The only guaranteed church growth method
Pastors and church leaders, if you are hungry to hear a great preaching that will speak to your spirit, check out Terry Black’s message titled “Faith,” a sermon he preached at Mid-America Revival Conference (MARC) in Indianapolis last month.
You can find the sermon online at calvarytabindy.org/media.php. It’s on page 3 under the tab “Calvary Archive.” I commend Calvary Tabernacle for making all of the MARC messages available online.
(Warning: make sure you’ve got a little time on your hands when you listen. Black preached for approximately an hour and a half. He was so good it seemed like half that time, though.)
Black, the pastor of The Pentecostal Church in Memphis, Tenn., seemed to direct most of his message to young ministers, many of whom are being swayed by contemporary church growth concepts that are not necessarily compatible with Apostolic doctrine.
Perhaps his most powerful observation was the simplest. Black offered his “revelation” of the only sure-fire church-growth concept in the Bible.
Sow seed.
Yeah, it’s not sexy. But as Black points out, it works every time it’s tried. Smoke machines, praise bands and strobe lights are cool, but at the end of the day, they don’t bring people to salvation.
My personal observation is that the ministries having the most success may have the things I mentioned in the previous paragraph, but the primary driver of their results has been their aggressive approach to evangelism. People can see a show on TV: when they come to church, they want something real, something that will change their life.
Only God can provide real change.
On a side note, one of the things I love about Terry Black is that he’s not your typical Pentecostal preacher. He doesn’t try to strip out his lungs in an effort to get an emotional response. He just presents truth and God does the work.
Listen. You’ll enjoy.
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