We had a church building dedication today and Pastor Marvin's sermon was on 1 Chronicles 22, entitled Built for God's Glory.
What I remember from the sermon are (now, I had better get back into the habit of taking sermon notes!) these three points:
(1) Every building has a purpose
The construction of a building always comes with a purpose. The temple of Jerusalem built by King Solomon was obviously for God's glory, to be used by the people to worship God. So must the buildings that we have now.
(2) God is the sole benefactor
Even though a building is made possible by many hands, it is God who makes it possible. Even though Solomon built the temple, it was David who came up with the plans and the materials, and ultimately it was God who directs it. We have had so many blessings pouring in from so many people - in time, labour and resources - but only God made it possible.
(3) Constructing only during peace time
God did not allow David to build the temple. David's time was the time of blood and war. The building of the temple has to be in time of peace. And this I found interesting: Solomon comes from the Hebrew name שְׁלֹמֹה (Shelomoh), which is derived from the Hebrew word שָׁלוֹם (shalom) that means "peace". We have had conflicts and problems before but now in a time of peace, God has blessed us with a new building.
And for that we praise God. To him alone be the glory. Amen.
pearlie
Always interesting how we all are so fixated on buildings when Paul calls us the temple of the Holy Spirit.
ReplyDeleteI think it has to go both ways. As much as we are the temple of the Holy Spirit, it is arranged by God to also have a place to meet together to worship and fellowship.
ReplyDeleteI agree about getting together to fellowship. We read that He is with us when two or three are gathered in his name. My concern is when we project OT imagery of temples and altars on our buildings. After all, God is not present in a building until believers enter it. :)
ReplyDelete"My concern is when we project OT imagery of temples and altars on our buildings."
ReplyDeleteWhat do you mean by this?
Judaism is all about God being in temples, altars and Mosaic Law. Many stream of Christianity seem to have copied those expressions.
ReplyDeleteThe OT is about God's presence in temples and altars and the Laws. What is your stand on the OT?
ReplyDeleteI see God's presence in those things too Pearlie. I also see man's presence in them as well.
ReplyDeleteAlways amazes me how people embrace perfection in the words that are written by imperfect people. For some it is easy to separate flawed character with the writings of such people. Some seem to need an inerrancy of everything written in scripture to see scripture as authoritative and relevant.
For me, I love the OT and the flawed characters in it. I love a man like Moses not because he was a pope like figure who communicated everything perfectly but because he was a man who was after God's heart. I can separate the beautiful from the not so beautiful. I can understand that some of the things he wrote were not from the heart of God but more from the culture he lived in. When I read about the execution of a man who carried wood on the Sabbath, I see the influence of man rather than the influence of God.
Long answer to a short question. Would love to dialog more if you have the time.