What was it that caused Moses to ask “Show me your glory”.

Paul wishes the Brits love the Brits as much as the Americans love us.

This is a great nation, great preachers, missions, hymn writers and worship leaders. Celebrate our heroes, celebrate who we are (like 4th July in USA). Be proud of the great missionaries – Booth, Spurgeon, Wigglesworth etc. Celebrate us. Regenerate honour of our ancestors in Christ.

The Bible is biographies – stories of people first and foremost before it is theology.

What was it that caused Moses to ask “Show me your glory”?

Many of us don’t ask for more.

Exodus 28:40 – gave them beauty and honour.

Moses had been uniquely prepared by God – 40 years in the wilderness. He was one man who knew about palaces. He was the only one who had been raised in a palace. So when God started talking about silver, gold, beautiful things, it resonated with Moses – he realised God knew and valued all this beautiful stuff. He connected with God, he didn’t realise God valued all this same stuff – he thought he was only in burning bushes etc.

Psalm 27 – about a way of life where we are constantly beholding the beauty of the Lord. What does this mean? What is the beauty of the Lord? We become joint heirs with Christ, we are all God’s daughters in law. This is the Spirit of adoption. The beauty of the Lord is the attraction of the soul that invites us to intimacy.

Moses heard this from God – remembering his days in the palace – reconnecting with God.

Beauty is an attraction of the soul that invites to intimacy that extends to a question (will you marry me?).

We need to build a church that is so beautiful that it invites to intimacy – drawing eyes up and glorifying God. Your building – there is something going on with the arts and creativity in this church – think and pray about it – pray in some extra money to do it.

Romans 1: 19-20 – God has a value for what I have a value for.

At Bethel the mountain is beautiful but it attracts us differently – snowboarding, painting etc. this is what attracts us into intimacy. It is the individual response we have to a beautiful scene.

It is my response – it is my platform to get into intimacy with God.

Roman 1: 19-20 The beauty of creation. V. 21-23 – humanism – we have taken God out of the equation – root of abortion etc. Humanism born at the same time as the Renaissance – amazing painters celebrating God and at the same time humanism.

We are in a muddle – Psalm 8 – Lord you are majestic – but you have set man to rule over creation and given him honour and glory.

It is time for another Renaissance to show the world who God is.

2 Peter 1: 3-4 We have escaped the Romans picture – we are partakers of his divine nature (of Romans 1: 21-32).

Paul told a story about his son responding to something in a way that he, Paul, would have done and the son said “When I did that I felt like you Dad”.

In creation God just expressed himself – he had no-one to copy.

When we are attracted to something beautiful that is the bit of me that is made in his image.

Everyone of us uniquely made in His image – we are the temple of God. That’s what God was talking about to Moses. I am going to do what connects me to God and use it to show the world who He is.

Redefine the word beauty. Find a way of seeing the beauty of creation again – so we can radiate how beautiful He is. Build beautiful buildings to tell the world how beautiful God is. Step into what is beautiful to me. Beauty is meant to cause people to ask questions about God.

We are not the runt of the world, get a vision to become beautiful to God. Joseph served seven years and woke up with Leah and served another seven years for Rachel. He knew it was worth serving for the beauty that he wanted.

Find out who I am and what is beautiful to me then I will find out what connects me to God.

I am the only person who can take the specific instructions from God and carry them down the mountain and take them to the people. If I don’t do it, no-one else will take this particular blueprint.