as each part of the church did its work.

Okay?

Seeing this?

Fourth verse.

Colossians 2, 19.

It says,

Holding fast to the head,

from whom the whole body,

nourished and knit together,

through its joints and ligaments,

grows with a growth that is from God.

Okay?

What did they do?

Colossians.

They were holding fast to the head.

And agree with the growth that is from God.

Okay?

We want a growth that is from God.

You can have artificial growth.

Or you can have growth that is from God.

All right?

Whatever you draw people with,

you have to keep them with.

Okay?

You draw them with all the slick,

shiny objects,

you got to keep them with the slick,

shiny objects.

You draw them with entertainment,

you got to keep them entertained.

Okay?

What are you drawing with?

Is God the one drawing them?

Do you want that to be on us?

That it's something,

our cleverness that draws them?

Well, then we got to keep being

more and more clever.

Or is it God himself?

The church grows with a growth that is from God.

Okay?

So you see these five things

that cause the church to grow in the Bible.

Walking in the fear of the Lord,

spreading the gospel,

each part doing its work,

walking in the comfort of the Holy Spirit,

and holding fast to the head.

Okay?

I want to look at all five of them.

Because I think it's important for us

to make sure,

hey,

are we doing what the Bible says to do

when it comes to church growth?

I'm not interested in some fad.

I'm not interested in

some slick marketing campaign.

What does the Bible say

about church growth?

I want to do that.

We should want to do that.

That's important.

So the question is,

are we?

Right?

That's a fair question.

So number one,

walking in the fear of the Lord.

Acts 9.31 said,

walking in the fear of the Lord

and the comfort of the Holy Spirit,

it multiplied.

The church multiplied.

Okay,

what is the fear of the Lord?

Proverbs 8.13 says,

the fear of the Lord is to hate evil.

It says,

I hate pride and arrogance.

God says this,

right?

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.

What is your attitude towards evil,

particularly sin?

The fear of the Lord says,

I hate sin.

I don't want to get close to sin.

I'm not going to play with sin.

I'm not going to mess with sin.

As a church,

we're saying,

hey,

if we're going to fear the Lord,

we have to care about holiness.

We have to make sure

I'm not even getting close to sin.

Proverbs 34,

I'm sorry,

Psalm 34,

11 to 14,

says,

come,

oh children,

listen to me

and I will teach you

the fear of the Lord.

All right?

I'm listening.

How do I learn the fear of the Lord?

What man is there

who desires life

and loves many days

that he may see good?

Keep your tongue from evil

and your lips

from speaking deceit.

Turn away from evil

and do good.

Seek peace

and pursue it.

Okay?

So often,

when it comes to the fear of the Lord,

the way we can

be flippant

and not fear the Lord

is with our lips.

Right?

With our tongue.

Being careful what we say.

All right?

And it's easy to complain

or it's easy to

just kind of,

you know,

voice our complaints

about things

or about different people

or,

you know,

and if we're a church

that fears the Lord,

none of that

can be on our lips.

We have to say,

no,

I want to learn

the fear of the Lord.

The fear of the Lord

keeps my tongue

from evil.

I'm not going to,

I'm going to be very careful

with my words.

The Proverbs 18 says,

the tongue has the power

of life and death.

Okay?

Tongue has the power

of life and death.

Remember,

it's both sides too.

It's easy to say,

oh yeah,

man,

you got to be careful

of that tongue.

Watch your tongue,

man.

You're,

you're,

that's the power of death.

Like,

yes,

you're right.

What about the other side?

What else is it?

It's the power of life.

It's the power of life.

So the fear of the Lord

says,

I want to use

this amazing tool,

not for death,

but for life.

I'm going to be careful

about my tongue.

I'm going to turn

my tongue from evil.

I'm going to hate evil.

Okay?

That same word

that was used

in Acts chapter nine

for the fear of the Lord,

it's used multiple times

in the book of Acts

and it's translated

in different ways

and then in other ways,

it just gives you

a little more context

of what it could mean.

Okay?

Acts 2.43 uses

that same Greek word

for fear

and it says,

instead of fear,

it says,

and awe came about,

awe came upon every soul.

Do you have an awe of God?

Do you,

when you think about God,

when we worship God,

do you think of God

as so much greater

than anything

you've ever seen?

Do you,

are you awed by him

or kind of smitten by him,

like taken back by him?

The fear of the Lord says,

God,

you are so other,

you are so greater,

you are so magnificent.

It says in the book of Acts

in Acts chapter two,

that awe was upon every soul.

When the fear of the Lord

comes upon us,

there's a sense of awe

that comes on us.

There's a sense of awe.

Okay?

We also see in the book of Acts

the story of Ananias and Sapphira

and that same word fear

is used there.

It says after,

when he confronted Ananias

in Acts chapter five,

because Ananias

was not being totally honest

about what he had given

to the Lord.

in Acts five,

verse five,

it says,

when Ananias heard these words,

he fell down

and breathed his last

and great fear

came upon all

who heard of it.

Okay?

So he's lying to God

and to other people.

He's making things

look better than they were

and God put him to death.

You think,

whoa,

that's,

that's where,

that's where you have

a sense of awe

and a sense of fear.

It says,

great fear came upon

all who heard of it.

Well,

of course.

And you realize,

you know,

I read a tweet

this last week

that said the sun

is what,

93,000 miles,

no,

million,

what was it,

million?

93 million miles

away from us.

And yet,

if you look at it

just too long,

which is not very long

at all,

it'll burn your eyes

and we think we can

flippantly come

into the presence of God,

the one who created

the sun.

Isn't that a crazy thought?

That the sun

is 93 million miles away

and it'll burn your eyes

if you look at it

for seconds too long.

And the creator

of the sun,

we so flippantly

come to the creator

of the sun.

How much more

of a consuming fire

is he?

Okay?

He's the one

who put Ananias to death

and then Sapphira

in verse 11

and after she was

put to death

it said,

great fear came

upon the whole church

and upon all

who heard of these things.

That kind of fear

is basically,

it says,

hey,

I'm in Christ

but I have reverence

for God.

I have a certain sense

of I don't want to sin.

I don't want to get

close to sin.

I don't want to,

I don't want to mess around

with just even a hint

of unholiness.

Like I want to be pure.

And you see that the church

that was here,

it grew.

In what?

Walking in the fear

of the Lord.

this kind of fear,

this kind of awe,

this kind of seriousness

that says,

there's a sense

of a lack of flippancy.

And sometimes

maybe we can get

a little too flippant

in our church experience

where we forget

who God is.

Right?

There was this kind

of flippancy

you also saw

in Acts chapter 19.

Acts 19 · chapter mention

Remember the story

of the itinerant

Jewish exorcists

who undertook

to invoke

the name of the Lord Jesus

over those

who had evil spirits?

Remember that story?

And they said,

I adjure you

by Jesus

whom Paul proclaims.

Seven sons

of a Jewish high priest

named Sceva

were doing this.

But the evil spirit

answered them,

Jesus I know

and Paul I recognize.

But who are you?

Okay?

And then the man

in whom was the evil spirit

leaped on them,

mastered all of them

and overpowered them

so that they fled

out of that house

naked and wounded.

That's a bad day.

Right?

It's like,

hey, you know,

this can't be too hard.

What the heck?

I see they're casting

out demons.

I think I'll try this.

Right?

No, you don't

flippantly deal

with things

like that.

You don't get flippant

about the things

of God.

Look at what happened.

They fled out

of the house

naked and wounded

and this became known

to all the residents

of Ephesus,

both Jews and Greeks.

And then that next phrase

has that same word

that was used

in Acts chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

It says,

and fear fell upon all them

and the name

of the Lord Jesus

was extolled.

Also many of those

who are now believers

came confessing

and divulging

their practices

and a number of those

who had practiced

magic arts

brought their books

together and burned

them in the sight of all.

And they counted

the value of them

and found it came

to 50,000 pieces

of silver.

So the word of the Lord

continued to increase

and prevail mightily.

You see that again?

There's this tying

to the sense of fear

that came upon the church

and then the word

of the Lord

continued to increase

and prevail mightily.

It was like,

it caused the spread

of the gospel.

Okay?

Which really goes together

with 2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5 · chapter mention

chapter 5,

10 to 11.

He says,

we must all appear

before the judgment seat

of Christ

so that each one

may receive what is due

for what he has done

in the body,

whether good or evil.

Therefore,

okay,

so look before it

to see what it's there for.

He says,

we must all appear

before the judgment

of Christ.

Therefore,

so in light of the fact

that we must all appear

before the judgment seat

of Christ,

knowing the fear

of the Lord,

we do what?

We persuade others.

Do you see that?

Do you see that tie there?

You saw the fear

that came upon the church

when these seven sons

of schema thought,

oh,

no big deal,

I'll just cast out demons.

No.

Where's your fear

of the Lord?

And great fear

came upon the church

and then it caused

the word of the Lord

to spread,

the gospel spread.

In the same way

when the fear

of judgment,

when you're realizing,

hey,

we're all going to stand

before the judgment seat,

I better be cognizant

of what I'm doing,

how I'm conducting myself

and know that

no one's going

to escape judgment.

Therefore,

knowing the fear

of the Lord,

we persuade others.

Knowing the fear

of the Lord,

we persuade others.

Knowing that everyone

is going to stand

before that judgment seat,

I've got to persuade

as many people

as possible

with the gospel.

Okay?

So the fear

of the Lord

is very much tied

to the spread

of the gospel.

Could it be that

perhaps sometimes

we don't spread

the gospel

because we lack

a fear of the Lord?

Have you ever

thought about that?

Have you ever

thought that maybe

the reason we're

not persuading others

is because we don't

know the fear

of the Lord?

We're not cognizant

of the fact that

one day,

there is a day coming

and it is coming soon

and we will all

stand before the Lord?

We'll all stand

and we'll have

to give an account

and not just us

but all those people

outside of these walls

who don't know Jesus,

who have not trusted Him,

who are not covered

in the blood,

those whose sins

will be counted

against them

unless they turn

and trust to Jesus

and have their stain

removed.

Knowing the fear

of the Lord,

we persuade others.

We persuade others.

Okay?

So it brings us

to that second point,

spreading the gospel.

It says in Acts 6-7,

right,

the number of the disciples

multiplied greatly

after the word of God

continued to increase

or continued to spread.

Okay?

When the word of God

spreads,

when the gospel spreads,

the number of disciples

multiplies greatly.

You saw this also

in Acts 12-24.

It says the word of God

increased or spread

and multiplied.

Okay?

Okay?

I'm convinced

one of the main reasons

why so many churches

stay the same size

is because people

aren't persuaded

to preach the gospel.

Because you get comfortable

with a group of friends,

you get to know each other,

our kids get to know each other,

we're able to just

really gel together well,

and it's like,

you know,

us four no more,

it's kind of going pretty well.

I mean,

what's that?

I'm enjoying life,

you're enjoying life.

I mean,

we don't want to break up

a good thing.

I mean,

I don't want to make

it more uncomfortable.

I mean,

if we had more people,

I mean,

I kind of like

what's going on here.

I got my friends

where everything's going well,

and yet,

there's people dying

and going to hell.

There's people

who don't know the truth.

The fear of the Lord

should be persuading us

and saying,

we've got to spread

the good news.

We've got to be

highly intentional.

I've got to reorient

my life around the gospel.

It can't be just this thing

I wait for these opportunities.

No,

I need to go and make

the most of every opportunity.

I need to open,

open door,

and look for places

where I can preach the gospel.

God save us

if we ever,

as a church,

let up on that.

And be sure that if we do,

that will be the end

of any growth

that we'll see.

Because

you grow

by reaching people

with the gospel.

Okay?

In the fear of the Lord,

we are persuaded.

Colossians 1,

3 to verse 7,

3 through 7,

says,

We always thank God,

the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

when we pray for you,

since we heard of your faith

in Christ Jesus

and of the love that you have

for all the saints,

because of the hope

laid up for you

in heaven.

Of this you have heard

before

in the word of truth,

the gospel,

which has come to you,

as indeed in the whole world

it is bearing fruit

and increasing.

That word increasing

is the same word

that was used

in multiplied,

right?

Or spread.

So this word of the truth,

the gospel,

it came to you

and it's bearing fruit

and increasing.

It's being spread,

as it also does among you,

since the day you heard it

and understood the grace

of God and truth,

just as you learned it

from Epaphras,

our beloved fellow servant.

He is a faithful minister

of Christ

on your behalf.

I love how he just points out

this guy Epaphras.

Epaphras,

from the verses you see,

there's not a lot of him,

but he seemed like

a pretty awesome,

awesome guy.

Right?

He's commending Epaphras

because he said,

you learned this

from Epaphras.

He's a beloved fellow servant.

He's a faithful minister

of Christ

on your behalf.

If we want to be a church

that grows the way

God grows churches,

if we want to be a church

that grows the way

that the Bible talks

about growing,

we need Epaphras.

We need faithful ministers

of Christ

on others' behalf

who will be spreading

the good news

of the gospel.

more seed being sowed,

more seed being sowed.

And remember,

it's never your job

to save people.

Never.

That's a good relief.

It's not my job

to save anybody.

It's not your job

to save anybody.

That's God's job.

What's our job?

Spread the word.

Spread the good news.

Give people a hearing.

People need a hearing.

God makes things grow.

We plant,

we water,

we plant,

we water,

we plant,

we water,

God makes things grow.

Are you that kind of person?

Where is,

you know,

I know maybe in the beginning

when we planted the church,

it's like,

yes,

we got to preach the gospel.

Where is your drive

to preach the gospel now?

Is it still there?

Maybe some of us

need just a fresh feeling

of the spirit

to say,

God,

I'm feeling a little empty.

I'm not really motivated

to preach the gospel.

Okay?

Some of us feel that.

Marianne,

are you feeling that?

But what are we going

to do about it?

Are we sunk?

Is there no hope?

We need to get filled

with the spirit.

We need to get filled

with the spirit.

You know,

I was actually thinking

when you guys sang

that Issa song,

Your Name's My Reward.

Let's see here.

18 years ago,

I was doing like

an extended fast.

Went to Nashville

for the Psalm Assembly,

the call there.

And I was feeling

really burnt out.

I'm like,

why am I doing this?

What's the point of this?

And walked into the stadium

where they're having

the prayer meeting.

I got there like

two,

three hours early.

And Issa was on the stage.

And she was,

I think it might have been

singing that song.

And I walked in

and I just wept.

And I just wept.

And I feel like I just,

it was just clear.

I just got filled

with the spirit.

And I was renewed.

I was refreshed.

And I was just thinking,

actually,

when we were singing

that song,

we were worshiping.

I was thinking,

I was surprised.

It was so tender to me.

I started crying just even

singing the song.

I was like,

that was 18 years ago.

And just thinking about it,

I'm getting,

I'm crying,

thinking about it.

And I was thinking about

how important it is

to have a history in God

of those moments.

And so many times people think,

oh, Christianity should be this,

like,

one mountaintop to the other.

It's like,

no,

that's not what it is.

But there are those

meaningful moments

that you have

that you remember.

And,

you know,

sometimes they're a little bit

further apart

than you'd like them to be.

But those are so important.

And if you haven't had

one of those recently,

go to him.

Go to him.

Okay?

Get filled up.

He is the one

who baptizes us

with the Holy Spirit.

That's what John preached.

Do you remember?

He says,

he who's coming,

I'm not even worthy

to untie his sandals.

This guy,

he baptizes with the Holy Spirit

with fire.

That's what he does.

He wants to fill you up.

And if you're empty,

don't just be satisfied with that.

Don't just keep going

through the motions.

Don't just think,

oh,

I don't really have a heart

for the loss right now,

but I'm just doing it.

I'm just showing up

and doing this.

No.

Is his name your reward or not?

Is it?

Well,

then come to him.

Come to him in your brokenness.

You don't have to dress yourself up.

Put on your religious cosmetics

and be something.

He loves you for who you are,

not who you should be

because no one is as they should be.

You come to him.

And believe that he is who he is.

What ravishes the heart of God?

Faith.

Without faith,

it's impossible to please God,

right?

Can you possess that

which ravishes his heart?

Can you possess

that which pleases him?

Every time,

if you have faith.

Yeah,

but I'm empty.

So what?

I'm broken.

So what?

I'm burnt out.

So what?

I'm tired.

So what?

Do you have faith?

When he comes,

there was only one question he said.

Will I find faith on earth?

Do you have the kind of faith

that keeps on pursuing them,

that keeps going back,

that develops a history in God,

that looks back,

you know,

at the altars

that the Israelites put there

and say,

yeah,

I mean,

that story I'm telling you

18 years ago,

that was an altar.

And so he sang that song

and I think,

man,

I remember that time.

Makes me hungry

to want to come to him

for more,

you know,

fresh filling.

Why?

Because this gospel

must be spread.

It's like,

there's so many things

that are important in the world

and they get overwhelming,

don't they?

It's like,

it's Father's Day,

your kids,

that gets overwhelming sometimes.

Gets a little heavy.

It's like,

man,

this is a lot of work.

This is a lot of responsibility.

Are we doing a good job?

You know,

are we screwing them up?

Are we screwing our kids up?

Do you know,

I had that conversation

too many times,

you know,

like,

I think we're screwing it up.

What are we doing?

Where do you go with that?

And what is,

what's,

like,

that's important,

but,

and as important as that seems

in your job

and making money

and paying the bills

and all this kind of stuff,

friendships,

these things all weigh on you,

but there are people

who are justly under the wrath

of God in our city.

Like,

apart from Christ,

they will spend eternity

away from him

where the fire

does not go out

and the worm never dies,

where the pain

and suffering

never go away.

Like,

that's true.

And it's just

and it's right

and they will not believe

unless they hear.

They gotta hear.

Who's gonna tell them?

Only the people

who have the truth,

that's us.

That's the way

God wants to build

his church,

is people spreading

the gospel.

And if we're in a place

where he says,

like,

yes,

I get it,

Josh,

I know,

I know that's what

I'm supposed to do,

but man,

I'm just not there.

Go to him.

Get filled again.

He wants to fill you.

You know,

how about a great

Father's Day verse?

Luke 8,

13,

right?

If you know

how to give good gifts

to your children,

how much more

does your Heavenly Father,

Happy Father's Day,

give good gifts?

He doesn't say

give good gifts.

You'd think he would

because he just said,

hey,

if you know how

to give good gifts,

you would think

he's gonna say,

okay,

how much more

does the Heavenly Father

give good gifts?

He doesn't say that.

He says,

if you know how

to give good gifts,

how much more

does your Heavenly Father

give the Holy Spirit

for those who ask?

I don't know about you,

but I love how specific,

he didn't go with

the generic good gifts

and he said,

listen,

if you were wondering,

if you had this kind of thing,

I don't know if he wants

to give me the Spirit,

he knocks that out

of your mind

right with that verse

and says,

yes,

I do.

If you know

how to give good gifts,

how much more

do I want to give you

the Holy Spirit

to those who ask?

Some of us need to ask.

Some of us may be

a little tired,

a little burnt out,

you're into this

whole church plant thing

and thinking,

I don't have the same

gumption I had

when we first started.

Okay,

go to your father.

Go to your father.

Ask him.

Ask him.

All right,

that was definitely

a sidetrack.

Number three,

number three,

each part doing its work.

Ephesians 4 says

that the body grows

and builds itself up

in love

as each part

does its work.

You know,

I've been a Christian

now for 31 years

and hands down

one of the worst parts

about the church

that is the most

difficult thing

to deal with

is when people

are trying to be

someone they're not.

It's the worst.

And it's not just,

it's not just bad

because it doesn't work.

It's bad because

you feel bad for them.

I hate watching someone

who's trying to be

someone they're not,

number one,

because they're not

and it's very difficult,

but then number two,

because they're missing

then who they really are.

And to know that

who they are

is who God made them.

That God was the one

who made them

the way they are.

And the weirdness

and the wonkiness

of trying to be

someone that you're not,

it just,

it's not the way

God meant it to be.

There's so much freedom

and, you know,

it's just like

the psalmist said,

how great is it

when brothers

dwell together in unity?

There's a level of unity.

You know,

even over at Bellicose,

I've been walking

with those elders now

for,

I don't know,

I can't remember,

almost 10 years,

I think,

a bunch of them.

And it's like,

you know,

you go through

these different things

where it's just like,

okay,

how are you gifted?

How am I gifted?

Like,

I don't know

if that's how you're gifted.

I don't know

if that's how you're gifted.

You have these conversations.

You compare yourselves

with one another.

But when people work together

where it's like,

this is how you're gifted,

yep,

I agree.

This is how you're gifted,

yep,

I agree.

And there's this synergy

and this unity.

Man,

it's so powerful.

People have the freedom

to not have to be something

that they're not.

The church grows

and builds itself up

as each part does its work.

What is your work?

Who are you in the body?

Do you know your work?

You might say,

I want this church to grow.

I want it to be

healthy growing.

Then you gotta know your work.

How are you gonna do your work

if you don't know your work?

What is your part to play?

You might say,

I don't have a part.

No, no, no, no, no.

You have a part.

What is your part?

And some of us,

this is the bad part,

some of us might know our part

but we're not doing it.

If you know your part,

you gotta do it.

Be your part.

You don't have to be someone else.

Don't compare yourself

to someone else.

You be the part

that God called you to be.

When you get to those pearly gates

and he holds you to account,

he's not going to say

you weren't like so-and-so.

He's gonna say,

hey, were you the part

that I made you to be?

Did you do what I had you to do?

The church grows

and builds itself up in love

as each part does its work.

How focused are you on that?

If you don't know,

have you gotten any help on it?

Have you asked the Lord?

Have you asked other people?

But we have to each do our work

and when we're doing that,

it's a beautiful thing.

It's a beautiful thing.

Have you ever,

in your experience of church,

stopped doing certain things

because you realized

that's not who I am?

It's a really good,

it's a good thing.

It's a,

it's a,

it's like,

it's like a relief,

isn't it?

They're just like,

you know what?

I'm gonna stop trying to do that.

That's not who I am.

I'm just gonna be my,

myself.

I'm gonna get in my lane

and stay in my lane.

I'm gonna let the people

who are that do what

they're gonna do.

I don't need to compare.

I don't need to say,

well,

I wish I was this person.

I wanna be that,

that person.

No,

I'm just gonna be me.

The way God called me to be.

And then the church

builds itself up.

Number four,

they were walking

in the comfort

of the Holy Spirit.

This goes together

with a little bit

with what I talked about

last week,

strengthening yourself

in the Lord.

Okay?

The church

so much

all Judea and Galilee

and Samaria

had peace

and was being built up

and walking

in the fear of the Lord

and in the comfort,

the CSB says,

encouragement

of the Holy Spirit

and multiply.

How often

do you get

your encouragement

from the Holy Spirit?

Your comfort

from the Holy Spirit?

You know,

we talk about

comfort foods.

Yeah,

we talk about,

I don't know,

there's all kinds of things

we do to get comfort.

How often

do you think

of the Holy Spirit

as your comforter?

You know,

John 14,

your comforter.

He is.

He is.

How often

do we go

to the Holy Spirit

for comfort?

You know,

it's just like

what I was talking

about with getting filled.

There's a comforting

that happens

when you're filled

with the Holy Spirit

and we need

to go to Him.

And that's

how the church

throughout all Judea

and Galilee

and Samaria,

that's how

it multiplied.

It seems so simple.

It almost seems like,

really?

The fear of the Lord

and the comfort

of the Holy Spirit,

that's just too,

it's too simple.

And yet,

how often do we miss

the fear of the Lord

and the comfort

of the Holy Spirit?

How often do we get flippant

when it comes to

the fear of the Lord

and how often

do we go other places

for our comfort

and encouragement

instead of the Holy Spirit?

How often do we get

discouraged

for so many things

when the Holy Spirit

is there to encourage us?

The Holy Spirit

is here to encourage us.

Are we taking advantage

of that?

It's huge.

Lastly,

number five,

holding fast

to the head.

Colossians 2.19

said,

holding fast

to the head

from whom the whole body,

nourished and knit together

through its joints

and elements,

grows with the growth

that is from God.

John 15.5

said,

I'm the vine,

you're the branches.

Whoever abides in me

and I in him,

he it is that bears much fruit

for apart from me

you can do nothing.

Are we abiding

in the Lord?

Holding fast to the head

like the sailors

used to have hold

fast on their,

tattooed on their knuckles,

right?

Because they'd have to

hold on to the mast.

Are we holding on

to God like that?

Are we so quick

to let go?

Are we so quick

to lose faith,

lose hope,

lose motivation?

Okay?

Listen.

In this world

you will have trouble,

but take heart.

He has overcome the world.

We have to hold fast.

Hold fast to what?

Hold fast to the head.

And so often

when we're busy,

when we're overwhelmed,

when we're tired,

what's the first thing

that goes?

Times of encouragement

of the Holy Spirit.

Times of time

in the Word of God.

Times of going to the head,

holding fast to the head.

What if we had as a goal

to put on display

the fruit that comes forth

from he who abides in him?

To be a shining example

of this is the fruit

that comes from the abiders,

the ones who abide in him,

who hold fast to the head.

Okay?

There's all kinds of challenges

that will be coming our way.

And as you walk with the Lord,

it's a constant

up and down with that.

Who are the ones

who will hold fast to the head?

When you see discouragement,

do you come under it?

Are you holding fast to the head?

When your feelings

start to overwhelm you,

do you come under your feelings

or do you hold fast to the head?

Okay?

When you look with your eyes,

you see,

oh, things aren't happening

the way I thought they were.

I'm not seeing what I wanted.

I'm not experiencing

what I wanted.

Are you holding fast to the head?

What are you holding fast to?

Because whatever you're holding fast to

is how strong you are.

You're holding fast to something

that is very shaky.

You're going to be very shaky.

You're holding fast to something

that can be taken away from you.

That's not a very strong hope.

You need to put your hope,

I need to put my hope,

we need to put our hope

in something that can never

be taken away from us.

We need to hold fast to the anchor.

We need to hold fast to the head.

We need to put our hope

in the one who never disappoints.

Do you know if there's a hope

that never disappoints?

Let me ask this question.

Don't answer this out loud.

Are any of you disappointed?

Are any of you disappointed

right now in life?

Okay?

Is there anything particular

you're feeling like,

yeah, I'm feeling disappointed.

Okay.

There is a hope

that doesn't disappoint.

Says this in Romans 5, right?

So if you're disappointed,

that's the area

where you're not holding fast to the head.

That's the area.

Turn from that hope

to the head.

Turn from that hope

and abide in Him.

And know that the hope in Him

will never disappoint you.

And some of you are thinking,

I don't know if I believe that.

Exactly.

That's what I'm talking about.

You've got to address that.

Is the Word of God true or not?

Is there a hope

that doesn't disappoint?

There is.

There is.

Faith will go there

and will hold fast to it.

That's the kind of faith

that Jesus requires

that holds fast to the head

and says,

I trust

that if I put all my hope in you,

I will not be disappointed.

And that all my disappointments in life

are really truly

when I put my hope in other things.

Lord, reveal them.

Lord, shake every single one to the core.

Who wants to pray

that dangerous prayer with me?

Lord, shake all our false hopes

to the core

so that all we are

is holding fast to the head.

That's all we got left.

That's all we got left.

And when that's all you got left,

you've got quite a bit.

Right?

Right?

Right?

I believe

God wants to grow our church.

I think you believe

that God wants to grow our church.

But so what?

If we're not going to

do it God's way,

my challenge to you this morning is

do we have

our lives,

our focus,

our hearts,

our minds

set on the things

that God has

set for us as a church

to grow in a healthy way

for His glory

and our good?

then we've got to pay attention

to these things.

We've got to pay attention

to these five things.

Are you walking

in the fear of the Lord?

Are you spreading the gospel?

Are you doing your work,

your part?

Are you walking

in the comfort

of the Holy Spirit

or the encouragement

of the Holy Spirit?

And are you holding fast

to the head,

to the hope

that never disappoints?

Amen?

Amen?

Amen.