December 20, 2025 • 9 mins
A single passage can reset our posture. We open 1 Peter 2:4–10 and find the heartbeat of Hanukkah’s rededication pulsing through the church today: living stones aligned to the Cornerstone, a royal priesthood called to proclaim light in a time that often prefers heat.
We also face the hard noise around Israel, Jews, and Christians in the wake of recent violence and online hostility. Being grafted in never meant erasing Israel or weaponizing Scripture. It meant mercy for those who once were not a people, and a summons to carry that mercy into conversations that easily turn cruel. If we belong to Jesus, our words should not become stumbling blocks. We steward our title—ambassadors of the kingdom—with a steady reverence that resists contempt and chooses truth with grace.
If this resonated, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review with one insight you’re taking into the week. Your reflection might be the spark someone else needs.
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What Then Say You - YouTube
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Keith (00:00):
Hey, good morning, good evening, good afternoon,
whatever time it is that you aretuning into the podcast.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
Uh today is definitely awonderful day that the Lord has
made.
Let us be glad and rejoice init.
Hey, so we're almost done.
We're almost done with the fulleight days, and we are on day
seven today.
Um, and surprisingly enough, um,there is a lot of reading today
(00:22):
because you know, Shabbat waslast night or Sabbath as the
Jews practice it last night.
I know many Christians todaywill be waking up tomorrow to go
to Sunday service and andpractice your uh, you know,
Sabbath day.
I just ask that you remindyourselves that um, you know, if
we're practicing Sabbath, ifwe're practicing Shabbat, um,
you know, it's good to knowabout the other feasts.
(00:44):
You're not necessarily sayingyou gotta practice them, not
necessarily saying you gotta beconverted to a Jew or a
messianic Jew or anything likethat.
Don't ever confuse that thisseries is about conversion for
the Christian.
It's more about opening up andrealizing what we were grafted
into.
And surprisingly enough, today'sreading is in 1 Peter chapter 2,
(01:05):
verses 4 through 10.
So let's just hop right in.
It says, As you come to him, aliving stone rejected by men,
but in the sight of God, chosenand precious, you yourselves,
like living stones, are beingbuilt up as a spiritual house,
to be a holy priesthood, tooffer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through JesusChrist.
For it stands in Scripture,Behold, I am laying in Zion a
(01:29):
stone, a cornerstone, chosen andprecious, and whoever believes
in him will not be put to shame.
So the honor is for you whobelieve, but for those who do
not believe, the stone that thebuilders rejected has become the
cornerstone, and a stone ofstumbling, and a rock of
offense.
They stumble because theydisobey the word, as they were
destined to do.
(01:49):
But you are a chosen race, aroyal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for his own possession,that you may proclaim the
excellencies of him who calledyou out of the darkness into his
marvelous light.
Once you were not a people, butnow you are God's people.
Once you had not received mercy,but now you have received mercy.
Man, that is a powerfulreminder.
(02:11):
That is a powerful verse.
This word is active and living,and it pierces the bone all the
way down to the marrow.
Hear what was just spoken.
You are a chosen race, versusnine, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people for his ownpossession, that you may
proclaim the excellencies of himwho called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light.
(02:31):
Once you were not a people, butnow you were God's people.
Once you had not received mercy,but now you have received mercy.
See, you know, right now, Ithink because of what took place
in Sydney, what took place inOctober 7th last year with Hamas
and Israel, you know, there isso much hate in the chat, y'all.
(02:51):
Like, I mean, people say theugliest, nastiest stuff, and
surprisingly, there's a lot ofChristians that are like, you
know, Jews are no longer God'schosen people, you know,
somewhere along in Scripture,you know, because they they
crucify Christ, and then God'spromises have shifted.
Like, there's a lot of ofmisinformation and confusion out
(03:13):
there, and I'm here to set therecord straight.
You know, we were grafted in asGentiles, right?
Like, if you look at thatchapter, you look at that verse,
and we we might put it up on thescreen, but you are a chosen
people.
If we go down to verse 10, itsays, Once you were not a
people, but now you are God'speople.
Once you had not received mercy,but now you have received mercy,
(03:33):
that is the context of that istalking about the Gentile.
The context of that, I wouldargue, is talking about the
entirety of the Christian faithtoday.
Everyone who claims Yahshua theMessiah, who's a Gentile, who's
not a Jew by birth, who's not aJew by a Jewish mother or a
Jewish father, that that that'stalking to us.
Once we were in the darkness,now we have the availability and
(03:56):
the access to the light, right?
And so when we think aboutHanukkah, when we think about
these candles being lit in themiracle that took place during
the 400 years of silence,there's a few things that we
have to take into consideration,right?
We are being grafted in, right?
And in that being grafted in, wenow have a responsibility.
(04:16):
We now have a have a duty, so tospeak.
We are all charged with the sameuh uh uh conscription, right,
that now we have to now bearthat light out into the world,
right?
Now it says if you go back toverse 5, living stones and being
built up as a spiritual house tobe a holy priesthood to offer
(04:38):
spiritual sacrifices acceptableto God.
If you think back over thisweek, over these last seven days
or last six days now, we werereading number seven, and it was
talking about Moses and and whatthey used to do the dedication,
all the sacrifices that werelaid out by each member, um, one
member from each tribe, right?
The representative of each tribebrought all these offerings, all
(04:59):
these things to dedicate, youknow, the altar, right?
And then as you fast forwardduring the 400 years of silence
and Maccabees, they wererededicating that temple, right?
And so as we come to today'sreading, and from the Messianic
Jewish perspective reading,right?
We're in 1 Peter, and now we'rehaving to come to terms with the
fact that now there is aspiritual sacrifice that has to
(05:22):
be offered up, right?
And that's a requirement now.
The spiritual sacrifice isacceptable by God through Jesus
Christ.
That is obedience, that is hislordship over our lives.
That is not putting our lightunder a bushel, that is living a
life that's pleasing and worthyto be known as believers in
Christ.
(05:42):
At the end of the day, it saysthey stumble because they
disobey the word as they weredestined to do.
Man.
Verse 8.
They stumble because theydisobey the word as they were
destined to do.
Now, if we have decided that webelieve in Jesus Christ, right,
and and if we decided that weput our trust and our faith in
(06:04):
Him and Yahshua the Messiah,this is serious.
We have to look at the Word, wehave to listen to the Holy
Spirit, and we have to be awareof our disobedience to God.
We have to be aware of ourdisobedience, and if we're being
stumbling blocks for otherpeople.
That should not be the aim.
We should not be spewing hateand disinformation and all types
(06:28):
of craziness that's going onright now towards the Jewish
community, towards our cousinsin Christ, right?
Towards our extended family whoknow the Father, right?
God plucked them out of Egyptand set them apart and said,
This is going to be my peoplewho I'm going to display my
works and my love so that theentire world can see.
And then as we read the entireword, right?
(06:49):
I don't know if you have, butyou might want to try it out.
Hop in Genesis.
I mean, New Year's is comingaround, right?
Everybody has some New Year'sEve resolution, but this might
be need the uh this might needto be the resolution that you
have.
It's just reading the word,putting that word in your flesh
so that way you can live it outand know the history and know
the feasts and and and know howin Genesis Jesus is found.
(07:13):
In Exodus, Jesus is found, howeverything is pointing to the
Messiah.
We cannot pick and choose whichareas are are talking about
Jesus and not.
We can't just assume that theNew Testament is the first time
we hear the word Yeshua theMessiah or Jesus Christ in the
beginning, right?
That's that's Genesis.
(07:34):
In the beginning.
Anyway, I say all that to saythis be encouraged, be
motivated, be zealous for theLord, and for studying to show
yourself approved.
Be like the Bereans that Paultalked about.
Where when somebody, when theyget a message or when somebody's
(07:55):
talking to them about somethingconcerning God, that they go and
they read their own word andthey say, where was that at?
Because I'm just not going totake what you said at face
value.
I'm going to go and run it backagainst the word of God.
That's the whole premise of thispodcast in general, guys, is
that I'm going to say things.
Me and my wife might say things.
People that come on the podcast,we might have conversations that
(08:16):
challenge your core beliefs.
But the goal and the aim is foryou to go back into your word,
grab your Bible, open it up, askGod to confirm or deny what
Keith or Tanisha or whoever elsesaid, and let the convictions
flow, let the correction flow,let the edification flow, let
the encouragement flow, butallow me to stay in step with
(08:38):
the Holy Spirit as I do what I'mcalled to do as a believer in
your word.
Right?
And so be encouraged, guys.
I pray that, you know, thoughthis is a short one, tomorrow's
our last day, that if you madeit through all these videos,
awesome, amen.
Hope you learned something, hopeyou grew, hope you, you know,
decided to go dig deeper in theword, because that's the goal.
(09:00):
We as believers, as Christians,as messianic Jews, whatever you
are, if you are claiming thename of Jesus, Jesus Christ over
your life, your goal should bestudying to show yourself
approved.
Your goal should be living outthis thing in the Holy Spirit,
right?
Being led by the Holy Spirit ineverything that you do.
(09:20):
That's the end goal, right?
That's the end goal.
As an ambassador, as arepresentative of the kingdom of
heaven, that's a big title.
One that we should not takelightly.
And as Paul said, and as I saidon maybe day five, day four, you
know, you were bought with aprice.
Your life is not your own.
And so own that, right?
Own that.
(09:41):
I love you guys.
Be blessed, and we will see youtomorrow for day eight and the
final day of this Hanukkahdialogue.
Hey, good morning, good evening, good afternoon,
whatever time it is that you aretuning into the podcast.
Thanks so much for tuning in.
Uh today is definitely awonderful day that the Lord has
made.
Let us be glad and rejoice init.
Hey, so we're almost done.
We're almost done with the fulleight days, and we are on day
seven today.
Um, and surprisingly enough, um,there is a lot of reading today
(00:22):
because you know, Shabbat waslast night or Sabbath as the
Jews practice it last night.
I know many Christians todaywill be waking up tomorrow to go
to Sunday service and andpractice your uh, you know,
Sabbath day.
I just ask that you remindyourselves that um, you know, if
we're practicing Sabbath, ifwe're practicing Shabbat, um,
you know, it's good to knowabout the other feasts.
(00:44):
You're not necessarily sayingyou gotta practice them, not
necessarily saying you gotta beconverted to a Jew or a
messianic Jew or anything likethat.
Don't ever confuse that thisseries is about conversion for
the Christian.
It's more about opening up andrealizing what we were grafted
into.
And surprisingly enough, today'sreading is in 1 Peter chapter 2,
(01:05):
verses 4 through 10.
So let's just hop right in.
It says, As you come to him, aliving stone rejected by men,
but in the sight of God, chosenand precious, you yourselves,
like living stones, are beingbuilt up as a spiritual house,
to be a holy priesthood, tooffer spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through JesusChrist.
For it stands in Scripture,Behold, I am laying in Zion a
(01:29):
stone, a cornerstone, chosen andprecious, and whoever believes
in him will not be put to shame.
So the honor is for you whobelieve, but for those who do
not believe, the stone that thebuilders rejected has become the
cornerstone, and a stone ofstumbling, and a rock of
offense.
They stumble because theydisobey the word, as they were
destined to do.
(01:49):
But you are a chosen race, aroyal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people for his own possession,that you may proclaim the
excellencies of him who calledyou out of the darkness into his
marvelous light.
Once you were not a people, butnow you are God's people.
Once you had not received mercy,but now you have received mercy.
Man, that is a powerfulreminder.
(02:11):
That is a powerful verse.
This word is active and living,and it pierces the bone all the
way down to the marrow.
Hear what was just spoken.
You are a chosen race, versusnine, a royal priesthood, a holy
nation, a people for his ownpossession, that you may
proclaim the excellencies of himwho called you out of darkness
into his marvelous light.
(02:31):
Once you were not a people, butnow you were God's people.
Once you had not received mercy,but now you have received mercy.
See, you know, right now, Ithink because of what took place
in Sydney, what took place inOctober 7th last year with Hamas
and Israel, you know, there isso much hate in the chat, y'all.
(02:51):
Like, I mean, people say theugliest, nastiest stuff, and
surprisingly, there's a lot ofChristians that are like, you
know, Jews are no longer God'schosen people, you know,
somewhere along in Scripture,you know, because they they
crucify Christ, and then God'spromises have shifted.
Like, there's a lot of ofmisinformation and confusion out
(03:13):
there, and I'm here to set therecord straight.
You know, we were grafted in asGentiles, right?
Like, if you look at thatchapter, you look at that verse,
and we we might put it up on thescreen, but you are a chosen
people.
If we go down to verse 10, itsays, Once you were not a
people, but now you are God'speople.
Once you had not received mercy,but now you have received mercy,
(03:33):
that is the context of that istalking about the Gentile.
The context of that, I wouldargue, is talking about the
entirety of the Christian faithtoday.
Everyone who claims Yahshua theMessiah, who's a Gentile, who's
not a Jew by birth, who's not aJew by a Jewish mother or a
Jewish father, that that that'stalking to us.
Once we were in the darkness,now we have the availability and
(03:56):
the access to the light, right?
And so when we think aboutHanukkah, when we think about
these candles being lit in themiracle that took place during
the 400 years of silence,there's a few things that we
have to take into consideration,right?
We are being grafted in, right?
And in that being grafted in, wenow have a responsibility.
(04:16):
We now have a have a duty, so tospeak.
We are all charged with the sameuh uh uh conscription, right,
that now we have to now bearthat light out into the world,
right?
Now it says if you go back toverse 5, living stones and being
built up as a spiritual house tobe a holy priesthood to offer
(04:38):
spiritual sacrifices acceptableto God.
If you think back over thisweek, over these last seven days
or last six days now, we werereading number seven, and it was
talking about Moses and and whatthey used to do the dedication,
all the sacrifices that werelaid out by each member, um, one
member from each tribe, right?
The representative of each tribebrought all these offerings, all
(04:59):
these things to dedicate, youknow, the altar, right?
And then as you fast forwardduring the 400 years of silence
and Maccabees, they wererededicating that temple, right?
And so as we come to today'sreading, and from the Messianic
Jewish perspective reading,right?
We're in 1 Peter, and now we'rehaving to come to terms with the
fact that now there is aspiritual sacrifice that has to
(05:22):
be offered up, right?
And that's a requirement now.
The spiritual sacrifice isacceptable by God through Jesus
Christ.
That is obedience, that is hislordship over our lives.
That is not putting our lightunder a bushel, that is living a
life that's pleasing and worthyto be known as believers in
Christ.
(05:42):
At the end of the day, it saysthey stumble because they
disobey the word as they weredestined to do.
Man.
Verse 8.
They stumble because theydisobey the word as they were
destined to do.
Now, if we have decided that webelieve in Jesus Christ, right,
and and if we decided that weput our trust and our faith in
(06:04):
Him and Yahshua the Messiah,this is serious.
We have to look at the Word, wehave to listen to the Holy
Spirit, and we have to be awareof our disobedience to God.
We have to be aware of ourdisobedience, and if we're being
stumbling blocks for otherpeople.
That should not be the aim.
We should not be spewing hateand disinformation and all types
(06:28):
of craziness that's going onright now towards the Jewish
community, towards our cousinsin Christ, right?
Towards our extended family whoknow the Father, right?
God plucked them out of Egyptand set them apart and said,
This is going to be my peoplewho I'm going to display my
works and my love so that theentire world can see.
And then as we read the entireword, right?
(06:49):
I don't know if you have, butyou might want to try it out.
Hop in Genesis.
I mean, New Year's is comingaround, right?
Everybody has some New Year'sEve resolution, but this might
be need the uh this might needto be the resolution that you
have.
It's just reading the word,putting that word in your flesh
so that way you can live it outand know the history and know
the feasts and and and know howin Genesis Jesus is found.
(07:13):
In Exodus, Jesus is found, howeverything is pointing to the
Messiah.
We cannot pick and choose whichareas are are talking about
Jesus and not.
We can't just assume that theNew Testament is the first time
we hear the word Yeshua theMessiah or Jesus Christ in the
beginning, right?
That's that's Genesis.
(07:34):
In the beginning.
Anyway, I say all that to saythis be encouraged, be
motivated, be zealous for theLord, and for studying to show
yourself approved.
Be like the Bereans that Paultalked about.
Where when somebody, when theyget a message or when somebody's
(07:55):
talking to them about somethingconcerning God, that they go and
they read their own word andthey say, where was that at?
Because I'm just not going totake what you said at face
value.
I'm going to go and run it backagainst the word of God.
That's the whole premise of thispodcast in general, guys, is
that I'm going to say things.
Me and my wife might say things.
People that come on the podcast,we might have conversations that
(08:16):
challenge your core beliefs.
But the goal and the aim is foryou to go back into your word,
grab your Bible, open it up, askGod to confirm or deny what
Keith or Tanisha or whoever elsesaid, and let the convictions
flow, let the correction flow,let the edification flow, let
the encouragement flow, butallow me to stay in step with
(08:38):
the Holy Spirit as I do what I'mcalled to do as a believer in
your word.
Right?
And so be encouraged, guys.
I pray that, you know, thoughthis is a short one, tomorrow's
our last day, that if you madeit through all these videos,
awesome, amen.
Hope you learned something, hopeyou grew, hope you, you know,
decided to go dig deeper in theword, because that's the goal.
(09:00):
We as believers, as Christians,as messianic Jews, whatever you
are, if you are claiming thename of Jesus, Jesus Christ over
your life, your goal should bestudying to show yourself
approved.
Your goal should be living outthis thing in the Holy Spirit,
right?
Being led by the Holy Spirit ineverything that you do.
(09:20):
That's the end goal, right?
That's the end goal.
As an ambassador, as arepresentative of the kingdom of
heaven, that's a big title.
One that we should not takelightly.
And as Paul said, and as I saidon maybe day five, day four, you
know, you were bought with aprice.
Your life is not your own.
And so own that, right?
Own that.
(09:41):
I love you guys.
Be blessed, and we will see youtomorrow for day eight and the
final day of this Hanukkahdialogue.
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