The third stage of the vision: build

Pastor Devon Ortiz preached the third message in the church’s vision series, after Begin and Bless, on the congregation’s last Sunday in its longtime building. Building, he clarified, is not a building campaign; the church is the people, not the property. To build is a life direction, building for God’s glory.

He described what that looks like in practice: looking a little more like Jesus Christ this year than last; a family rooted in the word of God rather than merely in vacations; finances marked by generosity and stewardship; a faithful presence in the house of God that is more than attendance; a witness that points people to God by who you are, not what you know; and building for the long game, for the next generation, not just for what feels good right now.

Building starts with believing God’s promise over your circumstances. In Genesis 15:1 God tells Abram, “Fear not, Abram. I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward.” Abram answers honestly that he is childless and his blessing will die with him (verses 2-3). God takes him outside, points to the stars, and promises descendants beyond counting, and verse 6 says Abram “believed in the Lord and it counted to him for righteousness.” Pastor Ortiz noted that the Hebrew root behind “believed” is the word from which we get “amen”; Abram simply said amen to a future he could not see. Building requires the faith to construct what only God has placed in your heart.

Wait on God’s timing, or someone else pays for it. In Genesis 16, Abram and Sarai grow impatient and manufacture their own version of the promise through Hagar. Pastor Ortiz observed that the word “restrained” in verse 2 means God had held off, not closed the door; He was still growing them. The result was Ishmael, and pain that spread to everyone: Hagar, the child, and Abram himself, who later had to send them away (Genesis 21). Culture and what is commonly done, he warned, is never a substitute for God’s will, and you always pay for it. He quoted F.B. Meyer: “Ishmael is always the child of our impatience; Isaac is always the child of God’s faithfulness,” and the two cannot occupy the same house.

God builds through covenant, not capability. In Genesis 17, when Abram is ninety-nine, God renames him Abraham and promises Isaac through Sarah. A hundred year old man fathering a child is a biological impossibility, and that was the point: God gave the promise out of His own faithfulness, not Abraham’s ability. Pastor Ortiz cited Martyn Lloyd-Jones: “God’s covenant does not rest on our faithfulness to him, but on his faithfulness to himself. That is the only foundation that does not crack.” If God has called you to something beyond your strength, you cannot do it on your own, but trusting Him, you will.

Hold everything God gives with an open hand. In Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to offer Isaac, the very promise he had waited for. Abraham rose early, did not argue, and told his servants, “I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you” (verse 5), speaking in the plural because he trusted God would keep His word. Pastor Ortiz drew the distinction: everything God gives us, our family, finances, gifts, reputation, and the church, is an Isaac; the things we build on our own are Ishmaels. The moment an Isaac becomes the point instead of God, we have stopped building for His glory and started building for ourselves.

Building outlasts you

Abraham never entered the promised land or saw what God would do there, yet his foundation let generations after him live in it. Pastor Ortiz closed by pressing the question home: what are you building, and for whom? If you are building for yourself, are you willing to let it go? Building for God’s glory will outlast your lifetime; everything else is an Ishmael.