I Will Build My Church (Pt. 1) Series

******SERMON OUTLINE*******

I Will Build My Church – Part 1

I. Christ Will Build His Church...

Praise the Lord!

Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 16:18-19.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Mat 16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth

shall be loosed in heaven.

How many remember a couple of Sundays ago

when I preached a message called "Ain’t No

Stoppin’ Us Now’?

We read from the same text that we’re reading

from tonight,

But the focus of that message was on the promise

that the gates of Hell would not prevail against the

church. Amen?

But tonight I want to focus on something different.

I want to ask two questions..."What is the

Church?" & "What should the Church be doing?"

See, this scripture is the first distinct mention of

the church in the New Testament,

and it was given by Jesus who is the Builder of the

Church. Amen?

You say well Pastor I thought Christ commissioned

us to build the church.

No. He commissioned us to preach the gospel.

He purposed for us to be the tools or the laborers

in this building process,

But Christ is the builder of His church. Amen?

The very first time that Jesus mentions the church

in the New Testament He gets right to the point

and says "upon this rock I will build my church".

We may be laborers in the harvest, but we do not

build the church on our own; we simply cooperate

with the Master Builder! Amen?

But what is the church that we’re talking about

building?

II. What The Church Is Not...

In order for us to answer our question tonight,

I want to dispel some common myths about the

church.

Simply put, In order for us to understand what the

church is,

We must first realize what the church is not!

1. The Church Is Not A Material Building...

The word church is never used in Scripture to refer

to a material building!

It’s mentioned 140 times in the New Testament,

and not once does it refer to a building with four

walls.

Yet that’s the experience of many!

I know minister’s who preach the gospel with

power and authority on Sunday’s and Wednesday’s

But when they leave the church house church time

is over.

They’ve placed God in a box by only demonstrating

His love, and power, and gifts, and fruits inside the

church house.

Because of this the lost and even some Christians

see God as someone who dwells inside of a building

that is empty for the better part of a week.

If they want to get saved they go to a building.

If they want a healing they go to a building.

If they want hear preaching they go to a building.

But that shouldn’t be the case. Amen?

The language used of the Church in scripture could

not be applied to a building.

The Bible says "The Lord added to the church

daily"

"Herod vexed the church" Vexed - Teased;

provoked; irritated; troubled; agitated; disquieted;

afflicted.

"The church was persecuted"

"Paul saluted the church"

"The churches had rest."

Only in the traditions of men can people “go to

church.”

The church is not somewhere that you go, It’s

something that you are. Amen?

2. The Church Is Not A Denomination...

As a matter of fact denominationalism is contrary

to Scripture,

Denominationalism is evidence of carnality and

divisions and schisms in the church. Amen?

Denominations are usually formed around a form

of church government,

a doctrinal emphasis or truth, a personality that

God used in some revival, or an experience.

The tragedy is that each revival of truth finds its

bitterest enemies in the previous group that had

light from heaven, but stopped somewhere along

the way!

History repeats itself in each generation.

The only thing we learn from history is that we

never learn from history!

We need to learn that God is constantly growing

and changing His church to be more like Him,

But we get to a certain spot in the building process

and get comfortable,

And we quit growing we quit seeking revival, and

unity, and all of the aspects of the early church,

And we separate ourselves from those who are

continually growing and experiencing revival.

And schism is born!

I solely believe that what happened on Azuza Street

in 1906 was purposed by God,

Not only to empower His Church for service, but to

bring unity back to the church.

There were so many denominations even then.