Dedication of Building
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There is so much happening today. So much going on with God’s people that are assembled here today. This is a gathering of God’s people.
Today, I was planning on preaching verse by verse through the passage we looked at last week, but about midweek, I was praying and it began to dawn on me just how much stuff has been in a state of flux with the community of believers here at FCC over the past year. As i was praying I sensed that God wanted me to think over and mull over some of these things and bring a word of encouragement from Him through the Scriptures to provide His people with a much needed cold breeze of fresh air. Doesn’t that sound good?
So here we go…let’s see what has been in flux and let’s see the constant reality of Who God has called us to be as His people. We are God’s people.
Let’s pray.
Big Idea: We are God’s people.
This is a very broad sermon that will address in a generic way a whole host of things that center around the idea of what it means to be God’s people.
One of God’s people is Maddy Langstrat. I don’t even know all the history. But I do know that she was the book keeper, then she wasn’t the book keeper for a while, and then she was the book keeper again. I think she asked to be the book keeper again because the church was in need of her expertise and servant heart.
Ministry is a labor of service. It is seeing a need and jumping into the fray and pouring yourself out, like Jesus did, to help others in need. This is what Maddy has done. She has done this so faithfully with the book keeping, but not only that…over the last few weeks I watched her wash windows, offer help to clean the floors and express interest doing some training to become a more competent biblical counselor! This was our book keeper. This was one of God’s people here. And one of last things she is doing for us is training up Annette Koistra to be the next book keeper and Maddy is willing to be available to help out in anyway in transition.
Annette Koistra is one of God’s people here. (on top of being a bookeeper, I overheard her talking to someone else about her involvement in Awana ministry. This is what I heard her say, “I can’t wait to get my kids back.” - I am assuming she wasn’t talking about her biological kids. She might have been referring to some of her grandkids, but Awana is not just populated by her offsprings, offspring…it is populated by a whole bunch of kids from the church and from the community. And what that overheard comment told me was that, no matter what family the kids in Awana come from, they are “her kids.” Having kids is quite the responsibility. It requires quite a bit from you, but you do it because they are your kids and you love them.
Ministry is a labor of love…other wise we are a bunch of clanging gongs. I am pumped to have someone with that mindset overseeing the “book keeping ministry” of the church. Wow!
Michele Houston is one of God’s people here. Michele we go way back…further than anyone else here accept for the members of the search committee. We go way back to Sept. 9, 2020 at 11:26am you introduced yourself to me through email. This is what you wrote.
Hello! I’m Michele Houston, the secretary at Faith Community Church in Lynden, WA. We are so excited to have you and your family out here soon! So, quick question for you … do you have a sermon title for Sept 20? I usually have it ready for one of the deacons to replace Sunday after the service. If not, no worries … I can just put a “Welcome Pastor Shawn & family” or something. Just let me know today or tomorrow … that would be most excellent!
Have a great day! Michele
Before she even knew me…she was serving me and serving all of you with all the behind the scenes ministries of the church. That is what ministry is so often.
Ministry is so often done behind the scenes. Sometimes it is introducing yourself to a stranger and asking them how you can selflessly serve them, to come along side them and help them out in practical ways.
This was part of my response to Michele...
Michele, you are a ROCK STAR!!! I am so excited to come and kick the tires on you guys! It will be fun and overwhelming trying to get to know everyone, but we are up for challenge! Thank you so much for serving me and the people by getting all the STUFF of the ministry done.
I think I accurately described Michele’s ministry without even knowing her. Suzanne used to be our church secretary for a few years back in Chicago before we had kids, and I was able to see just how much “stuff” she had to do for the ministry.
The job description for the “church secretary” or “administrative professional” should just say, “Do stuff for people.” In order to do that, you can’t occupy this position in the local church and view it as a job, you will have 300+ bosses, you have to occupy this position and see it for what it is…it is a ministry calling. Michele has done that well and now has opportunities to serve in ministry settings away from here and we are thankful that God had her here as one of God’s people and we look forward to see “God’s next person” to help serve the FCC in her leaving.
Pastor Danny is one of God’s people. If Danny was a baseball player, he would be a 5 Tool Player! Do you know what that is? A 5 tool player in baseball is someone who excels in all physical aspects of the game. A 5 tool player has great running speed, throwing ability, fielding skills, and can hit for both Average and Power. To have all these skills in a baseball player is quite an asset to any team. FCC is not a baseball team, but we have someone on staff that is like a 5 tool player. He leads our student ministry, he engages in one on one discipleship opportunities, does pre marital counseling, he preaches, he sings, he plays guitar, he plays drums, he makes videos, he even starts the coffee sometimes on Sunday mornings.
He does everything…and he is going on Sabbatical! He is going to be away for an extended period of time for reflection, renewal, and rest and to spend sufficient time in his number one ministry, that is ministry to his wife and kids.
Danny is going to be missed around here, but not mostly because of what He does to serve all of us, but because of who he is to each of us. He is our brother in Christ. He is one of God’s people.
If you know Jesus Christ, and are known by Him, you are one of God’s people. 586 Birch Bay Lynden Road is so often where we gather together to encourage one another to live out our true identity as God’s people.
This is our place. This is one of our new buildings. This is a building where we meet as God’s people…as the church. This is our place.
All throughout Scripture God’s people had a place where they could meet with God. God’s people had a place…even from the beginning God walked among His people in the cool of day (doesn’t that sound nice right about now) in the Garden of Eden.
In Genesis 3:8, we see a fascinating word that we can trace throughout Scripture. It is the Hebrew word, Hâlakh: to walk among or to go with.
Enoch walked with God. Noah walked with God. Unfortunately not many in Noah’s day did “walk with God.” In Genesis 6:5 it says that God’s heart was grieved because he saw that the intention of man’s heart was only evil continually. So God sent a destructive flood and began a process of recreation.
God Himself said in Leviticus...
11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people.
And then in the next book of the bible, Numbers we notice Yahweh saying
21 But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord,
God wanted to “whole earth” to be full of His glory. And then we see instructions to build a tabernacle. And then later on we see instructions to build a temple when they are finally in the “Promised Land.”
God was going to walk among them…and physically reside in a structure built by the people where atonement could be made and a Holy God and sinful man could dwell together.
We fast forward in history to the actual construction of Solomon’s temple. King David had it in his heart to build, but his son actually completed the project. Although David was unable to build he still exercised faith. You can see how he was sure of what he hoped for and certain of what he could not see in his amazing prayer.
1 Chronicles 29:10–18 (ESV)
10 “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of Israel our father, forever and ever. 11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all...16 O Lord our God, all this abundance that we have provided for building you a house for your holy name comes from your hand and is all your own.
Supplies were gathered and then Solomon, his son builds, then eventually the Babylonians destroy that temple…and the earth wasn’t full of His glory.
So later on in history there was need for a new temple and second temple…so we don’t have a return of the Jedi, but we do have a return of the exiles who end up constructing a second temple under the leadership of Ezra…Circa 515BC.
Ezra 3:10–11 (ESV)
” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the Lord, because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid.
Well that was good and well but that temple was destroyed in 70AD. The whole earth didn’t get filled with the glory.
And here we are today…building a new building of brick and mortar. Blood, sweat and tears. Time, energy, effort went into this structure and it’s awesome…but for what? Well we want the people that come into this place to be impacted by those who conduct Gospel centered ministry to the kids, to the youth, to the students, to the parents, to those in need of counseling who come into this building so that the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord as the water covers the sea as the late 7th century prophet Habukkuk proclaimed.
We want to see the prophecy of 8th century prophet Isaiah to come true when he heard the angelic beings calling to one another...
3 And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
We want the glory of the Lord to fill the earth…not just this place. The only way that could happen is by having another temple destroyed for us. and Jesus showed up on the scene in the 1st century and says to those who have an ear to hear, “destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days.” And people thought He was crazy, but John reminds us that Jesus was referring to His body, the place where deity and humanity were combined. The place that was destroyed for you on the cross…so that Jesus could send His very own Spirit into our hearts that can cry out “Abba Father.”
We have become God’s temple…we are God’s people.
We gather today to dedicate a building, but we will be scattered later on this afternoon and every where we go we will fill the earth with the glory of the Lord as He “dwells in our hearts through faith.”
Instead of God’s people having a building to offer a holy and pleasing sacrifice to Him in, God’s people themselves have become the house for God and their entire lives are the sacrifice of worship that is holy and pleasing to the Lord.
4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 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.
The focus of what we are doing here today is of course, not about this building…it is about Jesus Christ, the Chief Cornerstone of His church. He is the Lord of the church. All the ‘temple’ and ‘building’ language of Scripture points in the end to God’s people.
This building is awesome, but do not let people mistake this new building for God’s temple or sanctuary. We are the temple. We have become the sanctuary of our God and this is a wonderful place for us to gather and to help encourage one another, so that we can be a better equipped to represent God to those who are not yet God’s people, as though God were making His appeal through us (not this building)… through us as we go about our daily lives.
So today, I don’t think God would want us to minimize the work of
Kevin Kooy, Clyde Libolt, Rick Holleman, Ray Heeringa, Ron Starkenburg, Gene Bouma, Kevin Spoelstra, Roy Berdan, Martin DeLange and Mike Campfield as those who served on the building committee.
I don’t think God would want us to minimize the work of Maddy, Annette, Michele, or Danny or the dozens and dozens of you who have helped in this process and most recently this past Tuesday as we tried to get this place up and ready for the ceremony today.
We certainly don’t want to minimize the work Pastor Mike for showing up at the end to give us all ice cream (and some of us multiple helpings of ice cream)…).
We are God’s people…let’s not minimize the work that His people have uniquely contributed to this place…but let’s for sure maximize the glory of the One who died to make it all possible. Let’s be God’s people who praise our Savior and fill the whole earth with His glory as we leave this place with Him dwelling in our hearts through faith.
Let’s sing.
Benediction:
O Great God of highest heaven, we have assembled today to set apart this building to be a place of worship, equipping, fellowship and service. We believe that you have put it into our hearts to build this building and we know that you have guided our minds and strengthened our hands for the task. Your Spirit has moved us to bring our gifts that it might be built for your glory. We consider this beautiful structure to be your loving gift from you to us and not from us to you. We are your to children and we joyfully desire to dedicate this building to its sacred purpose of equipping saints for the work of the ministry.
We now, the people of Faith Community Church, dedicate ourselves anew to worship you in spirit and in truth, to love one another, to preach the Word, and to seek the salvation of the lost. The grass withers and flowers fade, this building will crumble one day, but the word of God will endure forever.
We dedicate this entire building with all its furnishings in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.