Do Good to Zion

Psalm 51: 18 says : "Do good to Zion in Your good pleasure, build up the walls of Jerusalem."   Here the Psalmist reminds us that it is God who builds HIs Church.   He requests that God would be gracious and merciful to His Church.  It is God's good pleasure to fill His Church will love, to build it up in love, forgiveness, and the peace that surpasses all understanding.   Jesus says that He will build His Church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.   Jesus is speaking about the Christian Church, the Church Catholic.   In our day and age when we see churches closing and the Church losing its influence in society, it is good to be reminded of God's promise.   We tend to rationalize and think that the Church can only move forward and succeed due to our planning, efforts, and works.   But God reminds us that He alone builds the Church.   And so we pray that God will continue to build His Church, rooted in the teachings of the Apostles and Prophets (the Word of God, the Bible), so that the Spirit will be living and active in and through the Word.   May God so grant to the Church, and each congregation, the refreshment and life of the Holy Spirit, leading people to Christ, through the preaching and teaching of the Word, and the use of God's Sacraments.