Every Stone, A Story

Intro - Thanksgiving is Hard

Years ago, I was working to memorize some verses from Philippians 4

Philippians 4:6–7 “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Great practical words that many of us would benefit from memorizing

But I found I kept missing one last phrase - “with thanksgiving”

Don’t know why… I just kept skipping that phrase every time I rehearsed the passage

I kept saying “but in everything by prayer and supplication let your requests be known to God”

I really struggled with those two words - “with thanksgiving”

And yet, how insightful is that into our shared experience as humans

We are forgetful people

We forget what we had for breakfast

But even more, we forget to be people “with thanksgiving”

How do I know?

Because my guess is many of you go around the table on Thanksgiving day and share something you are thankful for

And my even more, my guess is that many of you struggle to come up with something to say, something you are thankful for

My hope is to begin a new tradition here at New Creation Church: one where we intentionally rememeber and give thanks for God’s faithfulness to us

To help frame this, let’s look at Joshua 4, verses 1-10

Scripture Reading: Joshua 4:1-10

Joshua 4:1–10 ESV

When all the nation had finished passing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, “Take twelve men from the people, from each tribe a man, and command them, saying, ‘Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.’ ” Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.” And the people of Israel did just as Joshua commanded and took up twelve stones out of the midst of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, just as the Lord told Joshua. And they carried them over with them to the place where they lodged and laid them down there. And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people passed over in haste.

Pray

Context

We are totally picking up in the middle of the story here

Let give a little background

Hundreds of years before, God made a promise to a guy named Abraham that he - God - would give Abraham’s descendants this particular land to live in

It is what we often refer to as “the Promised Land”

But here is Israel, Abraham’s descendants, about the enter the Promised Land

After generations in slavery in Egypt

After the plagues and a daring escape from Egypt

After 40 years of wandering in the desert

And after their longtime leader, Moses, died

They are about to enter the Promised Land

One last step - cross the Jordan!

Stones of Remembrance

With that, let us drill in on this moment

Here they are, the whole of Israel crossed through, when God gives Joshua instructions

Take 12 men - one from each of the tribes of Israel - out into the middle of the Jordan

Each one is to pick a stone - and massive stones at that since they had carry them on their shoulders!

Carry those stones out of the middle of the Jordan, onto the shore, and make a memorial

For generations, when children would ask what it meant, their parents were to testify to God’s faithfulness - to his promises, his provision, his protection, and his blessing

A visible sign to remind the people of what is true, even when they couldn’t see it or started to forget: God is faithful

For every stone, a story

Imagine the stories passed down over generations

“See that big one with the red spot - that’s the one your great-grandfather picked out. He told me when I was little that the red spot reminded him of the plague of blood in Egypt when he was a little boy.”

“Oh that one was picked by one of the leaders of our tribe because the shininess reminded him that even when everything in life seemed hard, the light of God would shine through and protect us as his people.”

Every stone told a story of family, of protection, of hope… but most of all, of God’s faithfulness to his promises

These stones told the story of God leading his people safely into the Promised Land!

Transition - Set up the whole concept

God called his people to place those stones as a memorial forever

And why? Because they, like us, were pretty forgetful

They forgot about their circumstances and they forgot about the character of God!

They would look on those stones and remember that God is faithful

And that is what we want to do today

We want to stop and remember

And my hope is that this becomes the first of an annual time where we stop and remember

And that with every stone, there is a story of God’s faithfulness

This is more than just things we are thankful for

It is a memorial of God’s faithfulness, his kindness, his provision, his comfort, his nearness to us

I am going to start here this morning and we will pick up at the dinner tonight with an invitation to all of you to participate

With each story of God’s faithfulness, we will put a stone in the jar

One core aspect of our strategy is celebrate

Every stone we set today celebrates God’s faithfulness and gives us a visible reminder to look back on tomorrow

My Stones

So here are the stories I want to remember of God’s faithfulness in 2025

Kim and my family

God called Kim and I… and our family… to take a step of faith… to risky obedience

Leaving the relative stability of an established church to plant a new church was a vocational decision for me, but came with many implication - some foreseen and some unforeseen - upon my family and I am so grateful for each of them

St. Margaret’s and their hospitality

God has blessed us tremendously as a young church plant with access to this facility

Many, maybe most, church plants are portable churches with extensive setup and tear down each week - and I’m grateful that is not us

The provision of God for us was through the hospitality of the congregation that meets here

They even moved their service time to allow us to meet in the morning

That was very gracious of them

Quick aside: Today is St. Margaret’s day - though I still don’t really know much about who St. Margaret was!

Covenant Life

We could not be here without the generous support of Covenant Life Church

It was their sacrifice that enables us to go on this wild adventure of starting a new church

Each of you

Speaking of going on this wild adventure, I am grateful to God for each of you

It is a risk signing on to a new church

It’s way more comfortable to stay in an existing church

But we are doing this because we believe it is part of God’s plan to push back the gates of darkness and draw new people into the kingdom of God

Worth the risk? Yes. But it is a risk

And I am grateful for each of you for joining in!

Micah received for the Lord’s Supper

Here is a super fun - and super personal - one

Several months ago Micah was examined by elders and approved for the Lord’s Supper

He gave a credible testimony of his faith in Jesus and became the first one in our new church to be received for the Lord’s Supper

But this one will be a little different

Instead of a rock, I am going to put this coin

These are custom coins we had designed with the church’s logo on one side and the bread and cup on the other side

Back at the point of the Reformation, when someone was examined and approved for the Lord’s Supper, the elders would give a coin - a token - that would be shown when the Lord’s Supper was celebrated as evidence that the person had been approved to partake

Now, we are not going to do that - instead you mostly hear me use language like “If you have not trusted in Christ for salvation, please don’t eat this meal”

But it did spur an idea for a gift we could give when someone is approved for the Lord’s Supper to celebrate the moment and help the person remember

So this morning, Micah, here is one for you

And I’m going to place one in the jar

Leader’s Collective

Some of you may know, but for the last about 14 months, I have been meeting every 7-8 weeks with a group of other guys from around the country that are also planting churches

I am so grateful for their friendship, their partnership in the gospel, the gift that they have been to me, and hopefully I to them

And Josh, one of the guys in the group, told me that I had to say here that they are grateful for me too!

Support from so many of you during what has been the hardest year of our lives

Our family has been through the ringer over the past year

In one of the first things I wrote as I dreamed about what our new church could be, I wrote that we desire to be an inter-dependent community.

Here is what I wrote:

“We need one another. In pouring his saving grace upon us and indwelling us with the Holy Spirit, we are called to be part of the body of Christ for edification, encouragement, and support. We believe spiritual formation happens best in the context of relationships. We also believe that it is a privilege to be strong when another is weak and to have others be strong for us and hold us up when we are weak or hurting until that day when there will be no more tears or suffering forever in the New Creation.”

Never did I imagine that I was going to be the weakest or most hurting in need of others to hold me up

But you - both individually and as a group - have been strong for us

I have experienced the strength of the Lord through you

Clearview and their care for Charis

Having my daughter on the other side of the country is so hard

It’s not good and it’s not right the trauma she has experienced

And it’s not good and it’s not right that our family has been pulled apart

But I am grateful for God providing a place that would love her and invite her to heal of that pain

And we are seeing that growth

Those who have faith when I don’t

God has provided at each step in the journey of starting this church

But he has never provided too far in advance

When the opportunity came up to move to mornings, I was one of the most resistant, in large part because of not having a long term plan for worship

We took the step because so many around me were saying now is the time

And we have seen God provide, one week at a time, but faithfully

It has grown my faith and I am grateful for those who had faith when I didn’t

Freedom to experiment

This is a more personal one

But one of the most fun parts of planting this church has been the opportunity and freedom to experiment in my style, especially in my preaching

I have tried some new things, I have grown as a preacher

This wouldn’t have happened if I had not stepped out into this venture

Joyful moments of light in the dark

For as hard as this year has been, I don’t want to forget the kindness of God and how I have experienced it

Road trip to Covenant College with Jeremiah and going to the Weird Al concert with him

Coaching Micah on the baseball field

Celebrating Rachel and all her excitement at becoming a teenager

Even last weekend out with Charis for her birthday and going to the John Crist comedy show with her

In the darkest moments, it’s easy to just ignore or write off the light moments

But I don’t want to, because they are God’s kindness

Transition

And I have one more to share

But before I do, I want to extend an invitation

How have you experienced God being faithful, kind, and present to you in the past year?

Before you come to the dinner tonight, consider that question and come ready to add your own stone to the jar

The Goodness of Jesus

The last story I want to remember from this year is the goodness of Jesus

Early in the year, and some of you may have heard me say this, I was broken

I was living in John 6 where so many had turned away from following Jesus

Jesus turns to Peter and the disciples and asks if they want to leave as well

Peter’s reply - and we give Peter a hard time for being a knucklehead - and mostly because he does some really knuckleheaded things in the Bible - but this time he gets it right

“Jesus, where else are we going to go? You alone have the words of life”

That has been my prayer this whole year

“Jesus, you better be as good as you say you are. And you better be as kind as you say you are. And you better be as gentle as you say you are. And you better be as sovereign as you say you are. And you better be as strong as you say you are. Because if you are not all those things, I’ve got nothing left.”

At each moment, God has shown me that he is all of those things

One song that we have sung over the last couple of months is “The Goodness of Jesus”

Chorus:

Oh the goodness, the goodness of Jesus Satisfied, He is all that I need May it be, come what may, that I rest all my days In the goodness of Jesus

Third verse:

Come and find your hope now in Jesus He is all He said He would be Grace is overflowing from the Saviour's heart Rest here in His wondrous peace

Jesus is exactly who he says he is

He is good and kind and gentle and sovereign and strong

Conclusion

To close, let’s return to the lesson of Joshua 4

God commanded the Israelites to build that memorial forever as a reminder: of God’s character and God’s work

Precisely because we tend to forget

The Israelites grumbled in the wilderness and talked about going back to Egypt, forgetting that they were slaves there until God saved them!

The Israelites complained about being hungry, forgetting that God has provided sky food for them to eat!

The Israelites griped about not having anything to drink, forgetting God has made water come from a rock to quench their thirst… twice!

And we, too much like the Israelites, forget what God has done for us

We forget that we were slaves… not to Pharaoh in Egypt… but to sin until Jesus died for us

We forget that we are loved… searching in so many places for affirmation… when God has called us his very own children

We forget that God has promised a land and home to us as well

Our stones may not be from the middle of the Jordan and may not be so big that we have to carry them on our shoulders

But each stone in this jar is an invitation to remember

To remember God’s character and God’s work!

For it is the same God who delivered Israel from slavery to Egypt and brought them victoriously into the Promised Land who, through the death of Jesus, delivers us from our slavery to sin

And it is the same God who, when he comes again at the New Creation, will bring us victoriously into the Promised Land of the his own presence forever

Until then, we add these stones so that when we look on them, we are to remember that every stone tells a story of God’s faithfulness

Because even when we forget, he remembers

Pray