Pastor's Note - July 27 
We have a joyful Sunday to anticipate. On Sunday, we will dedicate our basement and parking lot, appoint several deacons, and install our new church plant pastor! Lord willing, it will be a good Sunday of celebration of God’s faithfulness, and anticipation of future ministry. I don’t think I’ll talk about it on Sunday, but I’m reminded of one of my favorite passages of the Old Testament – Solomon’s dedication of the temple in 1 Kings 8:22-61. That day was a long time coming. David had dreamed of building the temple. But God determined it would be Solomon’s task to complete it. In this rich passage, a couple things stand out to me. First, if you read it carefully, you’ll notice that Solomon begins his prayer standing (verse 22), but ends the prayer on his knees (verse 54). It’s a great picture of being progressively humbled before the greatness of the Lord. Another highlight is Solomon’s prayer of confession and request for forgiveness in anticipation of future sin (for example, verse 35). Solomon doesn’t just pray for forgiveness if the people sin. He prays for when the people will sin. He knows the imperfection of men, and the need for grace. So, he prays in advance for God’s mercy. Third, I love Solomon’s prayer for the foreigner (verses 41-43). He prays for those outside Israel, that they would find God’s grace through the dwelling of the Lord in the temple. Israel, and its house of worship, was always to have an evangelistic bent to it – an eye toward the outsider. These are good reminders for us as we dedicate our house of worship. May it be a place of humble prayer. May it be a place where God’s mercy is sought and found. May it be a place where the outsider comes near to God. Let’s pray toward these things as we celebrate on Sunday.