Holy Ground

City Harbor Church – Hampden, Baltimore, MD

I. What do we learn from Moses’ Holy Ground experience? – Exodus 3:1-12

God wants to meet with us. Giving priority to “holy ground” places, for interaction with God, will help us see our identity, value, and purpose.

A. God is worthy of our respect and focus. God meets with Moses. Moses listens to God.

“To stay at a distance and remove footwear was then and is now in many cultures a sign of respect and humility.” – CSB Study Bible Notes

Holy Sacred Sanctuary Hallowed Dedicated Consecrated

Holy – sacred, dedicated, set apart, unparalleled, unique, none more so, pure, purity in purpose,

Time and place, focused on God alone, and an awareness that God is here now.

B. God speaks to the identity, value, and purpose for Moses’ life. God is powerful, loving, and personal. God wants to meet with us. Giving priority to “holy ground” places, for interaction with God, will help us see our identity, value, and purpose.

I. How did the followers of Jesus understand that God wanted to meet with them?

A. The Physical Meeting Place – throughout Scripture we see God interacting with people in sacred meeting places.

Examples of Holy Ground Meeting Places:

1. Garden of Eden – Genesis 2 – 3:8 no shame, God gives identity, value, purpose. God walking in the Garden. Relationship interrupted by sin.

2. Tabernacle – Exodus 40:18-38 God instructs Moses and the people to build a mobile place of meeting.

3. Synagogues of Jewish and New Testament use – Matthew 4:23, 6:2, 5, 9:35, 10:17, many more, John 9: 22, 18:20, Acts 17:17, James 2:2

4. Temple – 1 Kings 5 – 9, Solomon’s (where God met with David, in 2 Chronicles 3:1), 12 year old Jesus Christ, later cleansing, then predicting fall of the Temple and the New Covenant realities.

What happens in the meeting place with God? Atonement Hearing from God Offerings Praise Prayer “house of prayer for all nations” – Isaiah 56:7, Matthew 21:13, Mark 11:17

5. Homes and Public Buildings/Spaces – Acts 2:1-4, 46-47, Matthew 6:5-8 homes and public places (including the Temple) dedicated time and space

6. Outdoors – Matthew 26:36-46, 14:23, Mark 6:46-47, Luke 6:12, John 6:15, Gethsemane, and many private places of prayer

B. The Spiritual Meeting Place – Jesus teaches that interaction with God is spiritual, and that the Holy Spirit is within us.

1. Spiritual Activity – John 4 “Believe me, an hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem…true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in sprit and in truth.” – John 4:21-24 CSB Jesus taught that in this New Covenant, meeting with God is a spiritual activity. Worship until God is the only thing in your heart and mind.

2. Spiritual Location “We are the temple of the living God. As God said: ‘I will live in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be my people.’” – 2 Corinthians 6:16, Leviticus 26:12, Ezekiel 37:27 New Testament Christians believed that the Holy Spirit was within them, spiritually guiding them, and always present. This is a close, personal, and life-changing relationship with God.

II. What do we learn?

A. God is powerful, loving, and personal.

B. God wants to meet with us.

C. Giving priority to “holy ground” places, for interaction with God, will help you see your identity, value, and purpose.

III. What should we do?

A. Pray, asking God to help us hear His voice.

B. Give priority time and energy to meeting with God, personally.

C. Give priority time and energy to meeting with God, with fellow believers.

D. Listen to what God has to say about our identity, value, and purpose.

E. Prayer-walk our neighborhoods with God’s purpose in focus.

Giving priority to “holy ground” places, for interaction with God, will help us see our identity, value, and purpose.