Five hundred years before the time of Christ a Hebrew poet wrote:

Enter God’s gates with thanksgiving,
    and God’s courts with praise.

For the Lord is good;
    God’s steadfast love endures forever,
    and God’s faithfulness to all generations

I thought of these verses from Psalm 100 this morning as I walked around our campus, reviewing the work of the various construction crews.  They have done a wonderful job of creating sacred and holy space.  Their efforts remind me that architecture and construction can communicate our faith as easily as words, sometimes even better.

This psalm invites us to worship, to come ready to praise God for God’s enduring love.  The newly opened sidewalks and gathering spaces in front of our sanctuary do something similar.  The circular area right in front of our main doors is a way of saying that everyone from every point of the compass is welcome in this place.

There is more than just theological openness being created though.  The outside of our building and the message of Psalm 100 says, “Come on in, sit down, find a seat, all are welcome.”  But they also imply that when we do come in, we should be ready for something to happen to us.  Gathering for worship and praise is a wonderful thing.  However, when we hear this message of God’s love and grace, we are also being challenged to live our lives in a way that reflects the same love we receive here to those we encounter beyond.   When worship is done well, we will be both comforted and challenged.  Annie Dillard says that, “Instead of bulletins the ushers ought to hand out crash helmets because this is going to be one heck of a ride.”

The purpose of worship is to remind us of what Marcus Borg says is the Heart of Christianity: You are created by God.  You are a child of God.  You are beloved by God.  You are accepted by God.  Now here is the hard part: Borg says, “That what is true about us is also true about everybody else.”

We’ve done a wonderful job of creating sacred space.  Now the fun (and sometimes difficult) work of sharing the good news of God’s love is before us.  
Y’all come on in, find a seat and bring your crash helmet because we are in for one heck of a ride!

Grace and Peace to you,

-Glen