Foundations for Church Growth from Acts 11:19-30

These are the foundations for our growth: God’s grace, God’s word, challenges in our lives, and our faith. And these all work in conjunction. We see in this passage in Acts 11 God working, by his grace, in the power of his word, through the faith of his people, turning circumstances according to his purpose, to produce growth in his church. This is how Luke describes the church in Acts 11–Christians who are wholly devoted to Christ, living sacrificially as God called them, fully relying on the promises of God to sustain them. Growth happens when we respond in faith to God’s call to follow him in the midst of hardships, trusting that the goodness he promises in his word will be shown to us in Christ. Over and over again in this passage, we find various groups and individuals presented with trials that stretch them beyond their own capacity. God designs the situations for them as a call to depend on him to supply what they need as a gift of his grace. In this way, God grows the church through their faith, by his power, and for his glory. This is where right living begins; this is the foundation that makes us salt and light to the world, with the power of God by his grace working through faith in Christ to produce good works through us. The church’s obedience of faith is grounded in devotion to Christ and knowledge of God through his word. As we continue to abide in Christ, learning from him, resting on his promises we find in the Bible, depending on the Spirit to reveal himself to us, God changes our hearts and minds so that in whatever place, whatever circumstance, whatever trial and challenge, we rely on God and proclaim to the world that God is faithful through challenges. He is better than the familiarity of home. He is worth the sacrifice of laboring for the gospel.