The Foundation of Every Christian Church

Introduction

Welcome

Announcements

2/15 Schedule

Prayer Requests

Last week we continued our Bible study through 1 Peter and saw how, in the local church, we submit to the Word of God and we are satisfied by the Word of God in 1 Peter 1:22-2:3. Believers have been born again through the enduring and living Word of God… as a result of this, we are to put off things like malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander and desire the Word so that we grow stronger in our walk with the Lord. It is impossible for a believer to grow deep roots apart from the Word of God. This doesn’t mean that believers become perfect or that there are perfect churches, that’s an impossibility because we’re all people and churches are full of people as well! But, a Godly church will stand out in a godless world and a church that is built upon the right foundation will endure while many that are built upon the sand of tradition and trends will give way one day or another. What we need is to ensure that we have built our lives on the solid foundation of God’s Word individually and then pan out and make sure that we have done the same as a church, if we get our foundation wrong, there will be lasting consequences.

Our staff is currently reading through a book by Mark Dever called 9 Marks of a Healthy Church. He points out how there is no such thing as a perfect church, but that there is such a thing as a healthy church! But, who and what defines health in a church?

Numbers

Hands raised

Giving

Staff Members

What truly defines health in a church?

Faithfulness to God’s Word

We aren’t called to be famous, we are called to be faithful. This is God’s will for each of us, and it’s God’s will for our church as well. To be faithful to His Word. We must be a Word-Centered Church because the Word of God is our authority and the Word of God changes lives. I’m excited starting on February 22nd, we’re going to spend 6 weeks on Sunday’s identifying “Habits of Healthy Churches” and when we start that series, I’ll preach about preaching. This might be the series that I’m the most excited about - we’ll hit topics like preaching, discipleship, evangelism, church discipline, pastors/elders, deacons, and the Gospel. Fundamentally, Healthy Churches are churches that preach the Word as 2 Timothy 4:2 commands. Mark Dever once shared, “If you get this one right, all the others will follow… If you get this one wrong, and get everything else right, it would be by accidents. Health is virtually assured when we rightly establish the priority of God’s Word.”

We are saved to make much of Jesus, not self. And whenever we live for Jesus, we rest in the results that Jesus provides. If Jesus chooses to use us and our church in a mighty way, praise God! But our priority isn’t fame, it’s faithfulness. It isn’t celebration, it’s Christlikeness. Sadly, so many have gotten this wrong and they get confused when things don’t work out the way they’d like. When they are opposed or feel like their fuel tank is running on fumes.

35% of self-professed born-again believers say that they are still searching for the meaning of life - which is the same percentage as non-Christians. This isn’t helpful nor is it healthy. This is why we need God’s Word, because God’s Word answers this question for us! Tonight, as we continue walking through 1 Peter, we have a short but packed passage. Let’s read 1 Peter 2:4-8.

1 Peter 2:4–8 CSB

4 As you come to him, a living stone—rejected by people but chosen and honored by God— 5 you yourselves, as living stones, a spiritual house, are being built to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 For it stands in Scripture: See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and honored cornerstone, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame. 7 So honor will come to you who believe; but for the unbelieving, The stone that the builders rejected— this one has become the cornerstone, 8 and A stone to stumble over, and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word; they were destined for this.

False Foundations for Fans

We see here that Jesus is the foundation. He is the living stone and the cornerstone. But we see a problem in this passage that is a recurring problem in 1 Peter… some people reject Jesus. Remember chapter 1 who this is written to: Those chosen, living as exiles. In other words, those who are loved by God and living as exiles in this world. This is our identity as Christians. We’re in this world, but we’re not of this world. We don’t always fit in with this world, and that is ok because it reminds us that this world isn’t our home. We’re just passing through! The reason why we don’t always fit in, is because many, many people reject Jesus.

Why have people rejected Jesus?

Don’t believe in the supernatural - naturalism / post-modernism worldview

Don’t want to repent and admit that they have done things that are wrong

Believe in parts of Jesus/Bible, but not that He was Savior of sinners

The problem with any worldview that rejects Christ is that it is based on a foundation other than God’s Word. Look at our text tonight. See what Peter says about these individuals. They reject the cornerstone and they stumble/trip over Christ. This isn’t a good position to be in! What does it mean, though?

What is the consequence of getting Jesus wrong?

John 14:6 CSB

6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Acts 4:11–12 CSB

11 This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”

There are 2 responses to these passages. The skeptic says, “How sad and close minded that there is just one way. That can’t be right. That’s not fair!” The Christian says, “How gracious for God to make a way when we don’t deserve for there to even be 1 way in the first place!” Do you see the difference?

There is no other way to be saved than through Jesus. So it is of utmost importance to get Jesus right. That’s why Peter says that Jesus is the cornerstone. You cannot have a solid foundation without the cornerstone - see Matthew 7 and Luke 6! For those who reject him, they do have a foundation. There are lots of worldviews and faiths out there that do reject Jesus. Think of some of these in Scripture. There were many Jewish people who rejected Jesus as the Messiah because they believed that the Messiah would be a warrior King to conquer the Romans and lead Israel back to freedom and independence. The Romans rejected Jesus as God because Jesus died on the cross, and they couldn’t make sense of this because only the worst of the worst were crucified on a cross. Lots of people doubted Jesus being the Messiah, and the cornerstone

1 Corinthians 1:22–23 CSB

22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles.

He is a stone that many have stumbled over. It is not that these people lack a foundation or a worldview, they have these things! It’s that they lack the cornerstone! And when you lack the cornerstone, your foundation will crumble.

Matthew 7:26–27 CSB

26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

These people do have a house. They have a life. They have views. They have beliefs. But they built their house on the sand… and eventually the sand collapses. This was true in Jesus’ day and it remains true today. CS Lewis’ “Liar, Lunatic, or Lord” expression is timely here because many today want to make a 4th category that says that Jesus is a Life Coach. Lots of folks want Jesus as a Life Coach who offers good advice, encourages us when we’re down, a coach that we can reject when we feel like it, a coach that doesn’t demand anything from us. Billions of people today are fans of Jesus because they see Jesus as a Life Coach - not as Lord. When my coach is good and when I’m winning, I like Jesus… but when things are hard, or when the Bible doesn’t line up with my feelings, suddenly I don’t like Jesus that much.

This is why this matters: How many churches do you believe are plateaued or declining in our country?

82%!

What is the natural question after this point? How can we stop this trend? Think about what people do with old buildings. Before coming to South Gate, I was the Lead Pastor at FBC Salem and that church was 180+ years old. We had 3 different buildings that had been attached in different ways over the years and whenever we got a lot of rain, we had one specific place that would always be a problem as water would come in. We didn’t know how it was getting in. We tried getting a better seal on the door. We tried to drain the water out better with new gutters. Apparently this had been a problem for decades! People were really good at treating the problem with bandaids and with a big enough bandaid, they could mask the problem. But eventually, you know this with a bandaid, the bandaid loses its stickiness. We’d try one thing, and it wouldn’t work, and in fact sometimes the problem only got worse. We had to actually identify where the leak was in order to know how to solve it and not simply dress it up.

Some people see rapidly declining church attendance numbers, baptism totals, and some people want to throw up a bandaid

Pack the pews with a professional production and call it an experience, not a service

People want entertainment, so let’s entertain people and give TED Talks of information instead of Spirit-led transformation

These are bandaids - they aren’t solutions. They might work for a season, but they won’t satisfy. Our calling is to be faithful, not famous.

We have to get to the heart of the problem, and the problem is that we have a culture that naturally breeds fans, not followers. Come and be entertained, until another place offers more entertainment and less conviction. Come and have this experience, until another place offers a more fun experience. What produces genuine, faithful followers? The Gospel! This is why 1 Peter 2:4-8 shows us that Jesus is the cornerstone. This is what this book is all about - and why it calls us to build our lives on the solid foundation of God’s Word because of the hope that we find in Jesus! He must be the center of our lives and the center of the life of our church.

Methods will change - but the message must not change!

What are some methods that you’ve seen change in church life?

Songs

Passing the offering plate

Firm Foundation for Followers

So, some people stumble over Jesus because they haven’t built their life foundation on Him. It’s built on self or something different, and this is a false foundation that won’t last. However, this isn’t the focus of this passage. The focus is positive! Remember, this is addressed to Christians. Christians, Peter says, are living stones who have come to the living stone which is called the Cornerstone. We are being built into a holy priesthood. We are never put to shame. The main thrust is positive and the reason it’s positive is because Jesus is our firm foundation.

What is the fruit of being connected to Christ (the root)?

Spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable and pleasing to God! See verse 5.

Who offered sacrifices in the Old Testament? The priests… but here in the New Testament, we see a shift. We see that we as God’s people are called to offer a sacrifice. That we are being built into a holy priesthood that offers sacrifices. Look at what Romans 12:1 says about how we do this

Romans 12:1 CSB

1 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship.

We can say it like this, once you are saved, you become a living stone. Ephesians 2 says that we were dead, but now because of Jesus, we are alive! And you aren’t raised to life to live the way that you think that you should, you are raised to life in order to do what God says is best because God knows what is best. We do everything for His glory, 1 Cor 10:31. We offer these sacrifices to God through Jesus Christ.

Today, every blood bought, born again believer has direct access to God anytime, anywhere through the finished work of Jesus! But notice the corporate language here. We’re being built into a house. This means that we’re a construction site, but we aren’t the one doing the work, this is God’s work in us and God doesn’t build us up in isolation, but with intention. Our faith is personal, but it isn’t private. We can’t be a living stone and not be connected to the house.

Hebrews 3:6 CSB

6 But Christ was faithful as a Son over his household. And we are that household if we hold on to our confidence and the hope in which we boast.

This is what Christians do. We hold on to our confidence and our hope. We persevere and we endure. This is a theme in Hebrews and it’s a theme in 1 Peter as well. What can make perseverance difficult as a Christian?

Discouragement

Feeling alone

Do you see why we need the Church? Left to my own, there are times when I might waver in my confidence. I might be unsure of why this is happening. This is when I need my brothers and sisters to remind me of the hope that I have and the confidence that I have in the finished work of Jesus.

Tonight, Braden is preaching one of my favorite passages down in the Rock with our students, Philippians 2:1-11. The end of that passage reminds us of something important for our discussion tonight. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan or a follower, eventually every knee will bow down to King Jesus. Either by faith or by force. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. This will happen because Jesus is the Cornerstone. He is the Savior. The Lord. The King of Kings. But, we have the ability to worship Him for this reality today. We have the opportunity to live a life that brings Him glory and honor and points others to Him now! We have access to Him because He is our Mediator. There is a fancy word for this called the Priesthood of the Believer. This is a core belief and we can define it like this:

“The doctrine of the priesthood of all believers states that all believers in Christ share in his priestly status; therefore, there is no special class of people who mediate the knowledge, presence, and forgiveness of Christ to the rest of believers, and all believers have the right and authority to read, interpret, and apply the teachings of Scripture.” You don’t have to come through a priest or pastor to come to Jesus. You don’t have to have someone else read the Bible for you. You can do those things yourself as a Christian whose foundation is built upon God’s Word! This is great news! But it can be taken for granted to the point that some people believe wrongly that because of the priesthood of the believer, they don’t need to be connected to a local church. That’s not Biblical as there are no lone ranger Christians in the New Testament. Remember, we’re living stones that are being built into a spiritual house. One stone isn’t the house - we’re connected to one another!

Believers were a part of local churches then and should be today as well. We see this in Hebrews 10 and Hebrews 13. We still gather together for worship and service and encouragement. Pastors still matter. Worship still matters. But you don’t have to come through another person for access to Jesus. Through the death of Jesus Christ and His mediation in heaven on our behalf, His blood speaks on our behalf and we have access to Him all the time.

So, as priests, we offer a sacrifice of praise, our lives, good works, prayer, faithfulness. Not in order to be saved, but because we are saved. Have you ever regretted living for Jesus?

A final positive note about those who have this firm foundation - look at verse 6, the one who believes in Jesus will never be put to shame. Again, think about this community of believers facing shame left and right - that’s all they ever knew! Persecution, suffering, shame, exile… yet, with Jesus there is no shame. There is no such thing as purposeless persecution. There is no such thing eternal suffering.

There is no neutrality towards Jesus. You either stumble over Him, or you build your life on Him.

While some still stumble over the cornerstone due to unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ, if you are saved today, you can rejoice that you are literally a new creation, a living stone, that has been saved for the purpose of serving Jesus and sharing His Gospel message far and wide. Our responsibility as individuals and as a church is to stand on the foundation of God’s Word. To do the things that Jesus calls us to do. To present ourselves as an acceptable sacrifice to God through Jesus.

How does this text encourage you to keep standing on God’s Word, even when some people reject this message?

Our responsibility isn’t to make converts or convince people of the truth. Our responsibility is to stand on the truth and share the truth and leave the rest with the Lord. Some will obey and be saved… others will disobey and be destroyed.