Great Big Life: Called to grow

Called to grow

Nature teaches us that there are seasons to each year, each one uniquely wonderful with characteristics of its own. When it comes to growth there are times when things in the garden grow more quickly than other times but the reality is that there is always something that is growing. This is because growth is God-ordained. He creates things with the intention that they would have seasons of growth, that they would continue to multiply and reproduce themselves. This fact is seen clearly in the very design of humanity, how our bodies and minds are made, and also in the design of other things like agriculture and wildlife, even bugs. God likes things to grow, produce and multiply.

I believe that the thing He desires growth for, more than anything else, is His church. As with other things that are alive it is a church’s God-given destiny to grow, produce and multiply. Speaking of Jesus and His kingdom, look what the prophet Isaiah had to say about God’s church.

“Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end.” Isaiah 9:7

Notice that this verse does not say ‘of His government’ but rather ‘of the increase of His government’. God’s government, or His representative on the Earth, is His church – God is a God of increase.

A Time of Growth

As with gardens so it is with our lives and with church life: there are seasons of growth. Sometimes growth just happens nice and steadily, then at other times growth seems to happen with a burst, often without warning. Have you ever walked into your garden after being away and thought to yourself, where did all that grass come from? I only mowed it last week!

Have you noticed that at Family Church we are in another time or season of great growth? We should not be surprised because we prayed for it. Not only that, we have, to the best of our ability, prepared for it.

When I look at my own church, Family Church in Portsmouth, Gosport and Havant, I am so excited, not just for what we are seeing happen at the moment but for what I believe God has for us just around the corner. In this article I want to take the opportunity to sow these thoughts into your heart: “Great growth is coming. Let’s get ready for it!”

Stretch and grow

A wise man makes room for growth and I believe that we are a wise church, a daring church, when it comes to dreaming big and getting ready for the future. Let’s keep on being like that.

Before significant growth comes there is often a season of stretching. This is often not the nicest time but a vital one if we are to see and maintain the growth that God desires to come to us. As I said, these times are not often the funniest but if we stay growth-conscious it makes the times of stretching a lot more bearable because we understand we are being made bigger people for bigger things.

“Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labour; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband,” says the Lord. “Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.” Isaiah 54:1-5

In these verses we are introduced to a vital truth: before increase comes, stretching takes place. A classic example of this would be a woman’s womb in the time of pregnancy; the body stretches to accommodate the growth of the expected child. We understand this but forget that in every area of increase there is normally a time of stretching that precedes it. Being stretched is all about allowing God to increase our capacity. God does not stretch us to be cruel but rather to get us ready for what He has for us. We each need to look at our situations through the eyes of faith and ask, “What are you getting me ready for, Lord?”

Remember what we learned about having a God’s-eye view of our life? He sees our true potential, and grows and develops us to be what He says we are and to do what He says we can do. The classic example of this is Gideon. It was when he dared to look at himself through God’s eyes, and allowed God to stretch him into the shape he should be, that he was able to take hold of all that God intended for him.

Getting ready for new church growth

To attract growth you sometimes need to make growth-attracting decisions. Sometimes these can be hard ones but when you get a taste of what God has for you, the sacrifice or stretch is always worth it. As we get ready for more God growth as a church, together we need to continue to make great decisions that put us in the position of readiness.

Here are a couple of the attitudes we must keep in mind . . .

Remove whatever stops growth

If you were wanting to grow more in your natural garden but your garden had a lot of rocks in it, you would have to remove the rocks to make room for the desired growth. In our lives, and often in church, these rocks can be attitudes that stand in the way of growth. For example, attitudes like “I don’t like big churches, I like small churches, they are more intimate”. This attitude invites the response: “Join a Life Group!”

We don’t want to choose between growth or intimacy – we want both! We want a great big church that’s constantly growing, a church that is a major influence in the life of its city, made up of many small groups that release the life of intimacy and community into the dream church God has given us.

That’s one attitude, or rock, that could stop growth. We need to look at church and be brave enough to ask of ourselves what is stopping or slowing down God’s intended growth, and then have the courage to move it.

Dare to garden differently

Sometimes, to get what you have never had you have to do what you have never done. A gardener has to discover new ways of gardening if he wants his garden to be full of different types of growth. It’s the same with church – we want to keep daring to be different, getting involved with things we have not done before, having a corporate heart that is hungry for what God wants in the garden of His church today and loving people more than certain methods.

Get ready for it

If you want growth, you have to get ready for it. We need to maintain a ‘we’ve been expecting you’ attitude towards the growth God has for us, that in all we are doing we are always making room for it.

The fact is that growth always has a cost. As we continue to grow as a church we will always need new and bigger venues, more equipment, more staff. This is a reality and is a vital part of our journey. When we continue to give our money and energy generously, we continue to lay the pathway for where God will take us next.

Get the boat ready, it’s gonna rain

When we read the account of Noah and the great flood in Genesis we notice that God intended to flood the Earth but had a plan to save Noah and his family. So God came to Noah and said, “Get ready! It’s going to rain!” (my paraphrase). Noah then had to believe God, stretch himself and make a boat that would have the capacity to save those men, women and animals that needed to be saved. Notice that, before God sent the rain, He gave Noah the opportunity to build the boat.

I believe that, as a church, this is what God is saying to us right now. He has a plan to send rain real soon, and He is telling us to get ready for it. I’m not talking about the rains of judgement, as with Noah’s generation, but the rains of salvation and lives turning to God.

I can see that in the very near future we will outgrow our current venue. We will then have to go into multiple meetings, then into a new venue that can hold us numerically. I don’t know about you but this really excites me, and I believe it, but I also know it will cost us.

I don’t want us to be standing without a boat when this happens. We are standing in the hour when many men, women and children are going to run to Jesus and fill His church. Let’s passionately get God’s house ready for them. Church is like that ark in the days of Noah. It needs to have doors wide open for those who want to be saved and also it needs to have enough room to hold as many as possible.

God bless you. As you go into this new month think ‘growth’, godly growth in your own life, supernatural growth in your church.