Built Together on Purpose: Christ the Cornerstone, Us the Living Stones

A structure is only as strong as what it rests on. Peter reaches for a construction image we don’t use much anymore—the cornerstone—to say something essential about the church. In the ancient world, the cornerstone wasn’t a decorative date-stamp; it was the first, strongest, most precisely cut stone. Alignment, strength, and stability of the whole building depended on it.

Scripture applies that image to Jesus. Isaiah promised a “tested, precious cornerstone” God Himself would lay (Isaiah 28:16). Peter announces the fulfillment: Jesus is that cornerstone. Get the cornerstone right and the building stands; get Him wrong and it all comes apart.

This week, we’re looking at our purpose as a church: to be God’s dwelling place. God is building us into a spiritual house where His love and glory become visible in the real world. But that only happens if we’re built squarely on Christ.

“As you come to him, a living stone… chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:4).

Peter calls Jesus a Living Stone—a paradox that makes sense on resurrection ground. The church isn’t a human project with spiritual language. God initiates: “Behold, I am laying a cornerstone” (Isaiah 28). Jesus is both foundation and builder, the chief stone set to perfect angles. So every doctrine, plan, and decision must square off Him. That’s the promise: “Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6). Our confidence isn’t our construction skills—it’s God’s foundation.

And this is inescapably binary. Some come to Him; others reject Him (1 Peter 2:7–8). There’s no neutral gear with Jesus. For those who believe, He’s honor and stability. For those who refuse, He becomes a stumbling stone. Eternities—and churches—are decided on this point.

Mercy Village, that’s why our center must keep being Jesus. Not once, but again and again.

“As you come to him, a living stone… chosen and precious” (1 Peter 2:4).

Peter calls Jesus a Living Stone—a paradox that makes sense on resurrection ground. The church isn’t a human project with spiritual language. God initiates: “Behold, I am laying a cornerstone” (Isaiah 28). Jesus is both foundation and builder, the chief stone set to perfect angles. So every doctrine, plan, and decision must square off Him. That’s the promise:

“Whoever believes in him will not be put to shame” (1 Peter 2:6). Our confidence isn’t our construction skills—it’s God’s foundation.

And this is inescapably binary. Some come to Him; others reject Him (1 Peter 2:7–8). There’s no neutral gear with Jesus. For those who believe, He’s honor and stability. For those who refuse, He becomes a stumbling stone. Eternities—and churches—are decided on this point.

Mercy Village, that’s why our center must keep being Jesus. Not once, but again and again.

“You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house… to be a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5).

Grace does something wild: the Living Stone makes little living stones. He brings dead hearts to life and fits us together into a dwelling place for God. Church, then, isn’t a weekly social routine; it’s where the supernatural meets the natural. When God’s people gather around Christ, He is present. The unseen becomes seen.

Priests had two tasks: enter God’s presence and display God’s character to the world. In Christ, that’s our calling together. Access and representation.

But this spiritual house doesn’t build itself. Peter’s grammar is present tense: “as you keep coming to Him.” This is a lifestyle—continual dependence, continual alignment, continual formation.

Peter sketches it in 1 Peter 4:8–11—a culture that feels like tov (goodness, fitting, flourishing).

a) Above all, love
“Keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” Love first, love deeply, and love when it’s hard. Not petty or thin-skinned—quick to forgive, slow to take offense. Serious sin must be addressed; small slights are released.

b) Practice hospitality—without grumbling
Welcome people in. If you have more than you need, build a longer table, not a higher fence. And do it with gratitude, not complaint.

c) Steward your gifts for others
“Each has received a gift; use it to serve one another.” Teaching, singing, fixing, cooking, encouraging—all of it is grace meant to be re-invested in the body.

d) Speak and serve by God’s strength
“Whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies.” That kills ego and fuels dependence. Godward desperation > self-sufficiency.

e) Aim at God’s glory
“…in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.” The headline isn’t our building, programs, or polish. It’s God dwelling among a people shaped by Jesus.
That’s a church called tov—a community where, because the cornerstone is Christ, goodness and love become the culture.

Keep coming to Jesus.
Formation isn’t a one-time transaction; it’s a daily alignment. Scripture and prayer in the morning, short re-centering prayers through the day, regular worship with the body—habits that keep squaring your life to the cornerstone.

Examine your love.
Are you welcoming? Peaceable, not grumbling? Stewarding your gifts? Speaking and serving in God’s strength? Aiming at His glory? That’s what “living stones” look like in motion.

Church, may God make Mercy Village a dwelling place where His welcome becomes our welcome, where the walls feel thin and heaven brushes earth, where above all, love is practiced.

“To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (1 Peter 4:11)