Subject: The Reclaimed Temple (05/12/'24) -Message

Subject: The Reclaimed Temple Jesus entered the sacred courts, His gaze ablaze with holy fire. He declared, "Don't make it a den of robbers!" His voice thundered through the hallowed halls, striking against the stones laid by hands long past. It took forty-six years to build this temple, brick by brick, with sweat mingling with the dust of the earth. Yet, you dare defile it, tarnishing its glory with greed? Jesus spoke not of stone and mortar, but of His body, the true temple, pure and unyielding. He promised that in three days, it would rise, transcending the physical, a testament to divine power. He walked among the merchants and money changers, their coins clinking in the stillness, a discordant symphony of avarice. With righteous indignation, He overturned their tables, scattering their ill-gotten gains in a cascade of silver and gold. In that moment, the air was thick with the scent of sacrifice, echoing prophecies fulfilled. The temple of God, a place of prayer, had become a marketplace, a den of thieves. Yet, in His eyes, there was a glimmer of the resurrection to come, a promise of a new dawn. His body, broken yet unbroken, would rise, a beacon of hope for all who believed. In the chaos, there was a whisper of redemption, a call to return to the sacred, the pure, the holy. The temple was not just stone, but spirit; not just structure, but soul. He, the cornerstone, would raise it up, eternal and everlasting. Pastor Steven G. Lee (May 12, 2024)