May
20, 2025
Building the Church
General Superintendent
Max Edwards
“… on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” ~ Jesus Christ (Matt. 16:18)
Recorded by Matthew, Jesus made a clear declaration to His gathered followers … He said that He would build His church!
That is such great news, especially to those of us who know that humans cannot build it. Oh, we can build an organization alright, but we have absolutely no ability to build a spiritually alive and life-giving organism. Only the miracle worker, working in us by the power of the Holy Spirit, can do that.
Now, that doesn’t mean that we have nothing to do. We certainly do! We are to do the things that the Spirit uses as building blocks to build the beautiful Body of Christ:
Be people of unity
Model and teach the virtues of Christ himself …
Love broken people and work to meet basic needs holistically in the name of Christ …
Worship God with genuine and expressive hearts
Fellowship with other believers in order to encourage and bless them
Share the Gospel with neighbors who are both like us, and those NOT like us …
Participate in some form of global evangelism through intentional outreach efforts …
These are the very things the early church did, as we read in Acts 2:42-47:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
Building the church isn’t “rocket science.” No, my friends, it’s way harder than that. It is impossible! But just as it was when Jesus fed 5,000 folks on the Galilean hillside so many years ago, the part we disciples play in the miracle is not at all complicated. In simple steps of obedience, we participate in the miracle, all the while watching the Master take ordinary actions and folding them into extraordinary things.