September 20th, 2026 - Deep Hope: Be the Church

Scripture Passage:  1 Peter 2:4-10

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Deep Hope
Fall Series on Faith in the Face of Falleness

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Deep Hope #2
Be the Church
We may be in danger of worshipping worship

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a bit of evidence
response to cancelled service
what we count, what we say, what we evaluate

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What is Church?
 Church is worship
Church is service
Church is mission

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There is an upside-down power component again
4 As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—

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You are the Church
 5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a]

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What does this look like?
 to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

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Either lean on or trip
“The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone,”
8 and,
“A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.”

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Who are we?
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession,

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Chosen to...
 that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

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And where does a spiritul house of living stones do this?
declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

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Mercifully gathered, not paying privileged participants
10 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.

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Leaning into Deep Hope
1. See the Stone and stones.
2. Feel the mortar.
3. Look like a cathedral.
4. Practice priesthood.

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Go lean on and be attached to others and together lean fully on Christ. 
Do this in pairs, triads, small groups or as a community.