The Temple - Brad Gwartney
2/23/2017
And when the priests came out of the Holy Place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. 1 Kings 8: 10-11
What would it be like to see God literally fill a church? For the Jewish people of the mid-10th century, this was an everyday reality. The temple was so much more than a building. It was where they worshiped and celebrated festivals. It was where they offered sacrifices for the atonement of their sins. On top of all that, this was where the glory of God literally dwelled.
Imagine that you lived during this time and you had the opportunity to see all of this. How passionate would you be about that temple? The Scriptures clearly show us how passionate they were. Solomon went to great detail describing how he built the temple. No expense was too great to ensure that God’s temple was befitting His glory. Many thousands of people worked together to build the very structure we can still see today. They were proud of what they constructed and Solomon was proud to see it to completion.
As a believer in Christ, we know that we, “are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in,”* us. When someone becomes a believer in Christ we should celebrate with the same passion and zeal as the Jews did when the glory of the Lord filled the temple. It needs to be something we celebrate continually and work diligently to make sure everyone can make that same step of faith.
That said, we also can see our church building as a sort of modern-day temple. Our sanctuary is a place that we come to meet with God in the corporate setting of His Body each week. Our church might not be adorned with gold, limestone blocks, or cypress timbers like Solomon's Temple, but we should make sure our campus looks nice especially as we get closer to celebrating the Holy Week leading up to Easter. That is why, this week, we started painting the building. We want to make sure that our church building reflects the awesomeness of the Lord we worship. So, for the next couple of weeks, you will see new paint going on the walls of all the exterior surfaces and the hallway, lobby, and restrooms in the Worship Center. We hope that as people drive by they don’t just see a building but a place that reflects the passion we have for what God is doing in all of us and through this church. Please pray for the painters’ safety and if you see them on campus, try and go out of your way to show them the love of Christ. You never know the difference you could make!
*: 1 Cor. 3:16, ESV.
Imagine that you lived during this time and you had the opportunity to see all of this. How passionate would you be about that temple? The Scriptures clearly show us how passionate they were. Solomon went to great detail describing how he built the temple. No expense was too great to ensure that God’s temple was befitting His glory. Many thousands of people worked together to build the very structure we can still see today. They were proud of what they constructed and Solomon was proud to see it to completion.
As a believer in Christ, we know that we, “are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in,”* us. When someone becomes a believer in Christ we should celebrate with the same passion and zeal as the Jews did when the glory of the Lord filled the temple. It needs to be something we celebrate continually and work diligently to make sure everyone can make that same step of faith.
That said, we also can see our church building as a sort of modern-day temple. Our sanctuary is a place that we come to meet with God in the corporate setting of His Body each week. Our church might not be adorned with gold, limestone blocks, or cypress timbers like Solomon's Temple, but we should make sure our campus looks nice especially as we get closer to celebrating the Holy Week leading up to Easter. That is why, this week, we started painting the building. We want to make sure that our church building reflects the awesomeness of the Lord we worship. So, for the next couple of weeks, you will see new paint going on the walls of all the exterior surfaces and the hallway, lobby, and restrooms in the Worship Center. We hope that as people drive by they don’t just see a building but a place that reflects the passion we have for what God is doing in all of us and through this church. Please pray for the painters’ safety and if you see them on campus, try and go out of your way to show them the love of Christ. You never know the difference you could make!
*: 1 Cor. 3:16, ESV.
