You know what God has always wanted? Just to be your friend. Just to be your friend. I swear it's true. And it's all the way through your Bible. That the reason David is so special is David had a priority. I want to be God's friend. I want to make him feel honored in friendship. Everything I do, I want it to be for him. In fact, I want to build a building in his honor. That's all I want. He had that ambition. My friend God, I want to put him on display. I want to give him a house. I want to give him a place so that everybody can be his friend. [00:13:44]

See, the purpose of church is not to make you feel guilty. It's not to take your money. It's not so that you would become a self -righteous, judgmental person. All these things are perceived by the world that we lived in. But it's not true. Jesus' death on the cross was for friendship. So he can stand with you in this life and forever. That psalm is about a vision of forever with you and with God. [00:14:21]

And so David's friendship, I admire it, but it makes me say, God, I want that. I want to be your friend. I want to know you. In fact, when I was a college student, I remember thinking, I don't want to know about God. I want to know him. If he can be known, I got to get through church and get through the religious stuff, and I got to get right next to him wherever he's at. I need to know him. I want to be his friend. Friends, it's possible because of what Jesus has done. [00:14:51]

This text is about a friend and his God. And it actually gives you a vision of God's heart for you. We can be friends with God thanks to what Jesus has done. That's the motive of church. That's why you're here. This place, Grace Commons, it only exists for one purpose, to facilitate friendship so that everybody in Boulder, everybody in the Boulder Valley might be friends with God. [00:15:26]

What we've been praying for the building across the street is, God, put a coffee shop down there that will allow us to show people that we're nice, that we're friendly, that we're hospitable. We want to take some of the money that comes in and give it away to things that Boulder cares about so that people will know that we're not religious, stuffy, judgmental, self -righteous people. We actually want to be generous and friendly because God has been friendly to us. [00:15:53]

If you've forgotten, why are you here? To be friends with God and help other people. You know, I love people that are connectors. I know some. One of my favorite pastors of all time I worked for named Dave McKechnie. He was an interim pastor in Houston where I was a youth pastor. And I couldn't figure him out. You know what he would do? He would take me to lunch with people that he thought I should know. And he wouldn't say a word. He'd just say, Anthony, chap, chap, Anthony, y 'all should talk. That's the story of life as a Christian. Jesus, meet Fred. Fred, meet Jesus. He wants to be your friend. [00:16:26]

So I don't know what your understanding of Christianity is, but I hope I just simplified it for you. What made David's friendship so special with God, though, is in point number two. David was earnestly driven by one pure ambition. Did you catch it in the poem? What is he? He said, I can't sleep. I will not go to bed until I have this one thing, this one thing. I am driven, Lord, your resting place. [00:17:02]

David's main ambition, a place for God to dwell. That's verse two through eight. I just want to build a place that you are, that you can dwell in so that during these Psalms of Ascent moments, that people can come and encounter you, you. [00:18:57]

Some of you have been to Normandy and know that's a special place. It's a special dwelling to remember what's been done on our behalf by those that stormed that beach. I would love to go to Corey Ten Boom's family watch shop. I've been to Dachau. These are holy places where you can almost encounter the dwelling of those that have come before you. The most special place I've been are the Roman catacombs where Christians are buried. That's what they look like. And that's, that's a communion celebration, which we're now about to transition to right there. They have little frescoes on the wall. Half a million Christians buried underground in catacombs like this because the Romans said, if you want to bury your dead, that's disgusting. We burn our dead. So they did it because they were expecting a return from Jesus for their bodies. And so, you know, they're Christians. Otherwise they wouldn't be buried. Holy ground. I could almost hear the singing of these saints that are still alive because of what Jesus has done. [00:19:42]

Sacred places, places where you encounter a sacred presence almost, but nothing like the Old Testament temple. With that place, God was actually there, his dwelling. To be honest, that's my ambition for that building across the street. May it be your dwelling. May the coffee shop, when people go there, may they encounter a hospitality that brings them to heaven. Those people, we're going to pray for them that live there on the middle floors in that event space. May it be inhabited with your presence. That's my prayer, not just for that building, for our building over here. Lord, may Grace Commons, every building we own be a place of your dwelling. [00:20:44]

It's possible now in a different way because Jesus said, I'm sending you someone. The Holy Spirit's going to come when I leave. And it's a really good thing. Trust me, my leaving is a good thing. And nobody agreed with him. Jesus, how can your leaving be a good thing? He said, because I'm sending someone to you. The very presence of God is going to come. Holy Spirit. That's the prayer I hope you will join me in that are building this one and the one across the street. Today, we're asking God to make it a special place of his dwelling. [00:21:31]

Finally, as we transition to the communion experience, I just want to make one last point. We are, in light of this text, to rejoice in the central figure of history. So this psalm in such a special way, the Lord swore an oath to David, a sure oath he will not revoke. One of your own descendants I will place on your throne. Who's that talking about? God is talking and he's making a promise. [00:22:05]

Listen, God's better than me. He's better than me. When he makes a promise, he keeps it. And right here, he says, I swore an oath to David that I am going to send my son through his family tree into this world. Promise. Thousand percent, you can bank on it. And he did just that in Bethlehem. Here's your promise, the central figure of history. This is my resting place forever and ever. Here I will sit in throne, for I have desired it. [00:23:43]

Listen, Jesus came first for the Jews, then to all of us, the Gentiles. He came into the world through Israel to sit on a throne, and he will sit on it. How long? Forever and ever. And Jerusalem will always matter, friends. Bible says his holy foot will touch down on the Mount of Olives. I believe that. I believe it just like it's written, simple, plain language. That's where he's coming. And it's forever that this is going to happen. [00:24:14]

I love that promise. God is speaking here. I will make a horn grow for David. That's a reference to Jesus coming through his family tree, and he will be a lamp. The other night, Hudson said, Dad, he was kind of sheepish in the way that he asked, can I get that nightlight back in my room? When it gets really dark, I'd rather have a nightlight. He was trying to be a man, grown up, you know, but still wanted his nightlight. I don't mind that, right? You know what the nightlight of heaven is? We don't need lights like this. There's Jerusalem at night. You know what it says in Revelation? Heaven needs no sun because Jesus is there. He lights the whole place up. He is the radiance of God for eternity. We don't even need a sun. His countenance lights it up. [00:24:48]

Friends, Grace Commons, I hope it's always a place about that central figure of history that came into the world to light this place up, to light it up for eternity, now and forever. [00:25:33]

And I saw in a video that I just loved this week, they were bringing elders, deacons, trustees, and asking questions before the congregation, and it was someone in our denomination, our version of church that said, you know, our denominational questions are great, but I just want to ask you one that kind of cuts through all of them. There's all these lengthy theological questions, but really they can all be boiled down to one thing. Do you love Jesus? Friends, that's all we want because he loves you. We want you to love him. And we want you to join us with a prayer that because of what he's done, he can welcome us forever into his presence. But until that time, we want this building and the one across the street to be inhabited with his very presence. [00:25:46]