First of All

Let's see if we can get 1 Timothy 2:1 down pat.

Does Paul exhort Timothy----

First of all make sure that you're at the right...
Church of God or Baptist Church, Christian Church, Catholic Diocese, etc, etc.

First of all make sure that you are preaching the right doctrine.

First of all make sure that your pastor has the proper credentials. After all God sure can't move if your pastor doesn't have an appropriate degree.

First of all make sure that your worship team turns up their instruments so loud that it rattles the windows and the ladies' glass necklaces and ear rings.

First of all make sure that the worship team sings the latest and greatest praise music and their singers imitate the hottest pop singers.

First of all make sure that you divide up into cell groups because that's the latest craze.

First of all make sure that everybody dresses up in suits and fancy dresses.

First of all make sure that everybody dresses down in shorts, baseball caps and flip flops.

First of all have church in the weirdest places like theaters, parks and storefronts.

I trust you know that Paul said none of those things to Timothy. However, to the vast majority of churches these things have the highest priority above the real 'first' thing. That is the reason we are seeing so much turmoil in our land as well as around the world. 

Churches are fighting and breaking up because their congregations, their pastors and their leaders insist on being the 'social event' of the area. People run from church to church trying to find out where they fit in. Or, they keep looking for 'THE CHURCH'.

Paul instructed Timothy in the CORRECT 'first thing'. He said that first of all, instruct the people to pray every way that you can for ALL MEN. Then he gets specific. Pray for the kings and all of those in authority. The reason this is the 'first thing' was so that we could lead a quiet and peaceable life on this earth. If that concept wasn't possible, the Holy Spirit would have never encouraged Paul to write it.

The fact that America is torn apart by different 'hate' groups is irrefutable evidence that the body of Christ is in a backslidden shape. It's not just the recent acts in Charlottesville. It's been going on and getting worse and worse.

Don't even think about blaming President Trump and the Republicans. He inherited a powder keg from Obama and the Democrats. (I hope I've made a whole lot of people mad.) BUT THEN, I can turn back around and say that the reason he inherited these problems is because those that say they believe in God really, really, really don't.

I'm going to go another step further and say something else disparaging to 95% of Christianity. In a sense, the 'so called' body of believers have broken the very first commandment. They have put another gods before the True and Living God. They put the god of complacency, the god of the social club, the god of 'everybody goes there', the god of 'ain't the music great there' and the god of 'I don't have to answer God's call on my life' before God.

The original group that received the Baptism of the Holy Ghost in the book of Acts didn't try every trick in the book to try to fit in. They blatantly pointed the finger of the Holy Ghost and told the priests that they were the ones who crucified Jesus who God raised the dead. They didn't mince words. They didn't try to placate. 

As a matter of fact, the Jewish religious community complained about them that they were trying to turn Jerusalem upside down. But they weren't. They were actually turning the people right side up.

Why did they want to stir up trouble? First of all, they weren't. They were trying to point people to a relationship with Jesus Christ. They got the Holy Ghost gumption from spending so much time in prayer. That's why they appointed the first deacons in the church. To them it was absolutely important that they give themselves over to prayer. Prayer was the 'first' order of business and it was the driving force of the early church.

Apostle Paul with Barnabas and Silas didn't go from place to place because they were trying to get people to join a club. No, they would go into a place all prayed up. Then they would pray for the sick and cast out devils. 

You wanna start a church? That's the way you do it. Get charged up by being one-on-one with the Presence of God until you can feel His Unction commanding you to pray for the sick and cast out devils.

Here's the way that an elder should get up and make the Sunday morning announcements. "Ok, folks, don't forget that Monday and Thursday nights we'll be meeting in various rooms at the church for prayer. The sanctuary will be devoted to prayer for the lost. The prayer warriors that want to intercede for our president will be meeting in the choir room. Those that want to intercede for our military and our police officers will be meeting in rooms 101 and 205. And those of you that want to focus on revival for the church, just gather outside on the church grounds and feel free to walk around and pray."

And that's the type of church that I am praying God will raise up here in Savannah, Georgia. A no-nonsense, get down to business, devil chasing, body healing, deliverance demanding group of Holy Ghost filled believers that are smart enough to put first things first.