I’ve run out of cliches.  I’m still bummed.   Sigh.

Let the record show that I’m a Reformed Protestant and believe deeply in the Biblical truths recaptured during the Reformation.  Those truths have been summed up in the Latin phrases of “Sola Scriptura” or Scripture alone, “Sola Fide” or Faith alone, “Sola Gratia” or Grace alone, and “Sola Deo Gloria” or For the Glory of God Alone.  That being said, when I walked out of St. Stephansdom I was profoundly impacted with the reality that architecture communicates.  In this case, this massive facility that took hundreds of years to complete spoke volumes about God’s transcendence.

We at HLPC are in the middle of building our own facility and so must remember that the architecture and design of our building will communicate volumes.  Much of the design is already in place.  In fact, you can look at our plans by going to www.houstonlakepres.org.  However, we are still working on our plans for the interior.  This is no small task, particularly when we think of the sanctuary.  There is more to designing a sanctuary than picking colors.  There are philosophical and theological considerations to be made.  We’ll need to task a group with theological as well as aesthetic capabilities to help make these important decisions.

R.C. Sproul, in his book on worship entitled A Taste of Heaven gives some helpful thoughts on the sights of worship that are worth sharing and are helping me in my own thinking:

There are church buildings that are designed to give no hint of the building’s true purpose as a house of worship.  They’re built to look more like  town meeting halls.  The chancel is no longer called the chancel, it’s called the stage.  The pulpit is not called a pulpit, it’s called a lectern, and the congregation isn’t called a congregation, but it’s called an audience.  Part of this is a desire to break through the old traditions that people have become inoculated against and no longer want any part of.  In at least some cases, it is due to an abiding antipathy to beauty in worship, based on a desire to avoid an empty form of worship that is merely external.  The church wants to exhibit that worship comes from the heart, not from external stimuli.

A crisis arises every time a congregation goes through a building program.  Perhaps more people leave the church over what color the church basement is painted than over correct doctrine.  Often, somebody will say, “We shouldn’t spend money on our sanctuary.  It would be better to give it to mssions or to feed the poor,” and how can one argue with that?  On the other hand, some say, “We want the sanctuary to be beautiful.  We want it to be a place that expresses our desire to honor the magnificence of God.”   That tension is always there.

It’s easy for us to make our churches and our sanctuaries not so much a reflection of our desire to honor God with beauty, but rather an attempt to recreate the Tower of Babel and to build a monument to ourselves, to our affluence and status.  That’s a precipitous danger anytime we’re building a church.  So we need to remember that when God built a church, He was concerned that it communicate not just His beauty, but His glory, and His glory alone.

No church going through a building project has unlimited finances, but new buildings don’t have to be overwhelmingly expensive.  Whatever we do, with whatever budget we have, should be done tastefully and with a view toward making the church building a visible expression of our desire to honor God- in the architecture and in the adornment.  Everything ought to be weighed and considered, even down to the matter of whether the pastor should wear a robe and, if so, how it should look; for what he wears will have an impact on the worship experience of the people.  I sometimes wonder if we are more concerned about our own appearance, decorating our own bodies and our own homes, to a greater degree than we are of honoring God in worship.  This should not be.  Our church buildings and our church services should be marked by visible beauty, so that we might be reminded of the beauty and glory of God.  (pp. 146-147).

Here’s the conference schedule to whet your appetite:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26

2:00 - 3:00 p.m. Session #1 — Ligon Duncan
Has Science Disproved the Existence of God?

3:00 - 4:00 p.m. Session #2 — John MacArthur
Why Does God Allow so Much Suffering and Evil?

5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Session #3 — Questions & Answers

7:45 - 8:45 p.m. Session #4 — R.C. Sproul
If God is Sovereign, How Can Man be Free?

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 27

9:00 - 10:00 a.m. Session #5 — John MacArthur
Is Jesus the Only Way?

10:45 - 11:45 a.m. Session #6 — Questions & Answers

1:30 - 2:30 p.m. Session #7 — Ligon Duncan
Should the Church Embrace Postmodernism?

3:45 - 4:30 p.m. Session #8 — R.C. Sproul
What is the “Gospel”?

“…in some cultures (like the ancient Roman, in which the New Testament was written) there is not much that Christians can do, other than pray, to influence political structures and policies. But when they can influence them, they should. In modern democracies, all citizens are ‘lesser magistrates’ by virtue of the ballot box. Christians have an obligation to vote according to God’s standards. And, as they are gifted and called, they should influence others to vote in the same way.

This is not to say that political choices are always obvious. Often we must choose the lesser of two evils. Candidate Mershon may have a better view of one issue than Candidate Beates, while Beates has a better view on a different issue. It is an art to weigh the importance of different issues and to come to a godly conclusion. Each of us should have a large amount of tolerance for other Christians who come to conclusions that are different from ours. Rarely will one issue trump all others, though I must say that I will never vote for a candidate who advocates or facilitates the killing of unborn children.”-John Frame, The Doctrine of the Christian Life (P&R 2008). p. 617.

(HT:  Josh Harris)

One of the secretaries turned on a radio. It was no Cessna that hit the tower. It was a passenger jet. Then, as I stood in her office doorway the radio announcer said another plane had hit the other tower.  My knees felt weak.  I drove to the home of the woman who called the church.  What would I do?  What would I say?  What was going on?  Were we at war?

I arrived to find the wife, her Mom, and her husband’s Mom there as well.  Oh boy.  Still no word from the husband.   I prayed with them- still can’t remember anything I mumbled in that prayer.  We all then watched the TV in mute shock as the towers fell.  I felt helpless and useless.  What do you say?  Did we just watch this husband and son die?

Within moments the phone rang.  It was him.  He was alive and well.  Praise God!  He had evacuated the building under the watchful supervision of New York Policemen and firemen- many of whom undoubtedly died that day.

A day we’ll never forget.

Can you name the movie from which the quote above came?

This is why you’ll never see dancing during worship at HLPC:

(HT:  Ligonier Ministries)