Cornerstone

Yesterday was a GREAT day at our church, Tallowood Baptist. It was the culmination of years of praying, planning, and building. It was billed as the Dedication Day for the new worship center. Most of the former ministers and all the former choir directors were there, a 300+ reunion choir sang, lots of former members attended and the service was amazing.

In between services, the cornerstone was put into the wall. As the workers began putting in the concrete and preparing to put the stone in the building, the children began to crowd around. (I did think for one second that Savannah might be up there telling the craftsmen exactly what to do but I was pretty sure she was just watching).

It was then that a mom turned to me and remarked….“I guess it’s appropriate that the kids are all up there crowding around the stone because they are the ones who 50 years from now will be saying…‘I remember when they put the stone in the building when I was 8 years old’.”

And I thought, you know, she’s right. They are the ones. They are the ones who needed to see that stone pushed into the wall….completing the building because hopefully one day they’ll be the ones in the hard hats having a photo op with the pastor…shoot, maybe one of them will even be the pastor. Building new churches, making room for more to hear God’s word.

And I remembered one day when I went with my parents to the cornerstone dedication of the church where I was raised. And I thought about all the people who lined the halls of faith there. Of course, my mom and dad, Brother John, Mrs. Spann, Mrs. Johnson…and there are countless others. People who gave sacrifically of their time, their money, their service so that one day the children they were serving could grow up and serve in their churches.

And this morning I read this…that the cornerstone means a “tested stone”. There will be days of testing, to be sure. But as Ephesians 2:20 states, “Christ is the chief cornerstone” and so certainly, with Him, we can withstand whatever comes.

And to think we wouldn’t be doing any of this had not Christ pushed one very large stone out of the way over 2000 years ago.