A Church Plant that Should Have Failed

My father, Rev. George Bowen, was an amazing man. His mind was constantly meditating on scriptures as is evidenced by the hundreds of sermon outlines I found everywhere after he passed away. Little slips of paper tucked in his pocket would have nuggets of truth carefully printed in tiny writing starting at the very top of the page. (He didn't believe in wasting anything!!)

He had an interesting twist on the birth of the church. Here it is just as he wrote it:

A Church Plant that Should Have Failed
by Rev. George E. Bowen

Several hundred years ago a church was planted in a large city. By today's standards, there are several reasons why this church should not have survived.

The poverty of the founder: The man who started the church was single, had no wife or children, and was extremely poor; so poor, in fact, that he was homeless. He had no "money people" to back him. He had no building in which to have services, most meetings were held out doors.

Uneducated congregation: The leader gathered only a few people about him to mentor and they were also poor and uneducated. They had no formal education and were a rough class of people. They could not afford to support a pastor.

Suicide of charter member: This person had been with the church plant from the beginning. He was the treasurer and had possibly misspent some of the meager funds they had. After turning on the leader he killed himself. This was no doubt a serious blow to the little group.

Poor attendance at initial gathering: Of the thousands who lived in the city and had heard the leader speak, only 120 people came to the first organized meeting in a borrowed room. As far as numbers went, the meeting was unsuccessful.

Past performance of keynote speaker: The key note speaker had been a personal friend of the leader. At one time he was known to have used bad language and even told others that he wanted no part of the church.

You realize, of course, that this is about the first church, the church Christ "planted" in Jerusalem. Jesus, the lowly Galilean, was the founder and his disciples had not been to any theological seminary or university. Although Jesus had fed the crowds by the thousands, had healed the sick, given sight to the blind, and raised the dead to life, only a small group gathered in the Upper Room. Of the twelve disciples, Judas had killed himself, and Peter had denied knowing Christ.

This church, that by today's standards should not have survived, DID survive and is still a functioning body today with millions of members. Why? What caused the church to survive in spite of the overwhelming odds? There is only one answer. The Holy Spirit.

Before the Spirit came, the church could be likened to the creation of Adam before life was breather into him. He had eyes but could not see, ears, but could not hear, mouth but could not speak. He was an empty shell without feeling, without warmth. If the breath of life had not been breathed into Adam, he would have deteriorated and gone back to dust.

If the Holy Spirit had not come on the day of Pentecost the church would never have come to life. But the Spirit came!! The Spirit gave life!! The Spirit made the difference!@!

Even as He was needed then to bring life, He is needed today to bring a fresh wind to our tired, worn out programs. Are we inviting Him to breathe on us, to teach us, to show us the individualized blueprint He has for each congregation? He has not changed and will cause our churches to grow and flourish if we will let Him.

Come, Holy Spirit, I need Thee. Come, sweet Spirit, I pray.
Come in Thy strength and Thy power. Come in Thine own gentle way.