Series: Stewardship,
Message: “Party in His Presence”
Topics: Thanks, Temple, Provision
Text: 1 Chronicles 28-29
Date: Nov. 20, 2011
Pastor: David McBeath
INTRO: The Atheist and the Bear
Have you heard the story about the Bear and the Atheist? An atheist was walking through the woods, admiring all that he believed a cosmic accident had created. "What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!" he said to himself.
As he was walking alongside the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Turning to look, he saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards him. Needless to say, he ran away as fast as he could.
As he was running, he looked over his shoulder and saw the grizzly was closing in fast. Somehow he ran even faster, so scared that tears came to his eyes. He looked again, and the bear was even closer. His heart was pounding, and he tried to run faster, but tripped and fell to the ground. He rolled over to pick himself and saw that the bear was right over him, and raising its right paw to strike him.
At that instant the atheist cried, "Oh my God!" Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving. As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky, "You deny my existence for all these years, teach others that I don’t exist, and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"
The atheist looked directly into the light and said, "I would feel like a hypocrite to become a Christian after all these years, but perhaps you could make the bear a Christian?"
"Very well," said the voice. The light went out. The river ran. The sounds of the forest resumed. Then the bear dropped his right paw, brought both paws together, bowed its head, and spoke: "Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, I am truly thankful."
This is the Sunday before Thanksgiving and I want to talk about being truly thankful for how God has provided for our church and maybe think about how God has provided in our own lives. This is my second message in my series on stewardship. Last week we learned how we can find Worth in our Work by using our jobs to worship God. This week my we are going to look at 1 Chronicles chapters 28-29 and see how God provided for David’s mission to make God’s Presence known in Israel and how the People of Israel Partied to thank God for His Provision.
Today, we are going to have a similar sort of party to thank God for the way he has provided for our church. I invite all of you to stay for our Party in his Presence Thanksgiving Pot-Luck. Aren’t these “P” words good and cheesy? I don’t know why but for some reason I had an attraction to alliterating the letter “P” in my message this morning.
GOD PROVIDES THE PANORAMA: The Vision
Let me begin by asking you to take a look at this picture and asking how many of you have been to Letchworth State Park? We went last fall and loved it! You know why? Because there were the most amazing views! I tried to take pictures but the pictures just didn’t do the scenery justice. Even this picture that I found on the internet, as awesome as it is, doesn’t do the scenery justice. I wished I had a Panoramic View Camera, a camera that would let me capture much more of the grandeur of this place, because I want people to see how great this place is.
This brings me to my first point. God provided King David with a Panorama. That is our first “P” word. God gave David a Panoramic vision for building a Temple that would give the Israelites a sense of how great God is. Let me read: 1 Chronicles 28:2.
King David rose to his feet and said: “Listen to me, my brothers and my people. I had it in my heart to build a house as a place of rest for the ark of the covenant of the Lord, for the footstool of our God, and I made plans to build it.
TABRNACLE/TEMPLE = PRESENCE
Take a look at these two pictures. One is a reconstruction of the tabernacle and the other is a reconstruction of the Temple in Herod’s day. Both the tabernacle and the Temple represented God’s presence with his people the Israelites. Earlier in Chronicles we learn that David asked, “Why should God’s “presence” dwell in a tent, when I dwell in a palace?” So, God provided David with a Panoramic Vision of making known the greatness of God’s presence by building the temple.
We can thank God that he has given our church a clear vision. Just about a month ago, he laid his vision on the hearts and minds of this Church’s vision team. You see the results on the front of your bulletin this morning. We’ve talked about it for a few weeks now. Our ONE VISION is to transform and restore our community with the Good News of Jesus Christ, 1 life at a time. That Good News is Jesus and the promise of his presence for those who will believe in him!
So as we look forward to Thanksgiving we should Thank God that he has provided our church with a vision to make his presences known! There are many churches that don’t have a true vision! So, we can and should be Thankful!
GOD PROVIDES THE PLAN
How are we going to make the presence of God thru Jesus Christ known? This leads us to our second point. God Provides the Plan. Let’s skip ahead to 1 Chronicles 28:19: “All this,” David said, “I have in writing from the hand of the Lord upon me, and he gave me understanding in all the details of the plan.”
How are we going to make God’s presence known to the world? The same way David did. We are going to build his temple! And NO—I am not talking about a building. I am talking about you! I am talking about me. I am talking about us!!
You see the Old Testament Tabernacle and the Temple, both, are just a picture of God’s presence with His People. In the New Testament, the Bible tells us that we (you and me) are his temple. We are the presence of Jesus’ to the world. Listen to 1 Corinthians 3:16: "Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?" We are God’s temple or spiritual house. We are the temple that makes God’s magnificent presence known to the world.
We build God’s Temple by making disciples of Jesus. Look at 1 Peter 2:4-5. It says: And you (we) are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. These verses suggest that God’s temple or God’s Presence grows as we make another disciple who becomes a living stone of the spiritual house God is building thru us! This is why we have to take very seriously the idea of growing as disciples and making more disciples!
We believe God provided our vision team with our ONE MISSION: to make disciples who love God, love others, and make more disciples, in order to build his temple or presence in our world. We build God’s temple, by building people like you and me in what it means to be a disciple or follower of Jesus. We are his plan! Is it a good plan? Let me tell you this story and you decide:
There is a legend which recounts the return of Jesus to heaven after His time on earth. Even in heaven He bore the marks of His earthly pilgrimage with its cruel cross and shameful death. The angel Gabriel approached Him and said, "Master, you must have suffered terribly for men down there." "I did," He said. "And," continued Gabriel, "do they know all about how you loved them and what you did for them?" "Oh, no," said Jesus, "not yet. Right now only a handful of people in Palestine know."
Gabriel was perplexed. "Then what have you done," he asked, "to let everyone know about your love for them?" Jesus said, "I’ve asked Peter, James, John, and a few more friends to tell other people about me. Those who are told will in turn tell other people about me, and my story will be spread to the farthest reaches of the globe. Ultimately, all of mankind will have heard about my life and what I have done."
Gabriel frowned and looked rather skeptical. He knew well what poor stuff humans were made of. "Yes," he said, "but what if Peter and James and John grow weary? What if the people who come after them forget? What if way down through the centuries people just don’t tell others about you? Haven’t you made any other plans?"
And Jesus answered, "I haven’t made any other plans. I’m counting on them to be and bring my presence to the world. They are my temple!" …Twenty-one centuries later He still has no other plan. He’s counting on you and me to be his temple and bring his presence to the world! This morning, we can thank God that he has provided our church with the plan for accomplishing his vision of taking his presence to the world! Will we be faithful?
GOD PROVIDES THE PRINCIPAL(S) PRINCIPAL PLAYER(S)
First, God has provided the Panorama or vision. Second, he has provided the Plan. Third he provides the Principal or Principal Players. In other words he provides the leadership to implement his plan and accomplish his vision. Look at 1 Chronicles 28:6; “He said to me: ‘Solomon your son is the one who will build my house and my courts…” God chose Solomon to be the Principal that would oversee his plans to accomplish his vision. Why does God chose Solomon and not David to build his temple? Well the text tells us that David was a Warrior.
Were any of you ever sent to the Principal’s Office? Come on, you can raise your hands. I was, and I got 2 whacks from the principal for forging my Dad’s name on a piece of homework that was supposed to be signed by a parent—(…I didn’t do very good on that piece of homework as I recall.) I never wanted to go back to the Principal’s office after getting those whacks—why? The Principal was a scary person.
I remember Ian used to be scared of his Pre-school director. The pre-school was a ministry of the church where I was a youth pastor and the director was the sweetest, kindest person you could have possibly ever met. Her name was Sandi. Each day, I would take Ian to preschool as I was going to my office, and each day Sandi would say Hi to Ian. Ian would just hide behind my leg and try to stay as far away from her as possible. He never said Hi. Why? Well, mistakenly the first day of preschool I pointed out Sandi the preschool director to Ian and asked him to be good, telling that if he didn’t he might end up in her office. To Ian, Sandi became the scary principal based on my comment.
God doesn’t want the leadership he puts into place to be scary and David could have been scary or intimidating to the workers God put into place to build his temple. God doesn’t want us to be scared or intimidated by the leadership he puts into place. God doesn’t want us to think the leadership is “Mighty” or that the leadership is heads and shoulders above us, or more important than us! Look at chapter 29 verse 1 says about Solomon:
Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God."
Consider the leadership God has provided this church to accomplish his plan. Our top leadership is made up of the General Board which includes me. I would definitely say I am young and inexperienced. I am not head and shoulders above any of you here this morning. The office of pastor shouldn’t scare you. I hope you feel as though you can approach me if you have thoughts, questions, or concerns.
Who else is on the General Board? (Betty Stover, Virginia Voss, Craig Wagner, Keith Krull, Mary Morison, Ken Hammond, Marie Boyles, Tom Mullaney, and Bill Mackmer.) I am sure each on them would say that they are inexperienced when it comes to overseeing God’s plan for our church and I am sure they would all say they are young. Why does God provide us with inexperienced leadership? Look at the last half of verse 1. It says that the temple, the palatial structure is not for man, but for the Lord. God uses “inexperienced” leadership because his plan is to make his presence and his name known! Not my name! Not our leadership’s name. Not our church’s name. God will build his temple—not the leadership!
As we look forward to Thanksgiving, we can thank God for the leadership he has provided our church. God provides us with leadership to oversee his plan, leadership we can relate to, leadership that may be inexperienced and look as though there could be better people to get the job done.
GOD PROVIDES THE POWER
This leads me to my next point. God provides the Power to accomplish his vision and plan. This is a bonus point. You will have to add it to your notes page. Look at 1 Chronicles 28:20. It says:
David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.
If you look thru the Bible, God picks average people to accomplish his purposes. Why? So everyone knows he is the One who accomplishes the great things that happen. God provides the power!!
GOD PROVIDES THE PERSONNEL
So God provides the Panorama or vision, the plan, the principal or principal players, the power, but God also provides the Personnel. He provides the people that will accomplish the plan. Look at the last half of 1 Chronicles 28:21. "… and every willing man skilled in any craft will help you in all the work. The officials and all the people will obey your every command.”
God has blessed our church with a tremendous amount of personnel or volunteers. I was going to read the names of everyone we have serving in all the different ministries of the church. But decided there were too many names. It would take too long. Let me just say that the list I have includes well over 100 individuals. That is incredible! Today we celebrate the expansion of the “personnel” God is providing for our church as we extend the right hand of fellowship to 5 new members. We can thank God because he has provided the volunteers or personnel to accomplish his vision!
Before, I move to the next point. Let me encourage our personnel or volunteers with this story: Herman Ostry’s barn floor was under 29 inches of water because of a rising creek. The Bruno, Nebraska, farmer invited a few friends to a barn raising. He needed to move his entire 17,000-pound barn to a new foundation more than 143 feet away. His son Mike devised a lattice work of steel tubing, and nailed, bolted, and welded it on the inside and the outside of the barn. Hundreds of handles were attached. After one practice lift, 344 volunteers slowly walked the barn up a slight incline, each supporting less than fifty pounds. In just three minutes, the barn was on its new foundation. You see, the body of Christ can accomplish great things when we work together. And God has given us a tremendous body of volunteers that work together to accomplish his vision!
GOD PROVIDES THE PRINCIPLE
Next, God provides the Principle. By this I mean the money or the investment that it will take to accomplish his vision. After David expresses the Vision God has given him and contributes a significant amount of his own personal wealth, he asks the people to do the same. Look at the people’s response in verse 7.
They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron.
And the passage continues likes this. If you skip to verse 9 it says, “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord.”
We can thank and praise God for the principle or money that people invest in God’s vision for our church. Like Vince, one of our trustees, talked about a few weeks ago we are a good giving church. According to the financial report, I received last week our General Fund giving is only a little over $4000 less than it was last year. That is pretty good in an economy like this. God has given us the principle and resources to accomplish many different things. Yes, things are tight. Yes missions giving is down significantly, but God provides! And he provides thru people like you and me! This week you will receive a letter from me with a pledge card. I want to ask you what David asked his people in verse 5. “Who is willing to consecrate themselves today to the Lord and the work he wants to accomplish thru this church.” Prayerfully consider what God would have you give. I pray that you will give freely and wholeheartedly.
THEY PRAISED GOD FOR HIS PROVISION
To review God provides the Panorama or Vision, the Plan, the Principal Players or leadership, the Power, the Personnel or People, and the Principle or money to accomplish his purposes. What was the result? The people Praised God for his Provision! If you get a chance read David’s Prayer and Song of Praise for God’s Provision in chapter 29 verses 10-20. It would be a great devotional for us this week as we approach the Holiday of Thanksgiving. But now look at verse 14 in chapter 29. I believe it expresses the heart of what stewardship is all about. It also expresses the heart of what Thanksgiving should be about. Praising God David says:
But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.
Christ’s Sacrifice the Ultimate Provision
As we close, I want to draw you attention to verse 21. It says: “The next day they made sacrifices to the Lord.” The Israelite’s sacrifices represented and looked forward to Jesus Christ, whom John says, “tabernacled with us. Look at this picture again. Remember the tabernacle and temple represented God’s presence with his people. Jesus was and is literally God presence with us. Everyone that places their faith in Christ’s sacrifice on the cross has their sins forgiven and has God’s presence thru Jesus Christ with them, living in them. If you want to get close to God, if you want his presence to help you thru this life, you have to place your faith in Christ’s provision for your sins on the cross and follow him. Jesus Christ was God’s ultimate provision for us and we should be sure to thank God for this provision and his presence with us thru Jesus who lives in our hearts, …this Thanksgiving.
THEY PARTIED IN HIS PRESENCE
This is exactly what the people of Israel did and this is my last point. The People of Israel Partied in God’s Presence. They had a Thanksgiving meal. Look at verse 22. It says: “They ate and drank with great joy in the presence of the Lord that day.” Today we are going to party in the presence of the Lord as well. Immediately following our service will be having our Party in His Presence Thanksgiving Potluck. (I promise this is the last of the cheesy alliteration with the letter “P”.) I invite you to stay, celebrate, and praise God for his provision with this meal we will share together. Let’s pray.
