Title: It is God who makes it grow
It is God who makes the growth (1 Corinthians 3:6-9)
As we know, the text of the Corinthian church says, “I am a Pauline, I am an Apollos.” Although it is the text that Paul rebuked and taught the church in Corinth when there was a quarrel, it contains the deep secret of evangelism. How will we evangelize based on this text today? I want to take on a big challenge.
1. Evangelism must have someone who sows with sweat and tears. There is a saying, "A year's plan is nothing like planting crops, a 10-year plan is nothing like planting trees, and a lifelong plan is nothing like planting people." What are your one-year, ten-year, and lifetime plans? I wish you all the best in making a planting plan and implementing it. There must be a planter in the church of God. Not only the market evangelism department and the 70-member evangelism group, but also all members of the church must be sowers. When I looked at the statistics on how I came to believe in Jesus, 0.1% was through a revival meeting, 4% through a good program, 4% through marriage and employment, 2% through congratulations evangelism, 5% through Sunday School, and the believer after just visiting 3% of those who said they did, and the remaining 80% answered that they left the church through evangelism through friends or relatives. So you need to know how important your relatives and neighbors are. Evangelism starts from near and spreads far away.
What kind of pressure do you have right now? Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9, “Even if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast about. If I do not preach the gospel, woe will come to me.” He confessed and lived with a tremendous burden of evangelism before God. He was originally a persecutor and murderer, but because he was saved by God's grace and became an apostle, he always had a holy burden and lived the life of a debtor. We too have received the same grace as Paul. I hope we also have a holy burden. (1) I wish there was a holy burden on the church, which is the body of the Lord. Church growth is God's desire. How can our church grow? How can I do more evangelism? May it be our holy burden. (2) I wish there was a holy burden on unbelieving souls. I hope that unbelieving husbands, children, and parents will become a holy burden.
3. Third, there must be someone who makes you grow. (Verse 7) The completion of evangelism is not something I do, but something God completes. I plant, you water, and God makes it grow and bear fruit. In verse 9 Paul speaks in the glorious words that we are God's co-workers (those who labor together). God is all-powerful, so why does He use us as co-workers? It is for a reward. (Verse 8) We must not become God's co-workers only in evangelism. Whatever you do, you must work together with God. All labor is in vain unless God is with him. (Psalm 127:1) Raising children, defending the country, politics, treating diseases, business, writing, and playing music must also walk with God. Whatever you do, do not do it alone, and I pray in the name of Jesus that you will be victorious by working together with God.