Bartlesville First United May 17, 2026 "A Random Brick, A Strange Towel, and Last Week's List

Devotional

Day 1: Living Stones in God’s House

Peter compared believers to living stones being built into a spiritual house. Just as bricks interlock to form walls, Jesus knocks off our rough edges through community. The disciples learned this as they ate fish with resurrected Jesus—their brokenness didn’t disqualify them from building His church. [45:12]

This imagery rebukes isolation. God designed us to bear weight together. When one stone shifts, the whole structure weakens. Peter called this “spiritual sacrifices”—not private rituals, but shared work.

Your cracks and strengths both matter to God’s blueprint. What ministry have you avoided because it felt too small or too exposed? Where might your unique shape stabilize someone else’s weakness?

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”
(1 Peter 2:4-5, ESV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to show you one person whose “shape” complements your ministry gaps.
Challenge: Text that person today to schedule a 15-minute conversation.

Day 2: The Towel of Service

Jesus wrapped a towel around his waist and washed grimy feet. Peter protested until Jesus said, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” The stole pastors wear mirrors that towel—not a status symbol, but a call to kneel. [53:32]

Footwashing wasn’t about hygiene. It redefined power. Jesus’ towel dismantled hierarchies between “clergy” and “laity.” Every disciple gets dirty hands in God’s work.

Where have you equated leadership with visibility rather than humility? This week, serve someone anonymously—wash a coworker’s coffee mug, pull weeds in a neighbor’s yard. What task feels beneath you yet whispers “This is love”?

“If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”
(John 13:14, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one area where you’ve preferred prestige over practical service.
Challenge: Perform one unobserved act of physical service before sunset.

Day 3: Bricks and Broken Places

The pastor held a chipped brick—discarded yet essential. Jesus specializes in repurposing damaged materials. The woman at the well’s fractured relationships became her pulpit. Paul’s thorn became his megaphone. [42:26]

God’s kingdom advances through redeemed flaws, not sanitized trophies. Your chronic pain, divorce, or addiction isn’t a ministry obstacle—it’s your credential for specific holy work.

What brokenness do you hide, assuming it disqualifies you? How might sharing that story (wisely, with boundaries) become someone else’s lifeline?

“As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.”
(Psalm 103:13-14, ESV)

Prayer: Thank God for three ways He’s used past pain to equip you for ministry.
Challenge: Write “dust” on your wrist as a reminder of God’s compassion for your limits.

Day 4: Groaning Prayers, Growing Grace

Paul wrote that the Spirit intercedes with “groans too deep for words.” Cott George proved this—dying of cancer, he still prayed for his pastor. His weakened grip became a conduit of strength. [24:15]

Groans aren’t failed prayers. They’re raw offerings God reshapes into intercession. The disciples’ terrified cries in the storm became Jesus’ platform for peace.

What unarticulated ache have you bottled up? Whisper it now. Trust that the Spirit is translating it into kingdom currency even as you breathe.

“Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
(Romans 8:26, ESV)

Prayer: Sit silently for two minutes, letting the Spirit groan through your unspoken burdens.
Challenge: Write one sentence naming a “wordless grief” and place it under your Bible.

Day 5: Cotton’s Prayer for Priests

Cott George, a layman dying of cancer, gripped his pastor’s hands and insisted, “Don’t go without letting me pray for you.” His cancer-ravaged body became a living stole—a reminder that all believers mediate grace. [01:04:44]

Every Christian wears the towel. Your workplace, family, and grocery line are your altar. Peter said we’re ALL priests—not because we’re perfect, but because Christ’s sacrifice covers our service.

Who needs your prayers more than your solutions this week? Where can you kneel instead of lecture?

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone.”
(1 Corinthians 12:4-6, ESV)

Prayer: Name three people you’ll intentionally bless through prayer or action today.
Challenge: Leave a sticky note with “You’re prayed for” on a public bench or coworker’s desk.

Sermon Summary

Peter names the church “living stones,” and the image does the heavy lifting. A single brick sits there, heavy and not good for much. But the lines stamped across it tell the truth: it is made to line up with others. Under a wise hand, many bricks become a house. Peter’s picture calls a people into place, not as scattered parts but as a spiritual house offering “spiritual sacrifices,” a life given to God in words, deeds, and daily, Spirit-prompted service.

Paul says the same music in another key. The Spirit gives a variety of gifts. The Lord appoints a variety of services. God works a variety of outcomes. Yet each gift is given “for the common good.” The gift is not a private trophy, not a shelf piece. The gift is a piece of the building, meant to strengthen the whole so that Christ’s body can be spent for the world God still loves.

Jesus sets the pattern with a towel. The stole that hangs around a neck is really a strange towel. On the night before the cross, the Master tied up his clothes, took water, and got on his knees. Peter said, “This is all backwards.” Jesus said, that is exactly the point: “I came to serve and not to be served.” So the towel names the office. Any sign of leadership is a call to kneel. Any sign of calling is a call to wash feet.

The priesthood of all believers breaks the old dualism. “Laos” means the whole people of God, not “clergy up front” and “lay people lying around.” The line lands: “you cannot be the building God needs by yourself,” and the church Jesus dreams of cannot be without each person. Every disciple stands in a priestly spot between something broken and something God intends to heal, carrying that grace by a word, a deed, or an idea just now being born.

Prayer holds the church in that work. The communion of saints keeps company around a throne of grace where help is found. God welcomes the best a person can bring, and God also wants “the places that are broken, the places still bleeding.” Grace makes space for both. Social holiness, as Wesley taught, means growing together by the means of grace: praying, opening Scripture, breaking bread, conferring, and serving, side by side. A small book and a simple list become invitations: adopt a pattern of life, gather at tables, include those left out, plant seeds of hope, and reach out. A small-town grocer named Cott George shows how it looks: a layman who knew where every neighbor lived and, even from a hospital bed, would not let a pastor leave “without giving me a chance to pray for you.” Living stones like that make a house God inhabits.

Key Takeaways

1. God welcomes gifts and wounds God is not shopping for polished resumes. The same God who rejoices in a person’s strengths also says, “Bring me the worst parts,” and makes something of them. Honest surrender beats spotless performance, because grace heals what pride hides. The door into service swings on that hinge of truth. [41:47]
2. Living bricks form a spiritual house One brick alone is wasted potential; lined up together, bricks shelter a city. Peter’s image calls every member into place under a wise Builder who knows how the pieces fit. The point is not just to be present, but to be joined. Connection is the miracle that turns weight into strength. [45:12]
3. Every disciple shares priestly work The church is not a stage with a crowd; it is a priesthood entrusted with intercession and service. Each believer stands between need and mercy, carrying healing through word and deed. Vocation is placement, not pedestal. The Spirit keeps assigning those sacred appointments every day. [49:08]
4. Gifts exist for the common good Paul will not let gifts become private collections. Charisms are given to build up the body so the body can be poured out for the world. When a gift stays in the self, it shrinks; when it serves the whole, it multiplies. Joy grows where usefulness lives. [51:31]
5. The stole points to a towel Leadership takes its shape from Jesus on his knees with water and cloth. Any sign of office means, “Be the servant.” The badge is not rank but readiness to wash feet. The path to glory still runs through the basin. [53:32]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[06:42] - Conference offering invitation
[07:25] - Super Kids Day announcement
[08:37] - Senior recognition and gifts
[11:11] - Prayer of blessing for students
[20:34] - Communion of saints in prayer
[21:41] - Throne of grace and belonging
[25:26] - Offering and gratitude
[34:56] - Children’s moment
[41:00] - Availability: bring gifts and wounds
[42:51] - Laos, laity, and false dualism
[45:12] - Living stones, spiritual house
[47:17] - From piles to a people
[49:08] - Priesthood of all believers
[49:58] - Spiritual sacrifices in daily life
[51:08] - Same Spirit, Lord, and God
[52:59] - Stole as a servant’s towel
[55:11] - Gifts are not trophies
[56:16] - “On Love” and everyday practices
[57:58] - Social holiness and means of grace
[60:39] - Cott George’s priestly friendship
[64:58] - Where to offer and encourage
[66:26] - Invitation and sending
[69:11] - Reception reminder

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
1 Peter 2:4-9 (ESV)
As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 12:4-11 (ESV)
Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

John 13:1-17 (ESV)
[Jesus] rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him... “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.”

Observation Questions

What does Peter mean by calling believers “living stones,” and how does this image contrast with a single brick? (1 Peter 2:4-9)
According to 1 Corinthians 12:4-11, what three sources unify the variety of spiritual gifts and services?
In John 13:1-17, what specific action does Jesus use to redefine leadership, and how does Peter initially respond?
The sermon shares a story about a man named Cott George—what did his hospital-bed prayer reveal about everyday priesthood? [01:04:30]

Interpretation Questions

Why might Peter use the metaphor of a “spiritual house” instead of individual believers to describe the church’s purpose? (1 Peter 2:4-9)
How does Paul’s emphasis on gifts being “for the common good” challenge modern attitudes about personal success or self-focused spirituality?
What does Jesus’ act of washing feet teach about the relationship between humility and true authority? (John 13:1-17)
The sermon states, “Grace makes space for both [gifts and wounds]”—how does this truth dismantle the pressure to perform or hide weaknesses? [41:47]

Application Questions

What “broken or bleeding” part of your life have you been hesitant to bring to God, and what step will you take to surrender it this week? [41:47]
Where can you intentionally “line up” with others in your church community this month to strengthen the “spiritual house” God is building? (1 Peter 2:4-9)
Name one spiritual gift or skill you possess that could serve the “common good” of your community. How will you actively share it in the next 10 days?
Who in your life needs a “towel moment” of humble service from you this week, and what specific act will you offer? (John 13:1-17)
When have you treated your gifts like “private trophies” instead of tools for others? What habit will you adopt to shift this mindset? [55:11]
Which person in your church could you encourage this week by affirming their unique role in God’s work?
What small, daily practice (e.g., prayer, Scripture, serving) could you adopt to grow in “social holiness” alongside others? [57:58]

Sermon Clips

50s

“You, each of you, Peter says, are one of those bricks. You're not just flung out on the construction site, but god is at work through each of us and all of us in our ministries, however small we might think they are. And I've come today to say you cannot be the building god needs by yourself. But you know what? We can't be the church Jesus dreams of without you. It's all gonna need to fit together. Not a few holy people up front and everybody else sitting back as consumers, but all of us producing ministry. We're all god's people. In fact, Peter goes so far as to say all of you are priests.”

53s

“But he's the leader of the group. And when he rolls up his robe and tucks it up so his bare legs are showing, and he gets on his knees with that water, and he takes a towel, and he begins to wash the dirt from their feet. It's no wonder Peter said, uh-uh. This isn't right. This is not right. This there's nothing about this that's right. This is all backwards. And Jesus said, you're right. Of course, it's backwards. I came to serve and not to be served. That idea that Jesus would would gird up his garments and make us himself a servant is where the idea for this strange towel, this piece of cloth that's worn as a sign of office or of ordination. This is what it means.”

43s

“Then I thought, no. Actually, spiritual sacrifice is saying, here's something that I can do. It'd be a lot easier if I just kinda kept it inside and kept it to myself. But, no, I feel this urge and this move of the spirit, this prodding, this pushing me forward in ministry to offer myself and my gifts and my abilities. That's living bricks being built into a spiritual house, offering spiritual sacrifices, being the kind of people in the spirit of Jesus that we can be.”

51s

“All of you are intercessors. You are somehow or another strategically placed by god between something broken in the world and some healing god wants to do, and it goes through you. In a word or a deed or a ministry or an idea as of yet even unborn or maybe just now beginning to take shape in your heart and your mind. All of it is what Peter calls spiritual sacrifices. I've thought about that for a long time. I thought spiritual sacrifices. You mean like getting up early and getting down there to church to hear the same old preacher week in and week out. That's a sacrifice. Spiritual sacrifices. Digging deep and putting a little money in the plate or or or giving online or however you choose to do it. Spiritual sacrifice.”

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Bartlesville First United Methodist Church This sermon · AI assistant

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Bartlesville First United May 17, 2026 "A Random Brick, A Strange Towel, and Last Week's List

Devotional

Day 1: Living Stones in God’s House

Day 2: The Towel of Service

Day 3: Bricks and Broken Places

Day 4: Groaning Prayers, Growing Grace

Day 5: Cotton’s Prayer for Priests

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Bartlesville First United May 17, 2026 "A Random Brick, A Strange Towel, and Last Week's List

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