Christians are tempted to be like Sarai, who once said to Abram, “The LORD has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her” (Gen. 16:2). There is no shortage of the devices that men will use in their attempts to build numerically the household of God. Like Sarai’s strategy, these devices flow from a lack of faith, and they result in declension. The Son of God will build His church in His way; there is no other way.

“Building the Sermon” by Geoffrey Thomas in Pulpit Aflame, 159.