This document outlines Rev. Mark Lawrence's talk on ordering the church according to God's word at the 2013 Guyana District Conference. It discusses biblical principles for the church, including that it belongs to Jesus Christ. It identifies five attributes of a healthy church: loving Jesus and his word, prayer, worship, loving one another, and evangelism. It also discusses John Wesley's model for church growth through preaching, classes, and societies. Rev. Lawrence promotes applying Wesley's discipleship process and values to a contemporary cell church model centered on weekly cell meetings of 12 or fewer members focused on worship, Bible study, and witness.

1. ORDERING MY CHURCH
ACCORDING TO GOD’S WORD
GUYANA DISTRICT CONFERENCE 2013
REV MARK J. LAWRENCE
MISSION PARTNER
Assisted by the lovely Mrs. Carolyn Lawrence –
Mission Partner! 

2.  Matthew
16:18-19 Who’s church?
 Matthew 28:18-20 Great Commission
 Acts 1:6-8 Promised power for witnessing
 Biblical theology relating to ‘church’.
– The Church Visible
– The Church Invisible
Its Unity
 Its Universality
 Its Perpetuity


3. FIVE ATTRIBUTES
1.A healthy church loves Jesus and studies His Word (2
Tim.3:16)
2.A healthy church is filled with people who pray
(Eph.6:18)
3.A healthy church worships in Spirit and in truth
(Jn.4:24)
4.A healthy church is filled with people who love each
other (1 Jn.4:7-8)
5.A healthy church is an evangelising church (Lk.19:10)

4. * Parable of the Life-Saving Station (Carolyn)
DELEGATE EXERCISE – PART 1
On individual post-it notes write down all the
church activities that occur during a typical
week either as a corporate body or as
individual members.

5. DELEGATE EXERCISE – PART 2
Now sort the post-its out into 2 categories:
1.Those activities/ ministries for the members
2.Those activities which specifically reach out to
those who, as yet, don’t know Jesus.

6. “The church has nothing to do
but to save souls; therefore
spend and be spent in this
work… bring as many sinners as
you possibly can to repentance.”
(John Wesley 1703-1791)

7. Early Methodist Church Growth
Strategies and their relevance
for todays church.
Preach and visit in as many places as you can.
2. Go most where they want you most.
3. Start as many classes as can be effectively managed.
4. Do not preach where you cannot enrol awakened
people into classes.
1.

8. Wesley’s rationale relating to the process of
disciple-making.
Awaken people to the fact of their lostness, their
sins, their need for God.
2. Enrol awakened people in a class (and, in 3 months,
in a Methodist Society)
3. Teach awakened enrolled people to expect to
experience their justification.
4. Teach justified people to expect to experience their
sanctification in this life.
1.

9. “The devil himself desires nothing more
than this, that the people of any place
should be half awakened and then left to
themselves to fall asleep again. Therefore, I
determine by the grace of God not to strike
one stroke in any place where I cannot
follow the blow.”
(Rev John Wesley’s Journal Entry 1743)

10. Contemporary Class System –
a.k.a. Cell Church
Cell Values
Jesus at the centre
Every member maturing
Everyone in ministry
Everyone involved in witness
Communities of trust and honesty marked by
sacrificial love.

11. The Class/ Cell Meeting
Meets weekly – no more than 12 members
Comprises of the following elements
1. Welcome
2. Worship
3. Word
4. Witness