Last week, we established that the word and prayer are sure pillars of the church but today, we are progressing into more practical pillars. The next foundational pillars of the church are:

ORDER & STRUCTURE – 1 Cor 14:40

Listen: Our God is a God of divine order, so any church where there is no order, God is not there. He is not only God of power but also God of order.

God hates chaos and disorderliness! He so love order that He couldn’t create man until there was order. – Gen 1:1-31
In Luke 9:14-16, Jesus made 5 thousand men sit down in 50’s before He gave them bread with fish. Why? ORDER!! That means there are some blessings the church can’t experience until there is order.

Listen: Prayer is good! It takes prayer to break new ground but it takes structure to build something that will last on it.
Praying without structure and
order is playing without knowing
There are many founded churches but few established churches because of lack of structure
Structure takes us from the realm of powerful church to dimension of future building church
Any church without a structure has no future and will soon rupture

3 STRUCTURAL PILLARS EVERY CHURCH MUST MANAGE

1. Spiritual Structure/Order – Jer 1:9-10

There’s no church/ministry without a core and definite message from the Lord. It is the message that empowers the mandate
If we don’t know our message, we can’t know our assignment and if we don’t know our assignment we become jack of all trade, master of none.
Spiritual structures are specific commands given by the Lord to a specific church to achieve a specific purpose and to keep them in order. – 2 Thes 3:6-12
It is what sponsors the teachings and doctrines of the church.

2. Administrative Structure/Order – Acts 6:1-7, Ex 18:21-23

God created the world by divine order so as co-creators we must maintain that order. As soon as order came in Acts 6:7 the church grew exponentially.
•The absence of order in a church is the presence of crisis
•Order is the mother of peace and progress – Titus 1:5

3. Financial Structure/Order – Prov 28:20
One of the worst disease in the church is the money disease – 1 Tim 6:10-11
Members don’t want to give while some pastors don’t want to stop stealing, so the church is lacking financial integrity
The truth is, no church can run successfully without money, however no one should be deceived to get it.
The cure to financial abuse in churches is accountability and God supports it. – Matt 25:15,19-21
•Every successful church must have a strong financial policy

HOW TO SET GOOD STRUCTURE/ORDER
1. Study successful churches ahead of you – Jer 6:16-17
2. Do the same work and be not slothful – Heb 6:11-12
3. Obey the word of God – James 1:22
• The word of God does not work for those who hear it but for those who do it
•Nothing brings order to the church, like when people just believe and obey His word

BENEFITS OF STRUCTURE & ORDER IN THE CHURCH
1. It helps the pastors/leaders to focus on their primary assignment- Acts 6:1-4
2. It triggers exponential growth – Acts 6:7
3. It keeps us focused and disciplined towards time management- 1 Cor 6:12
4. It eradicates and minimizes waste of resources – Luke 9:17
5. It establishes the church of God – Ps 90:17