From the portable Tabernacle to Solomon's Temple to the living community of faith we are today, the church has always been under construction — and that's exactly the point. Drawing on 1 Peter and the words of Jesus in John 14, this sermon explores what it means to be "living stones," a people called to build something that no army can destroy and no loss can diminish.
When the Temple fell, it must have felt like God had abandoned God's people. But Peter's words remind us that it was never the stones that mattered — it was always the people. Resurrection people. People who carry the breath of God and grow together in faith, even in seasons of uncertainty and grief.
Jesus promises his followers that a place is being prepared for them — not a place defined by walls or membership requirements, but a place where everyone simply belongs. In a world that increasingly asks us to draw smaller and smaller circles of welcome, we are called to do the opposite: to keep building, keep growing, and keep expanding the circle of God's love until there is room for all.
