Grits and the Gospel - August 23, 2026

Hello friends and welcome to this week's episode of growths in the gospel. My name is Reverend Katie Griffiths It is really good to be with you today on this 13th lucky 13 13 Sunday after Pentecost. I hope that you Are not as bored as Maggie seems to be We are having a great morning here at the house and so I'm hoping That they will be as Unassuming as possible today as we hear their sermon. It is a beautiful day I hope where you are. It is also a beautiful day as we come together and worship The Lord be with you and also with you today's Old Testament lesson is from the prophet Isaiah We are in the 51st chapter verses 1 through 6 Hear now the word of the Lord Listen to me You who pursue righteousness you who seek the Lord Look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you for he was but one who? When called when I called him, but I blessed him and made him many For the Lord will comfort Zion. He will comfort all Her waste places and will make her wilderness like Eden her desert like the garden of the Lord Joy and gladness will be found in her thanksgiving and the voice of song Listen to me my people and give heed to me My nation for a teaching will go out from me and my justice for a light to the peoples I'll bring near my deliverance swiftly. My salvation has gone out and my arms Will rule the peoples the coastlands wait for me and for my arm they hope Lift up your eyes to the heaven and look at the earth beneath for the heavens will vanish like smoke The earth will wear out like a garment and those who live on it will die like gnats but my salvation will be forever and My deliverance will never be ended Thus ends the first reading Let us say now those words that Define our faith that describe that solid foundational belief that we have in God Friends, what do we believe? I? believe in God the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth and in Jesus Christ his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit born of the Virgin Mary Suffered under Pontius Pilate was crucified dead and buried the third day. He rose from the dead He ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty From this he shall come to judge the quick and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit The Holy Catholic Church The Communion of Saints the forgiveness of sins the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting I'm in Let us pray together dear Lord we come to you today just so humbled That this faith that we have today is the faith of Millennia of many thousands of years of our forefathers and mothers and that this faith This foundation of white and love and justice is the same faith that will last to the ends of the earth Hear us now as we pray those words that your son our Savior and bedrock and foundation of joy and hope and love Taught us to pray our father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespassed against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil for that is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever amen Today's gospel lesson comes from the gospel according to Matthew. We're in the 16th chapter verses 13 through 20 here now the word of the Lord Now when Jesus came to the district of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples. Who do you say the son of man is and they said Some say John the Baptist, but others say Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets But who do you say I am? Simon Peter to answered you are the Messiah the son of the living God and Jesus answered him blessed are you Simon son of Jonah? for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven and I tell you you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and whatever You loose on earth will be loosed in heaven Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone That he was the Messiah the Word of God for us the people of God Thanks be to God Would you pray with me? Do Lord this message this foundation of faith is such a precious gift that you give us let us Be good stewards of that gift as we hear your word today Let it be an inspiration to those who hear it like it was for me to receive it Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be acceptable in my sight. Oh Lord our strength in our Redeemer amen September 18th 1793 the cornerstone of the capital the US Capitol was laid by President George Washington There was a big ceremony a lot of pop and pomp and circumstance surrounding the laying of the stone It was a momentous occasion for a lot of reasons The country was still young The founding fathers were starting to piece together The governmental ideals ideals and our buildings It was important symbolically and literally The tools that the Freemasons used to lay that cornerstone were kept sacred and used to lay the foundations of many other buildings around DC The White House has a similar story its cornerstone was laid in 1792 and the building was not finished until 1800 When Adams first occupied the home our favorite first lady Abigail blessed the house with these ironic and prophetic words I Pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it May none but wise men ever rule under this roof There's a lot of irony in that statement Although she was a better politician and certainly known to be smarter than her husband She assumes it will be a man that will rule this country And she knew we needed the prayer for wise men to occupy the house foundations Are important? foundations for buildings keep them stable Foundations of health and wellness keep our bodies functioning Foundations of organizations and businesses and governments help them run smoothly When we lay a good foundation any storm that comes along or any fire that burned down the White House in the war of 1812 Means that can still be survived Jesus knew that about the church as well not just the early church for the church that would last thousands of years Of years The foundation of the church is the answer to one simple question Jesus asked the disciples, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered you were the messiah the son of the living god God That one idea that one belief that one simple statement is the cornerstone The bedrock the foundation that our faith and the entire church is built on That's not what un if that is not what is underlying in every decision every structuring every mission project to the church Then it is not built on a firm foundation and it is at risk for failure And while peter was the rock of the early church, I think it is his belief And not just peter the person That is the rock of the church that jesus speaks of the example of his faith The acknowledgement of jesus as messiah that continues to be the foundation that jesus was speaking of the church today Today Jesus says on this rock. I will build my church and the gates of hades will not prevail against it I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven Whenever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven If we keep our faith rooted and founded in the belief that jesus is the messiah And the son of the living god Hell will not overtake us We will be given the keys to the kingdom See that it does not say that hades will not try to overtake us Jesus just says that it will not win Jesus often refers back to familiar Jewish teachings when he speaks to the believers of his time They would have gotten the reference easily It would have been like me using an example of the andy griffa show or gun smoke Stories that americans would recognize and understand from our early days of television We see jesus do that in our scripture today The asaia text is clearly reflected in his words in our gospel lesson Isaiah 51 one says listen to me you who pursue righteousness You who seek the lord? And look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the quarry from which you were dug It is that pursuit of righteousness and acknowledging and seeking the lord that we see reflected in the words of peter in the response of jesus When jesus calls peter's faith the rock jesus is referring back to this text That speaks of the foundation of faith for the people of israel But since jesus is the new covenant the idea that the rock represents needs to shift We see in verse six of that chapter that isaiah prophesies Lift up your eyes to the heavens and look to the earth beneath for the heavens will vanish like smoke The earth will wear out like a garment And those who live on it will die like gnats But my salvation will be forever and my deliverance will never be ended We in south georgia Can totally get the gnat reference We wish they would all die And on earth things will wear out and change the covenant made with abraham will Be changed to the new covenant with jesus But salvation and deliverance that we seek from god will be that bedrock and cornerstone of our faith and will never end God is still at the heart of the foundation The lord was at the center of the jewish faith the lord is at the center of our christian faith in the person of jesus The bedrock is there the cornerstone is not changing the rock of our foundation Is immovable I sure do love abigail adams And I love the idealized prayer that she had for the white house I wonder what she would think of the renovations that have been done recently I wonder what she would have to say about the gold leaf and deconstruction and construction She was there for the first build. I wonder how this compares The white house and the capital buildings have changed tremendously since they were first built The capital has not too long ago finished a major renovation of the visitor experience The white house has undergone major renovation since it was first constructed Wings were added and torn down again gold leaf has been painted on anything that will stand still But the cornerstone remains steadfast and intact on both buildings and hopefully Hopefully In the ideology that was the reason our country was founded in first place The same cornerstones laid by freemasons and slaves and immigrants All blessed by our first president Are still there as a reminder of idea of what ideals this country has stood for for 250 years The church has changed a lot since peter was told he would be its foundation The buildings we meet in the hymns we sing the theology we hold dear as united methodist has evolved And changed and grown over the years But the cornerstone the bedrock The main reason that we meet together in worship Is exactly the same I have a very small collection of united methodist books of discipline As time has gone on we've had we have made a lot of rules and declarations There are now two volumes where one small book was originally used The words around our doctrine have changed they have updated the history of the church and changed the preamble Yes, the book of discipline is very much like reading our u.s constitution You can tell a lot about the state of the church by the words around the basic belief of the united methodist church You can see in the 1960 constitution of the methodist church the plan to unify the methodist the methodist episcopal Church the methodist episcopal Church south and the methodist protestant church In 1960 you can imagine what the major issue of was of the time and why there was a methodist episcopal church south The unification would not officially happen until 1968 The preamble from the 2020-2024 Book of discipline and we all know why there were two and one thanks to covid That book of discipline begins with the words the church is a community of all true believers under the lordship of christ Those three words all true believers give all of us a glimpse Of what the church was struggling with most recently the constitution The articles of religion and the discipline are all still at the heart of the document But just like the church shifted dramatically at the time of jesus the cornerstone remained the same seeking god Believing in god and that jesus as part of the trinity Is the savior remains the same The package of the human form of jesus may have shifted the covenant But at its heart it has still been the same it has always been the foundation is always there How we apply it to our current times may look very different than it did for the early believers I doubt they called it camp meeting or friends giving fellowship or sunday school They certainly didn't have stained glass and choir lofts or nursery rooms But we all worship the same god For millennia in the past and for millennia to come the foundation of faith is exactly the same Supporting the growth and change That is happening all around it is the idea that god is our creator Jesus is our savior and the spirit is our hope As we move forward to the next millennia Let us all remember that bedrock of our faith As we look to create a church that stays true to the foundation And moves forward in love amen As we go throughout our week Let us remember the rock the bedrock that our church was founded on that belief in god and that jesus is our messiah and savior And let us look to share that through our actions And the love that we give Because in life In death in life beyond death god is with us We are not alone Thanks be to god. Amen