Building People, Building the Church, Building the City

Introduction

God doesn't build buildings first. He builds people, He builds His Church, and through His Church, He builds cities. In this Sunday message at Église Hillsong Paris, Brendan White revisits three pillars that sustain the life of a healthy Christian community: building up the people around you, participating in the construction of the Church, and believing that God wants to build cities through those who belong to Him. A simple call to find your place and build alongside others.

Message Outline

1. Building up people

• Brendan shares a memory from his Christian school days: Mr. Solfield, a teacher, gave him a book with a note about everything he could accomplish. A simple word, never forgotten, that shaped an entire trajectory.
• Later, someone pointed him out in a crowd and spoke over his life: "You're going to build the Church, you're going to live in Europe." It wasn't new, but it confirmed what God had already placed in his heart.
• God sees more in us than we see in ourselves. This is true for Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you" (Jeremiah 1:4-7). The young prophet responds that he is too young, that he doesn't know how to speak. We all have our reasons, often legitimate. God, however, sees beyond.
• Blind Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus. People told him to be quiet; he cried out all the more. Jesus called him, healed him, built him up. That is the DNA of a Church: believing in one another and watching people move forward.
• In Luke 5, men carry a paralyzed man on a stretcher. Since the crowd is too dense, they climb onto the roof, break through it, and lower their friend down to Jesus. Building others up sometimes means carrying them to Him, whatever the cost.
• God transformed Saul the persecutor into Paul the church builder (Acts). No one is disqualified in advance. Our words can become the instruments through which God reminds someone that they are loved, accepted, and called to something.
• Building up isn't flattering or inflating egos. It's helping others grow in maturity, know Jesus better, and find their place in a community, a connect group, an evening class.

2. Building the Church

• In 1996, at Bible college in Australia, Pastor Gary Clark asked his students to write down their dream. Brendan wrote: "I want to build a Church in Europe." His teacher, who later became his pastor in London, told him: "You're going to do it with me." Much later, it became a reality in France.
• We don't simply come "to church." We are the Church. Each person has a role to play so that this bride becomes more and more beautiful, brick by brick.
• Jesus said He would build His Church. We want to build what Jesus builds, not our own side projects. He is the foundation; we are the living stones.
• Ephesians 4:16 describes it this way: "From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."
• In 1 Corinthians 14:12, Paul encourages us to eagerly desire spiritual gifts, especially those that build up the Church. Whatever your gift, find the place where it can serve the community.
• Already at twelve years old, Jesus knew why He was there. Found at the Temple, He answered His parents: "I must be about My Father's business" (Luke 2). Knowing our community's mission is what keeps us from losing sight of it through the ups and downs.
• To Peter who confesses "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God," Jesus responds: "Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 16:16-17). Being His Church is a revelation we receive, not just a conviction we give ourselves.
• The early Church was of one heart and one mind. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer (Acts 2). Every day, people being saved were added to their number.

3. Building cities

• Brendan greets the teams he recently met in Lyon and Lausanne. Then he turns his gaze to Paris: a vast city, steeped in history, in which God has placed His Church.
• In Acts 16, Paul and Silas go from city to city to preach the Word and build communities. This movement is not over. It continues through us, wherever we live.
• Jeremiah 29:7 invites the exiles to seek the peace and prosperity of the city where God has placed them, and to pray for it. This is a mandate to bless the city, not just ourselves.
• Making a difference in a city starts right where you are: your family, your company, your workplace, your neighborhood. Every week offers opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus around you.
• There is also the collective dimension of social impact: seeking, this year, a concrete way to serve your city with others, so it bears the marks of a community that loves.
• Matthew 28:19 frames it all: "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 ultimate goal is for people to come to know Christ.

Key Takeaways

• God sees more in you than you see in yourself: accept that others speak life over your life, and speak it over others.
• We don't go to church; we are the Church: every gift has a place to build it up, not just to be displayed.
• Building what Jesus builds protects against distraction: the mission isn't to invent a side project, but to join His.
• The revelation that we are His Church comes from the Father; it doesn't rest on our own strength.
• The city where God has placed you is a field of blessing: start where you are and let God multiply.

Personal Application

1. Who is the "Mr. Solfield" in your life, that person whose simple word left a lasting mark on you? Give thanks, then ask God to whom you can offer the same gift this week.
2. Around you in the Church, who could you believe in more so they can move forward? To whom can you speak a concrete word of encouragement next Sunday?
3. What gifts or skills could you put at the service of building the Church, rather than keeping them to yourself or using them elsewhere?
4. What is the mission you carry as a member of a local community? Do you know it well enough not to forget it during difficult times?
5. Where has God placed you this year (neighborhood, company, school, family)? What small, concrete action can you take to build that city?

Scriptures Referenced

• Jeremiah 1:4-7 - Before I formed you in the womb I knew you
• Mark 10:46-52 - Blind Bartimaeus cries out to Jesus
• Luke 5:17-26 - The paralyzed man lowered through the roof
• Acts 9 - Saul becomes Paul
• Ephesians 4:16 - The body builds itself up in love
• 1 Corinthians 14:12 - Eagerly desire gifts that build up the Church
• Luke 2:41-52 - I must be about My Father's business
• Matthew 16:16-17 - You are the Christ, the Son of the living God
• Acts 2:42-47 - The early Church, one heart and one mind
• Acts 16 - Paul and Silas go from city to city
• Jeremiah 29:7 - Seek the peace of the city where I have sent you
• Matthew 28:19 - Go and make disciples of all nations
• John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son

Further reading

• Bible Verses on Service: 25 Texts for the Church
• Home Group Themes: 30 Ideas
• 50 Social Media Post Ideas for a Church

Frequently Asked Questions

Practically speaking, how do you build someone up without falling into flattery?

Brendan insists on this distinction: building up is not puffing up. It's not telling someone what they want to hear, but speaking what God sees in them. A word of edification has an anchor: it reminds the other person of a capacity, a calling, a work of God in progress. It pushes toward maturity, not polish. The best place to learn this is in an ongoing relationship, a connect group, a team, a friendship within the Church, where you see the other person's life and can accurately name what God is building in them.

Why insist so much on the fact that "we are the Church" rather than "we go to church"?

Because the difference completely changes our posture. Going to church means consuming a service and going home. Being the Church means understanding that you are a living stone placed alongside others, forming together an edifice that Jesus is building. It refocuses the question from "What am I here to get?" to "What am I here to bring, what gift, what presence, what prayer?" Without this awareness, the community hollows out from the inside, even while it continues to run programs.

What does "building a city" mean for an ordinary Christian without a spectacular mandate?

It starts with what Jeremiah 29:7 calls "seeking the peace of the city." Practically, it means praying for your neighborhood, your municipality, your authorities. It also means choosing to serve where you live: your family, your workplace, your neighbors, a nonprofit, a community outreach project. Brendan invites each person to find, this year, a tangible way to do good for their city. Building a city isn't necessarily launching an organization; it's cultivating life around you, week after week, just as the early Church did in the streets where it lived.