Monday, January 10, 2021

Listen to the Word
“…on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16:18)

In this week’s Scripture, Jesus has important things to say about his unstoppable church. The first thing he makes clear is that it is HIS. “MY church,” Jesus calls it. The church doesn’t belong to a denomination. It isn’t the property of a pastor or pope. It is not owned by the long time members or the big financial contributors. Jesus says it is his.

Could the simple realization that the church is his change our approach to church? It ought to change our focus – we should be obsessed with him, refusing to get sidetracked into other petty pursuits. Realizing that the church is his should also change our decision making – what the pastor wants, or what certain groups want, or what the majority of the members want – these things aren’t really that relevant. The key question to answer is what does Jesus want? If we see the church as his, we will also have a different view of the church’s potential. After all, he’s the one who came strolling out of his own tomb. When he says he’s going to build his church, I think we can take it for granted that he has all the power necessary for that task!

Live the Word
Pray that the church that you attend will be more and more fully his – that everything will be the way Jesus wants him to be. Resist the urge to tell him how he should want it to be.