I want to talk to you now about JESUS the CHURCH BUILDER.
I will explain what church is all about ACCORDING to JESUS HIMSELF.
I’ll begin with why I called this Jesus the Church Builder. If you have read my previous discussion about Jesus the Person (above), then you have a good foundation for what I’m about to say. I recommend reading that first if you haven’t.
Church is JESUS’ IDEA. NOT MAN’S. Jesus in the bible said these exact words “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH”. It’s HIS idea, HIS church, and HE is building it.
How do you know which church is the right one? It’s really straight forward. It’s the one HE attends.
As I said in Jesus the Person (above) and in Pastor’s Testimony, I went to church (several churches actually) for a few years when I was younger and Jesus NEVER attended any of them! They all sang, they all had preachers that talked ABOUT the bible, but Jesus was NEVER there.
I know this sounds elitist but the TRUTH is either Jesus is real and you can know WHEN He is PRESENT or the whole thing is POINTLESS. If you can know when He IS present, then you can know when He’s NOT.
So now I will go into a little more detail.
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Jesus said HE is BUILDING HIS church. That means a church will be the way Jesus says.
He has given very GRAPHIC INSTRUCTIONS in the bible as to how He will build His church. It’s in a book of the bible called THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES.
This book begins with Jesus telling His followers WHERE to go and WHAT to do. He told them to GO to Jerusalem and WAIT for the HOLY SPIRIT to come. It then describes in detail EXACTLY how the Holy Spirit worked in those early followers.
The SAME THING is still true today. JESUS is BUILDING HIS CHURCH through the work of The HOLY SPIRIT in the hearts of TRUE followers JUST LIKE He did in the bible.
The Holy Spirit is probably the least understood part of GOD. THAT IS DISASTROUS since Jesus is working through HIM to build His church.
So we need to talk a little more about the Holy Spirit to UNDERSTAND this crucial truth. It’s really NOT complicated… unless you want to MAKE UP your own religion.
Actually, that is the answer to a question I get asked often; “Why there are so many denominations of Christianity?” There are as many denominations as there are people who want to make their own Jesus. I go through this more in Jesus and The Bible (below).
But for now, let’s talk about the Holy Spirit.
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The Holy Spirit is the THIRD PERSON of the Trinity of God. Don’t let that CONFUSE you.
You are body, soul and spirit, THREE in ONE. So is God. The only difference is God’s 3 parts function independently. That may seem creepy but the more you think about the differences between how you act (your body) and how you think (your soul) it makes more sense. Have you ever thought how shocked people would be if they knew your thoughts? How different our body is from our soul!
God, The Holy Spirit, as I said earlier, is like Jesus in that The Holy Spirit is here to finish what Jesus began, by TEACHING how to be a follower of Jesus in the CONTEXT of a CHURCH COMMUNITY.
The church is not what the building looks like or even the order of events that happen in a church meeting, it is the INTERACTION between The Holy Spirit and those following Jesus, EMPOWERING them to live out and DEMONSTRATE to the world outside of the church what it means to follow Jesus.
So let’s talk about how this happens.
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The Holy Spirit GIFTS individuals to be teachers. It’s not by intelligence or time spent in church. This is important because it emphasizes that JESUS, not man, is BUILDING His CHURCH. We are not stronger than God and cannot override His desires. This gives those that follow Him confidence that God is IN CONTROL of His church AT ALL TIMES.
In light of that, if Jesus is building HIS church and the Holy Spirit is CHOOSING the teachers, it follows that Jesus will also DIRECT those who desire to follow Him to where HE wants them to be.
That is the foundation of our church. We know that GOD appoints and speaks through teachers, HE directs those who desire to follow Him into the church, Jesus ALWAYS attends services, and He is ALWAYS IN CONTROL. It’s in this environment called THE CHURCH where LIVES are CHANGED.
Are we perfect? NO. How can the church be perfect if humans are involved? BUT don’t let that bother you. JESUS is building HIS CHURCH. If something isn’t going right, the Holy Spirit will deal with it LIKE HE HAS for thousands of years.
NEVER forget… JESUS is building HIS Church!
EITHER Jesus is building His church and HE is IN CONTROL or this is just a weak fantasy held together by resourceful individuals. If the latter is true there is NO POINT TO CHURCH! But if the former is true, I’m in good hands… and so are you!
If you have any questions or just want to talk more about this, please go to the Contact Us page and call me or send me a message. I’ll be glad to help.
So that’s Jesus the Church Builder. I encourage you to continue on with the next section Jesus and The Bible (below).