Nehemiah 4:6-7, 13-15
“So we rebuilt the wall till all of it reached half its height, for the people worked with all their heart.  But when [the officials] heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry…Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest point of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families, with their swords, spears and bows.  After I looked things over, I stood up and said to…the people, ‘Don’t be afraid of them.  Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.’  When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work.”

1 Peter 2:4-5a
“As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…”

Jude 1:20-21
“But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.  Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”

Lord God, you are the rock that breathes upon us and encompasses us with love.

When you are our foundation we take our life from you, and your love, like animated mortar, joins us to our brothers and sisters.

Build us into a worthy home for your Spirit, holy and beautiful.  Give us the courage to repair the enemy’s damage and fight for our spiritual family.

All this we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, our living Stone, who rose from death’s rubble as the rock of our salvation.

Listen to ‘For All the Saints’ featuring Dan Haseltine