Pray for Your Church (2)
Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2.19-22
The divine plan for the Church
We have seen that Jesus intends to build His Church as an enduring dwelling place, a temple and a city on a hill, to signal the arrival of God’s Kingdom and serve as that Kingdom’s base of operations in the world. We pray that all of us, leaders and members alike, will be willing to submit to Jesus and what He intends for our church as part of His Church.
And why would we not want to do that? Peter, after all, thought he knew better than Jesus about how Jesus’ work should be accomplished. But he was thinking like a man, not like the Son of Man, and Jesus sternly rebuked Him saying, “Get behind me!” (Matt. 16.23). Peter wanted Jesus to get behind him, his plans, his way of doing God’s redemptive work. But Jesus made it clear Who’s the Leader and who’s the follower when it comes to His work.
His work now is to build His Church so that streams of Kingdom refreshment may flow to the world in all its places, peoples, and parts; so that the knowledge of the glory of the LORD will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea; so that the followers of Christ, His Body and witnesses in every community around the world, will glorify and praise and worship and obey and fear and love the Father of glory—because they are the Bride of His Son Jesus, the Church He is building, here and now.
In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he notes three crucial elements that must form the framework and substance of any church that Jesus is building. Let’s look at these.
Christ the Cornerstone
First, the local church must aspire to grow into Christlikeness. Whatever its size, setting, or situation, every church must have as its temporal objective to be the Body of Christ, growing together in unity and maturity so that the church reflects the shape of that Cornerstone set within it (1 Cor. 14; Eph. 4.11-16).
This aspiration should give guidance to all we do in our churches. As we reflect on Jesus, ministering in His Mission Field—teaching and preaching, caring for the poor and needy, sending the devil and his minions packing, confronting the lies and misguided affections of the day, making disciples, remarking matters beautiful, good, and true—we must ask how that kind of Cornerstone must guide what we aspire to in our church in our own community, our Mission Field.And as we see Jesus, exalted in glory—upholding all creation and culture, gathering His chosen ones, doing good to all people, empowering His Church to restore the reconciled world, and bringing the goodness of the LORD into the land of the living (Ps. 27.13, 14)—we must work to fit our church into that Jesus Profile.
As any building will follow the shape of its cornerstone, so our churches must follow the shape of Jesus, doing all that we do to refract His indwelling Presence to one another and our community.
The apostolic and prophetic foundation
But how do we do that? By building according to the prophetic and apostolic “footprint” Jesus Himself has laid down for us. That is, we look to the Scriptures, the foundation on which all churches must be built, to direct our thoughts and work about every aspect of the Church and its growth. A church is part of the Body of Christ worldwide. What do the Scriptures teach concerning how we must realize this? With respect to such matters as worship? Care for the poor and needy (Jesus did)? Teaching and preaching? Working harder at true Christian unity? Using our material resources as stewards of God? Impacting our local community? Or the times in which we live?
All this is what Jesus did, and all of it is described in the books of the prophets and apostles of the Old and New Testaments. We must not think that we can improve on the footprint Jesus has laid by incorporating into our operations “footprints” imported from the wrong-believing world around us. Jesus’ building does not require “new additions” or anything other than faithful building of everything we do on the foundation of God’s Word.
The building we construct—the church we become—can only expect the approval and blessing of the Lord to the extent we follow His plan, Him as the Cornerstone, and His prophets and apostles as the foundation of all we do.
A dwelling place of the Spirit
Finally, Paul explains that Jesus is building His Church as a dwelling place for the Spirit of God. Thus, our churches should be incubators of holiness, orchards for bearing spiritual fruit, universities for increasing in the knowledge of Jesus Christ, bond-building-gift-wielding communities focusing on growth in the Lord, and outposts for Kingdom presence and progress throughout our community.
We must pray that our churches will be what Paul described, for he had the plans of Christ, he knew the intentions of the Lord, and he—more than anyone who ever lived—succeeded in Jesus to build His Church. As he himself said, he is the master-builder of the Church (1 Cor. 3.10). We must follow his lead as he follows the lead of Jesus (1 Cor. 11.1)
So let us pray:
Thank You, Lord,
for showing us what You want for our churches,
that we might become more like You,
more firmly grounded in Your Word,
and more hospitable to Your indwelling Spirit.
Let us get behind You, Jesus,
to do Your work Your way
as we labor to become a healthy, growing church.
For reflection
1. What does it mean for Jesus to be the Cornerstone of a church? What would such a church look like?
2. How can we know when we are making anything other than Scripture the foundation of our church?
3. How can we work with church members and leaders to make our church more hospitable to the Spirit of God?
Next steps—Demonstration: What can you do to be a more consistent presence of Jesus in your church? What gifts do you have for helping to build your church?
T. M. Moore
Give thanks
If you have found this meditation helpful, take a moment and give thanks to God. Then share what you learned with a friend. This is how the grace of God spreads (2 Cor. 4.15).
The Kingdom of God
As we are beginning to see, the Church exists to further the rule of King Jesus—His Kingdom—on earth as it is in heaven. But what is the Kingdom of God? Our book, The Kingdom Turn, can help. Learn more and order your copy by clicking here for the book or here for the free PDF.
Thank you.
Many of you are faithful and generous in praying for and supporting Crosfigell and The Fellowship of Ailbe. Thank you. I encourage all our readers to seek the Lord about becoming a supporter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. It’s easy to give to The Fellowship of Ailbe, and all gifts are, of course, tax-deductible. You can click here to donate online through credit card or PayPal or Anedot, or send your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, P. O. Box 8213, Essex, VT 05451.
Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
