Churchs are not growing.

[LadyKay]

8 hours ago, Wayne222 said:

     I just read the smaller churches which were of 100 members or less are not experience any growth. 

                    To me churches until recently in america always were growing. I think faith in God is dead or close to it. Americans don't care about God any more. Or is it something else maybe ?

My church is growing. 

[shortangel]

that's a very good question,  I don't think churches are not growing but then again me & my parents have stopped going to church whinch is a total bummer   I think churches might be the Babylon in the book of Revelation who knows

[missmuffet]

There are a lot of false teachers out there. I do not feel the fellowship in the Churches I have attended. 

[Neighbor]

To paraphrase: Ask not what your local body of Christ Jesus can do for you. Ask what you are to be doing now as a willing bondservant of Christ Jesus within His local body the church near you.

 

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

 

Many churches are dead.Constantly preaching little morality lessons because they think being a moral person is what gets you to Heaven.More gospel preaching and less legalism would cut down on church snoring.J. Vernon McGee said that when the Congregation falls asleep, the preacher better wake up.I think McGee was on to something.

Edited March 26, 2019 by Blood Bought 1953

[Neighbor]

Course J Vernon died back in 88, a time very different from today. Today  seems to be a time of peaking a building up and a fast pace of calling by the Holy Spirit to many. It is a time of the signs a grand time to behold.

 I see packed places of worship and full Christian schools with  churches adding satellite building after satellite building reaching out to people of the various communities. The missionaries are busy and are being supported  with volunteers going to so many places far away and near too.  

Churches are being planted all over the world and local individuals are being trained up to pastor and  be elders and to serve as deacons and deaconesses. I do think it is revival plus expansion building at a fast pace. Praise God the Father for the call by God the Holy Spirit to so many  today to see Jesus who is God and savior, and to repent of their sin against God, becoming avid enthusiastic bond-servants in the army of our Lord Jesus!

It is so awesome  this time we are so blessed to see and be part of, sharing of our Lord with all that will hear and with many that will heed. Be encouraged  brethren  these are exciting times we are partaking in.

 

[Michael37]

5 hours ago, Blood Bought 1953 said:

 

Many churches are dead.Constantly preaching little morality lessons because they think being a moral person is what gets you to Heaven.More gospel preaching and less legalism would cut down on church snoring.J. Vernon McGee said that when the Congregation falls asleep, the preacher better wake up.I think McGee was on to something.

A recurring theme...

1Sa 4:21-22
(21)  And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband.
(22)  And she said, The glory is departed from Israel: for the ark of God is taken.

Rev 2:4  Nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love.

 

[thomas t]

On 3/25/2019 at 8:42 AM, Wayne222 said:

I just read the smaller churches which were of 100 members or less are not experience any growth. 

                   [...] Americans don't care about God any more. Or is it something else maybe ?

Hi Wayne,

thank you.

German evangelical (+pentecostal) churches are slightly growing, I think. But they are a tiny minority.

The main problem I see is that half of the Christians don't want chuches to grow.

Look at this post (and please count the numer of times it has been voted up).

In my view, it has been about keeping the doors of churches shut.

They want to keep everything for themselves so they get more I'm afraid.

But Matthew 14:16-20 shows how Jesus operates:

 

20 And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.

 

I think this should be taken spiritually for passing out the bread of life: The more you pass out the more you have (my interpretation of that story). People are forgetting this right now. So sad.

Wayne, let's work to keep all the insults against non-believers out of here. Which non-believer is going to convert when you compare them to "pooping deer" (see again above how many times this had been voted up). Even people who dare to post in this very thread you opened up, they also voted that post up containing the "pooping deer" comparison. So let's work on respecting other people more, please.

Thank you.

Thomas

Edit: Considering my time ressources, I could do some .5% of that work as descibed above.

 

Edited March 26, 2019 by thomas t
see 'edit' line

[enoob57]

On 3/25/2019 at 2:42 AM, Wayne222 said:

     I just read the smaller churches which were of 100 members or less are not experience any growth. 

                    To me churches until recently in america always were growing. I think faith in God is dead or close to it. Americans don't care about God any more. Or is it something else maybe ?

You cannot love the world and love God … it is not possible!

[Still Alive]

21 hours ago, Willa said:

I agree with Still Alive.  If churches are not growing and retaining their teens and young adults there is often a good reason.  Sometimes there have been church splits that have left bitterness and unresolved problems so the church is not healthy. There is definitely a problems if the pastor is not relying on the Holy Spirit to feed the flock with fresh manna from God's word each Sunday.  The old manna has grown putrid.  

Ours has been planting satellite churches in towns 30 miles away because people were tired of traveling that far to church.  I have seen more maturity of Christians here than in previous churches I have attended.  The pastor believes we should be exercising our gifts, leading others to Christ and bringing the new Christians to church.  So he equips us to do the work and to be strong in God's word.  

One son led his wife to Christ; now his sons are leading their girlfriends to Christ and they are attending church with the family.  The other son finds that troubled Christians at work are coming to him with family and marriage problems and he counsels them according to Scripture.  Each according to his own gift.  His children are following after their dad as well and one is an evangelist.  The other grandson is also walking with God in acts of helps or service.  So our church continues to grow even though the services are not getting larger.  We outgrew 5 other facilities and have leveled off at about 1500 people plus 2 satellite church plants.   Now our pastor counsels, encourages and oversees pastors throughout the Northwest USA as well as pastoring his own church.  He is spread thin.   We have also sent out full time and short term missionaries from our congregation.   Healthy churches reach out to their communities and other countries.  They are not ingrown like a bad toenail.  Just as healthy Christians are not focused on self but on Christ's loving compassion for the lost and the wounded.  

This is interesting. I lived in Seattle for 46 years and, the last couple of years, as we prepared for our move to Kentucky, we lived in the Factoria area and went to a "satellite" church at the Bellevue High School that was doing the "saddleback thing", setting up and tearing down every week. It was a branch of a north end church. We watched the live sermon on a HUGE projection TV and our congregation had it's own band, that was professional quality (I'm a musician in my church and I know a quality band when I hear it). In a relatively short time we reached hundreds of members just in that one satellite (I want to say around 800, but I'm not sure). But they shut it down abruptly. It was weird. It was growing like crazy, but they felt it was not growing in the "way" they had intended.

Was that your church?