BUILDING

” He said to them, ” But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, ‘ You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ And Jesus answered him, ” Blessed are you Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock, I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” – Matt. 16:15-18

Each of us have a natural instinct to build.

Whether it be a child wanting to build a lego tower, fire house scene, kitchen scene, fantasy dream land, or even a fort on the couch. Maybe as a teenager it is building an identity or building friendships or building grades or building a foundation to drive or building knowledge for college. As an adult, we continue to want to build, whether it is a home, a family, a career, wealth, influence or maybe it is just building a tree house for your kids.

Building seems to be a natural process all throughout life. Building could be equated to work or learning or just getting older. There is something in the passage above that struck hard at a conference last week.

As Christians, we tend to fall into the same category of wanting to build things. We want to build our understanding of the Bible. We want to build our standing in the church. We want to build a place for us to call home.

The interesting part of building when it comes to church, is that it is not about you or me.

Building a church, is what Jesus said He would do.

The disciples are this point in their walk with Jesus, are maybe starting to grasp who it is they are walking with. We see in this passage in Matthew 16 that Simon Peter states it blankly and bluntly. Peter states, while they were standing in a place that was known as the gates of hell, it was a large rock opening that burned red due to sulfur under ground. But with boldness and clarity Peter claims that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God.

Jesus greets that answer with exclamation! Isn’t it interesting

There is another place where Jesus references building a space. In John 14, the beginning of the farewell Discourse that he is having with his disciples in the Upper Room, Jesus says this:

” Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare(build) a place for you?” – John 14:1-2

Not only is Jesus stating that here on Earth He is going to build HIS CHURCH, Jesus also states that He is building a room for anyone who believes.

As much as we try to control the areas that we can build in our every day lives, Jesus is working diligently behind the scenes building both the church and rooms in heaven.

Jesus will build HIS church. Not me.

Jesus will build HIS church. Not you.

Jesus will build HIS church. And the Gates of Hell shall never prevail.

Jesus will build a room…for you.

Jesus will build a room…for me.

Jesus will build a room…..for all to hear and accept the message of love and grace.

Jesus will….

Breath a deep breath knowing that not everything depends on you.