Restoring Burnt Stones

John Uberbacher brought a challenging word to the church on Sunday concerning "burnt stones." When Kent Henry was with us several weeks ago, he prophetically interpreted the "burnt stones" in Nehemiah 4:1-2 as Christians who were once active members of the church, but for one reason or another they became offended and left the church. Can the burnt stones be restored and take their place in the wall? These may be people who have prayed for something, but became discouraged when God did not seemingly answer their prayers. Or perhaps they are people who were hurt by something someone said or did, and they stopped coming to church.

How can Church on the Rock become a safe place for burnt stones to return to  How can we help restore burnt stones? What do we do when a burnt stone does not want to be restored?

John suggested that our job is to love burnt stones, not change them. When the Lord comes to us, our lives do not always immediately align themselves completely with His will. In the same way we must extend God's grace to others. Change will come as we make room for the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin or areas of their lives that are not in full agreement with God's Word. We are all on this journey together and we are all trying to be like Jesus Christ.

John went on to say, "Burnt stones have been hurt and sometimes they must let the hurt out so they can be healed. Do not take everything they say personally, even if it is about you." Wow, that is not always easy. We must learn to apply God's grace and take it to the cross, if we want to help others be restored in their relationship with God and with His church.

At some point in time someone at church is going to say something that you do not like. At that moment you have a choice to make. Are you going to get angry and take up an offense, or are you going to apply God's grace and mercy. Perhaps the person was having a bad day, or maybe you misunderstood what they were trying to communicate.

When people do not live up to our expectations, what do we do? People have free wills, and they can make choices that are contrary to our expectations. This is not a time to take up an offense, but to pray for them and to ask God how you should respond.

Looking at the picture of Nehemiah 4:1-2, if you have been a burnt stone, once you have been restored and take your place on the wall, you can help others who have been burnt. You now have authority to love them, speak to them, and lead them to restoration.