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Church Growth Tim Smelser
As I was reminiscing this past month about my trip to Eastern Europe in 1990 I came across some “field notes” and correspondence regarding that work. When we were in Budapest, Hungary we studied with, and baptized, three men. Since our stay in that city was very brief we worried about their spiritual future – with no established church and no located evangelist. We needn’t have worried. In the next seven weeks those three men had taught and baptized ten more people! During the course of that time there were two or three preachers who were able to travel to Budapest and work with them for short periods of time, but these initial converts were the ones doing the work. They were talking to their friends about God’s word. They were setting up Bible studies and inviting others to join them. This followed the New Testament pattern set forth in Acts 8 and 2 Timothy 2. In Acts 8 the church at Jerusalem was suffering great persecution and the saints had to flee to other cities for safety. The apostles remained in Jerusalem to continue their work. “They therefore that were scattered abroad went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). The members were sharing the good news to those with whom they came in contact. In 2 Timothy 2:2 Paul told Timothy, “The things that you have heard from me…the same commit to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.” We sometimes call this the “Each one, teach one” principle. If each one of us were to convert one person and so equip them to teach one more person, and so on, then the church would grow as it did in the first century. Let us not rely on some type of organized program to do the work we ought to be doing. We need to teach! When over 10,000 people were asked “What was responsible for your coming to Christ and this church?” the answer given by 79% was, “A friend or relative invited me.” That is “Each one, teach one” at work!
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