Friends in Christ Weekly Message
October 1, 2005

     Jesus said, "Right - and you can read it for yourselves in your Bibles:

The stone the masons threw out
     is now the cornerstone.
This is God's work;
     we rub our eyes, we can hardly believe it!

     "This is the way it is with you. God's kingdom will be taken back from you and handed over to a people who will live out a kingdom life."
Matthew 21:42-43 (Message*)

In this passage, Jesus was telling the institutional religious leaders of His day that God is responding to their lack of true faith by giving God's kingdom to those who will be faithful. God is not favoring a particular ethnic group or religious institution, but rather those living in harmony with His kingdom.

Today the builders of worldly success are also often throwing out this stone in their greed and pursuit of worldly ambition. But we are advised to base our lives on the cornerstone of Christ Jesus.

It's not a matter of lip service, or going through the motions of institutional religion. Those Jesus continually criticized were great at that. It is about actually living out our faith every day in all we do and see.

Who or what is the true cornerstone of your life? Is your professed faith actually lived out in the choices you make and how you treat others?

Bill Samuel

* The Message version ©2002 by Eugene H. Peterson.

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