Tabor Baptist Church

Introduction

• Opening Remarks & Example
• Jim Elliot
• Book by Christine Elliot
• v7d
• God's desire is that the Jews and Gentiles would praise God
• Isaiah
• God states He wants the Eunuchs to come in praise
• There was certain restrictions on types of people coming into the Temple
• Now God wants all to come near
• Overview:
• God's desire for the Church
• How we treat the church
• What God intends us to be

God's desire for the Church

• Remember when Solomon set up a Temple - the desire was always for the nations
• 1 Kings 8:41
• The prayer of the foreigner will be heard alongside the prayer of the Jews
• Israel was to be a light and witness to the nations around them
• Isa 12:4-5
• God's desire is that all nations would praise Him
• Isa 49:1
• Isa 51:5
• God was not just concerned for Israel but the nations around
• Isa 52:10, 15
• Isa 56:6-7 - a cumulation of all this teaching
• A house of prayer for all peoples
• One universal Church of the Living God
• An international Church

How we treat the church

• The universal Church is made up of local churches - the body of Christ
• We are to be built up and to edify one another
• Is prayer central to your life and the life of the church
• We no longer need human priests as Jesus is our High Priest
• We gather to praise Him and seek Him in prayer
• God does not live nor is He contained in physical places
• Yet He is pleased to dwell wherever His people dwell
• Quote from the Apostle Paul
• How are we conducting ourselves in the House of God?
• Do we use Church for what we can get out?
• Do we see Church for what we can give to it?
• Mark 11
• The Gentiles had been shut out
• The Jews were using religion for their own end
• Explanation
• It had become all about man
• How far is this from the church in the 20th Century?
• What are our motives?
• How central is prayer to our life?
• Is it a house of praise in preference to a house of prayer?
• Is God being honoured?
• Is Jesus Christ precious to us?
• Is it really a house of prayer seeking God?

What God intends us to be

• God intends us to have fellowship with Him
• If you do not have fellowship with Him:
• Begin with prayer
• Consider the work of the Lord Jesus Christ
• Trust in the promise of Jesus Christ
• Is it our desire to come and have fellowship with the Living God?
• Do you start to read the Bible, pray and praise God?
• ACTS - Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, Supplication
• Do we realise the necessity of prayer?
• Example of the Apostle Paul
• Some of the greatest preachers were founded in prayer
• We must ask God to open a door for His word
• Do we realise the power of prayer?
• He can do beyond all that we can ask or imagine!

Closing Remarks