A Great Place To Be

Psalm 84:10

A Great Place To Be

Kevin Higgins

Woodlawn Baptist Church

Denison, TX

Sometimes we preach and preach and forget that our churches need to be encouraged and reminded that we as pastors love them. I used this message to tell the church I pastor why I love being their pastor after a busy week of working together on a church garage sale.

INTRODUCTION

I’ll have to admit to you that I had begun to get concerned about what I would preach to you this morning as the demands of the week stole my time away. I thought I would run home and put something together last night, but I had so much trouble unwinding that I didn’t do anything until early this morning.

It was a great week. The revival went well in Sherman, and several of you attended on Monday and Tuesday nights, and our garage sale was a great success. During the sale, a sermon began to form in my mind that I want to share with you this morning. In Psalm 84:10, the psalmist said,

For a day thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.

One day in thy courts, one day in God’s courts, one day in the place where God dwells is better than a thousand days anywhere else! Notice how strongly he feels about it - he says that he’d rather be a doorkeeper, one of the lowest of all the positions…but its not really a low position - its just not a glamorous position. He’d rather have one of the least thankful, least recognized jobs in all the house of God than to be anywhere else doing anything else. Wow! What a testimony to the love of a man for the house of God! What a testimony of a man’s love for God!

Listen, that’s the way I feel. I love being in the Lord’s house. I love doing things here at the church. I love the fellowship of God and of God’s people. One day here is better than a thousand anywhere else. When I say "here," I mean God’s house, because I have felt that way about God’s house most of my saved life. In other words, whether I lived in Mexia or Henderson or here, I love being in God’s house. But listen, I don’t just love being in God’s house, I love this house of God. There is something particularly attractive about our church that makes it a special place for me to be. I don’t mean the building, I mean you, the people, our church. Our church is not the place - our church is us, the members of Woodlawn Baptist Church. This morning I want to share with you some reasons why I love to pastor this church. I also want to share with you some concerns I have for our church, and then I want to conclude by sharing with you some dreams I have for our church.

I LOVE PASTORING WOODLAWN BAPTIST CHURCH...

I have divided the reasons I love our church into two categories. One list of reasons is very generic, while there are some other reasons that are very personal.

BECAUSE GOD IS HERE

How do I know God is here? He said He would be! Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." I love that! There’s lots of great clubs and organizations in the world today. You can be a part of the Lion’s Club, the Boy Scouts, the Veteran’s groups, the City Council or any other club you can name. You can have great purposes for meeting - to save the whales, to save the trees, to help the community’s kids, to build better streets, to make the world a safer place to live - but no matter what the group is or how noble it’s purpose may be, God never promised to be in the very presence of any of those groups except for His churches! He’s not in those places as corporate bodies! But He has promised to be in our presence as one of His blood bought churches!

BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST IS OUR HEAD

Jesus Christ is the head of this place. I’m not the head, the deacons aren’t the head, the body isn’t the head - only Jesus Christ. Ephesians 1:22 - And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church." Ephesians 5:23 - For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church, and he is the savior of the body. Colossians 1:18 - And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.