Why does the book of Acts include all the number statements about the growth of the church? Here are my thoughts.

First, we are encouraged by the fact that Jesus builds His church. Jesus said, "I will build My church" (Matthew 16). Jesus said, "All authority is given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus said, "You will be My witnesses . . . to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8). Get it? We should be encouraged. The Lord is at work! He builds His church!

Second, we are challenged by the example of these early believers. They engaged their communities and world with the good news and with the love of Christ. People want the kind of Jesus that moves people like that! Are you challenged? Are you ready to engage?

Third, we are reminded to tell the story. Luke told the story of the early church multiplication because others (like us) need to be encouraged and challenged. Will you tell your story of what Jesus is doing? Not because you are great but because Jesus is great and does great things through us! So let us not balk at telling the story, recording the numbers, praising the Lord for lives transformed. But let's do it to the glory of Jesus.

How do we describe early church growth? Like field mice. Jesus said in Acts 1:8: "You will be My witnesses in Jerusalem; in all Judea and Samaria; and to the ends of the earth." The book of Acts records what happened.

See Acts 2:41,47; 4:4; 6:7; 9:31; 11:21,24; 12:24; 13:49; 14:1,21; 16:5; 17:4,12,34; 18:8; 19:18-20. These verses are filled with amazing descriptions. "Three thousand were added to their number that day" . . . "the number of men grew to about five thousand" . . . "the number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly" . . . "a large number of the priests became obedient to the faith" . . . the church "grew in numbers" . . . "a great number of people believed in the Lord" . . . "the word of God continued to increase and spread" . . . "the word of the Lord spread throughout the whole region" . . . "a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed" . . . they "won a large number of disciples" . . . the churches "grew daily in numbers" . . . "a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women" . . . "Many of the Jews believed as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men" . . . "a few men . . . believed" . . . "many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptized" . . . "the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power." 

The early church multiplied--like field mice! Next time, I'll share some thoughts on why the writer of Acts, Luke, thought this was important for us to know. Any thoughts?

So why did the story end in Acts 28 with the apostle Paul under house arrest, awaiting his trial before Caesar, and freely telling others about Jesus Christ and His kingdom? Luke, the writer, could have filled us in on more. Why did God lead Luke to press "pause" there? Well, notice the irony. The greatest kingdom on earth, Rome, was no longer suppressing the message of Christ's kingdom but unwittingly providing Paul the opportunity to witness for Jesus Christ in Rome itself. The simple message is that Christ's kingdom will prevail. The sure progress of Jesus' kingdom was at the heart of the early church's prayers when Peter and John were arrested (Acts 4:23-31; Psalm 2) -- so they exhibited "prevailing prayer." Great human kingdoms and great opposition cannot withstand the advance of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

My next post will ponder the question, "What factors made the early church multiply like field mice?" I hope you'll join the conversation.

Continue to pray for the people of Haiti. check out this page: http://haiticrisis.cnn.com/