Study

The ABCs of Church

Ben Stuart
5 Days
Introduction
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5

Built of People

Day 3

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For the last two days, we’ve investigated what it means to be the Church, the Assembly of Jesus. We’ve seen how Jesus is the head of the Church and its cornerstone, the stone upon which the whole thing is constructed. So where do we come in? What is our place in Jesus’ Church?

Let’s start to answer that question by reading the scripture and watching this teaching from Pastor Ben Stuart:

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans 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 a stone in Zion, 

         a chosen and precious cornerstone, 

         and the one who trusts in him 

         will never be put to shame.” 

1 Peter 2:4–6 NIV

Summary

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

This friend, is good news. This is what separates the Church from a building that could weather, crack, and crumble with age. The Church of Jesus is not a building but a people. All over the world, we gather in classrooms and cathedrals,  houses and renovated Home Depots, under rooftops, and in the rain. We are each of us, a living stone added to the noble fabric of Christ’s Church, our spiritual house. And we are both the temple and the priests. Notice why peter says we are being built into a spiritual house:

 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

If you are a follower of Jesus, you are intentionally placed in the spiritual House of God in order to offer the gifts God has given you back to him in sacrifice. All of us will have different abilities and offerings (don’t make the mistake of envying someone else's) that God desires for us to bring to His house. This is a beautiful thing. This is the church. All of us bringing what we can offer on behalf of the whole. 

What's Next?

Have you ever stopped to consider what it is you can bring to your church? So often, we get caught up in a consumer mentality. We spend our time and energy focusing on what our church “should” be doing for us, and unfortunately, we can miss the part God wants us to play in the lives of others.

  1. Today, read 1 Peter 2:4-6 again and ask Jesus to remind you of the gifts He has given you and how you could use them for His glory and the good of those around you.
  2. Make a list of those gifts, thank God for them, and ask Him to make a way for you to serve Him and others.

Scripture References

13When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,
“Who do people say the Son of Man is?”
14They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15
“But what about you?”
he asked.
“Who do you say I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus replied,
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
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.
19
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be
bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be
loosed in heaven.”
20Then he ordered his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.
16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
19Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,
20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
21In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
22And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior.
24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.
25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her
26to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,
27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
29After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church—
30for we are members of his body.
16For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.
17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
18And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.
19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,
20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
4As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—
5you 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.
6For 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.”

31Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.
41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
17Jesus replied,
“Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven.
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.
21From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Ben Stuart
Ben Stuart
Ben Stuart is the pastor of Passion City Church D.C. Prior to joining Passion City Church, Ben served as the executive director of Breakaway Ministries on the campus of Texas A&M. He also earned a master’s degree in historical theology from Dallas Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Donna, live to inspire and equip people to walk with God for a lifetime.