WHO WE ARE

When some think of the Church it can be instinctual to imagine a physical space - a structure built to house services, programs and ministries. While those elements are crucial to the health of the Church, these ideas aren’t “church.” The building plan that Jesus drew up to establish His Church and spread His Good News was and still is people. 

Our name comes from the Bible in 1 Peter 2:4-5.

”As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 

As we zoom in on some key phrases in these verses, we learn about the intentional “building” design for Jesus’ followers that contrasts what it had been before Jesus:

  1. Living Stone - Jesus is first called the living stone, and then we are called living stones. He is also previously referred to as the Cornerstone, which is essential to the foundation of a building.

  2. Being built into a Spiritual House - The Christian’s body is a “temple” as the Holy Spirit now dwells in us. 

  3. A holy priesthood - The believer is now considered his own priest before God. What was once reserved for Priests is now accessible for followers of Jesus. We do not need a mediator beyond Jesus because He took the penalty of our sin and triumphed over it through His death and resurrection. He is referred to as the great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16)

  4. Offering spiritual sacrifices - Because Jesus was the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sins, material sacrifices are replaced with spiritual sacrifices. Romans 12:1 says in view of what God did for us we are moved to offer our lives as living sacrifices. Those spiritual sacrifices are our prayers, praise, will, body, resources, time and abilities.

The emphasis of this passage is on multiple stones being built together to form the church, while God works in us and through us. A living stone on its own cannot amount to as much as it would being built together with others.

Jesus is the foundation upon whom we desire to be built as a church body, as families, and as individuals. He is immovable (Psalm 62:2); His word indestructible (Isaiah 40:8); and His character unchanging (Hebrew 13:8).

We place a strong value on community - evidenced by loving one another, growing in our relationship with God together, serving those within and outside our church and challenging each other to live our lives as a lighted city on a hill that can’t be hidden (Matthew 5:14). 

That is why we are Living Stones. No longer is God housed in a material temple, rather we are Living Stones, forming the Spiritual temple of God.

References:

https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-peter-2
https://www.gotquestions.org/spiritual-sacrifices