The relationship between the role of the spirit of god and the growth of the church

This paper aims to analyze the relationship between the role of the Spirit of God and the growth of the Church by using a qualitative descriptive method related to the experience of the early Church. Today, some churches are led and managed like a company based on worldly principles by ignoring the vital role of the Holy Spirit in them. Data collection was carried out through the Bible, journal literature, and books, as well as interviews. The result: First, through His role, the Spirit of God equips and prepares believers in the context of carrying out ministry duties. Second, through His part, the Spirit of God in cooperating with believers produces church growth in all aspects. In conclusion, the relationship between the role of God's Spirit and church growth is to equip and prepare believers to carry out their ministry duties according to their calling and to work with them to produce church growth according to God's plan.


INTRODUCTION
The presence of the Church in this world is not due to human initiative and effort but God's plan and will.Because of His love and great desire to restore humans who have strayed and live in the darkness of the world.The Church is God's instrument as the Body of Christ, to achieve the perfect goal of the Kingdom of God, is called to serve and serve in the leadership of the Holy Spirit so that through her ministry, souls are won, and church growth becomes real.The Church's growth can certainly be seen from one side by the increase in the number of those who experience grace from God, but it can also be observed from the quality of their faith and the planting of many new churches.
(Rispatiningsih, 2019) stated that every religion has a holy book which is the basis for the beliefs of adherents of that religion; of which besides Islam, Buddhism, and Confucianism which have their own holy book, there are also Catholics and Christians who believe in the Bible as a holy book.Of course, the Bible is the Word of God which is the truth that Christians must believe.That's why Rajat believes that church growth cannot be calculated based solely on the number of people who visit worship services or those who have been baptized (Hidajat, 2010).In other words, the size of a church's growth cannot be limited to the size of the congregation in a church, even though it is one of the benchmarks, but it can be seen from another point of view that is no less important.Church growth confirms its existence under any conditions and circumstances.But the existence of the Church is also closely related to the services that God's congregations offer to others to fulfill the Great Commission of Christ.However, it is found these days that many churches are opened not because of the encouragement of the Holy Spirit but because of large economic or financial capital, which is considered sufficient for the continuation of ceremonial activities or activities in them.Not because of God's will, but because of the ambition of certain individuals who want to be the Church's pastor.Also found are churches that were opened to generate profits and financial benefits, like companies where there is a profit and loss calculation.(AT, 2022) the Churches are managed like a family business, where the pattern of leadership is passed down from the shepherd to his children even though it takes the relay.Neither have the qualifications nor the ability to carry out these pastoral responsibilities, thus negatively impacting the ministry and growth of the Church.
Manullang said that there were difficulties in the growth and development of churches during the pandemic because church activities and services were increasingly restricted due to compliance with government regulations on the one hand, but also because God's servants also experienced fear (Manullang, 2021).Luhut Sinaga believes that believers have been sealed by the Holy Spirit and led by Him so that their lives show the fruit of the Holy Spirit.But in fact, most have lost their joy and enthusiasm in serving due to a lack of intimacy with the Holy Spirit, so they also lose their Faith and Wisdom in Him (Sinaga, 2021).According to Ngabalin, the Church, in its obedience to Jesus as the Head of the Church, through the Holy Spirit, can contribute to strengthening the faith of God's people so that in carrying out their ministry, they are diligent and steadfast because the focus of their faith and wisdom is on Jesus (Ngabalin, 2019).Subekti believes that the problem with the Church today is expansionary growth, which tends to be slow because the Church has focused on internal services in church buildings and neglected the task of publishing harvesters sent to reach out to the nations (Subekti, 2019).According to Gideon, the spiritual sluggishness found in the Church today is the result of the rejection of the work and role of the Holy Spirit in the Church, while it is the Holy Spirit who has a role in living and moving the growth of the Church from time to time (Gidion, 2020).
The Holy Spirit is the foundation of the Church.Therefore, from time to time in the existence, ministry, and growth of the Church and without His role, the Church will experience difficulties, and it is impossible to survive because maintaining the existence of the Church cannot be achieved by limited human strength.So, according to Gunawan, all who have responded to God's call must carry out their duties as a believer's responsibility with full loyalty until the Lord's return (Gunawan, 2017).So, the Holy Spirit is the main need of the Church as the Body of Christ because the Church is born, still exists and serves, and grows through its work.Hence, it is not an option for its existence and growth in any service.Therefore, the Church must involve and rely on the Holy Spirit as the Leader and True Helper.Therefore, based on the background that has been described before, the author aims to analyze the role of the Holy Spirit in the existence, ministry, and growth of the Church.

METHOD
The approach used is a descriptive qualitative method that is connected with the experience of the early Church with literature studies by producing writings and speech, and behavior in certain contexts with a holistic and comprehensive study (H., 2020) by collecting data through various journals, books related to the topic studied, also through interviews.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Study of the Bible Text on the Role of the Holy Spirit in Existence, Ministry, and Church Growth Day of Pentecost or the day of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is a historic moment for God's Church because the descent of the Holy Spirit according to the Father's promise to the disciples of Christ is not only to fulfill and confirm their status as followers Christ but also gives them supernatural powers intending to maximize their ministry to expand the Kingdom of God according to the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.Jesus in Acts 1:4 forbade His disciples to leave Jerusalem until they were filled with the Holy Spirit, whereas, in the Gospels, He commanded and sent them to preach the good news of the kingdom of .
The reason is that they, as the body of Christ, need equipment from the Highest to exist in the calling and execution of the divine agenda (Luke 24:49).Previously, Jesus repeatedly told His disciples about the importance of the presence and role of the Spirit as a Helper who would accompany the Church from time to time (John 14:16) and give her the power or ability to witness Christ to this world (Acts 14:16).1:8).In ministry, the role of the Holy Spirit is also very visible; as one example of Peter, who was a coward and denied Jesus three times, by the power of the Holy Spirit was able to preach effectively and in the new anointing in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost so that many people gave themselves to be baptized (Acts 2:14-40), he also with John healed a man who was lame from birth at the gate of the temple (Acts 3:1-10); thus, the role of the Holy Spirit was seen from the quality and effectiveness of the ministry that the Apostles began to show.
In connection with the growth as an angel of the Church as an organism and organization that represents the Kingdom of God on earth, by the role of the Holy Spirit every day, the number of people who are won for Christ increases, and their quality of life becomes more and more like Christ by living side by side in unity and concern for one another.others (Acts 2:41-47; 4:32-37; Acts 6:7).It gives a clear picture of the growth of the Church, which is not limited to growth in quantity only but also growth in quality according to the will of God and which is done by the Holy Spirit, who is also the Spirit of Christ in the Church and through the Church for the fulfillment of divine purposes.Empowering pastors and ministries to serve the congregation with the aim of the growing and rooting in faith in Chris N10 Perfecting the ministry of the Church so that the Church grows in all things To the question interviews that were held on Saturday, February 19, 2022, located at Taman Palem Lestari, West Jakarta, the result is it can be summarized the results of the answers that have been obtained Based on table 1 above; it is as follows: First, through His role, the Spirit of God equips and prepares believers in the context of carrying out ministry duties.Second, through His role, the Spirit of God in cooperating with believers produces church growth in all aspects.A. Through His role, the Spirit of God equips and prepares believers in the context of carrying out ministry duties.A pioneer is defined as a person who initiates or does something until he is seen as a pioneer.The Holy Spirit, in His essence, can be said to be the Pioneer of the Christian movement, which is a fellowship of those who have believed in Christ and lived to fulfill the heavenly calling.Because, before gathering and fellowshipping as a church or the Body of Christ, faith in Christ is needed first.
When viewed from the perspective of salvation based on faith in Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit plays a role in bringing people to be part of a new life journey with God to enable them to enjoy the fruits of Christ's work on the cross. 1 Corinthians 12:3 asserts that it is through the Holy Spirit that one can believe in Christ as Lord, and without He, no one can acknowledge Jesus as Lord.So in the same direction, Edy Syahputra stated that the Holy Spirit gives the possibility for everyone to have faith early so that in that Spirit, they gain a true understanding of what they believe in because it indicates that they need the Holy Spirit to be able to believe (Sihombing, 2019).Arifianto and Sumiwi also agree that the role of the Holy Spirit, based on the 13th verse of John 16, is to guide people in the truth (Yonatan Arifianto Alex, 2020), in the sense of faith in Him who is Right and justifies those who are not.
The same thing can be observed in the incident on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came down and filled the disciples who were gathered together in anticipation of the promise that had been delivered by Christ before His rapture so that there was an uproar in a city where there were residents of various nations so that a large number of people gave themselves to be baptized and declared their faith in Christ (Acts 2:1-41).Of course, this was neither designed nor prepared by man but by God Himself because Christ had told His disciples to stay in Jerusalem to receive the Holy Spirit, which would initiate a mighty movement through God's people or God's Church.It was not suddenly or by chance, but it was prepared and planned from the beginning by God (Acts 1:4-5).Thus humans become instruments used to participate in the pioneering work of the Holy Spirit.So actually, it was not Peter and the other Apostles who took the initiative to start church planting, but Jesus.He first said His Church would be built on a solid rock foundation and handed over the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven to Him .So, it is the presence of God in the Holy Spirit that makes the congregation a church.(Manalu, 2020).
Based on the fact that being part of God's Church so that it belongs to Him and His body begins with faith in Christ, it shows how important the role of the Holy Spirit is in achieving the salvation of those who take part in His Church because God's Church begins with those who have been saved.Therefore, Joel Benjamin said that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee and seals those who are saved from becoming part of eternal heavenly life (Benjamin, 2020).And eternal life begins with salvation through faith in Christ because God's Church begins with faith and knowledge.About God and Christ according to John 17:3, and that is the work of the Holy Spirit so that it can be said that the role of the Holy Spirit as the Pioneer of the Church is evident, as Kasper said and quoted by Edy Syaputra that the Holy Spirit functions as a unifying and Forming Church in the outpouring of the Spirit.So holy at the moment of Pentecost, He made all believers one, not in differences (Kasper, 2004).Sumiwi said the same thing by saying that the new birth as a condition for entering the Kingdom of God is the work and work of the Holy Spirit that occurs at the beginning of their life belief (Endang, 2018).
By being filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, there was a clear and tangible difference in the existence of the fellowship of Christ's followers compared to before that special event took place in Jerusalem.in line with what was conveyed by arguing that in the passage of Acts 2:41-47 specifically, every event needs to be seen as the work of God pouring out the Holy Spirit so that through Peter's preaching the early Church was born, the role of the Holy Spirit seems so prominent that it becomes an inseparable part of the birth of a divine organism called the Church.

B. The Holy Spirit empowers ministers to carry out church ministry duties
The Holy Spirit is not just a church planter but continues to participate in the implementation of the ministry of the Church; he leads by deceiving those chosen and appointed by God to serve.This is in line with the opinion of resource persons N2, N4, N7, and N9, which stated that the role of the Holy Spirit is to empower and empower church services, anoint and equip believers in the implementation of services, equip believers to maximize church services, empower pastors and ministries to serve congregations with their purpose to grow and take root in faith in Christ.Andante et al. conveyed that service in Christianity cannot be done without the Holy Spirit and His gifts because true Christian service always involves the Bible, the word of God, and the Holy Spirit (Andiane, Gregory Suwito, 2020).
Jesus made it clear that when His disciples received the Holy Spirit, they would be equipped with powers that would enable them to carry out their ministry duties as His witnesses to the fullest wherever they were, from Jerusalem to all over.Earth (Acts 1:8).The gifts of the Holy Spirit: namely the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, miracles, tongues, prophecy, interpreting tongues, discerning spirits, and healing which are distributed to every believer according to His will to give capacity and competence to maintain the body of Christ and responding to the various needs that are part of the Church's calling (1 Cor.12:7-11).In particular, verse 11 emphasizes that all these gifts are the work of the Holy Spirit which He works through the Church according to the divine plan and will.Also, the Holy Spirit, in the context of carrying out church services, bestows the gift of prophesying, serving, teaching, and exhorting (Rom.12:7-8).All of this is intended so that believers can practice selfless love for others.
Gideon said that one of the ways the Holy Spirit deceives the Church is by bringing light to the minds of those who have believed so that they understand the teachings of Jesus that have been taught previously (Gidion, 2017).The Holy Spirit is not only a Helper and Comforter for the Church but also a teacher who equips God's congregation with a true and healthy knowledge of what is the will of God that liberates by teaching not some truths but still bringing them into all the truths that become light for every step they are in the service of God (John 16:13).The Holy Spirit made decisions with the Apostles regarding doctrinal issues in the Church (Acts 15:28-29).He appointed overseers in the interests of shepherding the Church (Acts 20:28) and empowered the Apostles to carry out missionary tasks through evangelism (1 Thess.1:5), as was the case with Peter.After the experience on the day of Pentecost, the latter was filled with courage so that he blazed in proclaiming the Good News, thus succeeding in producing the fruit of souls for the Kingdom of God.
He is the Source of prophecy (2 Pet.1:21); even the Spirit helps believers pray according to God's will .The Holy Spirit also gave courage and fortitude to the Apostles in enduring the sufferings they had to endure, as was the case with Paul and the Apostles.They eventually died as martyrs for the glory of God.The Spirit scheduled and determined the steps of the Apostles' ministry and prevented ministry agendas that were not following God's plan (Acts 13:4;.He also transforms believers as new creations over time into Christlikeness.So, Sumiwi said that the work of the Holy Spirit in the Church could be seen from the fruit of the Spirit that reveals the character of Christ because it is impossible for sinners to show the character of Christ without the role of the Holy Spirit (Endang, 2018).
The Holy Spirit empowers the congregation as a church in all aspects to maintain the existence of the Church, as well as maximize church servants with the aim of maximizing the services carried out by the Church to achieve a noble heavenly agenda.So, it would be a fatal mistake if, in church services, the congregation ignores the role of the Holy Spirit and tries to rely on their strength and human wisdom, which is limited and futile.Because the Holy Spirit is the power and Source of any ministry practiced by the Church.The implementation of the preaching of the gospel is a personal ministry of the work of the Holy Spirit, so any ministry carried out by Christ's followers is carried out well because of the intervention of the Holy Spirit in it.The Holy Spirit drives the growth of the Church in all things.C. Through His role, the Spirit of God in cooperating with believers produces church growth in all aspects.
In the early Church, church growth was not an accident but gradual and under the control and leadership of the Holy Spirit.After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on believers on the day of Pentecost, a revival movement began so that through Peter's sermon, three thousand souls were won for Christ (Acts 2:41), growing to 5000 people because of the preaching of the gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit who accompanied him even in threats.Stifling (Acts 4:4).Manalu said that without the Holy Spirit present, church growth could not occur (Manalu, 2020).Rocky et al.State the same thing that the growth of the Church is the work of God through the Holy Spirit, where the Church is engaged in evangelism in all ethnic groups in the world (Pangumbahas et al., 2021).
Church growth is not enough to be oriented only to the needs of the internal ministry because it is the Church that has the responsibility to make the nation's disciples of Jesus so that church growth both in quantity and quality becomes a norm, so it must occur.Thus the early Church experienced rapid growth in all its aspects.Because in any religious belief, the results achieved spiritually are very important; as said by (Dayanti, 2021) that in Buddhist rituals, fruits symbolize the fruit of spiritual attainment that leads a person to the final fruit, namely perfect enlightenment, which is the ultimate goal of all Buddhists.This experience is under what was conveyed by the speakers N3, N6, N8, N9, and N10, which stated that the Holy Spirit pioneered and also took part in the ministry of the Church, but also ensured its growth, led the Church in the growth of the quality of faith, stimulated growth through the harvest of souls.Souls, empowering pastors and ministries to serve the congregation to grow and root in faith in Christ and perfecting the ministry of the Church so that the Church grows in all things.Regarding the Kalam Kudus Christian Church in Surakarta in terms of growth, Timothy Haryono et al. obtained the result that the role of the Holy Spirit is to bestow the number of congregations (Timothy Haryono, 2017).
In the Leading of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles grew in quality where real acts of love were found in their midst, through fellowship, teaching, prayer, the breaking of bread, and care that came from a heart that longed to contribute and take part in the suffering of others, by even selling their possessions.Private property is to be distributed for the common good, where God's name is glorified and praised (Acts 2:41-47).Even further, Church grew by opening congregations in various regions and cities, such as in Philippi, Ephesus, Thessalonica, Galatia, Berea, Antioch, Corinth, Rome, and various other areas.In the ChurchThe Holy Spirit continued to ignite the Pentecostal fire.He had found it so that the growth of the Church could not be stopped by anything and anyone, including the threat of rulers and suffering.It is proven that until now, church growth continues to occur so that in all corners of the earth, there are congregations of God initiated by the Holy Spirit so that the news of salvation in Christ Jesus, according to the Great Commission's command, continues to be heard through the presence and ministry of the Church which is getting more mature as the bride of Christ in anticipation of his second coming.(Manalu, 2020) stated that because of the help and role of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles and followers of Christ continued to preach the gospel with courage so that the growth of the Church contained in the Acts of the Apostles continued even during the persecution they experienced.

CONCLUSION
Based on the discussion that has been elaborated, it can be concluded that the, In conclusion, the relationship between the role of God's Spirit and church growth is to equip and prepare believers to carry out their ministry duties according to their calling and to work with them to produce church growth according to God's plan.Therefore, the growth of the Church cannot be separated from the role of the Spirit of God, who works to realize the divine plan by taking part in the implementation of every Church service by empowering every minister with His gifts and His power.