Building the Church

We’ve been given a challenge here at Cornerstone church by our Moderator Clayton Lane.  He’s called us to raise a significant amount of money so that we can move ahead with a few church building projects.  This summer has seen the replacement of the roof over our children’s ministry area, as well as a bunch of flooring and repainting due to water damage.  There are a few other things the church leadership want to accomplish:  a sound system upgrade, a carpeting replacement in the church entryway, as well as general fund replenishment.

It might seem like a lot of extra giving, but building the church is never supposed to be convenient or easy.  In fact the temptation is very strong to neglect the house of the Lord.  The Israelites experienced this when they came back out of exile.  They resettled in and around Jerusalem, and quickly became content with their lives once again forgetting that they were issued a decree to go and rebuild the temple.  And in the midst of their contentment, they were missing out on blessings that God wanted to give them.  Haggai speaks to the reason for this in chapter 1 of the book he wrote.

Because my house lies in ruins, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, while all of you are busy building your own fine houses. Haggai 1:9b NLT

I certainly need to be reminded of this on a regular basis.  My heart can turn very quickly to my own house, my own castle, and the things I want to fill it with.  If I’m honest, I have everything I really need, and way more than I want.  Regularly I go through and throw away things that seemed so necessary at the time, yet no longer seem relevant to my life.  I over fill my house with stuff and yet sometimes find that I am less generous when it comes to giving to God.  Yet God’s house needs to be honoured by my willingness at times to give sacrificially to build it.

And this is only one way in which the church is built.  Another way is through the exercise of our spiritual gifts.  We don’t spend a lot of time talking spiritual gifts, yet they play an important role in the impact the church will have in the world.  Paul talks about spiritual gifts in his letter to the Corinthians:

God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us. A spiritual gift is given to each of us so we can help each other… 1 Corinthians 12:6,7

It’s important to note here that we are all given something special by God to do His work in the church.  And it is quite simply not for us and our own prestige, advancement or enjoyment.  We are to use our spiritual gifts to help build each other up in our relationship with Christ.  Some of us have a special ability share our faith with others, some of us are good with our hands in use craftsmanship for the benefit of the body.  Some of us are leaders, some are teachers.  Some of us are more concerned with relationships so we exercise hospitality, mercy.  Some of us are servants that are willing to help anywhere necessary.  Some of us are very creative and use arts and music to encourage each other in the body.

I guess I’m passionate about building the kingdom of God and seeing that expressed here at Cornerstone Church.  This is true worship, to fulfill in our lives the kingdom of God.  So if you by God’s grace are compelled to give:  then give with joy.  If you aren’t exercising any kind of spiritual gift in service here to the people that make up the church; then discover them and use them. If the challenge seems too difficult don’t be afraid of the small steps you need to take.  God told Zechariah in chapter 4 to not “despise small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.”  And if it seems overwhelming in your own strength, God also told Zechariah that “It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit.  I am confident that God will continue to build his church.  I want to be part of it, and I want to invite you to come along on the adventure.

Pastor Lorn