The Impact of the Holy Spirit on Church Growth in the 21st Century

Abstract

The progressive work of the Holy Spirit is observable right from the creation of the world as recorded in the Genesis account of creation (Genesis 1). Throughout the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit or Spirit of God permeates the noble activities of the great, noble and low classesof people in the society. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, the prophets and prophetesses, were all influenced by the Holy Spirit. More so, all through the New Testament, the Holy Spirit had been an active factor or personality bringing to birth the recorded miracles, signs and wonders, as well as church growth in the early church. The ministry of Jesus Christ as well as its continuity through the apostles and the believers was through the Holy Spirit. This implies that the impact of the Holy Spirit on human existence cannot be overemphasized. However, the probing questions are: Who is the Holy Spirit? What impact has He made in the past? Is He still making impact on church growth today? The thrust of this paper therefore is to examine the impact of the Holy Spirit on church growth in the 21st century. The method adopted in this research was historical. The work discovered that the Holy Spirit did not only play important roles in the affairs of people as well as the church in the past but He is still impacting church growth today. The paper recommends that Christians should exhibit the fruits of the Holy Spirit in their lives for the good of the society and the growth of the Church. They should use the gifts of the Holy Spirit for the benefits of humanity, thus leading to church growth.