Dear Church Family,

We are about to see some movement on our preschool renovation, so please be patient with us as we shuffle classrooms here and there for the next few months. This project will have lots of interactive elements and create a great new space for our preschoolers to learn about Jesus! Please pray about what you might give to this project. The total cost will be about $2 million and praise the LORD we have already received some great offerings.

I read this and thought it may bless you from Dr. Chad Bird:

The tabernacle and later the temple of Yahweh were alive with angelic, animal, and plant images. As such, visiting the sanctuary was like visiting the replacement Garden of Eden for the worshiping Adams and Eves of God’s people.

Here are some examples:
-two golden cherubim, with outstretched wings, were atop the mercy seat.
-images of cherubim were embroidered into the veil outside the Holy of Holies
-the walls of the temple had carved images of cherubim, palm trees, and flowers
-bronze water stands in the temple had panels with images of lions, oxen, and cherubim
-the temple’s giant bronze “sea,” was upheld by 12 oxen and its brim was like the flower of a lily
-the menorah resembled a tree with a trunk and six branches with cups like almond blossoms

Far from a plain, stark, no-frills sanctuary, God’s residence was purposefully designed to be vivid, artistic, and beautiful. The Lord’s house was a feast for the eyes.

The beauty of the Lord’s earthly residence, therefore, testified architecturally to the tabernacle and temple as the ongoing Eden, where his people continued to have access to his presence.

This beauty also served to mirror the fact that God himself is a lover of the beautiful. He created beauty, after all. All that is lovely in creation bears a silent but powerful message, not only of God’s existence, but his care, precision, order, glory, and goodness.

Though in this life we must endure all manner of ugliness, disorder, imprecision, and badness, there remains the promise, from God himself, that one day we Christians shall inhabit the New Jerusalem, a city dazzling in beauty, where we shall behold The Beautiful One face to face, all because of Christ.

Press On!

Mark

P.S.- This is my quarterly reminder that if you received a text or an email that is supposedly from me asking for money or gift cards, please do not respond. This is a common scam where they steal a pastor’s contacts and pretend to be the pastor.