[None, OrderedDict([('@xmlns:itunes', 'http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd'), ('#text', 'THE GREAT COMMISSION - FEAR NO MORE Lesson 1 Church Growth While our church family takes three weeks for all classes to focus on sharing Jesus without fear, we seize this time to focus on the causes for early church growth as a means of introducing our church-wide evangelism emphasis. The early church did not grow by chance. Nor did it grow by silence of the believers. The church grew, as the church does today, by the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing the good news of our salvation to the hearts and minds of the unbeliever. The Holy Spirit bears witness to Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, who gave his life as a ransom for sinners. Before Jesus died, he spoke to his Apostles the words of John 14-16, in which he prophesied and promised the Holy Spirit would come. Jesus was specific that the Spirit would bear witness to him. "The Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me" (Jn 15:26). That is indeed the work of the Holy Spirit, to "convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment" (Jn 16:8). The Spirit brings "glory" to Jesus "by taking what is mine [Jesus] and making it known to you" (Jn 16:14). The growth of the church, then, is the story of the Holy Spirit working among humanity. We are remiss, however, if we leave out a key to the work of the Holy Spirit. The key is found in the very same passages. In John 15, after Jesus said the Spirit "will testify about me," Jesus immediately adds, "and you also must testify" (Jn 15:27). In other words, evangelism is the work of the Holy Spirit; witnessing is the work of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit does this work through followers of Christ. This truth is seen throughout our New Testament. Jesus gave the parting instructions to his disciples to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Mt. 28:19). Paul would put it this way: in the church, we are all parts of the "body" of Christ (1 Cor. 12). In this body, we all have a manifestation or gift of the Holy Spirit. That gift, though, is for the church, the "common good" (12:7). As the body of Christ, we do the works of Christ. We are his hands, his feet, and his mouth. Not all have the same gift, and not all have the same role in God\'s evangelism. But all have a gifting for the common good. All have this from God. A natural part of living a truthful life is recognition of God as our source and meaning. Therefore, it is only right and natural that we should openly speak of who gives us meaning and purpose, and of whom we rely on for our today and tomorrow. This was the experience of the early church. Some were actual missionaries, sent out to take the good news to foreign people. These were, however, not the majority of the Christians. Far more were called to live lives that proclaimed the good news in every day ways to every day people. The thrust of the early Christians\' evangelism was a natural outflow of a changed life dependent upon God. The church was not out to grab converts! The church was following the instructions of the Messiah, telling the good news as God gave the chance and opportunity. This was not an in-your-face accept it or roast-in-hell lifestyle. To the contrary, it was one of love and compassion. The proclamation of the good news was a natural outflow of obedience to Christ as a witness. It was sowing of seed. The church\'s role was not to get the conversions. That was and is the role of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit convicts hearts and minds; the church merely delivers the message. Jesus recognized, and the early church understood, that each follower of Christ is a witness to some degree or another. In a real sense, it is merely a question of what kind of witness the believer will be. Will the believer be a light that shines from a hill at night? Or, will the witness be one of shame and silence about the Lord? The early church grew from a handful of low status, little influence, uneducated, Jewish fishermen in a back-water country of the Roman Empire into a')])]