When you hear the term ‘church’ these days rarely is it connected with the terms magnificence, message, or mission. For the past couple of weeks, as I have thought and prayed over Pillar Community Church, these three terms continue to cross my mind and heart. For my next few blogs I would like to flesh these terms out and consider the biblical data relevant to each.
Let's start with a story. The day is Sunday, November 21, 2010. For my family it would begin and end like the many Sundays that had gone before. I would get up far earlier than the rest of my tribe and head out to my office around 5:30 a.m. I would then spend the next three hours in prayer and study. I would seek the Lord's face and call out for Him to lead me toward Him as I sought to lead His church in the normal practice of weekly worship. By the time night would fall I would be the first among my tribe to give up my resistance to my body's plea for sleep. Yes, I would surrender to the daily rhythm of God's 8-hour Sabbath a bit early and extend it a few minutes longer, as I had done many times before.
Though this day would begin and end like many other Sundays it would be lived out in a vastly different way! On the one hand this day would bring with it the joy of celebrating baptism with our Westside Family! We would gather around the pool behind our office (on an unusually cold day!) and I would descend into the pool and baptize new believers “in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.” We would watch as family members videoed this blessed event and saints all around shared in joyous hugs, cries, laughter, and an occasional “WooHoo.” Among my best memories in this life, the baptisms hold pride of place. This one would be among my top three as I would have the blessing of baptizing our youngest child, Hayla Noel. I had also baptized my two older sons at previous times in the safe confines of our Westside family and, to this day, each are stand out memories in my life.
A few brief hours later we would travel about 100 miles south and meet with a group of folks to cast vision, discuss, and dialogue about a new church plant. This new church plant had been on our hearts and minds for months. We (Melissa and I) believed the Lord was leading us to undertake this new work in the Vero area. I stood that evening in the midst of around 30 people - some old friends and many new faces. I did my very best to share from my heart and honestly answer every question asked that night. I left that night very much wondering - wondering what in the world God was up to and who it would be that He would invite to join me and my family on this amazing journey.
Fast forward to present time. This Sunday, the 13th at 9:00 a.m., Pillar Community Church will launch our first official service of Worship at the Majestic Theater off U.S. 1 in Vero Beach, FL. Westside Community Church will continue to practice a string of worship services that date back to 1987. They will gather, as they have for the last 16 years at 1937 Lakeville Road in Apopka, FL. We will gather in two separate places, with two separate groups of people, in two separate and distinct areas. But do not be fooled - we will gather as One Magnificent Church in worship of One Awesome God! In fact, Pillar and Westside do not share this distinction alone. We share it with thousands of other congregations across our state, nation, and world. Whoever will gather in the name of Jesus the Christ and pay him homage as Lord of all creation shares this magnificent family distinction with us!
The Apostle Paul says it this way in I Timothy 3:14 - 15, "I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth." In these two passages alone there are three distinctions that I would argue give the church her 'magnificence.'
First, Paul calls us God's household. In other words, we are His family. Pretty amazing that God would decide to include me in his family. Most of us these days spend much of our time trying to determine who 'not' to include in our family (or who we would like to exclude). God has determined to call His family, in which we have been included, his 'household.' In other words, all believers are children of God and as such we are part of the same family, no matter where we may gather to worship His name and pay Him homage! Ephesians 2 reminds us that we who were once strangers have not only found a 'country' in which we are citizens, but we have found a family in which we are members. Simply magnificent!
Secondly, we are not only a 'household' or 'family' but we are a family of the 'living God.' There is no imagery of dead wood here, but a powerful presence. Our God is alive and active in life and creation and we, as family members, have the privilege of bearing witness to His glory in a world that is pretty much dead! In fact, throughout the Scriptures this phrase is closely accompanied by God's presence and, in some respects, is a synonym for His presence in life of believers when we gather as His family! We are not family members in a household of death, but of life. This reality forms our entire identity as a people. Our God is not a victim of a Roman Cross or a Jewish tomb. Rather He is victor over both. He is, indeed, victor over sin and death itself! His is a 'living God.' Simply magnificent!
Lastly, we are told that we are a 'Pillar and buttress' of the truth. This 'third' magnificent characteristic is actually the chief in Paul's order here as he begins to bridge our magnificence to the message we carry. Another way to say this is that we, the 'household of the living God' are charged with both protecting and promoting His truth in life and creation. The message we carry is God's truth. The truth, in Paul's writings is used as a synonym for the 'Gospel,' which is our message and will be the content of my next blog. But let me help us understand this third characteristic of magnificence in its context. Paul is writing a young leader, pastor and elder in a church that is contending for the truth that was handed down through the Apostles and Prophets. He wants them, and us, to understand that the church is only the church to the degree that we protect and promote God's truth in the midst of life and creation! It is a humbling and amazing reality to think that God has invited you and I into this enterprise of protecting and promoting the truth. Simply magnificent!
That great day in November is very quickly becoming further and further removed from the present moment. In my life, however, it will forever be a day when God showed me the magnificence of His church. His church is not contained by boundaries nor is it challenged by transition or attack. His church, the One for whom He died, is Magnificent and He invites you and I to participate in it and enjoy the tremendous benefits of family life in His good grace!
Join us this Sunday morning at 9:00 to taste of this ‘magnificence’ first hand! If you choose not to ‘gather with Pillar,’ then please find a ‘household of the living God’ in your community and experience the magnificence of His people there!
Grace and Peace!
Biz
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