Insufficiency is the glory of a living church

 Matthew 16:15-18. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not Revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.The church is the body of christ, and HE is the head of that body. Every creature has eyes near its head. Iesus Christ is the head and the eyes, and therefore, HE it is that gives the church wherein Jesus is the author and finisher shall base its continuity on revelations from the Holy spirit which He promised and indeed, happened on the day of Pentecost. We can deduce, therefore, from this statement that the church shall experience firstly opposition and secondly there is a continuity of the church despite the persecutions it will face. This church, which represents the body of Christ, and wherein he is the head and all Christians are the members, shall function in the physical, but with a spiritual mandate. Read Colossians 1:18 "And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. Our supreme task is to preach the good -news. See Mark 16:15-16, And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. To meet this goal, therefore, the church is not a stationary organisation like others but a dynamic one. Jesus, after performing a miracle in Matthew 8:16-18, When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about him, he gave commandment to depart unto the other side. There is no time to rest on their laurels because a miracle has taken place. There is no time to survey the scene with a satisfied smirk. This is the format of the church. A church that would be on the move to reach the entire universe with the message of salvation. For such a church to exist and meet such an obligation, it may have to do with some discomfort at each station. It is not a typical Tower of Babel, to attract men to see the wonder of the structure.Or a race to outdo the other denomination in majestic and superstructural edifice. A situation that has rendered the church to become like the people of the world. And let the outside world determine what a successful church should be, namely the trimmings and accolades associated with the world. See Matthew 13:38 The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one. The world represents those who are yet to be saved, the target for the church.Luke 20:34 And Jesus answering said unto them, The children of this world marry, and are given in marriage:, The world is flashy, loud opinionated and consented; it is full of ungodliness and a life alienated from the ways of God. How can the church allow the wolrd to determine what is a success to the church of Christ? the wolrd will rate any insufficiency in a church as a failure yet that may in reality be the glory and the hallmark of a true church. mega structures, rollsroyces in the parking lots, urshere and traffic controllers in the vast compound, worshippers dressdto the nines, moving to and fro. All these does not determine what a living church is, but the wolrd has persuaded others like themselves to see it as a succuess. and the church is keying in into it. That church has a university ours will have too.The general overseer has a bomberdier jet ours must have too. We are now confronted with a trend whereby all mega churches have the similar programs, ministries,helps and government. Is this the leading of the Holyspirit? the same Spirit that was poured out in the day of pentecost and led the early churches to start in peoples homes and when it got tough they met in secret places. Our Lord also met with insuffuciebcy, but it only served to bring out the power and full provision of God. Matthew 14:17, And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes.What a stark insuffuency, yet, God made use of that obvious shortfall to display His abundance grace and ability. [jehovah jireh] Mark 11:12-13 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. Mark 11:21-23 And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. In the two cases above, there was a lack, a shortfall, or insufficiency as it were, but God met these needs. If there was a steward or a chef amongst the crew Jesus would not have gone to that figtree when he suffered the pangs of hunger on that faithday and no lesson on faith in God, would have been taugh! The insufficiency brought about a situation to glorify God . For a ministry to always task members, level mens gruops, and compel cell leaders in order to become all sufficient has no place in Gods plan for the body of Chris; the church is not a fortune 500 club. There has always exist needs in the bodyof christ. see Romans8:35, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? These difificulties Paul listed in the verse are inbedded in the body of Christ, but apostle Paul added in Romans 8:37, Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Yet, today many watch in alarm, as the world tells us that the church that goes through such times is not a mega church [whatever that means]and therefore not to be reckon with and termed as unpopular or wannabe church.