tabernacle

Last night, I attended the start of Passion City Church in Atlanta. It is a church that is being established on the vision of being FOR GOD, FOR PEOPLE, FOR THE CITY and FOR THE WORLD. And for now, they are meeting in different venues all across the city, until the Lord reveals where they are to plant their feet for the duration. Last night, we met at the TABERNACLE in downtown Atlanta. The TABERNACLE is now a night club/music venue and is currently operated by the world’s largest live music company..
But last night, it returned to being a church. Let me explain. In 1909, Len Broughton had a vision to bring the church to the hub of Atlanta’s activity, near the train depot downtown. In 1897, Third Baptist Church, a small congregation of 300, moved into downtown Atlanta and began to minister to the people there. By 1909, they realized they needed a bigger place to meet and with a vision unrivaled a 100 years ago, they set out to build the largest church in the southern United States. Sept 3rd, 1911, they opened the doors and within 15 min the place was filled. They turned away over 3000 that day.
And here we were, almost 100 years later, using a building that has since been used to promote the worship of the world, doing what it was intended to do. Yes, there were signs of the world all over the building…but there was still something sacred about that place. It’s original intention was to be used as a place to draw people to worship the Living God. And though it has been used along the way to do something other than that on this night, it returned to being a TABERNACLE for the LIVING GOD. A place where His glory dwelt and a place where He dwelt among us. We were doing exactly what had been done 100 years previously…packing the place out for the purpose of exalting the Father.
A Tabernacle is a dwelling place. The question on most days is WHO dwells here? Not in that building. But within us. We are the Tabernacle of the living God, but quite honestly, we are quick to be judgmental about having church in a place that has housed such wickedness along the way. And yet, we are no different. God’s original intent for us was to be His dwelling place. But we too, deviated from that and allowed our lives to be marked by the evil of this world. However, in HIS grace, we have the opportunity to return to the original intent and to make this place a House of prayer and worship, a place He can dwell.
Pretty cool that we got to be a part of returning a place to it’s original intent. To use what has been used for evil as good. There is more to this story. But for now, perhaps we should not look at the building we worship in but our own hearts and see how we have allowed the world into it. Somehow we want our buildings pure, but are okay with mediocre, half hearted, lukewarm followship…we are no longer a sacred tabernacle for our God. Let’s start from the inside out.
ALL FOR YOU