Real Hope: A Study of Acts 6 -11Sample

Dwelling Place

READ ACTS 7

In the church's early years, the disciples were taking what Jesus had taught them to lay the groundwork for what would become the future church and to continue His mission to see God’s Kingdom come ‘on earth as it is in Heaven.’

In Acts 7, there’s a conversation about how God’s presence had been revealed in the past. It refers to the tabernacle carried in the wilderness, designed according to a pattern revealed to Moses by God and carried by Joshua to defeat nations. In David’s time, the tabernacle was still there, and then Solomon built a temple for God to dwell in.

When we reach verse 48, though, a contrast between the church of the past and present is defined: that house is not where God lives. But with the introduction of Jesus and the Holy Spirit, He leaves with us, and the presence of God is now something we can carry inside us. As followers of Christ, we become living, breathing, mobile expressions of His presence wherever we are.

That’s not to say Old Testament Christians didn’t witness God at work beyond the bounds of the temple – we know they did. But it means that without a shadow of a doubt, the ‘church’ is not the building people visit on a Sunday; and experiencing God is not confined to its four walls.

If you feel the need for God’s presence in your home, your car, your workplace, or your school, He is there. Thanks to Jesus, the only barrier between God and us is our invitation to welcome Him in.

Written by LAURA BENNETT