Stones We Won't Move

What actually stays the same when everything around me is shifting?

The first morning in a new place the ground is unfamiliar, but not every stone moves. The pastor walked out into cold air and reached for a long sleeve shirt; the things he named as fixed were older than the building's walls. A marker no one shifts becomes the place you can find your bearings from again.

Don’t move the ancient boundary stone which your fathers have set up.

Proverbs 22:28

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

Matthew 24:35

The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God stands forever.”

Isaiah 40:8

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

How do I love people in the church who have hurt me?

The pastor asked for hands of anyone who had been hurt by a church and more than half the room went up. The command to love one another was given to a room like that, not to a crowd that had never been wounded. Saul of Tarsus stood by while Stephen was killed, and the church he had been tearing at still had to decide what to do with him after Damascus.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34–35

They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” He kneeled down and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Acts 7:59–60

When Saul had come to Jerusalem, he tried to join himself to the disciples; but they were all afraid of him, not believing that he was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles, and declared to them how he had seen the Lord on the way, and that he had spoken to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

Acts 9:26–27

Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I don’t tell you until seven times, but, until seventy times seven.

Matthew 18:21–22

Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, outcry, and slander be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.

Ephesians 4:31–32

Why does Scripture need to shape how I see everything else?

The pastor said the Word is what establishes a worldview, so you know where you stand before anything pushes on you. Paul told Timothy the same thing about all Scripture equipping a person for every good work. Josiah came across a scroll in a renovation and tore his clothes because he had not known what it said.

Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16–17

Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, “Hilkiah the priest has delivered a book to me.” Then Shaphan read it before the king. When the king had heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes.

2 Kings 22:10–11

Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light for my path.

Psalms 119:105

This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it; for then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall have good success.

Joshua 1:8

For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and is able to discern the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

Who am I supposed to be reaching, and what am I actually handing them?

The pastor named the barista, the teacher, the teammate, the neighbor, and said the room is the minority. Paul said God handed people a task, and Jesus described his own purpose as seeking and saving the lost. Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus with one sentence, and the church in Antioch sent Paul and Barnabas out from among them.

But all things are of God, who reconciled us to himself through Jesus Christ, and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation; namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18–19

For the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost.”

Luke 19:10

One of the two who heard John and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother, Simon, and said to him, “We have found the Messiah!” (which is, being interpreted, Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of Jonah. You shall be called Cephas” (which is by interpretation, Peter).

John 1:40–42

Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.” Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

Acts 13:1–3

Even so, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

Matthew 5:16