Spurgeon on Church Growth
August 5th, 2007 by Todd Johnson
My good ministering brother, have you got an empty church? Do you want to fill it? I will give you a good recipe, and if you will follow it, you will, in all probability, have your chapel full to the doors.Burn all your manuscripts, that is No. 1. Give up your notes, that is No. 2. Read your Bible and preach it as you find it in the simplicity of its language. And give up all your Latinized English. Begin to tell the people what you have felt in your own heart, and beseech the Holy Spirit to make your heart as hot as a furnace for zeal. Then go out and talk to the people. Speak to them like their brother. Be a man amongst men. Tell them what you have felt and what you know, and tell it heartily with a good, bold face; and, my dear friend, I do not care who you are, you will get a congregation.But if you say, “Now, to get a congregation, I must buy an organ.”That will not serve you a bit.“But we must have a good choir.”
I would not care to have a congregation that comes through a good choir.
“No,” says another, “but really I must a little alter my style of preaching.”
My dear friend, it is not the style of preaching, it is the style of feeling. People sometimes begin to mimic other preachers, because they are successful. Why, the worst preachers are those who mimic others, whom they look upon as standards preach naturally. Preach out of your hearts just what you feel to be true, and the old soul-stirring words of the gospel will soon draw a congregation. “Where the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together.”
But if it ended there, what would be the good of it? If the congregation came and listened to the sound, and then went away unsaved, of what use would it be? But in the next place, Christ acts as a net to draw men unto him. The gospel ministry is, in God’s Word, compared to a fishery; God’s ministers are the fishermen, they go to catch souls, as fishermen go to catch fish.
How shall souls be caught? They shall be caught by preaching Christ. Just preach a sermon that is full of Christ, and throw it unto your congregation, as you throw a net into the sea; —you need not look where they are, nor try to fit your sermon to different cases; but, throw it in, and as sure as God’s Word is what it is, it shall not return to him void; it shall accomplish that which he pleases, and prosper in the thing whereto he hath sent it.
The gospel never was unsuccessful yet, when it was preached with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. It is not fine orations upon the death of princes, or the movements of politics which will save souls. If we wish to have sinners saved and to have our churches increased; if we desire the spread of God’s kingdom, the only thing whereby we can hope to accomplish the end, is the lifting up of Christ; for, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.”
From the Sermon Christ Lifted up (preached July 5, 1857).
5 Responses to “Spurgeon on Church Growth”
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About Todd
Name: Todd Johnson
Location: Grass Valley, CA
Contact: todd@crossroadslive.com
About: Todd is the husband of Sharon, the father of Morgan, Caleb, Makenzie & Claire, and a pastor at Crossroads Church. He considers each of these roles the greatest of privileges.
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August 6th, 2007 at 7:26 pm
Wow! The part of your post that I’ve copied below is a reminder to me that a good teacher is not made by books and knowledge but by life altering experiences with God. A lifetime of studying is useless if you have not walked with God through the valley of the shadow of death, or at least the valley of the shadow of pain.
Begin to tell the people what you have felt in your own heart, and beseech the Holy Spirit to make your heart as hot as a furnace for zeal. Then go out and talk to the people. Speak to them like their brother. Be a man amongst men. Tell them what you have felt and what you know, and tell it heartily with a good, bold face; and, my dear friend, I do not care who you are, you will get a congregation.
August 6th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
It truly is not what the church is filled with but what fills those in the church. Thanks Todd for being a part of the filling process.
August 14th, 2007 at 5:53 am
Nobody says it like Spurgeon. Thanks for posting this!
January 28th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Todd: never been on a blog before but wonted to address the issue of name change. It is realy not important to me the name, but the heart felt teaching from the pulpet. Whats in a name? I just for fun ran a simple surch for the church name “CROSSROADS” and got a quick 187,000 hits. Every denomination has used this catchword in the name of it special Church at a special location. Frankly I was quite proud to tell everyone that I attended “CALVARY CHAPEL” of Gass Valley. This past weekend I did not see the name Calvary Chapel anywhere in the buliton, which I belive should be noted if this Church is associated. when I have gone to other areas away from home I look for the name “CALVARY CHAPEL”. Evan in looking up the web site the name Calvary Chapel dose not appear. In this artical I do not read that a CATCHY Church name is important, STYLE of preaching,or its MUSIC, just the HEART FELT TEACHING OF THE GOSPEL, which is what the Churches of Calvary Chapel are, known best for. I am sorry to see this name change in what seems to be the first step of disasociation with Calvary Chapel churches. I find it heard to believe that this change is because of a phone call from a woman about her tithe and contributions that the church could not find because she had called the wrong Church. It seems a sad excuse for someones idea that this will in some way bring in more people to be saved in our area. David
January 28th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
David - From the sound of your comment, you must have missed my announcement and the printed materials. Let me reiterate some of what I said.
1. As I mentioned, I “googled” the name Crossroads myself and made clear that the name is common and not novel whatsoever. In fact on the first page of the google search are two Calvary Chapels named Crossroads. (Vancouver & Denver). Nothing necessarily “catchy” or novel about the name.
2. Though our name has changed, our affiliation has not and will not change. If you look us up on the internet you will always find us under Calvary Chapel. The CC homepage with the listing of all Calvary Chapels will direct people straight to us, so if that is what anyone is specifically looking for when they move into our area, there they will find us. You said, “this seems to be the first step of disassociation with Calvary Chapel churches.” I’ve gone out of my way to say otherwise & put it in print so there would be no confusion. Apparently you are still confused on the issue. I read from the pulpit a list of 20 other churches that are Calvary Chapel churches and are named differently (Harvest, Horizon, Applegate, Cornerstone, Crossroads, True Life, Regeneration, Lighthouse, Reality, et.c) and there are dozens and dozens more.
3. You said, “I find it hard to believe that this change is because of a phone call…” It wasn’t. I used her as an example of the confusion that exists, NOT as the reason for the change.
4. Lastly you said, “It seems a sad excuse for someone’s idea that this will in some way bring in more people to be saved in our area.” Q. Who ever said that? We’re not changing the name hoping more people will come to church. We’re having a hard time fitting the people in that are coming.
Bottom line… we are excited with the many others that have seen this as a great decision and we expect that not everyone will agree. We respectfully accept those disagreements. May God continue to receive all the glory for the great things He has done, is doing, and will continue to do as we are faithful to Him and to His Word.
Blessings,
Todd