Mark 16:15-20

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”  So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.

Psalm 118:22 – The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.

Acts 4:10-12 -Let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole.  This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’  Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Ephesians 2:19-22 – 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.

The church is the only thing Christ called His.  He borrowed a manger, a coin, a book, a boat, a donkey and a tomb.  But He called the church, “My church.’

Jesus is the chief corner stone of the church.  Many lively stones are in the building, though some act like tombstones instead of lively stones.  You are a strategic stone and God wants to use you in His building process.

Absolutely no force will prevent the building of the church.  The message to you is that Christ’s church is alive and well, for it is filled with eternal life!  Isaiah stated “No weapon formed against me shall prosper.”  If the “me” in that verse is part of the church…then no weapon formed against the church will prosper either.

We cannot remodel the world. 

• No man-made rhetoric can revive it
• No political pronouncement can restore it
• No educational enlightenment can redeem it
• The world is like a brain-dead body

In spite of its life-support system, it is only a matter of time before death conquers it.  The world’s problem is a spiritual problem of the greatest magnitude; therefore, only a spiritual solution of the greatest magnitude will save it.

Many churches and pastors spend too much time trying to remodel the world.  They try to make it a better place to live.  Many of their activities are commendable.  I am not advocating standing by and doing nothing, letting sin alone, closing our eyes, turning our head and compromising with sin and evil.

However, I am saying that no self-help program can change the course of this world.  Crusaders cannot change it, marchers alone with banner and signs will not change it.  These activities will not produce a man-made millennium of peace like we find described in the Bible.  They will never stop, or even slow down, the spiritual decline and ultimate collapse of this world.  It is simply too far gone.

The greatest good the church can do is to do what Christ intended for His church to do:

• Take the Bread of Life to a hungry world
• Give the Water of Life to a thirsty world
• Carry the healing message to hurting people
• Use your P.H.D. (Preach, Heal, Deliver)

Politics and social life have invaded our pulpits.  Major ministries have reversed to a political and social pulpit.  They talk more about the president than the Prince of Peace, more about senators than the Savior, more about governors than God, more about the White House than about the house not made with hands.

Politicians promise to remodel this world.  They promise, they grandstand, they kiss babies, they make back-room deals, and they do anything for a photo op or for a vote.  Men who promise to make this world a better place to live will never accomplish a remodeling of this world.  The world is reproducing the same sinful corruption of Noah’s day, Lot’s day, of Sodom and Gomorrah’s day.

2 Timothy 3:1 – But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.

God wants us to build His church rather than attempt to remodel this world.  Christ said, “I will” – not maybe, not perhaps, – but “I will build My church.”  Christ has a plan for building His church and you can be a part of that divine plan.

How many want to be in on building Christ’s church?

We must be a team.  It is amazing what people can do when they work together for a common goal.   Genesis 11:6 tells the story of a people who aspired to build a tower to the heavens. 

Genesis 11:6 – And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

• They had one language – they all spoke the same thing
• They had one purpose – building the tower of Babel
• They were one – together in unity

The result was that God said of them, “Nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.

WOW!  Would it not be great if the church were like that – what could we not do?

The early church was in unity – in one accord.  At one point over 3,000 had been saved, another time over 5000.  Another time the descriptive word was “multitudes” had been added to the church.

Acts 5:14 – And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women.

They had the opportunity for unlimited results.  God said they could do whatever “they propose to do.”  The final result of their unity would be beyond imagination.

Want to be part of a dream team; to be part of a team that accomplishes far more than the church ever imagined.  We can build a church – not a tower to the heavens – not a tower of Babel built on carnality and personal objectives, but a tower of spiritual, Holy Spirit-anointed achievements reaching into the harvest, impacting the world, if we are united as one.  In this unity of purpose and determination, there can be no superstars, just godly men and women who want to make a difference, who want their lives to count.

• Do you want to make a difference?
• Do you want your life to count?

We can do beyond anything we have ever imagined if we are one, speaking the same language and focusing on the same mission.  We must not settle for just the survival mode or the comfort zone.  We must reach others for Jesus.  We must not be satisfied until lives and families are changed.  Let us make a difference.  What we need in our churches is for everyone to get pregnant with the love and Word of God and begin having babies…spiritual babies.  Get busy producing baby Christians.  Then, help them to grow.  Quit trying to come up with reasons why you cannot be a soul winner for Christ.  Get up and do something for the Lord.