Building the House of God

Rise & Build Sunday

Why Build the Church??


Haggai 1
New International Version (NIV)

*Some have a heart for themselves, to build THEIR kingdumb.

It is all about the builders glory (Selfish, self promoting)


it is no better then the sticks and straw it is made of. One day it will fall and it will be as if it never existed


it is build on sinking sand

*Some have been given the desire to build THE Kingdom of God.

It is not about the builders glory but to Glorify the King!

Matthew 6:¹⁹ “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy,and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.²¹ For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.


It is eternal


It is bright


Its is powerful


Healing, Teaching, Salvation, Life Anointing are all found in this House!


It is the House of The Most High God!


Matthew 7:The Wise and Foolish Builders

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

*Building a house on Long Island (Story)

1987 Hurricane Gloria visited Long Island



When you are building the House of the King, every brick has to be the best.
Only the best will do, honor God in Building His house!

The Place

Genesis 28: 16 When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it." 17 He was afraid and said, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."
18 Early the next morning Jacob took the stone he had placed under his head and set it up as a pillar and poured oil on top of it. 19 He called that place Bethel, [f] though the city used to be called Luz.

Here not there, There not here? If you are a numbers crunching kind of person, the difference between one place or another may be insignificant. You could plant a church anywhere and meet the needs of people of that city or town however that is not the attitude needed to plant a church.

Many today view church planting as a mathematical equation, add 10 people + 1 building + 8 crock pots + $$$$ = church planting success.

Jacob says, "How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven."
The place God shows you will be clear, you will know it when you see it. It will be a special place and God will get you there, one way of another, He will show you the city that is a Gateway to heaven.

I am certain that you have a list of places you would like to plant a church, Hawaii, Fiji, Jamaica, Malibu, Sydney, Venice the list could go on, all beautiful and wonderful places. The place God has placed in your heart will become more beautiful then any of these others.

I was absolutely sure I would never move to North Carolina, don’t get me wrong the beaches are amazing and I like to visit the mountains but I could never move to NC. I have lived on Long Island, NY for 40 yrs. and everyone from NY knows that if you move south and you are under the age of 60 you move to NC. In case you are wondering, if you are older then 60 you move to Florida, probably “the Villages”. I thought, “why would I want to move to a new place with the same people?”

In 2003 God began to press upon me to move, many other factors in my life began to support this “feeling”, however family was just starting to settle in to our home on Long Island we lived in a beautiful town near the Northshore, tons of wonderful friends and two great churches we loved and were close to. (Christian City Church, L.I. and Manhattan)
In June 2006 I took a quick trip to Raleigh, NC to check the place out, we moved into our new home in October the same year.
In February 2009 we planted C3 Church, Raleigh, God has a way of revealing a “place” to you.

I have shared this little story of my journey to illustrate that the plans God has for you are bigger and more outrageous than you can imagine, if your heart is set on following God then you will never be disappointed in the places he calls you to. It fact you will fall in love with them.

“The Place” is part of the call of God, it is a much a part of the planning and purpose as the anointing and person who does the planting. Set your heart to hear God heart concerning “The Place”.

No need to stress about the place God has called you, you will know it, its smell, its feel, the people, the atmosphere even the challenges. God has spent your whole life preparing you for that city and that city is waiting for you!

Have an amazing week,
Ps Stephen Alexander

www.c3ral.com

There is no better way to discover if you are called to plant a church or be part of a church plant then to actually jump in to an active plant. If you are thinking about planting a church, I want to extend an opportunity to you to join us for a week and see first hand what goes into this incredible undertaking. If you are a pastor or wanting to be part of a plant, email me or call. It’s an incredible life!

C3triangle@gmail.com
919-355-8305 (yes I will really answer)

Creating Atmosphere

Last time I wrote to you I started to touch on the subject of “Atmosphere”. Today I want to dive a little further into this idea of creating Atmosphere.

It is a good idea for you to go back and read the previous message (Jan 28th) if you have not done so already, to better understand what this message is all about.


1 Corinthians Chapter 2:
1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.


The Apostle Paul writes in his first letter to the Church in Corinth that he knows nothing except Jesus Christ.

Paul knew that he had to set a strong message right up front, “It is all about Jesus!”
Nothing else matters because all things are subject to the authority and power of God.



Creating Atmosphere is really all about you cultivating your relationship with God. Spending personal time in prayer and worship are spiritual food and supernatural steroids to the Christian life. Your relationship with God will develop and your world and everyone you influence will be blessed because of your pushing into God.

Equally important is the removal of the walls and dividers in your life. Look at it this way, from this point forward you are always in church. No matter if you are at work or at home or at a ballgame. You carry the spirit of God with you where ever you go.

You are the church!


Everywhere you go people will know something is different about you, they will be attracted to the Atmosphere that you create because you will be dripping with the spirit of God.

Remember Jesus did not come to condemn the world but to save it, so that should be our goal as well.

Lets stop here this week and let’s try something, and let’s make it attainable. This week commit to spending 3 minutes of uninterrupted prayer time. Find a quiet place where you will not be interrupted and talk to God. Open your heart, pray in the spirit, get excited about all that God is doing in your life, just go for it .
For some of you it will seem like a very small amount of time, that’s OK if you want to spend more time, go for it, BUT for everyone else lets just try for 3 minutes.
Your life will never be the same, your marriage will be better, your family will be stronger, your job will be more rewarding.

While you're praying ask God to fill you with His spirit to overflowing and then let God loose in your world.


Have an awesome week and we will talk again soon.

Be Blessed,
Steve