You’ve seen the tweets and you’ve read the Facebook posts. You read yesterday about the BUILD YOUR KINGDOM campaign launching on Friday night and by now you’re probably asking the same question I’ve gotten from many over the past few days…WHAT IN THE WORLD IS THIS ALL ABOUT?
What is Build Your Kingdom? What is #OneBrick? What are you guys trying to do here?
If I had to explain it one single verse, I’d choose this:
“Consider now, for the Lord has chosen YOU to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it.” (1 Chronicles 28:10)
#OneBrick is your chance to be part of something great – something with eternal meaning and significance. It’s all about building God’s Kingdom in whatever way we can. Over the next 4 weeks, we’ll be challenging one another to find ways to “build God’s Kingdom” in a variety of ways. I’ll be talking about how we (STSA church) are seeking to build God’s Kingdom in Arlington (just outside Washington DC) and I’m hoping to hear from you (insert your name here) about how you’re building God’s Kingdom as well (in whatever place you happened to be).
Why? Because I believe that “the Lord has chosen ME/YOU to build a house for the sanctuary” and therefore I/you must “be strong, and do it.”
And if you are local to the Arlington area, I have some BIG news for you! HUUUUUUGGGGE NEWS!!!! Something that we all thought wouldn’t happen for years is coming to pass RIGHT NOW, before our very eyes.
Are you ready?
Are you sure you’re ready??
(As my 7 year old daughter would say) Are you sure that you’re sure that you’re ready???
Here goes…. drumroll please…. GOD IS SENDING US A BUILDING FOR THE CHURCH!!!!!
I can only think of two words as an appropriate response to a statement like that. 1 = WOO, 2 = HOO!
Why is this such big news? Who cares about a building? Well, let me be the first to reassure you that I personally DO NOT care about a building. Ever since the church opened up 2.5 years ago, we’ve always believed that the church is a not a building; the church is a people. Buildings are made for people, not people for buildings.
We don’t care about building a building; we care about BUILDING GOD’S KINGDOM. We wouldn’t be pursuing this building unless we felt strongly that owning a building would help us to expand God’s Kingdom and add more souls to His eternal family.
How? That’s what I’ll be talking about over the next few weeks in the campaign. But for now, I just want you to get excited and get ready to be part of something really BIG that God is doing at STSA.
And to answer the question that everyone keeps asking, "HOW CAN I GET INVOLVED?", here are three simple ways:
1) Attend the Build Your Kingdom Kickoff Event on Friday night
2) Make a donation to the STSA Build Your Kingdom Campaign
3) Find ways to build God’s Kingdom wherever you might be
That’s your ONE BRICK - whatever contribution you are making to the Kingdom of God, no matter how small or insignificant it may seem.
It’s impossible to see how one small brick can build a kingdom, but when we share our bricks with each other, we can see the bigger picture of how they all work together. It’s like the boy who offered up the five loaves and two fish that led to the feeding of the multitudes. What he offered was small and seemingly insignificant; but through that offering, he got a chance to be part of something much greater than he could have imagined.
THAT COULD BE YOU!
So what’s your brick? How are you building God’s Kingdom in your city, school, workplace, church, or even home? Show us what you’re doing and we’ll let the world know that God is working and building His Kingdom through people like you.
When you make a contribution to the Build Your Kingdom campaign, you can print the brick which is linked to on the confirmation page. Write down what you think your "brick" is and post it on Twitter or Facebook tagging @stsachurch and using #OneBrick. We'll retweet and post our favorites!
And remember this: “The Lord has chosen YOU to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong, and do it.” (1 Chronicles 28:10)