The House That Grace Built

Intro

We often ask God to ‘fix’ things—but what if He’s actually building something bigger through us?

You and I are not just living our lives—we’re part of something God is building

But if we are honest, that sounds nice, but how do we actually grasp and understand that incredible truth?

Every one of us is under construction—unfinished, but deeply loved.

The question is: what’s being built, and who’s doing the building?

There is that old joke that in IL we have two seasons, winter and construction season!

It seems that there is a lot of construction going on around us, more than I’ve seen in a while!

Over across the street from Mitsuwa there is a new fancy apartment building going up

Over on Lake Cook and Quintin there is another building going up

Down by my parents, they are building a Starbucks, in a key real estate spot, next to the Social Security Office

At least you have a better chance of not falling asleep while you wait forever in line now

What is interesting about these sites, is that while the building and foundation are fenced off, you will often times know at least one of two things

First, who the builder is, those sites are free advertising signs for the company, particularly if you like the work done, and are impressed by the final outcome

Second, you will oft see a sign, saying what is coming there, a Starbucks, Chick-fil-a, a high rise condo, etc

The hard part is how can we judge if a building is effective or not, if a builder knows what they are doing?

Well, we have to revisit that site periodically, and see what has changed, and depending on the length of time, sometimes the progress is astounding!

We think, this was a pile of dirt and bricks and some concrete like 3 weeks ago, and now there’s an entire building up, fully windowed, and finished!

Sometimes, our lives feel like that don’t they, like you have the building materials, you know where they go

God, I know I have my bricks for the outside wall that will go around the bottom half of the wall, and the dirt I know I need to help level everything and do correct drainage, and maybe even the I beams to help support the building, but I don’t know where to start!

Or to take it to an easier way, think of trying to do a large puzzle or lego set without directions or the picture to help you out

Thankfully, those directions come with nearly everything in existence that we make, digital cad files, but for buildings we think of Blueprints!

With blueprints, even the most inexperienced builder (at least with the right skillsets) can take a pile of dirt, bricks, and I beams, add a little concrete and help bring about the building envisioned by the architect!

As we turn into the second chapter of 1 Peter this week, we are going to something that should not be surprising to us, we are works in progress

Yet, we are not a solo project

As much as you might hate to hear it, the church is a group project! (And I hate group projects!!!!!)

We, together, all of us, has a part to play, and we are being built together, into something far greater than simple addition, there is an exponential effect as we build up together

We might start as struggling broken people, but God puts broken people together to bring about a group called the church, that does more than anyone or thing could do alone

We might look like a mess of broken and hypocritical people to the world, and sometimes we are, but we are far more than that

God sees his temple, his home, he sees his gospel in motion among the members, and spilling out into the streets to our friends and families

Ultimately, what allows this symbiotic, exponential effect is not anything we do of our own accord, but it what we do when we come and lay our lives on the foundation, or cornerstone of Christ

He is our sure foundation, and the one that redeems our brokenness into something that far outshines the individual stones we bring as ourselves

So, the question is—are we rooted deep, rising together, upon the shared foundation of Christ, or are we still trying to build our lives apart from His plan?

Today, Peter’s going to show us how God’s grace roots us, grows us, builds us, and sends us as living stones in His story.

Many times we inadvertantly end up using subpar materials, instead of what God desires us to do

Things like self-reliance, isolation, performance, perfectionism

So Peter continues to remind us what a life, founded on Jesus looks like, as well as what we still will struggle with!

We are still messes, even with Jesus, but we can at least be honest and ask Jesus to help us with them, and have other church members help us too

So here is the breakdown that we will look at today

Rooted in Christ - We Grow Strong

Built by Grace - We Rise Together

We are Living Stones, Alive in God’s Story - Bearing His Fruit Wherever We Go

So to put that in a mantra for you to remember

ROOTED IN CHRIST, BUILT BY GRACE, LIVING TO BEAR FRUIT

Rooted In Christ- We Grow Strong (v.1-5)

When something is rooted, it means the thing that you wrap around to survive storms, and the thing that you derive your nutrients from

It also means we can intake good or bad nutrients!

If you are pulling from a poisoned water hole, you will also be poisoned!

So this is why Peter says

Get rid of what poisons and weakens us

Malice

Evil Ill-Will towards someone, that is you want to hurt others or wish harm upon them! It stems from built up resentment and bitterness.

This is why Jesus calls us to pray for those who hurt us, not because we will be best friends, but because they are also bewitched by Satan

Deceit

Hiding the truth, twisting of the truth, being dishonest in order to gain something

This is particularly when you are trying to avoid consequences, or gain something that you know you would not get if you were honest

This is something that presses our integrity, to gain worldly rewards and promotions at the cost of our honesty

Hypocrisy

Pretending to be someone you’re not—acting like you’re good or godly on the outside while hiding sin or selfish motives inside.

This is the hard one, since we are all hypocrites, we all struggle with some sort of sin, and most people have a sin that is their vice their entire lives

Peter is not saying, ‘never slip up perfectionism’ here, but rather, challenging if you are striving to follow Jesus when the doors are closed

For instance, this is exposed when people become church leaders as pastors, or elders or deacons, and then they are finding out to have a moral failing like an affair, or they are stealing money from the church, etc

Ultimately, it’s a pretend faith, and there a numerous people that will use faith for their own ends, church politics, and to find their place by playing politics behind the mask of piety

It is why hypocrisy is hated by everything, even though we all do it in various degrees

It destroys our community, you say one thing, then do another and it destroys the trust, and love between members

It greatly hinders your ability to grow into a mature believer too, since you cannot correctly see and understand your own sin, so you don’t realize your need for Jesus

Peter wants these brothers and sisters from 2000 years ago, as well as us to be formed and rooted by Grace, don’t play church, let church be everything

Following Jesus without the church is like trying to drive your car with no tires, or steering wheel. Sure you might have the vehicle, you have the license, but will you actually get anywhere?

I don’t want us to miss this, these things are almost always interior to our minds, they are inward sins of the mind, not easily seen from the outside

Hypocrisy is not just about doing bad things, then acting like a good Christian when you are with your friends

Hypocrisy also looks like simply being ok with surface level ‘goodness’ and not being transformed by God’s grace

You can look morally good by society’s standards (kind, generous, “nice”), but still be disconnected from the gospel and the deeper heart change God calls for

You can show up to church, serve at church, give and tithe to the church, but if you don’t have genuine surrender, or dependence on Christ, it is hypocrisy

Envy

Wanting what others have and resenting them for it—whether it’s success, possessions, talents, or relationships.

You are envious that they have it, you don’t want them to have it!

Story of the new contract for Janitors/TA at Plainfield

Slander

Speaking harmful or false things about others behind their back—tearing down someone’s reputation with your words.

This is also closely related to Gossip, and so together they form an unholy alliance:

Gossip happens when you talk about someone behind their back to spread rumors, share info that isn’t yours to share, or fuel drama.

Slander takes it further—it’s gossip that intentionally damages their reputation by saying false or harmful things.

We need to be careful of our words, and our thoughts with others!

So if we are to avoid the poison that weakens and slowly kills us, what is the other option?

The opposite of poison would be nutrients, Peter says that is the pure milk of God’s word

Crave the word, to help grow up

I really like that term, crave!

What’s really interesting is that, that word can also be translated into envies!

It’s used when God is called a jealous God who envies us intensely

It is the idea of a spouse who is jealous and envious for the affection and attention of their spouse, a very good and holy thing!

So to crave the word of God, that is the revealed Scripture of God, the Bible, means that you long for it, you desire it with your being, you want it very much, you envy for knowing God more!

The poison attitudes we spoke of above, they come to us as natural as breathing, and getting rid of them is hard work, of surrendering to God

It’s simple, want to know God’s word, but man, when life gets busy, why is it always our spiritual disciplines that suffer first?

Why is it when work projects loom, the morning devotional is the first to take a hike?

Why is it when midterms, AP Tests, Finals, loom, it is our prayer life that evaporates?

Why is it when our children get older and they are doing more and more clubs, activities, so they are being driven all over, that Church is the thing that gets the boot first?

Yet, when we start to think this way, we think, oh when life settles down, when summer comes, or the next break comes, I will get back on track!

Yet, we never do, suddenly the opposite is true, we are on break, or vacation, and our devotional, prayer, spiritual life remains the same, neglected

I do not say this out of condemnation, but out of my own personal experience

Moody Experience of Finals and Break and Expectations of Moody Undergrad

Peter says, this is not just important, but it is the primary way you will grow up to be a mature Christian!

If you are not happy with where you are in your walk with God, how dusty in your Bible? Or has your Bible app been offloaded from your phone since it’s been not used in so long?

Yet, it is not guilt nor shame that drive you to your Bible, it is God’s kindness

If you realize who Jesus is, the incredible things he has done in your life, then it becomes much easier to seek him and know him!

It takes work, it takes discipline, and it might even take dying to things you want to do immediately!

Story of growing devotional discipline and how my day feels off, but then when I see a new album drop, or get on a YT binge or Manga binge, it is hard for me to want to do Scripture reading at that point,

But I have to do it, otherwise I feel myself start to move off of Jesus

What should drive us is not, ‘Good Christian do ______’, but rather, I want to know and love Jesus more deeply, so therefore I want to know more about him

If we use our section heading here,

Strength doesn’t come from trying harder- it comes from digging deeper into Jesus

Trees don’t try to grow their root system to be able to withstand storms or difficulty, they simply chase the water

Christ is the Living Stone, rejected by men but chosen by God, we are also living stones

Peter wants us to know that we will be rejected by men, since Jesus was as well!

He was a rejected cornerstone, that is foundation stone, but chosen by God!

So Jesus then says we are the bricks that build up God’s temple, we are living stones!

We are built together so we can do priestly things, like offer sacrifices and bring offerings to God

So part of why we pursue Christ and his word, is what it brings us

Culture will bring about those things above, when life gets hard, the thin varnish of cultural goodness is easily removed showing what lies beneath

People transformed by faith have something far deeper that drives them, and has changed them

So what we do is we strive to honor God, and a life of worship is what we offer

How are we building up and edifying our brothers and sisters in the church, how are we showing Jesus’ way to a culture that is opposed to him

So we see that there is a lot that drags us away from Jesus, but when we seek and desire him, our roots grow deep, and that allows us to rise together as the church, God’s building and people

But it is not by our own ability that this is done, it is not try hard, but it is based on the grace God has given to us!

Built By Grace- We Rise Together (v.6-8)

Peter then shows that this whole thing he has been saying is not his own thing, but what God has been doing and quotes from several places in the OT that show that

These verses shows that Jesus is the foundation, the cornerstone

Whoever trusts in Him will never be put to shame

For believers, He is precious

For others, Jesus is a stumbling stone

This is the hard thing for us to reconcile, that Jesus is unacceptable for many for various reasons

Yet for us, we can’t imagine a world without him

Even for those that were once Christian, oft around Christmas they will say things like I miss Jesus! Well come home then!

Some get held up over the part ‘they were destined to do’, as if that means they are irredeemable, but yet we know that God wants all to be saved elsewhere

However that works itself out with God and judgement, the point is we don’t know, so we plead for everyone to come to Jesus, and repent, whether it’s the first time, or a returning prodigal

But in reality, we all have to return to Jesus when we have our sin problems, since we have to return to Jesus to confess our sins

When we look at these things, we see it is God’s grace helping us to be able to humble ourselves to follow Jesus!

Grace has gathered us, is building us

Grace has made us into living stones, built into the house of God, his temple

Grace has made us a family, not just a bunch of random stones put together, but the church

And not just the church here at New Light, but the Church at Willow Creek, Harvest, CCUC, CCFC, Three Rivers, Grace Bible, Gospel City, and every other Jesus proclaiming, gospel loving church since the beginning of the church at Pentecost

So our foundation is being rooted and seeking after Christ we grow strong

Yet we are not doing that in a try hard way, but a deepening our relationship

We see here, that it is not just us, but it is all of us, the church

God’s grace lifts us from scattered stones into a sacred assembly, His Church!

We Are Living Stones, Alive in God’s Story- Bearing His Fruit Wherever We Go (v.9-10)

Yet, we are built by grace, rooted in Jesus, but we are not static, we are alive and living stone!

Peter says that since we are alive it makes us into some incredible things!

We are a chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation, God’s special possession

You are a part of a living unfolding story of redemption

We are not static stones, we are alive active participants

Peter says all these crazy things are put forth as who we are in Christ so we might glory and proclaim the virtues of God!

Called to proclaim the excellencies of Him who brought you from darkness to light

Once not a people, now the people of God.

Once no mercy, now receiving mercy

So these people who were broadly nothing of note in the Roman Empire, and if we are honest, most of us are nothing to note too

We are not crazy famous, we are not that important to our companies, our schools, and maybe you are even the black sheep of the family

God doesn’t care about that, he takes the lowest of us, the ones society says are worthless from felons, to those who would commit treason, to terrorist, and even the homeless, the dropouts, the teen mothers, etc

God says he makes us into incredible people because we are made such at the incredible price of Jesus’ blood, and by the incredible power of the God of the universe

He’s making us into a chosen people- God’s people

He’s making us into His priest, not just priest, that is those who can intercede with man and God, but royal priest, of the King of the Universe!

He’s making us a holy nation- So we are not only God’s people and priest, but we will and are his nation, we are under the sovereign reign of the King of the Universe: Jesus

We don’t just have a new identity, we are part of God’s larger rescue plan

We are working out the kingdom of God, and that means we are also fighting against the enemies of our Lord, Satan’s kingdom, that is this entire world around us

So we have to remember we are not in this alone, nor where we meant to be

We are living stones that are built into the church, and as we live our lives, we show and are to bear the fruit of walking with God everywhere we go!

We will see next week what that really looks like to be a living holy stone of God in a broken sinful world, but you have to know the idea first!!!

Application

Because we are rooted in Christ, we are called to grow strong by daily depending on Him, not just in crisis but in every season.

Since we are built by grace, we don’t grow alone—we rise together as a community shaped by God’s love. And as living stones in God’s ongoing story, we are designed to bear His fruit wherever life takes us.

This means:

Stay connected to Jesus daily, drawing strength from Him like roots from soil.

From reading, listening, studying Scripture, it is where you learn who God is, how God works, and how to live your life in a way that pleases God

Live intentionally within the church, building up others as part of God’s house

This means we have to swallow and surrender our pride, to love others even when they hurt us is hard, but that is what we are called to as brothers and sisters in God’s house

Be God’s representative in the world, showing His goodness and kindness through your actions and words.

Just as we have experienced God’s kindness, and that moves us, so we should be showing that to the world ( in fact it’s what Peter says in v. 11, we should have amazing conduct among the pagans!)

Remember you are part of something bigger—you are not scattered stones; you are part of a house of hope that God is building, brick by brick, life by life.

Life is hard, and it’s easy to lose purpose, but Christ gives us purpose and life!

He’s working as the master architect, building our lives and the church!

Wherever you go this week—work, school, neighborhood—live as someone planted in God’s story, rising by grace, bearing fruit for His glory.

Stay Rooted

Rise Together

Bear God’s Story Wherever You Go!