I WAS GLAD!

I WAS GLAD!

Ps 122:1

1 I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord .

          I was talking with my daughter yesterday and we were discussing the curiosity of so-called “home churches.” Like home-schools, the kind and quality of these widely vary. I think there are some inherent problems associated with home churches.

          The first thing that comes to mind is that there is no accountability. There is none to challenge my theology or my behavior. The doctrines and practices of the church are determined by me and a few family members. Unless the leader is well read, and unless he or she stays tenaciously in the Bible, things become stale. A congregation provides accountability.

          A church aids doctrinal purity and practice although denominations have divided these into recognizable differences. Without a church, orthodoxy fails. Communion may lose its meaning and baptism is transformed by convenience. Purpose is lost and mission is fuzzy.

          A church provides fellowship! This is the sense in which David said “I was glad.” The word means “to cheer up!” Church provides a time and place where disconnected believers can come together for mutual encouragement and corporate worship. These are things that cannot be done singly. They are enhanced by community.

          A church provides a place for ministry! The poor are aided, widows encouraged, and the downhearted are lifted. The lost are challenged and the gospel is sent to missionary lands. This all takes place within the community of believers. The community is stronger than any individual effort.

          A church provides for corporate worship. David said, in verse 4, that all the tribes go to give thanks unto the name of the Lord! Singing in harmony takes place in the church community. This is the very reason people “go” to church. Church is a little bit of heaven on earth.

Ps 46:4-5

4 There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

Lord, today is another Sunday and soon I will be meeting with others to worship you. I’m glad! AMEN