The gift of building

The Bible says in Ephesians 4:7-8 “…grace was given according to Christ’s gift….and He gave gifts to men.”  Verse 11 continues, “And He gave some as apostles and some as prophets, and some as evangelists and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of 
Christ,…” .  We have been given many gifts by God our Father, many of which we easily call blessings, and rightly so. This year our theme verse will help us focus on another gift, which actually is our God given responsibility. We have been given the gift, nay the privilege of building His kingdom. The leadership gifts mentioned above are for that purpose, to build the body of Christ, which is His kingdom also known as the Church of Christ. We will not only be looking outward to build new additions to His kingdom (new converts) but we will be building up one another and ourselves as is written in Ephesians 4:13, “until we all attain to the unity of faith … and to a mature man…”.  The theme verse we will be using is found in Nehemiah 2:18. Israel had been captive, enslaved in Babylon for 70 years. King Cyrus set them free to return to Jerusalem for the purpose of re-building. After approximately 100 years a small, second temple stood but the city was left wide open without protection. The prophet Nehemiah exhorted the people, in the desolate city, with his personal testimony of how Yahweh, the Lord God had been favorable to him. He was cup bearer to the king and was given full authority to undertake this greatly needed, massive rebuilding project. “Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem that we may no longer be a reproach.” Nehemiah 2:17.  The people must have been emboldened to act. They said, “Let us arise and build!” “So they put their hands to the good work.” Nehemiah 2:18.   I pray you will be similarly encouraged and inspired to join us in this great and noble task, building not simply a wall, but His glorious Kingdom. It will take all of us together, serving, building, defending, sacrificing, and praying to God almighty. The work at times will be difficult, the challenges great and the opposition even greater.  However, we will find great joy in the journey, and I promise you, nothing we do in life can compare to participating in the building of the Kingdom of God here on earth. Our community is depending on you and your support. “Let us arise and build!”