Healthy, Growing Churches (6)

Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Acts 8.4

On the Christian Mode of Life
Gregory of Nyssa (335-394)
“Thus, the obedient and responsive soul gives itself over to the virtuous life. This life is freedom itself, on the one hand, from the chains of this life, separating itself from the slavery of base and empty pursuits. On the other hand, this soul devotes itself to faith and the life of God alone, because it sees clearly that where there is faith, reverence and a blameless life, there is present the power of Christ, there is flight from all evil and from death which robs us of life. For shameful things do not have in themselves sufficient power to compete with the power of the Lord. It is their nature to develop from disobedience to his commands.”

Michael Green described the first Christians as eagerly “gossiping the Gospel” with anyone and everyone. What a great goal for a church to embrace! That was certainly true of the people dispersed from Jerusalem. And those in Antioch. And Thessalonica. And Rome. And Ephesus. Those early churches seemed to know intuitively that speaking truth in love meant talking with people about Jesus, sharing a testimony or Scripture, urging people to believe, inviting them to church, and so forth. In every conversation, mature Christians are never very far from Jesus; and healthy, growing churches gossip the Gospel to their communities not just from the pulpit, but in neighborhoods, workplaces, and every space where friends gather to talk, in every season, and by every means. This doesn’t just happen. We will not have churches that speak the truth in love to their communities unless we envision the full scope of what this might entail, talk and encourage one another in pursuit of that vision, and provide the training and shepherding such a vision requires.

Would you describe your church as “gossiping the Gospel” to its community? Explain.

T. M. Moore

How goes the work of shepherding?
Pastor, where are you in your walk with and work for the Lord? Are you growing? Covering all the bases? Working fruitfully toward the Kingdom of God? Shepherding God’s flock? Our Pastoral Hope Initiative can help you establish a framework and baseline for steady, fruitful growth. Using a variety of assessment tools, together with the book Fan into Flame, this 14-week protocol will give you a thorough look at the state of your ministry. Men, if you think you might want to work through this with me, watch this brief video, then, if you’re interested, let me hear from you at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Quotations from Church Fathers are from the Ancient Christian Commentary Series, published by InterVarsity Press.