05/07/2026
Sermon for Easter 5, May 3, 2026
On Acts 4:8-12
You can tell the difference between something built with the right materials, selected precisely for the purpose they serve, and something made with whatever is lying around. We have had that inner debate, is it worth that extra trip to the store for the right piece or will this thing I found in my garage be good enough? How long does it have to last? Will anyone notice the sloppy work?
On what should a person build their life, their hope, their eternity? What materials should they use? Their limited knowledge? The every changing science? Their small window of experience, the collective experience of others? Tradition? Power? Ease? Utility? Those things might work for a time. Some might not see what was missing here in this life, but when that life is tested, when pressures rise up, when the winds blow and the storms batter against it, when pieces are found to be missing, when death draws near, will that life stand? Will it last to eternity?
We think we see churches shrinking. We remember a time when more people sat in the pews. Maybe, well not in Oregon, but maybe you remember when most people spent Sundays with family in their Sunday best. We see a church divided, even denominations that claim to teach the Bible disagree on what God says, and churches that wander from the Bible are barely able to be called Christian. Where is the power of Jesus name?
Dear Christians, are we really going to be surprised that the stone the builders rejected, even as God set him as the perfect foundation with miraculous power, are we surprised he is rejected today? Have we forgotten what the church is or how his Church is built?
When God builds, he does not build with a plan for the present moment. God builds for now and for all time. It is for this that he sent his Son into the world, fulfilling every prophecy of Scripture, so that at the right time, the right place, and with the perfect fit, all of salvation would find its foundation. For this Jesus lived his perfect life and taught with authority, he was without fault or blemish, unshakable and unbreakable. On this Cornerstone, God builds his church. On this promise the Old Testament believers built thier hope. On Jesus, the chief cornerstone, the apostles built, the Church stands, and you stand secure. God's church is never shrinking, even if it feels like congregations are. Every soul that is baptized, every soul that hears and believes is built on him. When a person passes away in faith, they do not leave the Church, but their place is secured in Christ forever. The believers you have gathered with here as you gathered around Christ's presence, by the power of his name still gather with you when you come to him. The Church, that is all believers, those living stones built on Jesus' name, will stand long after even the most glorious Cathedrals have fallen. When you are built on him, when we are united to him, we will stand together with all believers forever.
