A WEEKLY Dynamic Member-Oriented Church Growth

Pastor Larry Dela Cruz

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Every pastor in every city desires and prays for church growth. Observing and watching how churches grow and seeking in the Spirit and through the Scriptures how it is done, we can come up with a good and dynamic scripturally based program. Jesus said. Make disciples of all nations, baptizing them, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded. Paul through the Spirit wrote in Ephesians 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. 1Corinthians 15:58 Paul admonished the brethren to abound in the work of the Lord. We can sum all these into one word MULTIPLICATION. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. Prov 11:30 A tree of life means it is the source of living to all that surround it and those who shall be in contact with it. Winning souls is a vital part of it. The works and the deeds of the righteous are life to others. Multiplication means duplication and reproduction. Every disciple should multiply, duplicate himself and reproduce his own. He should bear fruit. His fruit is a tree of life. It is a God-given mandate to every believer to reach out to his family, relatives and friends. The mega churches that have grown have applied this principle. Those whose growth was hampered were not faithful to this great commission. There are churches with ages of ten to twenty years have grown in quality and in number while some even declined in number. Why do others keep on multiplying herself while the others with the same years have less number of souls being saved and membership come and go? The difference was the former was using and obeying the Multiplication Mandate and the later lagged behind. An active dynamic participation of members in bringing new souls makes the church healthy and strong one. Every Sunday after Sunday we can see the same faces in every pew and sometimes are vacant. It is because there are believers who are SAVED, SATISFIED AND SEATED. Sadly some pastors neglect and does not lead teams for evangelism work and missions. Thus, the members acted the same. A pastor is an
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evangelist and a teacher. A leader duplicates and produces disciples like himself. Whoever leader you follow, that you become. We must give much emphasis and encourage members involvement in bringing souls to the Lord. The members have to bear fruit. By bearing fruit God is glorified and we are rewarded. John 15:8 says, Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. Good fruit does not only mean good works but also doing the work of God and winning souls. How to fulfill this great commission, together with the body of Christ, we can adapt a program which we now call MULTIPLICATION. It is simple. Every member should bring a soul to the church every Sunday meetings, weekly services or to the small group meetings to hear the gospel and be saved. Then follows from being a disciple into an active member multiplying himself. It is a continuous living cycle and process. We reach our families, relatives and friends steadily and consistently. We put all the members of the church in an active personal and church ministry giving them spiritual accountability and maturity. If you have 100 members today, the following Sunday you can blessed 200 souls with the word of God, from 200 to 400 to 800 and so on and on. We are teaching our people to reach out their immediate families, relatives and friends from their communities, offices, market place and their same fields of interest. They shall have a hands-on personal experience in the ministry of evangelism and discipleship. They, too, will guide and monitor these new believers and bring them to their small groups. The church shall multiply and many shall be brought to the LORD and be saved. Every body shall be busy with the work of the Lord. It shall be an exciting and great experience for the church to see the Lords hand moving, saving and changing lives. The body of Christ shall advance in the Kingdom. Here are the Steps for MULTIPLICATION toward effectively producing souls for Christ. Each Church Member has to: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Set aside list of names of relatives, friends and contacts. Take time to call, invite and follow up during weekdays. Encourage and bring them into the church and bible meetings. Proclaim the gospel to them. Support their Christian growth.
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To do this program there should be a church preparation and good organization. The pastor with his leaders should head the program. Every Sunday everybody is encouraged. The campaign should be continuous and not die. Leaflets and brochures should be handed out. When visitors come in, there are many ways to share the gospel. Some churches move them into separate rooms for evangelization. Others after the sermon, the souls were invited to receive Christ. What ever the program is what is important the gospel is shared and many received and touched by the Lord. If we will not reach the people in darkness, who will? We do this altogether the pastors and the members and we shall see a dynamic active church growth. Glory be to our God through Christ in the church!

CONSOLIDATION: We do not end in bringing souls to our church services and meetings. Consolidation is Step no. 5, we Support their Christian growth. Making the new believers to become disciples, stay, mature and become fruitful and multiply himself is our ultimate end. This can be done through continuous follow up and invitation and the new believer should be a part of a small group within his community. Consolidation is made by family members who have weekly small group meetings in their communities and homes. Weekly meetings at home make the study of Gods word more personal and interactive. Spiritual problems can be addressed immediately. They can pray for one another, heal the sick and be delivered from all the oppression and lies of the enemy. The small group study shall feed the new sheep and the members of the church deeply. The pastoral group should weekly provide the outlines for the growth of the small groups. Small group leaders should be called and trained. Every head of the family should be the leader of his home. This is the backbone of every church and every family.

PREPARATION OF A SMALL GROUP LEADER

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Tim 2:15
The third time He said to him, Simon son of John, do you love me? Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, Do you love me? He said, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.

Jesus said, Feed my sheep.

John 21:17

THE SMALL GROUP

The Small group is a major integral part of the MULTIPLICATION Program, a weekly dynamic member-oriented church growth. It is a family member home based bible study/meeting. Change the family, we change the community. We change the community, we change the nation. The Small Group is the backbone of our churches. Old and new members are taken cared of in these small groups where in their needs cant be met on the church on Sunday meetings. In a small group meeting we can have a thorough interactive study of Gods word. Spiritual matters can be addressed. We can pray for one another. Healing and deliverance can be done. Relationships can be restored. Care for the members of the body is met. We prepare and equip our members in our small groups for the work of the ministry becoming effective and faithful witnesses for Christ. The Pastoral group should prepare and provide the weekly study guide. Small group numbers from five and maximum to fifteen and can be broken or expand into another group should it be too big to handle. The small group leader should be fully prepared and equipped for this very important task for the body of Christ. Finally, our small group should bear fruit by winning souls for Christ.

THE LIFE OF A SMALL GROUP LEADER

1. HIS PRIVATE LIFE His relationship with God. a) Prayer life He should have a consistent prayer life everyday. Move others to a personal commitment of prayer unto the Lord. And have a powerful prayer life.
Lk 18:1

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.
Dan 9:23

As soon as you began to pray, an answer was given, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed. Therefore, consider the message and understand the vision:

b) Word of God He should have a consistent receiving of the Word everyday. Jos 1:8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. He should study and equip himself with the Word and the outlines he receives from his leaders in the church for his small group. Col 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. c) Obedience He should be consistent in obeying and living a righteous life before God. Ps 119:56 This has been my practice: I obey your precepts.
1Jn 2:29

If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

Jas 1:22

He should apply the word he teaches his small group. Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.

2. HIS PUBLIC LIFE His relationship with his family, friends, office and business associates and the outside world. a) Integrity Maintain an impeccable integrity before his family, friends and unbelievers. Ps 78:72 And David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.
1Ki 9:4

As for you, if you walk before me in integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws,

b) Character Maintain a stable and Christ-like character before all the people around him. 1Co 11:1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.
To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 1Pe 2:22 He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.
1Pe 2:21

c) Witness Maintain a sound witness of Christ and Gods word before all the people around him. Ac 22:15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.
Rev 2:13

I know where you livewhere Satan has his throne. Yet you remain true to my name. You did not renounce your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, who was put to death in your citywhere Satan lives.

3. HIS MINISTRY LIFE His relationship with the church and the brethren, His relationship with his church leaders, His ministry work, and his Master.

a) Love for the brethren Show love, care and concern for all the brethren. This is where everybody can extend help to the brethren who are in need. Jn 13:34 A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. Jn 13:35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. Ro 12:10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Jas 2:15 Jas 2:16

Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed, but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? Jas 2:17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. Jas 2:18 But someone will say, You have faith; I have deeds.

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. b) Submission to leaders Show submission to church leaders. 1Ti 5:17 The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. Heb 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.

c) Faithful to his Master and ministry Show faithfulness by bearing fruits in the ministry. Jn 15:8 This is to my Fathers glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. Jn 15:16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruitfruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. Final Word. Our Lord Jesus Christ wrote to the seven churches in the Book of Revelation. There were significant messages that we should consider and see, find and correct in our own churches while doing and bearing fruit in our ministries.

The issues to be considered and should be corrected in our churches and in our small groups are: 1. Not forsake our first love. Rev 2:4 2. Repent. Rev 2:5, 3:3 3. Hear what the Spirit says to the churches and overcome. Rev 2:7,11, 17, 29, 3:6, 13, 22 4. Be faithful unto the point of death. Rev 2:10 5. Idolatry. Rev 2:14, 20 6. Sexual Immorality. Rev 2:14, 20-23 7. Not soil your clothes. Rev 3:4 Our goal is that our churches to bear fruit and live a consistent pure and righteous lives. We should strive to be like the church in Philadelphia wherein they bore fruits, kept themselves pure, kept His words and obeyed Him, not denied His name and endured patiently. And on the Day of Christ we shall be rewarded.

To the Church in Philadelphia Rev 3:7 To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. Rev 3:8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Rev 3:9 I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liarsI will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you. Rev 3:10 Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. Rev 3:11 I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Rev 3:12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. Rev 3:13 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

HANDLING A SMALL GROUP MEETING

Preparation 1. Make sure you are ready with the Lesson. 2. Before going, cover the meeting with prayer. 3. Be neat and dress properly. 4. Ask the family to invite relatives and friends. 5. Come early and dont be late. At 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. the Meeting Let the Spirit of God be your silent partner. Begin with prayer. You can offer songs unto the Lord. Share from the Scriptures. Remember it is the word that shall strengthen them. Ask questions and let others participate but you should not let the continued sharing of the word be distracted. At closing ask for prayer concerns. Pray for their needs and healing. Share the gospel for first timers and let them receive the Lord. After the word the brethren can continue in fellowship and encouragement.

HOW TO EFFECTIVELY TEACH FROM THE SCRIPTURES There are different ways of teaching the word topical, textual and expository. As a method, expository preaching differs from topical preaching and textual preaching. To prepare a topical sermon, the preacher starts with a topic and then finds a passage in the Bible that addresses that topic. In a textual sermon, the preacher uses a particular text to make a point without examining the original intent of that text. In both topical and textual sermons, the Bible passage is used as support material for the topic. In expository sermons, the Bible passage is the topic, and support materials are used to explain and clarify it. An Expository sermon would be more appropriate in a small group meeting. In using this type of sermon look for key words and you can draw the title from it for your sermon. Proponents of expository preaching would say this: An expositor is solemnly bound to say what God says. In an expository message we relate precisely what a text of Scripture says. A more technical explanationan old one that I hold tois that an expository message gets its main points and its sub-points directly from the text. An
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expository message says what the text says and gets all its developmental features from the text as well. Fresh insights are given by the preacher as received from the Spirit.

Expository preaching (referred to as systematic exposition) is a form of preaching that expounds upon the meaning of a particular text or passage of Scripture. The word exposition is related to the word expose the expository preachers goal is simply to expose the meaning of the Scripture taken for teaching, verse by verse. It is drawing out from the verse read the intended meaning of the writer. It is teaching what it plainly and explicitly says. This is the opposite of putting our own thoughts to the verse. Let the Bible speak for itself. Let the Word of God teach us. Advantages of an Expository Sermon: 1. You dwell on the subject written and drive your points from the teachings the writer is trying to convey to his listeners or readers. 2. In an Expository Sermon you can receive fresh insights from the Holy Spirit as you draw truths while reading and expounding the Scriptures taken verse by verse. 3. This sermon teaches you to interpret and teach in context. 4. This sermon encourages the members of your small group to open the bible and appreciate the scriptures when they follow you. 5. This will encourage them to interpret the scripture in the same way when they study it on their own. 6. Expository sermons are powerful, fresh and alive because truths come up as you go on with the flow of the verses. 7. In an Expository sermon you or you need not make an outline because you can preach directly from the scriptures read and follow the story or the teaching expressed. 8. In an Expository sermon you can teach from fifteen to thirty minutes to an hour so it is more flexible to handle. 9. The Sermon can be simple and the lesson for life application can easily be learned. 10. You can choose to expound the bible first from any Book of the New Testament. The Book of John is good to begin with. There are many chapters in the New and Old Testament wherein you can teach from. You can never run out of good discussions and lessons to learn from Gods words. 11. You can easily develop new teachers with gifts from your small group when using this type of sermon.

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While exposition is not the only valid mode of preaching, it is the best for teaching the plain sense of the Bible. Expositors usually approach Scripture with these assumptions: 1. The Bible is Gods Word. If every word of God is pure and true (Psalm 12:6, 19:9, 119:140), then every word deserves to be examined and understood. 2. Men need divine wisdom in order to understand the Word (1Corinthians 2:12-16). 3. The preacher is subject to the text, not the other way around. Scripture is the authority, and its message must be presented honestly, apart from personal bias. 4. The preachers job is to clarify the text and call for a corresponding response from his hearers. Drill: Try to group yourselves together and each one pick the passages from the Scriptures and try to teach from them by using Expository Method. Look for the Key Words and entitle your sermon. Be sure to teach and interpret in context. It is done by going back to the previous verses and onward, consider the Chapter, the Book where it was taken and the Scripture as a whole. You can teach from a paragraph or more depending on the context. Do this on and on until you are familiar in doing it as you receive insights from the Lord. Remember as an Expositor you are subjected to the text and say what the Lord says in the Scripture. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Expound the passages and give insights. Ask questions related from the passages. Relate the incidents in the passages to our current life situations. Pinpoint what God is teaching and telling us. What is the move of the Lord in the story or teaching? Ask the group what is lacking in their spiritual life concerning the passages studied. 7. What have they learned? 8. Give the life application.

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RESOURCES: Small Group materials are also provided by the church. 1. Our first method is the Expository Sermon where we read and teach directly from the Scripture and expound and study them verse by verse. 2. Sunday sermons outlines are accessible from the church and the small groups can discuss the sermons among themselves. 3. 100+ Sermons, a three point outline of the major OT themes and all of the New Testament Books and can also be a guide for series of studies. Downloadable in our website: http://larrydelacruz.weebly.com/100-sermons.html 4. The Doctrines of the Lord is a systematic study of the themes of the Bible and can be used for group studies. Downloadable in our website: http://larrydelacruz.weebly.com/doctrines.html

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