Let’s get building!
By Rich Ellwood, Advance Team leader
Do you have a ‘building story’? Perhaps you were brave enough to buy a ‘doer-upper’ and bring it back to life. Or maybe you’ve seen your local church renovate its premises or repair the leaky roof!
We read of a building project for God’s people tucked away in the Old Testament book of Haggai. A remnant had chosen to leave Babylon and return to Jerusalem where they found a city in disrepair and a Temple in ruins.
The Temple had been a clear sign of God’s presence with his people and yet now this once impressive building was a pile of rubble. Upon their return to the city, the people had quickly started to rebuild the Temple but distractions and disappointments led them to give up. Years of inaction drift by before Haggai calls the people back to building.
Renewed planning permission
The prophet issues a call to get building again and the people respond wonderfully with obedience and immediate action. Just a little over three weeks go by from Haggai issuing his prophetic provocation to build (1v1), and the people putting spades in the ground (1v15).
It’s quite a turnaround.
Like in the days of Haggai, God is calling us, as Salt & Light Advance churches, to build together afresh; to put aside any frustrations and disappointments and get building. There’s a clear call over our lives together - not to build a Temple, but to establish Thriving Churches and to be Kingdom people.
Thriving Churches, Kingdom people
Thriving Churches are churches that bear fruit for Jesus, where everyone finds a place of belonging, where vision is clear and inspiring, where gatherings are characterised by a passion for Christ and a welcome to others and where prayer, worship and devotion to Jesus are central.
We all need to be part of a local church that’s thriving.
But equally the towns and cities in which we live desperately need thriving churches. When God’s people truly thrive, blessings overflow. We read in Proverbs 29v2: ‘When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice.’ Thriving churches aren’t primarily about us! They are about the glory of God and the good of others.
Along with the call to build thriving churches comes the call to be people who live wholeheartedly for the Kingdom of God. This gets to the heart of Haggai’s complaint - the people were prioritising their own ‘panelled houses whilst this house remains a ruin’ (1v4). They were living for their kingdoms rather than the Kingdom.
For God’s pleasure and God’s glory
Haggai tackles the priorities of the people, but also their motivation and in doing so gives us the true motivation for anything we do in life: ‘Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified’ (v8). The pleasure of God and the glory of God - the dual motivation for all disciples of Jesus.
As we have thriving churches and pursuit of the Kingdom of God as key calls on our lives, we do so with the clear understanding that it is all for his pleasure and glory.
Let’s get building!