South Gate
Notes
Transcript
Greetings from Rockaway Beach. This July I will have pastored in Rockaway Beach for 13 years. God has moved so mightily in that amount of time.
Bridge of Faith was planted in 2005 at the height of a state wide ballot issue of Casino River boat gambling.
The town thought our sole purpose was to defeat this ballot issue and then we would leave.
Many in the town did not want us there and fought to keep us out.
God called my family to Rockaway Beach in 2006 and I started lead pastoring in 2007.
I heard a quote from Reggie McNeil that if your church was to ever leave the community would anyone know that you were gone.
At Bridge of Faith, we set out to make sure that if we left Rockaway Beach that the city would beg us to come back.
God had a lot a work to do because they didn’t want us there in the first place.
God began to make this happen. God revealed to us
5 And whoever welcomes one child like this in My name welcomes Me.
We believe that if we welcome children in the name of Jesus Christ that we welcome Christ himself into our church.
At Bridge of Faith, we believe that our children are the biggest asset that we have. Our children are more important that the vehicles we own, the chairs we have, the buildings we build, or the sound equipment we buy. Our children are our greatest asset and we strive to welcome them in the name of Jesus and in so do we welcome Christ himself into our church.
We believe that in welcoming children in the name of Jesus Christ that this will transform generations that transform communities.
We bus kids in about 80 kids every Wednesday night and feed them a hot meal. We have about 120 kids present under the age of 18. We teach Bible study and bus them back home.
South Gate has been so faithful bringing Tacos on the 2nd Wednesday night of the month. Some of the children started riding the bus with they were 6 or 7 years old and now those students are 16 and 17 and actively involved in the church.
The city that did not want us there has fully embraced the church as we have set out to do some unique ministry.
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At Bridge of Faith, we have two thrift stores, baseball field, coffee shop, nightly rental home, greenhouse, and a lodging facility for mission groups.
This year we are hoping to add a fitness center, lay counseling center and small hang out shop that will serve as our concessions for baseball.
Our church has 3 members that are serving our city in public office ad city alderman. Two of these members ran for reelection and won their seats. The third was appointed and is the only name listed on the ballot for reelection in April.
I am so thankful for South Gate and God has used you all to transform lives and a community. Thank you for investing in us to grow the Kingdom in Rockaway Beach and beyond.
This month here at South Gate is Missions month and you all have been engaging in the topic of missions.
I want to continue this theme this morning. When talking about missions, areas like the area I minister in can become very complex.
Complex?!? One of the topics we talk about often at Bridge of Faith is poverty alleviation.
It gets complex in missions when we are trying to figure out the role of the Gospel and the role of poverty alleviation and how these two come together.
I could give you so many examples over the years where people have asked this is great but did they hear the Gospel or the opposite is did you just you the stuff to proselytize the people.
Working in areas of brokenness that shows itself through poverty, is very complex. I would also say that if you read the Bible you will see that we are all called to these areas.
God is changing the way I think about these topics and as God begins to change us I believe the next 10 years in Rockaway will continue to be brighter than the last 10.
The Temple Theme Throughout Scripture
The Temple Theme Throughout Scripture
The Tabernacle
The Tabernacle
God delivers his people out of Egypt and God instructs his chosen people to construct a lavishly decorated tent that becomes God’s dwelling place in the midst of his people.
The primary purpose of the tabernacle was where God was dwelling among his people.
8 “They are to make a sanctuary for Me so that I may dwell among them.
The tabernacle was to be a place of divine revelation.
Exodus 25:2
22 I will meet with you there above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony; I will speak with you from there about all that I command you regarding the Israelites.
Notice how the tabernacle was to be built. It was to be build with gold and other precious stones
29 Then overlay the planks with gold, and make their rings of gold as the holders for the crossbars. Also overlay the crossbars with gold.
30 You are to set up the tabernacle according to the plan for it that you have been shown on the mountain.
31 “You are to make a veil of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn, and finely spun linen with a design of cherubim worked into it.
32 Hang it on four gold-plated posts of acacia wood that have gold hooks and that stand on four silver bases.
33 Hang the veil under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony there behind the veil, so the veil will make a separation for you between the holy place and the most holy place.
Here he is speaking of the most holy place and that is the Holy of holies.
What was later present in the Holy of holies?
God himself was there in the Holy of holies
Notice some other similarities of Cherubim designed in to the curtain.
Exodus
34 The cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.
When the construction of this mobile tabernacle was complete, the Glory of God filled it.
This was a Holy place due to God’s presence being there, so the pries guarded it so that unclean things would not enter.
4 They are to join you and guard the tent of meeting, doing all the work at the tent, but no unauthorized person may come near you.
5 “You are to guard the sanctuary and the altar so that wrath may not fall on the Israelites again.
6 Look, I have selected your fellow Levites from the Israelites as a gift for you, assigned by the Lord to work at the tent of meeting.
7 But you and your sons will carry out your priestly responsibilities for everything concerning the altar and for what is inside the veil, and you will do that work. I am giving you the work of the priesthood as a gift, but an unauthorized person who comes near the sanctuary will be put to death.”
Solomon’s Temple
Solomon’s Temple
21 Next, Solomon overlaid the interior of the temple with pure gold, and he hung gold chains across the front of the inner sanctuary and overlaid it with gold.
22 So he added the gold overlay to the entire temple until everything was completely finished, including the entire altar that belongs to the inner sanctuary.
23 In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubim 15 feet high out of olive wood.
Also present in this temple was the Holy of holies.
After it was completed
10 When the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the Lord’s temple,
11 and because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple.
What happened to this temple?
It was destroyed because of the disobedience of the Israelites.
Jesus’s Body
Jesus’s Body
14 The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The greek word for residence among us means he tabernacled among us.
the Word “means that the Word pitched his tabernacle, or lived in his tent, amongst us.”
19 Jesus answered, “Destroy this sanctuary, and I will raise it up in three days.”
The curtain of the temple was torn in two
51 Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was split in two from top to bottom; the earth quaked and the rocks were split.
I love what the death of Jesus does for us
Hebrews 10:9-
9 He then says, See, I have come to do Your will. He takes away the first to establish the second.
10 By this will of God, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once and for all.
11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.
12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.
13 He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool.
14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.
15 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after He says:
16 This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws on their hearts and write them on their minds,
17 He adds: I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts.
18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
19 Therefore, brothers, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus,
20 by a new and living way He has opened for us through the curtain (that is, His flesh ),
21 and since we have a great high priest over the house of God,
22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water.
23 Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful.
24 And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works,
25 not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Let’s be clear about poverty alleviation. The goal of poverty alleviation is not to take those who live on the margins and make them middle class.
The goal is not to make sure they have what I have or to make sure they live like I live.
To be clear, there are some things in middle class that do reflect the kingdom and there are some things in lower class that reflect the kingdom.
The goal for the church is not to make those in poverty live and act like the middle class.
At Bridge of Faith, we are talking about how did God design us as humans and then our goal is to live according to how we were designed.
The truth of the matter is that if we are honest some things in middle class are just as broken as those who are living on the margins! Some in upper class are just as broken.
What I love about is that is reveals that we are all broken. None of us are worthy to enter into the Holy of holies.
No matter what class we live in the class alone will does not purify us to enter into the Holy of holies.
11 Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins.
12 But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God.
13 He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool.
14 For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified.
Upper, middle and lower class enter into the presence of Almighty God through the blood shed of Jesus!
The Church
The Church
We see the cooperate gathering of believers as God’s dwelling place but scripture goes even deeper on a more personal level
19 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,
Brian Rosner and Roy Ciampa helpfully explain this verse. They write: “Here Paul applies the corporate imagery to the individual believer, with particular reference to the body.”[16] Thus, one may make an astounding conclusion: the bodies of individual believers are temples of God. Further, the indwelled believers are priests who are, like the Old Testament priests, to guard the temple—the church and individual bodies of believers—from sin.
From the Old to the New Testament, a major progression of God’s presence is evident. Rather than dwelling with his people in a sanctuary, by his Spirit, God now dwells in his people.[17] Köstenberger helpfully summarizes: “In OT times, God dwelt among his people, first in the tabernacle…then in the temple. In the NT era, believers themselves are the temple of the living God….”[18] The new covenant people of God, which consists both of the Jew and Gentile, are now God’s temple.[19]
https://godandthegospel.com/articles/eden-as-temple-and-template-part-i-god-and-the-gospel
The New Jerusalem
The New Jerusalem
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea no longer existed.
2 I also saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
Notice what is there
18 The building material of its wall was jasper, and the city was pure gold like clear glass.
Look God’s dwelling place
3 Then I heard a loud voice from the throne: Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
Revelation 21:22-
22 I did not see a sanctuary in it, because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its sanctuary.
23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, because God’s glory illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb.
This is mission emphasis month and the goal of this church is to Equip every believer to go and make disciples.
Watch this!
2 Corinthians 3:
7 Now if the ministry of death, chiseled in letters on stones, came with glory, so that the Israelites were not able to look directly at Moses’ face because of the glory from his face—a fading glory—
8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?
9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness overflows with even more glory.
10 In fact, what had been glorious is not glorious now by comparison because of the glory that surpasses it.
11 For if what was fading away was glorious, what endures will be even more glorious.
12 Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness.
13 We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites could not stare at the end of what was fading away,
14 but their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ.
15 Even to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts,
16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
You and I share the image of Jesus Christ and go “from glory to glory” through the ministry of the Spirit of God
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Three: From Glory to Glory (2 Corinthians 3)
Under the Old Covenant, only Moses ascended the mountain and had fellowship with God; but under the New Covenant, all believers have the privilege of communion with Him. Through Jesus Christ, we may enter into the very holy of holies (Heb. 10:19–20)—and we don’t have to climb a mountain!
The Bible Exposition Commentary Chapter Three: From Glory to Glory (2 Corinthians 3)
Under the Old Covenant, only Moses ascended the mountain and had fellowship with God; but under the New Covenant, all believers have the privilege of communion with Him. Through Jesus Christ, we may enter into the very holy of holies (Heb. 10:19–20)—and we don’t have to climb a mountain!
Warren Wiersby
Warren Wiersby
Warren Wiersby
We make disciples by looking into the word of God and as we look into the word of God the Spirit of God begins to change us to reflect the Glory of God.
Our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit and we are called to reflect the Glory of God.
Jesus prayed
Matthew 6:
10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
It is our responsibility as temples of the Holy Spirit to grow the kingdom of God.
Middle class is no longer the goal.
The goal is that every believer is reflecting the Glory of God in every action.
Does your work reflect the Glory of God?
Does your home reflect the Glory of God?
Does your marriage reflect the Glory of God?
Does your parenting reflect the Glory of God?
Does how you live in community reflect the Glory of God?
How about how you act at sporting events does that reflect the Glory of God?
We at Bridge of Faith designed us to live in communion with God. This is accomplished through the blood shed of Jesus. So we view every person as designed to be followers of Jesus who reflect the Glory of God.
The enemy comes to still, kill and destroy. We have experienced a lot of this in our community. The goal for us is that Christ came so that the broken in our community can reflect the Glory of God.
God desires in the end to dwell with humanity. My prayer is that we all with unveiled faces will reflect the Glory of God and others will be drawn to this.