The Church as the Dwelling Place of God | 8/30/2026

Sermon Summary: Drawing from Ephesians 2:22 through 3:21, this sermon explores the church as the new tabernacle and temple — the permanent dwelling place of God's Spirit on earth. The pastor establishes that while individual believers are temples of the Holy Spirit, the gathered church collectively forms a dwelling place for God. This reality replaces the Old Covenant system of restricted access through the tabernacle and temple hierarchy. Because of Christ's atoning work, the veil has been torn and every believer now has unrestricted access to the Father. The sermon also unpacks the mystery Paul received by revelation — that Gentiles and Jews are now fellow heirs in the same body through faith in Christ. Paul's apostolic prayer in verses 14 through 21 serves as the sermon's climax, calling believers to comprehend the boundless dimensions of God's love and to replace their false inner monologue with a genuine dialogue with God through prayer. The sermon closes with a challenge to walk in divine power by understanding one's God-given assignment and saying yes to the prompting of the Holy Spirit.

Key Points:

-Believers individually are temples of the Holy Spirit, and collectively the gathered church is the dwelling place of God, meaning Christians carry the presence of God into the presence of God when they assemble together

Church is an embodied, physical activity of presence and cannot be replicated through online streaming or passive observation

-The church is the new tabernacle and temple — the permanent dwelling place of God's Spirit, replacing the temporary and restricted structures of the Old Covenant

-The mystery Paul received by revelation is that Gentiles and Jews are now fellow heirs, members of the same body, partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus

-Because of Christ's finished work, the veil was torn and every believer now has unrestricted access to the Father without hierarchy, ritual, or condition

-God displays his manifold wisdom to earthly rulers and heavenly authorities through the church, making the church his exhibit of wisdom and love

-Walking in divine power requires understanding three dimensions: dunamis (power at one's disposal), exousia (the right to use that power), and kratos (the assigned dominion in which that power is applied)

-The Holy Spirit prompts believers toward their assignments, and obedience to those prompts is what activates the power of God in practical ministry

-Neither Jesus nor Paul lived an autonomous life — both operated in dependence on divine direction, and believers are called to the same reliance

-Prayer is not a monologue but a dialogue with God, and building a prayer life silences the false inner monologue that tells believers they are unworthy or unlovable

-The breadth, length, height, and depth of God's love is all-pervasive and leaves no believer ineligible for it regardless of past failure, shame, or self-perception

-God's ability to do far more than we could ask or think is always connected to the power at work within the obedient, participating believer

Scripture Reference:

-Ephesians 2:22 through 3:21 (primary passage)

-1 Corinthians 6:19 (the body as a temple of the Holy Spirit)

-John 1:14 (the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among humanity)

-Revelation 21:3 (the dwelling place of God with man in the age to come)

-John 5:19 (the Son doing nothing on his own accord, only what he sees the Father doing)

-Matthew 27:51 (the curtain of the temple torn in two at Christ's death)

-Hebrews 10:19 through 22 (confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus)