It is not all up to me!

I have been thinking a lot about growing a church lately. What are the factors for growth? What are the indicators a church is poised for growth? What are the resources needed for growth? I am sure you have asked the same questions as well - we want our churches to grow! Recently I have been reading through Matthew's gospel when I came across this section of scripture...

¹³When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?" ¹⁴They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets." ¹⁵"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?" ¹⁶Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." ¹⁷Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. ¹⁸And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. ¹⁹I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:13-19

This is the account of Peter finally "getting it". He now understands Jesus is not just a rabbi, he is not just a great teacher he is the Son of God. As a result of Peter's confession; Jesus makes an incredible promise, on this rock (the fact that I am the Son of God) I will build my church, (italics added) and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

While it is good to plan for growth, check resources and look for some indicators for the church to grow; the overall message of Matthew 16 is the fact that Jesus is going to build the church.

I think I am understanding this fact more and more everyday! However understanding the fact that Christ will build the church and living out that fact is difficult to say the least. As a project of mine, I am going to look at how Christ built the church and over the next few days I will post the "Jesus way" to build a church. Should be interesting.