Small Group Discussion Guide
“Think about something you've tried to build, a piece of furniture, a relationship, a project, a habit, that didn't turn out the way you hoped.”
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Pastor JP Pokluda draws from 1 Peter 2:4-5 to show that Jesus Christ is the cornerstone on which Harris Creek is built, and that the church itself is made of people, living stones, transformed by the gospel. He argues that cultural relevance, comfort, and tradition make poor foundations, while Christ alone produces lasting change. The message is illustrated through baptisms of members whose lives have been visibly reshaped by faith in Jesus.
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7 pieces open to read · 18 more unlock with your own sermon
Six sermon moments, automatically clipped, subtitled, and sized for Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube Shorts.
Unlock with your sermon →“Think about something you've tried to build, a piece of furniture, a relationship, a project, a habit, that didn't turn out the way you hoped.”
Open the discussion guide →Scroll-stopping captions, strategic hashtags, and posting strategy with best times to share.
Unlock with your sermon →“Pastor JP said that an isolated stone is worthless. What does this illustrate about how God's people are meant to live?”
Take the sermon quiz →“Peter is saying: that temple was just a preview. You are the real thing. God no longer dwells in a building made of stone; he dwells in a community made of people.”
Open the deep study guide →Algorithm-optimized posts with discussion prompts built to spark comments and reach beyond your followers.
Unlock with your sermon →“Peter's radical claim is that the true temple is not a building at all, but a community of people. This democratizes both access to God (every believer is a priest) and the location of God's presence (wherever the community gathers).”
Start the individual study →Ready-to-post messages written in the pastor's authentic voice. Copy, paste, connect.
Unlock with your sermon →“We're building something here at Harris Creek. And I don't mean a building. Yes, there's a physical structure coming, right where many of you were sitting during Family Reunion.”
Read the pastor's blog post →“He made it practical and pointed: "What are you thinking about when you're driving down the road? That will tell me what you believe about God.”
Read the guest perspective →Talking points that let elders, deacons, and volunteer leaders share Sunday's message from their own accounts.
Unlock with your sermon →“What I want you to know is that God is building something here at Harris Creek. And he's not using brick and mortar. He's using you.”
See the golden moments →Fine-tune any piece, regenerate with one click, and send devotionals straight to your congregation's inboxes.
Unlock with your sermon →The cornerstone is the first and foundational stone everything else aligns to. This sermon teaches that Harris Creek builds nothing on cultural trends, comfort, or preference, only on Jesus Christ. Every ministry, marriage, and life group must align with him, because any other foundation will eventually crumble.
This sermon explains baptism as an outward declaration of an inward transformation already done by God. Like cucumbers becoming pickles, believers are fundamentally changed. Baptism publicly announces that change, it is the sign and symbol that God has transformed a person, not the cause of that transformation.
The sermon teaches that Christians are 'living stones' whose daily lives are spiritual sacrifices. How you argue, parent, pursue purity, and treat coworkers all reflect your faith. What you think about when alone reveals what you truly believe, and a transformed life looks noticeably different from the world around you.
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