ROCKHOUND

One Stone at a Time

A rock was once laying in the sand, dusty and unwanted. It was rejected for any sort of use. But God called this rock precious and he made it into the cornerstone of a building, the most important stone in the building. This stone is Jesus. God also says that we too are precious to him and we can be stones in his building. He wants to shape and sculpt us into a beautiful, precious, living stone. We have a place and a part in what God is doing. Once we were a simple rock in the dust, now we are chosen stones, a chosen people, that God calls his special possession…

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.”

Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,

“The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”

and,

“A stone that causes people to stumble
    and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 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.

Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

1 Peter 2:4-12 (NIV)

Rockhound Speaker Notes

A fine group of theme Teamers put together an amazing set of notes for your speakers. A tremendous amount of work went into these notes, and I'm sure that your speakers will be inspired by them. But not only that, I'm betting that you'll be inspired by them too. So download these, read through them, and imagine your training sessions. These notes are chock-full of incredible ideas that can make the Rockhound theme come alive!