A Special Place

¹⁵On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple area and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, ¹⁶and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts.- Mark 11:15-19 (NIV)

 Get the right perspective on what Jesus did in this passage.  He cleared some things out of the temple in order to clear some things up in the temple.  The church is to be a place where people come and offer praises and tribute to God.  People should be able to find the church to be a special place to them.

The church can be special to people because it is a:

• Sanctified Place: It is a place set apart and designated for God’s people and God’s purpose.  Let us never forget that the place is sanctified to be occupied by set apart people doing the work that leads to the accomplishment of God’s purpose.
• Safe Place: People should be able to escape from the worries and woes, the pressures and problems, and the hustle and bustle of this world in such a special place as the church.  They should feel free to become vulnerable because they are surrounded by people who love them and offer safety as they gather together as one local congregation.
• Structured Place: You can dress it up with art and artifacts, even the stained glass.  However, people expect some things to remain consistent at the church.  Whether its pews or chairs in rows or otherwise, people expect there to be a place to gather and be seated.  They expect the place to be in some sort of order whether there is a posted order of worship or a handout like a bulletin, because God is about order.  People want the place to offer something that they can depend on when the world in which we live in has chaos as its order of the day.  There needs to be structure.

Think about this when you prepare for next Sunday’s worship service.  Consider what people need out of the worship and the message as well as what they need out of the place that they are coming to.