The Natural Growth of the Church

'THE FLOW' stands for the goodness that God pours out on His people. This grace brings growth. As long as a Christian is growing, he is doing well. The lack of growth, however, reveals something wrong underneath the surface.

	THE FLOW stands for the growth of an individual Christian.
	THE FLOW can also represent the growth of a local church.

God desires His people to grow. This is the normal and expected path!

The Natural Growth of the Church

Christian growth is normal. A Christian grows by receiving God's goodness and love into his life. In the same way, the Christian church grows by having God's goodness brought into their midst.

We are aware that not all 'growth' is God's growth. The numbers of Sunday attendees is a poor standard by which to judge growth. Measuring the number of people that actually meet God each day for 15 minutes, regularly pray each week, or show God's love to someone are three good ways to measure growth that counts.

Another measure that we like to use is the number of brothers and sisters serving one another using their spiritual gifts. This is one advantage of well-designed cell (small) groups. It allows more of God's people to serve.

Whether it be personal devotions, prayer or serving, these conditions welcome THE FLOW of God's goodness. By devotions, a person is attuned to God's purposes. Prayer brings God's heavenly purposes to completion on earth. People serving in cell groups seek out the Spirit of God to carry out God's will in concrete ways to each other.

"Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life." (John 4:14)

But how do you get this flow going? We will soon address this question.