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religion or opinion. In order to fulfill Matthew 28:19, we must
continue to make and baptize disciples, and most of them come from
some other religion!
In the past the local churches have not been directed to be conscious
ly growth oriented. It·would seem safe to say that growth orientation
has to be a consicous way of thinking if it is to be successful. If
your mind is not fully on a subject, development.will have less chance
of success. When someone's mind is full of a subject that is what he
will be talking about. Mr. Ted Armstrong has expressed that he feels
his personal ministry has benefited greatly since saturating his mind
with the life of Jesus in the course of writing his books. Applying
this concept is primary to any real development in Church growth.
Those involved� be full of what they� doing!
It is good to bear in mind that God is growth oriented as indicated
in Isaiah 9:6-7: "Of the increase of his government.•• there shall be
no end." It is also clear from numerous scriptures that God expects
each member of the body to grow, and through proper growth produce
fruit.
Every member is expected to bear fruit and be a "light" to this
world. And in so doing, some people in the world are going to be
brought to a recognition of God's way of life and the truth of the
Gospel. As a result, numbers of them will be converted.
We have no statistics to prove it, but there is a strong feeling
that 30-40 percent of Church growth comes through the members. If
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that is true, you can see how important member involvement really is.
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Obviously, this doesn't me·an that every willing member should be
supplied with his own soapbox, but it does indicate the importance
of the responsibility that rests on the members' shoulders.
Once we become members and recognize that responsibility, we are to
begin a growth process that should result in bearing fruit. It is a
major function of the ministry to help guide that growth process so
that it becomes more productive.
Although the coordinating team will be proposing and developing
specific growth programs, it remains clear that a prime resource
through which to develop growth is the members themselves.
Sermon Outline Proposal: Rather than send a single sermon outline as
was mentioned in the last Pastor's Report, Mr. Wayne Cole has selected
material supplied by some of the sabbatical ministers and other men
at headquarters containing ideas that should be helpful to you in
developing a message for the upcoming Holy Days.
It was felt that an actual outline might be far too restrictive and
even inhibiting, therefore the material is being presented to you to
use as you feel most appropriate. The important thing is that you
know what the thinking is here at HQ.
Manpower Decisions: Hopefully, by the time this Pastor's Report is
mailed, the final manpower decisions will have been made and the agony
of waiting for those who are affected will be over! Actually, the vast
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