MY CHURCH, YOUR CHURCH

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD" (Psalms 122:1). 

Church is good when you've found yours. A lot of the frustrations people encounter in our various houses of worship is because many have not discovered "their own church". I want you to know that God has a specific church for you where He has ordained that you would serve Him and fulfill destiny. Until you locate that place, going to church would be no more than an unexciting religious routine. If you are not glad to go when it's time for church fellowship, something is definitely wrong. Perhaps you've not found your church, the place where God has written your name. 

I need to let you know that it is not every church that can be your church. Not even every good church will be good for you, just as it is not every good woman that can be a good wife for you. Going to church goes beyond the aesthetics of the building, the titles of the pastor and the caliber of the congregants. Going to church is a matter of destiny. This is why I believe that a lot of prayers should preceed your decision to pitch your tent with any particular church. If you are sincere in your desire to walk with God and you are willing to see church as a tool to advance that desire, you would have no problem with this message. 

At this stage, we must distinguish between righteous gladness and carnal rejoicing. I remember a young man who told me of his excitement to attend a particular church because he was sure to find gullible girls who he could fool and sleep with. Others are glad to go to a particular church because they would find business opportunities there. For some others, a particular church caught their fancy because of the physical food that is available there for free. All these may be called carnal rejoicing which would never last. Of course, the temporary nature of these sources of gladness partially explains the high rate of incessant church migration among today's church goers. 

However, there is the joy that comes from the Lord which is not dependent on material things and the padding of human ego. Such joy that the Holy Ghost gives is pure. It is the joy of salvation, the joy of knowing the Lord. It is the joy of a dynamic walk with one's creator, the joy of increasing in the knowledge of God and being fruitful in kingdom service for Him. It is the joy of pleasing the Lord as one gains progressive revelation of the nature of God and the principles of His eternal kingdom. Such joy can only be found in "your church", the place where God has ordained for you to serve Him. 

David experienced such gladness which made him to declare that a day in God's house is better than a thousand elsewhere. Then he added, "I'd rather scrub floors in the house of my God than be honored as a guest in the palace of sin" (Psalms 84:10, The Message). If you are part of a church that is not giving you this type of joy, then you have not found the right place of worship. If the church you attend makes you glad for other reasons apart from the ones enunciated above, you had better "talk to your legs" to take you away from that place because you are yet to find your church, the place where God has ordained for you to serve Him. The house of God must once again become a place where we may find God and experience the fullness of joy because we have found the presence of Him who is the joy of the whole earth.