Acts - A Manual for Church Growth

"In its (Acts) twenty-eight chapters there are about thirty-seven references to the growth of the Church.  Indeed 'The Growing Church' would be a more suitable title than 'the Acts of the Apostles'.  Of the thirty-seven or so references, 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?, p19.

Acts 12:24 (NKJV)

²⁴ But the word of God grew and multiplied.