The Thread of Life – Part 20 (God wants a home)

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The Thread of Life – 31 Stories that point to Jesus

Part 20

Welcome to Jesus Church: Here and Online

What a blessing last week to have pastor Andres teach us

• God has brought his family to our family
  • What we learn Sunday Mornings
  • He is going to be teaching Sunday afternoon’s in Spanish
    • Starting November we will have Jesus Church en Espanol
• So today we are continue our series through the entire Bible
  • Left of with Israel being conquered and the people are in exile
  • Jerusalem has been destroyed by Babylon
  • And we follow the story of Daniel living in a very pagan world
    • Learning to live in that world… w/o becoming that world
• And all of this happens because God’s people have rejected him
  • But God always gives hope in midst of the mess we make
    • His promises for us are based off his love… not our works
    • From the promise in the garden to the rez of Jesus
  • In fact we see this symbolized in a covenant with Abraham
    • Where God makes a promise and carries out a ceremony
    • While Abraham is basically asleep (symbolic)
  • We must choose to walk in blessing… happens thru obedience
    • But He is the one that provides it
    • And His provision is based on Himself – Not us

And we see just like Israel – a ton of Parallelism to our world today

• Political Polarization… Rejection of God… departure from values
  • Lack of Spiritual leadership… embracing of immorality
  • This caused Israel to divide and destruct
  • And I believe warns us of the same
• But hope is always found in darkest times when we trust in God
  • The prophet during all of this is named Jeremiah
    • And he tells of how yes Israel will reap what they sowed
    • But God would not abandon them
  • After 70 years of captivity God would give them freedom again
    • And with that – God would bring judgment on Babylon
    • And Israel would be allowed to go back to their home

One thing u might wonder… what about royal line of David in all this

• B/C the messiah is supposed to come from this line
  • And it seems all the kings have been killed
  • But actually that’s not true

2 Kings 25:27-29 (NIV)

Now it came to pass in the 37^th year of the captivity of Jeho-akin king of Judah, in the 12^th month, on the 27^th day of the month, that Evil-Meradock, king of Babylon (wouldn’t think I was gonna live long dealing with a king w/ that name) in the year that he began to reign, released Jeho-akin from prison. He spoke kindly to him, and gave him a more prominent seat than those of the. Kings who were with Babylon. So Jeho-akin changed from his prison garments and he ate bread regularly before the king all the days of his life.

• So even in the darkness… there is this glimmer of hope
  • That God is still writing the same story with the same promise
  • And that promise leads us to the books of Ezra/Nehemiah

Ezra 1:1-3 (NIV)

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persian (so this fulfills the judgment on Babylon… they are destroyed by the Persians) that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put I in writing saying, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of Heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is God) which is in Jerusalem.

[PRAY]

Maybe you’ve heard the story of this neighborhood

In every neighborhood one house is the hang out house for kids

• This 1 house was perfect fun house… trampoline/pool/basement
  • One evening the kids were over – Kept getting later & later
  • Dad finally yelled to his kids: “Time for ur friends to go home”
• All the kids came down from upstairs
  • The dad yelled to boys… brush your teeth and get ready 4 bed
    • Want to see the lights out in 5 minutes
    • And don’t try to come down asking for more time
  • 10 minutest later he saw a silhouette sneaking down stairs
    • Heard “Can I” – Dad said get back in your room
    • 10 minutes later “Can I” – Not another word Go 2 sleep
• About that time the doorbell rang… it was his neighbor
  • Said “have you seen my son Jimmy”
    • He said… no he’s not here
    • He left about 20 minutes ago
  • Desperate voice from up stairs yelled…
    • I’m here dad! He won’t let me leave!

Def. of Exile: Forced to live where you don’t belong

And exile isn’t just some ancient event in the life of Israel

• Exile is a reality to all of God’s people in any generation
  • In some ways we are in exile ourselves
    • Forced to live where we don’t belong
    • Wanting to be with Jesus
    • Longing to be with loved ones

Phil. 1:21

For me to live is Christ and to die is gain.

• Israel is holding on to this promise of getting to go home
  • And God makes it happen: Jews return home… given resources
  • Why… b/c God desired to have a place for His glory to dwell
    • God wouldn’t feel at home until a home was built for Him
• And that might sound very weird/foreign in regards to God
  • But remember this is all to point us to Jesus

2 Tim 3:15 (NIV)

And how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures (OT), which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

• God is showing us he desires for His Spirit to dwell in a temple
  • Which ultimately wouldn’t be a building made w/ human hands
  • But in our hearts – created by God and for God to dwell

538 BC: 50k Jews make 900 mile journey 2 Jerusalem

At first they were super on board… nothing was gonna stop them

• They had a mission – Rebuild the temple for God to dwell in
  • And nothing was gonna stop them
  • They had their “why”… we want the presence of God back

Ezra 3:1-3 (NIV)

…the people assembled together as one in Jerusalem. Then [they] began to build the altar of the God of Israel to sacrifice burnt offerings on it, in accordance with what is written in the Law of Moses the man of God. Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.

• And they stayed on task… they made God’s priority – their priority
  • But u know what happened after awhile… they lost motivation
  • They let the day to day overwhelm what God called them to

See this happen in our lives all the time (New Year Resolution)

• You are all in on that gym/diet/book/class/mindset
  • God – I’m going to be at church every Sunday this year
  • And you’re excited… motivated… dedicated
• But then you get sick – there’s a conflict – up late on a Saturday
  • And you shouldn’t feel guilty for those
  • But often they lead us to forget what we were called to
    • And we still go b/c we feel guilty… but we forget our “why”

Rev. 2:4-5 (NIV)

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first…

• You will never succeed until ur motivation is love not guilt
  • God’s people… so quickly had forgotten their first love
  • Because they allowed other things to to become priority

C.S. Lewis

If you put first things first, you get second things thrown in; but if you put second things first, you lose both first and second things.”

• Now did the Jews plan to not complete the project… of course not
  • But for 16 years the temple project was abandoned
  • Years of neglect: weeds… trash… eventually u don’t even see it
• And the Temple became a statement of priority
  • Just didn’t matter to them
  • Imagine what it said to their kids (let that sink in)
• But how many times do we do the same… all intentions are good
  • But days turn into weeks turn into months turn into years
  • Until we don’t even see the neglected temple anymore
  • And it becomes a statement of priority & value in our lives

Theologian Barry Cameron

As God’s house lay in ruin from all those years of neglect, their own houses were looking pretty good. They hadn’t become notorious sinners; they’d just become self-centered.

But God’s desire is always relationship is relentless

So God raises up prophet – Haggai

• B/C something that seemed out of sight out of mind to the Jews
  • Was a much bigger deal to God
  • So God sends this prophet to let the people know his thoughts

Hag. 1:4-9 (NIV)

Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house.

• This is how God responds when we put His mission on the shelf
  • And we prioritize our plans over God’s
  • Look how hard things are when you make ur agenda #1
    • Plant… No harvest // Eat… Hungry
    • Drink… Thirsty // Clothe… still cold
    • Earn money… lose it
• God will not bless his competition… this happened for 16 years

Sometimes life out of exile seems to feel a whole lot like life in exile

• They changed address but things don’t change… Ever done that?
  • Think if I just make this change… it will be different
  • If I just move cities… jobs… relationships – It will all be better
    • But the same thing seems to keep happening
• Why… b/c God is the only thing that will change your situation
  • Israel had to be Gods people b4 they could be free from exile
  • And that is just as true for us today
• And again… not saying God wants us to build a temple today

Acts 7:48 (NIV)

The Most High does not live in houses made by human hands…

• He wants you to be his temple… He wants to be among his people
  • So we don’t need a building made of walls and floors
  • But we do need a building made by a lifestyle that puts him first
    • And so God is still saying to us “Build my temple”

How do we do that… Build His Temple – 3 Things

1. Pursue God’s presence

• Practice being in his presence… take the time to be still b4 the Lord
  • We are so busy with life – But life will always exalt ur agenda

Story of watch in ice house (told this story at men’s conference)

Ps. 46:10

Be still and know that I am God

• That word “Still” is Raw-Fah in the Hebrew
  • Literally means to let go of something you are holding on to
  • When you let go… ur hands are open to receive what God has
• Take the time to be still… and know that He is God
  • And in that stillness – God will fill you overflowing
  • What will he fill you with… The Holy Spirit
• Dwight Moody once was asked why he always prayed 2 be filled up
  • His answer was “Because I leak”
  • That’s why we need to practice God’s presence

2. Engage in conversation with God

• Way the people use to communicate w/ God was thru a priest
  • They would communicate on people’s behalf
  • 1 day a year a priest could go to holy of holies
  • This was what communication w/ God looked like b4 Jesus
• It was like having a big “Do not enter” sign on the sanctuary
  • Imagine how frustrating that must have been
    • They wanted to talk to God… but they couldn’t
  • Jesus came so we could
    • When Jesus died the “do not enter” sign was torn in two
    • And it was torn top to bottom – signifying that God did it
    • And never again would there be a “Do not enter” sign
• Only reason is b/c Jesus literally died so u can come into sanctuary

Heb. 10:19-22

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

3. Be God’s People – Be His Temple

1 Cor. 3:16

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?

• The church is His home… Not the building but us as the people
  • It always fascinated me how Jesus was drawn to the temple
    • Found there as a boy – Where he felt comfortable
    • Constantly teaching there
    • He even weeps over it
  • But it makes sense that He was drawn there
    • Not because of the architecture/size/stature
    • But b/c the temple would soon be in hearts of His people
    • Be his temple… he desires to live inside of you

Jews we so excited to start a new chapter… build God His home

• They were so quickly distracted but God always gets attention
  • He said… Put down what u are doing
  • And go build my house
• Many things get in the way of our relationship with God
  • Let God remove those distractions and replace them with
  • In His Presence/Living a life of Prayer/Being His People