Louie Giglio - A Chip Off the Old Block (09/20/2025)
If you have a Bible today, I would encourage you just to hold it in your hand. You might say, «That’s my phone, Louis.» Okay, great! If you have your Bible on your phone today, just open it up. If you have your word, just hold it in your hand today. It’s not so much that we’re worshiping the Bible; we’re just recognizing that it’s alive today. In these few weeks together, we’re journeying through the book of 1 Peter, asking God to bring it to life in us. So, Lord, we come again today in thanksgiving. Thank you that we’re not left to whatever someone says about our lives, but we have your word. I ask you, by the power of your Spirit, to stir it up in us today. I know sermons can only do so much, but your word brings the dead to life. So, will you allow this word to do what you sent it to do today to complete in every one of us who are under it and in it today, to fully do all of that in our hearts. We’re trusting you to do it, in Jesus' name, amen.
1 Peter is an encouragement to people who are in the fire. Is anybody in the fire today? Okay, great! So, no one here will be encouraged, but someone else maybe online will be encouraged because you’re in the fire. We’re good here. You should come to Cumberland; no one there is in the fire. If you’re in suffering, in a valley or a difficult stretch, if things aren’t adding up, or if you’re being squeezed by the culture because you’re choosing to walk in the truth of God’s ways, this letter is written to you. And the hope of this letter is for each one of us to remember that there’s going to be a great rejoicing, that we have in a locked box in heaven an inheritance, which is being watched over by God himself today, which is incorruptible. Our best day is still to come! See, that’s not just some catchy little church phrase; it means if you’re not home in heaven yet, you haven’t experienced your best day. You might say, «Oh no, no, that trip to Tuscany, nothing’s going to beat that.» Oh, you wait until you step onto the shores of heaven; it’s going to blow Tuscany out of the water. You think, «No, no, there was that Super Bowl where we had the box seats; that was pretty great.» No, no, when you see Jesus, you’ll say, «Super Bowl? Are you kidding me? Lady Gaga jumped off the top of Mercedes Stadium; that was it!»
There is going to be a great rejoicing. Thank you, Crowder from «American Prodigal.» I listened to it so loud coming here today that it hurt my ears, much less the people sitting next to me at the red light, who were thinking, «What is that guy listening to in his car?» I was listening to «Great Rejoicing.» I was putting my mind into the future, moving past Sunday, and realizing that my best day is still ahead. And it’s not just someday; it’s a place where God has got my inheritance locked down. It can’t be stolen; it cannot be thwarted, it cannot be diluted. And if I put my hope in that, trust in that, and my faith in that, I’m going to stand in the great rejoicing. That’s why Peter can be summarized like this: it’s holding on to your confidence in God’s promised outcome, even while going through fiery trials so you can live with abundant grace and peace, showing the lost world around you how great God is.
This is how God is using trials, suffering, and difficulty in our lives. Even in this day, most of you know that maybe my favorite place on planet Earth is Mount Rainier in the state of Washington. Some of you have been there, someone heard me talk about it, so they sent me and Shelly a set of glasses. When I opened the glasses, I was like, «Cool! No one’s ever sent me glasses before; that’s pretty awesome!» But then I realized I was unwrapping them and they were wrapped in paper that was a topographical map of Mount Rainier. So the tissue around these things made me think, «Oh, that’s pretty cool.» Then I realized that Mount Rainier is at the bottom of the glass. You might think, «Oh, that’s cool.» No, that’s really cool! In my eyes, that’s a banner day!
What that means is that on any given afternoon, especially with the weather we’ve had these last few days, I can sit out on my porch and make a refreshing beverage. In this case, it’s going to be cran-apple, and we’re living large over the weekend, so we did cran-apple with a little hit of Perrier. I probably would have gone with San Pellegrino, but—oh, it’s Sunday morning, or else we would have had that little slice of lime right on top, stirred it up. But check that out, people! That’s sitting on the patio! Oh, that’s pretty great! Does anyone else think that’s great, or are you like, «No, we just had a solo cup; it was fine; it all worked out good?» Mount Rainier’s glistening in my glass!
As soon as I received the glasses, being me, I went online to the website to see who makes these glasses. It turns out these people are pretty into it. These artisans, each of these is handcrafted; it takes several days to make them. In fact, I read this on the website: «Making hand-blown glass takes years of experience in a totally custom process; it takes more than 15 steps over the course of two days to make just one of our glasses.» This process is repeated hundreds of times a day by our team of artisans for our patented designs. Then the best part of the website was a video of them actually making the glasses.
I thought, «Oh, this is so great. These are hand-blown glasses!» And these artisans have got these long pipes, and at the end of them is a glob of liquefied glass. To get glass liquefied, it has to be between 2,300 and 2,800 degrees. So, they’re sticking this blob on the end of the tube into a furnace, coming out glowing orange. Now they’re shaping, blowing; finally, when they get it just right, they stamp it down onto the Mount Rainier stamp, they bring it up, they cut the top of the glass; it goes into a process where a lady with a blowtorch is blowing around the edges and smoothing them so that I can put this up to my lips, and I think, «This is beautiful and amazing!»
I love sitting out on the patio and enjoying the craftsmanship, but to get there, this glass had to go through the fire so you could see the impression of the mountain. And God is saying, «Hey, this is how it works in life.» I think everybody would understand that I’m starting with some raw materials here, and I want the world to see Jesus in you. Therefore, there will 100% be trials in your life. There’s definitely going to be a process in your life, and it’s not because I’m against you; it’s because I’m very much for you. My desire is that as you’re waiting for that appointed day—the best day of your life—you can become a reflection of who I am to the world. Because we are scattered, we learned in 1 Peter, and we are strangers; we learned in 1 Peter, meaning we’re living next door to people who don’t get it. We’re purposefully placed by God in proximity with people who do not have faith in Christ. Why? So they can see in us what God is forming and understand how they too can view their lives in a relationship with Almighty God. This is the possible outcome of our lives, and it’s what God wants to do in you. That’s what he wants to do in me. To say, «Well, I would like that, but I definitely do not want to be in a furnace at any point in time,» is to contradict the very process of everything precious that we have in our lives.
So, how do we get from here to there, and how do we live with the confidence that God is using the fiery trials in our lives for a better outcome? We do it, as 1 Peter told us, by knowing who we are and why we are. 1 Peter 2:9 states: «But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.» For there was a time when we were not a people, but now we are the people of God. There was a day we had not obtained mercy, but now we have obtained mercy.
We know who we are and why we are, but there’s some encouragement in this text where we landed last week that lets us know how we navigate from here to there. The first thing I want us to see today is that we are built on an indestructible rock, and that’s how we move through these days. It’s not you and me trying to find the strength to make it through the fiery trials, the testing, and the difficulty, but in the midst of it all, we are built on or connected to an indestructible rock.
Verse four of chapter two says, «As you come to him, the living stone,» and we know now we’re talking about Jesus, «rejected by men, but chosen by God and precious to him. You, also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: 'See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, ' and here’s the payoff: 'The one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.'» So, Peter is placing our feet and our lives on an indestructible cornerstone. He’s saying, «Yes, it’s going to be difficult in the journey. There’s going to be a lot of persecution for the believer; there are going to be suffering and trials in this life. But remember, you’re being built on a living stone—the living stone—the cornerstone.»
Now, remember the audience: Jewish believers primarily. They, in their heritage, actually built temples—not spiritual houses of worship, but literal houses of worship. They knew about cornerstones and stones upon stones, and they understood the architectural value of that anchor stone, which would give a marker in direction and the weight and significance, if you will, for the entire building. What he’s saying is that all along the way they were waiting for the cornerstone. Jesus appeared, and they said, «Oh no, no, he’s not a good enough cornerstone for us.» The builders, who’d been waiting to slot in the most valuable part of the building of God, looked at Jesus and said, «He’s not going to be good enough.» But the one that they said wasn’t good enough, God said, «No, he’s actually not just going to be any stone; he’s going to be the capstone, if you will, the cornerstone of it all.»
That’s how it is going to be today. Jesus is either going to be a cornerstone for you today, or he’s going to be a stumbling block for you. Because at the end of the day, every human being is either going to be saved or lost based on Jesus. It doesn’t matter what you think about the church or some denomination that your family was a part of, or the leadership of the last thing you were connected to, or what you believe about organized religion, or whether you believe there’s a million ways to God or one way to God or there is faith or no faith. The only thing that matters today is who you think Jesus is. Because either this word is worthless, or this word is clarifying. Today, everyone gets an option; you can either have a cornerstone or a stumbling block.
That’s how the text goes on to read. If you look in verse seven, it says, «Now to you who believe this stone is precious.» That’s why we’re singing these songs, by the way, because the stone is precious. The word precious here doesn’t mean cute; it means valuable, that it’s dear, that it’s worth a lot to us. So, we believe that the stone is precious, but to those who do not believe, «The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone, and a stone that causes men to stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.» They stumble because they disobey the message, which is also what they were destined for.
So, Jesus is the central story. And I just want to bring it back since we have people around the world on every continent and in multiple nations today with all kinds of backgrounds, and we’re all in church together right now, tens of thousands of us. I just wanted to bring the story back to Jesus. At the end of the day, it really only matters: who do you think Jesus is? Who do you say that I am? That’s what he asked his followers. And when he asked his followers that question, they said, «Well, you know, some people are saying this about you, and some people are saying that about you.» Jesus said, «No, I’m asking you, who do you say that I am?» What is Peter’s answer? Peter says, «I say that you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.» Jesus says, «Man, amazing! Great answer; you hit the nail on the head. I know you didn’t get this by flesh and blood, but the Spirit of God revealed that to you.» He then follows up—Jesus does—and he says, «You’re Peter, Petros, which means little broken-off stone, and on this rock, Petra, I’m going to build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.»
So see, all the stories are coming together. Cephas was his name; Simon was before that. Simon in Aramaic changed into Cephas and then into Peter in Greek. Now, Peter is saying you’re a sliver of the rock of the same rock, but I am the rock. You’re the Petros, and I’m the Petra. All this matters so that when you read in English «rock» and «rock,» you just see the same words. But when you read in Greek, you go, «Oh, you’re broken off of the rock, but I am the rock.» So, you’re a part of the rock, but I am the rock. And on the rock, I’m gonna build my church—not on you, but on me—and the gates of hell are not going to prevail against it. The cornerstone is the sure foundation, and you’re on him and connected to him. When Peter opens this letter with the word «Peter,» he’s giving us a preview of the entire message of 1 Peter: there is a cornerstone, and a sure foundation. When you woke up today, did you remember that you were connected to and built on an indestructible stone?
The second thing Peter wants you to see is that that stone is a living stone. That phrase, when it’s used in the New Testament, is an interesting use of words because obviously, there’s no such thing as a living stone. There is no living rock unless you’re talking about Petra, referring to Jesus. So what is Peter wanting us to take away from that today? We’re not a part of dead religion; we’re a part of a living Savior. We’re not a part of something cold and immovable, something that can’t see or feel or breathe. The culture is filled with those kinds of stones. Put yourself in the mindset of a pagan city where a believer has been scattered, where there would be other places of worship and many different viewpoints, as there were all through the history of humanity, and a lot of them were carved out of rock.
No one ever said about them, «On that rock, that one that you carved into that idol, I’m going to build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.» On the contrary, God said, «You’ve got an idol; it has eyes, but it can’t see; it has ears, but it can’t hear; it has a mouth, but it can’t speak; it has hands, but they can’t reach out and touch you.» What is he saying? He’s saying, «Look for something to worship that is alive—something that can see you, hear you, speak to you, and breathe life into you; something that can reach out and touch your story with hands that can transform and change.» This stone, this cornerstone, oh, don’t get the idea that it’s just a cold rock at the edge of the wall; no, this rock is a living rock! Jesus himself, risen from the dead, is the cornerstone.
You say, «Well, why does all that really matter?» Well, Ezekiel was telling us in chapter 36 that God was going to take out a heart of stone and put in a heart of flesh. Our story wasn’t just about a list of beliefs; it was about a transformation whereby we come to life. I think that matters today when you go back to our opening statement: We’re holding on to our confidence in God’s promised outcome, even while going through fiery trials, so you can live with abundant grace and peace, showing the lost world around you how great God is.
So Peter is telling us, «You’re going to go in the fire. The outcome is going to be worth it, but you’re going to go in the fire.» Now he’s telling us, «But don’t worry; you’re standing on and built on and connected to an indestructible cornerstone.» But then he’s telling us something better: «Oh, and by the way, the stone you’re standing on is a living stone.» Which means, when you’re in the fire, he will be in the fire with you. Do you see how it all connects? Oh, come on, church! It’s just reading it and saying, «We’re just opening it up one more layer.» Okay, I’ll open it one more layer. And borrowing the words of our friends, there’s another in the fire! Whoa! When you go in the fiery furnace, when you’re put in the heat of the trial, you’re not in the heat of the trial by yourself, because your rock is a living rock!
When they put Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the furnace—seven times hotter than normal—Nebuchadnezzar said, «In fact, I want to read it for us, because it’s so amazing!» In Daniel chapter 3, Nebuchadnezzar, who’s the most powerful person you know on the planet at this moment, has the ability to tell people, «You’re going to bow down and worship this idol that I have made, and if you don’t, you’re gonna die.» These guys are precursors of 1 Peter, and they’re like, «Well, we don’t know whether or not we’re gonna die or not, but one thing we 100% know is we’re not going to worship that idol.» This is where we’re living in these days; we’re inching closer and closer day by day to moments in time where we’ll make the choice, as followers of Jesus Christ, «I’m not bowing down to that. I don’t know what the consequences are, but I have a higher allegiance to a living God!»
Now they’re in the fire, and I want you to notice what happens in this story. It says, «Verse 24: Then King Nebuchadnezzar leaped to his feet in amazement and asked his advisors, 'Weren’t there three men that we tied up and threw into the fire? ' They replied, 'Certainly, O King.' And then he said, 'Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed, and the fourth looks like a son of the gods! '» In other words, already in Daniel, we’re getting a preview of 1 Peter: You’re built on a rock that is immovable, and fortunately, it’s a living rock, so that when you’re scattered and strangers under suffering, living next door to people, getting treatment next door, living next to people who don’t believe in Jesus, when they see you in the fire, they will know there is another in the fire with you! Just like King Nebuchadnezzar, they’ll be able to say, «I thought there were three, but I’m sure I see four!» This is how the world ends up knowing that there is a greater God and a greater good.
That’s what Peter’s saying. When you fast forward over to chapter 2, after that core text that we read, he says, «Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans, though they accuse you of doing wrong; they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day that he visits us.»
The third thing Peter wants us to see—not only are we built on an indestructible rock, and thank God it’s a living stone so that there is another one in the fire with us—but he wants us to see that we’ve been brought to life or born again through Jesus, and we too now are living stones. We’re not the living stone, but you’re a living stone. Now, if your name is Livingstone today, you’re like, «Yes, this is a word from God! This is so amazing!» We are living stones; it says that right on the wall by our front door. We’re all living stones; we’ve all been brought to life. I know we talk about this all the time; it’s not new at Passion City Church: we go from death to life by the power of the Spirit when we put our faith in Jesus. But I want you to see that in this text in three ways.
Number one: You’ve been bought. These are all B-words: you’ve been bought. When God says, «You’re a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God,» you’re not belonging to God just because he decided at some point, «Oh, I’m going to choose these people.» We belong to God because he has ownership over us at creation, but he has purchased rights to us because of salvation. He paid to get us out; he paid to get us free. Therefore, we are bought. That’s how we were born again to become living stones.
If you look up in verse 17, «Since you call on a father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.» Verse 18: «For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect, chosen before the creation of the world, but revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him; so your faith and hope are in God.» In 1 Corinthians 6:20, Paul says in a different way, «You’re bought with a price; therefore honor God in your body.» So Peter’s trying to change our mindset when he’s telling us that we’re bought.
The second thing he’s telling us about being living stones and being born again is that we can break free from the past. Now, I’m just asking today: does anybody in the gathering today have a story in your family heritage that you want to be free from? Does anybody have something that was in grandma or granddad or great-granddad or great-grandma or mom or dad? Somehow you’re noticing, you know, we all have that 20-something moment where we realize one day that we are our parent. It’s one of the freakiest days in all of life.
We say, «I’ll never be like that; I’ll never be like that.» I don’t know why they are like that, and then one day you’re walking by in a mall and you look in the glass window, and you go, «Oh my goodness! My dad is in the window looking at me!» Everyone has that moment; it’s a surface thing, but it’s also spiritually true in our lives. The beauty of being a living stone and being born again is that we can break free from what has been handed down to us. It was just a little line that may or may not be highlighted in anyone’s text today, but it’s so powerful and important: «For you know it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers.»
Now, you can look at that and go, «I don’t really know exactly what that means.» But if you dive into the Greek, you understand exactly what it means. All of that statement comes from one Greek word, and that one Greek word—when you pour your refreshing drink and you’re enjoying Mount Rainier in the glass—you can get out your Greek word study. Even if you don’t really know much about Greek, you can learn about what that word is. This manner of life that they had received by tradition from their fathers—that’s what we’re talking about. The phrase «received by tradition from your fathers» is the translation of one Greek word, which means literally «given from father.»
Now I can feel the complexity changing in the gathering right now, because this is hitting very close to home for all of us. That is the feudal manner of life passed down to the son or the daughter from the father through the channels of heredity, teaching, example, and environment. The child is born in sin—that is, comes into being with a totally depraved nature. If the parents are unsaved, or even if they’re not fully sanctified in the process, that comes into a home where evil customs and practices are observed. What the child inherits, Peter calls a futile manner of life, and from this futile manner of life, the recipients of this letter were delivered.
So to say Christ is a living stone is amazing, but to say through Christ I am a living stone is saying that I now can break free from the traditions, the thought patterns, the values, the attitudes, the curses, the sinful nature traits that were passed on to me because they were. But praise God, I’m not in a situation where I just say, «Well, you know, that’s who I am. It’s what I’m all about—granddad, dad, me, whatever; we’re all the same.» Would you like another cranberry? No! I’m looking at a possibility and going, «Granddad, dad, I love them; I might not really have even known him. I’ve never heard my dad talk about my granddad, but I definitely know some of the stuff that was passed down to me from my dad. But I also know there’s a possibility in the fiery furnace of being made free and delivered from the empty things that have been handed down to me. I am a living stone, and I can be built up into a new house.»
Peter says we’re a house of worship. The last B—not only are you bought, not only can you break free, but you can be holy. Did anybody underline verses 15 and 16? «For just as he who called you is holy, be holy in all you do.» Now that’s a beautiful little word choice there. «For it is written: Be holy because I am holy.» So what God is thinking today is, «You were bought; that’s how you got to be mine, by the way.» So that answers a lot of questions. «You didn’t buy me up; I bought you out; you belong to me.» You can break free from whatever is trying to be passed on to you because now you’re born into a whole new heritage. Thirdly, the outcome of your life is: «Be holy.»
Now, when we say that, a lot of us who’ve been around church and religion are like, «Ah, I don’t think I can do that, because I’m just going to be a sinner.» Because that’s what I am. «I’m a sinner saved by grace.» I’ve always been a sinner. The pastor told me I was a sinner. There’s a Bible verse that tells me I’m a sinner, and my life experiences reinforce the fact that I am, in fact, a sinner. «I’m a good sinner; in fact, I’m one of the best sinners there is.» And God is saying, «All this is predicated on you knowing who you are and why you are: a chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation.»
Now the nation is made up of people, and it’s not going to be a holy nation unless the people are holy. Now he’s coming back to remind us individually: «Just as he who called you is holy, be holy in all you do. For it is written: 'Be holy because I am holy.'»
All through the New Testament, God is reinforcing that we, in Christ, have been made holy, that we have been made righteous, that we have a brand new position and a brand new identity in Christ. We can sin, but we are not sinners; we’re saints of God; we’re holy ones. If you look at many of the epistles—with the capacity, because of our former patterns of thinking and our flesh, to sin, we are holy. And he’s just bringing us back to that. He’s saying, «Because I’m holy, and you’re born from me, guess what? You’re holy.»
You are, if you will, talking about the cornerstone, a chip off the old block. Did anybody ever tell you that who knew your dad? «Oh, he’s just a chip off the old block! Should have known the big man!» Yeah, when he did that. Obviously, he’s just a chip off the old block! She’s just a chip off the old block! You can see it naturally in their lives. Well, what Peter’s trying to say is, you are a chip off the old block. A chip of the old block—I think we’re going to call the talk «A Chip Off the Old Block,» but it’s probably better, theologically, «A Chip of the Old Block.» Both are true.
Yes, but I want you to understand your nature, who you are, your identity: you are a chip off the old block, a chip of the old block. And because he’s holy, he’s inviting you to be holy. Starting with «be,» not «do,» but then moving from «be» to «do.» Be holy in all you do. You don’t get holy by doing; you get holy by being. But once you be holy, then it moves into do holy.
That’s what you see in chapter 2, verse 1: «Put off all these evil things.» He goes through a list of about five evil behaviors. He says, «Yeah, you gotta get rid of all that. Why? Because that’s not who you are.» So saturate your mind in the word. Remember, as it ends in chapter 1, «The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the God, the word of God stands forever.» All the glory of man, the glory of accomplishment, the glory of a business, the glory of fame, the glory of this earth’s glitter— all that’s going away. But the glory of the word of God is never going to fade; it’s going to stay with us all the way to the end.
So, that living stone, which is the living word, saturate your mind, your life, your person with that word so that, A, you’ll know who you be, and from who you be, you’ll know who you do. And holy… can we just say that, by the way? Let’s just try this; this might break the internet for somebody. Let’s just try it: «I am holy.» You try it with me: «I am holy!» Some of you are wrestling, «Oh man, I had yelling at someone on the way here today; Louis, that wasn’t very holy.» No, you weren’t doing holy, but in Christ, you are holy. Let’s say it again: «I am holy.» I’m a chip of the old block; I’m a living stone, same as the living stone. And holy doesn’t mean perfect in the sense that I never sin; it doesn’t mean that I’m better than someone else or holier than thou; holy, the word just means set apart.
That’s when God scattered me, he made me a stranger—not weird, but strange—meaning different. Holy means different, set apart. It means when you look across the landscape and see the little stones, the living stones, you realize the living stones are not like all the other rocks. When you see the living stones, you go, «The living stones, oh, they’re different! The living stones, they think different. They talk different, they respond different, they act different, they give different—they’re different! They see life different, they value things different; somehow they’re locked on to this lockbox where they believe there’s an inheritance stored up for them that’s more precious than anything on planet Earth. They’ve got their eyes fixed on the one who is guarding that, knowing that it’s really not about what’s in the box; it’s about who’s standing by the box. He’s the inheritance for them at the end of the day, and it makes them different!
You can tell them immediately that they’re different. This is what the world must see in these days. It must know: „You must be a believer, because anyone else would have shot back like this! Anyone else would have reacted like that! Anyone else—run of the mill!“ Name who they are: Republican or Democrat—they all react like this. „Why didn’t you do that? Oh, you must be one of them! You must be one of the different ones!“ It’s imperative that if we’re going to live in this world and walk through this fire, the world can see there is a different one, and the only way, check it out, the only way they’re going to see a different one is in you. That’s the only way! If I’m not different and you’re not different, then there is no different. God put you in the office next door for a reason. He put you in the hospital room next door for a reason. He put you in the neighborhood next to them for a reason. He put you working out at the soul cycle next to them for a reason! So they could see what it looks like to be holy and do holy, to be different and do different, because he is different.