Bearing Much Fruit That Will Last


No doubt we are praying that Makati Gospel Church would grow both in quality (spiritually) and quantity (numerically). This is exactly what the Lord Jesus wants: “This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit [quantity], showing yourselves to be my disciples…You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. [quality]” (John 15:8, 16a, NIV. Emphasis added)

At the turn of the century, the Natural Church Development Institute headed by Dr. Christian Schwarz studied more than 1,000 churches in 32 countries on all six continents. Church leaders hailed it as “the most comprehensive study ever conducted on church growth.” According to that study, big churches are not necessarily healthy. Hmmm. It sounds like “A fat person is not necessarily healthy.” Ouch! That hurts! :-) Likewise, small churches are not necessarily unhealthy. But, healthy churches grow. Quality leads to quantity.

One of the essential qualities of a healthy church that they discovered in this study is growing small groups in the church. In fact, Dr. Schwarz wrote, “If we were to identify any one quality as the ‘most important,’ then without a doubt it would be the multiplication of small groups.”

But this idea is not something new. In fact, it is a Biblical pattern. In the Old Testament, Jethro advised Moses to divide the people into groups that he may effectively and efficiently minister to the nation Israel (Exodus 18:13-26). In the New Testament, Jesus Himself had His small group—the 12 disciples. Other than their large group gathering in the temple, the early church had their fellowship “from house to house” (Acts 2:46, The NET Bible). Even the Apostle Paul did that. “You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.” (Acts 20:20, NIV)

Thus, we would like to invite you to join the Discovering My Cell Group Ministry seminar this coming Saturday, May 28, 9:30-11:30AM at Room 109. We welcome all of you who want to serve God in this ministry. It’s a 9-session workshop. It’s also free. You may register by calling the MGC office at 816-0634 (Look for Sis. Joyce). Sign-up forms are also available at the Usher’s table.

See you this Saturday!

Yours in Christ,

Bro. Eyriche Cortez

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

“Ubus-ubos Biyaya, Bukas Nakatunganga”

Image
That’s what my mother always told us when we were still kids. (Translation: “You spend everything today, you will have nothing tomorrow.” ) Image source: So, What's New ? Dionie did just that. Last April 2008, he won PHP14,125,032 in the Lotto 6/42 draw. Excitedly, he “lived the life of a millionaire, something he had been longing to experience. He lived in a P4-million house in a posh subdivision, drove around in a sports utility vehicle [which he bought the very same day he claimed his prize] , and gave goodwill money, ranging P1,000 to P 850,000, to relatives and friends. He also gambled daily, womanized, and went on regular drinking sprees.” (Source: Manila Bulletin ) He estimated that he squandered a minimum of P100,000 almost every day. He also lent money even to people he did not really know. “I just gave them and told them not to pay me back.” (Ibid) His bank had to issue him a special card so he can withdraw huge amounts of money quickly from the automated teller m
Read more

God Knows Judas Not Pay

In the National Geographic Magazine (May 2006 issue), in its cover story, The Judas Gospel , Professor Eliane Pagels of Princeton University claimed that the so-called gospel of Judas “ changes the history of early Christianity. ” Even UP Professor Randy David took notice of the Judas Gospel: “Strictly from a sociological standpoint, I think the discovery of the Gospel of Judas makes Christianity a far more interesting religion than what centuries of metaphysical theology has made of it.” (A Gospel for the Postmodern, Phil. Daily Inquirer, April 16, 2006) That’s why I spoke in our Young Pro Fellowship a few days ago on God Knows Judas Not Pay (A Biblical Response on the Judas Gospel). I believe opportunities like this hype on the Judas Gospel or the Da Vinci Code opens a door for us to share the true Gospel. For those who did not attend last Thursday, let me share briefly why we reject the Judas gospel. I came up with the acronym J-U-D-A-S. J udas was portrayed as a traitor in the Bibl
Read more

“Don’t drink the Kool-Aid!”

Image
Forty years ago, this expression became known as a description of blind obedience.   Source: Los Angeles Times On November 18, 1978, members of Peoples Temple, a cult group in Guyana, drank Kool-Aid drink laced with cyanide to commit a mass suicide “at the behest of their charismatic but paranoid leader, Jim Jones”. [1] According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica , “The death toll exceeded 900, including some 300 age 17 and under, making the incident one of the largest mass deaths in American history. ”  [2]  What made those people submit to such atrocity? According to Stella Morabito, a senior contributor to The Federalist online magazine, Peoples Temple is “Exhibit A… [of]  the dangers of the cult mindset or how vulnerable all people are to cult tactics.”  [3] She pointed out that, Coercive persuasion has immense power to shape and twist the human mind.  …[Jones’] utopian preaching of a humane world in which all lived happily in harmony resonated with the
Read more