31 Mar Christ Who Builds What?

As a young pastor in Mt Morgan struggling for converts I receive wise advise from a traveling evangelist. He told me “it is God who builds the church,” and advised me to pray for God to take His place as builder.

I began praying daily the prayer that “God would build His Church, and the gates of Hell would not prevail.” An astounding thing happened that year – the church grew by 400%, and the amazement was compounded by the fact that prayer was my only evangelism strategy that year.

That was a great lesson for me, but it was within a context of what I understood the “church” to be.

However what was Christ really thinking when he said those words recorded in Matt 16:18? Did he think His Church was a local congregation, or something else?

The Holy Spirit is actively working in the world today to build Jesus’ Church, and we are called to participate with Him in doing so. Join me in praying that prayer I originally prayed as a young pastor, but with new meaning.

God is up to something – let’s be up to it with Him.