The Cost of Church Growth

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Wanna thank, a lot of people, did a lot of work to prepare for this special day. Of course, the Howells are out there, I think they're still at the park. Overnight, as a matter of fact, cooking I don't know how many pounds of good food, meat, and so on and so forth, smoking that, getting ready for our picnic, so we're appreciative of them. Albert Erskine, who's also one of our deacons, works in that area, fellowship area. A lot of work to, prepare this day, prepare, of course, the great picnic and the fellowship we're going to enjoy afterwards in the park.

We wanna thank them and, of course, Pete Beller, his crew, helping folks park their cars and so the list goes on and on. Wanna thank all of you who have worked especially hard to make this a wonderful day and, of course, we are grateful for all of our own members for being here today and so many visitors which simply adds to the glorious occasion of this 60th anniversary. You know, one thing that we all share as people is the enjoyment of seeing something or someone grow. We like to watch things grow, whether it's the tomatoes in the garden or it's our grandchildren. We love to observe the growth and the development in people and in things that are precious to us.

Today's celebration is really a celebration of 60 years of growth, as has been mentioned several times already, 60 years of growth of the Choctaw congregation. And before I begin my lesson this morning, I'd like to recognize some, certainly not all, I couldn't do that, it would be impossible, but some of the people who have been responsible for this growth over the years. And very briefly, I'm going to ask you to stand. I know you don't like to do that, but I'm going to ask you to stand and remain standing if you are able until I ask you to be seated. First of all, if you are, and there are not many, I know I know who they are, and if you are either a charter member, that means you were here in 1939, a charter member, or if you are, in the family, if you're part of the family of one of those charter members who helped establish the Choctaw congregation in 1939, I would ask you please to stand at this time.

Go ahead. Stand up. There we go. Stand up. Come on Ron, where are you?

There's people back there. Alright. Now, I know that Opal Gibson, usually she comes in the evening, but stay standing, will you? Stay standing. That's it.

Now, Opal Gibson, is one of those charter members and she usually comes in the evening. Those men and their spouses who have in the past or are now serving as elders or deacons or ministers, if you have served in that capacity in some time in the past or are now presently serving as an elder, a deacon, or a minister, and your wives, please, I would ask you to stand as well. Go ahead. There's a lot of our deacons out at the park at the moment doing things. Alright.

Stay standing. Now, those brothers and sisters in our congregation who have at one time or are presently serving as teachers, ministry leaders, coordinators or support staff, meaning secretaries or custodians, bookkeepers, things like that, please stand at this time. Go ahead. Some more stand. That's it.

Oh, yeah. Now they're starting to stand up. That's good. If you appreciate these brethren, please say amen. And the church said amen.

Please be seated. Now to you and all those who have not been recognized today, but have either visited the sick or mailed cards or cooked food, if you've given money and done a million other acts of service, we also say amen to you before God and before his angels today because, as I said at the beginning, it is impossible to recognize all of those who have contributed to the growth of this congregation. You know, we like to bask in the glow of growth because it is a sign of various things. For example, it's the sign of good health. Growth is the sign of good health.

It's the sign of success. It's the sign of hard work. It's the sign of a blessing from God, among other things. But growth also has a cost. Growth has a price tag.

And so this morning, while we have gathered to celebrate our growth and our longevity, let us also take a moment to examine the high cost of the growth that we have experienced in the last 60 years. First of all, growth is costly at the community level. Growth is costly at the community level. You know, when you are growing, people notice you and have a higher expectation of you. For example, if you're one of the largest congregations in your community, people expect big things from you and they notice what you do, whether it's good or bad.

That's one of the costs at the community level. You know, we see this principle at work in a positive way as the church in Jerusalem, at the very beginning, grew tremendously. Luke tells us that they also grew in favor with their community, Acts chapter 2, verse 47. They saw the way that these early Christians shared and cared for each other and the community was impressed because they noticed their tremendous growth. Now on the negative side, we have an example of the cost of growth that was seen this past week as, unfortunately and very sadly, a student from Oklahoma Christian University was killed in a car accident.

That's a very sad thing for, of course, that young man and for his family. But when the TV reporter came on that night and mentioned that a young person had been killed in a car accident and he also mentioned that alcohol was involved, And then he mentioned that the young man was a student at Oklahoma Christian University. You know what? The fact that this young man went to Oklahoma Christian had absolutely nothing to do with the accident. But Oklahoma Christian is no longer a small bible school out in Bartlesville.

It's a big time college now. It's grown in the last 50 years. It's a university. The governor and other famous people go there to speak. And when things happen there, whether they be good things or bad things, the community is informed.

That's the cost of growth. You know, we had a similar experience right here in Choctaw in our congregation last May. After that terrible tornado came through. We received criticism because we were not involved in the community to the same degree that other large congregations were. Now it didn't matter that the Red Cross chose to set up their headquarters at the Baptist Church in in town.

It didn't matter that we had no electrical power in our building, we were in the dark. It didn't matter that we were mostly under construction at that time and it would have been dangerous for the public to actually be in our facility. The fact that we were one of the large congregations in the area meant that our community expected more from us. You know, no one criticized the small rural churches in the area, just us. See, growth is expensive in terms of community because everybody knows who you are and your conduct, whether it be good or bad, is always noticed.

For us, this means that there is less room for error in everything we do. That's one of the costs. From remodeling this building to the way we treat our neighbors, from the type of ministries we offer to the way we conduct ourselves at the Friday night football game, everything reflects back on the church in a positive or in a negative way. Our growth has been very rewarding, but it has cost us our privacy here in this particular community. We never function, or rather, we now function in a very public way.

And so the light that we give off as Christians will constantly be judged for its brightness or its lack of brightness. And that's the cost of growth at the community level. Well, growth is also costly at another level. It's costly at the congregational level. Now if you don't understand what I mean by this statement, that growth is costly at the congregational level, let me ask you the following questions.

Question number 1: How easy was it to park here today? How easy is it to find a parking spot here when you come for services? That's the cost of growth at the congregational level. Let me ask you another question. How long are the lines for the bathroom at break?

That's the cost of growth at the congregational level. Another question. How many members are now strangers to you when only a few years ago, you knew every single face? The cost of growth. One more.

How easy is it to get to one of the ministers? See, before the ministers would just drop by and visit. I remember when I first came here, Louis and I would just go by and drop in and visit. But now the minister only comes if there's an emergency. And if there are more than one emergency that day, he may not come at all.

He may just call. The cost of growth. When the Jerusalem church began on Pentecost Sunday, there was a tremendous growth at its start. They began with 3,000 souls and quickly grew, surpassing the 5,000 mark. Soon, in the Bible, we read about disputes over the care given to Grecian widows and the appointment of deacons to deal with the problem.

But what are we reading about here in the book of Acts? We're dealing, or rather, we're reading about the cost of growth for that particular congregation long ago. You see, a growing congregation loses some of the benefits of a small congregation. Benefits like familiarity, where you know everybody and everybody knows you. You lose that benefit.

And convenience. You lose that convenience benefit. You know, in the old days, you had your pew and nobody ever sat in your pew. Right? On the other hand, a growing congregation brings with it certain benefits and advantages that are not available in a small congregation.

You know, it cuts both ways. For example, there is greater enthusiasm for worship. Did you hear the 500 people singing praises to God today? Would you rather hear that or just 15 people singing? Yeah.

The benefit of growth. Benefit of growth is that you have a greater opportunity to teach and minister to people in a variety of ways. Have you noticed the number of bible classes you have to choose from every single time you come here? It's a benefit of growth. And a big church can do big things, things that a small church cannot do.

A big church can send their youth group on a mission trip to New Hampshire, as we will be doing next spring. Small churches, they don't have the resources to do this. A big church can build a television studio right into their facility as we have done. That's something that a smaller congregation cannot afford to do. A large congregation is able to tap a wider pool of talented people and send them off for specialized training, as we did with Sister Pam Howe, sending her to Houston in order to help her to be certified as a grief and loss facilitator, to be able to help some of our widows and other ladies that are struggling with, grief and loss problems.

Large churches can hire specialized ministry staff to lead and to train us in family ministry and outreach and involvement, all areas that we plan to expand in the years to come. And I might add something else. A big church can afford to dream bigger dreams. Dreams like building a retirement and a care facility for Christian seniors in this area. The dream of opening an after school drop in center for the youth of our community, the dream of starting a meal on wheels program for the shut ins in our area, the dream of training and equipping members to form teams in order to go plant churches in other parts of the county and the state and, yes, even this country.

The dream of establishing a resource center where we can teach and preach through every form of electronic media to anyone in the world, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Brothers and sisters, I don't know about you, but I'd rather be part of a big dream than a small dream. I'd rather be anxious to lay before the lord a great catch of souls gathered in his name rather than preparing an excuse for why I had never launched from shore. I'd rather be anxious than afraid of needing the lord. Being a member or being a leader in a big church is never easy.

But when you consider all that you can do in the name of the lord, it sure is worth it. Finally, growth is costly at the personal level as well. It's costly at the community level. It's costly at the congregational level. It's costly at the personal level as well.

Regardless of the enterprise, whether it be a business or a church, there is no corporate or collective growth unless there is personal growth first. It's been mentioned before this morning, but 60 years ago, somebody at the Capitol Hill Church in Oklahoma City said something like this, Let's go preach the gospel in Choctaw. They don't have a church out there. I won't help our congregation to grow, but it'll be good for the kingdom and we'll spend the money and we'll take the trouble of sending somebody out there to establish a church in that community. And then there were those in Choctaw who refused to quit meeting, even though they were a small group in a poor and inconvenient location, they stuck it out.

And through droughts and tornadoes and wars and troubles and changes, there were always men and women who kept the faith, hoping to see what we see and enjoy here today but who died long ago without ever seeing what they hoped for in their hearts. And of these, only a few remain to celebrate this wonderful day. If the past 60 years teaches us anything, it teaches us the lesson of the grain of wheat. Jesus said in John chapter 12, verse 24, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.

Therein lies the secret. Therein lies the absolute core ingredient of growth. Growth requires personal sacrifice. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the growth. Simply look at the history of the church, not our congregation, but the original congregation established almost 2000 years ago in Jerusalem.

That church was born because of the sacrificial blood of Jesus Christ. Not just his words, not just his miracles, but his sacrifice. That's what got the church going. And ever since then, the church's growth has always been the most intense when personal sacrifice was required of its members. From the persecution by the Jews and the Romans in the 1st century to the challenges faced by our president, president I'll say it, the folks that came before us.

The same is true for us today. There can be no beginning and there can be no sustained growth without personal sacrifice. And not just sacrifice brought on by persecution but sacrifice even in times of peace. Because in times of peace, even if we are not forced to sacrifice because of persecution, we can still promote growth through the sacrifice of our pride in submitting to God's Word and his leaders, in the sacrifice of our schedule so we can make Bible class and worship and service in Christ's name a priority and not just a satellite that revolves around our world of entertainment and work. By sacrificing our checkbooks so we can make our dreams a reality for the cause of Jesus Christ.

By the sacrifice of our old man of sin, in order to be reborn each day as a better and more fiercely dedicated disciple of Jesus Christ. It all begins with sacrifice. It all begins with sacrifice. It all begins with sacrifice. But we must also remember that it all ends in glory.

The glory of a growing and a mighty witness for Christ here on earth and a glorious reunion with him in heaven. So let us celebrate and let us rejoice for the wonderful progress that we have made in Choctaw for the last 60 years, but let us also recognize that none of it would have happened without the personal sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and the personal sacrifice of all those brothers and sisters who came before. Well, I'm going to give you another date and this is the date that most of us probably won't be around in. The date will be September 18th, the year 2039. On September 18, 2039, this congregation will celebrate its 1 100th anniversary.

Most of us will not be there to see that day But if you are one of the ones that make it and you know what? We're filming this service today and we're filming this lesson and hopefully, in 40 years from now, when we celebrate our 100th anniversary, they'll play part of this video to that future generation and that future generation will hear my words that I speak to them on this day, on this, our 60th anniversary. If you're one of the ones that make it, tell the people gathered on that day, on that 100th anniversary, that we thought of them, that we prayed for them, and that we both knew and were willing to pay the price for continued growth because we love the lord, because we loved each other, because we loved lost souls, because we loved them even before they were born. And we were ready to pay the price for them to be able to celebrate just as those who came before us paid the high cost of growth that has resulted in this happy and glorious day today. As I close, I want to impress upon each person here that regardless of the cost of growth we might have to pay, and I've talked about that a lot, it pales in comparison to what Jesus Christ had to pay in order to gain our entry into the church.

Paul the Apostle says of Jesus' sacrifice, Although he existed in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a bondservant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in the appearance of a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Philippians chapter 2 verse 68. Jesus paid the moral debt caused by our sins with his perfect divine life, a price that we could never pay even if we tried to. And for this reason, the cost of your salvation and the cost of your forgiveness and the cost of your entry into the body of Christ, which is the church, is paid for in full.

You simply have to accept this gift through faith in Jesus Christ expressed by your repentance from sin, your confession of faith in him, and your baptism or your immersion, if you wish, in water according to his command in Mark 1616, where Jesus says, those who believe and are baptized will be saved. So I beg you this morning, beg you because I know the value of the gift, don't waste the precious blood that has been shed for you personally. Don't let his sacrifice on your behalf go unclaimed. Come this morning to wash away your sins once and for all. Come this morning if you have fallen away and need to be restored.

Come this morning if you need the strength of the church in prayer. And finally, come this morning if you wish to give us the right hand of fellowship and place yourself under the, headship of our elders in this congregation. I pray that god bless you. Let's not let the picnic and all that other things distract us from ministering one to another. If you need ministry this morning, please come now as we stand and as we sing.

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