<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div><div><br></div>Ephesians 2;19-22<div><br></div><div><b>19. &nbsp;So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens <u>with the saints</u>&nbsp;and members of the household of God,</b></div><div><b>20. &nbsp;built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,</b></div><div><b>21. &nbsp;in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;</b></div><div><b>22. &nbsp;in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.<br></b><br><br>Great masonry and great carpentry are&nbsp;revealed in their&nbsp;joints. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>The way that one stone nestles into its’ place between, beside, above, and below all the other stones, shows the mastery of the stone cutter/mason. &nbsp;No mortar is needed, the stones lock into one another perfectly. (I love a well laid&nbsp;dry stone walls. Google:&nbsp;Cusco and Manchu Picchu,&nbsp;Peru)</div><div><br></div><div>So also is great carpentry revealed by&nbsp;beautiful dovetail, half lap, mortise and tenons joints. &nbsp;No screws or nails needed. &nbsp;The pieces of wood seem to have grown together so that the joints hold on to one another as if it were a living thing. &nbsp; (No wonder the Father gave Jesus a ‘carpenter’ for a step-dad.)</div><div><br></div><div>This is how Paul explains our oneness as the church, the temple and <u>dwelling place</u>&nbsp;of God. &nbsp;All of us being aligned, fitted, cut, notched, grooved,&nbsp;pegged,&nbsp;leveled, and squared,&nbsp;all&nbsp;off the Chief&nbsp;Corner Stone, Jesus our Lord. &nbsp;It is his mind that creates the perfection and&nbsp;beauty of the Church. &nbsp;He is indeed the Master Designer and&nbsp;Builder.</div><div><br></div><div>The Holy Spirit draws us ever tighter in oneness. &nbsp;He inhabits us as living stones, enlivening us to grow together&nbsp;in concord and accord&nbsp;in the one Mind of Christ, in his own love.</div><div><br></div><div>As the dwelling place of God and members of the household of God, our foundation is the Word of God, given to us by the prophets and apostles. &nbsp;This Living Word continually fashions us so that the Church continues to grow. &nbsp;The Church is not static, but active, alive, increasing, expanding. &nbsp;God’s ongoing development. &nbsp;He, working&nbsp;in us, is&nbsp;ever making room for additions to the structure, more rooms, more life and souls to be added to the household of God, all to his glory and our joy!</div><div><br></div><div>We have a place now, it is in the Body of Christ, in his Word, in the Spirit, in one another. &nbsp;We are not ‘rolling stones’ or ‘scattered lumber’. &nbsp;We have been gathered and fashioned to be indwelt by God, and belong to one another,&nbsp;so that his sheltering grace, his&nbsp;life and light&nbsp;may further be given into this lost,&nbsp;dead, and dark world.</div><div><br></div><div>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, bless us to ever present ourselves before the Master Builder Jesus, to be formed and fitted to him,&nbsp;his purpose, and to one another. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</div><div><br></div><div>Love,</div><div>Dad/Baba/Eric</div><div>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</div><div>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word. &nbsp;God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”</div><div><br><br><br><br><br><br><div><a></a><br></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>



Ephesians 2;19-22
19.  So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,20.  built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,21.  in whom the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;22.  in whom you also are built into it for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.


Great masonry and great carpentry are revealed in their joints.  
The way that one stone nestles into its’ place between, beside, above, and below all the other stones, shows the mastery of the stone cutter/mason.  No mortar is needed, the stones lock into one another perfectly. (I love a well laid dry stone walls. Google: Cusco and Manchu Picchu, Peru)
So also is great carpentry revealed by beautiful dovetail, half lap, mortise and tenons joints.  No screws or nails needed.  The pieces of wood seem to have grown together so that the joints hold on to one another as if it were a living thing.   (No wonder the Father gave Jesus a ‘carpenter’ for a step-dad.)
This is how Paul explains our oneness as the church, the temple and dwelling place of God.  All of us being aligned, fitted, cut, notched, grooved, pegged, leveled, and squared, all off the Chief Corner Stone, Jesus our Lord.  It is his mind that creates the perfection and beauty of the Church.  He is indeed the Master Designer and Builder.
The Holy Spirit draws us ever tighter in oneness.  He inhabits us as living stones, enlivening us to grow together in concord and accord in the one Mind of Christ, in his own love.
As the dwelling place of God and members of the household of God, our foundation is the Word of God, given to us by the prophets and apostles.  This Living Word continually fashions us so that the Church continues to grow.  The Church is not static, but active, alive, increasing, expanding.  God’s ongoing development.  He, working in us, is ever making room for additions to the structure, more rooms, more life and souls to be added to the household of God, all to his glory and our joy!
We have a place now, it is in the Body of Christ, in his Word, in the Spirit, in one another.  We are not ‘rolling stones’ or ‘scattered lumber’.  We have been gathered and fashioned to be indwelt by God, and belong to one another, so that his sheltering grace, his life and light may further be given into this lost, dead, and dark world.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, bless us to ever present ourselves before the Master Builder Jesus, to be formed and fitted to him, his purpose, and to one another.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.  God’s Word is our habitation, and we are His.”





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