How do churches grow?
Some say by being relevant to the culture, adopting the right methods, strategies, or styles.
Of course, there is a danger in measuring success by the wrong standards. We can be tempted to look at numbers, youthfulness, or aesthetics as a sign of a healthy growing church.
None of those things are intrinsically bad, but they are not how the Bible measures success or health.
So, biblically, how do churches grow? The answer is, God uses his Word to build and grow the church. Acts 17 gives us a snapshot of Paul’s “church growth strategy.”
Paul and Silas are on a missionary journey through Macedonia (Greece), and their grand strategy is to simply read the Bible and preach the gospel from the Scriptures. It’s that simple. No flashy programs or marketing strategy. No synagogue consultants in Thessalonica.
God builds his and grows his church through the faithful preaching of the Word of God.
If you have your Bible, please open to Acts 17:1–15.
Passage
17 After they passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As usual, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.” 4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.
5 But the Jews became jealous, and they brought together some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. Attacking Jason’s house, they searched for them to bring them out to the public assembly. 6 When they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here too, 7 and Jason has welcomed them. They are all acting contrary to Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king—Jesus.” 8 The crowd and city officials who heard these things were upset. 9 After taking a security bond from Jason and the others, they released them.
10 As soon as it was night, the brothers and sisters sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. Upon arrival, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. 11 The people here were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, since they received the word with eagerness and examined[a] the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. 12 Consequently, many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men. 13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica found out that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul at Berea, they came there too, agitating and upsetting[b] the crowds. 14 Then the brothers and sisters immediately sent Paul away to go to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed on there. 15 Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.
Our passage demonstrates that God builds his church through the faithful preaching of the gospel that is met with both faith and opposition. That’s the main point of our passage.
Let me break down the structure of the passage before we dive into exposition. The passage’s structure is composed of two episodes that follow the same underlying pattern: Proclamation; Conversion; Opposition.
The first episode takes place in Thessalonica (vv. 1–9). Paul preaches the gospel in the synagogue. People are converted. Persecution and opposition follow, driving them out of the city to Berea.
The second episode takes place in Berea (vv. 10–15), where the exact same pattern unfolds. Paul preaches the gospel in the synagogue. People are converted. Persecution and opposition follow.
The repetition of the pattern back-to-back is a narrative device that emphasizes the main idea of the passage, which is that God builds his church through the faithful preaching of the gospel that is met with both faith and opposition.
I’m going to synthesize the main points that I draw from this passage.
I have three points:
1. Proclamation
2. Persuasion
3. Persecution
Exposition
1. Proclamation (the longest)
First and foremost, God builds his church through the proclamation of the gospel. This is the first part of the three-part pattern that unfolds in both Thessalonica and Berea.
To unpack all that proclamation entails, let’s consider three questions.
What is the content of the message? (The nature of the proclamation)
How is it communicated? (The method of the proclamation)
On what authority does the proclamation stand? (The basis of the proclamation)
First, what is the content of the message? If God builds his church through the proclamation of the gospel, what is the gospel? A straightforward question deserves a straightforward answer.
As Christians, I think it’s very important that we do not overcomplicate this.
What we see from the text is that the gospel has clear, definable content.
It is not vague or ambiguous.
The gospel is the message that God saves and forgives sinners through faith in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.
The explicit content of the gospel is spelled out in verse 3: “explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and rise from the dead: ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah.’”
Central to Paul’s message about Jesus was Jesus’ death and resurrection. He is the Messiah, the anointed one. He is Israel’s promised savior and redeemer. Jesus’ cross and resurrection is an essential part of Paul’s message. It’s the very core of it.
Why is the gospel good news? It’s good news because apart from Christ’s work on the cross, all of us would stand condemned under God’s righteous judgement. But because of his love for us, he made him who knew no sin, to be sin for us that we might receive the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).
As brothers and sisters in Christ, we should never let our hearts grow cold to the gospel. How do we not let our hearts grow cold? One way is through reflecting on our daily need for the gospel.
Just this week, I had to ask Elizabeth for forgiveness for being selfish and bitter. I deserve God’s judgement. But in Christ, I am forgiven, redeemed, and made new.
The truth of the gospel then warms my heart as I’m filled with gratitude for the underserved abundant grace and mercy that is mine in Christ Jesus. And if you’re not a believer in Jesus, that can be yours today if you turn from your sin and believe in Jesus.
To believe in the gospel is to acknowledge that you are a sinner in need of redemption, to repent of your sin and believe in Christ for forgiveness and eternal life.
It’s to acknowledge that salvation is a work of God’s grace, in which he saved us not based on our own merit but solely because of his mercy in Christ.
The gospel has clear, definable content.
The second question for us to consider is the method of proclamation. How is it communicated?
What was Paul’s method for preaching the gospel?
His method was entering into the synagogues and engaging in discussion over the Scriptures.
Notice how verse 2 says “as usual.” Some translations say, “as was his custom.”
All throughout the book of Acts, we have examples of Paul entering into synagogues to engage in dialogue and discussion over Scripture. I don’t usually do this, but I want to list them as a point of emphasis (you don’t need to flip over to these, I’ll run through them too fast).
13:5 “Arriving in Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogue and sat down.
13:14–15 “They continued their journey from Perga and reached Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them…”
14:1 “In Iconium they entered the Jewish synagogue, as usual, and spoke in such a way that a great number of both Jews and Greeks believed.”
16:13 “On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer [synagogue]. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.”
17:17 “So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and with those who worshipped God, as well as in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.”
18:4 “He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.”
18:19 “When they reached Ephesus he left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and debated with the Jews.”
19:8 “Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly over a period of three months, arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.”
This is Paul’s chosen method. Importantly, Paul chooses this method because it was Jesus’ method. He learned this from Jesus.
Luke 4:16 “He [Jesus] came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As usual, he entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read.”
And guess what? Jesus’ method was also met with faith and opposition!
My point is that Paul’s ministry is a Word-based ministry. Jesus and Paul were taking people to the Scriptures in order to proclaim the truth about the Messiah and his gospel.
Obviously, this serves a model for why we do corporate worship the way we do. It’s why we do the same thing week after week. We are patterning our method based on the New Testament. We’re not interested in following some fad or trying something new so things don’t get stale.
We gather to examine the Scriptures together and learn from God’s Word as it is faithfully preached and taught. That’s what Paul did. That’s what Jesus did. Why should we do anything else?
We’ve considered the nature of the proclamation, the method of the proclamation. Now, let’s consider the basis of the proclamation.
On what authority does the proclamation stand?
The proclamation is grounded in the authority of Scripture.
It is God’s Word that creates the church. The Scriptures do not derive their authority from the church. It’s the other way around. It’s the authority of the Word of God that creates the church.
Our Catholic friends will tell us it is the church that gives us the canon (recognizes which books are in the Bible). The Protestant understanding differs and says, no the Bible does not get its authority from the church; instead, the church recognizes or affirms the authority that the books already possess. Do you see the difference?
Because the Bible is inspired by God—it bears his authority. It is God’s Word. He is the divine author; it bears his authority. Divine Author(ity)
As Paul expounds the Scriptures, people repent and believe, and churches are established.
The people are not simply listening to Paul’s ideas hanging in midair; they are listening to Paul’s theological arguments that are grounded in Scripture’s authority.
In verses 2–3, Paul reasons with them from the Scriptures explaining and proving why it was necessary for the Messiah to die and rise again.
When Paul arrives at Berea and enters the synagogue (vs 10), the Bereans receive the word with eagerness and examined the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
Paul would say “don’t believe me just because I’m saying it. Go to Scriptures yourselves and see if what I’m saying is true.” He would only say that if he knew that the Scriptures possessed greater authority.
The apostolic message is grounded in the authority of Scripture.
Scripture’s authority is not merely an abstract doctrine to affirm; it is a reality to be loved.
If God speaks to us in his Word, then we should be moved to deeply love the Word of God.
This love for God’s Word entails recognizing that his commands are for our good––even when they challenge the messages of the world.
We grow our affection for the Word of God by reading it and increasing our appetite and desire for it. We do this through meditation on Scripture; memorization of Scripture, which is the practice of hiding God’s Word deeply within our hearts (Ps 119:11).
Parents, if your kids are in Super Church, they have memory verse booklets they’re working on. As you practice those verses with them, you and them both are storing up God’s Word in your heart.
Young men, when you’re tempted to indulge in a lustful thought, do you have Scripture you can recall to mind?
Young women, what are the verses that you can recall to mind if you’re wrestling with comparison?
When I was in college, there was a period where I deeply struggled with singleness. And so I decided that I was going to memorize Psalm 23 and meditate on it every day. So there was a long period, where the only thing I read in the Bible was Psalm 23. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. That helped train my heart to find satisfaction in God.
We come to love God’s Word so that it is sweeter than honey dripping from a honeycomb (Ps 19:10).
God’s Word is authoritative; so we should be moved to love and obey his Word.
Point 1 was proclamation. God builds his church with the proclamation of the Word of God.
2. Persuasion.
After hearing the gospel proclaimed from the Scriptures, people respond in faith.
Verse 4 “Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, including a large number of God-fearing Greeks, as well as a number of the leading women.”
And verse 12 “Consequently many of them believed, including a number of the prominent Greek women as well as men.”
What do we learn about these disciples who responded to the gospel in repentance and faith?
There are three groups of people who respond and believe.
There are Jews in the synagogue, God-fearing Greeks, and Prominent women, which gives some indication of their social class/status.
These new believers were comprised of Jews and Gentiles, men and women, and people from every social class––all of whom came to believe that Jesus was the savior of all people.
That salvation has come to the Gentiles represents the fulfillment of God’s original promise to Abraham (Gen 12:3) that in him all the nations would be blessed.
As Peter says about Jesus in Acts 10, “All the prophets testify about him that through his name everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins” (10:45).
An important theological point we are to understand from this is that God is the savior of all people.
This means that for the Christian, any notion of racial superiority is expressly forbidden. Racism of any kind –– antisemitism –– is a heinous sin.
All human beings are created in God’s image, and because of this, every person regardless of culture, ethnicity, developmental stage, mental capacity or any other factor has inherent and equal worth.
God is the savior of all people. This diverse group of disciples were persuaded on the basis of Scripture and came to believe that Jesus is the savior of the world.
3. Persecution.
While many believed, there were many who did not and in fact became hostile. The same gospel that produces faith in some, provokes hostility from others.
Verses 5–9 describe the opposition Paul and Silas faced in Thessalonica. There were some Jews in the city who became jealous over what they saw taking place that they incited a riot.
What were they jealous about? We can only speculate, but the context gives us a few clues. It could be jealousy over the large number of conversions and success of Paul and Silas.
I think more likely is that they felt threatened with losing their power and influence in the city as a large number of the prominent Greek women had been converted. It’s possible they feared losing their influence in the city.[1]
So they formed a mob and incited a riot to try to capture Paul and Silas and bring a charge against them. They go to the house of Jason, who was housing them during their stay.
When they couldn’t find Paul and Silas, they dragged Jason before the city officials, and they bring forward their accusations.
What was the nature of the accusations?
Paul and Silas have turned the world upside down (vs. 6). The irony should not be lost—as it comes from the mouths of those who have literally just thrown the city into disorder.
Regardless, they tried to paint Paul and Silas as a threat to the stability and order of Thessalonica.
Then comes the larger accusation–– disloyalty to the Emperor. Essentially, they are charging them with treason. Verse 7: “They are all acting contrary to Ceasar’s decrees, saying that there is another king–– Jesus.”
Christians later in the second century would be executed for refusing to pledge loyalty to the Emperor. There was a religious element to pledging loyalty to the Emperor since he was viewed as godlike.
Following Jesus demands our ultimate allegiance, even when loyalty to him is costly or creates conflict. Jesus demands our ultimate loyalty above all loves––family, spouse, children, nation, political party.
Love for those things are fine so long as they are rightly ordered. Rightly ordered loves. But Jesus demands our ultimate love and loyalty.
The city officials were upset at this but must have ultimately been persuaded against bringing charges because they accepted bail for Jason.
Paul and Silas leave by night and flee to Berea. And the same Jews who opposed him in Thessalonica followed Paul and are determined to oust him from Berea as well (vv 13–14). This time, Paul is escorted to Athens while Silas and Timothy stay in Berea.
What are we to make of this opposition?
Luke wants us to recognize that opposition to the gospel is normal. This is part of God’s plan as he is advancing his kingdom.
Just after Paul’s conversion in chapter 9, the Lord says of Paul, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to the Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name” (9:15–16).
Opposition is normal. Do not be surprised at it. That doesn’t mean you have to like it. Nobody likes opposition. But that’s the consistent pattern we find in the New Testament as the gospel spreads throughout the world.
As you’ve shared the gospel with friends or family, have you ever been met with opposition? Many of our Christian Challenge students have been walking on campus doing evangelism.
What’s the lesson from our passage? As you faithfully proclaim the gospel, some will believe and others will oppose you. Your role is to be faithful to proclaim.
You don’t save people; God does. But your role in proclamation/evangelism is how people hear and respond to the good news.
Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the message about Christ.”
God builds his church through the faithful preaching of the gospel that is met with both faith and opposition.
This is how the world is turned upside down. Or better yet, this is how the gospel turns the world right-side up.
[1] Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts, Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academic, 2012), 706.