One of the most profound themes in the Bible is the city of God. You can find its origins in Genesis and its climax in Revelation.
In May 1998, I delivered my first recorded conference message. The subject was on the five stages by which God builds His city (“the city of God”).
The conference was held in South Carolina. It was small. Between 150 and 200 attended.
Some of the people in the audience were well-known authors who I met for the first time. (A few have passed away since.)
The message was called “A City Whose Builder and Maker is God” – a phrase taken from Hebrews 11:10.
For he [Abraham] looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
~ Hebrews 11:10, KJV
The talk was delivered on May 23, 1998 – exactly twenty years ago from yesterday.
The talk belongs in the Gospel of the Kingdom Series because the stages I outline are the stages that God uses to build local kingdom communities today. (When I use the word “church” in the message, I mean an ekklesia – a local community of believers that is gathering under the kingship of Jesus Christ.)
YOU CAN LISTEN TO THE MESSAGE HERE
BIG NEWS: In a week or two, I will unveil a big announcement that you don’t want to miss, so stay on the email list and always check your spam/junk/promotions/other folders. (Valuable emails often get stuck there.)
Click here for all the articles in the Kingdom of God Series
The New Tolerance
Wow. This was very good. I really am not sure why I am still struggling where I am. I feel as though I have been in the wilderness FOREVER.
We left the institutional church in the fall of 2014. We didn’t leave over offenses and we left on good terms with the pastor there. Although, I don’t think they understood why were leaving. (We were very involved.)
We had been part of a “home church” before, but this was just a small version of traditional church. But we really were beginning to see the truth of what you are sharing in the message.
After leaving, even though there was no incident that caused us to leave, there was so much backlash. People accused us of going to start our own church, said our family would see trouble if we weren’t plugged into a church and on and on. It was so hard and extremely hurtful.
After sometime, we began meeting with some others in a home but completely realized it wasn’t birthed but just started and was just as flat. So we just met together with our kids. However, all the relationships we had with others became non existent. Because we were not involved in their programs, there was no time for us outside of that.
So we stayed home for the next two years, longing for relationships with others who shared a love for Christ. We even moved to a different community. After a while here, we decided that the only way we might find others was to find them in a traditional church. So we attended a few until we found one that had a pastor who seemed have a desire for deeper truths of God, like yourself. He was sharing those things and encouraging those who attended as well. However, they are a larger church and even though they have small groups, none were open. So after attending for a while, with no solid relationships to speak of, we decided to stop and here we are.
When you mentioned going back to Saul and really being tested in the wilderness, I just feel like that’s where I am. I have been in the place for what feels like an eternity. I know that there are others around me that have a desire for all that you shared in this message, really seeing the Lord of the house and not the house of the Lord but finding them is proving to be a challenge I am not having any success at.
Any words of encouragement?
This article has encouraged many in your situation: https://www.frankviola.org/2016/04/21/organicchurch/
Thank you, I have read this article. I fall in the 30s category and we have been seeking this for many, many years. We are also a part of your online group and while the truths there are amazing, the person to person community is something I still really miss. I will tell you this, without the truth on the network, this time in the wilderness would have been much much harder. I really appreciate all your effort and commitment there.
Tami, thank you for sharing your story. It sounds just like our story but ours is only 5 months old. We, too, are meeting in our home with just my wife and I not knowing anyone else that feels similarly. We were encouraged by Frank’s message. Such good insight into the progression of the ekklesia. We live in Pennsylvania.