We have a leadership question for you today. Hello, Pastor John, in your time as a pastor at Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Over all those 30 plus years, did you ever use strategies aimed at church growth?

How would you counsel pastors and churches who seek to grow numerically and reach more people while doing so in the most biblically faithful way possible?

How would you answer this leadership question, Pastor John?

I'm really happy for this question because I don't think we've tackled this in any in any in all the 900 plus.

I tried to communicate to our people continually that in view of the glory of Christ, his purpose is to be magnified in the world through believing people.

The vast lostness of millions and millions of people near and far, the horrors of hell, the beauties and the power of the gospel, the nature of love, the truth that it's more blessed to give than to receive.

I tried to communicate in view of all that, not rescuing, perishing people is not an option for us.

It's also not possible for us since only God can raise the dead and open the eyes of the blind and take out stony hearts of unbelief.

So our first strategy of growth was prayer.

I tried to create a culture of desperation for all the things that matter most, which are the ones that only God can do.

Parents can't do it, evangelists can't do it, pastors can't do it, friends can't do it.

We scattered prayer meetings all through the week, besides encouraging families and small groups to pray and individuals of course to pray for the impossible goal of getting sinners through the eye of a needle, which only God can do that miracle.

We also knew, however, that faith comes by hearing.

So not sharing the gospel with a view to seeing people believe and be saved and be part of God's family forever was not an option for us.

The term church growth, however, had become had connotations for us that were not so good.

At least in the circles in which I function and my people so much depends on where the accent falls when you talk about church growth.

Abuses of pragmatism, minimization of theology, dilution of the gospel, dumbing down of serious joyful worship in a way that came to be known as seekers sensitive.

All these things were associated in our language with thought church growth movement, which is sad because there's nothing wrong with growing.

In fact, I wanted to say we must pursue growth, but in that context, my suggestion to pastors is that you use biblical language constantly to permeate your people's minds with something other than catch phrases that are in seminars like church growth.

The great challenge is not to become a bigger and bigger church, but to see more and more people escape the wrath of God.

Ask your people that if they say, I don't know that church growth stuff is biblical.

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