Beyond the Weekend

October 26 | Draw Near

October 26, 2018

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. Matthew 27:51

Read: Matthew 27:50-51

Listen: Matthew 27

TODAY’S MESSAGE

Something amazing happened at the moment Jesus died on the cross. Mark records that the veil separating the inner and outer parts of the temple tore from top to bottom. This wasn’t an ordinary curtain. Some think it was around four inches thick, the thickness of a standard wall in our houses today. The veil symbolized the distance between God and people.

Jesus obliterates that distance. Instead of having to grab a sacrifice and journey to the temple, it’s as if Jesus says, “I’ll be your sacrifice, and I’ll come to you.”

When we believe and receive, God resides in us through his Spirit. One of the last things Jesus tells his disciples is that “I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20).

Instead of a religious system designed to show us how far from God we are, Jesus asks us to draw near to him. Ephesians 2:13 says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”

Today, we don’t have to go to a temple to find God. Our churches aren’t sacred spaces where God resides—he isn’t kept in a box or tied to a location. A church is sacred because of God’s Spirit in the people who fill it. It is not the space that makes our weekend gatherings sacred—it’s God’s Spirit in his people (1 Corinthians 3:16).

IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY

Spend some time preparing your heart for the weekend services. Though the space is not sacred, the gathering of Jesus-followers is a sacred time. Draw near to God and thank him for drawing near to you.


Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.

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