Church growth for the New Millennium

Since we are concerned about church growth, I want to share my past experience about church growth. I have been in the ministry now for 42 years in the same church.

In Korea, the average stay in one church is 5 years.

I always praise the Lord, because the Holy Spirit helps me to have freshness in my messages. He can refresh the old messages, and He can make them new.

Many of my members have been with me more than 40 years. It is not me who speaks, but the wonderful Holy Spirit speaks through me.

When I have the touch of the Holy Spirit; the message is life-transforming. We need the wonderful anointing of the Holy Spirit.

To have church growth, you need a burning desire for church growth. When you have this heart, you will apply yourself diligently toward the work of the ministry.

Even when I slept, I saw myself preaching to thousands of people. I was so burdened for church growth, and this desire has been reproduced in over 3000 of my disciples that have been spread throughout the world.

They are working very hard night and day to produce church growth. I tell them, “Don’t burn yourself out with too much work.”

We must have a growing, burning desire to have church growth. I am now 65 years old, but I am rededicating myself to church growth. God told me that 700,000 is the limit for this church, but you can help others to have church growth. He told me that I could plant 5000 new churches in Korea. Now, my heart is burning with a desire for church planting.

You must have a clear vision of where you are going. Many think that they should make their own vision. No, in ministry, you must receive the vision and dream from God. God has visions and dreams, and so we also have visions and dreams because we are made in His image. Abraham had God’s visions, and he made God’s vision his own vision. Abraham never conjured up his vision, but he received it from God. God said the land that you see, I will give you.

Abraham was not able to make his own vision as philologically and physically the vision was impossible to fulfill. The vision had to be from God for Abraham to have a son at his age, and to do all that the Lord commanded.

When people receive the Lord; they will receive His vision and His dream. God’s dream is that all will be saved, healed and delivered by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

For all those who walk with God; He dreamed that we would all go to heaven, and have eternal life.

I dreamed that I would lead 10 million Japanese to Christ, but it was my dream and not God’s dream. I spent 10 years trying to fulfill my own dream, but it could not be fulfilled.

I tried to fulfill it in my own way and in my own energy. I became completely dried up, and I had to leave that dream. I confessed to my people that I had dialed because it was not God’s dream, but it was my dream.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus Christ is God’s dream for His people.

Pray and let God speak to you, and let Him give you His vision and His dream for you and your ministry.

An Evangelist came to Korea, and he told me that he had a dream that I would be the pastor of a very large church. This prophecy confirmed God’s dream in my heart. In 1964, I was preaching to 3000 people as the Lords had given me this dream. When I had 3000, I was satisfied, as I was a young man of 29 years old.

Again, God gave me a dream of 10,000 people. I accepted His dream and in 1969, I had 18,000 people attending the Sunday Service. I was very, very happy.

I told my wife, “We have made it.” We have every thing we need.

One day, I came to my office, but a Spirit of prayer came upon me, and the Lord said, I have a dream for you of 100,000 members if you are willing to accept my dream for you.

I accepted His dream, and I moved to this location. God gave me 100,000 members and the Lord said that He had a dream of 300,000 members for me.

We are now running from 700,000 to 750,000 with all my satellite churches. I said, “ God, may I have one million, but God said, “ That is your vision.” He said that I had arrived at my plateau, and He said that He had a new vision for me.

You will start thousands of churches throughout Korea. He told me to let them be independent and to let them grow on their own. This is my new vision and ministry. One of my disciples came to me crying, and he said that he had a new vision, and that he had borrowed money from the bank to help finance his vision.

He built a big church, but no one came to the church. And it was bankrupted. He came to me and said,” Your God and my God are different.” He said your God gave you great success after much trial, but my church is ruined.

I said, “Son, God hasn’t mistreated you, but you mistreated God.” You started with your own vision and now you are blaming God. You should have waited for God’s vision for you.

We are not all appointed to have huge mega churches, but God has a special, unique plan for each one of us. If God wants you to go to and island and have a church of 500 members; You can be a great success as you have fulfilled God’s vision and dream for your ministry.

So many are killing themselves to attain visions that are not of God. Wait upon the Lord, and let God put the vision and dream into your heat. You will have faith when you have His vision.

Wait on God’s vision for your life and ministry.

In church growth, everything must be done by faith in God. When God gives you His vision and dream then step out in faith.

Even though you don’t have all the resources you need; you know that God has given you the direction, the vision and the dream, and so you can confidently step out into all that the Lord has for you.

You know that God will provide where He guides. You, by faith, fulfill God’s dream in your life. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. The Word of God will fill you with the faith that you need to fulfill God’s vision.

When God gives you a vision; your heart is transformed. You can be in wilderness, but when you have God’s vision in your heart you will have milk and honey in your heart. Do not look for the land of milk and honey. Accept the promises of God in your heart.

Have faith in God to bring you into the promised vision. Then you can pray, and God will bring it to pass.

When you have the burning desire, the vision, the faith and you pray, them you will have church growth. We must try to give the Gospel to the needy people.

In 1961, when I moved to Seodaemon, the people were poor, and discouraged. I taught the people about God’s blessings. I taught the people about God’s goodness and His desire to meet His people’s needs. They had new faith, and God began to bless them. I was at Prayer Mountain praying one day, and the Lord gave me a beautiful vision. The first river was forgiveness and righteousness. The second river was the river of the Holy Spirit and the Kingdom of God. The third river was the river of divine healing and divine joy. The fourth river was full of the blessings of God to be prosperous. The fifth river was the river of the resurrection.

I saw a multitude of people who opened their hearts and the river flowed into them. Very seldom did the people open their hearts to all the rivers.

Jesus Christ was the fountain of the 5 rivers. I thought Jesus Christ is the author of the 5 blessings of God.

I accepted all of these rivers into my life. I had a strong and practical foundation to give to the people through this vision.

I have been preaching this message for 42 years. God wants to meet the needs f of the people. This is not a positive thinking type of placebo message, but it is a message from the cross of Christ.

God then told me not only to meet the needs of the people, but to help them grow in every area of their Spiritual lives.

If you don’t have a proper message then you cannot have church growth. You must study the Word of God and pray for your message to you your people.

I find that all over the world, the successful pastors are trying to meet the needs of the people through the anointing Word of God.

By: Dr. David Yonggi Cho