Numbers

Today’s reading: Acts 9:26-43

“The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the fear of the Lord. And with the encouragement of the Holy Spirit, it also grew in numbers.” - Acts 9:31‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This pattern of growth is a great way to be praying for the local church we are attending:

1) Peace >> environment of unity within

2) Strength >> to be built up — this will be a process

3) Fear of the Lord >> we worship God alone and are not intimidated by those without

4) Comfort of the Holy Spirit >> encouragement to continue to build — to stick with it (comes alongside)

5) Numbers >> this is the overflow of a healthy church — we don’t want this without the previous four

When we pray for our local church to grow, may we ask God to increase our numbers the right way.

One interesting question to ask is: “Does the Jerusalem church experience these five without the proper handling of Saul’s arrival?”

This is why the work of Barnabas is even more impressive.