Go Thou and Do Likewise

“Of the thirty-seven or so references [in Acts], six associate growth with the quality of church life and of Christian character, seven link growth with the evidence of ‘signs and wonders’, and twenty-four link growth with the preaching of the Word of God — indeed in 12:24 the growth of the Church is actually called the growth of the Word, as if they were so closely related that they could be identified one with the other” (Motyer, Preaching?, p. 19).