The Growing Church

Time to make the doughnuts.

If we are to take this subject of evangelism seriously then I believe we have to do some serious thinking about church growth.

Church growth is a process, like so many other things.
It takes time and patience. Those two themes alone should bring out the key word for us. Grow.
And, we need to take a look at what we are getting ourselves into today...

grow

verb \ˈgrō\

: to become larger : to increase in size, amount, etc.
: to become better or improved in some way : to become more developed, mature, etc.

: to become larger and change from being a child to being an adult as time passes : to pass from childhood to adulthood

Sometimes I am just amazed at how a good definition sets us up for the scripture we will cover.
Today's scripture has to do with the specific idea of growing.

Mark 4:26-29

New International Version (NIV)

The Parable of the Growing Seed

²⁶ He also said, “This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. ²⁸ All by itself the soil produces grain—first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. ²⁹ As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come.”

What does it mean to grow?
Well, before we even talk about growing, something has to happen first.
Seeds have to be planted.

Someone has to take the time to go through the land tossing seeds down on the ground.
Paul would say something about that in his letter to the Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 3:5-7

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

Planting seed. Watering it. This is the process of growth.
Not a whole lot has to happen beyond that point.
The haphazardly done work of scattering seeds is the center from which it comes.

Which leaves us with an important question to ask...
Do you have any seed to scatter?
Which brings us back to center of last week's message...
Where is our faith?

The matter begs us to look deeper into the idea of growth and change.
I think it would be helpful to hear the story of someone else's growth.
The story of Karnail Sidhu is what we shall focus upon.

Karnail grew up in small village in India called "Kalala" which, in translation, means ' healing place'.
He had grown up to become an engineer and work for a fairly successful center in his country.
After 1984 and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, the country took a sever downturn.
People were fighting in defense of their beliefs. And, some people were just fighting.

Until 1993, Karnail and his family lived in a stable at an old farm.
And, then he got the brilliant idea to move to Canada.

Brilliant in the sense that they could start over. A new place to grow and flourish.
But, growing and flourishing take time. When one plans such an extreme move, one must first take into consideration all that it will take to make it happen. Karnail did not.

When moving from one country to the next, you cannot simply walk in and continue to be the person you once were. A doctor cannot just walk in and instantly go back to his once profitable life. A successful lawyer cannot simply walk in and begin to practice law in this new country. Nobody knows you. Your credentials don't means anything in this new land. In the case of Karnail, a well respected engineer, life would begin all over again.

Wendy Zarr of the Immigrant Services Society would state that people coming into the country find a very different lifestyle than they remember. People have to settle for "survival jobs".
A doctor has to maybe learn how to do a different line of work. A waiter, for instance.
It can feel very degrading. Starting over in a new place and a new world.

Think about the church, long established in a small community.
Maybe that church has seen better days. Maybe there are memories of a time gone by.
Sweltering congregation. Large choir. Sunday school groups meeting in the kitchen because there is no room left for groups to meet. The memories can leave a person in mourning when once they find themselves in decline.

There is a place and time where one might find themselves, or their church, in need of simply scattering seeds. The time when our credentials meant something has passed by. A new generation has come to the forefront and they have no connection to the memories the church had in the past. The process of growing needs to start from the beginning. Just laying seed out in order for it to take root and grow.

In Karnail Sidhu's case, he found new life in pretty much that place. The vineyard.
How does a well respected engineer start over again in a new country? By planting seeds.
Karnail's family now owns one of the most respected wineries in all of Canada.
A job he never would have seen himself doing, but is proud to have the opportunity he has.

The church finds itself in similar circumstances.
In a place where nobody knows who we are, what we stand for or why we are here.
There are memories of a time gone by, a land of plenty that we once lived in.
Do we get lost in those memories or do we go forward?

I can empathize with Karnail. I found myself in a 'new land' back in 2000.
I met this pretty Methodist girl and my whole world was turned upside down.
My credentials from my old world meant nothing in these Methodist surroundings.
I had to start all over again studying for the ministry. And, now I'm finally at a precipice.

The scripture from Mark makes me think of the Dunkin' Doughnuts commercial.
The seed is always at work. That Doughnut guy was always working. Getting up and laying down.
The work was always going on. Finally he meets himself at the door, coming and going.
The seed that grows the kingdom is like that, always working.

The church can go through decline and find itself in need of starting over.
We need to do the work that got it all started in the first place. Planting seeds.
We have memories of what it was like in 1960 something. The issue is...we're not going back to 1960 something. We are going forward. And, we must go forward too. Or, watch it all wither.
Are we willing to do the work of planting seeds for growth?
 
Which brings it back to the question...do you have any seed to scatter?
Or, the focus from last week...where is your faith?
So many of us think we have nothing to share, nothing in our experience that is of use.

God can use us, however. He can make us of use in his kingdom.

And, the most beautiful things can grow.