Building the City Church

[Matthew 16:17‭-‬19¹ KJV] “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

“And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

“And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

It is important to state that the building of the church is the work of the Lord; Jesus is the one building His church and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. Jesus is building His church and we want to see Him build a city church.

Remember, the extent to which any church can grow, the extent to which any can grow is determined by how far the planters and waterers are willing and ready to go and to cooperate with the Lord. (See 1 Corinthians 3:5-10²)

• Paul planted
• Apollos watered and
• God gave the increase

For instance, this church will grow but we must wake up to plant, water, and nurture for increase. God will only bring the increase when we have planted, watered and nurtured. We have a responsibility.

We are co-labourers with Him. God is building His church but we are His co-labourers. We do the planting and watering; Jesus does the digging and dunging, and the Father gives the increase. The harder and skilful we work the better it will be, and the faster the growth will come.

We must be willing to arise and fight for growth. The congregation must and will grow, but the growth does not happen in a vacuum; church growth takes place in the contest of work. Someone must plant, the same person or another must water, and the Lord would dig around it and dung it, but God gives the increase.

In our quest to see the building of the city church; we must be focused mainly on building a formidable team to support the apostolic commission. There must be;

• The foundation of apostles and prophets with Christ as the chief cornerstone (See Ephesians 2:21-22³)
• Then there must be the pillars of the five-fold ministers: the apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, and pastors. These are special gifts that are given for the growth of the church (See Ephesians 4:11-16⁴)
• Then there should be teams
  • Worship team
  • Tech and media team
  • Grounds team
  • Children’s service team
  • Ushering team
  • Administrative team

If you try to build the church; frustration will kill you. You must only co-labour. He is building His church and we only labour with Him.

Stay blessed

Referenced Scriptures

1. Matthew 16:17-19 (KJV): And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. ↩︎
2. 1 Corinthians 3:5-10 (KJV): Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase. Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. ↩︎
3. Ephesians 2:21-22 (KJV): In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. ↩︎
4. Ephesians 4:11-16 (KJV): And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. ↩︎