Who's in Charge - Pastor Mark Pratt

Devotional

Day 1: When Cowboy Boots Can’t Hide the Heart

The story of a friend’s desperate costume changes reveals our human tendency to perform for belonging. True community isn’t about external markers or curated identities. Like the lame man healed at the temple gates, we’re called to bring our brokenness, not our disguises, to Christ. The church isn’t a club requiring specific attire, but a family shaped by Christ’s work, not ours. What binds us isn’t shared hobbies or heritage, but shared redemption. [00:26]

“In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:22, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been wearing “cowboy boots” to fit in with others, even subtly hiding your struggles? How might embracing your true identity in Christ free you to love others without pretense?

Day 2: The Stone That Builders Threw Away

Peter’s bold declaration to the religious leaders cuts through superficial spirituality: salvation comes only through the rejected Christ. Like the temple builders dismissing the cornerstone, we often prefer human-approved paths to God. Yet Jesus—the cast-off stone—holds the entire structure of grace together. Our community isn’t held up by moral resumes, but by the crucified One who turns our exclusion into belonging. [07:20]

“Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else.” (Acts 4:11-12, ESV)

Reflection: When have you been tempted to add “but I also…” to Jesus’ finished work? How does His singular role as cornerstone challenge your people-pleasing or self-reliance?

Day 3: Grabbing the Hand in the Falling Elevator

Christ’s rescue isn’t a gentle suggestion but a lifeline in freefall. Like the terrified woman in Speed, we’re called to stop clinging to crumbling supports and grip His grace. The church gathers those pulled from destruction, not those who climbed out alone. Our shared testimony isn’t “look how I jumped” but “He grabbed me”—a unity forged in desperate dependence. [13:38]

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works.” (Ephesians 2:8-9, ESV)

Reflection: What “elevator” of self-salvation are you still nervously standing in? How might sharing your rescue story deepen connections with fellow believers?

Day 4: Living Stones in a Souvenir Shop World

Ancient temples boasted marble and gold, but God’s temple now walks in work boots and yoga pants. Like mismatched stones being shaped into a cathedral, our differences display Christ’s unifying power. The world sells disposable community, but we’re cemented by blood-bought covenant. Every awkward conversation, every forgiven offense becomes mortar declaring God’s presence. [17:43]

“You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house.” (1 Peter 2:5, ESV)

Reflection: Which relationship at church feels most like “rubble” to you? How might Christ’s role as cornerstone redefine that person’s place in your spiritual house?

Day 5: When the Temple Floor is Sticky with Failure

The church’s beauty isn’t in polished perfection but in grace-filled repair. Like Peter’s public failure and restoration, our community practices resurrection by scrubbing grout lines of gossip, repainting walls with forgiveness. Every conflict navigated in love becomes a fresco of Christ’s patience. We’re not a museum of saints but a construction site where the Spirit keeps remodeling. [23:34]

“Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:2-3, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been avoiding the “construction zone” of authentic relationships? How might bearing with someone’s mess this week reveal Christ’s ongoing work in you both?

Sermon Summary

Paul names the church the body of Christ with Christ as the head, and a holy temple with Jesus as the cornerstone. Those images answer two live questions: how anyone gets in and how this life together holds. Peter and John, in Acts 3–4, show the doorway. Peter says to the lame man, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk,” and then announces to the rulers, “Salvation is found in no one else.” The man moves from outside the gate to “walking and leaping” inside, and the gospel moves him from far to near. Christ does the same in Ephesians 2, not by marks “done by human hands,” but by blood that brings near.

The cross, not attendance or behavior, ends boasting. Paul’s contrast between circumcision and uncircumcision shifts the center from human conformity to God’s action in Christ. Jesus is not narrow like a club’s dress code; Jesus is saving like a rescue rope and life-giving like a doctor’s only cure. The church, then, is not an affinity group but a redeemed people.

The cornerstone sets the lines. The foundation of the apostles and prophets fixes the contours of the building, and Jesus holds it all together. The temple image relocates God’s presence from one mountain to a people in every place. Each believer becomes “a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit,” and together the building rises to show God’s glory where people actually live.

Christ himself keeps the peace. Paul says he “has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility,” creating “one new man” and reconciling both to God through the cross. That peace has to be practiced whenever offenses come. The church will fail and falter, but the cross gives the pattern for repentance, forgiveness, and repair.

The body follows the Head. Scripture is the way the Head’s voice is heard, so the Bible shapes boundaries, grace, and next steps. As Barth put it, the Head fills the body with life and direction. The call stands wide open: come to Jesus for life, then walk with him inside a particular body where his Spirit teaches love, service, and perseverance.

Key Takeaways

1. Only Jesus grants true entrance Salvation is not earned by attendance, heritage, or effort. The door swings on one name because only one death and resurrection can move a person from far to near. That exclusivity is mercy, not meanness, because it actually saves. Life begins where his hand is taken. [08:09]
2. The cornerstone defines the whole A building takes its lines from the cornerstone, and a church takes its shape from Christ. Preferences and cultural markers cannot carry that weight. When Jesus sets the angles, the community holds together without forcing sameness. Alignment beats imitation. [17:14]
3. Peace gets practiced, not presumed Christ already killed the hostility at the cross, but that peace must be worked out in offense, repair, and patient love. A church is not credible because it never fails, but because it repents fast and reconciles honestly. The gospel makes peacemaking a normal rhythm. [24:25]
4. Scripture tunes the body to the Head If Christ is the Head, his Word is the tuning fork. Scripture does not replace Jesus, it reveals him and sets the community’s tempo, boundaries, and grace. Daily attention to his voice creates shared instincts that outlast trends and preferences. [28:37]
5. The local church is the living temple God’s presence no longer sits in one address; it lives in a people built together. A congregation becomes a visible sign that God is near, not because it is impressive, but because his Spirit dwells there. Ordinary stones shine when the Cornerstone holds them. [18:11]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:26] - Cowboy hat and fitting in
[02:42] - From strangers to God’s family
[03:23] - Body and temple metaphors
[04:30] - Entrance: Acts 3–4 healing
[08:09] - Salvation in Jesus’ name alone
[09:42] - From far to near in Christ
[10:07] - Not by human hands or works
[12:17] - Narrow or saving? Rescue and cure
[15:19] - Local church and true life
[17:14] - Built on apostles, Christ the cornerstone
[18:11] - A holy temple everywhere
[22:09] - Facing failure and reconciliation
[24:25] - He himself is our peace
[26:36] - Scripture, Head, and daily following

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Ephesians 2:11–22 (ESV)
Acts 3:1–4:12 (ESV)

Observation questions

In Acts 3–4, what specific action did Peter take to heal the lame man, and how did the religious leaders respond to this miracle?
According to Ephesians 2:14–16, what did Jesus destroy through His death on the cross, and what was His purpose in doing so?
The sermon mentions that the church is compared to a temple built on a cornerstone. What does Ephesians 2:20–22 say about the foundation and purpose of this temple?

Interpretation questions

Why does Peter emphasize that salvation is found “in no one else” except Jesus (Acts 4:12)? How does this contrast with other ways people might try to earn acceptance or belonging?
The metaphor of Jesus as the “cornerstone” (Ephesians 2:20) implies alignment rather than uniformity. What does this suggest about how differences among believers can coexist in the church?
Ephesians 2:19–22 describes believers as “a dwelling place for God.” How does this redefine the idea of “God’s presence” compared to the Old Testament temple system?

Application questions

Salvation is described as taking Jesus’ hand like a rescue rope rather than earning it through behavior. What are practical ways you might be tempted to rely on “church attendance” or good deeds instead of Christ alone? How can you actively shift that focus?
The church is called to practice peace through repentance and forgiveness. Think of a recent conflict or offense in your life. How could the “pattern of the cross” (repentance, forgiveness, repair) guide your next steps?
Scripture is compared to a “tuning fork” for aligning with Christ. What daily habit could you adopt to better listen to God’s Word and let it shape your decisions or relationships?
If the local church is a “living temple” displaying God’s presence, how does this change the way you view your role in serving or loving others in your congregation?
The sermon warns against treating the church like an affinity group. Are there cultural preferences or traditions in your church that might unintentionally exclude others? How can you prioritize Christ-centered unity over personal comfort?

Sermon Clips

54s

“We are all sick. We are all in this place where we are heading towards death. We're in an elevator that's about to fall and Jesus reaches out his hand and says, come, take my hand. And when we do, we step from death into life, from being people who are far away from god to now being near. Not because of anything we've done but because of what Jesus has done and when he saves us, we become part of this community become part of the church and it's not just the church, this idea, this ephemeral idea in the heavens. We become part of something very specific and local, the local church.”

52s

“With Jesus Christ as the very cornerstone, the most important piece of the building. of the building. The peace that if it didn't exist, the whole thing would come crashing down. It's in him that the whole building is joined together and rises to become a a holy temple in the lord. So, we're we're joined together not by common language or dress or racial or ethnic markers or anything else. But through Jesus Christ and now, instead of a temple in Jerusalem on Mount Zion where god's present had been with his people for thousands of years, god's presence is in the midst of his people, in the midst of his community.”

46s

“If you look at verse 22, each of us has become a dwelling in which god lives by his spirit. You cannot find that anywhere else except in Jesus Christ. At the risk of belaboring it, let me recap. We who are once far away are now near. We who are once walking a path of death and destruction have in Jesus Christ been lifted out of that death and destruction and brought near to god and he has put us in a specific place, a specific community that is a picture of his holy temple.”

46s

“So, that neither side can brag. We read that together so that neither side can brag or boast about being reconciled to god through their own works. Verse 16, they're reconciled by the cross. We are reconciled by the cross. If there's any action that we have taken in the whole process, the Bible tells us that it's our sin that put him on the cross. That he went there for us. Because we needed saving and that was the way in which we would be saved and it is only because of Jesus's work on the cross that I have access to the father.”

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Who's in Charge - Pastor Mark Pratt - Sermon May 31 2026