In A simple reading of the early days of the First Century church reveals three important keys to their success. The early church was stable, active and totally dependant upon God. These keys not only brought them great success numerically, they also brought them unity by bridging the gap generationally.  For the “Jeremiah Generation” to revive those great days of harmony and evangelistic fervor, these same keys must be applied in today’s church.

A wise person once said, "If at first you don't succeed, try reading the directions."  Churches all across the nation are splitting, fragmenting and failing to achieve significant church growth all because someone failed to read the directions.

In the historic record of Acts 2, we see that the early church was not only active and dependant upon God, they also worked to maintain stability.  Real church growth can only be realized when others are not only drawn into the body of Christ, but also kept there - stability.  Notice Acts 2.

Acts 2:41-45 - "Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.  They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."

Notice how the early Christians worked at building a stable church.  They devoted themselves to the study of God's will and to prayers. This created spiritual stability.  They also devoted themselves to sharing possessions and caring for each other's needs.  This created physical stability.  The early church was able to survive and flourish despite persecution  from the Jewish leaders because they emphasized stability as part of God's church growth program.  The “Jeremiah Generation” would do well to follow their example.

WARNING:  The action element of church growth is often emphasized by the younger segment of a congregation.  Stability, is most often emphasized by the older segment of a congregation.  The young want to try new programs and experiment with modern techniques.  The old want to hang on to the tried and true methods of the past and feel more comfortable doing things the way they were done in years gone by.  Because action and stability often seem to be in conflict with each other, church growth suffers.  Not until both groups realize their need for and dependance upon each other can God's plan for church growth truly be effective.  Jesus said the world will know we are His disciples if we love one another.  This necessarily implies that we will sometimes have to sacrifice our own preferences so that the desires of others might be met.  That is what love is all about.

The young must remember not to run so fast down the road of "progress" that in the process they trample over God's divine directions.  The old must remember that growth requires change. Although the eternal values of God must never be compromised, the vehicles we use to transport those values must be continually updated. The spiritual death rate of the world is far too high and the message of salvation far too urgent for us to let generational preferences interfere with our mission.

Perhaps I Timothy 5:1-2 says it best.  "Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father.  Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity."  Here the young man Timothy is told to respect the age and position of the older men and women.  Yet, it is equally clear from this passage that, at times, the older generation of the church needs to be exhorted by the younger.  Only when we lovingly seek the best for each other can true unity be found and God's plan for church growth take root.

Every stable family unit provides three things for all of its members.  The church family needs these elements as well.  Let's look at them together.

1.  Security

There is no greater feeling of security than when we know that our relationship with the head of the family is secure. Consider these passages.

1 John 5:13-14

 "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.  This is the confidence we have in approaching God:  that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us."

1 John 1:7

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

John 14:27

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

My three-year-old son, Gabriel, occasionally cries out in the night because he is afraid of the dark.  To put him back to sleep, I often crawl in bed next to him.  Shortly, after lying down, he will scoot his tiny bottom up against my chest and whimper, "Hold me, Daddy!"  Glowing inside with love, I pull his warm little body over next to me.  Soon he is fast asleep, confident in knowing that Dad has him all wrapped up in loving arms of security.

Stability is compromised when members of the family feel insecure about their relationship with each other and especially with God.  Strive to build security by identifying insecurities within the membership.  Encourage them to study, pray and look after the needs of others.  By following the pattern of the First Century Christians, they will draw closer to other family members and thus satisfy their own need for security.

2.  Discipline

Stable family units also provide loving discipline for each member.  Congregations that wish to grow need to realize that church discipline is far more than disfellowshipping an unrepentant member.  Webster defines discipline as "Mental and moral training."  Every time we interact with one another, we are, to one degree or another, providing or accepting mental and moral training.  Church discipline should be seen as a common, everyday practice by which each member of the family can benefit.

Occasionally, however, conflicts arise within the body that require a more direct form of discipline.  Knowing situations like this would occur, Jesus left a step-by-step procedure to resolve such problems.  Notice Matthew 18.

Matthew 18:15-17

"If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you.  If he listens to you, you have won your brother over.  But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.  If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector."

Here Christ outlines a simple four-step plan to bring direct discipline to situations of strife between family members.

1.  Family members should meet privately and, in love, attempt to resolve the disagreement. (vs 15)

2.  Should their private meeting not be effective, two or three other loving members of the family should be brought in to establish the testimony and prehaps offer advice from a more objective perspective. (vs 16)

3.  If the matter is still unresolved, the entire family is to be asked to lovingly attempt to mediate a solution. (vs 17)

4.  If after this lengthy, love-filled process the guilty party is still unrepentant, the family is to withdraw its fellowship from him, hoping to thus pull him back into the unit.

Cindy and I have learned a lot from God's plan for church discipline and we try to implement its wisdom in our own physical family.  Because Cindy is with our sons the most during the day, she is responsible for much of the discipline that they receive.  Following the advice of Jesus in Matthew 18, I have on occasion seen Cindy pull one of the boys aside and privately correct him for something he has done. 

If, after her numerous attempts to correct the problem, Bryson or Gabriel continue to persist, Dad is called upon to help resolve the issue. 

Occasionally, Dad is not even successful and a family meeting has to be called.  Together, Cindy and I try to lovingly explain to our child why his actions were inappropriate.  Almost always, by this point, Bryson or Gabriel have seen the benefits of conforming to family standards and decide to change their behavior. 

On those occasions when they continue to stubbornly disobey, they are taken aside and told to remain apart from the family until they are ready to repent. Although neither of the boys ever have to remain alone for very long, this brief isolation from the rest of the family is almost always enough to remind them of the need to live within the standards of the family.

Discipline is not only an important part of creating stability, it is a necessary element of God's plan for church growth.  Whether discipline takes the form of mental and moral training done in passing, or takes the more direct form of Christ's four-step approach, it is necessary in order to keep the church stable.  If the  “Jeremiah Generation” can help the church see discipline as a positive service we do for each other, stability will inevitably be the result.

3.  Sincere Love

1 John 4:7-8

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."

1 John 4:20-21

"If anyone says, 'I love God,' yet hates his brother, he is a liar.  For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  And he has given us this command:  Whoever loves God must also love his brother...."

While looking through a photo album, a teenage girl came across a picture of her tall grandmother standing next to her grandfather who was over five inches shorter.  Thinking the couple looked funny together, the teenager asked, "Grandma, how could you have fallen in love with a man so much shorter than you?"  "Easy!" said the elderly woman.  "We fell in love while sitting down and when we stood up, it was too late."

Sincere love looks upon the hearts of individuals.  It judges them not by their height, social level or even spiritual condition.  Sincere love sees all men through eyes tinted by the blood of Christ.

Jesus says in John 13:34-35 that our love for each other will be a billboard to the world. It will tell the world that we have been with Christ and we are students of His Word.  The dual benefits of sincere love are stability within and an effective attraction for those without.

For the “Jeremiah Generation” to lead the church back to the days of extraordinary growth, stability must be maintained.  Stability is achieved by providing each member of the family with generous doses of security, discipline and sincere love.  These topics should be preached from the pulpit, studied in the classroom and, perhaps most important of all, endorsed by the leadership.  Leaders that emphasize security, discipline and sincere love are leaders after God's own heart. That is the goal of the “Jeremiah Generation.”