Daniel chapter 2 records the mind of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, fully im- mersed in a dream which when completed keeps him wide awake for the rest of the night. What he saw was an awesome statue made from gold, silver, bronze, iron and clay, plus one small stone. The stone crushed the statue reducing it to dust which blew away leaving no trace, while the stone grew to mountain-size then filled the whole earth.

This picture was a demonstration of the frailty of powerful human kingdoms compared with the growing eternal nature of the kingdom which God was planning. When God‟s choice of king – Jesus – announced “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” and “I will build my church”, he gave pictures of a growing, flourishing kingdom, like a growing plant or a whole crop; it wasn‟t a static structure (Mark 4:3-33).

Finally, when the promise and prophecy became a reality and people were chal- lenged to accept the invitation into this kingdom – the church – the message about this overran Jerusalem (Acts 5:28). The response snowballed. Opposition and perse- cution simply resulted in it overflowing from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, Galilee and 400 km north to Antioch.

The church was embraced by Gentiles as well as Jews. It fulfilled Gamaliel‟s warning: “If it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them” (Acts 5:39). Within a genera- tion it had spread 1000 km to Greece then a further 1000km to Rome, the empire‟s capital. The church being built in this process was not a dead edifice of stone, but liv- ing bricks in a living house of God, in which God lives (Ephesians 2:19-22)!

How can we use this information in our lives, families and congregation? Here are some suggestions:

• Accept that we are a part of a church which grows;
• Acknowledge that each person, with God‟s help, can be involved in the grow- ing process;
• Resolve to discover and utilise the potential in each member of the congrega- tion;
• Act more lovingly, more maturely, more enthusiastically to grow personally and stimulate the growth of others – as is appropriate in a living family of God.