Temple Builders Series

A New York family bought a ranch out West where they intended to raise cattle. Friends visited and asked if the ranch had a name. “Well,” said the would-be rancher, “I wanted to name it the Bar-J. My wife favored Suzy Q. One son liked the Flying W, and the other wants Lazy Y. So we're calling it the Bar-J Suzy-Q Flying-W Lazy Y,”

“But where are all your cattle?” the friends asked.

“None survived the branding” (J. R. Love, Rushton, Louisiana).

Some churches are like that. They try to incorporate ideas from various people and then wonder why they fail.

On top of that, the Covid-19 Pandemic reduced the number of regular church goers in America from 34% of the population in 2019 to 28% of the population in 2021. But that only accelerated the decline, which has been going on for over two decades (Wendy Wang and Alysse Elhage, “Here’s Who Stopped Going to Church During the Pandemic,” Christianity Today, January 20, 2022).

We’ve seen a decline in our own church attendance from an average of 75 people in 2019 to 53 in 2021. To be sure, we have an increased online presence, averaging 78 livestream views each week last year. But that still raises the question: How do we build (or re-build) the church? How do we establish (or re-establish) a lasting, vibrant ministry that makes a difference for eternity?

Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Corinthians 3, where the Apostle Paul shares how he built the church in a culture much like ours.

1 Corinthians 3:10-11 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (ESV).

If you want to build a lasting, vibrant ministry, then …

START WITH THE RIGHT FOUNDATION.

Begin with Jesus Christ. Establish the church on the Lord, not on personalities, programs or policies.

That’s what Paul did. He describes himself as an “master builder,” lit., an architect, who laid the only foundation that would last. When Paul planted the church in Corinth, he began with a focus on Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 2:2, Paul said, “I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Paul laid the foundation of Christ, because that is the only foundation that lasts.

Every architect knows that the foundation of a building is crucial. That’s because the foundation determines the size, shape, and strength of the structure itself.

If you’re ever inclined to go to San Francisco, the safest place to be is the middle of the Golden Gate Bridge. Experts claim that it will withstand an earthquake of 9.0 on the Richter Scale. That’s because #1: it is flexible; and #2: every piece of metal, every piece of concrete, all the macadam and pavement, all of it relates one piece to another to two giant cables that come up to two great piers that go down into bedrock. While flexible, everything connects to an unmovable foundation, which cannot fail (Earl Palmer, "The Foolish and the Wise," Preaching Today, Tape No. 54; www.PreachingToday.com).

In the same way, if we want to build a lasting, vibrant ministry, we must build it on the bedrock of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ must be the foundation and focus of all we do.

Flexibility is important as times change and God provides different opportunities for ministry. For example, Covid moved us into an online, livestream ministry that none of us foresaw just 2½ years ago. However, Jesus remains the foundation and focal point of our ministry. While some methods have changed, the message remains the same. We preach Christ crucified and risen again! It is the bedrock of our church.

In 1912, medical missionary Dr. William Leslie went to live and minister to tribal people in a remote corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. After 17 years he returned to the U.S. a discouraged man, believing he failed to make an impact for Christ. He died nine years after his return.

But in 2010 a team led by Eric Ramsey with Tom Cox World Ministries made a surprising discovery. They found a network of reproducing churches hidden like glittering diamonds in the dense jungle across the Kwilu River from Vanga, where Dr. Leslie lived and ministered.

Based on his previous research, Ramsey thought the Yansi in this remote area might have some exposure to the name of Jesus, but no real understanding of who He is. They were unprepared for their remarkable find. “When we got in there, we found a network of reproducing churches throughout the jungle,” Ramsey reports. “Each village had its own gospel choir, although they wouldn't call it that,” he notes. “They wrote their own songs and would have sing-offs from village to village.” They found a church in each of the eight villages they visited scattered across 34 miles. They also found a 1000-seat stone “cathedral” that often got so crowded in the 1980s—with many walking miles to attend—that a church planting movement began in the surrounding villages.