What is the difference between a house and a home? The house is the physical structure: the floor, walls, and roof. But a home requires people. Having a large beautiful house seems like a great thing, but what is far more important is the people that live there. This is true of all buildings; what goes inside is far more important than what it looks like on the outside. We have been talking about build-ings for the last several weeks, about the Tabernacle and the Temple, and this week, we will learn about a new building, a new Temple. And we will see more clearly than ever that what that building looks like on the outside is far less important that what goes in it. I look forward to gathering with you this Sunday.

My Father's House Shall Be...

Is there such a thing as sacred space? Are some places more sacred than others? Are there specific places where God intends for his people to meet with him and experience his presence in ways in which his presence is not experienced elsewhere? If there is or are sacred place(s), what are the impli-cations of going there? Will I miss out on something by not going? In 2 Chronicles 6 we will consider God's purposes for a particular sacred space, and the implications for us as a church.

That is one of the questions we have before us in our quarterly business meeting after church this Sunday. God has clearly led and abundantly provided in the capitol campaign to build an education addition onto the auditorium building to replace the aging Chapman building. Is it now time to start building? I hope you are praying and will join us in participating in this important decision we must make together as a church. We are not the first to wonder, is it time to build? And this same question applies to many decisions we make about how we should utilize time, talents, and resources the Lord has entrusted to us. The brief book of Haggai reminds us of the glorious purposes God had entrusted to us, the assurance we have in Him to carry it out, the far-reaching impacts of what He calls us to do, all by His grace working in us

1 Chronicles 21 recounts the experience of David at the threshing floor. This episode captures some-thing of our journey in faith through life, as we move from self-reliance to trust and worship. It also has something to say about decisions we face day-to-day concerning "Where do I put my trust?" or "What will I devote myself to?" In this story, David goes from counting on his army to counting on God, he begins in worry and ends in worship. The story reminds us that we can go our own way or we can worship God - either one will cost us something. The question is, which price will we pay?

bpChurch has been thinking a lot lately about building. We've learned that our building costs have increased, and yet the time to begin might be just months away. Since we are thinking about building, it's a good time to consider some of the times in the Bible when God builds. Over the next few weeks, we will look at different episodes of building, from the tabernacle to the temple, to the Church. This week we will see what we can learn from "Earrings from Egypt" in Exodus 35. See you Sunday.

Psalm 133 is a compact and compelling depiction of the blessing of godly unity among God's people. Unity is both good and pleasant... but what exactly does oil on Aaron's beard and dew on the mountains have to do with unity? Those images aren't obvious at first, but I'm convinced that this brief psalm contains the same key elements which are packed into Paul's calls for unity in Ephesians 4:3, make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That verse is even more compact, but we'll unpack together, in unity, on Sunday.

Will my life matter or not? Will I succeed or fail? Will I prosper or struggle? Will I be secure or in danger? Will I flourish or will my days seem futile? This short Psalm speaks to some of life's most significant needs: significance and safety, prosperity and posterity. In just a few lines it tells us how to trust, rest, and invest. Let's talk about it on Sunday.

It's our 160th anniversary as a church and many of you have worked hard to put together a wonderful celebration. This is a good time to look back over God's faithfulness across the years, decades, even centuries, as we look forward to where the Lord leads us next. Just a few years after this church began, in the midst of some difficulties and uncertainties, Rev. John J. Clark preached a message to the church titled "Go Forward." This Sunday we're going to hear again from the essentials he preached to the church then, which remain our essentials today as we seek to go forward. Join us in looking back at what God has done, that we too might Go Forward into what God is doing.

Have you ever tried to hide a problem rather than deal with it? For instance, maybe you start hearing a funny noise from your car, and so you just turn up the radio to drown it out. Or maybe there's a fun-ny smell, (like mildew) in your house, and so you decide just to plug in an air freshener. Often times it feels like a lot less trouble in the short term to hide our problems, but in the end, it often makes them worse. This week in Psalm 32 we will see what happens when we try to hide our sin from God rather than letting Him deal with it.

God's Greatest Work

Psalm 19

In Psalm 19, we read of God's greatest work, which shows his glory in ways that nothing else can. But God's greatest work is not the heavens and the earth. His greatest work is not even the Law or the Psalms. What is God's greatest work? Let's talk about it on Sunday.