House of God

Our church used to worship at a town hall but during the pandemic we were unable to meet there due to government restrictions. As the town hall was not classified as a place of worship we began to search for a new place, a true place where we could meet when restrictions eased and people of faith could gather.

God provided a place. Follow our journey as we prepare this place to be a house of God.

And let them make Me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

Exodus 25:8

This is the whole church project, young and old. Together, like the Israelites in the Exodus, we are building a place of worship so the Lord may dwell among us. And because we are a bible based church, the only way to design this new church project is to use God’s very own blueprint that He gave to Moses, the Sanctuary.

I am leading a team of youth to decorate the church and as part of the process, I’m interviewing each of the children to see what they know about God’s Sanctuary, the Church and how they are related.

The children participating in this project are Levi (10), Caleb (12), Keira (13) and Isabelle (13)

So what do you think the word “Sanctuary” means?

Levi:

To me the sanctuary means a place where God lives and gathers together with his angels!

Caleb:

The Sanctuary to me is the place in Heaven where God resides, and gathers with His angels. It is also a place where, through His grace and everlasting love, He makes atonements for us.

Keira:

To me the Sanctuary is a place of safety where anyone can feel the love and protection from Jesus, but it is also your body because Jesus said that our bodies are sanctuaries and we need to keep our bodies healthy, strong and protected

Isabelle:

After listening to multiple sermons, reading the articles about the Sanctuary, I understood the concept of the Sanctuary and how it applies to me better. It is a map of our Christian life that should be centred around Jesus. The artefacts and sections of the Sanctuary all have a significant meaning that applies to us even today!

The Sanctuary, built by the Israelites, in Exodus, was a replica of the Sanctuary that was in Heaven. God gave Moses a blueprint of the Heavenly Sanctuary to follow and build on earth. God’s glory is so magnificently bright that any man who sees God would die, but God provided a way to dwell with the Israelites while in the desert through the Sanctuary. God’s glory, the Shekinah* glory, came down and was present among the Israelites in the wilderness. By building the Sanctuary, it was a place where God could dwell with His people (Exodus 25:8). Many parts of the Sanctuary have a special meaning to them, all pointing to Jesus.

ME:

All of the children answered this question really well and they were all correct. The Sanctuary exists in heaven. (Hebrews 8:1-2) It is also a place of safety and it also can refer to our bodies. (1Corinthians 6:19)

The most important thing for us to remember about the Sanctuary as we set up the new church is that the Sanctuary is a blueprint sent by God. The Sanctuary is a map that God gave to mankind so that we all may one day return to heaven. All items in the Sanctuary point to Jesus as Isabelle understood. God in His mercy had given the instructions to Moses to build a Sanctuary so that He may dwell with the Israelites. The instructions to prepare the Sanctuary in Moses’ time can be used today to help guide our Christian walk to ensure that we walk closely with God. We no longer need the physical Sanctuary to remind us of God’s plan for our redemption as Christ had already come to earth to be our sacrifice.

The word *Shekinah is a Hebrew name meaning “dwelling” or “one who dwells.” Shekinah Glory refers to the divine presence of God.

How about the word “church”? What does church mean to you?

Keira:

To me a church is a place where we can gather together to worship God with those we love and care about, like our family and friends. It’s where I’ve grown up and where I will continue to grow in. It is a place of happiness, community, belonging and socialising while learning about God and the Bible every week.

Caleb:

Church is a place of unity, where everyone worships the same thing, and no-one gets shunned for it. Everyone is welcome to church, and the most amazing transformations are made there. It is also the place where I feel closest to God, and where I can meditate on His word.

Levi:

Church is a place where I can freely talk about God with others who understand what I’m talking about and also a place where I can praise God without being laughed at.

Me:

😳 No one should ever laugh at you when you praise God, Levi.

Isabelle:

When I was younger, church to me was a place where many aunties and uncles cared about me and I had friends there too. I enjoyed going to church and seeing people there, however now as I think about it more, church is not just about seeing our friends. The reason that we go to church every week is to worship God and to serve Him. When we worship God in church, we come before the King of kings, the Lord of lords, we must show reverence and respect towards God.

Church is God’s house. When we go to someone’s house, generally most people will act in a respectful manner when they are not in their own home. When we go to church, we must show extra reverence as we come into God’s house to worship Him.

Church to me, is a place where I can have the opportunity to serve God in worship and gain more understanding of the Bible through the sermons. As we begin to move to our new location, I can see that being granted this church was really a miracle. We have prayed for many years to have a church in the Doncaster area and God truly has answered our prayers by providing us with this location.

ME:

I can see that everyone has very similar ideas and concepts about church. Mainly church is not a building, is it? The church is the people and together we make the church. 😊

Is church the same as the Sanctuary?

Isabelle:

Sanctuary and church are essentially the same thing. In Exodus God says “Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them,” making the sanctuary a place where He dwells. In the New Testament, Jesus says that the temple is His father’s house (Luke 2:46-49). Both the sanctuary and the church are places where God is present and therefore they both are places of reverence and worship and we must treat it with respect and honour.

Levi:

No. I think the sanctuary and the church are not the same thing. The sanctuary is a place where God lives and the church is a place where we gather together to praise God and worship him and where we can meet up with people who believe the same things as us.

Caleb:

The Sanctuary and the church are different because The Sanctuary is in heaven, and the Church is on Earth. The sanctuary is God’s heavenly residence, while church is a place we worship God. We go to Church every sabbath, but we’ll only see The Sanctuary in heaven. The Sanctuary is where God forgives our sins and gathers with his angels, and Church is church is a special place where God is with us.

Keira:

The Sanctuary and the church are similar and different in their own ways. In the Sanctuary, only people who believe in Christ can go in. But anyone can come and worship God in a church, even those who haven’t accepted Christ can come and enjoy church service together.

Me:

Yes to Isabelle, both Sanctuary and Church can be used to refer to the same thing, God’s house.

And yes to both Levi and Caleb, the Sanctuary can also refer to the temple in heaven whereas the church is a place where we worship God on earth.

Keira’s answer is intriguing and probably the closest in terms of what I’m trying to encourage everyone to achieve by setting up the church using the biblical Sanctuary model. Just like the tabernacle of the Exodus, people can only enter the Sanctuary when they have the sacrifice. Only people who accepted Christ as their sacrifice can enter the Sanctuary. So not everyone can reach the holy place within the Sanctuary unless they have accepted Christ as their Saviour and are cleansed by His blood.

Our church, however, welcomes all. Wherever you are in your walk, you are welcome to worship God with us. But our prayers are for you all to experience peace, sacredness and the hope for eternal life which you can only receive when you enter the Sanctuary, accepting Christ as your Saviour.

What is your ideal church? How would you like the church building to look? What kind of decoration should be on the inside? How should the people be like? Please leave your comments down below. I would love to hear from you.

Blessings,

El