What Will We Build?

 

     In Matthew 16 Jesus asked his disciples who they thought he was.  Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Jesus responded, “…you are Peter,” (in Greek this means rock), “and on this rock I will build my church.”  Exactly what Jesus meant by “this rock” has been a subject of much debate.  Two things are clear.  Jesus is very interested in building His church.  He was not thinking of building buildings.  He wanted to see the number of believers grow and each of the believers grow in their faith.  Part of what it means to be a Christian is to help build the church.  In Paul’s discussion of spiritual gifts in the fourth chapter of Ephesians he says that the role of pastors and teachers is “to prepare God’s people for works of service, so the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.  (Eph. 4:12-13)

     I am not much interested in building buildings.  It takes

a lot of time and money.  I am interested in building up

people, helping them find a relationship with Jesus and

then growing in their faith.  I want to see the church grow

in number and in spiritual maturity.

     What I have found is that sometimes, in order to build

 people, you have to build buildings.  Our last addition is a great illustration of that.  It was a very positive experience for us.  Most of the congregation participated in the planning, actual construction, and paying for the addition.  It was a unifying experience as we all worked together on a common goal.  We saw God’s blessing and provision as, thanks in part to money willed to the church, the addition was paid for a year after it was finished.  We also saw an increase in programs and ministries.  We wonder how we ever managed without the All purpose room, we do so many things there now.  Many community groups now use our building, giving us a positive image.  The additional rooms allow us to offer many more courses, classes and programs that help us build up people.  Since we finished the addition, our attendance has grown by 50%.

     The building prior to the addition was hindering our growth, numerically and spiritually.  We are at that place again.  There is no room to expand program or ministries that will help people grow.  Jesus is still building His church.  If we want to follow Him, we need to continue building ours.  Please pray for God’s guidance as we seek to keep growing.