build me a temple catholic charismatic renewal of boston archdiocese

BUILD ME A

TEMPLE

Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Boston Archdiocese

• “You say that this isn’t the right time to build a temple for me. But is it right for you to live in expensive houses, while my temple is a pile of ruins? Just look at what is happening.” (Haggai 1:2-4, Contemporary English Version)

• “Yahweh, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth and has appointed me to build him a Temple in Jerusalem, in Judah. Whoever among you belongs to the full tally of His people, may his God be with him! Let him go up to Jerusalem, in Judah, and build the Temple of Yahweh, God of Israel, who is the God in Jerusalem” (Ezra 1:2-3; New Jerusalem Bible)

SESSION ONESESSION ONE

Comunicación y Gerencia

Restoring the Temple of Restoring the Temple of PraisePraise

Catholic Renewal Services of Boston Catholic Renewal Services of Boston ArchdioceseArchdiocese

Hindrances to Higher Praise

• 1. Unanswered prayers

• 2. Not knowing God / His word

• 3. Suffering & losing heart

• 4. Grumbling & complaining

• 5. Sinful situations & habits

Unanswered Prayers Wishes Not Granted

“Put your trust in Yahweh and do right, make your home in the land and live secure. Make Yahweh your joy and He will give you your heart’s desires. Commit your destiny to Yahweh, be confident in Him and He will act, making your uprightness clear as daylight and the justice of your cause as the noon. Stay quiet before Yahweh, wait longingly for Him, do not get heated over someone who is making a fortune, succeeding by devious means” (Psalm 37:3-7, NJB)

Lack of personal encounter with God

“Keep this book of the law on your lips. Recite it by day and night, that you may observe carefully all that is written in it; then you will successfully attain your goal” (Joshua 1: 8)“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16)

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4: 8)

“When you look for me, you will find Me. Yes, when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29: 13)

Suffering and losing heart

“We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8: 28)

“Consider it all joy my brothers when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2)

“…rejoice, although for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus” (1 Peter 1: 6-7)

Grumbling and complaining

“Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world” (Philippians 2: 14-15)“…be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father” (Ephesians 5: 18-20)

Unrepented Sinful Situations or Habits

•“…our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ. Yet God was not pleased with most of them... These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did. And do not become idolaters, as some of them did… Let us not indulge in immorality as some of them did... Let us not test Christ as some of them did... Do not grumble as some of them did... These things happened to them as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us, upon whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore, whoever thinks he is standing secure should take care not to fall. No trial has come to you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you

may be able to bear it.” (I Corinthians 10: 1-13)

Small Group Reflection

• What is hindering (i) me, (ii) my household, and (iii) my prayer group from offering to God even higher praise and greater thanksgiving?

• Read 2 Chronicles 5:11-14

SESSION TWOSESSION TWO


Tearing down the synagogue Tearing down the synagogue of Satanof Satan


• “...the people were sacrificing on the high places, for up to that time no temple had been built to the name of the Lord” (I Kings 3:2).

• “…Hezekiah…pleased the Lord, just as his forefather David had done. It was he who removed the high places, shattered the pillars, and cut down the sacred poles… He put his trust in the Lord, the God of Israel” (2 Kings 18:1-5).

There is an enemy fighting us

“Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for (someone) to devour. Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your fellow believers throughout the world undergo the same sufferings” (I Peter 5:8-9)“So submit yourselves to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7)

“An enemy has done this” (Matthew 13:28)

God will defend us and fight for usGod will defend us and fight for us“ ‘Do not fear or lose heart at the sight of this great

multitude, for the battle is not yours but God’s… You will not have to fight in this encounter. Take your places, stand firm, and see how the Lord will be with you to deliver you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not fear or lose heart. Tomorrow go out to meet them, and the Lord will be with you’. Then Jehoshaphat knelt down with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord in worship…” (2 Chronicles 20:15-29).•“About midnight, while Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God as the prisoners listened, there was suddenly such a severe earthquake that the foundations of the jail shook; all the doors flew open, and the chains of all were pulled loose” (Acts 16:25-26).•“I will make those of the assembly of Satan who claim to be Jews and are not, but are lying, behold I will make them come and fall prostrate at your feet, and they will realize that I love you” (Revelation 3:9).

We must do our part •“Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens. …Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground. So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate, and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace. …Hold faith as a shield, to quench all (the) flaming arrows of the evil one. …Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. …Pray at

every opportunity in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 6:10-18).•“Do not present the parts of your bodies to sin as weapons for wickedness, but present yourselves to God as raised from the dead to life and the parts of your bodies to God as weapons for righteousness” (Romans 6:13).

•“With weapons of righteousness at the right and at the left” (I Corinthians 6:7).

Casting down strongholds

•“For, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses. We destroy arguments and every pretension raising itself against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive in obedience to Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).


• What are the temples of idolatry in my personal life, my household and my prayer group that must be torn down for God’s manifest presence to increase? In what ways have I given in to the secularist trends instead of obeying God?

• Read 2 Kings 17:7-20

SESSION SESSION THREETHREE


Building a house of prayer for Building a house of prayer for all nationsall nations


• “For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples” (Isaiah 56:7).

• “And they who are from afar shall come and build the temple of the Lord” (Zechariah 6:15).

God uses and calls people of all types

“I call from the east a bird of prey, from a distant land, one to carry out my plan. Yes, I have spoken, I will accomplish it; I have planned it and I will do it” (Isaiah 46: 11).“See, they that go forth to the land of the north will make my Spirit rest in the land of the north” (Zechariah 6: 8)

Unity elicits blessings from God “Ho w good it is, how pleasant, where the

people dwell as one! Like precious ointment on the head, running down upon the beard, Upon the beard of Aaron, upon the collar of his robe. Like dew of Hermon coming down upon the mountain of Zion. There the Lord has lavished blessings, life for ever more!” (Psalm 133: 1-3)“Since through the blood of Jesus we have confidence of entrance into the sanctuary…Since we have a great priest over the house of God…We must consider how to rouse one another unto love and good works. We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10: 19-25).

Unity is a sign of God’s reign over us

“I pray not only for them, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us, that the world may believe that you sent me” (John 17: 20-21).

“This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13: 35).

“When the time of pentecost was fulfilled, they were all in one place together” (Acts 2: 1).


• What barriers prevent me/my group from uniting in worship with neighbors from other categories or walks of life? How would my experience of God be enhanced by uniting with them? How will I work to overcome these barriers?

• Read Zechariah 6:9-15

SESSION FOURSESSION FOUR


Inviting others to the Inviting others to the banquetbanquet


• “Restore my joy in your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit. I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners will return to you” (Psalm 51:14-15).

• “So shall you summon a nation that you knew not, and nations that knew you not shall run to you, because of the Lord your God, the holy One of Israel, who has glorified you” (Isaiah 55:5).

•“Only ask it of me, and I will make your inheritance the nations, your possession the ends of the earth” (Psalm 2:8).

A responsibility with eternal consequences

“Thus the word of the Lord came to me: Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel. When you hear a word from my mouth, you shall warn them for me. If I say to the wicked man, ‘You shall surely die’; and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his wicked conduct so that he may live: that wicked man shall die for his sin, but I will hold you responsible for his death. If, on the other hand, you have warned the wicked man, yet he has not turned away from his evil nor from his wicked conduct, then he shall die for his sin, but you shall save your life…” (Ezekiel 3:17-21)

Bringing others to the river of mercy

“There will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents” (Luke 15:10)

“If anyone among you should stray from the truth and someone bring him back, he should know that whoever brings back a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:19-20)“Those who are wise will shine as brightly as the expanse of the heavens, and those who have instructed many in uprightness, as bright as stars for all eternity” (Daniel 12:3; NJB).

Open Forum and Discussion

• Which types of people do I exclude from my testimony of and witness to Jesus Christ? Is God looking for these people also? How will I become a fisher of those categories of people as well?

• Read I Timothy 2:4; II Peter 3:9; and Acts 2:47

THE END !

Go forth to rebuild the temple of God in Boston

and beyond !

build me a temple catholic charismatic renewal of boston archdiocese

Documents

temple of yahweh

njb slide

children of god

god of israel

god of heaven

new jerusalem bible

jerusalem ezra

higher praise