Jesus said He would build His church, but He chose to do that through us. It’s a divine partnership. His purpose and power, our calling and responsibility.
I often marvel at the fact that Jesus chose us, but I can see how it works.
- The more we mature in our faith, the stronger the body of Christ, (The Church) becomes.
- The stronger we become the greater our reach with the gospel of Jesus Christ extends.
- The greater the influence of the church the more we can serve those in need.
The church is truly the hope of the world because it carries the truth of Jesus Christ, and the extension of God’s love.
His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, according to his eternal purpose that he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ephesians 3:10-11)
I honestly cannot think of a more challenging, more inspiring vision than to partner with God Himself to change the world.
Yet, Monday arrives and reality hits.
- How do we encourage first time guests to come back a second time?
- How do we help a struggling married couple to decide against divorce?
- How do we inspire enough volunteers to serve in the kid’s ministry?
- How do we help feed so many hungry and hurting people?
- How do we handle conflict inside the church?
Suddenly it feels like we left the lofty vision of heaven and traded it for ministry that requires grit, resilience and courage. Like we traded glorious for grind.
Jesus never said ministry would be easy, but He did say He would always be with us.
That “with us”—that incredible partnership, (not an equal partnership but fully together), carries expectations.
Perhaps the idea of us having expectations of God is not fully appropriate, but we certainly have hopes founded in God. For example, we hope for His presence, power, favor and grace. We count on and trust His promises for these things.
And, Jesus does have expectations of us, the body of believers, His Bride, The Church.
5 Expectations Jesus Has of His Church
1. Stand Firm Against the Resistance That Comes Your Way.
There is hardly a week when we don’t meet resistance against the progress of the church.
It can be anything from a key leader becomes offended and leaves the church to someone who has never attended is using social media to cause trouble for the church.
We get caught up in these things because we are responsible to solve them, but in doing so we can lose sight of something bigger going on—a spiritual battle.
It is natural for your church to experience resistance to making progress. There is an enemy and he doesn’t want you to succeed, yet Jesus calls us to stand firm.
Ephesians 6:10-17 reminds us of the powers of this dark world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. It is clear about the spiritual amor needed to remain strong and stand our ground.
The Enemy would love for you to become discouraged and maybe give up, but remember that progress will always bring resistance. Stand firm, keep going.
2. Speak up With Courage, Wisdom and Grace.
I find myself occasionally holding back when I think I should speak up. Do you? We should think before we speak, but we are called to speak up.
Jesus expects us to speak the truth about who He is with wisdom and grace.
It’s not just on the platform that we are responsible to speak up but in group meetings and in one-to-one conversations. As the Holy Spirit prompts you, don’t hold back.
