By John Thiel

We are to remind ourselves why we are in the church and why we should be part of a church. Why we are going through the experiences we are going through in all our various circumstances? What is happening to me? What is happening to us? Before we became connected with the church many of us had a carefree life of enjoyment. We didn’t pay so much attention to the things we did wrong because we didn’t even know how wrong we were.

The church is the theater of his grace, in which he delights in making experiments of mercy on human hearts. The Holy Spirit is his representative, and it works to effect transformations so wonderful that angels look upon them with astonishment and joy. Heaven is full of rejoicing when the members of the human family are seen to be full of compassion for one another, loving one another as Christ has loved them. The church is God’s fortress, his city of refuge, which he holds in a revolted world. Any betrayal of her sacred trust is treachery to him who has bought her with the precious blood of his only begotten Son. {PH154 18.2}

We are reminded that the church is the theatre of his grace or the operating theatre, his hospital in which he delights in making experiments on human hearts. Read the rest of this entry →