Living Stones Part 3

What does it truly mean to be called out of darkness and into light? In this message drawn from 1 Peter 2:9-10, we are reminded that we are not just a collection of individuals finding our own way through faith, but a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, brought together with a shared identity and a shared mission. The calling is not simply to escape darkness for our own comfort. It is a calling into light so that we can bear witness to something greater.

The story of Lazarus being raised from the dead becomes a powerful lens through which we see our own journey. The stone had to be rolled away by the people around him. He had to respond to the call himself, moving forward even wrapped in grave clothes. And then, crucially, the community had to unwrap him. None of it happened in isolation. This is a picture of what life in the church is meant to look like. We roll away stones for one another, we respond to God's call on our own lives, and we help each other shed the grave clothes that no longer belong on people who are alive.

The question that lingers is a personal one. What darkness are we still tempted to return to, and what grave clothes are we still wearing that were never meant for the life we have been called into?