Tag: ekklesia

  • From Goa to the Gospel: Part Three

    From Goa to the Gospel: Part Three

    A Real Conversion.

    Image: The hilltop beside the fishing village where the local ekklesia—the called-out ones—gather to worship the Living God. The concrete cross is not an object of worship, but simply a geographical marker where the believers meet.

    My conversion was not a “nice idea” or a gradual drift into church because it seemed respectable. It was the Holy Spirit showing me, for the first time, what I really was. And it broke me.

    I had been down every dead-end street I could find. Goa, parties, travelling, work, friendships – I kept thinking the next thing round the corner would finally make life make sense. But eventually I  hit a wall. I realised that if I walked down one more dead-end, I would have to admit life was pointless. That was the moment another way opened up in front of me: not a wide road with crowds on it, but a small, narrow path.

    The conviction of the Holy Spirit doesn’t flatter you. He doesn’t tell you that you’re “basically a good person who just needs a bit of religion.” He shows you the truth. I saw my own sin, my selfishness, my pride, the way I had lived as if God did not exist. It was like looking in a mirror for the first time. I wasn’t destroyed, but I was in pieces – like a smashed pot on the floor.

    That breaking was not cruelty. It was mercy. The old me had to die. The Bible says we are crucified with Christ and that the old self is put to death. Scripture also says what every honest Christian knows: you still feel that old self hanging around your neck like a dead man you drag behind you. I understood what the Apostle Paul meant – the new heart was real, but the old habits, the old temptations and shadows were still there, trying to pull me back.

    From that point on, everything changed. My heart and mind were different. I didn’t see the world the same way. Things I once shrugged off as “just life” now looked like poison. I wasn’t suddenly standing in the street judging everyone – I could see that I was the problem. But I also knew that certain things had to go. Certain places. Certain patterns. Certain friendships.

    In the end, I lost all my old friends. They didn’t want Christ; they wanted the old version of me. They were happy enough for me to believe in God in private, as long as I left my shoes and my Christianity at the door when I visited. Eventually it was clear to all of us that it couldn’t go on like that. I stopped going round. They treated me differently. They sounded different. We agreed it was for the best, but it still hurt.

    My conversion was not a Pentecost-style experience with shouting, singing, and tongues. There was no choir in the background. It was quieter and more painful than that. It was me on the ground, many times, saying things that are between me and God. It was the Holy Spirit convicting me of sin, breaking me, and then, very slowly, beginning to build me back up again in Christ.

    That is what I mean when I say my journey really did go from Goa to the Gospel. I gave my life to Christ before my baptism – baptism is an outward sign of the inward work of the Holy Spirit. I was baptised on Sunday 8th October 2017.

    Praise God. Amen.

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  • The Unseen Presence That Holds Us Together. Matthew 5 of 7

    The Unseen Presence That Holds Us Together. Matthew 5 of 7

    Welcome back to The King and His Kingdom, our journey through the Gospel of Matthew. In Part 4, we saw that Jesus gathers His people into a new spiritual family. Today, we ask a vital question: what keeps this family together?

    History is filled with movements that began with passion and purpose, only to fade. Human communities fracture under pressure. Success often seems to depend on gifted leaders, organisation, and resources. If the church were merely human, it would be no different.

    Matthew gives the answer: the church endures because Jesus Himself remains present with His people. He does not simply found His church — He continues to build, sustain, guide, and protect it.

    This is the heart of Part 5: the King who calls His people also stays with His people.

    The Builder Who Stays

    When Jesus first speaks of His church, He declares that He will build it and nothing — not death, spiritual opposition, or human weakness — will overthrow it. The emphasis is not on what His followers can achieve but on what He will do.

    This means the church is not a memorial to what Jesus did long ago. It is His living work today. Its foundation, growth, and endurance depend on His ongoing activity.

    This truth protects us from a subtle misunderstanding: that belonging to Christ depends on formal enrolment in an institution. Many faithful believers are sometimes treated as “outsiders” simply because they have not signed a membership form — yet Scripture teaches that union with Christ is what joins a person to His church. He builds His people, not bureaucracy. Because Jesus Himself is the builder, the church does not ultimately rest on human strength. Strategies and structures may help, but they are not the foundation. Christ is. This gives relief to weary believers and offers seekers a surprising invitation: the church is sustained, not by human skill, but by a living King.

    Where Two or Three Gather

    How does Jesus stay with His people now that He has ascended?
    Matthew records His promise that wherever even a few gather in His name, He is there.

    He does not require impressive crowds, grand buildings, or formal structures. His presence rests upon people united in His name — even two or three. A small group praying; friends encouraging each other; believers sharing a meal — Christ Himself is there.

    His presence is not symbolic. He actively strengthens, teaches, convicts, comforts, and leads by His Spirit. The same Jesus who walked among His disciples now walks among His gathered people.

    This transforms our understanding of church. We do not gather to honour an absent founder. We gather to meet with a present King. Every act of worship is shaped by His nearness. For seekers, this is an invitation: the church is not merely a historical remembrance. It is a living space where Jesus continues to make Himself known.

    The Presence That Holds Us Together

    Jesus’ presence is not only comfort — it is power. It is how the church endures in a broken world.

    Matthew shows this in Jesus’ instructions for dealing with relational conflict among believers. If someone sins, Jesus gives a process for pursuing restoration: private conversation, then witnesses if needed, and ultimately the church. He affirms that what His church binds or releases on earth is recognised in heaven — and He immediately reminds them of His presence.

    This is crucial. Jesus is present even in difficult moments — not only in worship but in messy situations where sin, hurt, and misunderstanding threaten to tear relationships apart. His presence gives wisdom, conviction, and grace so that reconciliation is possible.

    Human communities often fracture because we cannot fully heal wounds or overcome deep hurt. But Jesus sustains His church with a power we do not possess on our own. Because He is present, forgiveness, healing, and unity become possible.

    For believers wounded by church conflict, this offers hope: Christ has not abandoned His people. He remains at work, even when relationships feel strained.
    For seekers, it is honesty: the church is imperfect, yet it endures because a perfect King keeps it.

    Even here, Matthew shows that Jesus’ presence among His people is not merely comforting; it is empowering. Earlier, when He sent His disciples out, He assured them that they would not speak on their own when they faced pressure or opposition. In those moments, the Spirit of their Father would speak through them (Matthew 10:19–20). His presence therefore comes to His people by the Holy Spirit — giving wisdom, courage, and the words they need. The King does not merely stay near; He actively strengthens His church from within.

    The Presence That Carries the Mission

    Matthew ends with Jesus commissioning His disciples to make disciples among all nations — baptising and teaching them to obey everything He has commanded. It is an enormous task. They were few, ordinary, and about to face significant opposition.

    But Jesus closes Matthew’s Gospel with a promise: He will be with His people until the end of the age.

    This promise is not occasional or conditional. His presence is constant and lasting — for as long as His mission continues.

    This is what makes the mission possible. The church does not go into the world relying on human innovation or relevance. It goes with the authority and presence of the risen King. He opens hearts, builds His church in every culture, and sustains His people across generations.

    This is why the church has endured opposition, persecution, and cultural upheaval for two millennia. The church survives because Jesus is with His people, always.

    For believers, this brings relief: the weight of the mission does not fall on personal ability. We obey, but Jesus builds.
    For seekers, the endurance of the global church is itself evidence — despite countless attempts to destroy it, it stands because Christ holds it.

    What This Means for Us

    Because Jesus is present with His people:

    • The church is not a human organisation trying to preserve a memory.
    • When we gather, we truly meet with Him.
    • When conflict arises, He guides, convicts, and restores.
    • When we go on mission, we go with a King who never leaves.

    This gives profound security. The church will not fail because its King cannot fail.
    It also offers a clear invitation. The God who rules heaven and earth is not distant. He is near, active, and inviting people into His family.

    The King Who Never Leaves

    Jesus is the King who does not save from a distance.
    He saves — and He stays.

    • He builds His church
    • He is present wherever His people gather
    • He sustains His people through every struggle
    • He guarantees the future of His mission

    What holds the church together is not human strength, creativity, or organisation.
    It is the unseen presence of Jesus — the living King who never leaves His people.

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  • More Than a Crowd. Matthew 4 of 7

    More Than a Crowd. Matthew 4 of 7

    Jesus’s Call to a New Community.

    Welcome back to “The King and His Kingdom,” our seven-part journey through the Gospel of Matthew. In the first three parts, we have encountered Jesus as the promised King—the fulfilment of ancient hopes, the One who extends God’s rescue from Israel to all nations.

    Now a deeply personal question emerges: What happens when we respond to His invitation?

    We live in an age of unprecedented connection, yet profound isolation. The human heart aches for belonging, for community, for family. We were not made to be alone.

    Many imagine faith as something private and individual—a quiet arrangement between the soul and God. But Matthew reveals something far richer. When Jesus calls people to Himself, He does not gather scattered individuals. He forms a family.

    This is the heart of Part 4: To follow Jesus is to belong—to Him, and to His people.

    The Open Invitation.

    Every family has a doorway. For the family of Jesus, that doorway is His invitation in Matthew 11:28:

    “Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

    The only qualification is need.

    Jesus does not call the strong, the sorted, or the spiritually impressive. He invites the exhausted—those carrying burdens too heavy to bear, those who have reached the end of themselves. This is astonishing grace. To enter His rest, we do not first make ourselves worthy. We simply come.

    Notice the invitation is not to a system, a philosophy, or a set of rules, but to a Person: “Come to Me.” Jesus Himself is the source of rest. He offers what no religion, achievement, or human effort can provide.

    This new community begins not with accomplishment, but with welcome. Not with status, but with need. Not with perfection, but with honesty. Every member stands on the same ground: all come weary, all receive grace. This shatters our ideas of self-sufficiency. The family of God is built not on our strength, but on our shared need for His mercy.

    For anyone seeking, this is breathtaking news. You do not have to fix yourself to be welcomed. You are invited in your weariness.

    From Crowd to Called.

    Early in Matthew’s Gospel, large crowds follow Jesus. They listen, marvel, and press close. But as His ministry unfolds, something shifts. Jesus begins calling individuals to walk with Him—to learn, to leave old lives behind, to share life together.

    A gentle distinction forms: the crowd listens; the disciples belong.

    As these disciples follow Jesus from village to village, they are shaped together—not only by His words, but by shared experience. This prepares them for a moment when Jesus reveals the new reality He is bringing into existence.

    The Called-Out Ones.

    At Caesarea Philippi, after months of walking with Jesus, Peter makes the great confession: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

    Jesus responds with a profound promise in Matthew 16:18: “On this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

    This is the first time the word “church” appears in Matthew’s Gospel. The word Jesus uses is ekklesia—a Greek term that does not describe a building or an event, but a people. A called-out assembly.

    We are the ekklesia: the called-out ones.

    This is the core idea. God is calling people out of isolation, out of the kingdoms of this world, and into a new spiritual family. This family is not defined by bloodline, nationality, or social standing. It is defined by one thing: faith in Christ. We are a family built on the shared confession that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of the living God.

    Three truths emerge from Jesus’s promise:

    Jesus Builds. “I will build My church.” The church does not begin with human initiative. It is His work. He gathers, He forms, He sustains. This is an incredible comfort. The community we belong to is not held together by our feeble efforts but by the power of the King Himself.

    It Belongs to Him. “My church.” This family carries His name. Its identity is rooted in Christ—not in heritage, ability, or accomplishment.

    It Will Stand. “The gates of Hades will not overcome it.” Even the powers of death and darkness cannot destroy what Jesus establishes. This family has a divine guarantee.

    We belong not because we hold tightly, but because He does. This speaks directly to our need for belonging. We are not merely admirers of Jesus; we are members of His household. To be a Christian is to be part of a “we.”

    A Family with a Mission.

    This new community is not called to be an inward-only fellowship. Jesus gathers—and then He sends.

    After His resurrection, the King gives His family their purpose in Matthew 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

    The invitation of Matthew 11 becomes the commission of Matthew 28. Those who have found rest now extend that rest to others. Those who have been welcomed now welcome.

    This connects everything. The new community of faith is the very instrument God uses to accomplish His global rescue plan. Following Jesus is not a solo activity, because the mission He gives us is not a solo mission. We are called to go together, to make disciples together, to baptise new members into this family together.

    This is not work for isolated believers. Jesus gives this commission to His gathered disciples. It is communal work—obeyed together, lived together, shared together. We grow by supporting one another. We persevere by encouraging one another. We reach the world by going together.

    The church is both the fruit of the mission—new people welcomed—and the instrument of the mission—disciples making disciples. Christ builds His family; His family carries His invitation to the world.

    Belonging in a Restless World.

    Loneliness wears many faces. It can settle in a crowded room. It can linger in a busy life.

    Jesus meets that ache with Himself—and with His people. He calls the weary to rest. He calls the lost into His household. He calls the alone into communion.

    This means we are not meant to carry our burdens alone. We are not meant to struggle alone, grow alone, or serve alone. Faith is never merely “me and Jesus.” It is “Jesus—and us with Him.”

    To follow Christ is to step into a shared life. A life of encouragement, prayer, learning, forgiveness, patience, and mission. In this family, every believer receives a place. No one is unnecessary. No one is forgotten.

    For seekers, this family welcomes you. The Church is not a museum for saints but a hospital for all who know they are weary and burdened. It is a place to belong.

    For believers, this is a vital reminder. Do not try to live this life alone. You were not meant to. You have been brought into a new spiritual family. The fellowship of the ekklesia is not optional; it is the God-designed context for your faith, your rest, and your mission.

    More Than a Crowd.

    Jesus calls us into something deeper than interest or admiration. He forms a spiritual household.

    A family that begins with invitation: “Come to Me.”

    A family built on confession: “You are the Messiah.”

    A family held secure by the One who builds it: “I will build My church.”

    A family sent with purpose: “Go and make disciples.”

    What an astonishing King—who not only saves us, but adopts us, gathers us, and calls us His very own family.

    Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

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