A Place to BUILD (Part III)

A Place to BUILD (Part III)

THE VIEW FROM ABOVE

Thoughts to help with everyday life.

Pastor Harold Warner #8

August 24, 2026

A Place to BUILD (Part III).

Every construction worker will tell you their most important asset and possession is their tools. If the church is God’s “house under construction,” then God provides the blueprints for everything, and supplies the tools necessary for building His people into a spiritual house.

(Acts 2:42) presents this truth, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

These aren’t just activities. They are divine construction tools used by the Master Builder to shape the church.

1) The Word of God: The Master Tool.

God’s Word is the foundation of New Testament church life and worship. The multi-faceted tool, whether as a hammer that breaks hardened hearts, a sword that pierces and discerns motives, a mirror that reveals our true condition, the seed that produces spiritual life, milk-bread-meat that nourishes believers.

R.T. Kendall was spot on when he said, “Worship is the people’s response to the preached Word of God.”

2) Fellowship: The Tool of Mutual Strengthening.

God designed believers to build up one another through encouragement, accountability, comfort in suffering, and bearing burdens together.

“Fellowship holds up weary saints when they can no longer hold themselves up.”

3) Prayer: The Tool that Connects the Worksite to the Architect.

Prayer invites God’s power into our labors, seeks God’s direction, aligns us with God’s will, and opens doors that human effort alone cannot.

4) The Holy Spirit: The Power Tool.

Peter, who denied Christ before a servant girl, boldly preached before multitudes after being filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The difference was not education, reform, or personality, but the difference was power.

5) Spiritual gifts: God’s Specialized Tools.

Nehemiah rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls by assigning different families different sections of the wall. Everyone contributed according to their ability. No believer possesses every gift, but every believer possesses a gift needed by the church.

6) Love: The Tool That Makes All Others Effective.

Without love, every other tool becomes ineffective, yes, worthless. Love is the atmosphere in which all spiritual construction occurs.

7) Suffering and trials: God’s Refining Tool.

(James 1:2-4) tells us that trials responded to in faith produce perseverance and maturity. Some of the most important work done in the church and our lives occur during seasons of adversity.

8) Evangelism: The Tool of Gathering New Stones.

The church’s focus is not merely maintaining a structure; it is continually gathering living stones.

(Acts 2:47) concludes saying, “And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”

My guiding principle of a church service is that first and foremost Christ is listed up and glorified. The preaching of the Word of God is central. Individual believers and the corporate body of the church are edified.

Finally, the compelling testimony that I pray and contend for is (1 Corinthians 14:24,25) “But if all of you are prophesying, and unbelievers or people who don’t understand these things come into your meeting, they will be convicted of sin and judged by what you say. As they listen, their secret thoughts will be exposed, and they will fall to their knees and worship God, declaring, “God is truly here among you.”

Thomas Trask, the retired superintendent of the Assemblies of God churches, wrote in his book, Back To The Altar, stirring words:

“Pentecostal people are not just starry-eyed dreamers with their heads in the clouds; they are down-to-earth, extremely practical people who believe that God still is active in the lives of ordinary people.”

Amen. Oh, Lord Jesus, build your church!