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Jdg 2:10
After that whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the
LORD nor what he had done for
Israel.
In the spring of 2004, a group
of college and high school students from Northeast Iowa decided to seize the
opportunity to ensure that their generation would not experience the same
fate as Joshua’s. A few weeks of fervent prayer and planning took place,
and on a Saturday evening in May, Living Stone Ministries was launched. As
Paul writes in Ephesians 3:20, God did far more than these students could
ask or even imagine through a ministry that was supposed to be a mere summer
adventure.
Today Living Stone, an outreach
ministry of First Baptist Church in Elgin, Iowa, impacts the lives of
hundreds of students throughout Northeast Iowa. The workings of Living
Stone include small group bible studies, one-on-one discipleship, leadership
training, and Saturday evening contemporary services for junior high, high
school, and college students. The services are held once a month during the
school year and once a week during the summer and average between 80-100
students in attendance.
The name Living Stone comes from
1 Peter 2:4-5 where Paul writes:
1Pe 2:4
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and
precious to him—
1Pe 2:5
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.
Living Stone embraces the
challenge and privilege to raise up a generation of youth to be built into
the spiritual house that offers spiritual sacrifices to the one true God of
the universe. Whether it be through music, athletics, school, or whatever
gifts He has graced us with, the aim is to make a joyful noise to Him and to
see lost souls embrace the cross of Christ.
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