A House For People

All right. So we are in the middle — or ending, I guess — a little series these last few weeks. In September — the 10th, the 14th, I don’t know, September 13th maybe; I should know this date — we officially launched our name change from Chapel Valley to Dwelling House. And we moved from being a name that was a location to a name that was a declaration — a declaration of who we want to be, of what we see that the Lord has for this church.

Over the last few weeks we have been talking about what we felt like the Lord was asking Dwelling House to do, because we feel like it’s more than just a name. Like I said, it’s a prophetic declaration that is telling something — and it’s not just telling something, but there is the room backing it up.

One thing I have desired

So if you have your Bibles, Psalm 27 — Pastor Jay, I think this is on our website, was talking about when he was reading Psalm 27 and how this jumped out at him. I’m going to read this verse, and then we’re going to continue on, because today we’re going to be talking about a house for people. The first week was a house of prayer, then a house of His presence, and now a house for His people.

Psalm 27:4 says, “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord.” As David is writing this, he’s actually writing from a place of distress, and in faith. And what I love here is when it says that we would dwell in the house of the Lord “to behold the beauty of the Lord.” That’s talking about the presence of God. And “to inquire in His temple” — that is talking about inquiry. That is what prayer is. When we are praying, we are inquiring of the Lord. We’re inquiring of what His will is. We’re inquiring of what He wants to do in that moment. And so our heart is that this house, this church, would be a house of prayer, a house of presence, and then lastly, a house for His people. But we want to bring some definition to that.

So if you join with me, I’m going to go ahead and pray, and after we pray, we’re going to be in Luke chapter 23. Lord, we thank You for today. We thank You for Your presence. We thank You that as we worship, we’re not just singing lifeless words up into the air and sky, but we are declaring our worship and Your goodness to a living God who is faithful, who is good. Lord, I pray that as the Word is preached today, Your will would be done on earth as You desire in heaven. I pray that the Holy Spirit would highlight things that we need to catch, and that this word would bear much fruit in our lives. We thank You for these things, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Jesus before Pilate and Herod

All right. So, Luke chapter 23. If you have a Bible, please turn there. If you’d like a Bible, we have a Bible for you, but it’ll also be on the screen. I’ll be reading out of the New King James. I don’t know if I told them that, but I think that’s what we default to.

Jay and I had talked about who was going to preach when, and I did not realize when I was prepping for this week that Communion was today. And I just think God is so good, because where He took me to was the very thing that we were celebrating today, which is Communion. We’ll be reading right up into the crucifixion of Jesus.

So before we get there, what is happening at this point? Jesus has been arrested. He’s been accused. He has been beaten. They are trying to bring an accusation against Jesus, and He’s already endured quite a bit to this point. I don’t know if you guys have ever watched The Passion of the Christ. It is a really intense movie. I remember one Easter I thought it would be a great idea, since it was Easter, to put on The Passion of the Christ for my kids, who were probably 12, 10, and 9. That wasn’t our best move as parents. It’s so intense — if you’ve ever seen it, it’s so graphic. But I don’t think that was the part that moved them. I don’t know if you remember the movie, but there was this scene where this demon kept showing up. That was the part where they were just like, “What is this? What are you doing? Why are you showing us this?” So, not our strongest move. We never did it again. I don’t even know that we finished it.

But The Passion of the Christ really does portray the intensity of what Jesus went through when He died on the cross. And what’s important to understand is that they didn’t kill Jesus. It was Jesus’ decision from beginning to end. He chose to die for you and me. He chose to bear our sins and the weight of that, so that we could be reconciled with the Father and have full access. He bore the weight of our sins for us.

And so that’s where we’re picking up here. They have arrested Him, and after they’ve arrested Him, they’re taking advantage of the vulnerability of Jesus being arrested, and they are beating Him. It’s horrific what they were doing. So that’s where we’re at. So anyhow, Luke chapter 23. We’re talking about being a house for people — a house for the people. I don’t know how I word it; Jay has fixed my wording on it every time I’ve said it — a house for His people.

Luke 23:1: “Then the whole multitude of them arose and led Him to Pilate.” They led Jesus to Pilate. “And they began to accuse Him, saying, ‘We found this fellow perverting the nation, and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, saying that He Himself is Christ, a King.’ Then Pilate asked Him, saying, ‘Are You the King of the Jews?’ He answered him and said, ‘It is as you say.’ So Pilate said to the chief priests and the crowd, ‘I find no fault in this Man.’ But they were the more fierce, saying, ‘He stirs up the people, teaching throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee to this place.’ When Pilate heard of Galilee, he asked if the Man were a Galilean. And as soon as he knew that He belonged to Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent Him to Herod, who was also in Jerusalem at that time.”

So basically, up to this point, Jesus is arrested, and you have Pontius Pilate, who has Jesus in front of him. He obviously does not want to deal with the finality of the accusations. He didn’t want to certify what they were accusing Him of. So he says, “All right, Herod’s here. He actually belongs to Herod. So let’s get Herod involved.” And that’s where we are now.

“Now when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceedingly glad; for he had desired for a long time to see Him” — not because he wanted to know Him, not because he wanted relationship with Him, but basically because he was looking for a show — “because he had heard many things about Him, and he hoped to see some miracle done by Him. Then he questioned Him with many words, but He answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused Him. Then Herod, with his men of war, treated Him with contempt and mocked Him, arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him back to Pilate. That very day Pilate and Herod became friends with each other, for previously they had been at enmity with each other.”

So, as you can see, Jesus is now getting bounced back and forth: “I don’t want to deal with it.” “I don’t want to deal with it.” And in between, they’re beating Him some more. And so what I want us to understand is that Jesus was clearly innocent. He was clearly innocent, because both people who could have made the judgment of His guilt decided to keep bouncing it from one person to the other and back again.

Verse 13: “Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, said to them, ‘You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; no, neither did Herod, for I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him.’” I know this is a lot of scripture, but we’re going to get to it. “‘I will therefore chastise Him and release Him’ (for it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).”

So at this time there was one person who would basically be granted immunity, and Pilate says, “All right, look, He’s not guilty. I will give Him what is due, but then after that, I’m releasing Him.” “And they all cried out at once, saying, ‘Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas’ — who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.”

Crying out for Barabbas

As we’re talking about being a house for people, why I think this is so important for us to understand is because there were a lot of things going on that people thought should happen. Ironically — and this is how I know the Lord speaks to me — I was getting ready, and I just heard the word “Barabbas.” Barabbas. And I was like, “Barabbas? I’m supposed to be talking about a house for His people. What does Barabbas have to do with this?”

As I began studying and reading this, there were a few things. Now, there’s mixed commentary, so take this for what it is. But as I was studying and reading, what scholars believe is that Barabbas could mean one of two things — no one was definitive about it. It could mean either “son of the father” or “son of the rabbi.” So that’s the thought behind the name Barabbas. Now, who can tell me who Jesus was? The Son of God, the Son of the Father. And so here we have two people. We have one person who’s being accused of basically creating a rebellion against the Roman government, who’s being accused of not paying taxes, who’s not done anything wrong. And then we have a man who actually has created a rebellion, who has gone and murdered someone. And these are the two people that are parallel in this moment.

And what I was realizing as I was studying is that so often, when we want to be a people — we are a people, but our heart so many times leans toward Barabbas: the things of this world, the things that will satisfy us right now, even when they bring no life. And so many times we probably find ourselves crying for Barabbas: “God, would You answer my prayer now? God, this is what I want.” And we get demanding of stuff.

And why is this important for us being a house for His people? It’s because to be a house for people means we don’t actually bow down to the requests of what people are shouting and saying we ought to do as Christians. As we continue to look, we always want to position ourselves and keep ourselves in a place where the only things that we long for, yearn for, go for, are the things that our heavenly Father has for us.

The hard part — and I’m going to tell you this, because something just resonated as I was reading about Pilate, as I was reading about Herod — when you are a leader of something, there is an expectation that people will put on you of what you should do. And I’m just here to say that us being a house for people doesn’t mean that we bow to the needs of people and what they think we ought to preach, what they think we ought to say, what they think we ought to stand by. Our heart and commitment is to be a house for people that always leads back to Jesus, that always says, “But what does Jesus say?”

See, the reason that we can say we want to be a house of prayer, a house of presence, and a house for His people is because that holistically puts us back looking to Jesus, not looking to us. Being a house for people actually determines to say, “God, it’s Your will, not our will, that would be done.”

Not my will, but Yours

Before we get there — when Jesus is actually praying in the garden, He knows His time — He’s going to be betrayed in just a moment. And He’s praying. He’s praying in agony. He’s praying so much — I can’t even imagine this — that He begins to profusely sweat blood. That’s how intense the agony of what was happening was. I even wonder if it was the intensity of that moment of Him about to come and bear the cross — if that weight began to happen in that moment. But what is one thing that Jesus says? He asks very humbly. He says, “Lord, if this cup can pass, please let it pass. But if not, Your will be done, not Mine.”

This is so important, I think, for us to understand as a church. Pastor Jay and I, or Pastor Larry, whoever — we don’t have all of the answers, no matter how smart and brilliant we are. But we can always lead you to the One who is the answer. What you don’t need is our values, our opinions. Those are things that are going to ebb and flow all of the time. What you need is to know how to find the One who is unchanging, who is faithful, who does not change, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. So being a house for people doesn’t mean that our values run the gamut — “Our values are what we do.” No, we want to position ourselves in a place of humility that always says, “Okay, but God, Your will, not my will.”

What I think is so interesting in all of this — depending on where you’re reading it in the Gospels — is that Jesus actually never wants to be right. With Herod, in this one, it just says Herod was asking Him a lot of questions, and Jesus doesn’t say anything. Jesus is never in the business of proving that He’s right. He’s just saying, “It is as you say.” He understands His assignment so much that He’s willing to let other people think He’s wrong.

Do we understand the assignment of what the Lord has us here for on this earth so much that we’re allowing people to think differently of us? Or are we so busy trying to be right about whatever narrative it is, or whatever is going on — even right about the times that we’re in? Hear me. We are to walk with sensitivity. It says to walk circumspectly. We are to walk in wisdom, understanding that there is redemption that the Lord is trying to work through us — that we’d be ministers of reconciliation. But we are not to be people who walk on the platform of being right. Because Herod and Pontius Pilate had it right, but they weren’t able to do the right thing. They caved to the people.

So in verse 18, I’ll read it. It says, “And they all cried out at once” — all these people who had seen Jesus already mocked and beaten and scourged — all of them cry out at once, “saying, ‘Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas’” — release to us the murderer — “who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder. Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. But they shouted, saying, ‘Crucify Him, crucify Him!’ Then he said to them the third time, ‘Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.’ But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men and of the chief priests prevailed.”

A church that won’t gratify the crowd

What is so alarming in this is that the chief priests, the scribes — the people who had studied and known the law — were all calling for Jesus’ head. They all caved. And Pilate had an opportunity to do what was right and to hold on to the truth. It says he was wanting to gratify the crowd — that was in one of the other Gospels. He was wanting to gratify the crowd.

I believe that we’re coming into a time — and we probably are already there — where the church has a decision, where you’ll have a decision. Will we gratify the crowd, or will we stand up for what the truth is? That is a big thing to consider and bear. Will we let the noise and the shouting — “You should be doing this, you should be doing this, why aren’t you doing this?” — get to us so that we cave? Or will we be a church that leads people back to Jesus despite the cost?

See, I love Jesus with all of my heart. I bet a lot of you in here do. But what happens when we begin to feel the pressure of the voices? “Why aren’t you doing this? Well, if you believe something, your silence says everything.” No, actually, my silence keeps me looking wise, according to Scripture, because it says in Proverbs that even a fool is considered wise when he doesn’t say anything. Sometimes my silence is the very thing that keeps me in a place and a posture that is humble before the Lord.

So what I want us to understand is that being a house for His people means that we will not be pastors, and we will not be a church, that caves to gratifying the crowd. We will not be a church that gets moved and ebbs and flows by the shouts of social media, by the shouts that are closer to us, by the shouts that even seem to make sense. We will not be a church that caves to people. In fact, being a house for people keeps our hearts and our minds set on Jesus. So that’s what it means to be a house for His people.

Pilate knew He was innocent, but he cared too much about what the people said. Or maybe he just didn’t want to deal with it anymore. And my hope is that we would be not just a church here that doesn’t cave to the crowds, but that we would be people who walk with deep conviction of truth and love and life and grace and mercy — that we would be people who stick with Scripture, and do our best to live and lead with integrity, a life that lines up with Jesus and not the crowd. We aren’t looking to put on a show, but to humble ourselves and make room for Jesus. And I’m going to tell you, sometimes a show seems a lot more fun. Sometimes having the momentum of all of these things seems great. And yet the place and the posture that He calls us to is one of serving, of low humility toward Him, that makes room for Him.

The parallel of the two doesn’t seem to be any different today. We have people who are choosing the things of the world, who are shouting that all of these things make sense. They’re saying, “This is what we want. This is what we want.” And they’re actively rejecting the salvation of Jesus every day, because it doesn’t line up with what they want to see. It doesn’t line up with their narrative. It doesn’t line up with who they think Jesus should be. We are living in a time where the parallels between Jesus and Barabbas are back, and the voices are getting louder, and the churches are bailing. The churches are turning the truth. The churches are turning Scripture, and they no longer fear God. They take it and they change it.

And our heart is — we’re going to make mistakes — but our heart is that we would always stay humble before the Lord and preach the Word of God to the best that we can. Not a narrative that fits our church. Not a narrative that will draw a crowd. But a narrative that says, “No, we stand and hold to the Word of God as the breath and living Word of God, that has the ability to break chains, that has the ability to bring freedom, because Jesus has already paid the price for it.” So why are we caving to the crowds? Why are we caving to look like everyone else? For what? For a moment?

Because I’m going to tell you, when you read past where Jesus has been crucified, it says they went home beating their chests. They realized what they had done. What the world is calling for and asking of us will never satisfy. And it’s up to us to choose to say, “I’m going to follow Jesus with all that I have.” Sometimes it’s going to feel like a crawl. Sometimes it’s going to feel like I can run. Sometimes it’s going to feel like I can bring people with me. Sometimes I’m going to stop, because it’s going to feel overwhelming. But I’m going to continue to look for Jesus.

And we are dedicated to be a church where people can come and do that — that we would continue to create an atmosphere that does not call people to ourselves, that does not call people to the fads and the cliques of a church, but a church that truly is trying to humbly serve the Lord and follow Him and find Him in every circumstance that we face. We will not be a people who find gratification in other things. They went to great lengths. And I’m going to tell you, if history tells us anything, people will go to great lengths to try to tell you that you’re crazy, you’re fill-in-the-blank. We call names like we’re back on the playground. It is ridiculous.

And we have to choose to learn and know who Jesus is and get into His Word. You guys, that’s where we find who He is. When we read Scripture, we begin to understand who He is. We begin to understand His nature. When we ask questions like, “If He’s a good God, then why was there war in the Old Testament? Why did He flood people out?” — when we begin to understand those things, we begin to understand the nature of who He is, and we understand how merciful and good He is. Being a house for people means we do our best always to lead them to Jesus.

Seeing people in our darkest moments

Being a house for people means we see other people. We see the people around us. We’re going to go to verse 32. Wait a minute — I know what I’m teaching. Verse 32. So now Jesus is on the cross, and it says, “There were also two others, criminals, led with Him to be put to death. And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.” I just mixed that up, but you see it. “Then Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’ And they divided His garments and cast lots. And the people stood looking on. But even the rulers with them sneered, saying, ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen of God.’ The soldiers also mocked Him, coming and offering Him sour wine, and saying, ‘If You are the King of the Jews, save Yourself.’ And an inscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

“Then one of the criminals who were hanged blasphemed Him, saying, ‘If You are the Christ, save Yourself and us.’” Isn’t that reminiscent of when Satan is tempting Jesus in the wilderness? “If You are, then prove it.” “But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.’ Then he said to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.’”

See, being a house for people means we are looking for people in the midst of what we’re going through. In Jesus’ darkest moments at this point — it literally says in one of the other Gospels — He calls out to the Father, “Why have You forsaken Me?” The weight of how sin separates us from God — He was beginning to feel the weight of that on Him. He was feeling the separation. He went from always being in communion with His Father — having access, talking to Him, spending time with Him, being refreshed by Him — to all of a sudden feeling the separation of not having the closeness and the nearness of His Father.

And in His darkest moment, as He’s bearing the weight, quite literally, of the world, He looks around at these people who have beaten Him, who’ve mocked Him, who have flogged Him, who have whipped Him. We have people who are mocking Him. And He calls out to His Father, and what does He do? He says, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And then in the moment — and He’s near death, according to Scripture, He’s getting close — He looks at the men on either side of Him, and the one is like, “What are You doing? Save Yourself and save me,” mocking Him. The other one says, “Don’t you know He is who He is?” And then Jesus extends forgiveness to him in His darkest moment.

That is what the gospel is about. As it says, we get to be part of the ministry of reconciliation — that in our own suffering, in our own weakness, in our own times where things feel overwhelming, we would be a house that still looks and sees people to the left and to the right of us. That we would extend ourselves to people and say, “I don’t have much to give, but how can I pray for you?” That we would be people who see people no matter where we are, despite our darkest moments.

The reality is, Jesus couldn’t save Himself and be the Savior to others in that moment. He was walking in obedience, yet He was still contending for others’ forgiveness and their salvation. Our heart is that when we look and live like Jesus, we would be able to see people in their darkest moments, and in our darkest moments — that we would not be so self-consumed by everything that’s happening, but that we would be a people that see other people and bring people along and say, “Let me tell you about the goodness of God. Let me tell you about the forgiveness of sins. Let me tell you about the joy and the hope that’s found in Christ. Let me tell you about the Jesus that we serve, who still does miracles today. Let me tell you about the Jesus who has salvation for you.” That we would not be so consumed by our moments that we forget that we are here with intention and purpose, and that we would still live like Jesus did in His darkest moments, and in our darkest moments. We’d look to be ministers of reconciliation.

We are also called to be a people who live on mission. I need to tell you, we are all on mission. You might feel like maybe you’re in neutral. You might have forgotten about it. You might feel like now is not the time — “I’ll do it in a year,” whatever story you tell. No, our mission has not changed. We are all still on mission. Whether you’re choosing to participate in it or not, that’s on you. But we all have a mission. He has called us to equip the saints. He has called us to preach the gospel. He has called us to go out to the mission field. He has called us to be preachers. He has called us to be teachers. Every single one of us in this room. It’s whether or not we choose to say yes and live on mission.

Bearing with one another

Lastly, we are called to lead people to Jesus and yet bear with one another. Colossians chapter 3, verses 12–17. It says, “Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering” — does that not just describe what we were reading about Jesus, how He was choosing to live? Verse 13: “bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.” I’ll repeat that again: so you also must do. Forgiveness is not optional, people.

Jesus was choosing and declaring forgiveness, interceding for forgiveness for people who were crucifying Him. I don’t think anyone has ever hurt any one of us to the point of crucifixion. And I understand that there are some deep things that people have done toward us — deep, hurtful, hard things. And I absolutely understand that it is a journey. But forgiveness is still something we must do. I’m not here to tell you how that journey is going to look; it’s going to look different for all of us. But I’m just going to go on base level, because I think the majority of people have base-level stuff we feel like it’s okay to harbor unforgiveness about: someone offended us, someone said something, someone didn’t say hi to us. We create this narrative because someone didn’t include you, didn’t invite you.

I’m going to tell on my mom right now. She is the most protective of her grandchildren. You hurt one of her grandkids — she doesn’t like it. But she doesn’t get to harbor unforgiveness toward people. I don’t get to harbor unforgiveness toward people because of things they’ve done to my kids. We don’t get to harbor unforgiveness, period. We can choose to, but we need to be clear that that’s a choice. And if Jesus, in the moment of carrying the burden and the weight and the sin of everyone, could look out with compassion and mercy and say, “God, forgive them, for they know not what they do,” how much more so can we? “Even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”

Verse 14: “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ” — this is where it comes back — “dwell in you richly.” Richly. What does it look like for you to have the Word of God dwell in you richly? We cannot do these things on our own. I cannot love people and bear with people on my own. I tend to take on the weight of people. I take on their burdens. That’s not the call. It’s to bear it with them and then lead them to Jesus. It’s to bear it with them and lead them to Jesus.

We had this huge cabinet. It was like 300 pounds, I don’t know. And Jay was gone, David was gone, and I was like, “I’m going to move this to the garbage. I can do this on my own.” So I undid the doors — I took out one door, I took out the other door, I took out the shelves — and I was like, “I got this.” And so now I’m pushing and dragging. This thing was big. It was in the fellowship hall; it probably was like ten feet by five feet. It was pretty big. And I was like, “I got this,” and I had it mostly. I didn’t rip any carpet. I successfully dragged it out, and I somehow threw it onto a small little square dolly that we had. And I was like, “I’m cool. I can do this stuff. I can figure things out” — which are all true things. I am cool, and I can figure things out.

And then we got there, and there was already a whole bunch of garbage in there. And I started recording myself, because I was so convinced I could do it on my own. So I’m trying to push it in. I hop into the garbage can, I’m moving stuff, and I’m like, “I just need a little leverage.” I didn’t do it on my own. Then David shows up, and someone else shows up, and literally it took us two minutes to reposition it together, and all three of us got that thing and we just tossed it in.

See, that’s what it’s like to bear with one another — to say, “Hey, let me just leverage what I have. Let me teach you a little bit about what I know, so we can move and propel forward.” That’s what it means to be a house for people: that we would come alongside people, and we would be people of vulnerability — knowing that, yes, people might hurt us — and we would be people of wisdom and understanding and discernment who say, “I have something to offer you.” And when those two things marry each other, we begin to bear with one another, and we begin to be a place where people can come and receive healing. We begin to become a place where people come and experience the meekness and the goodness of God. We begin to become a place where people come in and say, “Ah, I belong here.” Not because we all look the same. Not because we all do the same thing. But because we know how to bear with one another, and because we’ve made it a house for people, not just for ourselves.

So — I think that’s where I was on this — “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” — richly, richly — “in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Our heart is that we would do all these things for Jesus and with Him, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. That when we see and consider what it means to be a house for people, we would understand it’s not for us, it’s for Him. When we’re coming and serving — setting up coffee, whatever we’re doing — it’s so that people can come and there’s just one less barrier. I mean, Jay and I love coffee, but I’m going to tell you, when you are nervous, it’s a lot more comfortable to hold something and talk to someone. It creates this little barrier. That’s why people are always on their phones now. If they get uncomfortable, they pull it out; it creates this barrier. And so that’s why we have pastries and do all these things — so there’s one less barrier, and someone just feels a little bit more comfortable. This is what we see when we think about being a house for people.

You get to be a part of it

And I love the people that are here. The people in our church are people I trust. You’ve been coming. I trust that you know Jesus. I trust you. I remember when our kids were younger, not everyone got to drive them around, and people knew that. When we had an internship program, all these young people — they were much younger then — they knew that not just anyone got to drive our kids. And if you got to drive our kids, they understood the weight and the privilege of that, because the greatest gift the Lord’s ever given us has been our three kids. So you steward, you protect, you do your best. And so people knew not just anyone could drive them, and when they got to drive them, they knew the privilege that it was.

So I want to tell you that if you call Chapel Valley your home, we trust you. We want you to step out in faith when you see someone — to give them a word, to encourage them. We believe that the makeup and the foundation of our church is one of integrity, of deep foundation — people who know God deeply, who have the Word dwelling in them richly. And so we are looking forward to the things that God’s doing, and I want to remind you, you get to be a part of that. It’s not the Jay and Suzie show. We’re in this together — that this place, Dwelling House, would be a house of prayer, of His presence, and for people.

Would you stand and let me pray over you? Heavenly Father, we thank You so much for Your goodness, for Your mercy. God, we thank You. And Jesus, we thank You for the reminder, as we even took Communion today and as we were reading through what You went through, so that we can be reconciled to our Father, so that we could experience salvation. Thank You for choosing obedience. Thank You for choosing us. Thank You for the humility that You set by example — that You could have cast judgment in that moment, but instead You lowered Yourself to bear the sins of the world, so that we could be reconciled and could be called children of God.

God, we thank You for what You’re doing in this place. We thank You for the prophetic declaration that this is a dwelling house where You will dwell — where it says that people will find safety in the shadow of the Almighty. That this place would represent who You are. It would represent the actual place where You are hovering over us. You are our refuge and our safe place, God.

God, I pray that You would continue to strengthen us to be people who do not bow to the noise of this world, but people who continue to walk in truth, who allow the Word of God to dwell in us deeply and richly, so that we are not moved by our emotions, so that we are not moved by our preferences, so that we are not moved by our values, but that we are only moved by our Father. Like Jesus would say, “I only do and say what I hear My Father do and say.” That we would be a church that says, “We only do and say what we hear our Father say.”

God, I thank You that You are calling us, that You want to continue to equip us. As You are speaking to us, Lord, I pray that we would continue to have ears to hear and eyes to see You. God, we thank You for the deep work that You’re going to do in this place. And Lord, we pray that You would be glorified in this place. We come in agreement and say that Your will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. God, we thank You for who You are. We thank You for what You’ve done. And we thank You that You are the same yesterday, today, and forever. We honor You. We love You. And we just look to You, the author and finisher of our faith. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen. And amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.