Sacred
Summary of the Message
Sacred spaces and practices, such as temples or churches, and the ways we serve God there, help us to both encounter and understand the distinctive holiness of God. Sacred spaces enable us to approach God properly, and more than that, as embodied human beings they provide us with concrete ways to experience and worship him.
Sacred spaces and practices, such as temples or churches, and the ways we serve God there, help us to both encounter and understand the distinctive holiness of God. Sacred spaces enable us to approach God properly, and more than that, as embodied human beings they provide us with concrete ways to experience and worship him.
Key Sermon Points
1. Sacred spaces and practices are essential for how God and his people relate to each other
Biblically, sacred spaces are places that are made significant through our relationship encounter with God. We experience God in those places as he manifests himself and speaks to us there in various ways. Often these experiences are themselves redemptive and are milestones in our personal & corporate deliverance and growth. They are sacred along both the vertical dimension with God and the horizontal dimension with others in the covenant community. Mainly, sacred spaces concretely convey the accessibility & availability of God & intimate fellowship with him.
2. God's heart about sacred spaces (2 Chronicles 7:15-16)
3. God' translates his vision for sacred spaces to his vision for our lives and the church
The local church, what the Bible refers to as the ecclesia, is a primary and necessary sacred space for encountering and worshipping the Lord. It is the place he has chosen for himself for his people to corporately come before him, to hear from him, to pray to him. That does not in any way set aside our personal lives in Christ, which are also made sacred. But our relationship with God is incomplete without the sacred life in the temple of the Spirit, the church, where we practice the word, worship, and prayer together.
1. Sacred spaces and practices are essential for how God and his people relate to each other
Biblically, sacred spaces are places that are made significant through our relationship encounter with God. We experience God in those places as he manifests himself and speaks to us there in various ways. Often these experiences are themselves redemptive and are milestones in our personal & corporate deliverance and growth. They are sacred along both the vertical dimension with God and the horizontal dimension with others in the covenant community. Mainly, sacred spaces concretely convey the accessibility & availability of God & intimate fellowship with him.
2. God's heart about sacred spaces (2 Chronicles 7:15-16)
- I will be attentive to sacred spaces (7:15)
God is intentionally looking and actively listening to the prayers and worship of his people in sacred spaces. - I have chosen sacred spaces (7:16a)
Chosen = special, which tells us that sacred spaces are important to God. He leans into meeting his people there. - I will be there in sacred spaces (7:16b)
God is manifestly present in sacred spaces, and his Name, i.e., his authority and power are encountered there.
3. God' translates his vision for sacred spaces to his vision for our lives and the church
The local church, what the Bible refers to as the ecclesia, is a primary and necessary sacred space for encountering and worshipping the Lord. It is the place he has chosen for himself for his people to corporately come before him, to hear from him, to pray to him. That does not in any way set aside our personal lives in Christ, which are also made sacred. But our relationship with God is incomplete without the sacred life in the temple of the Spirit, the church, where we practice the word, worship, and prayer together.
Discussion Questions
- The most obvious question for the Christian is how does the Biblical importance of sacred spaces relate to the gospel and our being made righteous in Christ? Does Christ set aside sacred spaces in John 4:19-24? Discuss.
- Can you think of ways that a casual attitude about worship and church hinders or hurts us spiritually?
- In keeping with question #2, can a greater emphasis on the sacred help us against the temptation of antinomianism? Antinomianism is when our understanding of grace causes us to lower our urgency around fighting sin.
- How do we increase our allegiance to sacred spaces without equating that allegiance to our allegiance to Christ and God?
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