How’s Your Appetite?

I was once talking to a friend, who was just starting out in the pastorate, and I told him that people will develop an appetite for what you feed them.  If you build a church on programs, then that is what people will have an appetite for.  If you build it on entertainment, then that is what people will have an appetite for.  If you build it on other things, the same will be true.  But if you build it on the teaching of the Word of God, then people will have an appetite for that. 

When I am giving a message at my church, one of the sweetest sounds to my ears is the rustle of Bible pages filling the sanctuary.

We read about the birth of the church in Acts 2. In Acts 2:42–47 we read, “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. . . . And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

Here in this passage, we can find four important principles of the early church:

1. They were a worshiping church.
2. They were an evangelistic church.
3. They were a learning church.
4. They were a loving church.

I was told some time ago that Harvest Christian Fellowship, the church where I am the senior pastor, is among the largest churches in the U.S.  That was amazing to me, because we never tried to be a large church—we just wanted to be a strong one.  

We felt that if we took care of the quality, then God would take care of the quantity.  And that is exactly what has happened.  The Lord has “added to the church daily those who [are] being saved.”