Sorry. So I have this dream. As a pastor. I’ve only. I’ve almost lived it out once. Um, so I don’t watch. Fake wrestling on TV, but their intro music is so cool. I have this dream of just, I want to have somebody come up with this drum like a bandana, just beating it, and it’ll be my intro music. I’ll come down the middle. It’ll be fun, right? I know that that song was about as close as I’ve felt. Like I’ve gotten there for a minute. All right, you guys know it. You cheered. I mean, there’s something within you. You just want to do it. And I was thinking, you know, um. As we’re moving to this facility, some accidents could happen because this was a bar, you know, God forbid someone might walk in one day and not have heard the big transition that’s taking place. And, and I could walk up one Sunday and say, uh, welcome, welcome to the bar accidentally. Right. And, and and so there’s been this small underlying thinking within our church where people have actually been sending me messages of if if that happened, this is what we really meant instead. And so I just want to share some of these thoughts with you. Okay. So if we accidentally say welcome to the bar or what we mean is welcome to church, okay. And when someone says we bought a bar and now means our church is growing okay. When when someone refers to a bouncer, it’s really it’s really just an enthusiastic, spirit loving greeter at our front door.
Okay. When someone says, I think I need a drink, what they mean is they’ve accepted Christ and they’re ready to be baptized. All right. When someone says. I need some spirits. It means I’m hungry for the spiritual, right? Or if someone says when’s happy hour? Your immediate response should be Sunday at 1030. All right. That was the best one. I should have stopped there. I got this was the last one. If someone asks, where is the bartender? All they’re asking is, when are you guys taking communion? All right, there we go. Uh. Last week, he started a new series called Rethink Church. And it was important for us as a believers to begin that series on Rethink Church by examining one central question to us in our faith and who we are in light of who Jesus is. And that is rethink Jesus. And what is it you think about Jesus? What did the Bible say about Jesus and who is Jesus to us? The simple thought that we carried with us last week is that Jesus is King representing his kingdom. And if you don’t believe me at the end of revelation, I think it’s in chapter 19 and verse six. It paints this glorious picture of Christ. Philippians two tells us that he comes as a humble servant, even even though he’s king. He comes as a humble servant to serve you.
And then at the end of revelation, you get this glorious picture of Jesus riding in on a white horse. And it literally he’s robe is dipped in blood, and he’s got a tattoo on his thigh that says, Lord of Lords and King of Kings. He comes back as reigning king had a youth who used to attend our church, who recently moved and came back. Is that work now? Wonderful. He came back. Um. Or. Excuse me? He didn’t come back. He called me. And he’s at that stage in his life where he’s thinking about tattoos, right? And he he looks up on the internet about tattoos and finds that the Bible says in the book of Leviticus, do not get tattoos and worship of of the dead. I asked him, um, are you worshiping the dead? And he said, no. And then I said, well, you might be interested to know this as you’re battling your theology out as to whether or not you should get a tattoo. Revelation 19 says, Jesus got a tattoo, and so he was blown away. Oh my goodness, he’s got Lord of Lords written on his thigh. Oh, this totally changes my thinking. And I know what you parents are thinking. You want to cover your teenagers ears right now and say, don’t, don’t say that, so I can’t. It’s hard enough right now. They don’t want to write. But this is what I would say to you as parents if you’re going to take the verse literally, it was Jesus who got it.
And if you get the tattoo, you’ve got to put it on your thigh, okay? And it says Lord of Lords. That’s kind of it’s kind of a weird rendition. So to take that literally, it doesn’t happen. But the the importance is what Jesus is displaying in the book of revelation is to say to us, he is King of kings, and he is Lord of lords. And as you begin to get Jesus’s position, his authority, and his place in your life. Correct? The rest of what God desires to do is to work in you and through you, and transform your life. And the place that Jesus has called us to, to gather together, to discover who he is and who we are in light of him, and worship and celebration together and honor of our King is a place we call the church. We worship as a church. And so this morning, as we rethink church, we’ve rethought our our identity of who Christ is and who we are in light of him. But now this morning, we’re going to talk about now what it means to be a part of the church, to rethink the purpose for which Jesus created the church. And from the time of the nation of Israel, God has displayed the importance of a congregational home for worship. Beginning almost 15 centuries before the coming of Christ Jesus took the nation.
Or excuse me, the Lord took the nation of Israel, and he called them to build a place that we refer to as the Tabernacle. Literally says in Exodus chapter 25 and verse eight, build me a dwelling place that I may tabernacle, or I may dwell with the people. Bible describes it as occurring at the time of Moses that God gave the nation of Israel this direction. The. The tabernacle was a makeshift tent like worship facility that they would carry with them wherever they went. It’s sort of like where we’ve been the last 4 or 5 years as a church family. Where’s our new home? I don’t know what will hold us. I don’t know where can we fit? Let’s just go. Moses and the nation of Israel built the tabernacle that the Lord may dwell among them. As the nation of Israel eventually entered into the land of Canaan. God directed King David to begin to gather the materials to build a temple, and under his son Solomon, the temple was built. First Kings. Chapter eight shares with us the dedication of that temple for the nation of Israel. Solomon gathers the people together as the temple was complete. And as the king, he offers a prayer before the Lord on behalf of the people. So text. I just want to share just a little bit with you this morning. We’re not going to dive significantly into it. But it comes in First Kings in chapter eight.
And I got to tell you in reading this text this week and studying what Solomon was saying to the nation of Israel as as he prayed this prayer, there was a lot of emotional thought going on in my mind. We didn’t build something to the magnitude through which Solomon had built. We’ve put a lot of blood, sweat and tears in this place. You can imagine as this king desiring to have this place complete, that the nation of Israel could gather together and worship what this moment was like. And we were laboring last week, Saturday night, up until 2 a.m. we had people here working on this facility so that on Sunday morning we could gather together and worship and and the people that were here, there was not a not a whole lot of time to just stop and think about what God was doing because our we had our noses down and we were just working hard trying to see this building complete. And finally. On a Sunday morning. Somebody came up to me. It was a very tortuous of them. They said to me, you know, today is going to be an emotional release for you. What are you talking about? Well, you’ve been working so hard, you haven’t had time just to sit back and stop and just and just reflect on what God has done. Nah, they said to me, I don’t even know how you’re going to get through the message, because it’s going to be so emotional for you that if you say anything today, it’s going to be miraculous.
Well, maybe, but I don’t, you know, I don’t know. And and we practice our morning music. And I got off the stage and I walked down to the chairs, and the first person I see is from this town who thought about what it would be to have a church in the city and dreamed about a location to worship for the body of believers, and all they said was Hallelujah! And I lost. I just took off out the door and ran into my study and wept like a baby. That released their lust. Do you wonder why I didn’t cry on Sunday morning? I had my time in the in the in the back. Now think about this as I read this text. Just having a home to worship. A place where God’s people gather together to proclaim his name, and the thought of Solomon lifting up his voice in prayer. And this being more than just words, his heart just pouring into this moment. I took this prayer for us, and I’ve I’ve taken out a few things that related to the nation of Israel, and I’ve inserted things to make it relevant to us. You’ll see it in parentheses on the screen. But this is what Solomon said. Then the Lord stood. Excuse me. Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spreading out his hands towards heaven, and said, Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven, above or on earth below you, who keep your covenant of love with your servants, who continue wholeheartedly in your way.
You have kept your promise to us with your mouth you have promised, and with your hands you have fulfilled it as it is today. But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this building which which we have built. Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this building night and day, this place of which you said, my name shall be there, so that you will hear the prayer of your servants. Prayers towards this place. Here are the supplication of your servant and of your people when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven your dwelling place. And when you hear, Lord, forgive. I love the way that Solomon concludes the dedication of this prayer for the nation of Israel. Because the focus that Solomon puts on at the end isn’t necessarily the building, but what God does within the building and the people of God is the Lord moves within their hearts. He says, Lord, forgive God. As we look at this building, we’re thinking about our relationship with you.
And so God, as we call upon your voice in prayer, Lord, forgive. We know as the transition takes place within Scripture between the Old Testament and the new. The purpose of the Old Testament and the temple. The temple was erected to display to the nation of Israel everything that the Messiah would fill fulfill at his coming. As you walked within the temple, you would come to the Altar of Sacrifice and the wash basin, demonstrating to the nation of Israel. Jesus would be the sacrifice for them, and Jesus would be the cleansing for them. You walked into the holy place where the priests could go inside of the holy place. You would see. You would see the burning of incense and the table of bread and the lampstand. Demonstrating to the nation of Israel that God desires to commune with you at your table, and God desires for you to lift up your voice to him in prayer through the incense. And the Holy Spirit will indwell you like fire as the lampstand. And into the Holy of Holies. Was the Shekinah glory. The mercy seat of God, where they would sacrifice once a year an animal and go before this mercy seat and apply his blood. This is where the Shekinah glory, the presence of God was known to the nation of Israel, where he tabernacled among them. And the Bible tells us that Jesus came and he fulfilled all that the temple proclaims for us in Hebrews 8 to 10.
It tells us the story in the three chapters of Jesus fulfilling the demonstration of what the temple was about. And so the Bible tells us. That the temple. Moves from the building. Into the heart of God’s people. John chapter four. The story goes that Jesus visits the woman at the well. In verse 18 she begins to ask Jesus, Jesus, where do we worship you? She was a Samaritan, and the Samaritans had their own place of worship. And Jesus was a Jew from Jerusalem. And the Jews had their own place of worship. And the ladies asking Jesus, Jesus, do we go to the Samaritan temple or do we go to the Jerusalem temple? Jesus which temple do we worship you in? And Jesus says to the lady, he begins to respond to, time is coming. And now is that he who worships me must worship me in spirit and in truth. You will neither worship in Sumeria nor Jerusalem, but in spirit you will gather and worship my name. The temple was a place to see the future promised, fulfilled of Christ and the church as the place to proclaim the finishing work of Christ in our lives. The Bible tells us in those moments that the temple relocated. As Jesus became our sacrifice. It tells us in first Corinthians chapter three and verse 16, first Corinthians chapter six and verse 19, he asks it in the form of the question, I didn’t put the question mark up here, but says, do you not know that you are the temple of God? I’m the Spirit of God.
Dwells within you. The Bible. It’s changed from this location to the temple and now into the church, into the life of the individual. But that didn’t take away from the significance of corporate gathering. It tells us in Hebrews chapter ten, do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together. You know, the interesting thing about the word church that we use within our culture today is that the Bible never says, let’s go to church. You know, the Bible never says. And we went to church today. Because you are the church. The people who gathered together in Jesus’s name. You are the church. Wherever you go, you represent Christ in this world. You are the church. And so when the Bible talks about gathering for church or going to church, it doesn’t mention it that way. It says, and we assembled together, or we congregated among the believers as his church. But they never went to church. Within the first century as Jesus proclaimed his kingdom and his salvation. The Bible tells us that the church began to gather at synagogues, and when the church revolts or excuse me, when the Jews revolted against Jesus and kicked the church out of the synagogues. Very early on, the church began to build buildings for worship because they understood the significance and importance of having a home and having a family where we could gather together and spiritually encourage one another and seek the face of the Lord.
You know, the church isn’t the building. I would say you’re absolutely right. But the building is the place where we can continue to grow and learn and encourage one another. The beauty of the building isn’t the building itself, but it’s what happens within the heart of God’s people as God stirs within us. And so this morning when we talk about dedicating a facility for the Lord, we’re not necessarily dedicating just the building to God. We’re dedicating the people of God as they seek his face, that this building may be used for his glory and goodness as long as the Lord tarries. And so the question I’m going to answer for us this morning. Because what should a church building. Say about the church. What should the church building say about us as a church family? Knowing that Jesus has made this transition from the Old Testament temple to the New Testament church, I would say it’s significant for us not only look at the Old Testament dedication of the Temple of Solomon gave, but to also look at the promises that Jesus talked about when he established this church. One of the biggest promises that I think of in light of Christ comes in Matthew chapter 16 and verse 18. Jesus says this to us in this passage. I say also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
Well, Jesus is saying to Peter. Peter had just been asked, who do you say that I am? And and Peter says, you are the Christ. And this is actually where Peter gets his name, Peter. And Jesus’s response to Peter, he says, he says to him that you are Peter. And he’s saying to, to Peter, Peter, you are this small rock based on your profession, that I am Christ. Peter, you are this small rock. And then he says, upon this rock I will build my church upon this large boulder. Jesus is saying in the Greek text, I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. Jesus is recognizing to Peter that the profession that Peter has made in Christ has established him as a little rock upon this big rock, which is Christ. Peter reflected upon this later in his life and in first Peter in chapter two, he says, we’re all these living stones being built up together in Christ, upon which the foundation is Christ, who is the chief cornerstone on which the building stands. Jesus is sharing us in this verse, and this is the only verse that we’re going to draw to context to this morning. So if you have a Bible, turn to Matthew chapter 16. We’ll follow along as we share within this verse. But we’re going to talk about four promises about what a church building should say about the church.
And the first is this. The church is built upon a promise. When Jesus built the church. He did something that had been different. He built something that was different than had been done in years past. Jesus gives this statement and in his opening remark to Peter, I will build my church. Meaning he’s saying to Peter, Peter, what I am about to do has not been done before, but in the near future I’m about to do this. And what I’m going to do for you is I want you to know that based upon your profession in me, I am going to build this church. Jesus is giving a proclamation of change that’s due to the fulfillment of Christ. In Hebrews nine. It tells us why that could happen for us as believers. It says, but when Christ appeared, he entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation, and not through the blood of goats, but through his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. How much more will the blood of Christ, who is through the eternal spirit, offered himself without blemish to God? Cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God. What is he talking about? Well, Jesus is explaining what’s being explained in Hebrews chapter eight to Hebrews chapter ten is the fulfillment that Christ brought within the temple. And Jesus is being described in this passage of Scripture.
It tells us in chapter eight that when Moses built the temple, what he saw was a picture of something more glorious to come. He saw a picture and a shadow of the heavenly temple in which Christ dwelt. And when Jesus comes upon the scene, he says that in the foreshadowing of the Old Testament temple, Jesus has come and he’s fulfilled all these things, and he’s taken these things up to the new, the New Testament, the the heavenly temple through which he dwells. And his sacrifice has been more than enough. Jesus’s church is built upon a promise. And as Jesus fulfilled his promise through his death, burial, and resurrection, the church has been born. The Bible says this unto him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. Promise is this. When the church was built upon the rock that is Christ, the church throughout all ages would continue to move forward, proclaiming his glorious name. The church is built upon a promise because Jesus is our leader who is faithful to fulfill. He says, I will build my church. The church belongs to Christ. His power has been made known. He has overcome the grave, and he has the power to overcome the grave. He is the power to give you as he has promised. The Bible tells us in Colossians 118, he is also the head of the body. The church is built upon a promise.
And what should a building say about the church? The church lives and the promise that Christ has given us. Second is this. The church is the place where Christ’s power is made known. Look at what Jesus says about the effects that the church will have on this world. And upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades are hell. Will not overpower it. It’s saying to us, the church is a place where Christ’s power is made known. The church is built literally to attack the gates of hell, saying to us as a church, stop worrying about what the world is doing to the church and start worrying about what the church is doing to the world. The picture goes like this. Jesus is having within his mind this word picture for us that this stronghold has been created, this castle, this fortress, and it represents hell. And the church is what Jesus has called into this world, this mobile force built within him upon his promises. And as they approach the gates of hell. Nothing. Can stop. The church is built on a promise. The church is a place where Christ’s power is made known. And so the important thing for us to recognize within this verse. As you look to the gates of hell. I read this verse for myself and I got to say, it’s like that intro song. It just pumps me up. I’m I want, I want my WWF music to come back on.
When I see this, I will build my church. Get the hell are, you know, get big or whatever, I don’t know, it does that for me. Where’s the gate? I need to know. I’m a part of the church. Jesus is saying something important to this. Within the context of this verse. Who does the building? Jesus. It’s not me. It’s not my power. It’s not my authority. So. Jesus. Meaning, I’m serious about seeing the things that Jesus wishes to storm down within me. Who represents the church? The power through which that happens is found within me. Within Jesus. And so the call within this passage of scriptures to remember that Jesus does the building within you. You’re not going to storm down anything. Unless you allow Christ to build within you. Remember that Jesus does the building. Remember that you’re able to live for Christ by the power of Christ that builds within you. And what it’s saying to us as a church, if you’re serious and moving forward, if you’re serious about the location, if you’re if you’re serious about Christ, then your walk with God is important because the power of the church rests in your relationship with the Lord. It’s not about legalism. It’s not about these tasks. People get these weird ideas about what the church is about. It’s about your relationship in Christ and resting in him and allowing the Lord to build you up in him.
The church is a place that’s built on a promise, and the church is a place where Christ’s power is made known. Third is this. The church is coming for the world. As Jesus came for the world. The accountant can sound creepy. It’s like Nightmare on Elm Street. We’re coming for you. We’re coming. That’s not. That’s not what I mean by that. The church is coming for the world as Jesus came for the world. Jesus painted a picture of the church’s approach for the world. When God built the temple in the Old Testament, he invited the world to come and worship within the temple. When God built the church, he sent the church out to engage the world. The church is coming for the world as Jesus came for the world. He asked this question about this text. You know, if you were to break down this gate, what do you do? Charge to the gate. You can imagine this fortress. Yeah. Jesus built me up. Knocking down the gate. You get inside and you’re like. And now what? I mean, when you stormed down the the gates of hell, what does that even like? And what does that look like for our lives? We knock down this iron bar and nothing. When Jesus talks about. The breaking down of the gates. And storming down the gates of hell. What we’re after is a church family. As the rescuing and the building up of people in Christ.
When you look at the context of this verse, the background to the story in which Jesus is sharing for us in Matthew 16, it says to us, he said to them, but who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter answered, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And Jesus said to him, blessed are you, Simon Barjona because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my father who is in heaven. I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you excuse me, I’ll give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven. And whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. And what Jesus is saying to Peter, the way that the church is built, the way that the church even begins to grow, is they they have an understanding of who I am, and they place their faith in that. As they placed their faith in me. They’re born into the body of Christ. So he says to Peter, Peter, blessed are you. Blessed are you for where your faith has brought you in this, because it wasn’t someone who just revealed this to you, it was your father in heaven. As we have proclaimed the goodness of what Jesus is all about. The gates of hell have been stormed down in Peter’s life, and he’s come to see Jesus.
And what Jesus then says to Peter is that. And I will build my church as you rest within me. You grow strong. You grow strong and you storm down those gates. And Jesus gives this description to us as the keys to the kingdom. This doesn’t mean that something weird happens as we get these keys to the kingdom. Like you don’t all of a sudden have these wonderful powers or these supernatural things that that other people don’t have. What Jesus is saying here rests solely in the context of his gospel. What Jesus is saying to Peter at the time that Peter was alive, if you were in charge of a city, the city likely had a fortress around it, and the people that were in charge of that city had gates to the kingdom, and they were in charge of who came in and who came out of those gates. And what Jesus is saying to Peter, Peter, you’ve got this message on which this church has been built. And as you proclaim this message and as people are accepting this message, you’re unlocking these gates and people are entering out of the gates of hell and into a relationship with Christ. You have the keys to the kingdom. The church is coming for the world as Jesus came for the world. Are these weird ideas of what we should do in church as far as the way it should be structured and the activities that need to be there and all that.
But when you break it down to the bottom line, it’s all all about relationships. It’s all about your relationship to Christ and growing in light of that relationship with him, that you may see the body of Christ being built up together and the glory of Christ being proclaimed. Jesus said it a different way in Matthew four. Follow me. And I will make you fishers. Of what? Man. And you don’t have the church Jesus wants to build without people. And so Jesus is saying to us, come to me so that you may go to the world. Fourth is this. This is the last point I’m going to make. The church is powerfully contagious. When it is resting in Christ. I want to say that again, because it’s very important for us to understand that. Maybe I should say the church is only. Powerfully contagious or should should only be powerfully contagious when it is resting in Christ. I was reading in, in the Old Testament about Solomon building the temple, and everything that happened after that makes me really worried. You look at the history of the nation of Israel. After Solomon built the temple, the glory years of Israel ended. Everything after that was just downhill. To the point they lost their kingdom. They lost their land. It wasn’t until the 1950s that they got it back. And the temple still hasn’t even been built for Israel.
There’s a there’s another place of worship there. Seeing what happened to the Old Testament after the temple was built raises a little concern in my in my mind about coming to a place of resting and just stopping. Resting and enjoying what the Lord is down, but then just stopping. We read the picture of what Jesus is saying here, and you see it in the context of the Bible. What did it look like when Jesus gave this promise to the disciples to go into the world? Not even the gates of hell would stop them. What did that look like in the early church? How? How do we look? Like a gate storming group of people coming to proclaim the name of Christ in this world? The church is powerfully contagious when it’s resting in Christ. If I told you this morning, there is this dude, and we’re living in the medieval ages, and there is this dude, and he goes around and all he does is he blows up these city gates and he wants everyone to come and watch you. You know what I would do? I would see that and that would, wow, this guy blows this thing up. We can just go see. It just explodes in the air. Take me there. There’s no 4th of July at that time. That’s the closest thing we’ll get. That’s exciting. It’s contagious. I think in this world people tend to be attracted to life.
And they they desire things that make a difference. And when you read the context of this verse, you get the indication. Jesus didn’t send us in this world to just simply survive. He sent into the world to thrive. I know it’s important to be protective. The Bible tells us, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. But the Bible also tells us to get off your rump. And share what the Lord has done. People are attracted to life. And so when we ask ourselves this question, Jesus gave this promise to the church of storming down the gates of hell as the resting in him. What did it look like for the first century? You have nowhere in the Bible where you can go, and it describes for you exactly how a church service is supposed to function. I like that. And there’s details that the Bible gives for us. There’s certain liberties that Scripture gives to us and the way that we want to function in our church service. But when you read in the passage of Scripture very early on in the book of acts, it begins to describe for us the church on the move. In acts chapter two and verse 41. It’s describing really one of the first gatherings of celebration the church has together. Says they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles teaching, which for us is the Bible. And to fellowship in the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles and all those who had believed were together and had all things in common. And they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as everyone might have need. Day by day, continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. I had church every day. I didn’t look at it like a building. I looked at themselves as people representing Christ wherever they went. Recognizing for us that God has given us avenues to connect with him in this world and connect other people to him in this world. And so they were devoted to the Word of God, to discover this God that they’ve come to know. And and they were gathering together to celebrate what God was doing in their lives. And they were communing together and breaking bread together and having fellowship with one another. And they were open in prayer and communication to God and for one another. The church. Was living. And a contagious way. And I love the response it says at the end of this passage. Do you want to know what kind of effect that has on people to see Jesus genuinely lived out in your life? Not this fake Jesus, but a Jesus that you proclaim that matches your lifestyle.
Do you know what kind of effect that has on people? It tells us in verse 47, and the Lord was adding to their numbers day by day those who were being saved. And I’m not big on, you know, taking attendance and and counting numbers. But do you know a strong indication within our lives that Jesus is working in our lives? Is that the body of Christ grows. It’s not about numbers. But if we’re living the way that God has called us to live in, storming down the gates, we’re going through the gates, grabbing people, proclaiming Jesus’s name, and God is adding to our numbers. When you’re healthy in the Lord, you can’t help but grow. It’s contagious to God. I guess it’s a good thing we’ve moved from location to location, right? I love the way it says it. In acts chapter four and verse 20, we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard. I think the world. The starved for Christ. Looking for a church that’s not here to survive, but to thrive. Looking for a church that’s not interested in what the world is doing to you, but what you’re doing to the world. I got a confession to make. I am a not I’m not a secret fan. I am a publicly pronounced fan of Duck Dynasty. All right.
And. Happy, happy happy, right? And I was watching an interview. I know these men proclaimed to follow after the Lord with their life, and I was watching an interview with the father in charge of the who, who started this business on Duck Dynasty and the A and E producers who made the show. And this is how the show started. This is what the at least the father said about why A and E started the show. He said some producers were sitting in a room and they got this novel idea. How cool would it be if we created a reality TV show with a functional family? You think about that. What if we showed what a little. I mean, they’re a little eccentric, but what if we showed how a normal, how a normal family would function? I’m from West Virginia. It looks normal to me on TV. Like, well, that’s that’s my relatives. It’s like I’m being at home. What would it look like? What would it look like if we showed a functional family on television? And the guy the father was talking about, you know, this novel idea that they found and they looked for a family that would still entertain. And he said, you know what’s happened since then? I have seen within our own church, people are finding where our church is and even people who proclaim that God doesn’t even exist. And they’re seeing our family at the end of every show. We always gather together.
We love each other, and we recognize God in our lives. They they see that, and they’re looking at their own family and their own life. And you’re saying they’re saying, you know, we don’t have that. Whatever it is that they have, we need. And so they’re coming to the church because they’re demonstrating in their lives what it means to storm down the gates of hell. Resting in the Lord. Proclaiming his goodness. We’re unable to stop speaking about what we’ve seen and heard. Here’s what we want this morning. Let’s draw conclusions. We don’t want to post building identity crisis. Meaning once the building is built, we stop and we recognize and appreciate what the Lord’s done. But my eyes are on the prize. Looking to the Lord. And I’m thinking about the gates. Remember what Jesus built this place for? Has built the place that he can proclaim to you. He loves you. He desires to lead you. He desires to build you in his glory. To unify you as a body. To reconcile you to himself. To commune with you and powerfully work through you. And God uses buildings. Change lives. Forever. If I were to sum it up, I would say this. This building. This building is here to rest. And the promises of Christ. To storm down gates as you allow Jesus to build you up, and to fish out people from behind those gates. As a church family this morning. I’m just going to ask you to stand. I want to pray for us for just a moment. Recognizing what?