Read 1 Peter 2:4-10.

Scripture declares, “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic” (Isaiah 28:16). Jesus is that cornerstone—the foundation upon which the Church is built. In the ancient world, the cornerstone determined the strength, size, shape, cohesion, and symmetry of a building. If the cornerstone was wrong, sooner or later the building would collapse. That’s because every stone used to build would be laid in relationship to the cornerstone. That’s where you and I come in.

Peter described Christ as “the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—” (1 Peter 2:4). Then he goes on to say something remarkable: You who have come to Christ—you, too, are living stones (see v. 5). God is building a spiritual house with us, His living stones, so that we may bear witness to the perfection and power of the foundation.

Now, you may think you can be a Christian apart from the Church—that you gave yourself to Jesus and that’s enough. But consider: How can you be a fulfilled Christian when you are in disobedience? What is a brick or stone made for? Building. That’s what Peter is saying. If you are a rolling stone Christian, you are not fulfilling God’s purpose for your life. It is by being built in the Church that you become effective for God’s Kingdom.

When the Church gathers to live out the Gospel as a holy, loving, grace-abounding community, non-believers will fall on their faces and declare with us, “Jesus is Lord!” (see 1 Corinthians 14). You see, we are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood (see 1 Peter 2:5), bearing witness to the Gospel of grace. But there’s more. Every person who receives Jesus as Savior and Lord immediately becomes a royal priest (see v. 9), meaning we are related to God by redemption and calling but also by adoption. If you grasp the magnificence of this calling and new birth into the royal family of God, you’ll never see yourself as average again. So may we live out this calling and experience true revival today.

Prayer: Father, forgive me for neglecting my role in Your Church. Use me in Your living temple for its strengthening and Your glory. I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.

“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” (1 Peter 2:5).

Learn more in Dr. Michael A. Youssef’s sermon I Belong, I Belong in Fellowship: LISTEN NOW

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