1 & 2 Chronicles: Establishing God's Temple

What do 1 & 2 Chronicles have to do with everyday family discipleship?


In this week’s episode of The Wholehearted Households Podcast, host Helen Lee introduces us to the books of 1 & 2 Chronicles, reflecting on the phrase “You should never meet your heroes.” We are often wary of discovering our heroes’ flaws, but as we see with the biblical hero David, God is faithful even in the midst of our failures. Heroes’ failures included.


Our Bible spotlight focuses on the main themes of 1 & 2 Chronicles: David and God’s temple. In an otherwise positive account of David, 1 Chronicles 21 focuses on a moment where David fails to trust God and must endure the consequences. Yet, God works in the midst of these consequences, ultimately redeeming the situation to display his presence and blessing and to establish the location of the temple.


Then, our discipleship nugget equips you to create and pray through a prayer labyrinth with your family. The ancient Israelites focused on a physical location to experience the presence of God, but through Jesus’ work, we can experience God’s presence everywhere and anywhere. Prayer labyrinths give us one way to practice inviting God into our midst and preparing our minds and hearts to experience his presence.


Finally, our spiritual practice invites you to take some small pauses throughout your day, becoming aware of God’s continual presence in each of our lives. His Holy Spirit dwells within us, and our bodies have become God’s temples. Through dedicating small moments of remembrance and recognition to God’s presence with and within us, we express our desire to live in union with Christ.


Wherever you listen, may you and your family be blessed by this episode as you seek to follow Jesus with your whole heart.


The Wholehearted Households Podcast is a production of InterVarsity Press (IVP) and made possible by the generous support of the Lilly Endowment. Discover more great listens from IVP on our website (ivpress.com/ivp-podcasts) or on YouTube (www.youtube.com/@InterVarsityPress/podcasts) .


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Resources from the episode


This week’s Bible spotlight is adapted from Becoming God’s Family: Why the Church Still Matters (www.ivpress.com/becoming-God-s-family) by Carmen Joy Imes


This week’s discipleship nugget is adapted from Spiritual Practices in Community: Drawing Groups into the Heart of God (www.ivpress.com/spiritual-practices-in-community) by Diana Shiflett


This week’s spiritual practice is adapted from Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us (www.ivpress.com/spiritual-disciplines-handbook) by Adele Ahlberg Calhoun.






Credits


✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com (www.ivpress.com/) and use the code IVPWHP for 40% off and free US shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.


✅ Producers: Kaitlin Borek, Abby Lee, Karen Savella Stallard, and Travis Albritton


✅ Assistant Producer: Christine Pelliccio Melo


✅ Hosts: Alex Blount and Helen Lee


✅ Narrators: Kaitlin Borek, Jack Reece, and Karen Savella Stallard


✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts (honestpodcasts.com/)


✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne


✅ Podcast Art: Amy Cerra


✅ Theme Song: “Elegant Flight” by Sounds Like Sanders and “Birdhouse” by EVOE


Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the hosts/authors featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.