Christ is the foundation on which the church is built.

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“By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care.”
1 Corinthians 3:10 New International Version

Many stories are told about the Hotel St. Cloud in Canon City, Colorado but one of the most intriguing tales is how it came to rest at the corner of 7th and Main St. You see, this is not the original location of the hotel. The hotel was first erected fifty miles west, in Silver Cliff, Colorado. Unfortunately, silver prices plummeted shortly after the hotel was built.

Canon City, Colorado

In 1887 the hotel was torn down brick-by-brick, placed on wagons, hauled the short distance to Westcliffe, placed on a train and rebuilt at its current location. It’s one thing to build a structure one time, it is another to tear it down and rebuild it a second time. Talk about building with care.

Just as it must have taken careful planning to rebuild the Hotel St. Cloud, so it takes careful planning to build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ. Paul understood that he was merely laying the foundation for the Corinthian church. He proclaimed Jesus Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23) and other leaders helped built upon that foundation.

The foundation of the Christian community never changes. It’s always Jesus Christ crucified and resurrected. Paul calls us to be careful how we build on this foundation. Our blueprints don’t come from within us, how we think we should build, but from the Scriptures which always rest on Jesus.

This church, founded on Christ, is a place of refuge for broken people. It’s a sanctuary in which God desires everyone to find rest. The purpose of the church is not to draw attention to the people whom God uses to build it, but to minister to people who would be lost without him.

May we take care how we build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ and impact the world with the message of his saving grace.

Text and Picture Copyright Douglas P Brauner