C.A.C Sunday School Manual For April 27, 2024 : Topic – UNPRECEDENTED CHURCH GROWTH
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CHRIST APOSTOLIC CHURCH Nigeria And Overseas
2024 SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
UNIT 2: GOD GIVES GIFTS PURPOSEFULLY
THEME: SPIRITUAL POWER AND GIFTS FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST
LESSON Fifteen
28th April, 2024
TOPIC: UNPRECEDENTED CHURCH GROWTH
MEMORY SCRIPTURE : Then those who gladly received his word were baptised and that day about three thousand souls were added to them (Acts 2:41).
GROWTH
Exercise your gift(s) for the unprecedented growth of the body of Christ; don’t be selfish!
BRIEF COMMENT
Growth is one of the peculiarities of any living organism. And G because the Church of God is living, and is an organisation, the Church cannot but witness both qualitative and quantitative growth. However, this might not be achievable, if the Church chooses not to exercise spiritual gifts and power accrue to her. For instance, the Holy Spirit’s orchestrated preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost brought very great harvest of souls for the Church in Jerusalem Nothing has yielded much result for the Church of God more than spiritual power and gifts harnessed and exercised. May we no longer fail God in the area of maximally using our grace, in Jesus’ name.
DEVOTIONAL BIBLE READING
Mon. 22: Spiritual Gifts Facilitate Growth In Samaria (Acts 8:4-8)
Tue. 23: Spiritual Gifts Multiply Believers (Acts 9:31)
Wed. 24: Spirit-filled Gentiles Display Spiritual Gifts (Acts 10:44-48)
Thur. 25: Spirit-Filled Ministers Maximise God’s Gifts (Acts 11:19-22)
Fri. 26: Specially-Gifted Church With Missionary Grace (Acts 13:1-3)
Sat. 27: Specially-Gifted To Spread The Gospel (Acts 13:42-52)
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS
i. Spiritual power and gifts are divine resources for the growth of the Church. Be filled with them!
ii All Church members must use their Holy Spirit-given gifts to help the Church grow. Discover and showcase your gifts to glorify God.
BACKGROUND SCRIPTURE: Acts 6:7; 19:17-20 *4.
AIM AND OBJECTIVES
AIM: To show that by exercising spiritual power and gifts, both qualitative and quantitative growths are necessarily witnessed in the Church.
OBJECTIVES: By the end of this lesson, learners should:
I. be able to explain qualitative and quantitative growth patterns in the Church; and
ii. discuss how the Church can grow qualitatively and quantitatively through the exercise of the spiritual power and gifts.
INTRODUCTION
TEXTUAL SOURCE: ACTS 2:14FF; 5:12-16
Through some of the previous lessons, we have been enabled to know some of the reasons for the Spiritual Power and Gifts in the Church of God. We are forever grateful to God for all these spiritual enlightenments.
This is another lesson that is designed to make us see more of the purposes of Spiritual Power and Gifts in the Church. It is out to examine how the Church has continued to benefit, qualitatively and quantitatively from the demonstration of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit and Power. May His Spirit continue to abide with us, in Jesus’ name.
LESSON OUTLINE
I. FACILITATES QUANTITATIVE GROWTH
II. FACILITATES QUALITATIVE GROWTH
LESSON EXPOSITION
I. FACILITATES QUANTITATIVE GROWTH (Acts 2:14ff)
Then those who gladly received his word were baptised and that day about three thousand souls were added to them (v. 41).
a) vv. 14ff: The First Church quickly witnessed the impact of the Holy Spirit and Power at Pentecost, through the anointed preaching of Peter-powerful demonstration of the gift of preaching/teaching.
b) vv. 40,41: His sermon was so powerful and persuasive that about 3000 souls joined the Church. Anointed preaching has never stopped bringing converts to Christ, and such converts become mature disciples, who are not mere miracle and fun-seekers.
c) v. 42: And they continued steadfastly… These new converts and the existing members continued together in Christ, courtesy of the unifying power of the Holy Spirit.
d) vv. 43-47: The Church continued to increase in numerical strength on daily basis as the apostles exercised their God-given spiritual gifts.
e) v. 47: Note: The Church grew numerically as a result of outsiders who were being converted to Christ. A Church that grows numerically through conversion and that is well-managed has the tendency to grow qualitatively.
f) Many churches mistake gathering crowds for growth, but true growth, as Christ intended, involves nurturing become an integral part of the body of Christ. core members to
II. FACILITATES QUALITATIVE GROWTH (Acts 5:12-16)
And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women (v. 14)
a) vv. 12-16: While ‘quantitative’ talks so much about the number or the size of something, ‘qualitative’ concerns the goodness, kindness s and excellence of that thing.
b) When the gifts and power of the Holy Spirit are exercised, the Church also grows qualitatively, and this manifests in quality worship, fellowship, communion and overall spiritual growth.
c) v. 13: That none of the rest dared join them, but the people esteemed them highly attests to the quality of Christianity they practised (cf. 11:25,26). Are you and your church different from the world around you? Can they see Christ in you, or the quality of your cathedral?
d) v. 14: Only believers (the genuinely born again) were increasingly added to the LORD. That is characteristic of the qualitatively growing Church. A proof of this is the unravelling of Ananias and Sapphira’s lie. (vv. 1-8). Consecrated and separated churches don’t fancy having large crowds. They prioritise the quality of their membership, yet, they keep growing.
e) These believers being increasingly added to the LORD obviously continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers (2:42). Their fellowship would be like that of the Church at Antioch-a balanced, growing church (13:1ff).
f) vv. 15,16: Another notable thing about the growth pattern here is how the believers, including the apostles grew in, and demonstrated God’s grace not for personal interests (2 Tim. 2:1).
g) A church experiences qualitative growth when the church membership increases numerically and becomes more like Christ What is the situation of your church?
LESSONS DERIVED
1 When the Church manifests spiritual gifts, more people are won to Christ, quantitavely and qualitatively.
2 The Church growth in Acts shows that we need to do a lot to grow our churches biblically, today.
QUESTIONS
1 Discuss the differences between quantitative and qualitative growths of the Church.
2 Given the Church pattern in Acts of the Apostles, can we really say our churches are growing today?
SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
ANSWER TO QUESTION 1
*. Quantitative growth is numerical growth, without necessarily a growth in the grace and knowledge of Christ.
*. It is a growth pattern that is not really spiritual maturity-focussed but culminates in a mingtes i population boom, because of miracle-seeking tendencies, or any other incentives.
*. This might be advantageous, if these crowds of seekers are assisted to know the Lord Jesus, thereby resulting in qualitative growth.
*. Meanwhile, qualitative growth is an improvement upon quantitative growth as it emphasises quality, in terms of worship, genuine fellowship, love, sharing and caring caring among among members.
*. This growth pattern produces members who are true seekers than crowds who are pursuing signs and wonders (Jn. 4:24).
*. Qualitative growth is Christ-centred while quantitative often is people, or miracle-driven. A balanced and God-glorifying Church is driven by qualitative growth.
ANSWER TO QUESTION 2
*. We can say that our churches today are growing, understanding the fact that growth is a continuous process, before death. The indices are:
* Many souls are being converted to Christ;
* New churches are emerging everyday;
• Many believers are being prepared for the ministry;
• People still choose to follow Christ despite facing persecution.
* Above all, the promise that the gate of hell will not prevail against the Church is still very real with us today (Matt. 16:18).
* However, it does not mean that we do not have gaps to be filled:
*. We still need to be back in the Bible and see how the first Church did it. Gathering crowds must not take the place of genuine growth, but spiritual maturity of the members must be prioritised. Systematic Bible study, love, share, care and Bible-based worship must be promoted, while members are being trained to exercise their God-given gifts.
LIFE APPLICATION
Many worship centres have ceased to exist because their ministers prioritised gathering crowds and money over the salvation of souls. When people do not receive proper guidance towards Jesus, they tend to move towards places where they can deepen their understanding of Jesus Christ. Sustained quality Church growth requires leading converts/members to the genuine Owner of the Church.
CONCLUSION
This is the end of the Fifteenth lesson in this series. May the Holy Spirit assist us to make full use of those things we have been taught, in Jesus’ name.
NOTE