You know, we've just been through a time in our country
where there's been so much isolational thinking, so much
distance in people's lives.
I remember hearing Mother Teresa, a great Catholic nun,
say to a joint session of Congress
many years ago that America is the loneliest
nation in the world.
And you know, I live in a house.
I live out on acreage outside Colorado Springs,
an area called Black Forest.
And I live in the trees.
I love it.
But the reality is that I'm isolated too.
And we kind of live isolated lives in America.
And having been around the world,
that's not true in most of the world.
And when you're in Japan, where I lived for 10 years,
it's like people on top of people.
You go to Mexico, it's people on top of people.
You go into Europe, it's people on top of people.
So in America, we have our own house, man.
And it's like, you've got your lot.
You drive in.
The garage door goes down, and you don't have to see anybody.
And I think that God knew that our tendency to not connect
and to become isolated is one of the hardest
things to break in our lives.
And so he created the church.
And the church is a family of God.
And so we see the nation of Israel
as kind of a picture of the church in the Old Testament,
but in the New Testament, in the Book of Acts,
when the church was birthed and when it was born,
it was a group of people from all
different socioeconomic backgrounds,
all different ethnicities, and in many cases,
even different languages after Pentecost,
coming together and having a relationship with each other
and becoming a new family.
And as you're walking with Christ, you need the church.
Someone has said that without the church,
you're not really even a Christian.
And I'm not going to go that far.
But I will say this, that you're not
going to grow nearly as fast on your own
as you could with a group of other believers,
because there's something about dialogue.
There's something about trialogue.
There's something about having a relationship
with other people, them speaking into your life
and you speaking into their life that makes you, enables you,
and empowers you to grow.
It's the power of connection.
And so the church is God's family.
It's where the presence of God is.
It's where Christ is.
And so I want to challenge you that you've
got to be involved in a church.
If you're going to grow to be a wholehearted disciple of Christ,
if you're going to grow to be a kingdom of God revolutionary,
you need to be involved in a local church.
What's interesting in my background
is I grew up Lutheran.
I grew up in a kind of theologically
neo-Orthodox home.
And I was in church two or three times a week
because my dad was a pastor.
And it didn't mean anything to me.
It was more like a social club.
But when I came to know Christ in a personal way,
when I was born again, when I really
became a disciple of Christ my freshman year in college,
I got involved in a local church
there near the university.
And it was transformative in my life.
So I want to challenge you today about the church.
And Jesus spoke of the church and the importance
of the church and the power of the church in Matthew 16.
I'm going to pick it up in Matthew 16,
starting in verse 13, because it's important the dialogue,
even the Q&A, the question and answer that's going on,
before he makes his first statement in the Bible
about the church.
Here's the context.
When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi,
he asked his disciples, say, who do men say that I am?
Who is the Son of Man?
So they said, the disciples said,
some say you're John the Baptist.
Some, Elisha.
And others, Jeremiah, are one of the prophets.
He said to them, but who do you say that I am?
Simon Peter answered and said, you
are the Christ, the Son of the living God.
And that's important.
That's the statement that Jesus is
going to build his next point on,
where he begins to unpack for the first time in scripture
what the church is.
Jesus answered and said, and blessed
are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood
has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.
And I also say to you that you are Peter.
And Peter, Petros, means stone or rock.
And on this rock, I will build my church.
And the gates of hell, or the gates of Hades,
shall not prevail against it.
And I will give you the key.
is the kingdom of heaven whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven
whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven now this is the
seminal statement about the purpose and the vision and the direction and the
processes of the church that's going to be
birthed out of the loins of christ when he ascends to heaven
in acts one two three and then all of the book acts is really about the
the planting of the kingdom of god church all over the world the first
thing you notice is the church has nothing to do with the
building there's nothing about a building mentioned here
it is not a structure a lot of times we say i'm going to church
and we mean the structure we mean a building that we're going to
the church is not a structure it's not a building
it's people the church is people god's going to build
people a fellowship a a community of people around him
where he's going to be lord over all he says i
will build my church he's going to build the people of god into a community he's
calling the church so the first thing you need
to understand is the church is built by led by
the cornerstone is jesus christ it's not the senior pastor of that church
it's not the staff of that church as important as they all are they're just
servant leaders the senior pastor capital s capital p
of the church is jesus christ so there's a worldwide church but then
there's a local church and what i'm focusing on here today is
the local expression of the kingdom of god that we call the church
and the church is a group of people that come together and worship together
and jesus is the head the second thing he
says here is that he's building it on the
confession of peter on this rock i will build my church
so jesus is saying on that confession that jesus is the lord of heaven and
earth on the confession that jesus is the
savior he is the messiah i will build my church
so in looking for a church and discovering a church
one of the most important things you can look for is a church where jesus is lord
where jesus is king where they talk about jesus a lot
they're not talking about the social gospel they're not talking about this or
that issue their main point of every sermon all that
they do is elevating and worshiping christ so
that's key in this so jesus says on this rock i
will build my church next jesus says that
he will empower the church that even satan and demons even the gates of hell
cannot prevail against and a gate was a defensive position in medieval times
and so he's saying the church is on the move this is a church that is moving
forward the kingdom of god revolution and even the gates of hell can't prevail
against the onslaught the beauty and the power and the love
of the church moving forward and so when you see a church where jesus is lord
when you see a church where the confession that jesus lord is preeminent
when you see a church where jesus is allowed to build his church
when you see a church where where jesus is a senior pastor
and i don't mean you don't have a senior pastor under him of course you do you
have to have that but i'm talking about that that senior
pastor is constantly bringing christ and
making him lord and king over every aspect of the church
i promise you that's the church that's going places
that's the church that's going to make an impact that's a church where people
are getting saved they're getting healed they're getting
discipled they're getting equipped and it's growing that's the kind of
church you want to be a part of if that's not happening at the church
you're attending then ask god to send you to a church
where that's happening you god wants you to be a part of a
fired up excited jesus is lord teaching from the bible filled with the
holy spirit kind of church and that's what jesus is
talking about and then he talks about this very
interesting i give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven whatever you
bind on earth will be bound in heaven whatever you loose on earth will be
loose in heaven this is a praying church this is a church that is calling out to
god that is preaching the gospel that is
sharing the gospel wherever the people go they're doing
that and things are happening god's moving
back darkness god is binding demonic
darkness but he's loosening righteousness
it's a seeking of the kingdom of god first
kind of church so this is a church that's praying
in our church we have noonday prayer
Monday through Friday, we have these special prayer meetings all the time that we do.
We have times where we call it a burn, where we go for 24 hours or 12 hours or six hours
of constant prayer.
The church is supposed to be a praying place.
And that's one of the things I hope and pray, that when you find a church, there's prayer
happening and you're a part of that prayer meeting, you're part of those gatherings.
You're learning how to take back territory from the enemy.
So join a church, be a part of a church, put the jersey on, man.
Join the team because you can't do the Christian life alone.
You need other, what we call around here, bloodstained allies.
You need other allies in your life that'll help you grow.
That's the church.
That's the local church.
Become a part of that.
If you're in a position where you can't be a part of a church, then develop a Bible study.
Get around some guys that you can be vulnerable and honest with, that you can share your heart
with, so they can help you grow.
And this Bible, man, I mean, get a group of guys together, get a group of men and women
together where you're studying God's word.
You're opening God's word.
You're challenging each other in your faith.
That's the church.
The church doesn't have to have a building.
The church doesn't have to have a pastor.
Church doesn't have to have all these things that we think we need to have.
The church can be right where you're at.
Whatever you're doing, you can begin to grow in Christ.
So be a part of the church.
Grow as a Christian through the church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against
you, because you've got this group.
You're on the team.
You guys are ministering together.
You're worshiping together.
So God bless you.
Get involved in a church.
It's going to help you grow.
It's going to exponentially cause you to grow much faster than you could on your own, and
the gates of hell will not prevail.
God will powerfully use your life as well as the life of others together as you move
forward in the church.
Take care.