Newsletter Article - June/July - "And I Will Build My Church - Part 1"

God’s eyes are on His Church.

The Church worldwide is not dwindling or dying; to the contrary, it is actually growing, and growing at a considerable rate.

Matthew 16:18 Amplified says “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].”

The wonderful thing about travelling all over the world and speaking in lots of different churches is you get to see what God is doing. You don’t have to be super spiritual to know where God is at. He is doing the same thing everywhere.

So what is God doing around the world?

1. He is building His church
2. He is bringing the five fold ministry back into the church
3. He is releasing the saints to do the work of ministry

A while ago the late Pastor David Cartledge and many others were teaching and talking about the church going into an apostolic era. This, I believe, is happening, but what is the work of an Apostle? The word “Apostle,” like the ministry, is a person sent out from the local church with a God given mission and message. The mission that we should be working on is the building of God’s church through the training of God’s pastors and leaders.

Paul, in his writings in the New Testament when relating to the churches, gave good, clear advice, (not orders) to the churches on the questions they had concerning what was happening in the life of the church. I believe this should be happening today, if we are in the apostolic era that we have talked about.

Recently I heard Alan and Noela Collis speaking in our church. They have a recognised prophetic ministry and they were saying that they believed the church was in a time of transition or change. When I look around at the church in general what I see are many churches that have been around for a long time but are not growing.

I have heard comment from others that if you are in a church that is not growing then maybe you should not be running a church! Looking at this prayerfully I think that the problem lies in the fact that we are teaching the students at Bible College the Word, but not how to run a ministry, or how to be a leader.
If God’s design for church revolved around there being input from each one of the five fold ministry and we don’t have that then how will the pastors be complete in their knowledge and understanding of how to run the church?

While away on a ministry trip I was talking to God about all this stuff!! I clearly heard God say, “I will build my church.” I said “Yes Lord.” He said “No listen, I will build MY CHURCH”. Once again I said “Yes Lord.” He said “NO Listen, MY CHURCH”

This all sounded very strange to me but He showed me that He has a specific purpose for church and when that is in place there will be the resources for us to build the dream or vision that we have our church.

God has His eye on the Church in these last days. He is pouring out His anointing on all members of the Church who are willing to accept that they have a call and God given gift to operate in the kingdom. I am not speaking about those who are called with titles, pastor etc. but rather all the people of the Church because we are all called to service.

If God is positioning His Church to be noticed, then we need Godly wisdom, power and His presence to have good influence on a bad out-of-order world.

God’s desire for His Church:
God’s desire for His Church - so that includes you - is that it presents itself in all its glory - strong, bold and able to meet the needs of the world.

For that to happen we need:

1. Strong leaders who have vision and a sense of destiny who will build now for future generations.

2. Strong people who are committed to the same vision and goals – awesome powerful, virtuous, magnificent, supernatural people.

So how do we get there and what needs to change for this to happen?

Ephesians 4:11-12
It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers. To prepare God’s people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up.

God’s desire is that the whole Church gets involved in the building of the Church.

In order for this to take place, the pastors and leaders need to be taught and trained in how to raise up, mentor and release their people. They need to be given the tools to make this happen. The ministry gifts need to be giving input to the churches, and helping build the church, not just looking for a place to preach and earn money but rather building in partnership with the local church leaders.

What do we need to establish?

· A flourishing body of believers full of and operating in the Holy Spirit and His gifts.
· A church where Jesus is alive and at its centre.
· A group of people led by empowered, relaxed, and intentional leadership.
· A church where all the ministry and Holy Spirit gifts are in operation.
· A place where people find Christ, are nurtured, developed, trained, taken forward to their destiny, and released into a supported network as leaders that take God’s Kingdom forward.

A people that are the head and not the tail, and able to bring influence across the community and to the nations beyond.

Churches that are an asset to their community bringing light into darkness and who would be sadly missed if were they were no longer around. A place of safety and security, a place renowned for seeing lives changed through the transforming power of our Lord Jesus Christ and where it’s members are filled with life and vision where a ‘can do’ attitude prevails.

In the past 7 years “Partners in Faith” have worked in partnership with many churches around the world and have seen those churches, even though they were established for many years, growing and quadrupling in numbers in a relatively short period of time.

Pastors who have been serving for many years, going it alone, and not seeing the growth they would like do not need to step down, but rather need to be encouraged, partnered with, helped to grow and given the tools and information so they can in turn teach and train the saints to do the work of ministry and grow the local church. That is God’s will and that should be the will of any five fold minister.

I am not just talking about clever programs, but rather ways to touch the lives of our people with programs that have the heart of God.

While ministering in Ireland, I noticed how people responded dramatically to God’s love, grace and care. God has place a burden on my heart to carry the mission to Ireland to see the churches and people of that nation, who have suffered for so long begin to grow and move forward.

Church growing in grace, love and numbers that are affecting their communities.

That’s our mission and our message from God.