This is the third of a series of reflections of gratitude on 20 years of ministry at GBC.
I am thankful for the church. But it wasn’t always that way.
When I started seminary, I wanted to teach. Somewhere along the way that changed, though I would be hard-pressed to identify when and where. But at some point I realized that I had been oriented towards a teaching ministry but now I was headed toward church ministry.
And I love the church now like I never have before. What a great gift the church is from Christ to His bride.
The church belongs to the only living God (not a dead, wooden idol of our own making); the church stands as the pillar and support of the truth. That is, we are the primary means of supporting the revelation of the truth of God about Himself in His Word. Paul’s statement is true both generally and specifically: the church at large, the universal church has been decreed by God as the means of upholding God’s truth, and in particular, this specific church is also constituted by God as the pillar and support of the truth. What we do is a means of upholding His truth! What a kindness of God to uphold His truth through this church.
How does God accomplish that reality? God uses His gifted people ministering to one another (1 Tim. 3; Eph. 4) to support His truth.
So when I say that I am grateful for the church, it is not a nebulous statement about an idea generally and in principle. It means that I am thankful for this church in particular. It is in this church that we have forged eternal relationships and sweet fellowship. It is in this church that we (our family) has experienced love and affirmation and correction and counsel and guidance that is familial in every way. It is in this church that we have experienced the sweet fellowship of prayer and instruction and the encouragement of friendship and ministry. We have wept together, prayed together, eaten together, rejoiced together, and given and received gifts — both natural and spiritual — together. In every way, we have experienced the brotherhood of the family of God.
What a gift of grace.
I am thankful not only for the church, but I am thankful that God has directed me to a life of ministry in the church and with this church.
Words of Grace 