The Heart of the House
Dwell • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 7 viewsBig Idea / Sticky Statement: Our unity as the “99” (the Church) is the “wedding ring” that proves our “marriage” to God is real, pointing “the one” who is lost to the God who is searching.
Notes
Transcript
1. ENGAGE: The Setup
Illustration: The Wedding Ring vs. The Marriage
a Wedding ring.
It's a powerful symbol… a container for a promise."
”Now, what would you think if a husband spent all his time and energy on his ring, but completely ignored his wife?
(Humor): “Imagine his wife wants to talk, and he says, ‘Shh, honey, I’m polishing my symbol of communication!’
Imagine she wants to go on a date, and he says, ‘I can’t, I’m busy taking my ring out to show it off.’
You would say, ‘That man is a fool! He has fallen in love with the container and is letting the relationship die.’”
Transition:
That sounds absurd, but it is the single greatest danger for any person of faith.
We do it all the time.
We fall in love with the symbols of our faith… and we forget the relationship they're supposed to point to.
2. TENSION: The Problem
We Fall in Love with Our “Rings”:
What are our "wedding rings" in the church?
We, the 99 who are "safe" in the fold, have lots of them.
And many are good things… until they become the main thing.
The Ring of our BUILDING: We get so proud of our “house” that we care more about the new carpet than the new convert. We get possessive of “our pew” or protective of the facilities, forgetting they are just tools for the “marriage.”
The Ring of our TRADITIONS: We say, “We’ve always done it this way.” We elevate our methods above the mission. We become so focused on polishing the form of our worship that we lose the function of it.
The Ring of our WORSHIP STYLE: This is a big one. We say, “It’s not real worship unless it has [my preferred music/instrument/volume].” We fight for our preferences while forgetting the purpose of worship, which is to honor God and edify each other.
The Ring of our PROGRAMS: We can fall in love with our event—our VBS, our small group model, our outreach program—more than the people the program is meant to serve. The program becomes the end, not the means.
The Ring of our THEOLOGY/BRAND: This is subtle. We can love our system, our doctrine, our ‘brand’ of Christianity, more than we love the God it points to or the people (our brothers and sisters) who see it differently.
The Result: A Broken “Marriage”
And what happens when the 99 fall in love with our container?
The relationship suffers.
Not just our relationship with God, but our relationship with each other.
We get so busy polishing our ring (our church, our brand) that we start competing with the other 99 down the street.
We create division and disunity.
The Real Tragedy:
And “the one” who is lost, searching, and looking in from the outside doesn’t see a loving, united family they want to join.
They just see a bunch of people arguing about their favorite jewelry.
Our disunity is a broken, flashing neon sign that tells “the one” to stay away.
Transition:
This tendency to worship the symbol and fracture the relationship isn’t a new problem.
The people of Israel did it with their Temple.
And it’s why, from the day the Temple opened, Solomon had to remind them what the ‘ring’ was really for.”
3. TRUTH: The Biblical Solution
Alright, church, grab your Bibles.
Turn to 1 Kings chapter 8.
Context (Connecting to Weeks 1 & 2):
We are on a journey in this ‘Dwell’ series, tracing God’s desire to be with us.
In Week 1, we saw a personal God before the beginning (Gen 1, John 1).
In Week 2, we saw God’s perfect blueprint for presence: walking with Adam and Eve in the ‘home’ of Eden (Gen 2).
The Story So Far (Bridging the Gap):
1. The Exile from Home:
Sin entered the world and Adam and Eve were exiled from the Garden, and humanity was separated from the tangible, dwelling presence of God.
2. The Mobile Home (Tabernacle):
For the next 400+ years, God’s solution was the Tabernacle—a holy ‘tent’ where His presence would dwell.
It was mobile, just like His people, as they wandered and settled.
It was a sign that He was with them, but it was still a temporary structure.
3. David’s Good Intention:
King David finally brings peace and establishes Jerusalem.
He builds himself a beautiful palace of cedar.
And one day (in 2 Samuel 7), he has a crisis of conscience.
He says, ‘I live in a house of cedar, while the ark of God—His presence—dwells in a tent!’
David’s heart was right: he wanted to honor God and give Him a permanent, glorious ‘house’—a beautiful ‘ring.’
4. God's "No" to David:
But God tells David, 'No.'
He gives two reasons.
First, David is a 'man of blood,' a man of war, and God's permanent home must be built by a man of peace.
Second, God flips the script, saying, 'You will not build me a house… I will build you a house (a dynasty).'
God is always the primary actor.
5. God’s “Yes” to Solomon:
God promises that David’s son, Solomon—whose name literally means ‘peace’—will be the one to build the Temple.
This brings us to today’s text.
Solomon has just completed this magnificent ‘house.’
The ‘ring’ is flawless.
And he stands up to dedicate it.
1 Kings 8:27
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!
A. Solomon’s Confession (1 Kings 8:27): The “Ring” Can’t Hold Him
This is stunning.
The builder himself, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, says, “This building isn’t big enough!”
He’s immediately re-centering the people.
He’s saying, “This ‘ring’ is beautiful, but it is not the ‘marriage.’
This house isn’t to contain God (like a pharaoh in a tomb); it’s to point to Him.”
41 “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake
42 (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house,
43 hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.
60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.
B. The “Ring’s” True Purpose (1 Kings 8:41-43, 60): A Sign for “The One”
Solomon’s prayer reveals the Temple’s real job description.
It’s not just for Israel; it’s a “signet ring” for the world.
He explicitly prays for the "foreigner" (v. 41-43): "Likewise, when a foreigner... comes from a far country for your name's sake… when he comes and prays toward this house, hear in heaven your dwelling place and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you..."
And why?
Here’s the missional punchline (v. 60): “...so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God; there is no other.”
The Temple wasn’t a fortress to keep others out or a private clubhouse for the 99; it was a magnet to draw others in.
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
C. The New “Marriage” (John 17:20-23): The 99 are the Sign
Fast forward a thousand years.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, redefines God’s “dwelling place.”
He’s not praying for a building; he’s praying for us, the 99 in His fold.
The New Dwelling: God’s new temple isn’t a building of stone; it’s a people of flesh—the Church.
The New "Sign": How will "the one" (the world) know God is real? Not by our pretty buildings, not by our shiny "rings," but by our supernatural unity ("that they may all be one… so that the world may believe").
The Power Source (v. 22): Jesus says, “The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one...”
The same glory that filled the Tabernacle is now in us, binding us together.
Transition:
The blueprint has changed.
God has moved out of a house of stone and has made His permanent home in a people.
We are the temple now.
And our job is the same: to be the sign that points ‘the one’ to Him.
Our unity is the ring.
4. APPLICATION: The Choice
1. Stop Polishing the “Ring,” Start Investing in the “Marriage.”
We (the 99) must stop confusing our symbols of faith with the substance of it.
This building is a tool.
Our traditions are great.
But they are the “ring,” not the “marriage.”
The “marriage” is our living, breathing relationship with God and with one another.
2. Our Unity is Our Witness to “The One.”
If our “marriage” to God is real, the proof is our “unity” with each other.
When “the one” who is lost and searching peers into our fold and sees us bickering over “rings”—our traditions, our preferences—we are telling them our marriage is a fake and our Shepherd isn’t worth following.
Jesus’s prayer in John 17:21 is our mission: our love for each other is the only sign “the one” will find convincing.
3. Be a “Living Signet Ring.”
1 Peter 2:5
5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
You are a “living stone.”
Your life is the “sign” to the world, bearing the image of the King.
5. INSPIRATION: The Vision
Imagine a church, a fold of 99, so supernaturally unified and loving that we stop being a private club and start being a beacon of hope.
Imagine a community where the relationship is so beautiful that the symbols (the building, the music) just become a natural, joyful celebration of the real thing.
Imagine New Beginnings becoming a community where “the one” who is lost, lonely, and searching looks in at our “marriage” and says, “I don’t know what ring they’re wearing, but I want to be a part of that family.
I want to meet their Shepherd.
6. ACTION: A Moment of Commitment
The Call:
As we close, I want to invite you to just reflect.
Where are you in this story?
Reflection 1: Committing to the “Marriage” with God.
”Maybe you’re here, and you’re still ‘the one’ who is on the outside.
You’ve been looking in, and all you’ve seen is religion.
You’ve been polishing a ‘ring,’ but you’ve never actually entered into the marriage.
God is inviting you into that real relationship right now, through Jesus.
Reflection 2: Committing to the “Marriage” with the 99 (Unity).
Or maybe you’re here, and you’re one of the 99.
You’re in the marriage with God.
But this message has exposed how you’ve been damaging the family.
You’ve been so focused on your ring (your preferences) that you’ve been causing disunity.
You’ve been hurting the very ‘sign’ that’s supposed to attract ‘the one.’
The Commitment (A Silent Prayer):
In this quiet moment, I invite you to make a silent commitment.
If you’re ‘the one’ who’s ready to come home, pray this in your heart:
‘God, I’m done faking it. I don’t want a symbol;
I want the real thing. I believe Jesus made that possible.
Please forgive me. I invite you into the family. I want the marriage.’”
”And if you’re one of the 99, and you need to recommit to the family,
pray this: ‘God, forgive me for making it about my preferences.
Forgive me for causing division.
Help me be a unifier, to protect the ‘marriage’ of this church, so that ‘the one’ who is lost will see You and come home.’ “
(Pause for silent prayer)
Closing Line:
The world doesn't need to see another shiny 'ring.'
It's desperate to see a real, loving 'marriage.'
Let's stop polishing the container and start being the Church… a united home for 'the one' who is lost.
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