What Has God's House Changed This Year?
"Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored," says the LORD. (Haggai 1:7,8)
A. Was the Lord satisfied? (I Corinthians 3:16)
Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? (I Corinthians 3:16)
B. Have we become stronger because we are joined together? (Ephesians 2:21,22)
In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:21,22)
C. Is our door open wider? (John 2:19-22)
Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days." The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" But the temple he had spoken of was his body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. (John 2:19-22)
Summary
In the first message of this year, I talked about how we, the church, are God's house. I challenged us to be closer to God, united with each other, and to open our doors so that anyone can come in. We need to do maintenance every now and then because if we fail to do so, we can become like the Israelites who who were distant from God despite their outward religiosity. How well have we done our maintenance this year?
For Discussion
1) How has your faith grown this year?
2) Has Your Church changed this year? If so, how?