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| Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and said, "Who am I, O Lord God?" |
READ 2 Samuel 7; Matthew 16; Ephesians 2
2Sam. 7:4 But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: 5 Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. 7 Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, “Why have you not built me a house of cedar?” 8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; 9 and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.
2Sam. 7:18 Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and said, “Who am I, O Lord GOD, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? 19 And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord GOD; you have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come. May this be instruction for the people, O Lord GOD!
A. WHAT DO YOU THINK?
We are all builders. We build houses, careers, families, communities, nations, and churches.
1. What are you building now?
(In what are you investing your time, your money, and your faith?)
2. How is the building going?
3. What are some of the challenges we face as we seek to build God a house in Laguna Beach?
4. What is the connection between our church sanctuary and the temple of God?
5. Have we lost the entrepreneurial spirit?
B. DIGGING INTO THE SCRIPTURE
1. King David was a builder. He wanted to build God a house in which to dwell. What was God's response to David's vision?
2. In what sense is God a builder? What did God promise to build for David?
3. How did David respond to God's promise? When David sat in the presence of the Lord what was he doing? Can you outline the central elements of David's prayer?
4. Jesus promised to build his church upon Simon Peter's confession of faith. After reading Matthew 16, what was Peter's confession? What authority was given to Peter?
5. The Apostle Paul spoke of himself as a skilled master builder. What was he building? Who was the foundation of the building? See 1 Corinthians 3. On the basis of Ephesians 2 who is being built into the church as a spiritual temple?
6. In Revelation 21, John wrote of his vision of the New Heavens and Earth, with the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. On the basis of John's Revelation, will there be a Temple in the New Jerusalem? If so, who will build a dwelling place for God? What will life be like in the New Creation?
INVITATION & PRAYER
Was there an invitation from God to you that you discerned as you listened to the sermon, or took time to be still in God's presence and mediate on these verses? Take some time to pray that God may enable you to respond to this invitation.
