A Biblical Response to the Church-Growth Movement

Well it's falls to me and it's a joy to kind of open up our conference and draw your attention to “Why every true Calvinist must affirm a biblical ecclesiology and reject church-growth theory.” That would be a summation statement of what I want to say to you. If you believe that God is sovereign in salvation, if you believe that Jesus meant what He said in Matthew 16:18 when He said, “I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it,” if you believe that Jesus spoke truly when He said in John 6, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me, I will not cast out and of all that the Father has given Me, I lose none but will raise him up on the last day and no one can come to Me except the Father who sent Me draws him and I will raise him on the last day,” if you believe the words of our Lord that God has chosen and determined who He will redeem and has, as the Scripture says, written their names down in a book, the Lamb's Book of Life, even before creation, if you believe that Jesus will receive all those whom the Father draws and gives to Him will keep them, lose none and raise all at the last day, the question is...how does church-growth theory fit into that?

Sovereign election has already been determined. It has determined who will be saved and constitute the regenerate church. That was done in the councils of the Trinity before time began.

Furthermore, our Lord has fully propitiated the just anger of God over the sins of the elect by suffering in full the righteous judgment for all their sins. Scripture teaches that the death of Christ was an... Read More:
http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/GTY114