Seven Loves of a Healthy Spiritual Life: Love Souls

A Love for Souls

And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved. (Acts 2:47)

Healthy churches are growing churches.

Our primary concern should be church health the by-product is church growth.

Passages that referred to the Lord adding to the church, new believers, the multiplication of growth - all of these related to the last six areas that we have examined.

Doctrine

Fellowship

Prayer

Worship

Ministry

Giving

Every activity that this church conducts should related to reaching souls in some fashion or another.

A Love for the WORD A Love for the BRETHREN

A Love for PRAYER A Love for WORSHIP

A Love for the MINISTRY A Love for GIVING

All resulted in SOULS being added

Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Ye shall receive power (dunamis) Miraculous power

Ye shall be witnesses (martus - noun)

1.A person who willingly suffers death rather than renounce his or her religion.

2.A person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle, or cause: a martyr to the cause of social justice.

3.A person who undergoes severe or constant suffering: a martyr to severe pain.

Persecution couldn’t stop it’s growth!

Acts 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

Exponential Growth

· Upper room – 120

· Acts 2:41 – 3000

· Acts 4:4 – 5000

· Acts 5:28 – filled Jerusalem with [this] doctrine

· Acts 17:6 – These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also;

· Philip took the Gospel to Samaria The Eunuch to Ethiopia

· Peter opened it up to an Italian named Cornelius

· Paul took it to Lydda, Joppa, & Capurium

· Cyprus, Iconium, Lystra & Derbe Asia Minor: Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, Corinth Galatia, Phrygia, Ephesus, Macedonia, Greece, Miletus and eventual Rome

It was Miracles that convinced - A thriving and growth minded church will see the miraculous

· The crowd on the Day of Pentecost

· Those in the Temple who saw the lame man healed

· The healing of Aeneaus caused “all . . . to turn to the Lord” in Acts 9:35 Dorcus’s healing impacted the city of Joppa

· Herod’s death convinced many in Acts 12:24 and the Word of God multiplied

It was the preaching of the Word of God that changed people:

Cornelius’ House

· The Holy Ghost fell on those of Cornelius’ house while Peter was preaching

· Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?

Aquila and Priscilla

· Apollos - Aquila and Priscilla . . . took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. Acts 18:26

Some of the finest doctrinal preaching can be found in

· Peter’s message on the Day of Pentecost

· Stephen’s message in Acts 7

· Paul at Athens

· Worship brought the earthquake that opened the door to the hearts of the jailer and his household.

Love God

Love What He Loves

Romans 5:8

8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

1 John 4:9

9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

John 3:16

16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Becoming a Contagious Church

ORGANIZATIONS OF ALL KINDS, AND churches in particular, have a dangerous tendency to stay so busy dealing with day-to-day programs, pressures, and problems that, over time, they lose track of what they are purportedly trying to accomplish.

Mittelberg, Mark. Becoming a Contagious Church (p. 13). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

We can find ourselves so busy in ministry that we fail to plan while under the influence of the Holy Ghost

An excerpt from Becoming a Contagious Church:

Evangelism. It’s one of the highest values in the church—and one of the least practiced. We all believe in it. It’s on our bulletins, in our hymns, and throughout our creeds. It’s posted on our marquees and peppered through our statements of faith. It’s explained in our theology books, encouraged in our seminaries, and preached in our pulpits. Most Christian leaders list it as a top priority. There is little doubt that evangelism is central to what we’re supposed to be about. The irony is that while many of our churches and denominations have a rich heritage and strong reputation for evangelism, in many cases precious little is actually happening. Let’s be honest: in most ministries very few people are being reached for Christ. Yet Jesus commanded: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19–20). This mandate was given for all churches of all time—including yours and mine. Since we all agree that we are supposed to be carrying out the Great Commission, why aren’t we doing more about it? Studies show that most Christians don’t have very many—if any—friendships with non-Christians. The majority of church members can no longer quote the words of John 3:16 about God’s great love for the world, much less articulate a clear gospel illustration. A mere 14 percent of pastors claim that their churches are heavily involved in evangelism.1 We talk a good game, but our actions speak louder than our words. Do we really care about lost people? Are we convinced that everyone we know, without exception, needs to find the forgiveness, friendship, life, and leadership Jesus offers?

Mittelberg, Mark. Becoming a Contagious Church (pp. 16-17). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Three vital factors two evangelizing to the lost:

A connection with people of different faith

Schools, businesses, activities outside the church, restaurants

Doing more than talking about it

Take action and as Nike would say, “Just do it”

Understanding that people come to Christ one life at a time

True Christians will go through a discipling process

People come to Christ one life at a time—and usually through the influence of one or two authentic Christians who have built genuine relationships with them. All believers can and should have that kind of impact on the people around them.

Mittelberg, Mark. Becoming a Contagious Church (p. 17). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.