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Celebrating Every Breakthrough
“And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles”
(Acts 14:27).
Bill and Amy Stearns wrote an outstanding book, Catch the Vision 2000. In this book they stated, “Something big and challenging is happening in our world. Something so astonishing it should make headlines in every church and Christian home. All around the earth remarkable breakthroughs in reaching every people group with the gospel have occurred.”
God is doing great things. You may ask, “Why haven’t I been hearing about it?”
Bill and Amy Stearns explained, “Little breakthroughs . . . happen so often that Satan and his cronies make heroic attempts to keep believers from knowing about them, because the whole picture would be so encouraging we just might jump in and finish the job. Christians would realize the need to speed up what God is doing—to pull the rug out from under the enemy’s feet. Satan realizes no news is good news—to him.”
They explained that the first eleven chapters of the Bible establish the main characters—God, angels, and man. The setting for the drama is the earth and the heavens. There is a conflict between Satan fighting for the kingdom and God redeeming mankind. The entire Bible is a drama of war between good and evil. The Book of Revelation reveals the final winner. Until that day we need to celebrate every victory and breakthrough.
1. “Many, O Lord my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered” (Psalms 40:5).
Studies show ninety-five per cent of problems taking place within organizations are related to communications (or rather the lack thereof). The number one complaint employees have is lack of communication. Poor communication exists despite the modern information technology we presently enjoy. Communication problems also exist in the church. We need to develop a climate of communicating and celebrating every breakthrough experienced.
It is easy to find fault and lament over what is wrong with the church. Anyone can see problems. The church is not perfect, but it is better to look for what is right. Catch people doing the right things and praise them for it. Give them honor and do it publicly. This is a positive motivational tool. Always maintain positive reinforcement for efforts made toward accomplishing the vision.
Once you have determined your vision and your goals, people will start performing according to expectation. Each time something happens in line with the vision and in accordance with the goals—celebrate. Work toward being as positive as possible. We are not part of the “Fellowship of the Miserable” but the “Fellowship of the Redeemed.”
Be specific with the reasons for celebration. “God moved in an awesome way in our service last Sunday night,” is not nearly as inspiring as, “Three people received the baptism of the Holy Ghost last Sunday night, and one lady was healed of cancer.”
Celebrate What You Want to See More Of
Each time someone is baptized in Jesus’ name or filled with the Holy Ghost we need to celebrate. After all, heaven is celebrating, why shouldn’t we? We should never treat souls being added to the kingdom as commonplace.
“Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10 NKJV).
On the national level celebrate every time a new church is planted, a preaching point is established, or the churches grow. Yes you can celebrate when the church enjoys prosperity and financial breakthroughs. (Be careful! Many times we celebrate the financial breakthroughs and forget the spiritual victories.)
If you were to go to a sports game, you would find people celebrating over every goal. Kingdom building is not another game; it is a battle. Jesus Christ is the Captain of our salvation and is the winner. Every time a goal is scored in the kingdom celebrate the victory. Satan will be defeated and left crying. The shout of victory will deafen him.
“But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Much emphasis is placed on numbers. Thank God for the numbers. Presently, within the United Pentecostal Church we have 3,000,000 constituents overseas; 20,666 pastors minister in 28,416 United Pentecostal churches in more than 142 nations of the world.
Members should always be ready to give “victory reports.” Some churches call these testimonies, faith stories, praise reports, etc. It is when members say, “Hey, look what God has done for me!”
1. These reports should be interesting, grab everyone’s attention, and give the church a reason to celebrate.
2. Limit the number of people giving testimonies.
3. Do not waste time. The church is not interested in a lot of history and details.
4. Take care that people never give glory to Satan, but testify about the wonderful deeds of God.
“Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!” (Psalms 107:8). These same words are repeated in Psalms 107:15, 21, 31. Do you see the reason for the emphasis? God wants us to celebrate His wonderful works and His goodness to us. Celebrate every little breakthrough. They add up to big wins!
The early church celebrated victories. These celebrations are found on the pages of the Book of Acts. Some would be considered mighty breakthroughs and some little. Combined, they represented the victories of an ever-increasing mighty army of believers that Satan is still reckoning with.
Study Questions
2. God is doing great things. Why do Bill and Amy Stearns think we do not always hear about it?
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3. Who are the main characters in the Bible (established in the first eleven chapters)?
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4. What is the number one complaint among employees?
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5. What type of communication climate do we need to develop?
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6. What is a positive motivational tool mentioned in this lesson?
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7. What should we do each time something happens that is in line with our goals and vision?
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8. What should we celebrate?
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9. What are victory reports?
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10. Why should we celebrate every little breakthrough? What do they add up to?
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11. Write down four breakthroughs that you can find in the Book of Acts. (This is not provided in this lesson and will require you to research through the Book of Acts.)
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