When Solomon dedicated the Temple, one of the things that happened is that the glory of God filled the Temple, such that the priests could not even go in (2 Chron. 7:1-2). When Moses communed with the Lord at the door of the tabernacle, God appeared there in a pillar of glory (Ex. 33:9). When Jesus was transfigured on the mountain, He together with Peter, James, and John were enveloped by a bright cloud of glory (Matt. 17:5).
Now it is important to remember this because we are seeking to build a church building that speaks of the glory of God, and we want it to speak about glory truthfully. I say this because glory is not something that fossilizes. When the Spirit departs, the glory departs, and the church building becomes Ichabod Memorial.
What will protect us? How will God deliver us? This is a folly that has ensnared many. Our preservation is in the name of the Lord, and the name of the Lord is only revealed through the gospel. The name of the Lord is revealed through the folly of preaching Christ crucified. We declare that God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, and that Jesus, the God/man lived a perfect and sinless human life, on our behalf, and that He was slain on a cross, and His blood ran down. When His blood ran down, it was for the cleansing of all His people, and, good to His Word, after He rose from the dead, He applied that blood—your only hope—to the great altar in the heavenlies. And from that place, He prays for you, and He prays for you by name. He prays for this congregation, by name. Our task is to echo His praying, which is what it means to pray in His name.
So let us always glory in that gospel. Let us never exchange the glory of God for a fog of nuance. When Christians get nice things, like a building, they frequently get above themselves. The folly of God is wiser than men, and so our task is always to follow His folly, and not our own wisdom. And that means the cross.