Today’s author is Prince of Peace member, Jim Armstrong.
I want to build a Temple for my Lord, a place of worship, just like all of the other nations of the earth said David the King. Not so, said the Lord. You are a man of war. I want a man of peace to build my temple. Solomon your son, is a man of peace; he will do the job. He will build me a house where your people will gather in my name.
There you will seek me and call to me. There you will know that I am your God. There you will be my people as you come together in worship.
So Solomon built the temple. I will put the best construction possible in it. I want to be proud of the quality of this building. Every god of the nations around us has a temple, a place to gathering. A place to connect. A place to come into the power of their god. But there is no God like you. You are the creator of all things. I want others to know that you are the one and only God. So Solomon spent seven years in the building of the Lord’s temple. (Interestingly he spent 13 years in the building of his palace.)
In his prayer of dedication standing before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Isreal he said, “O Lord, God of Isreal, there is no God like you in heaven above or earth below.” “But will God really dwell on earth? The heaven, even the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built. Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy. O Lord my God, hear the prayer I make in your presence this day. May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you have said ‘my name shall be there’ that you will hear the prayer your servant makes toward this place and hear from heaven. The prayers from your dwelling place and whom you hear, forgive. May the Lord our God be with us and never forsake us. May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in his ways and to keep his commands and decrees and regulations and may these works of mine be near to the Lord our God day and night, so that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other, and our hearts be fully connected to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands. Then the king and all Isreal offered sacrifices before the Lord. They worshiped Him in His temple.”
Sixty-seven years ago, a group of people in Roseville, Minnesota gathered together and said ‘We want to build a temple to the Lord, a house for God’s presence. A place to gather for worship and praise. A place where God is present. And where his spirit would surround us.’ And so, Prince of Peace was born and the temple, our church was built. Often times churches were built with huge, tall steeples. Not to try to reach up to the heavens of God’s presence but to remind us to always look up, to look up to the Lord of all creations, to look up to a cross to see the Son of God standing between the people of the earth and the God of the heaven. To remind us that God has indeed reached down to dwell among us. As unbelievable as it is, God actually wants to be a part of our lives. That’s his promise.
When Solomon built the temple and called the people to gather together in worship, it was a call to them to also go out and be a blessing to the people in the world around them to tell them that the Lord Creator of the Heavens was the only true God and there was no other like him. So that the people of the world might find their way to Jerusalem and acknowledge Him as Lord and only true God.
Our gathering together at Prince of Peace is also only part of our journey of faith. We close our worship with the words, “Go in peace and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.” Part of our serving the Lord is the call to go out into the world around us to be a blessing and tell them that Jesus is Lord. The Savior God who comes to people’s lives just like ours. Come and see, come and worship. That we are blessed to be a blessing.
And so, we build our temples. Where two or three are gathered together there I am in the midst of them. It is true that God remains wherever we are even when we are alone, but as Solomon said, “its important to have a place to call yours, O God, a place where we can come together, my people and I, for worship and praise.”
So, Prince of Peace built a house for God’s presence and asked that he would dwell among them as they would gather for worship and praise and prayer. A place to open their lives together to the work of his spirit. We know that God cannot be contained but he has promised to bless us in our time together, if we are serious in our attempt to draw closer to him.
So come Lord Jesus, come Creator Father, come Holy Spirit, our place of your presence always be open to your working.
So, we gather each week at our temple of worship called Prince of Peace, God himself is present and so should we. Amen.
Prayer – Lord our God, as you have called us to gather in your presence, may our time together bring honor and praise to your name. Amen.