Build on the Promises of God
Building Blocks for God’s People – Part 1
Is Jesus Still Building His Church?
In a world that often seems to be spiraling into chaos, it’s easy to wonder: Is Jesus still building His church? With declining morals, political turmoil, and increasing hostility toward Christianity, we may feel discouraged about the future. But as Pastor Stalnaker reminded us in his recent sermon, we need to lift our eyes above the chaos and remember who is truly in control.
Jesus declared in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” This wasn’t just an empty promise – it was a rock-solid guarantee from the King of Kings. And as we see in the book of Acts, Jesus began fulfilling that promise in powerful ways from the very beginning of the church.
Building Through Broken People
One of the most encouraging aspects of how Jesus builds His church is that He uses broken, imperfect people to accomplish His purposes. As Pastor Stalnaker pointed out, “God can use you anyway by His grace.” He highlighted how the book of Acts was written by Luke, “the only Gentile who wrote a New Testament book.” Luke was an outsider, yet God used him in a mighty way.
The pastor also reminded us of Peter, who often “failed miserably” yet became a pillar of the early church. And of course, there’s Paul, who called himself the “chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). Pastor Stalnaker candidly shared:
“I’ve made a lot of wrong choices. I’ve been like Peter on many occasions and I failed like Peter on many occasions.”
Yet God used Paul, Peter, and countless other flawed individuals to spread the gospel and establish churches throughout the known world. This should give us great hope! No matter what’s in our past or how we’ve failed, Jesus can still use us to build His church if we surrender to Him.
Changing Lives Through the Gospel
Another key way Jesus builds His church is by radically transforming lives through the power of the gospel. Pastor Stalnaker walked us through example after example from Acts of how the message of Christ changed people:
- 3,000 saved at Pentecost (Acts 2)
- 5,000 more shortly after (Acts 4)
- The Samaritans, who were “despised by the Jews” (Acts 8)
- The Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8)
- Saul/Paul the persecutor (Acts 9)
- Cornelius and his household (Acts 10)
- Lydia and her household (Acts 16)
- The Philippian jailer (Acts 16)
The pastor emphasized that many of these were “religious people without Christ.” Their lives were transformed not by more religion, but by encountering the living Savior. As he reminded us, “There is more mercy in Christ than sin in us.”
This is a powerful encouragement that Jesus is still in the business of changing lives today. No one is beyond the reach of God’s grace!
Building Despite Opposition
A third way we see Jesus building His church in Acts is that He does so in spite of intense opposition, both from outside and even from within the church. Pastor Stalnaker noted how persecution actually helped spread the gospel:
“God used the persecution to get God’s people to go and do things that He wanted them to do. He used persecution to get God’s people where He wanted them to be.”
We see this in Acts 8:1, where it says believers were “scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria” because of persecution. This aligned perfectly with Jesus’ command in Acts 1:8 to be His witnesses in “Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The pastor also pointed out how Jesus builds His church despite the “opposition and stupidity” from within – things like hypocrisy (Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5), prejudice against Gentiles (Acts 10), and conflict between leaders (Paul and Barnabas in Acts 15).
This reminds us that Jesus’ work of building His church isn’t dependent on perfect circumstances or perfect people. He is greater than any opposition or internal problems we face.
Called to Live on Mission
Finally, Pastor Stalnaker emphasized that Jesus calls each of us to join Him in His work of building the church by living on mission. He outlined several aspects of this:
- Obeying God’s will for our lives, just as Paul and Barnabas were set apart for their work (Acts 13:2).
- Navigating difficulties, as Paul did through beatings, imprisonment, and other trials (2 Corinthians 11:23-28).
- Forming godly relationships, like Paul did even while in prison (Acts 28:30).
- Trusting in God’s promises, such as His presence, protection, and provision (Acts 18:9-10).
The pastor used the analogy of a portrait made of dice, where each individual die contributes to the overall picture. In the same way, “God has called us not as dice but as body parts and we fit together as a body and Christ is the head.”
Putting It Into Practice
So how can we live on mission and participate in Jesus’ work of building His church? Here are some practical steps:
- Remember that Jesus wins in the end. Don’t let discouragement about current events shake your faith.
- Believe that God can use you despite your past failures or current weaknesses.
- Look for opportunities to share the life-changing message of the gospel.
- Stand firm in the face of opposition, trusting that God can use even difficulties for His purposes.
- Invest in godly relationships within your local church.
- Seek God’s specific will for your life and be willing to obey, even if it means adjusting your lifestyle.
- Cling to God’s promises when facing challenges.
As we do these things, we can have confidence that we’re part of something much bigger than ourselves. Jesus is still building His church, and He invites us to be part of that incredible work. Let’s join Him on mission, for His glory!
Build by Serving Others
Praise in Spite of Pain
Build on Prayer Acts
The Power of Giving
With Glad and Generous Hearts
Build on the Power of God
We hope you enjoyed the sermon and would love to see you in person. Plan your visit to Community Baptist Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee today!