Penny, thank you so much. Well, please do keep your Bibles nearby and we will be coming to them shortly. Sometimes people say, hugh, tell me what your favourite holiday is. So thank you so much for asking. I’m glad I could share with you about my favourite holiday. And I do this every now and then. I’ve been dropping hints to various members of the congregation and to family members for at least ten years now. And no one really has taken the hint yet. So I’m pleading again. Here’s my favourite holiday. There’s a picture of it up here. I think it’s a river cruise. I’ve never been on one, but I love the idea of a river cruise because you get the kind of cruise experience, you go to sleep and then you wake up somewhere new. I like the idea of each day being able to visit somewhere new, but as you can see, perhaps you’ve been on one. It’s a bit smaller. It’s a cruise without all the riff raff. It’s a bit more personal. I’m not quite sure how I’m going to manage taking my children on one of those, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it and you might say, well, which cruise, Hugh? Which one? There’s lots to choose from, isn’t there? There’s lots of rivers in the world. Well, thank you again for asking. I would probably choose the grand European tour. It’s 15 days and it goes from Budapest to Amsterdam. And let me tell you a particular highlight. Kind of opening up the brochure. Now, this is day 13. Day 13, you arrive in the German city of Cologne. Let me tell you about Cologne. Cologne reveals its Roman heritage in its city layout and the ancient ruins that lie scattered throughout the town. Of note is the city’s 14th century cathedral, a stunning example of Gothic artistry and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, having survived Allied bombs during the World War II. And the cathedral’s imposing twin spires are visible for miles. And its stained glass windows fill the interior with brilliant coloured light. Its steps lead to a platform with outstanding views. Perhaps you’ve been you can tell me about it afterwards. Cologne Cathedral is indeed magnificent. But one of the interesting facts about Cologne Cathedral is just how long it took to build it. Now, they weren’t building continuously. They did take breaks, some quite big breaks, but it took them 632 years to complete. This was a project that was began in mediaeval times and they had all the plans of what it would look like, but it wasn’t finally finished until the 18 hundreds. Now, I think it’s quite hard to get your head around that kind of timeline, that kind of timeline that you know you’re not going to see this project completed. You know that not even your great great grandchildren are going to see this project completed. I think we live in an age and certainly a nation of short termism. We can’t even finish a train track. How do you even begin a project like this that you know you won’t see completed? Well, over the last few weeks, we have been exploring the life of King David. We’ve been looking at some of his successes and some of his failures. But above all that, we’ve seen how King David has been like a signpost king, pointing us to the true king, king Jesus. Now, back in two. Samuel, chapter seven. We looked at that a few weeks ago. We saw that David wanted to build a temple for the Lord, wanted to build the Lord a house. And the Lord said to David, he was here. Two things he said, no, I’m going to build you a house. And secondly, it won’t be you to build the house, the temple, it will be Solomon, your son, Glenn. Can we come back to that in a bit? Is that all right? Now, David already knows that he won’t see this project through. He won’t even see it started. And yet in this chapter that we’re looking at today, one Chronicles 29, in the later days of David’s life, we see that he’s absolutely committed to doing all that he can to serve the work of building this temple. Here’s a few things that we see just as we cast back our eyes to One Chronicles 29, it begins verse one. David said to all the assembly, solomon, my son, whom alone God has chosen, is young and inexperienced, and the work is great, for the palace will not be for man, but for the Lord. David recognises the significance of this work, just how important it is. And he recognises that it’s too important just to let Solomon get on with it, too important just to leave it to one person or even to one generation. So what David seeks to do here is to lay a foundation for the next generation. He wants to do all that he can to make it easier for Solomon. He wants to help him. He wants to lay a foundation, a platform onto which Solomon can build. He sees the challenge and he wants to give to it, even though he knows he won’t do this project, he won’t even see it started. Second thing, we see that David is personally invested in this project. Verse three, he talked about all the things that he was giving to the work of the building of the temple. And then verse three, moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the Holy House, I have a treasure of my own, of gold and silver. He’s already, as king, raised this support. These treasures of the nation he has given to the work of the temple. And now he speaks of a different treasure, his own personal treasure. Why does he give of his own? Well, he says that, doesn’t he? Because of my devotion to the house of my God. Here, David as king is setting an example of giving generously. He wants others to follow him in that. When we met as a staff team on Monday, I shared this passage with them and said, look, we as leaders, many of us are leaders in the church, but we as leaders, as a staff team, we want to set an example like David. We want to be the first to give. And how do the people respond. We’ll see in verse six, they’re not ashamed by David’s example, they’re excited by it, they’re encouraged by it. Verse six, we see the people give freely. That’s how they respond. They don’t feel they have to give just because David gives, but they give freely. And it’s quite hard to quantify some of these numbers, but they give abundantly. There’s certainly generosity here. The people give freely. And how do they respond after they’ve given? Verse nine, they’ve given freely, they’ve given willingly, they’ve given wholeheartedly. And verse nine, they rejoice. They rejoice. It can be easy, can’t it, to give something away and then to go back and cheque the bank balance and think, oh, gosh, there’s a bit much, there’s a bit more than I was hoping for. But that’s not what they do, is it? They rejoice. Same with David. David rejoices too. He doesn’t look back and think, gosh, I’ve spent all my personal treasure, what am I going to do now? No, he with the people rejoices. Here we see a wholehearted giving freedom to give generosity in their giving and rejoicing with it. But why are we talking about building a temple? What’s that got to do with stewardship? What’s the connection to our own giving and serving in Linfield today? And I want to say now, you’re especially welcome here today if you’re a visitor, perhaps it’s even your first time with us today, you’re very welcome. And I want to let you know that we don’t talk about money very often. You happen to have come on the two Sundays in the year stewardship Sunday and next week dedication Sunday, where we make a big point of talking about money the rest of the year. We don’t say very much, so if that’s, you’re really welcome. But one of the things is, we do think talking about money is part of our discipleship, part of what it means to follow Jesus, part of what it means to belong to a church. So I hope you’ll see as we look at some of these things, you’ll see actually, this is a really important part of God’s work. But coming back to the temple, the temple is a huge theme throughout the Bible. Glenn, perhaps we could have that one back up again. So it’s helpful to think about the temple not just as an ancient building, but what it represents. And in the Bible, this theme of temple, it represents the place where God meets with his people, where God dwells and lives among his people, where God and people can have fellowship, where they can know one another. You see, back in Genesis, chapter one in Eden, we see humankind had a place where they could meet and live with God, and it was perfect. But ever since Adam and Eve were banished from the garden because of their rebellion against God, later structures and pictures were put in place, like the tabernacle and the temple. And they were designed they were structured. They were built in ways to replicate Eden. They were built to help people cast their minds back to that perfect place where God and his people could live and enjoy fellowship. These structures were there to help people know God, even as they had been banished from the garden. But the temple wasn’t Eden. However beautiful and glorious it was, however much gold and silver had been put into it, it was a shadow, a pale reflection of Eden. Indeed, there was still a central place in the temple called the Holy of Holies, where, like Eden, humankind was still banished. You can’t come in this most holy place, and as glorious and as beautiful as the temple looked, it didn’t last. This temple here that we’re talking about being prepared to be built at Solomon’s Temple, it got knocked down in 586 BC. The Babylonians came and destroyed it earlier this year, or perhaps it was last year, I can’t quite remember. We looked at the Book of Nehemiah and we read about Nehemiah’s rebuilding project, how they rebuilt the destroyed temple. That one got knocked down as well. The Romans came in Ad 70 and they knocked that one down. But the thing is, that’s not the end of the story. The buildings get destroyed, but God’s temple lives on. Jesus himself describes himself as the temple. Remember in John chapter two, he said that you can knock this temple down, but I will rebuild it in three days. He was talking about his own body that will be raised to life again. We read in Ephesians, chapter two that the church is now called the temple. God is building Christians into his temple today. And if we read on to one Corinthians chapter six, each Christian believer is described as a temple of God’s holy spirit, the place where God dwells, where he meets his people. Indeed, the apostle Paul makes the point in Acts chapter 17, the God who made the world and everything in it being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man. Where does he live? He lives in you. He lives in us. We are his temple. He’s building us on the as we look in Ephesians two there, he’s building us on the cornerstone that is Jesus Christ. The building block for every church, for every Christian community is Jesus Christ. We are being built together into this spiritual temple. You see, God’s presence, his dwelling place among his people, has gone global, no longer just a geographical garden, no longer a physical building, but by his spirit, God, living in the hearts of his people. So when we read a story in the Old Testament of a king giving everything he has to build a temple, we’re supposed to think beyond the gold and silver and the jewels and the stones. We’re supposed to lift our eyes to another temple like the signpost king he is. David points us to another king. A king who would give everything to build his people. You see, King Jesus gave up all his treasures. King Jesus gave of Himself wholeheartedly, paying the ultimate sacrifice to rescue his people, as it says in Ephesians, to make strangers his citizens, to welcome us into his household. King Jesus, is that true temple builder? The one who brings God’s life and presence into his people? So how might we respond today? In the light of David’s example, but more than that, in the light of the example of the Lord Jesus who’s given Himself to build us into his temple? Well, let me suggest two things. Here’s the first one, and you might wince when I say it, but I’m going to qualify it, okay? So wait for the qualification. But the first one is leave a legacy. Now, I’m not actually specifically talking about a financial legacy here, leaving a gift in your will. Though at this point it would be remiss of me not to remind us all that we do have a legacy guide on our church website. Please do look at that. And it’s also worth saying that legacies have had a significant impact on life and ministry and mission here in Linfield and beyond and to the ends of the earth. And we give thanks for that. But I suppose I do want to say, I think there is a particular focus here for our more senior members of the church family. Looking at David’s example, he gives to a project he won’t see finished. He won’t even see it started. He gives to lay a foundation very intentionally for the next generation. Friends, please, can I encourage you to be bold in giving for the future, giving to projects you won’t ever see completed, giving to a generation not yet born. Give to lay a foundation that the generations to come may come to know of the great love of the Lord Jesus for them. But we can all be leaving a legacy. Now, you see, this temple is not bricks and stone, it’s people. God is building us into his temple. Do you know what you are, as it were? A stone, a brick in this temple because someone took the time, took the courage to tell you about the Lord Jesus. Perhaps you think, now, who was that? Someone took the time to tell you of the Lord Jesus and his great love for you, for his great sacrifice to build you into his temple. Someone, when they told you were laying a foundation, they were building God’s temple. You might not have known it, but God’s spirits knew what he was doing. And many of you are here today because of the legacy of others. Many of you are here or have been strengthened in your time here through things like Good News Club, Wayfarers, Agnostics, Anonymous, the Way Ahead. Apparently that was in the 70s. In the past, people gave, they spoke, they laboured, teaching children about the Lord Jesus. They invited you into their homes. Even. Perhaps you had no faith at all. Still they invited you to share of the love of the Lord Jesus. You’re here because others built. They prayed, they spoke, they gave. Friends, who will leave a legacy today, because if not us, then who will? David gave his treasures to a temple that would be destroyed. Jesus gave his life for a temple which will last for eternity. You see, friends, we get to be part of a building that lasts, that lasts for eternity. We’re giving to something that is not just for now, but is for eternity. So we’re asking you to give now, but more than that, we’re asking you to give for the next generation. Give for the future, give for eternity. Friends, leave a legacy. Secondly, and finally, friends, give with freedom and joy. Give with freedom and joy. You see, having given generously of himself, king David then asks the assembly in verse five, he says, who then will offer willingly consecrating himself to the Lord today? Now, this word consecrated, it literally means to fill your hand. Who will fill your hand? And it was a phrase given to describing how a priest would be ordained, and they would take something in their hands, and it was a picture of that they would be serving the Lord often richly with their hands. And here, it seems, David is applying the same picture to their giving says, friends, who will fill their hands today and give it to the work of the Lord, who will fill their hands with treasure that they might serve this temple building. You see, David’s call is really quite bold here. If we were to paraphrase it, he might say, who will put their hand in their pockets? Who will roll up their sleeves? Who will give themselves in sacrificial service to their work? But they don’t then give out of duty or guilt or fear. No, they give freely. They give wholeheartedly. And at the end there, they give with rejoicing. Friends, this year or any year, you might have found your pockets are a bit deeper. You can stretch a little further. You might have found your pockets feel a little bit tighter, and it becomes harder to give. That’s okay. But the posture is the same one of open handedness, not holding on to what’s mine, but an act of generosity, an open handedness that wants to serve God and his people. So, friends, will you give sacrificially for the joy of God’s people? Will you give wholeheartedly to build God’s spiritual temple together? Today, you don’t have to follow David’s example. You can follow Jesus’ example. Here’s what the writers of the Hebrews says of Jesus at the end of the letter, he says, look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. He’s our example. What should we look to Jesus for? Who for the joy set before him enjoyed the cross? What is the joy that was set before him. And it seems that the joy set before him is that temple building a people winning redeeming a people for himself. So for the joy set before him, seeing those people won, he endured the cross. Jesus, king Jesus gave everything freely and wholeheartedly for the joy of building a temple people. So forget about the cruise. It’ll be gone in 15 days. Even the most impressive cathedral. One day it will crumble for. But God’s temple into which he’s building us will be a legacy that lasts for eternity. What a work to leave a legacy for. What a project to give with freedom and joy. Amen.