Wednesday
Feb012012
The Builder
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 2:02AM
Over the last few years I have been part of building the church. That term at times has been both literal and figurative as a pastor.
Three years ago I began walking my former church, Grace Church, through the process of literally building out a building. During that time we saw our selves move from an old run down school building into a great 24,000 sq ft space. At the same time we were building the church itself as the numbers of people grew. We saw our numbers grow from 130 people to 600 people. We were building a church, and for two years it seemed good. But there was something missing.....
Although most would have looked at this as a success, I felt strongly that there was something wrong. Yes, we saw a few people get saved and had some amazing life change stories. But, there was still something absent. About 18 months ago I began to pray that God would reveal that missing element, the thing that seemed to be wrong. He did......You know what it was.....The missing element was Jesus!
Sounds shocking that I would say that as a pastor. The truth is, for two years I worked very hard in my own talent, strength, stubbornness and energy to build the church. I poured my life into that church. In return, I had a group of leaders who were doing the same. We often overlook this truth, "As goes the leader, so goes the church". Not everything in that two years was bad, in fact some of it was good. But, not much in that two years was GREAT and it could have been.
When God revealed that truth to my heart things began to change. I found myself spending more time seeking God, chasing His call and following Him. I had to become far more reliant on His strength and power. Over the following year we saw over 350 people meet Jesus. We saw radical life change. And, we saw God build a solid foundation for our church. It was amazing.
Pastors.....Make sure you understand something....YOU CANNOT BUILD GOD'S CHURCH! If you and I are the builders, it will never ben anything great. But, if we let God build His church, and we humbly follow, GREAT things will happen. Consider this...
If God doesn't build the house, the builders only build shacks. Psalm 127:1
Three years ago I began walking my former church, Grace Church, through the process of literally building out a building. During that time we saw our selves move from an old run down school building into a great 24,000 sq ft space. At the same time we were building the church itself as the numbers of people grew. We saw our numbers grow from 130 people to 600 people. We were building a church, and for two years it seemed good. But there was something missing.....
Although most would have looked at this as a success, I felt strongly that there was something wrong. Yes, we saw a few people get saved and had some amazing life change stories. But, there was still something absent. About 18 months ago I began to pray that God would reveal that missing element, the thing that seemed to be wrong. He did......You know what it was.....The missing element was Jesus!
Sounds shocking that I would say that as a pastor. The truth is, for two years I worked very hard in my own talent, strength, stubbornness and energy to build the church. I poured my life into that church. In return, I had a group of leaders who were doing the same. We often overlook this truth, "As goes the leader, so goes the church". Not everything in that two years was bad, in fact some of it was good. But, not much in that two years was GREAT and it could have been.
When God revealed that truth to my heart things began to change. I found myself spending more time seeking God, chasing His call and following Him. I had to become far more reliant on His strength and power. Over the following year we saw over 350 people meet Jesus. We saw radical life change. And, we saw God build a solid foundation for our church. It was amazing.
Pastors.....Make sure you understand something....YOU CANNOT BUILD GOD'S CHURCH! If you and I are the builders, it will never ben anything great. But, if we let God build His church, and we humbly follow, GREAT things will happen. Consider this...
If God doesn't build the house, the builders only build shacks. Psalm 127:1
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