I. Introduction

A. Thesis

B. Statement of Points

II. Growing a Healthy Church

A. GHC program

B. A Change in Leadership

III. What is the Purpose of the Church

A. Teaching and Fellowship

B. God’s Word

IV. Why does the Church Exist

A. The gospel

B. Power of God unto salvation

V. Conclusion

i
I. Introduction

A healthy church growth is directly connected to the effectiveness in helping people grow

as disciples of Christ. It is a major part in the nurturing environment. Therefore, leaders in the

Church of Jesus Christ have the responsibility to create and nourish a healthy group image

among those to whom they minister. Church leaders need to recognize that their group image

will either contribute to or hinder the impact of their ministry. When you increase the health of

the group’s self-image, the people of that group become more eager, receptive, and responsive as

learners. The higher the image people in your ministry have of your church, the more willing

they will be to bring others. A healthy church image is not just the collective experience of

“warm fuzzies.” Rather it is a tangible enthusiasm about the work of God is currently doing and

the work He wants to do in the future. Just as the word enthusiasm literally means, “God in us,” a

healthy church image is built upon His acting presents. Developing the ability to verbalize a

vision to that purpose or a driving passion that God as given to you for your ministry; can be a

powerful tool,. A clearly communicated vision connects purpose with conviction, provide

substance to enthusiasm, and fuels Godly dreaming all of which contribute to a healthy church

image.

Thesis
The reason we must be a Gospel-proclaiming church, the reason that we must be a Scripture-examining church, the reason we must be alert, unified, and effective, is so that the church might become full-grown.

Statement of Points
II. Growing a Healthy Church
III. What is the Purpose of the Church
IV. Why does the Church Exist

1
II. Growing a Healthy Church

In my experience, the primacy given to big churches in the GHC program has the

effect of authorizing pastors to grow the church “at all costs”. After all, “What does it matter how

faithful people apparently are, if the church is not getting bigger?” Many leaders in various

positions in church life say that God is primarily interested in faithfulness. I beg to differ with

that theology. I want to communicate that God is equally interested in fruitfulness along with

faithfulness. What we count we value. Accountability is a basic requirement for change and must

be based upon objective measurement. GHC then, is designed to change churches and make

them more numerically “fruitful”. The stark reality of this all consuming priority is that biblical

standards such as “faithfulness” cease to become paramount in church life. In GHC ideology,

faithfulness is important and valued if the faithfulness is producing fruit. If a church has

increased its attendance by 5% and financial contributions are on the rise, it is growing. If it is

growing, it is by definition, healthy. Similarity to secular business models. Such bold references

in GHC to measurable productivity at the expense of faithfulness are not entirely surprising.

A chang...

-14 -20 -24 -26 -27 -34 -49 -7 1 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 18 19 2 20 21 23 24 27 28 3 31 32 33 35 4 40 42 46 5 6 7 8 9 abandon abil accept accomplish accord account achiev act activ adopt agenda alert almost along also alway among anoth anxious anyth apostl appar appropri aren around ask astray attempt attend author authorit automat away b back baptism baptiz base basic becom beg begin behalf believ biblic big bigger birth bless blood blown bodi bold bread break bring broken build built bunch burden busi bylaw calendar call came cannot care carri caus ceas center central chang child childlik children christ christ-follow christ-lik christian church clear clever cloth collect come command commiss committe communic communiti compassion concept conclud conclus condit congreg connect conserv consid consum continu contrast contribut convey convict corinth corinthian cost could count coupl course.paul crafti creat cross crucifi cultur cun current danger dann daughter death deceit deed definit deni denomin design develop devot die differ direct discipl distinguish distress doctrin done dream drive e.g eager earli earth educ effect either embodi emerg emphas enabl encourag end engag enjoy enough enter enthusiasm entir entiti environ ephesian equal equat equip error establish etern even everi everyth examin exampl excel excit exclus exist expens experi experience.this fact faith famili fast father faultless faulty.without feel feet fellowship fill final financi first fix follow food forev form forth foundat free fro fruit fuel fulfil full full-grown fulli function futur fuzzi gari gate gave get ghc gift give given glad glori go god goe gospel gospel-proclaim grant greatest ground group grow grown growth guard hand hang happi head heal health healthi heap heart held hell help heret higher hinder histor honor hous huge hurt idea ident ideolog ii iii illustr imag immatur immedi impact implement implic import includ incorpor increas individu infant inflex instruct intend interest introduc introduct irrelev iv jame jesus john join journey keep kept kind know lamb lead leader leadership learner leav led life lighthous like lion list liter littl live local long longer look lord love luke made major make man mani manner manual mark master matter matthew matur may meal mean measur mediocr meet member men messag messiah metaphor method midst might mind minim minist ministri mission model modifi money mouth much music must nation necessari need new nomin non non-christian notic nourish numer nurtur obedi object observ one oneself ordain order orphan other outdat outlin overcom paramount part passion pastor paul peac peopl person peter petit philippian physic pick pile piper place plan point pollut posit power practic pray prayer praying.the preach prepar presenc present prevail primaci primarili prioriti problem proclaim proclam produc product program progress promot promulg prone proper propos provid pure purpos purposes/activities rather re re-educ realiti reason recept recogn rediscoveri refer regular relat religion remain rememb remov request requir respect respond respons restrain result resurrect righteous rise rock roman rudderless rule run said saint salvat save savior say scheme scriptur scripture-examin secular see seeker self self-cent self-imag send sens separ sermon sermonett serv shall share shed sheep shelter shepherd ship shuffl similar sin small somebodi someth son sound sourc spader spiritu spurgeon stabl standard stark statement static step stott strong stronger structur subsequ substanc suffer supper support surpris survey surviv swap tact take tangibl teach tell term thanksgiv theolog theologian therefor thesi thessalonian thing think though thought thrown time titl togeth tool toss toward train transcend transfer transform trendi tri trust truth turn ultim understand unifi unit uniti unsteadi unto upon us use v v.14 valu various vehicl verbal vers vision vote want warm wave way weak whatev whether widow will wind wit without word work worker world worldwid worth would wrath write yet