August 24, 2026
Paul describes believers as members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Jesus Christ Himself as the cornerstone. Together they are being formed into a dwelling place for God.
Devotional: We use the phrase “my church” without thinking much about it. We mean the congregation where we worship, the people we love, or the place where we serve. There’s nothing wrong with that until “my church” begins to mean “the church should belong to me.”
Jesus told Peter, “I will build my church.”
Paul gives us another image in Ephesians. Christ is the cornerstone, and all the other stones take their position from Him. A cornerstone establishes the direction of the building. If the other stones ignore it, the structure eventually becomes crooked.
The same is true of the Church. Jesus doesn’t adjust Himself to fit our preferences. We’re shaped around Him.
That can be challenging because churches develop traditions, habits, memories, and ways of doing things that become deeply meaningful. These can be wonderful gifts, but none of them is the cornerstone. Jesus is.
This truth can also bring relief. Many Christians are anxious about the future of the Church. We worry about attendance, money, volunteers, cultural changes, and whether future generations will continue what previous generations built. Those concerns deserve thoughtful attention, but the survival of Christ’s Church doesn’t rest entirely on our shoulders.
Jesus is still building.
Our calling is to remain faithful to Him. We worship, pray, teach, serve, make disciples, care for our neighbors, and tell people about Christ. We offer our gifts and our work, but we don’t confuse ourselves with the Builder.
Paul says we are being built together. No single stone is the building. We need one another. Young and old, longtime members and newcomers, people with strong faith and people whose faith is still growing are being shaped together around Jesus Christ.
The Church is His. That truth should make us humble enough to release control and hopeful enough to keep serving.
Action: Think about one church preference or tradition that matters deeply to you. Ask whether you hold it as a gift to be cherished or something you believe must never change. Pray for wisdom to keep Christ at the center.
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for making us part of Your Church. Forgive me when I confuse my preferences with Your will or begin acting as though what belongs to You belongs to me. Keep Yourself at the center of our worship, ministry, decisions, and relationships. Free us from fear about the future and give us courage to serve faithfully today. Shape us together into a people who reflect Your grace and carry Your love into the world. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Thought for the Day: The Church belongs to Christ, and Christ is still building.
We often speak of “my church,” but Jesus reminds us that the Church belongs to Him. Paul describes Christ as the cornerstone, the One who determines the shape and direction of everything being built around Him.
Ephesians 2:19–22 invites us to release both pride and fear. We’re called to worship, serve, teach, love, and remain faithful, but Christ is still the Builder. The future of His Church doesn’t depend entirely on our strength. We belong to Him, and He is still at work.
