Text: 1Timothy 3:14-15 (KJV)
“These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly; But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.”
The local church is the pillar and ground of truth set in the earth by God. When the local church is removed, truth will be removed. The entire New Testament is a story of building and sustaining the local church. Look at any nation that has forced the church of Jesus Christ underground and you will find, communism, genocide, civil war and military coups ravage that nation.
When we talk about truth we mean absolutes. We mean truth given by Jesus Christ, truth that is intended to govern the heart, minds and actions of mankind.
What can you expect when attending a church service? You can expect to meet God personally. You can expect the presence of God to come upon you and overtake you.[1] You can expect the peace of God that surpasses all human understanding to take hold of your mind, for agitating thoughts to stop and peace to settle upon your heart.[2] You can expect the joy of the Lord to fill you. You can expect to become so happy you might look and find yourself lifting your hands in praise to Jesus Christ. [3] You can expect to become so thrilled with excitement and overtaken with emotion that you may begin to run, yes run and dance in the local church service![4] Wow! One may say, “This is crazy. This is emotionalism. This is wrong.” But I ask you, “ Is it wrong to be happy? Is it wrong to be thankful? Is it wrong to be so excited you cannot contain your love for God?”
Maybe you have never been bound by addictions for thirty years and been delivered by the power of God in a moment in a church service. Maybe you have never been completely healed of an affliction that plagued you for over twenty years. Maybe you have never needed your marriage restored but when you experienced God’s restorative power in one moment you began to shout, dance, and rejoice like never before. Welcome to the local church!
What can you expect at church? You can expect healing to come upon your physical body where pain, disease and sickness once ravaged you.[5] You can expect to experience the genuine love of God![6] God’s love is far more than just an intellectual experience. It is a real love that overtakes your heart, your feelings and your emotions. Think about it, haven’t you felt fear, anger, jealousy and strife? Why do we think it is normal to experience these negative emotions yet when we talk about experiencing God’s love, power or presence we imply this is strictly by faith? I think not, friend, every feeling and every emotion in your body God wants to saturate with His glorious presence! In the presence of God is fullness of joy![7]
My prayer is that we will treasure the local church and each person in the local church as much as those men and women who labored and laid their lives down to establish it.[8]
His,
Pastor Scott
[1] Mark 1:21-26
[2] Philippians 4:7