August 3, 2023 —– Pine Island, the long-awaited groundbreaking ceremony,
Pastor Seth prays over the congregation.
Ground-breaking for Pine Island Chapel
of the First Presbyterian Church, Kalamazoo
August 3, 2023
A Reading (Matthew 7:21-27, 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, Ephesians 2:17-22)
Jesus said: Not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven. What’s required is a serious commitment to doing what God desires. I can see it now. Many will come up and say, “Master we preached the message and our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.” And do you know what I’m going to say? “You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don’t impress me one bit.” These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational – words to build a life on. If you embody them, you are like a smart carpenter who built a house on solid rock. Rain poured down, floods came, winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock. But if you don’t work my words into your life, you are like a foolish carpenter who built a house on a sandy beach. When a storm rolled in, rain fell, floods came, winds blew and beat on that house—and it collapsed like a house of cards.
Paul writes: By the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building on it. Each builder must choose with care how to build, knowing there is really only one foundation – the one laid in Jesus Christ. He came and proclaimed peace to all who were near or far – treating all as equals. Through him we share the same Spirit. So then we are no long strangers and wandering exiles, but citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of apostles, prophets, and Jesus Christ himself. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom we also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God.
Sharing Dreams and Visions
Let Us Build a House (Please, see reverse)
Turning the Earth
Prayer
Let us Build a House (Text: Marty Haugen, b. 1950)
A: Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live.
A place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive.
B: Built of hopes and dreams and visions, rock of faith and vault of grace.
Here the love of Christ shall end divisions:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
A: Let us build a house where prophets speak, and words are strong and true.
Where all God’s children dare to seek to dream God’s reign anew.
B: Here the cross shall stand as witness and as symbol of God’s grace.
Here as one we claim the faith of Jesus:
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
A: Let us build a house where love is found, in water, wine and wheat.
A banquet hall on holy ground, where peace and justice meet.
B: Here the love of God, through Jesus, is revealed in time and space,
as we share in Christ the feast that frees us;
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
A: Let us build a house where hands will reach beyond the wood and stone.
To heal and strengthen, serve and teach, and live the Word they’ve known.
B: Here the outcast and the stranger bear the image of God’s face.
Let us bring an end to fear and danger;
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place.
A: Let us build a house where all are named, their songs and visions heard.
And loved and treasured, taught and claimed as words within the Word.
B: Built of tears and cries and laughter, prayers of faith and songs of grace.
Let this house proclaim from floor to rafter;
All are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place