HE WALKED ACROSS THE DUSTY STONY GROUND, KICKED A ROCK AND BENT AND DREW IN THE DIRT. HE LOOKED AROUND AT THE DESOLATE LAND SCAPE AND DOWN AT THE CITY BELOW AND WONDERED IF HIS DREAM WOULD EVER BE A REALITY. WOULD IT REALLY HAPPEN, SOMEDAY WOULD THE PEOPLE OF GOD WORSHIP ON THIS GROUND? WOULD SONGS OF PRAISE FILL THE AIR? WOULD THE WORD OF GOD BE READ ALOUD? WOULD PRAYERS BE UTTERED AND HEARD?
HE HAD A DREAM, A DREAM OF A BUILDING CALLED A HOUSE OF GOD, A DREAM OF A BUILDING WHERE HIS PEOPLE COULD WORSHIP. A DREAM OF A PERMANENT HOME FOR THEIR SERVICES. AND NOW AS HE STOOD ON THE EMPTY LOT HE WONDERED JUST HOW LONG IT WOULD BE UNTIL THE DODDLINGS HE MADE IN THE DIRT WOULD ACTUALLY BECOME A BUILDING.
IT WAS LATER, THE DREAM HAD TAKEN ON A SUBSTANCE AND AS HE STOOD AND WATCHED THE MEN AND WOMEN EXERCISE THEIR TALENTS AND GIFTS HIS DREAM WAS BECOMING A REALITY IN FRONT OF HIS VERY EYES. THERE WERE THOSE WHO HAD DOUBTED AND THOSE WHO HAD SCOFFED BUT NOW THEY COULD SEE WHAT BEFORE ONLY HE COULD SEE AND THE DOUBTERS HAD BEEN SILENCED. SO MUCH HAD BEEN DONE, BUT SO MUCH MORE STILL HAD TO BE FINISHED. HE HADN’T REALIZED THAT THE TRANSITION FROM DREAM TO REALITY WOULD TAKE SO MUCH TIME, SACRIFICE AND SO MUCH TALENT. THERE WERE TIMES THAT HE KNEW THAT WHATEVER IT COST IT WAS WORTH IT, WHILE OTHER TIMES HE WONDERED IF IT WOULD BE WORTH WHAT IT COST.
HIS DAYS WERE CONSUMED WITH BUILDING AND DURING THE NIGHT HE TOSSED AND TURNED WITH A THOUSAND QUESTIONS RACING THROUGH HIS HEAD. HIS LIFE REVOLVED AROUND THE CONSTRUCTION AND HE BEGAN TO BORE HIS FRIENDS WITH HIS OBSESSIVE TALKING OF THE PROGRESS. HE STEPPED THROUGH THE RUBBLE OF CONSTRUCTION AND LISTENED TO THE SAWS AND HAMMERS AND HIS MINDED DRIFTED BACK TO HOW MUCH SIMPLER THIS HAD BEEN AS SIMPLY A DREAM.
IT WAS LATER, MUCH LATER IT SEEMED LIKE A THOUSAND YEARS LATER BUT IT COULDN’T HAVE BEEN THAT LONG AND HE STOOD AND LOOKED AT WHAT HAD ONCE BEEN A DREAM. HE COULD HARDLY TAKE IT ALL IN, THE SIZE, THE SPLENDOUR OF IT. JUST LIKE HE HAD DREAMED, IT HAD COME TRUE AND WAS NOW A REALITY, HE WISHED HIS FATHER COULD BE WITH HIM TO SEE THIS ACCOMPLISHMENT.
NO MORE WOULD HIS PEOPLE WORSHIP WITHOUT A PERMANENT SPIRITUAL HOME, NO MORE WOULD THEY FEEL LIKE NOMADS. GOD HAD GIVEN HIM A VISION FOR WHAT COULD BE DONE AND HAD GIVEN HIM THE STRENGTH TO DO IT AND IT WAS FINISHED. AS A MATTER OF FACT WE ARE TOLD IN 1 Kings 6:14 So Solomon built the temple and completed it.
THIS MORNING WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT SOME THOUGHTS ON TEMPLE BUILDING. NOW WE ARE THREE THOUSAND YEARS APART AND SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS DIFFERENT IN COST. AFTER ALL SOLOMON’S TEMPLE MADE BOB SCHULLER’S CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL LOOK LIKE A SHACK. AND YET EVEN WITH ALL THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE TEMPLE OF SOLOMON AND NORTH POINT WESLEYAN CHURCH THERE MUST BE SOME COMMON GROUND. A COMMON THREAD OR TWO WHICH WEAVES IT’S WAY THROUGH THE TWIN TAPESTRY OF GOD’S HOUSE.
1) THEY BOTH BEGAN WITH A DREAM 1 Chronicles 22:7 David said to Solomon: "My son, I had it in my heart to build a house for the Name of the LORD my God. DAVID STARTED OFF WITH A DREAM, HE COULD SEE THE TEMPLE IN HIS MINDS EYE. HE WANTED TO BUILD A BUILDING TO BE CALLED GOD’S HOUSE. IT PROBABLY STARTED OFF INNOCENTLY ENOUGH, A WORD, OR A THOUGHT, MAYBE IT WASN’T EVEN DAVID’S ORIGINAL IDEA OR THOUGHT, MAYBE SOMEBODY SAID SOMETHING IN CONVERSATION THAT STUCK IN DAVID’S MIND.
AND THERE THE THOUGHT BEGAN TO GERMINATE AND GROW UNTIL IT BECAME A PASSION WITH DAVID TO BUILD A HOUSE FITTING TO BE CALLED GOD’S HOUSE. AND SO DAVID BEGAN TO PLAN AND THINK AND DOODLE . MAYBE HE USED TO SIT AT MCMALACHI’S AND DODDLE ON THE PAPER PLACE MATS WELL HE DRANK COFFEE. MAYBE HE CALLED IN AN ARCHITECT AND DRAFTSMAN AND BEGAN LOOKING AT DRAWINGS. WE DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING THAT DAVID DID BUT WE DO KNOW THAT THIS BECAME AN ALL CONSUMING VISION OF WHAT COULD BE DONE. BECAUSE WE ARE TOLD THAT HE CALLED IN THE HEAD PROPHET IN 2 Samuel 7:2 he said to Nathan the prophet, "Here I am, living in a palace of cedar, while the ark of God remains in a tent."
AND THAT THOUGHT GRIPPED HIM THAT HE WAS LIVING IN A BETTER HOME THEN HE WORSHIPPED IN. AND HE BEGAN TO DREAM AND IMAGINE AND ENVISION. HE BEGAN TO BUILD TEMPLE IN THE AIR BECAUSE HE HAD LEARNT THE SECRET THAT IF YOU DON’T BUILD CASTLE IN THE SKY YOU WON’T BUILD ANYTHING ON THE GROUND. AND HE FOUND A SITE THAT LOOKED PROMISING AND HE PACED OUT THE PLOT OF DIRT AND DREAMT AND ENVISIONED WHAT WOULD GO WHERE.
OUR BUILDING BEGAN WITH A DREAM, NOT MINE. IT BEGAN WITH THE DREAM OF PETER AND ROBIN HOWE BEFORE I CAME. AND THEIR DREAM AFFECTED OTHERS AT BRACKEN RIDGE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH AND A BUILDING COMMITTEE WAS FORMED WITH NEV ROBBINS AND JOAN MCDONALD AND STAN ROBINSON. AND THEY DREAMED OF THE THINGS THAT COULD HAPPEN. AND JUST AS DAVID’S DREAM BEGAN TO INFECT OTHERS SO DID THE BUILDING COMMITTEE’S AND OTHERS CAUGHT A HOLD OF THE VISION. AND PROPERTY WAS BOUGHT AND PACED AND PLANS WERE DRAWN AND REDRAWN. BUT IT ALL STARTED WITH A DREAM.
2) ALONG WITH THE DREAM SOMETIMES THERE IS A WAIT.
1 Chronicles 22:8 But this word of the LORD came to me: ’You have shed much blood and have fought many wars. You are not to build a house for my Name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in my sight. WHAT A BLOW THAT MUST HAVE BEEN TO DAVID, I’M SURE THAT HE FELT LIKE SAYING, "HEY GOD, CORRECT ME IF I’M WRONG BUT YOU WERE THE ONE WHO WANTED ME TO SHED THE BLOOD AND FIGHT THE WARS, AM I RIGHT?"
ALL THE WORK, ALL THE DREAMS RIGHT DOWN THE DRAIN. I MEAN IF GOD HADN’T WANTED DAVID TO BUILD THEN WHERE DID THE VISION COME FROM IN THE FIRST PLACE? NOW I DON’T REALLY KNOW PETER AND ROBIN ALL THAT WELL BUT THEY DON’T STRIKE ME AS PARTICULARLY VIOLENT PEOPLE, NOT THE TYPE OF PEOPLE THAT GOD WOULD TELL THEM "YOU ARE NOT TO BUILD A HOUSE FOR MY NAME, BECAUSE YOU HAVE SHED MUCH BLOOD ON THE EARTH IN MY SIGHT". I MEAN DOES THAT MAKE ANY OF YOU THINK OF PETER AND ROBIN? AND YET THEY TOO WERE PUT ON HOLD, THEY ALSO HAD TO WAIT ON THE LORD. AND JUST AS WE FIND IT DIFFICULT TO COMPREHEND GOD’S MOTIVES FOR DAVID, SOMETIMES WE QUESTION WHY BRACKEN RIDGE WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH WASN’T BUILT IN 1989 ON DENHAM ST.
THE ANSWER OF COURSE IS THAT GOD IS GOD, AND WE NEED TO TRUST IN THE FACT THAT HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING. MAYBE WE NEEDED MORE LAND, OR MORE SUPPORT OR MORE FINANCES, OR MAYBE IT JUST WASN’T THE RIGHT TIME OR THE RIGHT PLACE. GOD DIDN’T TELL DAVID THAT THE TEMPLE WOULDN’T BE BUILT, HE JUST DIDN’T WANT DAVID TO BUILD IT. AND DAVID ACCEPTED THAT. AND WHEN EVERYTHING WAS SAID AND DONE IT MAY HAVE BEEN SOLOMON’S TEMPLE BUT IT WAS DAVID’S DREAM. HE WAS THE ONE WHO FIRST SAW WHAT COULD BE DONE AND HE ENCOURAGED SOLOMON AND PRODDED HIM ALONG AND SUPPORTED HIM.
GOD DIDN’T TELL PETER AND ROBIN THAT BRACKEN RIDGE WESLEYAN CHURCH WOULDN’T HAVE A NEW BUILDING HE JUST PUT IT ON HOLD FOR A WHILE. AND THE HOWES HAVE BEEN AS BIG AS DAVID. THEY HAVE ALWAYS ASKED WHAT WAS GOING ON AND HAVE BEEN ENCOURAGING ABOUT WHAT WAS HAPPENING. AND THEY ARE GENUINELY EXCITED ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING HERE.
IT MAY BE DEN GUPTILL WHO IS SENIOR PASTOR WHEN WE MOVE INTO OUR FIRST PERMANENT HOME, BUT IT WAS PETER AND ROBIN WHO STARTED TO DREAM. SOMETIMES GOD TELLS US TO WAIT. AND WHEN THOSE TIMES HAPPEN WE WOULD BE WISE TO HEAD THE WORDS OF THE PROPHET ISAIAH WHO WROTE IN Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.
3) THE BUILDING WAS CONSECRATED TO GOD, 1 Kings 5:5 I intend, therefore, to build a temple for the Name of the LORD my God, as the LORD told my father David, when he said, ’Your son whom I will put on the throne in your place will build the temple for my Name.’
WHY WAS THE TEMPLE BUILT? I MEAN DID THEY BUILD IT TO GLORIFY DAVID? MORE THEN EIGHTY PYRAMIDS STRETCH FOR FOUR HUNDRED MILES ALONG THE WEST BANK OF THE NILE IN MUTE TRIBUTE TO THE KINGS OF EGYPT. WHAT THAT THE REASON BEHIND THE TEMPLE, TO GLORIFY DAVID OR HIS SON, AFTER ALL IT IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS "SOLOMON’S TEMPLE" WAS IT TO GLORIFY ISRAEL WHICH WAS IN IT’S PEAK AT THIS TIME? NO IT WAS BUILD TO GLORIFY GOD. SOLOMON SAID "I INTEND THEREFORE, TO BUILD A TEMPLE FOR THE NAME OF THE LORD."
WE HAVE TO ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND THAT WE ARE NOT JUST WORKING ON A BUILDING. WE ARE NOT JUST CONSTRUCTING A HALL OR A MEETING PLACE. THIS ISN’T JUST A WAREHOUSE WITH A PLATFORM AND SOME OFFICES. WE HAVE TO REALIZE THAT WE ARE NOT JUST IN THE PROCESS OF PROVIDING A PERMANENT WORSHIP CENTRE FOR NORTH POINT WESLEYAN CHURCH, IT IS A HOUSE OF GOD. AND THAT IS GOING TO BE A TOUGH ADJUSTMENT FOR SOME FOLKS BECAUSE WE HAVE NEVER HAD A "CHURCH". WE’VE MET AT THE TAFE, AND AT THE PRESCHOOL AND HERE AT THE COMMUNITY CENTRE. AND THEY HAVE ALL BEEN REAL BLESSINGS BUT THEY HAVEN’T BEEN A CHURCH. YOU DON’T MOP UP SPILT BEER IN A CHURCH AND WE’VE DONE THAT ON OCCASION, YOU DON’T OPEN THE DOORS OF THE HOUSE OF GOD TO GET RID OF THE STALE CIGARETTE SMOKE AND WE’VE HAD TO DO THAT.
ALTHOUGH OUR FACILITIES AT 670 GYMPIE RD. WON’T BE OWNED BY US THEY WILL BE DEDICATED FOR HOLY USE, AND WE NEED TO REMEMBER THAT WHEN WE COME TO WORSHIP ON SUNDAY MORNINGS AND WHEN WE TEACH OUR CHILDREN TO ACT IN "CHURCH" AFTER ALL WE HAVE A GENERATION OF KID’S IN THIS CONGREGATION WHO HAVE NEVER WORSHIPPED IN A CHURCH BUILDING ON A REGULAR BASIS. WE DID NOT STEP OUT TO BUILD A MONUMENT TO DEN, AND WE DIDN’T SET OUT TO GLORIFY NORTH POINT, AND WE HAVEN’T DONE THIS SO PEOPLE WILL SAY WHAT A GREAT BUNCH OF PEOPLE THE WESLEYANS ARE. THE REASON WE HAVE STEPPED OUT IN FAITH TO HAVE A BUILDING OF OUR OWN, A PLACE TO WORSHIP OUR GOD, IS THAT HE MAY USE US, AND USE THIS BUILDING TO WORK THROUGH AND TO MAKE AN IMPACT ON OUR COMMUNITY.
THE REASON WE HAVE SWEATED AND SACRIFICED AND HAVE GIVEN OF OUR TIME, AND OUR TALENTS AND OUR MONEY IS TO SEE PEOPLE COME TO KNOW JESUS CHRIST AS LORD AND SAVIOUR AND IF THE SACRIFICE MEANS THAT ONE MORE PERSON WILL BE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD THEN IT HAS BEEN WORTH IT. BUT LET’S MAKE SURE FROM THE VERY BEGINNING THAT WE KNOW THAT THIS BUILDING IS NOT DEN’S AND IT’S NOT YOURS AND IT’S NOT THE CHURCH’S IT IS GOD’S AND IT IS FOR HIS PURPOSES.
4) THERE WAS PLANNING 1 Chronicles 22:5 David said, the house to be built for the LORD should be of great magnificence and fame and splendour in the sight of all the nations. Therefore I will make preparations for it." So David made extensive preparations before his death.
EVEN THOUGH IT WASN’T GOING TO BE DAVID WHO BUILT THE TEMPLE IT WAS DAVID WHO LAID THE GROUND WORK. IT WAS DAVID WHO DREAMED THE DREAMS AND DAVID WHO MADE ALL THE PREPARATION FOR THE WORK THAT NEEDED TO BE DONE. SOLOMON GOT THE CREDIT BUT DAVID MADE THE THINGS THAT SOLOMON DID POSSIBLE.
THERE HAVE BEEN TIMES WHEN I LOOKED AT PROPERTY AND BUILDINGS AND COMMERCIAL SITES AND CHURCHES AND MET WITH THE BUILDING COMMITTEE AND TALKED TO LEADERS IN THE CHURCH THAT I FELT LIKE WE WERE SPINNING OUR WHEELS. BUT THEN GOD WOULD REMIND ME THAT TIME SPENT PLANNING IS NEVER WASTED TIME. I’M SURE THAT YOU HAVE SOMETIMES WONDERED WHAT THE BUILDING COMMITTEE DOES OR HAS DONE, SOMETIMES I WONDER THAT MYSELF. NOW IF YOU ASKED THE SPOUSES OF THE BUILDING COMMITTEE THEY COULD TELL YOU, WE USED TO SIT AROUND AND DRINK COFFEE AND TALK.
THE REALITY OF IT IS THAT THE MEMBERS OF THE BUILDING COMMITTEE HAS POURED COUNTLESS HOURS OF WORK INTO THE PREPARATION AND PLANNING THAT LED UP TO OUR BUILDING AND HAVE POURED UNKNOWN NUMBERS OF COFFEE AND TEA INTO THEMSELVES. WHILE THE ACTUAL DECISION TO START LOOKING FOR BUILDINGS ONLY CAME ABOUT IN FEBRUARY YOU MUST REALIZE THAT FOR THE PAST THREE YEARS I HAVE LOOKED AT CHURCH BUILDINGS AND PROPERTIES ALL OVER THE NORTH SIDE OF BRISBANE IN PREPARATION FOR THE DAY THAT WE WERE READY TO TAKE THIS KIND OF STEP. AND EVERY SINCE THE BOARD APPOINTED THE BUILDING COMMITTEE THEY HAVE POURED THEIR HEARTS AND SOULS INTO THIS PROJECT.
IN MOST CASES IT WASN’T EVEN THEIR CHOICE TO BECOME INVOLVED PROBABLY THE WORD THAT COMES CLOSEST TO THEIR RECRUITMENT WOULD BE SHANGHAIED. IN ALL HONESTY THOUGH THE BUILDING COMMITTEE ACTUALLY DID DO MORE THEN CONSUME COFFEE. WHEN IT WAS FIRST FORMED BY THE LOCAL BOARD IT MET TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT WE NEEDED TO LEAVE THE COMMUNITY CENTRE, AND THEN THEY HAD TO DECIDE WHERE THE BEST AREA WOULD BE? HOW MUCH COULD WE SPEND, SHOULD WE BUILD OR RENT OR LEASE, WERE WE LOOKING FOR A CHURCH BUILDING OR A COMMERCIAL SITE?
AND THEN WE BEGAN LOOKING AT BUILDINGS, WE LOOKED AT SIX BUILDINGS EITHER AS A COMMITTEE OR AS INDIVIDUALS AND AFTER LOOKING AT BUILDINGS WE TALKED TO TOWN PLANING AND THAT LED US TO LOOK AT 4 DIFFERENT BUILDINGS, WHICH LED US BACK TO TOWN PLANNING. IT WAS DURING THAT TIME THAT WE DISCOVERED THE BUILDING THAT WE FELT GOD WOULD HAVE US USE. SO WE WENT TO A CHURCH MEETING, TOOK PLEDGES, MADE AN OFFER AND WENT BACK TO TOWN PLANNING. THEN LAWRIE AND RUSSELL DREW UP PLANS, THE BUILDING COMMITTEE DISCUSSED WHAT OUR BUILDING SHOULD LOOK LIKE INSIDE AND BACK WE WENT TO LAWRIE AND RUSSELL TO CHANGE OUR MINDS AND ONLY THEN WERE WE READ TO START WORK, AND YOU HAVE TO BE ABLE TO CHANGE YOUR MIND AFTER THE WORK HAS STARTED AND SO WE HAD MORE MEETINGS TO DO MORE PLANNING AND ALONG WITH THAT OF COURSE WE HAD TO FIND TIME TO DRINK COFFEE.
5) THERE WAS A COST 1 Chronicles 22:14 "I have taken great pains to provide for the temple of the LORD a hundred thousand talents of gold, a million talents of silver, quantities of bronze and iron too great to be weighed, and wood and stone. And you may add to them. HOUSES OF GOD HAVE NEVER COME CHEAP, AND THE TEMPLE WAS NO EXCEPTION. THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HAD TO MAKE SACRIFICES TO MAKE THE TEMPLE A REALITY. THEY HAD TO MAKE FINANCIAL SACRIFICES AND THEY HAD TO MAKE SACRIFICES OF TIME AND TALENTS. I’M SURE THAT 3000 YEARS AGO THERE MUST HAVE BEEN THE SAME TENSION IN HOMES OVER HOW MUCH TIME WAS SPENT AT THE TEMPLE WORKING BEES.
ANYTHING WORTH HAVING IS WORTH PAYING FOR. WE KNOW THAT WE HAVE ASKED FOR A FINANCIAL COMMITMENT TO THE BUILDING FUND FROM THE CHURCH AND HAVE GOTTEN PLEDGES BACK FROM THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE. IT WILL MEAN THAT IN SOME INSTANCES WE WILL HAVE TO PAY AND SCRIMP AND SACRIFICE FOR THE NEW BUILDING, AND YOU WILL NOTICE I SAID WE, NOT ME, NOT THE LOCAL BOARD AND NOT THE BUILDING COMMITTEE BUT WE, EACH ONE OF US WHO MAKES UP THIS PART OF THE BODY OF CHRIST WHICH WE CALL NORTH POINT WESLEYAN METHODIST CHURCH. FROM THE VERY BEGINNING WE HAVE STRESSED THE CONCEPT OF EQUAL SACRIFICE NOT EQUAL GIVING. I MEAN WHAT IS A SACRIFICE FOR ME MAY NOT BE A SACRIFICE FOR YOU. I WOULD LIKE TO THINK THAT EVERYONE IN THIS CHURCH MAN, WOMAN AND CHILD HAVE GIVEN UP SOMETHING SO THAT WE CAN BE IN THE NEW BUILDING. BUT THEY PROBABLY HAVEN’T. AS IN MOST AREAS OF GOD’S WORK THERE ARE THOSE WHO MAKE A SACRIFICE AND GIVE AND OTHERS WHO STAND BACK AND WATCH.
BUT YOU KNOW THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE HAVE MADE A SACRIFICE BOTH OF MONEY AND TIME AND I WANT TO THANK YOU FOR THAT BECAUSE YOU HAVE MADE THE DREAM A REALITY AND NEXT WEEK WHEN WE MOVE IN AND YOU LOOK AROUND YOU CAN SAY THIS HAS HAPPENED BECAUSE I WAS WILLING TO SACRIFICE. BUT THE BUILDING WON’T MAKE US ANY BETTER OR ANY WORSE OF A CHURCH. IT IS THE PEOPLE THAT DO THAT.
