A Church Jesus Wants to Be In, Pt.1

Now I say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it. (Mat 16:18 NLT)

I love this piece of teaching from Jesus. The part I want to highlight is “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH”.

Number one: Jesus will build HIS Church
The Church belongs to Jesus, He purchased her with His own blood (Acts 20:28). Jesus is the Senior Pastor of The Dialogue Church and I get to be His under-shepherd.

The Church belongs to Jesus; the Church does not belong to the government, so how could the “laws of the land” keep the church from growing (they couldn’t in the 1st century even when they were persecuting Christ-followers; the early followers of Jesus just spread the gospel all the more during their persecution and consequently the church grew all the more). Some people fear “hate speech” laws being implemented because it seems as if preachers would go to prison for preaching what the bible has to say about certain topics. Even though our “freedom of speech” rights be violated by our own government it CAN’T STOP THE GOSPEL AND THE CHURCH OF JESUS FROM DOING WHAT GOD HAS CALLED HER TO DO. Although, I will vote for “laws” that help protect our freedom of speech (by the way – this includes allowing people to speak freely against the gospel too), it is not the laws of the land that make the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST UNSTOPPABLE. JESUS MAKES THE CHURCH UNSTOPPABLE. I am praying that Jesus will do the UNSTOPPABLE here in our city and through our church (and network of churches). Honestly, without persecution how do we know when the church is being unstoppable? The government can not contain the work of Jesus, no matter how “anti-human” the laws may be. So, stop fearing and start trusting in the unstoppable Jesus!

The Church does not belong to ME. There is no human personality big enough or strong enough to contain the entire work of Jesus Christ. There is no single human personality (or preacher) so important that Jesus can’t go on without him or her. This doesn’t mean that the role of pastor and preacher isn’t important (it is vitally important – the Holy Spirit appoints pastors for a reason – to lead and feed the flock of God). But when a preacher fails morally or gives up on the mission of the cross; the Church of Jesus still goes on. A black eye may be delivered (and I hate it when a preacher fails) but the church belongs to Jesus, and since He never fails, the church will conquer, the church will win in the end. No preacher (or person for that matter) is irreplaceable.