The Stones That the Builders Rejected

The “Stone that the builders rejected” Project is not "church", but
an active, revolutionary new way of life. The name stems from the scripture
Mark 12:10. "The stone that the builders rejected has become the
cornerstone”.

We are non-denominational and we believe in living like Jesus and

His disciples lived, not just talking about it, not just preaching it, but living
it! In other word's, making a difference in the lives we touch. We know that
God meets you wherever you’re at and in whatever state you’re in. We have
not arrived and we are all arriving. Jesus hung out with and dwelled with the
lowly, the dejected, the sinners, the homeless.

We all come from the gutter and are living, breathing, walking
testimonies of the power of GOD!

Mark 2:16
When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with
the "sinners" and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: "Why does he eat
with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" On hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is
not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the
righteous, but sinners."

Luke 19:10
"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost."
 CORE BELIEFS AND VALUES

Our project beliefs center around eleven biblical foundational

truths:
Creation - All people are created in the image of God. Gen. 1:26

The fall of Mankind - Everyone has suffered, in all aspects of their

humanity due to the fall of mankind into sin. Romans 6:23

Redemption - Jesus Christ paid the cost of our sin by being obedient to
death on our behalf that we may be forgiven and restored to fellowship
with God. Col. 1:19-20

New Life in Christ - Christ was raised from the dead that we too may have
new life, living. We see the redemptive works of God in the spiritual,
physical, mental, and social life of humanity. We also see the redeeming
power of the Gospel affecting individuals, their communities, and larger
social systems (i.e., government). Therefore, our core values address life
holistically.

Teamwork – We have different gifts, but we work together in

community because we believe in partnerships with Christ as the head.
We are collaboratively one body with many parts that need each
other. Rom. 12:4-6

Pursuit of Excellence – We see our job as a calling to minister therefore

we seek to do it in a way that glorifies God, using our talents to achieve
quality standards and developing people in their fields. We value
sacrificial service that is, giving more than we receive. Col. 3:23-24

Stewardship – We will be accountable to God and our Board of

Directors, and we will be mutually accountable to each other for our time,
talents and treasure. We seek to provide a good return on the investment our
donors have made in “The stone that the builders rejected” Ministries.
 Relationships – We care for and about people, and we will invest the
time and energy required to maintain good relationships. Relational
ministry with those we serve and with each other is a theme throughout
all aspects of “The stone that the builders rejected” Project.

Col. 3:12-14

Teachability – We seek to grow in humility, keeping an open heart and

mind to improvement. We strive to give God the glory for any success,
and not be consumed with whom gets the credit. Is. 50:4-5

Transformation – We believe in personal, family and community

transformation. We want to be agents for change on all three levels,
(mind, body, and spirit) using the power of the Gospel as the basis.

2 Cor. 3:18

Discipleship – We seek to be disciplined learners and followers of

Jesus Christ, maintaining a steadfast commitment to the Lord. Luke 14:33
“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot
be my disciple”. Rom. 6:4 “We were buried therefore with him by baptism
into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory
of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life”.

We can't do everything but we do everything we can!

"Love others!" Jesus summed up all of God's commandments with two of
them:

To love God, and love your neighbor as yourself. This is what we call the
"Law of Love."

We can and should fulfill the Law of Love by going out of our way to
help others. "Who is my neighbor?" they asked Him. And with the story of
the Good Samaritan, He tried to show them that it is anyone who needs our
help, regardless of their race, creed, color, nationality, or condition!

Romans 12:2
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that
which is good and acceptable and perfect.
 We try to give people the scriptural foundation and understanding of
the basic principles of the Law of Love that they should love God and love
others. The main purpose of this is to motivate them to put love into action
in their daily lives by reaching out to the needy. Another aim is to inspire
people to fulfill their God-given responsibilities regarding giving and
helping others.

By joining together people from all walks of life who are interested in
redeeming the community, we believe that we are marrying together
something that represents the bigger Kingdom of God -- incarnational
leaders who actually move into the neighborhood, indigenous leaders who
already live there, and neighbors who "move in" spiritually through prayer,
encouragement and financial support.
Our primary objective is to rebuild, rehabilitate, and empower people
into becoming tax paying, hard working citizens that contribute to their
community. And to do this we need “A hand up, and not a hand out”!

What we say and do to encourage each other or to help each other

through the good times and bad, can easily make the difference in whether
or not we have a good day or a good week. It can sometimes be a key in the
success or failure of an idea, a plan or a project. I’m sure we can all think of
times when someone has encouraged us, and hopefully we can all think of
something we recently said or did that was an encouragement to someone
else.

Von Goethe said, “Correction does much, but encouragement does

more.” The Centre for Confidence and Well-Being reports that Professor
Barbara Fredrickson has studied and developed a theory of positive emotion
which indicates that positive emotion has the capacity to encourage well-
being and “human flourishing.” She says that when we are experiencing
positive emotions, we are able to build personal resources to help us cope
with adversity, undo the affects of stress, and encourage resilience.

So go out there and encourage someone today! You might just be

surprised to find out that you are encouraged because you encouraged
someone else. We all need it... the Bible says to do it (“encourage one
another daily” Heb 3:13) ... and who knows, you might just make a
difference in another person’s life!

God bless,