Untitled Sermon (3)

Sermon Outline:

Chapter 7: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

Recap:

Last week was Easter, the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection — not the literal calendar day it happened, but a symbolic remembrance.

Historically, Jesus most likely died on April 3rd, during Passover week, which shifts each year based on the Hebrew calendar.

In 2025, Passover will begin Saturday, April 12, reminding us how God’s timeline is set by His covenant, not by human schedules.

Holy Week retraces Jesus’ final days — from Palm Sunday’s Inauguration to Good Friday’s Sacrifice, Silent Saturday’s Battle, and Easter’s Victory.

We remembered how Jesus, entering Jerusalem as King, didn’t first confront Rome, but went straight to the Temple — His Father’s house — and cleansed it.

The Temple cleansing wasn’t random — it was a declaration: “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:7)

Jesus revealed His heart: God’s deepest desire isn’t just a religious service — it’s a dwelling place among His people.

Prayer, as Jesus defined it, isn’t just communication — it’s communion, alignment, and dwelling in His presence.

Good Friday showed His sacrifice; Silent Saturday showed His triumph over darkness; Easter showed His victory over death — all so God could dwell among us.

The cross was not the end — it was the doorway for God’s original plan to be fulfilled: to make His home in us.

I.

Introduction: Mr. Rogers and God’s Invitation

Opening quote:

I have always wanted to have a neighbor just like you

I've always wanted to live in a neighborhood with you

So, let's make the most of this beautiful day

Since we're together, we might as well say

Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

Won't you be my neighbor?

- Mr.Rogers

“Fred Rogers, an ordained Presbyterian minister, left the traditional pulpit to create ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.’ Through television, he ministered to millions, embodying the essence of neighborly love and acceptance. His neighborhood wasn’t just a set, it was a sanctuary where every child felt seen and valued.

For over thirty years, Mr. Rogers sat down in a simple television set that looked like a living room, pulled on a cardigan sweater, changed into sneakers, and asked the same simple but profound question:

“Won’t you be my neighbor?”

Mr. Rogers wasn’t just hosting a children’s show.

He was building a world — a world where everyone was welcome, where brokenness could be acknowledged, and where kindness could reshape a life.

His show wasn’t flashy. It wasn’t noisy. It was slow, quiet, intentional. And that was the point.

He believed that love — real love — begins with presence.

It begins when someone sees you, notices you, and says,

“I want to live near you. I want to share life with you. I want to build a neighborhood with you.”

Set the tone: God is both everywhere and yet desires to dwell somewhere intentionally, intimately—with us.

II.

Tension Between Omnipresence and Manifest Presence

God’s Omnipresence

Psalm 139:8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!

If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!

, Jeremiah 23:23–24

Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? 24 Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord.

, 1 Kings 8:27

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!

God fills heaven and earth; there’s no place He isn’t.

There is literally nowhere in the universe where God is not present.

And yet, in scripture starting in Genesis, we see something remarkable: the God who is everywhere chooses to dwell specifically somewhere.

God being present and God’s Glory being made Manifest. There’s a difference between His omnipresence and His manifest presence.

God’s Manifest Presence

Burning bush (Exodus 3)

Ark of the Covenant

Holy of Holies

Key Truth: God is everywhere, but He chooses to reveal Himself uniquely where He is honored and welcomed.

Illustrations:

Air is everywhere, but you must breathe deep.

A home is wired for power, but the switch must be flipped.

III.

He is omnipresent, yes—but He rests where He’s honored.

Genesis 3: The First “Where Are You?”

The Fall

There’s a moment in Genesis that should make us think.

God—in His manifest presence—is walking in the garden, calling out to Adam and Eve. And then we hear three of the saddest words in Scripture:

“Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)

Think about that. The omniscient God, the God who knows all things and sees all things, is asking a question. Now whenever God asks a question it’s never for lack of knowledge, it's always to reveal something.

“Where are you?” (Genesis 3:9)

God seeks out Adam and Eve.

But here they are—Confused, Naked, and Afraid. The weight of their decision settles in. The innocence they once knew is gone, and for the first time, fear creeps into the human experience. What happens next? God, being righteous, merciful, and wise, does not abandon them in their brokenness. He doesn’t leave Adam and Eve to sit in the wreckage of their rebellion. Instead, He provides. He covers them—literally. Not with fig leaves of their own making, but with garments of animal skin. It seems like a small act, but it’s loaded with meaning. This wasn’t just provision—it was prophecy. It was the first whisper of redemption.

Blood was shed to cover shame. That’s not incidental. That’s theological. This is righteousness being shadowed. The consequence of sin was, and still is, death. Separation. A falling under the holy wrath of God toward evil. But in this moment, rather than striking down the humans He made, God grafts a covering—something that came from death, for life.

This covering foreshadows the sacrificial system that would unfold through generations. A system built on substitution. On scapegoats. On atonement. It all points forward, with aching clarity, to the day when Jesus—the true and better Lamb—would shed His own blood unto death, not just to cover our sin, but to remove it entirely.

“The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

The skins in Eden weren’t about modesty—they were about mercy. They were a sign that God was already moving toward restoration. Already making a way back. And that way would be paved by His blood.

Covering of animal skins: Bloodshed pointing to redemption through Christ (John 1:29).

IV.

God’s Pursuit Post-Eden

Enoch Walks with God (Genesis 5:24)

Tabernacle: Exodus 25:8 – “Build me a sanctuary, and I will dwell among them.”

Manifest Glory (Kabod)

Kabod is a Hebrew word that means weight, heaviness, significance. It’s not abstract; it’s tangible.

Exodus 40:34, 2 Chronicles 5:14

Again and again we hear about the Ark of the Covenant, God’s throne on earth. Exodus 25:22 says, “There above the cover between the two cherubim... I will meet with you.” A meeting place. A resting place. A home. Centuries after this we hear about Solomon building the Temple. What's supposed to be a more permanent house in Israel. And again, what happens there? The glory of God is made manifest. 1 Kings 8:10-11 tells us that as the priests were singing praises, “the cloud filled the temple of the Lord,” and “the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled his temple.”

God’s glory visibly resting among His people.

Tim Keller Quote:

“The glory of God is available to you in the church in a way it’s not available to you anywhere else… There is no more important means of discipleship than deep involvement in the life of the church.”

V.

God Desires a Home, Not Just a House

Michael Miller Quote:

Michael Miller writes this “God lives in many, but He rests in few.”

There’s a difference between God living in you and God resting in you. There’s a difference between God being in the room, and God being honored in the room. There’s a difference in the depth a community can collectively experience when it comes to communion with God, and even a difference in the revelations of God we receive individually and collectively.

To clarify, this is not about merit. This isn’t legalism dressed in spiritual language. I’m not saying that only if you pray, then you’ll deserve more of God, as if His presence were some kind of spiritual reward system, or something we can earn. No, absolutely not. This is a grace-filled invitation, not a transaction.

C.S. Lewis Reflection:

He shows much more of Himself to some people not because He has favorites— but because it is impossible for Him to show Himself to a man whose whole mind and character are in the wrong condition. Just as sunlight cannot be reflected in a dusty mirror as clearly as in a clean one.

- C. S. Lewis

Because of the new covenant we’ve been given in Christ, the new nature, the new way, the torn veil, we no longer stand on the outside looking in. We can boldly approach. We can ask. We can seek. We can cry out not just to know about Him, but to actually know Him. To be with Him. To dwell where His glory dwells. To experience, not from a distance, not in theory, but up close, the weight of His presence. The manifest glory that once left nations trembling now lives in us. And the invitation? It’s still open. The access is still available. We’re now empowered to actually encounter it in greater measures..

Paul’s Prayer (Ephesians 3:14–19):

Strengthened by the Spirit

Christ dwelling in our hearts

Rooted and grounded in love

Filled with all the fullness of God

for this reason I bow my knees before the Father,d 15from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I ask that out of the riches of His glory He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth 19of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Here Paul is praying that the believers in Ephesus would be strengthened, not by sheer willpower or self-discipline, but by the power of the Spirit, a power that flows from the riches of God’s glory. Why? So that Christ would dwell and inhabit their hearts through faith. Paul then says we become rooted and grounded in love. That’s when something beautiful happens. That’s when, together with all the saints, we begin to comprehend, not just in theory, but in lived experience, the length, width, height, and depth of the love of Christ. A love that surpasses knowledge, a love that cannot be studied into or analyzed into—it must be encountered.

And the result? That you may be filled with all the fullness of God. What a phrase. What a prayer.

The Glory of God always demands a response, no one sees the Glory and remains the same. So how can we say we are experiencing the Glory of God?

Are hearts being pierced? Is there a collective leaning in? Is there a holy and deep reverence, a sense that we’ve come under something greater than ourselves? Are the people bowing low, not just physically, but spiritually? Are egos diminishing, are agendas being laid down, is self taking a backseat, and is Christ being exalted?

That’s when you know glory is in the room. Not just because something strange or unexplainable happened, but because Someone is being honored.

So the question isn’t: “Is God here?”

The better question is: “Have we made room for Him?” How many churches, communities, hearts are spaces that cry, “Come and rest here, Lord”? When God rests, everything changes. It's when people and communities desire to hear the same words that Zion received:

“This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.” — Psalm 132:14

Have we made room for Him?

Let’s talk about something that I believe most Christians intuitively feel, but struggle to articulate: different levels of intimacy lead to different experiences of glory revealed.

VI.

Transfiguration: Different Levels of Glory

Three Disciples: Peter, James, and John

Jairus’s daughter

Gethsemane

Mount of Transfiguration (Matthew 17)

Key Point:

Different levels of intimacy lead to different revelations of glory.

Hunger and nearness matter.

Moses’ Story:

Exodus 33: Moses asks, “Show me Your glory.”

Denied full vision then, but allowed at the Mount of Transfiguration centuries later.

VII.

The Ark, The Tabernacle, The Temple: Echoes of Eden

Mobile (Tabernacle) ➔ Permanent (Temple) ➔ Personal (Believers).

God always moving toward making His home with us.

VIII.

House vs. Home Analogy

If rest is more than just pausing, if it speaks of inhabiting, dwelling, and settling in, then the statement “God lives in many, but He rests in few” is true. What do I mean? I mean there's a difference between a house and a home.

A house: structure.

A home: presence, relationship, personalization.

Application:

Are we just “houses” for God?

Or are we truly “homes” where He is honored, loved, and rests?

IX.

The City: ‘The Lord Is There’

A people, a church, a city, a life—so full of His presence that nothing else can compare.

And this isn’t just poetic idealism, it’s the trajectory of all of Scripture.

The Apostle John when writing about the final vision in the book of Revelation doesn’t just talk about streets of gold or gates of pearl. It’s not primarily about mansions or harps or eschatological timelines. The crescendo of God’s redemptive story is this one breathtaking statement:

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.

He will dwell with them, and they will be His people,

and God Himself will be with them as their God.”

(Revelation 21:3)

You see this has always been His heart from Eden to Zion.

Ezekiel 48:35: “The name of the city shall be ‘The Lord is there.’”

Ezekiel’s wild visions culminate not in judgment—but in God dwelling with His people again.

Revelation 21:3:

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.”

X.

Friendship With God: The Heart of It All

Abraham called God’s friend (Isaiah 41:8).

Moses spoke to God face-to-face (Exodus 33:11).

Jesus calls us friends (John 15:14–15).

Key Message:

God’s end goal is not transaction, but friendship and communion.

XI.

Application: Making Room for God

Seriously, not just in theory. Not just in our Sunday language or midweek declarations. But in the real, raw, holy details of our lives.

Are we making room for Him in our rhythms, in our hearts, in the hidden places no one sees?

Are we making room for Him in our homes, at our dinner tables with our wives and kids, in the tension-filled mornings and the quiet nights?

Are we making room for Him in our communities, in our living rooms, in our churches, in the way we gather, in the way we worship, in the way we listen and lean in?

Take a moment. Ask yourself, does my life look like a house of prayer? Not do I pray enough, but do I live in constant awareness of God? Not do I have the perfect words, but do I make space for His presence?

Are we making room for Him in daily life?

In our homes, families, churches?

Not just believing God is with us—but living like we carry His manifest glory.

XII.

Closing Challenge

Matthew 7:7:

Ask, seek, knock.

1 Corinthians 12:31:

Earnestly desire the greater gifts.

Personal Reflection:

Are you a tent-dweller standing far off?

Or are you climbing the mountain to behold His glory?

Final Thought:

God doesn’t play favorites—but He does respond to hunger, nearness, and desire.

Key Closing Quote:

“Have we made room for Him?”

“The house of prayer was always about the home of God’s presence.”

Let’s not settle for attending services when we’re invited to become His sanctuary.