HELL PROOF MY HOME | Week 3, Pt.6

Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because My Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build My church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.  (Mat 16:16-18)

This passage is packed with so much meaning for us today.  Jesus says,

“I will build my church…” – Jesus Builds the church because the Church belongs to Jesus. Jesus is the Senior Pastor of this church; we will follow Him and do His will!

MY JOB AS THE PASTOR, IS TO LISTEN TO JESUS AND THEN LEAD HIS CHURCH ACCORDINGLY – ACCORDING TO HIS WORD!  There are always going to be a lot of opinions on how to best DO CHURCH and BE THE CHURCH, but ultimately I am committed to listening to Jesus and then doing exactly what He says, no matter how painful, how humiliating, how foolish it might sound to onlookers, or how unpopular it makes me.  Ultimately, when Jesus builds the church, THE CHURCH IS UNSTOPPABLE.  That is the kind of church we want to be a part of here at The Dialogue Church – an UNSTOPPABLE FORCE.

Knowing that Jesus is the Great Shepherd, or the Senior Pastor of the Church should cause each and every one of us to grow in our respect, loyalty, love, and honor towards the Church.  Here are a couple of thoughts on that:

• If you like to go for long walks by yourself, climb trees, build forts, and use a walking stick for no reason at all and that is your time with God – GREAT.  Sometimes I hear people say, WELL, I JUST LIKE TO WORSHIP GOD ALL BY MYSELF.  Maybe you can worship God all by yourself, BUT YOU CAN’T BE THE BODY OF CHRIST ALL BY YOURSELF, YOU CAN’T ENGAGE THE MISSION OF GOD ALL BY YOURSELF.  So, while you are walking around in the woods all by yourself, there is a lost world dying and going to hell and you can’t hear the Words of Jesus telling you to GO INTO ALL THE WORLD AND PREACH THE GOSPELBECAUSE YOU ARE CHOOSING TO BE ALL BY YOURSELF:-)
• Don’t be fooled, you can’t worship God and fail to witness.  To receive God’s love and then not reflect His love would be a shame.  Our witness and our worship go hand in hand.
• Our wealth and our worship go hand in hand.  You can either worship your wealth or worship God with your wealth.
• If you have given up on church because you’ve been hurt – I’M SORRY, REALLY I AM SORRY.  I have been hurt too, so I know what it feels like.  BUT I HAVE ALSO HURT OTHERS & I AM SURE YOU HAVE TOO.  Don’t throw away what Jesus gave His life for and what you are called to give your life to because someone acted like a sinner and sinned against you.  Jesus has forgiven them, maybe you can too.  In fact, that is called spiritual growth:-)  Its when we get hurt, turn the other cheek and start to forgive that the Holy Spirit of God begins to change us from the inside out.
• Some people say they don’t like church because there are HYPOCRITES IN THE CHURCH.  Well, yeah, Jesus called them SINNERS AND HE DIED FOR THEM ALL.  Thank God there are hypocrites allowed in the church or ELSE NONE OF US COULD BELONG TO ONE.  All of us have said one thing and then turned around and did something completely contrary; that’s called hypocrisy.  And no, God doesn’t like it, but that’s what He sent His Son to die on the cross for – sinners.  To say, “I love Jesus but I don’t love the church is hypocritical”.  OUCH!!

WHEN YOU HONOR UP, YOU HONOR ALL THE WAY UP. WHEN YOU HONOR YOUR PASTOR YOU HONOR THE GREAT SHEPHERD, JESUS CHRIST. WHEN YOU HONOR THE CHURCH YOU HONOR HER GROOM, JESUS CHRIST.  WHEN YOU HONOR ONE ANOTHER IN THE BODY, YOU HONOR THE HEAD, JESUS CHRIST.  SOME OF YOU DON’T HAVE A PASTOR, BECAUSE YOU AREN’T A PART OF A CHURCH, YOU HAVEN’T COMMITED TO A MISSION AND A VISION. YOU ARE JUST SHOPPING, AND YOU WILL KEEP SHOPPING UNTIL ITS TOO LATE and don’t be fooled, our kids already see what’s really in our hearts – they can’t be fooled!