Is the church important? Maybe a better question is, “Is the church important to you?”
I hear a lot about the church from people. Things like:I can be saved without the church.
Answer: NO!
Romans 10:14-15
How can people have faith in the Lord and ask Him to save them, if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear, unless someone tells them? And how can anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord? The Scriptures say it is a beautiful sight to see even the feet of someone coming to preach the good news.
Paul asks how can a person be saved unless they hear about Jesus. Well, they can’t. Who are the people who will tell others - the church. Paul also asks how will anyone tell them without being sent by the Lord. And how will the Lord send them. Biblical He will do it through the church. So without hearing about Jesus you can not be saved and it will be the church, the people of God who will do the telling.
I can be a Christian without the church.
Answer: NO!
Acts 2:41
Those who accepted Peter’s message were baptized. God brought about three thousand people into the community on that day.
The people who accepted Peter’s message were baptized into what? - the church. The community they became a part of that day was the church. There is no concept anywhere in the New Testament of a person being a Christian without the church.
Imagine with me a newborn baby and a day after he or she is born that baby is then left to fend for themselves in the world. What would happen to that baby? The baby would die. God does not birth people into the Kingdom and not provide a community, a family to love and support them. He doesn’t do that because He knows without the church Christians would not survive.
I can follow Jesus without the church.
Answer: NO!
Ephesians 5:23
The husband is the head of his wife as Christ is the Head of the church. It is His body, and He is its savior.
Trying to follow Jesus without involvement in His church is like trying to follow a disembodied head. We are members of the Body of Christ. As a hand or foot or ear or nose need all the other parts because without them we can’t follow the Head, Jesus.
God’s Ideal for the Church Our Actual Practice
Church is a spiritual necessity Church is optional
Interdependence valued Individualism valued
Spirituality happens in community Religion is private
Active involvement in the culture Aloof from the real world
All people accepted Segregation practiced
Authentic behavior Hypocrisy
Our calling is not to transform the church. Our calling is to live as the transformed church.
Who is the church?
Ephesians 1:22-23
And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as Head over all thing to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
The church is the Body of Christ. The hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth, lungs, kidneys, liver, spleen, and heart of Jesus in the world today.
Being the Body of Christ shows the unity of the church in its diversity.
John 10:16
There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them too; they will listen to My voice, and they will become one flock with one Shepherd.
The church is God‘s Sheep. Sheep depend on the shepherd to care for them and protect them.
The church as the Sheep of God show that we are dependent on Jesus, our Shepherd.
John 1:12
But to all who have received Him - those who believe in His name - He has given the right to become God’s children.
The church is the Children of God.
We surrender ourselves as slaves to God and He elevates us to be His precious children.
The church being the Children of God shows the position we have with the Father and the Son. We are dearly loved children, but God is always the sole authority in our lives. It also shows the fact that the church, as God’s children, need to grow. We need to mature and multiply.
1 Corinthians 3:9
For we are both God’s workers. And you are God’s field. You are God’s building.
The church as the Building of God is joined together by Jesus.
Paul shares that truth with us in Ephesians 2:21. He says, “In Him the whole structure is joined (bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to raise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, consecrated, and sacred to the presence of the Lord].”
The church as the Building of God reflects the strength we have in Jesus.
2 Corinthians 11:2
I am as concerned about you as God is. You were like a virgin bride I had chosen only for Christ.
The church is the Bride of Christ.
God wants His church, His bride to be holy, clean, radiant, stainless, with no wrinkles or blemishes.
Paul expresses this truth in Ephesians 5:26-27. He says, “To make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without satin or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
The church being the Bride of Christ shows the intimacy that we have in our relationship with Jesus.
Matthew 16:18
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
Peter, the rock, confesses that Jesus is God and on the truth of that confession Jesus will build His church, the boulder, and nothing, not even the powers of hell will be able to overcome it.
Notice Jesus does not say that individual Christians could not be overcome by the powers of hell, Jesus said His Church would be overcome by any power.
The Greek word translated church in the New Testament is Ekklesia. It means the Called Out Ones. This is a word reflecting community. The church is a community of people who have been called and who have said yes to following Jesus. They are different, set apart. Their set-apartnes is not because they are so good, talented or holy, but because of the One who did the calling - Jesus. He is good, perfect, and holy. The church is the Called Out Ones because Jesus has called us into a relationship with the Father.
One of the marks of the church is to be fellowship. Acts 2:42 says, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
The Greek word for fellowship in the New Testament is kiononia. It means participating in community. The church is to be a community that participates and relates with each other and the world.
Following Jesus is personal (no can do it for you), but it is not private. Following Jesus is to be done in community and the community that Jesus has established to do that is the church.
Among church people (people who go to church) I hear this statement alot: I love my church.
Then here is what we as “church going” people need to do, prove our love for the church.
Love is shown by involvement. If we love the church we will be participating in community to share the love of Jesus with each other and the world.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is not about going to church. It is about Being The Church.
With and As the Church Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, February 23, 2014
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Worshiping the One and Only God
There are many, many, many, gods.
Examples:
Greek Mythology has about 33 gods at various levels
Roman Mythology has about 20 gods
Hinduism has three major gods and millions of minor gods
Christianity teaches that there is ONE God.
1 Corinthians 8:6
For us there is only one God - our Father. All things came from Him, and we live for Him. And there is only one Lord - Jesus Christ. All things were made through Him, and also were made through Him.
Ephesians 4:6
And one God and Father of all who is over all, through all, and in all.
The Bible makes it very clear from Genesis to Revelation that there is ONE GOD!
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
God created, not gods created.
Revelation 1:1 says, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show His servants - things which must shortly take place. He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.”
It is again God not gods and the use of singular pronouns such as Him and His.
The Bible is also very clear that there is only one way to God and that is JESUS.
1 Timothy 2:5
There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only one who brings us to God. Jesus was truly human, and He gave Himself to rescue all of us.
John 10:30
I and the Father are one.
Jesus is the only way to God because He is God.
Who is this One and Only God? The Bible gives us many names, titles, and descriptions of God. I want to focus on two.
God is KING.
1 Timothy 1:17
Worship and glory belong forever to the eternal king, the immortal, invisible, and only God. Amen
As King, God is due worship and glory.
God is SAVIOR.
Jude 1:25
To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
As Savior, God is due glory, majesty, power, and authority.
How then do you serve the One and Only God as your King and Savior?
I believe the answer to that is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
It says, “If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
First you serve God as King and Savior by acknowledging God’s ownership of you, body and spirit.
Malachi 2:15
Has not the one and only God made you? You belong to Him body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
Serving God as your King and Savior has to begin with you acknowledging that God has the right to control your life and letting Him exercise His authority in it.
Second, you need to humble yourself before God.
You surrender your life and your will to God. You submit yourself to living God’s way.
1 Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.
You humble yourself before God and cast your destiny on Him so He can do with you want honors Him.
Third, and pray.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Be unceasing in prayer [pray perseveringly].
You need constant connection and communication with the Father.
Next, seek God’s face.
You have to desire God more than the things of God, more than the works of God and more than the blessings of God.
In Philippians 3:10 Paul says, “I want to know Christ and to experience the power of His resurrection, to share in His sufferings and become like Him in His death.”
Paul wanted to know Jesus and experience His presence more than he wanted to receive the blessings of God. The truth is that the biggest blessing God gives us is God Himself.
Lastly, to turn from their wicked ways.
You and I have to repent. We have to turn away from sin and turn to God.
Repent or repentance is used over sixty times in Scripture.
Repentance is essential so that our sins can be wiped away and we can experience God’s refreshing presence.
Acts 3:19
Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
Also we have to remember that repentance is not just for those who have never surrendered their lives to Jesus. Repentance is not a one time thing. We should be in a constant state of repentance.
Revelation 3:19
I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn from your sins.
So when you serve the One and Only God as King and Savior as God commands in 2 Chronicles 7:14 what does God promise?
He promises to HEAR.
1 John 5:14-15
And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He gives us what we ask for.
He promises to FORGIVE our sins.
1 John 1:9
But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from everything we’ve done wrong.
He promises to HEAL our land.
Isaiah 53:5
He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sin; He endured punishment that made us well; because of His wounds we have been healed.
Worshiping the One and Only God who is King and Savior is not a:
Duty
Burden
Punishment
Worshiping the One and Only God who is King and Savior is a:
Privilege
Freeing Experience
Delight
Allowing God to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls lets Jesus be:
Real in your life
Powerful in your life
In Control in your life.
When Jesus Raises the Roof and Removes the Walls God will be your King and Savior.
With The One and Only God Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Examples:
Greek Mythology has about 33 gods at various levels
Roman Mythology has about 20 gods
Hinduism has three major gods and millions of minor gods
Christianity teaches that there is ONE God.
1 Corinthians 8:6
For us there is only one God - our Father. All things came from Him, and we live for Him. And there is only one Lord - Jesus Christ. All things were made through Him, and also were made through Him.
Ephesians 4:6
And one God and Father of all who is over all, through all, and in all.
The Bible makes it very clear from Genesis to Revelation that there is ONE GOD!
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
God created, not gods created.
Revelation 1:1 says, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave Him to show His servants - things which must shortly take place. He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John.”
It is again God not gods and the use of singular pronouns such as Him and His.
The Bible is also very clear that there is only one way to God and that is JESUS.
1 Timothy 2:5
There is only one God, and Christ Jesus is the only one who brings us to God. Jesus was truly human, and He gave Himself to rescue all of us.
John 10:30
I and the Father are one.
Jesus is the only way to God because He is God.
Who is this One and Only God? The Bible gives us many names, titles, and descriptions of God. I want to focus on two.
God is KING.
1 Timothy 1:17
Worship and glory belong forever to the eternal king, the immortal, invisible, and only God. Amen
As King, God is due worship and glory.
God is SAVIOR.
Jude 1:25
To the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.
As Savior, God is due glory, majesty, power, and authority.
How then do you serve the One and Only God as your King and Savior?
I believe the answer to that is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
It says, “If My people who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My Face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
First you serve God as King and Savior by acknowledging God’s ownership of you, body and spirit.
Malachi 2:15
Has not the one and only God made you? You belong to Him body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.
Serving God as your King and Savior has to begin with you acknowledging that God has the right to control your life and letting Him exercise His authority in it.
Second, you need to humble yourself before God.
You surrender your life and your will to God. You submit yourself to living God’s way.
1 Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.
You humble yourself before God and cast your destiny on Him so He can do with you want honors Him.
Third, and pray.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Be unceasing in prayer [pray perseveringly].
You need constant connection and communication with the Father.
Next, seek God’s face.
You have to desire God more than the things of God, more than the works of God and more than the blessings of God.
In Philippians 3:10 Paul says, “I want to know Christ and to experience the power of His resurrection, to share in His sufferings and become like Him in His death.”
Paul wanted to know Jesus and experience His presence more than he wanted to receive the blessings of God. The truth is that the biggest blessing God gives us is God Himself.
Lastly, to turn from their wicked ways.
You and I have to repent. We have to turn away from sin and turn to God.
Repent or repentance is used over sixty times in Scripture.
Repentance is essential so that our sins can be wiped away and we can experience God’s refreshing presence.
Acts 3:19
Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.
Also we have to remember that repentance is not just for those who have never surrendered their lives to Jesus. Repentance is not a one time thing. We should be in a constant state of repentance.
Revelation 3:19
I rebuke and punish all whom I love. Be in earnest, then, and turn from your sins.
So when you serve the One and Only God as King and Savior as God commands in 2 Chronicles 7:14 what does God promise?
He promises to HEAR.
1 John 5:14-15
And we are confident that He hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases Him. And since we know He hears us when we make our requests, we also know that He gives us what we ask for.
He promises to FORGIVE our sins.
1 John 1:9
But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from everything we’ve done wrong.
He promises to HEAL our land.
Isaiah 53:5
He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sin; He endured punishment that made us well; because of His wounds we have been healed.
Worshiping the One and Only God who is King and Savior is not a:
Duty
Burden
Punishment
Worshiping the One and Only God who is King and Savior is a:
Privilege
Freeing Experience
Delight
Allowing God to Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls lets Jesus be:
Real in your life
Powerful in your life
In Control in your life.
When Jesus Raises the Roof and Removes the Walls God will be your King and Savior.
With The One and Only God Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Worshiping in the Temple of Me
God knows that on the day you eat from it, you will see clearly and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Genesis 3:5
Eve wanted to be God!
The vice-regents and governors conspired together and then went to the king and said, “King Darius, live forever! We’ve convened your vice-regents, governors, and all your leading officials, and have agreed that the king should issue the following decree: For the next thirty days no one should pray to any god or mortal except you, O king. Anyone who disobeys will be thrown into the lion’s den. Issue this degree, O king, and make it unconditional, as if written in stone like all the laws of the Medes and the Persians.” King Darius signed the decree. Daniel 6:6-9
King Darius saw himself as God!
In both of these situations a thought was presented to the people involved. The thought was, Why Serve? You Need To Rule!
The enemy wants to get you and me to serve and worship anything but Jesus. He keeps bombarding us with the idea that somehow God is the usurper and I am the true ruler of my life. Instead we need to see ourselves as the usurper and Jesus as the true God.
In the movie Rudy a character named Father Cavanaugh shares with Rudy some great truth. He says, “Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have come up with two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I am not Him.”
That is true, but it forces us have to choose because I know there is the Lord God, the Master of all Creation. I also know there is me, the pretender to the throne.
I have to choose WHO I will worship: Jesus or me?
In my brokenness I feel a pull to worship me.
Why do we feel pulled to worship at the Temple of Me?
Proverbs 19:22
What a person desires is unfailing love, better to be poor than a liar.
We want more than anything else to be LOVED.
In an effort to fill that deep, God given need to be love we look to:
Food
Money
Sex
Success
Achievement
Marriage
Family
Religion.
None of these things are wrong or evil. They are not sinful. In fact they are all gifts from God.
The problem develops when we do what Paul talks about in Romans 1:25: “They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God’s creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.”
We worship the gift not the Giver.
We worship the creation not the Creator.
We worship the thing not the Person.
When we worship in the Temple of Me it leads to three things that make our lives miserable and lead to an eternity separated from Jesus.
The first thing worshiping in the Temple of Me leads to is ARROGANCE.
Ezekiel 28:2
Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: In your arrogance you say, ‘I’m god. I sit on God’s throne in the sea.’ But you’re only human and not a god, although you think you are a god.”
An example of this kind of arrogance is Samson. He suffered disgrace, torture, and death because of his pride and arrogance.
The second thing worshiping in the Temple of Me leads to is INSECURITY.
James 1:6
But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.
Insecurity means that we have to try and build ourselves up so that others will think we are important so that they can convince us of our importance also.
An example of this type of insecurity is King Nebuchadnezzar. In Daniel 4:27, Daniel rebukes Nebuchadnezzar for his wickedness. In the very next verse, verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar looks at the city of Babylon and all that he has built and accomplish and begins to praise himself. He talks about his power and his majesty, not God’s. He ignores Daniel’s warning and experiences God’s wrath.
The third thing worshiping in the Temple of Me leads to is DISSATISFACTION.
In Ecclesiastes 1:8-10, Solomon is expressing how bored he is with life. He whines about there being nothing new. Solomon see everything in life as old and boring. Maybe that is why he had so many wives.
Solomon’s dissatisfaction with life led him to become dissatisfied with God and to pursue other gods. This ultimately brought about the kingdom of Israel being divided into two nations.
So where then does worshiping in the Temple of God lead?
First, it leads to TRUST & REJOICING.
Psalm 13:5
But I trust in Your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation.
Second, it leads to NOT BEING SHAKEN.
Psalm 21:7
For the king trusts in the Lord, through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.
Third, it leads to COMFORT.
Psalm 119:76
May Your unfailing love be my comfort, according to Your promise to Your servant.
Fourth, it leads to THE SILENCING OF MY ENEMIES.
Psalm 143:12
In Your unfailing love, silence my enemies, destroy all my foes, for I am Your servant.
Fifth, it leads to SATISFACTION.
Psalm 90:14
Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Notice that when we worship in the Temple of God we receive what we want most, His unfailing love, which then brings some many other blessings to us.
So how do we move from worshiping in the Temple of Me to worshiping in the Temple of God?
God tells us how and the awesome results in Hosea 10:12. It says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love, break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you.”
We sow righteousness.
We remove the idols, false gods from our lives.
We seek God.
The Result:
God gives us a crop of steadfast love.
God rains down righteousness.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls means we make Jesus and only Jesus our God.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls means we let King Jesus sit on the throne of our lives and rule as our Absolute Sole Authority.
The Question: Will I worship God and find my true place in His creation, the place God has arranged for me? Or will I worship me and decide I can somehow do what no one else in all of history has done, come up with a better plan for my life than my Creator?
One choice leads to a life, temporary and eternal, of being satisfied.
One choice leads to a life, temporary and eternal, of being dissatisfied.
YOU CHOOSE!
Worshiping Jesus Not Joe Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Eve wanted to be God!
The vice-regents and governors conspired together and then went to the king and said, “King Darius, live forever! We’ve convened your vice-regents, governors, and all your leading officials, and have agreed that the king should issue the following decree: For the next thirty days no one should pray to any god or mortal except you, O king. Anyone who disobeys will be thrown into the lion’s den. Issue this degree, O king, and make it unconditional, as if written in stone like all the laws of the Medes and the Persians.” King Darius signed the decree. Daniel 6:6-9
King Darius saw himself as God!
In both of these situations a thought was presented to the people involved. The thought was, Why Serve? You Need To Rule!
The enemy wants to get you and me to serve and worship anything but Jesus. He keeps bombarding us with the idea that somehow God is the usurper and I am the true ruler of my life. Instead we need to see ourselves as the usurper and Jesus as the true God.
In the movie Rudy a character named Father Cavanaugh shares with Rudy some great truth. He says, “Son, in 35 years of religious study, I have come up with two hard incontrovertible facts: there is a God, and I am not Him.”
That is true, but it forces us have to choose because I know there is the Lord God, the Master of all Creation. I also know there is me, the pretender to the throne.
I have to choose WHO I will worship: Jesus or me?
In my brokenness I feel a pull to worship me.
Why do we feel pulled to worship at the Temple of Me?
Proverbs 19:22
What a person desires is unfailing love, better to be poor than a liar.
We want more than anything else to be LOVED.
In an effort to fill that deep, God given need to be love we look to:
Food
Money
Sex
Success
Achievement
Marriage
Family
Religion.
None of these things are wrong or evil. They are not sinful. In fact they are all gifts from God.
The problem develops when we do what Paul talks about in Romans 1:25: “They gave up the truth about God for a lie, and they worshiped God’s creation instead of God, who will be praised forever. Amen.”
We worship the gift not the Giver.
We worship the creation not the Creator.
We worship the thing not the Person.
When we worship in the Temple of Me it leads to three things that make our lives miserable and lead to an eternity separated from Jesus.
The first thing worshiping in the Temple of Me leads to is ARROGANCE.
Ezekiel 28:2
Son of man, tell the ruler of Tyre, “This is what the Almighty Lord says: In your arrogance you say, ‘I’m god. I sit on God’s throne in the sea.’ But you’re only human and not a god, although you think you are a god.”
An example of this kind of arrogance is Samson. He suffered disgrace, torture, and death because of his pride and arrogance.
The second thing worshiping in the Temple of Me leads to is INSECURITY.
James 1:6
But when you ask Him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind.
Insecurity means that we have to try and build ourselves up so that others will think we are important so that they can convince us of our importance also.
An example of this type of insecurity is King Nebuchadnezzar. In Daniel 4:27, Daniel rebukes Nebuchadnezzar for his wickedness. In the very next verse, verse 28, Nebuchadnezzar looks at the city of Babylon and all that he has built and accomplish and begins to praise himself. He talks about his power and his majesty, not God’s. He ignores Daniel’s warning and experiences God’s wrath.
The third thing worshiping in the Temple of Me leads to is DISSATISFACTION.
In Ecclesiastes 1:8-10, Solomon is expressing how bored he is with life. He whines about there being nothing new. Solomon see everything in life as old and boring. Maybe that is why he had so many wives.
Solomon’s dissatisfaction with life led him to become dissatisfied with God and to pursue other gods. This ultimately brought about the kingdom of Israel being divided into two nations.
So where then does worshiping in the Temple of God lead?
First, it leads to TRUST & REJOICING.
Psalm 13:5
But I trust in Your unfailing love, my heart rejoices in your salvation.
Second, it leads to NOT BEING SHAKEN.
Psalm 21:7
For the king trusts in the Lord, through the unfailing love of the Most High he will not be shaken.
Third, it leads to COMFORT.
Psalm 119:76
May Your unfailing love be my comfort, according to Your promise to Your servant.
Fourth, it leads to THE SILENCING OF MY ENEMIES.
Psalm 143:12
In Your unfailing love, silence my enemies, destroy all my foes, for I am Your servant.
Fifth, it leads to SATISFACTION.
Psalm 90:14
Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
Notice that when we worship in the Temple of God we receive what we want most, His unfailing love, which then brings some many other blessings to us.
So how do we move from worshiping in the Temple of Me to worshiping in the Temple of God?
God tells us how and the awesome results in Hosea 10:12. It says, “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love, break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you.”
We sow righteousness.
We remove the idols, false gods from our lives.
We seek God.
The Result:
God gives us a crop of steadfast love.
God rains down righteousness.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls means we make Jesus and only Jesus our God.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls means we let King Jesus sit on the throne of our lives and rule as our Absolute Sole Authority.
The Question: Will I worship God and find my true place in His creation, the place God has arranged for me? Or will I worship me and decide I can somehow do what no one else in all of history has done, come up with a better plan for my life than my Creator?
One choice leads to a life, temporary and eternal, of being satisfied.
One choice leads to a life, temporary and eternal, of being dissatisfied.
YOU CHOOSE!
Worshiping Jesus Not Joe Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Worshiping at the Temple of Love
If you asked the average American what is the greatest kind of love, the answer most given would be:
The Love Between a Husband and Wife
Or
The Love Between a Parent and Children
Or
The Love of Family.
For Example:
7 out of 10 people say Christmas is about family.
21% of all books of fiction sold are romance novels.
More songs and movies about romantic love than any other theme.
In 2012 survey 2 out of 3 people involved in church said that love of family was the single most important thing in their lives.
Look at what God says in Jeremiah 31:3: “The Lord appeared to them from a distance. I have loved you with a love that lasts forever. And so with unfailing love I have drawn you to Myself.”
No one else loves me like that.
No one else loves you like that.
The story of Jacob and Rachel and Leah in Genesis is very interesting. It is a picture of why romantic love cannot totally satisfy us and why we need God’s love.
The story is that Jacob falls in love with Rachel and works seven years for the right to marry her.
In Genesis 29:20 we see the depth of Jacob’s love for Rachel. It says, “So Jacob served for seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.”
Wow, that is Hallmark sappy!
But in the very next verse, Genesis 29:21, Jacob says, “Give me my wife that I may go into her, for my time is complete.”
Not so Hallmark.
But Laban, Rachel’s father, decided that it would not be proper etiquette to give Rachel, the young daughter, in marriage before her older sister Leah got married. So Laban made a switch and gave Leah to Jacob as his wife. When Jacob figured it out it was too late. They were married and so he agreed to work another seven years to get Rachel as his wife.
Leah was unloved by Jacob and she knew it. She pursued ways to make Jacob to love her.
The names she gave her sons reflect her deep desire to earn Jacob’s love.
The first son was Rueben which means the Lord has seen my misery. Leah was feeling and living as a victim.
The second son was Simeon which means I am not loved so God gave me another son. Leah is desperate.
The third son is Levi which means my husband will become attached to me. Leah was doing all she could to get Jacob to love her.
But then a change occurs in Leah. She names her fourth son Judah. Judah means Praise the Lord. Leah stops seeking to get Jacob to love her and seeks God’s love.
Leah realized that even if Jacob suddenly realized that he loved her that would not satisfy her need to be loved. Only God’s love fills up the hole in our lives.
Another great thing about God’s love is that you don’t have to earn it. God loves you. He loves you all the time. He loves you no matter how you act. He loves you not based on you, but based on Him.
Then in Genesis 22 we have the story of Abraham and Isaac.
God tells Abraham to go and sacrifice his son Isaac. Isaac was the most precious thing in Abraham’s life. He was his only son. He was the son of the Promise. He was the son that God had promised and through whom God would fulfill everything He had told Abraham would happen.
So what was Abraham’s response? - FAITH!
Abraham showed faith by obey God quickly.
Abraham showed faith by telling his servants that he and Isaac would go worship and they both would return.
Abraham showed faith by telling Isaac that God would provide the sacrifice.
Abraham showed faith by putting Isaac on the altar.
God will always ask you to replace what you love most with Him. God will ask you to sacrifice ANYTHING that may come between you and Him.
God says in Exodus 20:3: “You must not have any other god before Me.”
God says in Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and mother.”
God says honor your parents, but WORSHIP ME.
In Mark 12 Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment. Jesus’ answer in verse 31 is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Jesus indicates that loving God must come before loving anyone else.
In Matthew 12 Jesus is told that His mother and brothers have come to see Him. Jesus is in a house teaching His disciples. In verses 48 through 50 we read Jesus’ response to that message. He says, “Who is my mother, and who are brothers? And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus elevates our connection by faith with our connection by biology. He is basically saying that Jesus’ blood connects us with each more strongly than human blood does. Following Jesus is what our marriages and families are to center around.
Jesus tells His disciples a truth in Luke 14:26 that must have rocked their world. He says, “You cannot be My disciples, unless you love Me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot follow Me unless you love Me more than you love your own life.”
Jesus makes it very clear to be a true disciple and follower of His, we have to love Him more than we love our parents, our spouse, our children (even our grandchildren), and even our own life.
Jesus in Luke 12:31 says that we are to seek His kingdom and then trust Him to provide what we need. We are to trust Him to provide not only the physical things of life but also the love we need.
Jesus is to be our IDENITY.
In Acts 17:27-28 Paul says, “He has done this so they would look to God, somehow reach for Him, and find Him. In fact, He is never far from any one of us. Certainly, we live, move, and exist because of Him.”
We are not to identify ourselves as the world does. We are to see ourselves as who we are in Jesus.
In 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 Paul talks about who God is and how we can relate to Him. He says, “Even if there are so-called “gods” whether in heaven or on earth, and even though there are many of those “gods” and “lords,” yet there is only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and though whom we live.”
God is Creator so we relate to Him as His creation.
God is Father so we relate to Him as His children.
God is Lord so we relate to Him as His servants.
Jesus is to be our EVERYTHING.
When Jesus is our everything He makes us holy and gives us joy.
Acts 2:28
You will teach me how to live a holy life. Being with You will fill me with joy.
When Jesus is our everything our life is in Him and we receive all that He has promised to give us.
Colossians 3:3-4
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with Him.
Worshiping in the Temple of Love with its gods of Romantic Love and Family will lead to:
Heartache
Disappointment
Depression
Those gods lead there because they can not fill up our need for love. You and I were created to be filled up with God’s love and no other love no matter how good, healthy, and big can fill us up. Those gods also lead there because their love is not perfect and God’s love is perfect and according to 1 John 4:18 perfect love drives away fear.
So Worshiping in the Temple of God, making Jesus your God leads to:
Hope
Completeness
Joy
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is allowing nothing, no matter how good it may look and feel, to come between us and God’s love for us. Nothing hindering us from loving God with all that we are.
The Temple of Love or The Temple of God - YOU CHOOSE!
Centered on Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
The Love Between a Husband and Wife
Or
The Love Between a Parent and Children
Or
The Love of Family.
For Example:
7 out of 10 people say Christmas is about family.
21% of all books of fiction sold are romance novels.
More songs and movies about romantic love than any other theme.
In 2012 survey 2 out of 3 people involved in church said that love of family was the single most important thing in their lives.
Look at what God says in Jeremiah 31:3: “The Lord appeared to them from a distance. I have loved you with a love that lasts forever. And so with unfailing love I have drawn you to Myself.”
No one else loves me like that.
No one else loves you like that.
The story of Jacob and Rachel and Leah in Genesis is very interesting. It is a picture of why romantic love cannot totally satisfy us and why we need God’s love.
The story is that Jacob falls in love with Rachel and works seven years for the right to marry her.
In Genesis 29:20 we see the depth of Jacob’s love for Rachel. It says, “So Jacob served for seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.”
Wow, that is Hallmark sappy!
But in the very next verse, Genesis 29:21, Jacob says, “Give me my wife that I may go into her, for my time is complete.”
Not so Hallmark.
But Laban, Rachel’s father, decided that it would not be proper etiquette to give Rachel, the young daughter, in marriage before her older sister Leah got married. So Laban made a switch and gave Leah to Jacob as his wife. When Jacob figured it out it was too late. They were married and so he agreed to work another seven years to get Rachel as his wife.
Leah was unloved by Jacob and she knew it. She pursued ways to make Jacob to love her.
The names she gave her sons reflect her deep desire to earn Jacob’s love.
The first son was Rueben which means the Lord has seen my misery. Leah was feeling and living as a victim.
The second son was Simeon which means I am not loved so God gave me another son. Leah is desperate.
The third son is Levi which means my husband will become attached to me. Leah was doing all she could to get Jacob to love her.
But then a change occurs in Leah. She names her fourth son Judah. Judah means Praise the Lord. Leah stops seeking to get Jacob to love her and seeks God’s love.
Leah realized that even if Jacob suddenly realized that he loved her that would not satisfy her need to be loved. Only God’s love fills up the hole in our lives.
Another great thing about God’s love is that you don’t have to earn it. God loves you. He loves you all the time. He loves you no matter how you act. He loves you not based on you, but based on Him.
Then in Genesis 22 we have the story of Abraham and Isaac.
God tells Abraham to go and sacrifice his son Isaac. Isaac was the most precious thing in Abraham’s life. He was his only son. He was the son of the Promise. He was the son that God had promised and through whom God would fulfill everything He had told Abraham would happen.
So what was Abraham’s response? - FAITH!
Abraham showed faith by obey God quickly.
Abraham showed faith by telling his servants that he and Isaac would go worship and they both would return.
Abraham showed faith by telling Isaac that God would provide the sacrifice.
Abraham showed faith by putting Isaac on the altar.
God will always ask you to replace what you love most with Him. God will ask you to sacrifice ANYTHING that may come between you and Him.
God says in Exodus 20:3: “You must not have any other god before Me.”
God says in Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and mother.”
God says honor your parents, but WORSHIP ME.
In Mark 12 Jesus is asked what is the greatest commandment. Jesus’ answer in verse 31 is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Jesus indicates that loving God must come before loving anyone else.
In Matthew 12 Jesus is told that His mother and brothers have come to see Him. Jesus is in a house teaching His disciples. In verses 48 through 50 we read Jesus’ response to that message. He says, “Who is my mother, and who are brothers? And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Jesus elevates our connection by faith with our connection by biology. He is basically saying that Jesus’ blood connects us with each more strongly than human blood does. Following Jesus is what our marriages and families are to center around.
Jesus tells His disciples a truth in Luke 14:26 that must have rocked their world. He says, “You cannot be My disciples, unless you love Me more than you love your father and mother, your wife and children, and your brothers and sisters. You cannot follow Me unless you love Me more than you love your own life.”
Jesus makes it very clear to be a true disciple and follower of His, we have to love Him more than we love our parents, our spouse, our children (even our grandchildren), and even our own life.
Jesus in Luke 12:31 says that we are to seek His kingdom and then trust Him to provide what we need. We are to trust Him to provide not only the physical things of life but also the love we need.
Jesus is to be our IDENITY.
In Acts 17:27-28 Paul says, “He has done this so they would look to God, somehow reach for Him, and find Him. In fact, He is never far from any one of us. Certainly, we live, move, and exist because of Him.”
We are not to identify ourselves as the world does. We are to see ourselves as who we are in Jesus.
In 1 Corinthians 8:5-6 Paul talks about who God is and how we can relate to Him. He says, “Even if there are so-called “gods” whether in heaven or on earth, and even though there are many of those “gods” and “lords,” yet there is only one God, the Father, who is the Creator of all things and for whom we live; and there is only one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things were created and though whom we live.”
God is Creator so we relate to Him as His creation.
God is Father so we relate to Him as His children.
God is Lord so we relate to Him as His servants.
Jesus is to be our EVERYTHING.
When Jesus is our everything He makes us holy and gives us joy.
Acts 2:28
You will teach me how to live a holy life. Being with You will fill me with joy.
When Jesus is our everything our life is in Him and we receive all that He has promised to give us.
Colossians 3:3-4
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ (who is your life) appears, then you too will be revealed in glory with Him.
Worshiping in the Temple of Love with its gods of Romantic Love and Family will lead to:
Heartache
Disappointment
Depression
Those gods lead there because they can not fill up our need for love. You and I were created to be filled up with God’s love and no other love no matter how good, healthy, and big can fill us up. Those gods also lead there because their love is not perfect and God’s love is perfect and according to 1 John 4:18 perfect love drives away fear.
So Worshiping in the Temple of God, making Jesus your God leads to:
Hope
Completeness
Joy
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is allowing nothing, no matter how good it may look and feel, to come between us and God’s love for us. Nothing hindering us from loving God with all that we are.
The Temple of Love or The Temple of God - YOU CHOOSE!
Centered on Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
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