The Church: A Place to Build-part 1

The View From Above: Thoughts to Help With Everyday Life

August 22, 2026

Guest Contributor: Pastor Harold Warner — Part 6

The Church: A Place to BUILD — Part I

When Jesus said:

“Upon this rock I will build My church,”

He wasn’t describing a church always on the defensive, simply fending off hell’s barrage.

No.

His declaration presents us with the church—the assembly—mobilized and on mission for the Gospel.

So when I say the church is a place to build, I’m talking about the church’s posture, purpose, and focus being outward.

We are called to reach a lost and broken world with the Good News.

More Than a Mission Statement

I’m not talking about “mission” merely as something written in every church’s or denomination’s Mission Statement.

What I have in mind is something reflected in:

Our thoughts.

Our prayers.

Our labor and efforts.

Our giving.

We have received our marching orders.

Scripture Focus

Matthew 28:18–20

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This is called the Great Commission because it is intended to shape the church’s foundational identity.

Partners in His Mission

The church as a place to build calls us to participate in His mission.

When Jesus called His disciples, He said:

Matthew 4:19

“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

We are called to be colleagues in the Father’s enterprise.

Jesus’ entire life was one of consecrated mission.

And this is where everything we’ve been considering comes together:

BELONGING and BECOMING do not move us toward spectatorship.

They move us toward active partnership in BUILDING.

Paul expressed his fondness for the church at Philippi this way:

Scripture Focus

Philippians 1:3–5

“Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.”

I carry that same kind of gratitude for the people in our church—and our churches—who have been true helpers and partners in the Gospel enterprise that is touching the world.

We could not even begin to think of accomplishing any of this without you.

A Hospital for Sinners

I have always thought—and still believe—that:

THE CHURCH IS NOT A MUSEUM FOR SAINTS BUT A HOSPITAL FOR SINNERS.

That’s our mission.

Why have I continuously stressed this feature for more than half a century?

Because the pull of our own nature and the pressures and distractions of the world will always turn us inward.

And we must resist this in order to be the church.

Our focus has to remain outward.

There are people who need Jesus.

There are disciples to be made.

There are cities to be reached.

There are churches to be built.

There is a world that needs the Gospel.

Part of Something Immense

Author Paul David Tripp reminds us that our lives are much bigger than our jobs, families, possessions, vacations, or personal comforts.

We have been brought into something that began before us and will continue after us.

God is rescuing fallen humanity.

He is bringing people into His Kingdom.

He is transforming them into the likeness of Christ.

And He wants us to participate in what He is doing.

Today’s View From Above

The church gives us a place to belong.

The church gives us a place to become.

And then the church gives us a place to build.

We weren’t saved simply to sit and watch.

We have been called into active partnership with Jesus Christ in the greatest enterprise on earth:

Taking the Gospel to a lost and broken world.

So resist the pull to turn inward.

Pray.

Give.

Serve.

Witness.

Disciple.

Build.

Participate in what Jesus Christ is doing through His church.

Yes, let’s have church!

— Pastor Harold Warner