In this podcast, I talk about how God uses the element of time in our Christian growth. Too often we are in a hurry to produce Christian maturity, however, God is working from the perspective of eternity.

This is the beginning of a new series where I deal with the issue of Christian growth and maturity. In this first episode in the series, I talk about three major misconceptions about Christian growth and begin laying the foundation for true maturity.

Church growth should be two-fold. It's about growing people to become more like Christ and growing as a congregation in every way. Every true minister should desire both of these aspects. It's about glorifying God by seeing people come to Christ, teaching them to be mature disciples and training them how to expand the kingdom. Regardless of the size of a congregation, it's important to strive for ministry excellence and efficiency, because Christ is worthy of the best. Although creating mature disciples is a work of the Spirit, God uses the church as the means to make that happen. Too often a congregation will think that quality depends upon numbers and settle for being a "good church", when they should strive to develop a "great church".

The Ideal Size of A Church

A great church isn't about the number of people who attend it's services or ministries. People have all kinds of ideas about the ideal size of a church, much of it has to do with personal preference. The size of a congregation is not a good barometer of a healthy church or ministry excellence.  The number of people attending a church isn't an indicator of it's doctrinal purity, leadership effectiveness, ministry quality or fellowship. It's not how large or small the congregation, it's about how effective and efficient it's ministries are and if they are striving for excellence. In other words, are they being good stewards of their God- given resources.

[shareable]Regardless of it's size, any church can be healthy if it uses a solid spiritual growth strategy![/shareable]

Work Toward Ministry Excellence In 3 Areas

Regardless of it's size, any church can be great if it uses a well-rounded spiritual growth strategy for both it's members and it's ministries. A balanced ministry that strives toward excellence and efficiency promotes spiritual growth for it's members and in turn produces a healthy church. Regardless of the size of the church the three primary areas in which to work toward ministry excellence include :

1. Scripture Saturation. Help them develop a deep relationship with God by using sound biblical teaching and preaching.
2. Practical Instruction.  Equip them with sound biblical principles through which they can manage their personal lives and minister to those within the church.
3. Intentional Evangelization. Showing them how to reach out into the community with the gospel and practical ministries.

Mature disciples are a work of the Spirit. Is your church working in partnership to make it happen? Does your church have a ministry process through which you move people toward becoming mature disciples? Are you striving for ministry excellence and efficiency as a good steward?