This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

[Music] Welcome back for day two of our look through 1 Peter chapter 2. As we
start in verse 4 today, we're going to see Peter turns to look at a new way that
we're called to be different. We have a different hope or we have a different
character.

Now he talks about the fact that we are a different people. You're a different
person because of Jesus Christ. Now let me read for you verses 4 down through
verse 8 as he begins to set this up for us.

He says in these verses, "As you come to Him, Jesus, the living stone, rejected
by men but chosen by God and precious to Him, 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. For in Scripture it says,
'See, I lay in Zion a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in
Him will never be put to shame. ' Now to you who believe this stone is precious,
but to those who do not believe, the stone the builders rejected has become the
capstone and a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.

They stumble because they disobey the message, which is also what they were
destined for. " So here Peter begins to talk about who we are. He talks about
living stones and cornerstones.

You might remember that Peter's name means rock. Jesus said, "I'm going to name
you Peter. I'm going to name you the rock.

" And on this rock he says, "On the rock of your faith, I'm going to build my
church. " Who better to talk to us about rocks than somebody named Rock? Peter
says, "You need to understand the security of life that's found in who you are
and who Jesus is.

Life can be secure when it's built on a solid foundation, and your relationships
can be solid when they're built on a secure foundation. " So he talks about
living stones that are built into a spiritual house. This is a clear, clear
picture of the importance of individual responsibility combined with the
complete interdependence that we have, interdependence we have in the church.

There's two things to remember about dwellings that are built of stone or a
brick. First, if you've ever looked at a rock or a brick wall, you know that
every stone is important. You take just one out and the hole that it leaves is
glaring.

The first thing that you see when you look at that wall will be the missing
stone. Each one of us has more importance than we realize. You may think that
what you do goes unnoticed by God and by others, but God sees how it fits
perfectly into the temple that he's building.

So never minimize what God is doing, how God is using your life. Every one of us
is important. But second, when you look at that rock wall, you know that no
single brick, no matter how wonderful the brick might be, can make the building.

You can take the greatest, the most beautiful, the most perfect brick that's
ever been made and by itself, it's just a brick. It's not a wall, it's not a
building, it's just a brick. It takes a lot of bricks to make a building and it
takes a lot of us together to make the church, this temple that God is building.

This is not a matter of it being a good idea that we work together. Wouldn't it
be better if we all work together? The truth of the matter is we have to work
together.

Without working together, we cannot get done what God wants done. We cannot be
what God wants us to be. We have to work together in the church.

So Peter writes and he says, "You are the living stones. " But then he continues
to write and he says, "Don't forget the cornerstone. " And there's a cornerstone
in God's building plan for the church.

In our day, a cornerstone is placed many times at the very last as a decoration
to show when the building was built. But in that day, the cornerstone was at the
center of the building. All the measurements of the building were taken from
that cornerstone and all the weight of the building rested on the cornerstone.

And the entire building was tied together by the cornerstone. Jesus Christ is
the chief cornerstone in God's building, God's church, God's temple. And so the
same thing that was true of a cornerstone then is obviously true of Jesus now.

Every measurement we take is to be taken from the cornerstone. We don't measure
ourselves by ourselves. We measure ourselves by looking at Jesus Christ.

We evaluate the church not based on ourselves or our comparison with ourselves
or others. We evaluate based on the direction and the power of Jesus. And just
as a cornerstone, all the weight of the building rested on that cornerstone, all
the weight of what we do, of what you do in your life as you follow Jesus, it
rests on him.

It rests on him. And all that we do ties together in him as the cornerstone of
the building. When you forget that Jesus is the cornerstone, you can very
quickly begin to feel pressured about all that you have to do for God.

We've been feeling that way lately. Oh, there's so much to do and so much to do
for God. And the pressure, the weight of it is coming on you.

When you remember that there is a cornerstone, and it's not you, it's Jesus,
there is a sense of great relief. There's a sense of great power and joy that
can come into your life because it all rests on him. And ultimately, your main
job is to do what he's given you to do.

Your main job is to rest in him upon whom it all rests. Now I want you to
notice, as Peter writes, he says, "Some are going to reject this cornerstone and
some are going to accept this cornerstone. " He says, "Those who reject the
cornerstone, they will stumble over the cornerstone.

" They'll stumble over Jesus. And those who accept the cornerstone, they'll
never be put to shame. They will stand on this cornerstone.

Jesus is either the stone you stumble over or the stone that you stand on. Now
what's he talking about here? Well, you stumble when you want to trust in
yourself and not in him.

When you say, "Instead of trusting in Christ, I'm going to trust in some way
that I've designed to get to God or some way that I've designed in my mind to
have a happy life," you stumble when you want to trust in yourself and not in
him. And that trust in yourself, it can take a lot of different paths. Some
people have a personal trust.

They have a pride in what they do. That's what they want to trust in. Other
people have a business or a civic trust.

They have a pride in what they've built and what others see them doing in the
community. Other people have even a religious false trust in God. They have
pride in the good things they do for God.

They're not trusting in God. They're trusting in what they do for God. They're
trusting in themselves, even though it has a religious veneer over it.

So you stumble over Jesus because you want to trust in yourself. But when you
stand on the rock, when you stand on faith in Christ, when you stand on the
cornerstone, you discover an entirely new way of living. And did you notice what
Peter said about it?

"The one who trusts in the cornerstone will never be put to shame. " If you ever
have these feelings in your life, is what I'm doing enough? Is what I'm doing
good enough?

Well, if it's trust in yourself, it will never be good enough. And you'll often
live in guilt and truthfully, you will end in shame. But when you trust in Him,
Peter reminds us here, all of that changes.

You get a life of freedom from guilt. You get a life where the threat of shame
has been erased by His forgiveness, by His grace. That's the joy of what it
means to trust in Him.

So if you have been feeling a great measure of shame in your life lately, the
truth of the matter is that's not where God wants you to live. If you've been
overwhelmed by guilt, that is not where God wants you to live. He has a
different kind of life for you to live.

Never be put to shame. A relationship with God where I realize He has not come
to condemn me. He will never condemn me because of what Christ has done for me.

Let's take a moment to pray. As we pray right now, just say to God, "God, I want
that kind of life. I want a life that's free from guilt and condemnation and
shame.

So I don't want to stumble over Jesus. I want to trust in Christ. I don't want
to devise some way of me making myself good before you.

I want to just realize that that's a gift you want to give to me. " And so right
now, I recognize that in Jesus, I have a cornerstone I can stand on. And because
of that, I can be a living stone in the building that you're building.

So God, let my life, let my life make a difference. Whether I notice it or
others notice it as much as I'd like them to, let me do the things that you want
me to do. Let me live the life that you want me to live, not based on guilt or
shame or fear, but based on love and the grace you poured out on me.

That's the way I want to live today. And I ask that you would give me that
strength in Jesus. In his name I pray, amen.

Join us tomorrow. We're going to look together at God's view of you in Jesus
Christ.