Quote: Church Growth

~ Lessons from The Pearl ~

It is a slow process!

The following is an excerpt from a book.

Pearls are formed through a process called accretion, by which layer after layer is added to create an item of beauty; the Church is being built in the same manner, as the Holy Spirit adds individuals one at a time to the body of Christ. The one precious pearl is being slowly formed as He covers us with His own white robe of righteousness (Ephesians 2:10, 5:27; 1 John 3:2).

The Church knows no distinction between Jew and Gentile, rich and poor, or any other division. “For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink” (1 Corinthians 12:13).

The Scriptures say in 1 Peter 2:9 referring to the Church, to Christians, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” Just as the Church is made up of a special chosen people who are to be different from those around them, so too the pearl is a most unusual gem, different from any other.

The pearl is the only gem which is formed by repeatedly adding small individual layers; so also the Church grows as individuals are added one by one.

~ from “ONE PRECIOUS PEARL: God’s Design for His Church, pgs 64-65  (ISBN: 9780741462329)

Learn more about this important book at Amazon, the Publisher, or the Author’s website.

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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