I'll focus on the phrase "foreigners and exiles" or, "strangers and aliens" to begin. We have all probably been places that left us all feeling what it feels like to be a stranger in a strange land. In the context in which Peter is writing to these early Jesus people, they felt like strangers in a strange land because of their connection with Jesus - they would have avoided cultic rituals and would have been seen as different - people would have been suspicious of them.

We definitely know what that's like. It used to be easy to give examples of this - us living in this culture. Now, it's extra difficult and weird - we now feel like strangers among our own Jesus people. This is where that video comes in. The images of violence being punctuated by the Lord's Prayer really just makes our skin crawl, if we think about the context of that prayer and who Jesus asks us to be.

So how do we make our way in this environment? Peter's answer - living stones. We need each other and together we remain connected to the cornerstone, Jesus. We need each other now more than ever in these "unprecedented times." We NEED each other.

Speaker: Aaron Vis

Scripture: 1 Peter 2:1-12

http://bible.com/events/49499623