It’s easy to be drained of joy these days. All you have to do is exist.
But for God’s people, there is regular joy that is to be regularly had. One of the preeminent
places for this is in a biblical local church. None of us would dare say that any local church is
thoroughly utopian. Even so, it is a place where joys are to be uniquely experienced.
Here are a few joys we get to experience by immersing ourselves in God’s kind of local church:
1. The joy of knowing that the head of the organization is the greatest Person in the
universe, the Lord Jesus Christ.
As impressive as many organizations, nations, and empires have been, none of them can
lay claim to Christ as their Sovereign Head (Eph. 1:22).
2. The joy of being in the one institution which Christ promised to build and bless.
No matter the discouragements we experience in the church, Christ is always actively
building her as he sees fit (Matt. 16:18).
3. The joy of doing what God wants me to do.
When I immerse myself into a biblical local church, I can be comforted that I am in the
will of God (Heb. 13:17).
4. The joy of being a part of something that is way bigger than me.
No organization has, or ever will have, the human-heaven-time expanse like the true
church of Christ (Matt. 16:18, Eph. 3:10). Chronologically, she is the longest existing
organization, having been planned in eternity past and continuing into eternity of future
(Eph. 1:4-5). Sociologically, she is the most diverse organization, made up of every tribe,
language, people, and nation (Rev. 5:9).
5. The joy of understanding how obvious it is that God’s power is behind the church.
By design, the church is comprised of the not-mighty (1 Cor. 1:26-31). Yet very powerful
things continue to happen through us, mere broken, weak sinners. A power superior to
man’s is obviously at work.
6. The joy of not being able to ruin the church.
Since the church’s existence did not originate with, nor depend upon (1 Cor. 3:7), me, I
can’t do anything to destroy it (Matt. 16:18).
7. The joy of being protected from ruining myself.
In God’s kind of a local church, there is the comfort knowing that all of his loving
prescription will be carried out on me should I toss myself into sin (Matt. 18:15-17, Heb.
3:12-14).
8. The joy of having safeguards against hell.
Similar to #7, the local church has been delegated unique and unequalled care to expose
the unregenerate church goer to their deception and the power of the saving gospel (Matt.
18:15-17, 1 Tim. 4:16, 1 Pet. 5:2-3).
9. The joy of hearing from God, not man, regarding all things needed for life and godliness.
Since the church is delegated with preaching God’s word, I can be comforted knowing
that I am regularly receiving his direction and input from the local men charged with the
task (2 Tim. 4:2).
10. The joy of plunging into the depths of the Bible together.
As the “pillar and support of truth” (1 Tim. 3:15), the local church is charged with
upholding and proclaiming biblical doctrine. Consequently, much of life together
involves the pleasure of feasting on doctrinal truth (1 Tim. 4:13-16).
11. The joy of men in leadership who God wants to be there.
In a biblical local church, the men on the leadership team are qualified to be there by the
grace of God, through the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives (1 Tim. 3:1-7, Titus 1:6-9, 1
Pet. 5:2-3).
12. The joy of regularly gathering unto our Head, Christ.
The church is such a big deal, that we get to weekly assemble to both celebrate and grow
in the Lord Jesus Christ (Heb. 10:24-25).
13. The joy of knowing that I will be held accountable to live with biblical integrity.
The local church is charged with loving one another enough to nudge each other to match
our profession in Christ with our practice in life (Gal. 6:1-3, 1 Pet. 5:2-3).
14. The joy of being around people who understand that I am a sinner with remaining sin.
Fellow sinners saved by grace in the church are neither surprised nor taken back when I
am not perfect (Matt. 5:3).
15. The joy of knowing that I can safely and honestly confess my sin to others in the local
church.
Every true member of the church knows, and is humbled by, the Spirit-empowered
knowledge that we are sinful to the core (Matt. 5:3-4, 6). Knowing that, we can come to
each other to experience God’s grace of honest confession with one another.
16. The joy of experiencing progressive conformity into Christ’s likeness when we know it is
otherwise impossible.
Part of what it means that Christ is blessing the church is that he is transforming all her
true members into his image (Rom. 8:29, Phil. 2:12-13).
17. The joy of being with a people who share Christ’s sincere interest in your well-being.
Though the church needs to grow in love this side of heaven, nevertheless, there is God’s
kind of love experienced from her members that is otherwise unexperiencable (1 John
3:14).
18. The joy expending investing ourselves in something that will last forever.
Though we can struggle to remember it at times, even the smallest investments of my
time, money, resources, skills, and giftedness in and for Christ’s Bride matter for all
eternity (Matt. 6:20, 25:14-21, 1 Cor. 3:14, 2 Cor. 5:10).
19. Comfort of having a people who bring God’s kind of care to me in suffering.
Because Christ indwells her, and he sympathizes with our weaknesses, it is no surprise to
experience facets of his love in our most difficult times (Rom. 12:15, Heb. 2:18, 4:15).
20. The joy of being around a people striving for excellence in life, yet not for selfaggrandizement, but for Christ’s pleasure.
Both by the power of the Holy Spirit in us, and the example of church members around
us, we are moved to do all things for God’s glory (1 Cor. 10:31).
21. The joy of seeing God’s supernatural power on display.
In God’s kind of a church, the miraculous is visible all around us; things that only God’s
power and accomplish (Phil. 2:12-13). For example, the miracle of salvation; seeing
people who hated Christ come to love, honor, and proclaim him. The miracle of
transformed lives in sanctification. The miracle of true humility in a soul. The miracle of
sacrificial service for Christ and one another. The miracle of men being raised up into
leadership from the ashes of brokenness.
22. The joy of the diversity created and used for unity.
In just about any local church, there is significant diversity; an assortment of skills,
temperaments, backgrounds, giftedness, and more. It’s a joy to watch the Holy Spirit use
all of these to exalt the one Lord, Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 12:7, 20).
23. The joy of knowing that the disappointments in the church’s members will be perfected
in God’s timing.
It’s amazing to think that Christ would build his Bride from the stock of humanity. That
amazement plays out in real discouragement we sometimes experience in light of each
other’s remaining imperfection. But soon, his Bride will shine in her garments of pure
holiness (Eph. 5:27, Phil. 1:6, Rev. 19:7-8).
24. The joy of knowing that opposition will do nothing to hinder the existence and
propagation of the church.
Because her builder is the Sovereign King of the universe, not even earthly kings pose a
threat to the extinction of the church (Matt. 16:18).
25. The joy of knowing of knowing what is to come.
One day, our churches will join with all of God’s churches in heaven to celebrate Christ
in an unimaginably wonderful existence for all eternity (John 17:24, Rev. 22:3-5).
By God’s grace and design, the local church is a place where there is real joy. And though we
will not always experience these joys to the fullness of our liking, for the most part, these are
present for the blessing in God’s local churches.