Church growth and evangelism in the book of acts outline

The book of acts is an eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the. Paul visited the city on his 2nd missionary journey 52 ad. Frank stagg has described the book of acts as the story of an unhindered gospel. With the example of sung dong church members, this thesis shows the close relationship between personal evangelism and church growth. Jesus had shown himself alive by many proofs for 40 days. More preaching, miracles, and the growth of the early church aroused the jealousy of the jewish leaders. On his 3rd missionary journey, paul found certain disciples of johns baptism, who. New testament church growth is fascinating and all too foreign to our modern church experience. Rainer green valley baptist church birmingham, al 35226 wth the exception of m. Evangelism in the book of acts walnut street church of. Within the acts of the apostoloi there are theoretical and practical exemplars which the contemporary church may pattern to navigate a pathway to fruitful evangelism and sustainable growth. The life and travels of the apostle paul are followed. Jul 08, 20 three great themes in the book of acts acts 1.

Is it merely that we live in a generation of hard hearted and stiffnecked people, or are there strategies or methods that we are. To carry out this mission the authors church held evangelism mobilization sunday, through which every church member could participate in evangelism and realize the importance of training. Steadfast living personal evangelism kept the church clean. Find sermon series ideas and home group bible study lesson ideas here. The gospel, because of the power of prayer, spreads unhindered. And today the life blood of the church is evangelism. As the lord added to their numbers, the early church kept track of the numerical growth of the churches and reported it acts 2. Acts has been called infants progress, for it traces the history and growth of the baby church. Record book imagine the book in my right hand contain a minutely detailed account of our life.

This article presents the concept of church growth alongside evangelism mainly in the book of acts. If we are ever to understand new testament christianity we must have knowledge of the beginning and growth of the church. Evangelism in the book of acts the church of christ in the book of acts was an evangelist church. After intense persecution arose in jerusalem, the scattered disciples went everywhere preaching the word acts 8. Abc memphis reaching the world evangelism explosion outline.

Evangelism is the verbal proclamation of the good news of. The book of first peter a very detailed outline of the book of first peter. Evangelistic preaching and the book of acts jerry vines first baptist church, jacksonville, fl 32202 introduction acts tells the story of the birth of the church of jesus christ and its development from jerusalem to rome. Once a person is reconciled to god and therefore to gods people, he or she gains a new job. Mcgavran developed his church growth principles after rejecting the popular view that mission was philanthropy, education, medicine, famine relief, evangelism, and world friendship and become convinced that good deeds while necessary must never replace the essential task of mission, discipling the peoples of the earth. Acts refers to the numerical growth of the young movement in the face of external and internal problems. We read of the evangelistic methods and message of the early apostles and preachers 3. Acts continues from there on starting with christs resurrection. Northern caribbean university school of religion and theology the relevance of the biblical book of acts to the contemporary church. This means that as the early christians were going to new and different places, their preaching the gospel of jesus christ was actually evangelizing acts 10. Amershamonthehill, eng scripture press, 1987, c1986 bv3790.

Whereas the gospel of luke focuses on the life and ministry of jesus christ, the acts of the apostles builds upon what jesus did and taught see acts 1. And this kind of blessing continued throughout the book of acts. Luke described to theophilus in his first letter about jesus life up to the resurrection. The book of acts is gods divine book on the subject of church history. One response to what the book of acts teaches us about. Matthew, mark, luke, john, peter, paul, james and jude. The book of acts contains important information for all today. Preparing the understanding for mission intro to course oct 14 acts 1. The book of acts church of christ in zion, illinois. The book of acts provides a detailed, orderly, eyewitness account of the birth and growth of the early church and the spread of the gospel immediately after the resurrection of jesus christ. When consulting with churches about developing outreach, church growth and evangelism plans, my goal is to get everyone. The course provides ministers with the basic principles and tools promoted by church growth theorists. Professor of new testament studies acadia divinity college, wolfville, nova scotia. There is a conjunction between three elements as the gospel goes forth.

Church growth and decline navarre church of christ. The acts of peter and philip the evangelist are recorded here as well. Therefore, evangelism is the person or process of taking the saving message of the gospel to the. The books of acts is often called the book of the holy spirit or the book of the apostles. To prove this point, let us take a quick look at church growth in the book of acts, with a special view to the church in jerusalem. Follow me, and i will make you fishers of men, said jesus mark 1. The record of the churchs beginning is recorded in acts 2 b. Church growth should be the same as kingdom growth. Church growth and evangelism in the book of acts, ts. Church growth in the book of acts a church of christ can and will grow spiritually and numerically when it is faithful to the word of god.

Whereas the old testament depicts evangelism as people coming to god, the lucan perspective demonstrates that gods servants will go to his people. Ludlowthe book of acts was written by luke after his gospel as the second part of a great twovolume work on jesus christ and the early christians. A history of the early church gene taylor2an outline of the book i. This was the start, and the rest of the book of acts tells the story of an exciting, expanding fellowship of men and women who witnessed to jesus christ with power and abandon. The stores about why luke, james, peter, john, and jude wrote their letters set dramatic. For leaders and participants in a course on church growth, evangelism and mission, an introductory seminar should make up the initial seminar of a 5 or 6 part seminar format. Church growth literature indicates that the homogeneous unit principle remains one of the most controversial elements of the church growth movement, but it is generally recognized that this principle is still one of the most useful and valuable contributions of church growth to world evangelism. It is the duty of all christians to preach the gospel to the world.

The you are there narration provides deep insight and understanding of the times in which the acts of the apostles and the general epistles were written. Later, believers were the more added to the lord, multitudes both of men and women acts 5. Luke and acts together make up about 28% of our new testament. On his 3rd missionary journey, paul found certain disciples of. Without this historical record, little would be known about the expansion of the church. Feb 04, 2012 even with persecution designed to stop growth, the number of believers grew 9. Preparing the life for mission building a altar for a life god can use oct 21 acts 2. How did the church grow so quickly and effectively in the book of acts. The biblical approach to church growth through personal. Soon the followers of christ reached five thousand 4.

The preaching of the gospel of jesus and his kingdom b. To cover the subject of evangelism in the book of acts is a tall order for a brief article. The book of acts tells the story of the beginning of the church of jesus christ. The book of acts is the only historical record of the birth and early days following christs establishing his church.

An in depth study of the factors that promote or hinder church growth, followed by a strong emphasis on developing specific growth strategies for the local church. Pdf evangelism and church growth in the book of acts. Acts records the beginnings of the church and reveals the steps one must obey to become a christian. Recently however, people shifted to the east as well for examples of church growth. Rapid evangelism resulting in the establishment of local churches. Luke records many examples of conversion in the book of acts e.

The exemplars discussed here, though not exhaustive, may. Note that philip used the fact that the eunuch was reading a book to start up a conversation. Outline of the book of acts floral heights church of christ. Acts begins with jesus teaching the apostles about the kingdom of god outside jerusalem, and ends, about thirty years later, with paul teaching gentile christians about the kingdom of god in rome. In the past, people looked to the west for examples of growing a church. As we have seen, peters sermon on the day of pentecost expanded the church from about 120 people to over 3,000 people. Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.

Greens evangelism in the early church,l the subjects of evangelism and church growth in the book of acts have been unaccountably neglected in recent years. Evangelism in the book of acts new testament church growth is fascinating and all too foreign to our modern church experience. Christians have often assumed that evangelism means verbally sharing the entire saving gospel message with a person. Resources for pastors and leaders on church growth, leadership training and evangelism. Hence such words as pastor, evangelist, minister, overseer, father of the flock a term. Verse 42 lists four of the activities to which the church devoted itself. As an author, luke was careful to teach his readers that this external, numerical growth of the church was evidence of gods approval and power. Its narrative supplies a bridge connecting the life and ministry of jesus to the life of the church and the witness of the earliest believers. Church growth church growth is a very popular topic that even nonchristians heard of this term before. Applying church growth principles for effective ministry in the seventhday adventist church. Evangelism in the book of acts walnut street church of christ. Dec 11, 2009 mcgavran developed his church growth principles after rejecting the popular view that mission was philanthropy, education, medicine, famine relief, evangelism, and world friendship and become convinced that good deeds while necessary must never replace the essential task of mission, discipling the peoples of the earth.

The bible says that someday the books will be open and everybody will know all about us. The unique aspects of these books of the bible are vividly presented through contemporary illustrations and poignant prayers. But reading the book of acts, one finds that paul used many methods to share the gospel with people. At the club meeting each week, a different member told a little about his job. As with his previous books, elmer towns wrote praying the book of acts in poetic style, combining modernday language with a lyrical twist. Principles of evangelism from the book of acts truthonlybible. He is the one who overcomes a sinful heart and convicts of sin, imparting life and faith to the lost. The book of acts a twelve lesson course covering all 28 chapters. Elmer towns reveals the relevance of the new testament books of acts, hebrews, james, the two books of peter, the three books of john and jude for todays living and learning. Let people discuss this and grapple with something so. This kind of information helps us understand how and where god is working in the lives of the people in a given region.