A NIGHT TO REMEMBER ◽ HOME
The cornerstone of a house is the first stone laid in the construction. It dictates the position, level and angles of the structure. It it’s slightly off, the rest of the building will be structurally compromised. What does that even mean? It means that the first stone laid is the most important stone of all. And if it’s not laid correctly, the whole building may fall.
Have you heard the song, “The wise man built his house upon the rock…” and then the next verse “The foolish man built his house upon the sand…” and what happens when the rain falls? The house on the rocks stands firm, but the house on the sand goes, “Splat!”
That’s the idea with a cornerstone of a building. If the rock isn’t right, the house goes splat.
Preparation: Have a plastic tub half filled with sand, and a small box to represent a house. Also, have a few kid blocks available for stacking. Finally, grab a bible.
Let’s look at our sand box and set this box on the sand, to represent a house. Over time, the heaviness of the house, rains that fall, and time…what will happen to this house? (It will start to sink or lean.) Sometimes even now, our houses sink on shifting ground and this causes cracks in the walls.(Demonstrate how the sand shifts by letting the kids push it and tilt the box…and look for cracks in your own house walls.)
Once we have big cracks in our houses, what then? (Leaks, it looks bad, can be a hazard.)
This is why it’s so important that the first stone set is the level. Look at our blocks. Suppose we set down one and then decide to stack more blocks on top? What happens if the first block is leaning? (The rest of the blocks on top will lean and eventually fall. Let them lean a block in the sand and try to stack others blocks on top.)
Did you know that the bible talks about Jesus being the cornerstone?
Ephesians 2 says ,
Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Knowing Jesus makes sure your house stands when rains and hard winds blow.
What does that look like? The cornerstone of our spiritual houses – our hearts, mind and body – is the Word because it contains the truth.
Place the bible on the table. This is our cornerstone. It contains all the truth about who we are in Christ – and who He is to us. When we know these truths, we have a cornerstone for life. Our house may get rained on and winds may blow, but it stands secure because Jesus is our cornerstone.
Who is Jesus? He’s our savior, our Lord, our shepherd, our light, our counselor, our king…he’s everything.
Who are we? We are created by God with a purpose, loved by him and held by him all of our lives.
Matthew 7: 24-27
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
Let’s now sing The Wise Man song together…