The Mighty Deeds of God: The Church

Acts 4:4

But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.

“But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand” (Acts 4:4).

Can you imagine what it must have been like in those early days of the church? Everything was new, the ministry was quickly growing, and the church was expanding as it responded to the command to take the Gospel to “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth,” just as Jesus had said it would. Of course, there were challenges and problems as well; after all, the church was made up of people and, therefore, not perfect. 

Regardless, people were seeing the mighty deeds of God right before them, and this passage in Acts 4:4 is a perfect example of how God was at work. The Bible tells us that on this day, 5000 men were added to the church. Wow, what a day! Ask any pastor, including myself, who has ever given a Gospel invitation about this passage, and we will tell you that we all long to see that kind of response to the Gospel!!! 

However, I would propose to you that we ARE seeing the mighty deeds of God, and in fact, they are all around us. And by the way, not only is this happening now, but it is also something about which I would encourage you to pray.

Let me introduce you to the church that Gina and I attend and are members. We are members of GracePoint Church in Cherokee County, Georgia. The church is about six years old and is a church plant from the church where I previously served as the Executive Pastor. GracePoint Church has not always been its name.

Lighthouse Church was started in the 1970s, and while it had several good years early on, by the time the late 2010s came around, the church was down to just a few people. When I first became acquainted with the church, only four people were remaining in attendance. That group of people approached the church I was serving and gifted the property and the building to our church. That is right - they had enough foresight to see that God wanted to do something, but they needed a new approach.

And that led to several conversations that ultimately ended with the campus and building of Lighthouse Church being gifted to our church. I consider the act of those four people a mighty deed of God! But the story doesn’t end there. 

We immediately went to work renovating the church building, searching for a church plant pastor, and planting a new church there at that location. That is when we experienced another mighty deed of God. God introduced us to Pastor Chris Harrington and his family. It didn’t take long to see that the Holy Spirit was all over this young man. God had already used him to do a great work in mid-town Atlanta, and after a short time, we all realized that God was leading him to plant this new church in Cherokee County. 

There are countless stories I could share with you that reflect the mighty deeds of God over these last six years, including surviving the pandemic, purchasing additional property with cash, bringing on new leadership, and so on. However, today, I want to share with you the most recent mighty deed of God and how He is at work in Chris’ life and in the church. 

This past Sunday, the church had a record-high attendance. There were more people in attendance last Sunday than on the first Easter Sunday. And just so you don’t think I’m the “pastor who only cares about attendance numbers,” there are record numbers of people being saved and baptized! 

The church baptized a number of people on Sunday, making 2024 the year with the most baptisms so far! The student ministry is exploding, and the preschool and children’s spaces have been renovated to accommodate the many children who are coming. In fact, on the first Sunday after renovating, the preschool and children’s ministry was at 100% occupancy and continuing to grow. And on January 19, 2025, GracePoint will begin a second worship service. Honestly, what we are experiencing at GracePoint Church cannot be credited to any man; it is solely a mighty deed of God, and for that, we give Him all glory and praise. 

What I have described for you is a mighty deed of God and I want you to know these are all around us; we simply have to look for what God is doing!!

As I close today, I want to give you three challenges.

Look for God at Work

Keep your eyes and ears open for what and how God is working in and through your life. Watch for the mighty deeds of God and discern how He wants you to be a part of those.

Pray for GracePoint Church

Pray for Pastor Chris Harrington and GracePoint; pray for God’s work to continue as the Gospel is preached and God receives all glory.

Pray for YOUR Church

And pray for YOUR pastor and church to see God's mighty hand at work and see people saved and serving the Lord in your community!