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During the spring, in our Home Groups, we followed a study entitled: Growing The Church, based around the opening chapters of the Book of Acts - stories which depict the church as it was before the great missionary journeys of Paul. The church in Acts is not too unlike the church of today, with its difficulties and dilemmas and we will be looking at the church in Jerusalem, at the time of Pentecost and afterwards, as it struggled with potentially divisive issues and a lack of resources. We saw how the church prepared for mission and developed methods for embracing the changes and challenges it encountered as it sought to reach its full potential in building the kingdom of God. Ultimately, church growth is the work of God, but we are all invited to play our part in building up His kingdom in today’s world.
This series of studies, supplementing our preaching on a Sunday morning, gave plenty of ‘food for thought’ as we continue to discern God’s future vision for us here at Emmanuel. As we wrestle with God’s word, it both challenged and strengthened our faith, as we allow His Spirit to shape our lives.
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