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Here's a powerful message from our lead pastor, Pastor Nathan Lee Wine and Sannabi. Let your heart be open, your spirit be stirred, and your hope be renewed. This is IPC Hope Temple, your place of divine encounter.

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And I'm praying that with the inspiration we had last Sunday from our General Vasier, the fellowship we shared together, that we're all going to get into this new phase of our church. And as a result, whilst pondering on how to begin this new phase, the Lord prompted me with a message, and I want to share that with you today. And I want to talk to you today about the subject of increase. Amen. I titled it Call to Increase. And I want to believe that God is taking us on a journey, and we are at a point where increase has become necessary. Amen. Now I'll take a scripture reading, and after that, we will pray and get into the word of God. In Psalm 92, the verse 12 to 13, the Bible says, The righteous thrive like a palm tree and grow like a cedar tree in Laban, planted in the house of the Lord. They thrive in the courts of our God. Amen. Amen. Ah, you just came to church. Where were you before? I love that. Amen. Thank you very much. I believe that God's will for the believer is always about increase. I want to repeat that. I believe that God's will for the believer is always about increase. It's about growth in fruitfulness. It's about growth in influence. It's about growth in maturity. To put it more modern, I believe that it is in the DNA of every believer to increase or grow. A believer who does not grow or does not increase must certainly have to check a few things in his or her life. I don't want you to listen to this message with an itchy ear of a modern charismatic waiting for the pastor to say, I receive it, and then you jump for it. I'm not talking about material issues here. Even though I believe that when we grow spiritually, there is evidence on its outward outlook as well. But this is not one of your motivational messages. This is the gospel, amen. I believe that if you are a Christian and there's stagnation in your life, there is the need for you to check yourself. Proverbs 4:18 says this the path of the righteous is like the morning sun shining ever brighter till the full light of the day. The path of the righteous is like the morning sun. Now the morning sun just shows up as though it's not willing to work for the day. But the Bible says it continues to shine brighter until the full light of the day, till noon. That is how the life of the believer is prescribed by the Bible. Today, what I want us to do is to consider a biblical position on why we need to increase or to grow, and how to engineer it in every area of our lives. Every person who lives, or anything that is has life, any entity must of necessity grow. If you live and you're not growing, then you're not living. Anything that is not growing is dead, and so don't take it to mean, oh, pastor says I should grow, and so I have to now start growing. Rather, do a self-reflection and say, Am I growing? If I'm not growing, am I dead? Everything that lives must grow. And our relationship with God in the same way which is living must grow. Normally, you would have thought that if you're making the sacrifice, you must kill it. We see it in the Old Testament that you have to cut off the head of the animal that you're sacrificing to the Lord. So it becomes a dead sacrifice. But the Bible describes our relationship with God not as a dead one, but one that lives. Because even though we're supposed to be dead, Christ died once, so we would live. And so our continuous relationship with God cannot be seen in death, it must be seen as living. So let us look into the nature of increase or growth. The nature of increase or growth, one is that it's a process, it doesn't just happen. Increase or growth does not just spring up, it goes through a process. Many of us just want overnight, as they call it the microwave increase, the microwave growth. We just want to put things quick and it's hot quick, but the thing is, it gets very cold quick if you want it that way. But true increase is a process. You have to learn to start from somewhere and see yourself through it. It takes a series of activities. You have to be ready to start a process, you have to be ready to confront some things in your life so that you can grow. Some of you may know that my wife and children traveled, and just within six, I think just about six months, I traveled to visit them. At the airport, they came to pick me up. But because they were struggling with parking, they had to park um further away from me. And Joel was sent to come and call me so I can come to the car. Ladies and gentlemen, I walked past him. Six months ago, that boy was slain like a pencil. Now he was bigger than me and almost my height. And he walked and I walked past him, and then he said daddy, and I turned and I still paused for a while and wondered, who is calling me daddy? Sometimes it might look like it was sudden, but something about Joel you ought to know. We always wondered, Joel eats a lot, and we always asked ourselves, where does the food go? Because the guy never puts on, he was so slim. And then we saw this shift and change in him. Somebody will say that happened within six months, but I want to prove you wrong. It happened for a long time because the guy has been building calories in the body for a long, long time, just waiting for the moment to explode. It's just like sowing a seed, it is hidden in the ground, and then you show up one day and you see this plant coming up, and you're like, Oh, that's the plant. No, that is not the plant. Before that showed up, there was a process that was going under. And the thing about the process is that it is sometimes risky. A seed in the soil is not a guarantee that you get a plant, it can die. If the conditions are not right, it can die. But that's the only way you can plant a seed, it has to go under. Some seeds go underwater, they can be in the plain water and grow, but somewhere somehow it has to go under. And we don't like that process because sometimes it's painful, sometimes there are no guarantees. Look, one of the things that bothers me as a counselor is that now people want to get married, but nobody wants to be in a true enduring relationship. They say it's too stressful. Well, then you're the wrong candidate for marriage. Because marriage would increase your stress. I don't care if you get married to an angel, your stress level will go up. Oh, we've got a new couple here. Now I didn't say that because of you, I didn't even realize it until now. Sorry. But yes, people want to make money, but people don't want to go through the process. I know people who go into an organization, see how the organization is growing, and they think they can do the same thing. And instead of helping the organization to grow, they start using the time of the organization to start their own business. They steal resources of the organization to start their own business. They've forgotten that the one they're working for started about 20 years ago. And you want to do it in six months, in 12 months, because you see a pile of money coming to that business, and you mess it up to the extent, look, to the extent that sometimes we even bring that organization to the brink of collapse so we can start ours. And here's the sad thing: you go and start yours, and it doesn't even last six months, but you've destroyed a business that has gone through the process. Growth comes through a process. Even if you think it was just sudden, it wasn't. For us as a church, it looks like we've just come around and it's nice. No, we we it's 10 years, ladies and gentlemen. It's 10 years, it's 10 years. We have to go through a process. We have to go through a process. The second thing about increase and growth is that it is gradual. Now I talked about process and they're different. Process is what you go through. The activities, the actions, the the encounters that you have to engage yourself in. But the result of increase itself is gradual. Nobody plants a seed, and the next day you're going to see a fruit. It has to first shoot up as a stalk and grow through the process and have leaves that will now be able to do photosynthesis, as some of you would know, and help to produce fruits. Now, for many of us who were growing up in the era where we throw stones into people's houses because we want to pluck a mango, it might appear that it was sudden, but that mango tree has been there for years. Somebody has been planted, has been watering it and waiting for that fruit to grow. Now, some of us will see also the fruit growing small, and then we target it and say, Hey, in two weeks' time, I'm coming for you. It is always going to be gradual. People might think that is saddened, but it's gradual. So don't look at somebody right now with your increase and go like, God, why haven't you given me that? It is gradual. It is gradual. Don't be in a haste. Your results will show. Your results will show it is gradual. In spiritual terms, it is gradual. To grow in your prayer life, to grow in your Bible life, to grow in maturity, it is gradual. And so I encourage you, brothers and sisters, do not talk down on your brother or sister who may not be at the same level spiritually as you. Because you see, as much as accommodating those people does not mean that I connive with them and condone what they do, my point is that it is gradual. If you haven't read the Bible, there are people in the Bible that needed time to grow. And one of them was the head of the apostles called Peter. He was the closest in terms of leadership with Jesus. He was the one who would speak his mind to Jesus. But all through this process, he was still not matured and growing. When Jesus was about to leave, he had to do the Hebrew thing with him and call him three times just to wake him up and tell him, Massa, this time you need to grow up. This time you need to grow up. Three times. But when Jesus left and maturity had come to fruition, the Bible said he asked them, please, so before you condemn me, please tell me which is right that I should obey God or obey man. Tell me, tell me. Maturity is gradual. Don't force it, don't force it. And please, this is not a statement to give you a room not to grow. Some will say, Oh, Pastor says it's gradual, so I take my time. It is not about taking your time. You have to be aggressive out there, but I'm saying your results might take time. The last thing about increase is that it is necessary. Everybody who lives must of necessity grow. You have to grow. Growth is an evidence that you live. The absence of growth is an evidence that you're dead. If you're not growing spiritually, if you're not growing in influence, if you're not growing in number, if you're not growing around you, it means that there is something that you need to check. If your prayer life has not improved after 10 years of being in this church, it is not because you're being gradual, it is because you're dead. Something needs to change, it is necessary for us as a church. If you look around us, we still have empty seats. I'm not going to tickle us. There's something wrong. We should ask ourselves, why are we not growing numerically? Why are we not? We have enjoyed the fellowship of being few and small, and we've enjoyed our company. And everybody who comes to this church says, I like how small you are. I like how you you are so strong in your fellowship. I can sense natural and genuine love amongst you and everything. I love all of that, but also the Bible said, as a result of their fellowship, the Lord added to their numbers. So what is happening to us? So maybe we're dead in the area that would help us grow as a church. We shouldn't tickle ourselves and we're small, but we enjoy our fellowship and we enjoy our there's something wrong. Something is dead. Let's just accept it. Something is dead. Tell Pastor, Pastor, something is dead. I want to hear you. Come on, talk to me. Say, Pastor, something is dead. That is why we're not growing. Pastor, you need to change your ways. Oh, come on, talk to me. Say, Pastor, you need to change your ways. Why are you afraid? Okay, I'm going to talk to you. Church, our numbers have not grown. There is something wrong. Oh, my fellow members, you need to change your ways. You need to change your ways. You need to change your ways. What does the Bible say about increase and growth? There are a few subheadings I'm going to give you under that about the Bible's view on increase. The first thing I want to establish is that in the Bible's view, increase means expansion and influence of God's people. It's about expansion and influence of God's people. In Genesis 1:28, it's a very common scripture: be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it. Now, one would think of this simply as something that has to do with procreation, giving birth, but it goes beyond that because it says, fill it and also subdue it. That you have to have influence over it. Our senior pastor, after last week's sermon, we were having a meeting, and he said, People are thinking that the church is now dwindling and coming to its end. But he said, We are wrong because now is the time that God is raising apostles who are now shaping and directing the church to what it actually has to be. God requires us to multiply. The reason why we have to increase this church is not to fill the chairs. That can be our motivation because that is the easiest way out. We can fill this church with people every Sunday if we choose simply just to fill it. But we do not want to fill the chairs. We want God's people to multiply and to increase. We want to be fruitful and we want to have influence. We want God's glory to be seen among many people. The more people we get into this church, the more we are able to establish the true doctrine of biblical teaching in their spirit, in their minds, in their hearts, so that when they go to their workplaces, so that when they go to their schools, so when they go to their families, when they go to their communities, they can be that light to the people. And so we can't take it casual. We need to grow because increase means expansion and influence of God's people. Deuteronomy 111. The Bible says, May the Lord, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times and bless you as He has promised. May God's people increase. May God increase us a thousand times. Say amen. May He increase our influence a thousand times. Say Amen. Acts chapter 2, 47. The Bible says, and the Lord added to their numbers daily those who were being saved. When it gets the time, and and the announcers ask the question, uh, how many um new members are here who is new and all of that? And almost about 99.9% of the time, we are all the same people. The question there is, are we doing what we need to do? That the Lord would add to this church people who are being saved. People who are being saved. We need that. We need to be a church that is hungry for souls. We need to be a church that is hungry to increase and to grow. We do not want to do that simply because we just want people to fill the pews. We're not doing that because we want more offering, we're doing this simply because it's a biblical principle that as we fellowship together, we need to engage in activities that bring more people who are being saved. It is not optional, it is not conditional, it's a mandate to us as a church. And so I'm calling on all of you that in your mind don't be comfortable, in your mind don't be, don't be, don't be, don't relax, don't sit and say we're okay. When you come around and you see those empty chairs, know that you and I have failed on that day to drag someone to church. Acts 6 7. The Bible says the Lord, uh the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem. The word of God increased. How is the word of God going to increase? It's going to increase when you and I are desirous to carry whatever we read, whatever we studied at church, and go out there to speak to people about it. We cannot be seen doing everything apart from the gospel. Like we're involved in every single thing in life, but the only thing we do not want to do is to increase the word of God. We ought to be agents, we ought to be active uh participants when it comes to the increasing of God's word. And I want somebody who believes that he or she is an agent to say, I am an agent. Of course, an agent for the gospel. The second thing the Bible teaches us about increase is that increase is spiritual growth and maturity. To increase means to spiritually grow and to mature. Colossians 1 10. The Bible says, bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God. We are to grow in the knowledge of God. We have to mature in the knowledge of God, in the things we do. You see, we uh I preached this a couple of Sundays ago, and I said the problem of Christianity is not that we are extremists. People tell us being an extreme religious person is bad because it's violence, it brings about violence. I said that is true about all other religions except Christianity. What brings about violence in Christianity is when you and I are moderates. When we are extremists in the Bible, we bring about God's love. Because you only have to be a stream for someone to slap you on one side, and then you turn the other side for the person to slap. But when you're moderate and you get a slap on one side, you say this is all I can take, I'm going to retaliate. Self-love. Increase is a spiritual concept. We need to grow in the knowledge of God. By this time, Paul says, You should become teachers, but you're still being taught in the things of God. And what I mean by that is that by this time, many of us should be in our workplaces, in our homes, in our schools, in our communities, be teaching people about God's word, becoming fellowship leaders and dragging them to church. You have become a pastor in your own right without being ordained on the stage. That is not what God is calling you to be, but you are a pastor because you carry God's word. What does it mean to be a pastor? The literal translation is to shepherd, to take care of somebody, to have a flock, to take care, and all of us are capable of taking care of someone. The ordination might put a collar here and make you a leader of this organization or another organization or part of the leaders, but in the true sense of the word, many of us are carriers of God's knowledge, and we're supposed to be out there to share that. Deuteronomy 8:18 says, It is he who gives you the power to get wealth. Increase is a spiritual concept, but in other words, to also be able to grow in, God gives us the power to make wealth. Now, listen to this. I am not one of those people who will suggest to you boldly and say that if you give me this amount of money, the Lord is going to increase you. But truly, isn't there a spiritual condition that the Lord loves cheerful givers? And that those who sow sparingly reap sparingly, and those who who sow cheerfully reap cheerfully. Isn't it there a spiritual concept that says that if you give, it shall be given back to you, pressed down, shaking together, running over. So this is the point I'm making. That as a spiritual person who is growing in maturity, it is not for the pastor to come here and lie to you, it's not the pastor to come here and and manipulate you by saying, if you give me 10,000, the Lord is going to open some doors. I have never seen those visions, so I can never give you one. But imagine a church that is filled with people who understand spiritual maturity in giving, and and and they're just giving all over the place, and and the pastor gets shocked about where the money is coming from, and he's like, Really? Do we have this amount of money? Really? But I think you're beginning to understand why some pastors have become very creative. Because the folk, when you leave them, do not grow, they die. But I still want to hold on to this principle. I'm not going to be creative with this, I'm going to teach you the truth. And I want your heart and your mind to be filled with God's word so that you would know the truth and you will be able to give cheerfully. This place we are is not our place, and I always boast that oh, we don't pay any rent for this place, we don't pay electricity, we get most of the things for free, we don't get any church, doesn't spend a lot of money on things, and we're all happy, correct? Amen. Now, but when I say it's for free, it's for free for the church, but somebody else is paying for it. This is an amazing church, and I've been saying this over children's service, they get a TV, and I didn't know for for weeks that somebody bought them TV. We get we get new sound equipment, we get everything seems to be just falling from anywhere and everywhere. We are a happy church, we're doing well, but I'm speaking to the majority of people who, because the few are doing this, are dead. They're not spiritually growing and you're giving. I don't want to leave you out. I want to wake you up, and that's why I'm speaking to you. Amen. We will continue as a church to do to do it this way. We will not coerce anyone to give us money, we will not force anyone with false prophecy. When we see the truth, we'll tell you, but we will not lie to you. But I don't want you to be dead either. Giving is a spiritual concept. Give and it shall be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together. The Bible says, Man shall pour to you. Now I'm gonna give you a very short version of why we need to increase, and then we can close. Give me about five minutes. Number one, to fulfill God's mandate in Genesis 35, 11. The Bible says, Be fruitful and increase in number. A nation and a community of nations will come from you. It is a mandate. God wants us to increase. Church, listen. I always remember this. The very first Sunday we were to meet, that was when our keyboard was coming. No, the week before our very first Sunday, that was when our keyboard was coming from the US, because we have ordered it from the US. And I went to the airport to meet the person who was delivering it to us. And I got there whilst waiting for this person, and and then she said, Oh, what are you doing here? It's been a long time. I said, Oh, I'm here to pick up a keyboard. We're starting our own branch of our church, and I'm the pastor there. And she looked at me in amazement or with amazement, and the only thing she could say to me is this, oh, then very soon you'll be rich. That's all she could tell me. That's all she could tell me. Very soon you'll be rich. And I was broken from head to toe. I just didn't know what to say, and I had to find a way to move away. And I think those kind of thoughts have also paralyzed me in a way. Because for some reason, I have never pursued growing numbers. Because again, there are some of my friends who have stopped church, and when I tell them, Oh, we come to church, I invited them to church, this is what they tell me. Oh, don't worry, I'll send my offering. I think, I think preaching this now, I think, church, you need to forgive me and pray for me because I think these things have eaten somewhere into my my mind that I'm not too enthusiastic about chasing people to come to church. Because somehow I think they convert this whole idea of come to church into currencies. But the reason we need to grow is not because we want some pastor to become rich. When I was in the University of Ghana, my dad used to bring me food every day. Every day. That's some luxurious life, correct? Amazing. Some of you are envious right now. I'm going to make you more envious. Every day, every evening, my dad will board the car, Trotro, and bring me food. I remember the first day he was coming, he got to the entrance and asked the security, as though it was such a small community. It was the first time coming to the place. He asked the security, he described me, they didn't know, but they found me. This one guy said, Ah, are you talking about that fair guy who always talks when he's walking? You know, I used to have that problem. I wasn't mad. I was I always imagined preaching to people or MC in a program, so I always ended up talking whilst walking. And then he came to me and he would bring me food every every every day, um, except weekends. The reason my dad was bringing me food is that we didn't have money. And my dad couldn't afford to give me pocket money, and it was cheaper for them to cook at home and to pick trot and to bring me food than to give me money to sustain myself. So, whilst people were envious of me, I was solving a serious economic problem with my family. Now, I'm telling you the story to back something. I was then a local preacher in the Methodist church. A local preacher means you give you they give you appointment to go and preach, but you're not a pastor, like pastor. Yeah, you go to the Bible school, but you're not a pastor, pastor. And when I went there, they gave you honorarium. Honorarium is what you give a pastor when it comes to preach. I don't know why I've not been invited these days to churches, so I can get a little bit of that. And they give me honorarium. I go to a saliboche, I go to uh a shortman, I go to places, and I'll give get that money, and guess what? I do with it. I reject it and then no, no, no, we've already signed it, you have to take it. And I take it and I put it back in the offering bowl, and I'll walk from a saliboche to my dinner estate. Now I'm saying this to tell you that I don't, I'm not saying I'm okay, and that's the reason why I don't want to be paid by the church. I grew up when I was walking distances to my house when honorarium can pay draw draw with me or for me, and rejected it because I know something that doing God's work has a benefit that goes beyond currencies. Nobody believes me when I tell them I come from a very hard background. Nobody, because everything they've seen in my life looks like hey, hey, hey. By the way, I'm not saying that because you do this, you're also going to be just like me. You're going to be somebody God wants you to be. My point is the reason why we have to grow the church is not to get more money, but it's a command from God. The reason we want to grow this place, people, is because we want to obey God. Say amen. We want to feel all these churches. Just look around. Look, look around, look at the church, look around. We want to fill it, and the reason is that God says we have to increase and multiply. Do you want to be that agent? Ah, that was weak. Do you want to be that agent? Second reason is to manifest God's glory. John 15:8. This is to my father's glory, that you bear much fruit. When we bear fruit in the church, when we bear fruit at our workplaces, when we bear fruit in our lives, Jesus said, This is to my father's glory. We walk around literally like placards on demonstration saying, This is God's glory, this is God's glory, this is God's glory. That is who we are. When we bring about increase in our lives, we become God's placards and signboards in society to say, God is glorified. Our God is glorified. It's not for selfish gain. It is the reason why I would not tell you, if you bring this, you get that, because that is the least of your requirement. Our biggest requirement is to glorify God, and finally, the reason why we need increase is to equip for maturity, to be equipped for maturity. Ephesians 4, 13 to 15. Attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, and I want to skip and go, growing up into Him who is the head that is Christ. The idea of growing is into maturity. We have to grow because it's a sign of maturity. Ladies and gentlemen, we cannot be taking milk. Paul says there is progression. There's a time that you take milk, and there's a time that you eat real meat. We cannot be fed all the time on milk. It will sound very funny when my wife asks me what I want to eat, and I still want to tell her I want milk. And you know what I mean. That is reserved for a baby. If my five-year-old goes to my my my wife right now and is asking for milk and a certain kind of milk, I'm suddenly going to have a stare at him that will throw him out of the window. You're too old for that. Same with church. By this time we should be having meat. But we're still on milk. I want to end on this note. Let me end on this note. Psalm 115, verse 12 to 18. I just want to end on this scripture that would help us. The Lord remembers us and will bless us. He will bless his people, Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron. He will bless those who fear the Lord, small and great alike. May the Lord cause you to flourish, and I think that's important. Somebody say amen. Both you and your children. I think it's good you say amen after every sentence. Let's start again. May the Lord cause you to flourish. Both you and your children. May you be blessed by the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth has been given to mankind. It is not the dead who praise the Lord. Those who go down to the place of silence, it is it is we who exalt the Lord, both now and forever, praise the Lord. We cannot be dead. When he says it is he's talking about blessing, it says, It is not the dead that praise the Lord. What it means is that it is not the dead that brings about that increase, it is not the dead that gets flourished. If you are not flourishing, the guy is repeating what I told you from the beginning, you are dead. And may we not be dead walking beings. May we be alive in Jesus Christ. May we see increase in all aspects of our lives. May this church begin to see increase. May somebody be agitated in the spirit and say, I can't see my church this way anymore. I want to see more about my church. I can't be coming to church late anymore. I need to come. Early this time. I cannot just be in the church and do nothing. I need to see a change in the church. May the Lord cause you to flourish, both you and your children, in Jesus' mighty name.

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