Sermon Notes
"On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18)
Notice who's building the church. Not us. Jesus said, "I will build my church." We don't build the church — we get to be part of what He is building. That single shift changes everything about how we plant, pastor, and serve.
What is He building? Look at Acts 2:42–47. A family devoted to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to breaking bread, to prayer. A family where awe fell on every soul. A family that shared everything, sold property to give to the poor, ate with glad and generous hearts, and praised God together. A family that had favour with all the people — and the Lord added to their number day by day.
Notice the order. They didn't strategise for growth. They pursued Jesus together — and the Lord added. Our job is faithfulness in the ordinary means of grace. God's job is the increase.
As NCC, we want to be the kind of church Jesus is building: - Word-centred: devoted to the apostles' teaching, the Bible opened expectantly every gathering - Prayerful: we cannot engineer revival; we can only ask for it - Generous: with our money, our homes, our time, our very selves - Glad: worship isn't a duty — it's a delight - Outward-facing: favour with the people around us, not separation from them
If we get these right, the Lord will add. If we get the numerical growth without these, we'll have a crowd but not a church. May God help us build the kind of church Jesus is building.