Stones: hot, cold, rolling, alive, dead

Happy Mother's Day to all..

BE: I am a specific, beloved, first born child of Jesus Christ. 

Open Door discussed how to live as "living stones".. It isn't easy people...
but at least we aren't "ogres" like Shrek..  Tracee said she was surprised I didn't use this video in class so in her honor:  here it is...

I believe!.. even if I don't know all of the answers..  When in doubt, LOVE!


Is our church harmless? should it be?
How are you making a difference in your relationships, communities, and structure? How do you SERVE?:

Talking points that I emphasized. 

• Stones have substance. 
• Stone's characteristics are influenced and often defined by the forces/context around them.
• Important metaphors to focus on in the Bible: Stones, Sheep/Shepherds, Fire...
• Stones can be assembled together to form a structure..
• Who are you? versus what do you do? -- We so often ask and focus on the wrong questions.. We are human "be"ings, not human "do"ings. 
• "I see you, and I know who you are." is a powerful, inclusive, loving statement if we choose to interpret it that way. So often we react in fear and exclusion. 
• This is the context that God sees us in... He "gets" us.. he knows "how we roll"
• Stones within a structure carry a load...It is an obligation.
• As the number of relationships increase, the load on the foundation stones increases.
• Christ is the cornerstone, keystone that sustains others.. The closer you are to Christ, the more strength you have and "load" you can carry.
• The world reinforces the idea of self sustaining ability, but the stone separated from the building leaves a hole in the structure, and is forced to carry its load on its own. 
• We should live in reverent fear.. of God.. not of one another. 
• Tearing down others.. can never build you up. 
• Maturing in our relationships is a process.. takes time and we must REPEAT the same steps over and over to finally learn... there is only one cornerstone/keystone, but there are many, many connecting stones. 
• Pyramids were build over a looooong time, with really big stones on the bottom.. cut perfectly, with no mortar.. Amazing...
• I would really like to hear what you remember and think?..  comments are welcome.. 

Scriptures used and referenced:

1 Peter 1:13-21 NIV

1 Peter 1:21-2:10 NIV

Ephesians 4:11-13 NIV

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Romans 12:1-2 MSG

So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

1 Peter 1:18-21 MSG 

Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ's sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It's because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.