Jesus did not say we would build His church. He said He would. That one word changes everything. This past Sunday, Pastor Chip opened a brand new series from the book of Ezra with a message about what it means to be part of something bigger than yourself.
Jesus Is the Builder
Matthew 16:18 records one of the most remarkable statements Jesus ever made. Peter had just confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus responded by saying,
Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.
Pastor Chip broke it down word by word. The I means Jesus is the one doing it, not us. The will means it is a promise you can count on. The word build means to strengthen what is already there and to grow it by adding more people. The church is not a building. It is the people of Jesus Christ who gather together, commit to one another, worship, study, serve, give, and go out to reach more people for him.
The church is not a cruise ship where you come to be entertained and cared for. Jesus is building a battleship. An aircraft carrier. A community sent behind enemy lines to rescue people from darkness and bring them into the kingdom of God.
Pastor Chip shared a story from early in his marriage. He spent an afternoon building an armoire from IKEA, getting all the way to the end only to step on and shatter the mirror. His point was not the furniture. It was this. We break things. Jesus builds them. He is the one building your life, your marriage, your family, your church. He is the one building you.
The Exile and the Return
The message is anchored in the book of Ezra, which picks up after one of the darkest seasons in Israel’s history. In 586 BC, Babylon invaded Judah, burned Jerusalem to the ground, destroyed the temple, tore down the walls, and marched the surviving people nine hundred miles away in chains.
How did it happen? Second Chronicles 36 tells us plainly. The people had become exceedingly unfaithful. They polluted the house of the Lord. God sent prophet after prophet to warn them. They mocked every one of them. They scoffed. They refused to listen until, as the Bible says, there was no more remedy.
The exile is a picture of what it looks like to live separated from God. To want everything he has to give while wanting nothing to do with him personally. Pastor Chip connected it to the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The son who demanded his inheritance early, left home, spent everything, and ended up in a pig pen. He came to his senses, started rehearsing his speech, and began the walk home. Before he could finish the speech, his father saw him coming, hiked up his robe, and ran. The father took on the disgrace so his son would not have to. He threw a party.
That is how God feels about you. He is not waiting to humiliate you. He is watching for you to turn around so he can run toward you.
God Stirs Hearts
Babylon fell to Persia. The new king was Cyrus, a man who did not worship God at all. But Ezra 1 says God stirred his heart. Cyrus issued a decree sending the Israelites back to Jerusalem and telling the surrounding people to fund the effort with silver and gold.
Pastor Chip noted the sovereignty at work. God holds even the most wicked of kings in his hand. Politics are never meant to be our God because our God is over all politics, all kings, all kingdoms.
The returning exiles arrived in Jerusalem and gave. In today’s dollars, their free will offerings totaled roughly $75 million. Fifty thousand people across a nine hundred mile journey said we are going back to worship God. Pastor Chip pointed out that around a million Israelites were in Babylon at the time. About 950,000 stayed behind. Why? They got comfortable in the world and stopped wanting to return to the word.
He pressed the room on the same question. How much are we loving the world over the word? Because that is exactly what the enemy wants. When we start sharing the gospel and inviting people and some say no, we cannot fixate on the 950,000 who stayed behind. Jesus builds His church one person at a time. One invite at a time. One gospel conversation at a time.
Three Ways Jesus Builds His Church
Pastor Chip gave three clear movements from the text.
Follow Jesus together. When the returning exiles arrived, the first thing they built was not the temple. It was the altar. The gospel always comes before worship. The altar was the symbol of sacrifice, pointing forward to Jesus. Too many churches gather around worship without first being anchored in the gospel. The church at First Baptist Powder Springs preaches the gospel every Sunday, in every group, in every kids ministry, on every mission trip, because 1 Corinthians 15:3 says the gospel is of first importance.
Get discipled together. Discipleship is how the spirit of God stirs within us and shapes us into the image of Jesus. You come to church and receive the preaching of the word. You get into a group and go deeper. You serve so the spirit can use you. You go on mission trips to encounter God in new ways. All of it is discipleship. Ephesians 2:22 says that in Jesus you are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the spirit. God is not present in buildings. He is present when His people gather together.
Live on mission together. The spirit stirred in the returning exiles to rebuild. The spirit stirs in us to reach people, invite people, minister to people, share the gospel with people. But the enemy is going to fight it. Ezra 4 records the opposition. Adversaries tried to infiltrate the building project. When that failed they discouraged the people, made them afraid, tried to bribe their leaders, and frustrated the effort. It worked for sixteen years. Then God sent two prophets, Zechariah and Haggai. They simply started preaching the word of God again. The spirit stirred. The people started building again. Even with every force against them, they finished the temple and dedicated it with joy.
Pastor Chip closed with one line worth writing down. You cannot celebrate what you did not dedicate.
There’s a Seat for You
Whether you have been part of a church for years or you are just starting to understand what it means to follow Jesus, there is a place here for you. We are a church that believes Jesus is still building. He builds through ordinary people who are willing to follow him, get discipled, and live on mission together.
Plan Your Visit and come be part of what he is doing. Or take your next step and Get Connected with our church family. We would love to build alongside you.