I WIll Build MY Church

Those are the very words of Jesus.  He said, “I will build my church.”  It is easy for us to forget that truth.  Christ is the head of the church.  We sometimes need to be reminded whose church it is—It’s Christ’s!  In our American church system, we sometimes label the church by the Pastor’s name.  “I attend Mark’s church” or “That is Tom’s church.”  That isn’t true at all.  It’s Christ’s church! 

As the church I pastor (New Life) prepares to launch a second campus in Surprise, I am reminded of this truth.  Although New Life will give birth through another expression of our church in the Surprise area, it’s still Christ’s church.  New Life is just a name that identifies a specific congregation of people.  We are reminded in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11:  “By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation, as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it.  But each one should be careful how he builds.  For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”  Christ is the head of this church!  He is the chief cornerstone from which the church is built and grows. 

We cannot do this without God, but He has decided to not to do it without us.  God uses people to accomplish His purposes.  His greatest purpose is The Great Commission—to reach people far from God with the message of His love and grace.  That’s why we do this.  That’s why we are investing in an extension campus that reaches beyond our limited geographical reach here in Peoria.  We will continue to service the needs in Peoria and Glendale but extend our service to the far edge of the west valley in Surprise. 

The Bible says, “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain.”  A church cannot be built by human effort alone.  The beauty of the church shines as a radiant testimony to a watching world when we truly join God in what he is doing.  Our motivation in expanding our ministry reach into the Surprise area is to work in cooperation with other churches to bring the presence of Jesus and let the light of Christ shine brightly throughout the west valley.  If we remind ourselves that we are just one church among other churches serving the needs of the community, God will be honored and the community will be better served.  Jesus said, “I will build my church.” Oh, may we not forget whose church it is and the foundation upon which we build. 

The church is the hope of the world.  Even with its flaws, it is God’s mechanism for shining light into the dark recesses of this world.  It’s through the church that the message of God’s love for mankind is expressed.  Let’s build something beautiful together by following God’s lead in building his church. 

Learn more at www.newlifeonline.com or follow Steve Lingenfelter on Twitter, @stevOLL.

From The Inside Out

We’ve all heard of the proverbial question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?  How about this one: Where does a person experience change first—from the inside or the outside?  People often talk about getting their life together so they can start going to church.  Actually, it is just the opposite.  The church is supposed to be a place where a person comes just the way they are and allows the work of God to begin to change them from the inside out.  I hear people all the time talk about trying to live the Christian life only to fail.  They got things backwards.  Through their own strength, they tried to become someone they aren’t. 

It’s through an encounter with God that Christ enters a person’s life and goes to work changing them from the inside.  The outer display of life comes later as a testimony to the inner workings of God.  The Bibles says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”  Did you catch that?  “Christ lives in me.”  You see, Christ did not come to help me change my life; he came to live his life through me!  Jesus did not come to solely get men out of hell and into heaven; he came to get himself out of heaven and into men. 

God always works from the inside out.  Jesus said, “I stand at the door and knock.”  The door he is referring to is the door of your heart.  He says, “If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.”  He’s talking about a relationship--the kind of relationship that changes a person from the inside out.  Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.  Why?  So that he could give his life to us.  Why do we need his life?  Because we are born into this world spiritually dead.  That just means that we are born into a physical world without a spiritual relationship with God.  Jesus is the answer to this problem.  He brings us to life through a spiritual rebirth.  This encounter with God changes our heart. 

The Bible tells us of how deep God’s love for us is and his power to change us from the inside out:  “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”  Being fully alive is what everyone wants to experience.  Don’t settle for changed external habits that you produce when you can have the life of Christ working within you.  God always works from the inside out and not from the outside in.       

Learn more at www.newlifeonline.com or follow Steve Lingenfelter on Twitter, @stevOLL.