The Meaning of the Stones – 3

The Meaning of the Stones – 3

Subject – Our Cornerstone

By Rick Welborne

Joshua 4:1-7 (NKJV) ⁴  Then Joshua called the twelve men whom he had appointed from the children of Israel, one man from every tribe;
⁵  and Joshua said to them: "Cross over before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each one of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel,
⁶  that this may be a sign among you when your children ask in time to come, saying, 'What do these stones mean to you?'
⁷  Then you shall answer them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. And these stones shall be for a memorial to the children of Israel forever." 

--In the first sermon in this series I spoke about how God saved me, how He called me, and how He planted missions in my heart with such passion. 

--The second message I spoke about “possessing the land” and how God blessed us with our property, missions’ houses, and our House of Hope.

--In this message, my final message as lead pastor, I want to speak about our Cornerstone Christ Jesus, a royal priesthood, and living stones.

--The second night of our week of prayer Pastor Dominic challenged us to not just talk to God but to also learn to listen. Pastor Mark challenged us to hear what God had to say. Thus, this message.

1 Peter 2:4-6&9-10 (NIV)
⁴  As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men 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.
⁶  For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
⁹  But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
¹⁰  Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

1. Our Cornerstone – Christ Jesus.

--In this sermon, the most important thing I can share with you is that Jesus is our Cornerstone and He is the One Who has called us out of darkness into His wonderful light.

--Anything that has been accomplished through this church or ministry, all glory and honor goes to Jesus Christ our Living Stone and our Cornerstone.

1 Corinthians 10:31 (NLT2) ^31…whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

--All glory belongs to God because, as I have said many times, I didn’t know what I was doing back then and I still don’t know.

--I am not a contractor able to build this church, I was never a lead pastor before Life Church, I was never an accountant who could care about the finances. Without God I was hopeless.

--God taught me from the beginning that my calling was to be desperate for Him to show up and to do what only He could do.

--A pastor friend showed up here at the church and wanted to look at our facility. I gave Him a tour and showed him what God had done and continued to do.

--He said, “Rick, what is your secret? How could you build a building like this and pay it off in three years? How could you support so many missionaries? I know you are not that smart?”

--We were in the sanctuary so I said I will show you the secret to what God has accomplished here at Life Church. It is really very simple.

--I walked him to the front of the church and I knelt down at the altar and I prayed, “Lord, I am desperate for you to show up. Please come and do what only you can do.”

--The pastor said, it has to be more than that. I said no, that’s it. He wanted some kind of formula or program that would cause a church to grow quickly. I said, pray!

 John 15:14-16 (NKJV)
¹⁴  You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.
¹⁵  No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.
¹⁶  You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

2. A Royal Priesthood.

1 Peter 2:9-10 (NKJV)
⁹  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
¹⁰  who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

--When I was first elected as Lead Pastor here at Life Church I was praying and asking God for wisdom about leading the church and helping it grow.

--God spoke to me so clearly and showed me a pyramid that was upside down and said to me, this is how many churches are built.

--The pastor is at the point at the bottom and everything is built on him. It works for a little while but once the church gets to a certain size, the pastor collapses and so does the church. Start over.

--The Lord said I want you to build the church with the pyramid built the normal way. The broader you make the base, the higher you can go and the more you can grow.

--The pastor before was paid a certain amount of money and the Board told me I could choose my own salary from what I was making to where he was. Hmmmm!

--I told the Board that I wanted to keep my pay where it was, so I could hire more staff and build the base of the pyramid broader. Pastor, you don’t want more money?

--I told them that as we enlarged the base and the church began to grow, then, they could pay me more at that time. They agreed and we began to hire more staff.

--This is where, at least in my mind, where the royal priesthood came in. Modern day Levites. Pastors.

--The base of the pyramid begins to grow and Jesus begins to build His Church. Remember what Jesus said:

Matthew 16:18 (NKJV) ¹⁸ And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.

--Another time in prayer I was basically begging God for more help and other priest to help build the base of the pyramid broader and He spoke to me and said, you already have them.

--Say what? He said, I have sent you retired ministers and they are wanting to serve but you have never asked them. What would I call these retired ministers?

--Elders of Heart. Wait a minute, you have had these people here to help me, and you even have the name for them, why didn’t you tell me? You didn’t ask!

James 4:2 (NKJV) ²  Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

--The base of the church grows more and more from these rocks. Pastors and Elders of heart are added to the church and the church grows stronger and stronger.

--Yes, we have had transition with different pastors and we have lost a few Elders of Heart but because the base of the pyramid is wide and strong, we didn’t lose momentum.

--I want to say a great big “thank you” to our royal priest (our pastors). I thank Pastor Mark, Pastor Aaron, Pastor Neftali, Pastor Umbel, Pastor Marty, Pastor Dominic for their faithfulness. 

--Give God glory for sending these men of God to help the foundation of the church to be strong. They have held my arms up through tough times and for years. Please stand!

--Give God glory for our retired ministers (Elders of Heart) who came to be a blessing to Life Church. Stand!

3. The Living Stones.

1 Peter 2:4-6&9-10 (NIV)
⁴  As you come to him, the living Stone--rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him--
⁵  you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…

--You see, the Pyramid is not complete without the stones or the blocks which are built upon the Chief Cornerstone, Jesus Christ and the Rocks (Royal Priesthood) which make up the foundation.

--Is it any wonder that the Pyramids in Egypt have lasted for 1000s of years. Heavy blocks connected to each other rising up to the sky to bring honor and glory to Jesus Christ.

--I do not have the time to start thanking these living stones who have made Life Church the church it is today. Because you are founded on the Cornerstone, and the royal priesthood, God has been glorified.

--You have made Life Church a great mission’s church touching the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Imagine the souls who will be in Heaven because of your generosity.

--You have helped purchase property, build a sanctuary, provide mission’s houses, and provide a House of Hope for our community and we are debt free.

--You are definitely stones which are alive with the power of God and the willingness to make a difference in the lives of people you do not even know. You are connected to Jesus, the Cornerstone.

John 10:10 (NKJV) ¹⁰ I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

--You have come so that people can have life and they can have it more abundantly. Living Stones.