The Christ Power of the Church

The church is the creation of Jesus Christ. As such, it is the most powerful force on the face of the earth. Jesus said, "... I will build my church and the forces of hell will not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18). Jesus promised his disciples that he would give them divine power to accomplish his will when he said, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8).

When I'm tired or lonely or scared I try to remember that I can't change the world; only Jesus can do that. He will do it. In his time at his pace and in his own way ... he will change the world. But for some reason, he has chosen to do it through us, collectively ... His church.

When Jesus said, "You are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:21), he was speaking in the plural. You (plural) are the light of the world. He was pointing his finger at the collection of very ordinary human beings that were standing before him (fishermen, and tax collectors, and prostitutes), and was declaring something special about them. Not that they were special, but that God was giving them something special. He was giving them himself. And that was all they needed to turn the world upside down.