Thursday | 27 August 2026

The word grew and multiplied

When a disciple-messenger was sent from the fellowship of the presbytery in Ephesus into a new region to look for worthy houses, it was as though a new bud had emerged from the calyx. When the disciple-messenger established a new group of worthy houses, it was as though the bud had produced a new flower on the branch. In this manner, the branches of the lampstand church in Ephesus grew from calyx to bud to flower.

It is likely that the one lampstand church in Ephesus contained many branches. Each branch would have included multiple congregations within a particular region or geographical area. The leaders from each branch of the lampstand, who belonged to the one presbytery in Ephesus, would have travelled regularly to fellowship with Paul. Furthermore, they would have travelled from congregation to congregation within their branch for the purpose of publicly proclaiming the word of God and discipling the worthy houses in each place.

During his public and house-to-house ministry in Ephesus, Paul evidently identified some men from worthy houses who had received ascension-gift grace from Christ. Paul was able to send those men as disciple-messengers into the regions beyond Ephesus to establish new lampstand churches. Having been sent from the right hand of Christ by Paul, each ascension-gift messenger became the first bud on the central branch of a new lampstand. For example, we know that the church in Colossae was started by a man named Epaphras. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul referred to Epaphras as ‘our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf’. Col 1:7. 

The book of Acts summarised the growth of lampstand churches from Paul’s ministry in Ephesus by saying that ‘this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks’. Act 19:10. The fruit of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus was seven lampstand churches in the region of Asia.