Sermon (16-Jan): "Kingdom Connections 1 Peter 2:4-5

Scripture:

4 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.

Prayer:

“Lord, give us a vision for fellowship that honors you. Give us the courage to grow and thrive in our relationships with others.”

Big Idea:

We were made for connection and relationship

Introduction:

- To know and be known…we’ve talked about it for the past few weeks

- As relational beings, at our core, that’s two of our deepest needs

- No matter how challenging, exciting, low or high—life-giving relationships are what God designed us for

- Fellowship is a vital part of our makeup

- Throughout the early church and even back to Jesus with His disciples,

- The communal nature of our faith has stood out…and it was in no means an accident

- It’s the very way that God intended it to be

- This quote is a little lengthy but I think it points to what we’re going to talk about today:

- Theologian and author J.I. Packer says,

“The Greek word for fellowship comes from a root meaning common or shared. So fellowship means common participation in something either by giving what you have to the other person or receiving what he or she has. Give and take is the essence of fellowship, and give and take must be the way of fellowship in the common life of the body of Christ.

Christian fellowship is two-dimensional, and it has to be vertical before it can be horizontal. We must know the reality of fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ before we can know the reality of fellowship with each other in our common relationship to God (1 John 1:3). The person who is not in fellowship with the Father and the Son is no Christian at all, and so cannot share with Christians the realities of their fellowship. ”

- When you hear the word fellowship today, you almost immediately think of food and eating

- Yet, that’s only one connotation of the word

- What Packer talks about is mutual sharing—a give and take relationship—where it is a common happening

- I think back to the times pre-COVID where churches sat around and did life together

- Families came to know families

- I think of one church in particular where just about each family brought an entrée or dish and right after church we sat and talked

- That was one of the most communal churches we were a part of

-By most church standards, it was small

- On most Sundays between 30 to 50 in service

- But it was that same church allowed me the opportunity to learn “ministerial/pastoral-ship” firsthand

- From willingly cleaning the bathrooms before service to one on one to discipleship to ministering behind the podium on Sundays,

- I was able to understand ministry on another level

- Really, that’s what ministry is about…engaging horizontally with others what we experience vertically with God

- Life is not just about me and God, God and me

- God designed us for relationship and connection

- A couple of weeks ago, I started off explaining how we are fully known, loved and redeemed by God

- Then, we transitioned to that truth that God has unlimited knowledge of the world and us so He knows what’s best for us

- We are wonderfully made with a divine purpose and God’s calling on our life

- So far, all this means, that we have been focusing on that vertical nature between us and God

- But, to be better together and better all around,

- We have to focus on the horizontal nature to focus on community and fellowship with others

- It has to be about building and extending those Kingdom Connections

- What we read earlier, 1 Peter 2:4-5 covers the vertical and horizontal of our divine purpose and calling

- And, for the apostle Peter, it has to begin first with God as the living Stone

- Until we address the vertical with God, our horizontal relationship won’t make much sense

- Relationships, in general, require patience, effort, time, intentionality

- Then, to add an un-spiritual element to it, complicates it even more so

- The living Stone Himself helps to build us individually as stones

- Then, we can be built into a spiritual house

- To me, there’s no better depiction of that spiritual house, the chapel/church, to be a holy priesthood

- Each time we gather and fellowship is sacred in a sense

- We are being built up with divine intention and direction

- It’s by God’s design in the hands of Jesus Christ

- He is the One through whom the whole of Christianity flows

- That being said, we’re going to talk about:

1 – Built by the Master

2 – Trusting God

3 – Trusting Others

Message:

1 – Built by the Master

Matt 16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

- Sometimes we may forget but Jesus promised, “I will build my church.”

- I wonder what the first disciples thought when he mentioned the church (Greek word ekklesia)

- This is the first time that Jesus mentions it

- I believe that he was setting a precedent for what we are experiencing even today

- The church was meant as the

“people called out from the world and to God, the outcome being the Church (the mystical body of Christ) – i.e. the universal (total) body of believers whom God calls out from the world and into His eternal kingdom.”

- In short, the church belongs to God

- Christ is continually building His church today—out of the world and into faith

- Imagine Peter being the first to hear Jesus’ proclamation

- We, each of us, were meant for something bigger, greater than ourselves

- Peter knew that God was doing something special that would change the world

- He may not have had all the information

- Yet, he knew that when it comes to Jesus, you can never underestimate the impact

- Keep in mind, he spent day after day, year after year—three years plus with Christ

- He wasn’t just hanging out

- He was being discipled, learning the insights of the kingdom and a bit of how Christ thought and believed

- I imagine he hung on every word that Christ uttered

- I know how I feel when Christ is speaking truth to me through His word

- The disciples must have felt similar

- The Word of God speaking the Word of God

- You’re hearing firsthand that Christ will build His church, a spiritual house

- What’s even better is that the very gates of hell could not overcome what He was/is doing

- Today, thousands of years later, this same God knows and loves you

- And, offered to save you

- Then, He is willing to put you in the right environment to mature and fellowship with other “living stones”

- No matter how complicated the other “living stones,”

- The idea is that we are working together to build God’s church

- And, just like any family, there’s bound to be disagreements—or miscommunications

- There may be times that we wonder where we are at—this particular church or ministry—and it seems strange

-Yet, it may be the best situation for the Master Builder to mold you and grow you

- Only He knows for sure why we are where we are

Transition: Yet, maybe it’s time that we trust where He has placed us in the “spiritual house”

2 – Trusting God

- Some of us know the story of the disciple Thomas

- Some call him doubting Thomas from John 20

- He’s the same one who after Jesus appeared to the disciples aside from Him

- Thomas didn’t believe it and remarked that famous line (Jn 20:25),

“Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

- Lo, and behold, about a week later Jesus shows up and Thomas is in the room

- Locked door and all, Jesus appears

- Jesus offers Thomas the chance to see for himself,

“Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

- Jesus doesn’t stop there, here’s one huge takeaway point; He says (Jn 20:27),

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed...Stop doubting and believe.

- This is one verse that has stayed with me throughout the years

- All of us here are blessed to have the opportunity to believe what has been written

- I think of the times where I would have loved to be there with the disciples

- Getting agitated with Peter and being a little suspect about Judas

- Yet, fast forward to our day, to believe yet not see steps us into faith from a different angle

- We’ll never have the same luxury that the disciples had nor will they have our opportunity

- We have the written Word of God and can visualize that era in a way specific to our time

- Now, it’s about taking the Bible and believing and building His church in His way

- He’s chosen to use each of us in different ways

- No one has been left out of the process;

- He’s decided and yearns to use us

- It’s all part of His plan and a process

- Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither has or will the church be built in a day

- Being that each person has their part in that process, it’s our responsibility and privilege to trust Him

- No one’s part is too big or too small

- To those that are builders, Jesus has engineered it so there are no leftover parts

- Jesus knows exactly what He’s getting into

- He knows all of us more intimately and personally than anyone else

- He knows the plan, and he’s included us in the process

- I believe that when we grow and trust our vertical relationship with God

TRANSITION: In turn, if we allow it, we can learn to trust each other and our horizontal relationships

3 – Trusting Others

- The old African proverb states great wisdom,

“If you want to go fast; go alone. If you want to go far; go together.”

- No doubt, each of us have had our fair share of disappointments with people

- Sometimes our nature is to be suspicious of others

- We’ve been hurt, lied to and in some cases abused by others

- It can be even painful mentally or emotionally

- For some, they would rather live life on their own than risk further pain and suffering in a relationship

- Yet, dating back to the beginning of creation, we were designed to thrive in fellowship with others

- On the inside, we thrive to know and be known

- In spite of what’s prevalent today,

- No one is an island to themselves

- We can cut ourselves off from others and live a safe, stale life

- It may indeed be simpler and the way of the world

- But we are called to live the Jesus way

- Think a second of the extent that Christ went on our behalf…

- Personally, so that we would have a way back to God…yes,

- But, collectively, the church wouldn’t exist outside of His sacrifice

- As tempting as it may be to go our own way,

- We were never called to go faster

- We’re called to go further

- Christ’s commission was that we go to the ends of the earth—

- To proclaim and preach, to worship and pray, to participate in the plan of the master to build His church

- How can we better the journey? Trust God and each other

Closing:

- As I close, going back to what I read earlier from J.I. Packer, in part he said,

“fellowship means common participation in something either by giving what you have to the other person or receiving what he or she has.”

- Once we believe in Christ and what He has done, the most common thing that we have is Christ

- Whether we accept it or not, we are gathered here today because of Him

- If He is the One who we share in common, if we allow Him…

- He can be the focus that truly unites us

- Maybe we need to forgive someone…or be forgiven

- We may need to give ourselves in service and ministry, or

- On the other side, we may need to receive service or ministry from someone else

- Where do you find yourself today?

- And, even further, what can you do to connect or reconnect with your brother and sister in Christ?

- Our focus is to foster relationships and establish kingdom connections

- We’re not a clique or a social club; we’re the body of Christ

- His plan all along is to build His church

- The plan was not just to have that one on one relationship

- While that’s good on one front—the vertical—

- His whole hearted ambition is for the vertical to influence the horizontal

- It’s not unattainable but it will take effort on our part

- It’s what you and I were made for

- So trust Him and the community He has you in

- Seek relationship and fellowship as the plan of the Master Builder

- Let’s close in prayer

Closing Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I ask you to forgive me for all of my sins known and unknown, I renounce them all. Lord Jesus, come into my heart. I receive you now as Lord and Savior of my life. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He died for me and arose and sits at the right hand of God praying for me, interceding for me. Lord Jesus, I give you everything. I thank you for saving me, delivering me and setting me free, in Jesus’ name!