Standing Stones: Living Proof at the Crossroads
Sunday Morning, May 24th, 2026

God placed His people at the crossroads of the ancient world so the nations would see His character through the lives of his children. The same question still matters today: What are people seeing in the places God has planted us?

🪖 Legacy and Remembrance

• As we are encouraged to remember those who gave their lives in service to our country, we inevitably begin thinking about a person’s legacy.
For the soldiers we honor on Memorial Day, we consider their legacy of bravery and sacrifice.

• Whether it be a soldier laying down their life on foreign soil, or a grandparent taking their last breath at home in their bed surrounded by family - all of us will be remembered for something.

• With a brief moment in history, we hope to pass along something of value.

• Some work to pass along a good business, property, or wealth.

• Some are very conscious about passing along a good name.

🪨 Gezer and the Crossroads of the World

• The Gezer high place was originally excavated in the early 1900s, with more done in the 70s.

• The land of Israel is roughly the same size as New Jersey.

• Geographically, Biblical Canaan was not a large or particularly impressive piece of land. It was small, rugged, and surrounded by much larger powers.

• The location of this piece of property makes it one of the most beautiful places in the ancient world - a place where the God of the universe could be put on display.

• God rescued his first chosen partners from Egypt and put them in the crossroads of the world.

• To the southwest was Egypt, one of the greatest superpowers because of their access to water. To the northeast were the empires of Mesopotamia: Assyria, Babylon, Persia.

• Between them was a land bridge that ran through Canaan.

• Israel was not tucked away in some forgotten corner of the world.
God placed His people where the nations would pass through.

🛣️ Strategic Land, Strategic Calling

• A coastal route called the Via Maris, which connected Egypt with the northern regions of Syria and Mesopotamia.

• Another major route, called the King’s Highway, ran farther east through Transjordan.

• Merchants carried trade goods, armies marched through, travelers brought stories, customs, languages, and worldviews with them.

• Because Israel sat where these routes intersected, God’s people were positioned to be a visible witness among the nations.

• Their land was a strategic platform to put the true God of heaven on display by how they lived, worked, spoke, conducted business, and cared for the stranger and the vulnerable.

• Just as God called the promised land the most beautiful of all lands, your life and your influence may not seem extravagant by the world’s standards.

📍 Gezer: A Missed Opportunity

• Gezer itself was strategic because it stood at an intersection of the Via Maris and an east-west road that headed toward Jericho and on to the King’s Highway past the Jordan River.

• Unfortunately, the Israelites failed to dominate Gezer. Instead, they allowed Canaanites to continue to live in the city, giving pagans major cultural influence.

• Here we see a major missed opportunity. Joshua did not dislodge the Canaanites from living in Gezer.

The ancient stones stand tall to this day. It is estimated that these stones even pre-date the Exodus.

• Long before Israelites entered Canaan, pagan nations used stones as a way to honor their gods, declare treaties, and mark sites of supernatural events.

• In the area surrounding Gezer, archeologists uncovered some that were 25 feet tall, 20 feet into the ground, weighing 25 tons, likely hauled from a quarry 3 miles away.

• No small task for an ancient people to accomplish. Standing stones mattered.

• Many sacred stone sites from 3000 BC and older can still be found in the Sinai desert, around Europe, and elsewhere. Stonehenge, from around 2500 BC, is another example most of us know.

• God’s people began to adopt this practice as well.

🪨 God Redeems the Practice

• God commands Joshua to adopt the practice.

• God takes a practice that they already understand and redeems it for His own purposes.

• Psalm 24 tells us that the earth is the Lord’s. God will have His glory on the earth. The world will know that JHWH is the only God of heaven.

• That all the people might know.

• What does it take to make a grandson stop and ask his grandfather, “What happened here? Why are there twelve stones here?”
Or for a traveler along his route to ask, “What happened that these stones have been set up here?”

⚠️ The Warning associated with Stones

• God also gave a command to protect against human unfaithfulness.

• What’s the difference? Motivation and the credit.

• God was warning His people against honoring other gods alongside His altars.

• God will have His glory alone. He won’t share it or allow His name to be profaned among the practices of this world.

• If God’s people had been faithful to His commands, the Gezer stones wouldn’t have remained standing.

• God’s people were present, but they weren’t the primary influencers. They were meant to seize the crossroads, but they failed to be God’s witnesses.

• Today, Gezer’s standing stones still look tall and impressive, but their original meaning is lost to history.

• But Scripture has called the followers of God to learn lessons from the stones of the past.

• While ancient stones eventually lose their voices because people stop telling the stories, Peter reminds us: God’s people are living stones.

• A standing stone is only as valuable as those who continue to speak about what happened there.

• Peter encourages believers to act like a royal priesthood. A priest speaks and acts on behalf of their God.

• Are we willing to allow our lives to be consumed by the mission of being a holy nation, God’s special possession, to declare His praises?

• Like standing stones at the crossroads of the world, those we interact with should eventually notice something different in our lives.

🪨 Abraham as a Living Stone

• After being a sojourner in the land for over 60 years, Abraham’s wife Sarah dies, and he looks to those he lives among for a tomb.

• Some translations give an alternate meaning to the phrase “mighty prince” and say, “you have been a prince of God among us.”

• That helps us understand what the text was saying about Abraham’s life.
He was a living stone.

• As he worked, traded, did business, and raised his household as a stranger among people who didn’t share his same belief in the God of heaven, he earned a great reputation among them.

• God would later place the children of Israel at the crossroads of the world with a similar intention.

• But the Israelites failed to conquer the Gezers of their time and consistently be God’s faithful witnesses to their culture.

• Instead, they mostly isolated themselves in the mountains or assimilated into the peoples around them and allowed strategic locations to be controlled by unbelievers with a message of their own.

• Have you been obedient to the will of God in a way that significant “standing stones” have appeared in your life?

• Think of the standing stones of old. Children pass by and ask, “Why is that there?” How are those questions being shaped in response to your legacy?

⚠️ Some Stones can't be allowed to Stand

• But there’s also a warning to remember from Deuteronomy 16

• We can’t allow ourselves to set up a stone that doesn’t belong.

• Some stones have to be torn down for God to receive His glory.

📍 Seizing the Gezers of your Life

• Have you been willing to seize the “Gezers” of your little corner of the world?

• Even as simple as what comes into your house through your screens and your children’s screens. The flow of ideas and worldview. What kingdom is in control?

• To this day, the stones in the ruins of Gezer are a testament to centuries of lost opportunity.

🪨Those who have put God on Display for Us

• People come along in our lives and they truly exemplify what it means to be a living stone. Their lives point to Jesus.

• Who is someone in your life that has put God on display for you?

• Maybe you’ve learned a lot by seeing how they love Jesus.

• Start a conversation with them this week about standing stones and the impact they've made in your life.

Thanks for being with us this morning.
If your heart was was stirred by the thought of being a standing stone, we hope you'll allow us to spend some time connecting with you in the days ahead. Feel free to come talk with us after the service.

You can send in a prayer request on our website:
https://www.TheChurchofJoy.org/prayer

The most important decision.
If you know you've never fully surrendered your life to Jesus, and you feel that you're far from a relationship with Him, we would love to spend some time talking with you about making the decision to follow Him. Come see us after the service or get in touch through our church website.