Acts 4: Secret Recipe of Church Growth in the First Century by Gan Tuan Boon dated 30.3.14

1.        The believers preached the death and resurrection of Jesus ( V1- V22 )

Peter preached the first sermon on the day of Pentecost ( Act 2 )

Three thousand people believed and baptised.

Peter raised a paralytic to health ( Acts 3 )

He preached the second sermon to the crowd near the temple.

The number of Christians increased from 3,000 to 5,000.

1.   Peter preached the first Gospel message on the day of Pentecost and 3,000 people believed
2. Peter preached the second sermon after healing of a paralytic and the number grew to 5,000
3. The apostles were arrested for preaching the Gospel and trialed before the Sanhedrin
4. Peter addressed the Supreme Court and preached the Gospel message to the Jewish leaders present
5. Despite warning of the Jewish leaders, Peter & John chose to obey God in preaching the Gospel

 It is imperative to share the death & resurrection of Jesus -- the essence of the Gospel message
 

2.       The believers prayed in one accord in boldness (V 23- 31 )

1. Prayer was the first reaction of the early Christians to a crisis
2. They acknowledged the sovereignty of God and His supreme power over the universe
3. They knew the Scripture and understood the current event was the fulfilment of a prophecy
4. They presented the threats from the Jewish leaders to God
5. They prayed for boldness and asked God to perform more miracles in the name of Jesus 

God answers the prayers of faith and makes His presence felt according to His own way
 

3.       The believers practise the sharing of possession with the needy ( V 32-37 )

1. Christian communal sharing is not a doctrine in the Bible; it was born out of necessity
2. Christian communal sharing is not communism: the former is voluntary; the latter is by compulsion
3. The communal sharing is not meant to provide livelihood but to help those genuinely in need
4. The communal sharing frees the apostles from the physical needs of believers to focus on preaching
5. Barnabas-- “son of encouragement”  is a model of Christian sharing 

Sharing brings about unity of believers and fosters a sense of belonging to a spiritual community

Conclusion

These are three main points that drove the Church growth in the first century, we can certainly learn from these points.  The context may not be the same but the ingredients are similar and may be altered for effective evangelism in the 21st century.