January 13, 2025 • 35 mins
Ever felt the weight of your struggles but couldn't quite find the strength to carry on? We promise you'll discover how to transform such moments into opportunities for profound spiritual growth. Join us as we explore the parallels between the mysteries of the ocean and our faith, reminding ourselves that God's presence is unwavering, and our journey towards a meaningful connection with Him is an adventure worth pursuing.
We're diving deeper into the practices of prayer and fasting, not as rituals to endure, but as transformative tools that prioritize spiritual nourishment over physical desires. Our 21-day journey invites you to embrace heartfelt communication with God, speaking faith over doubt, and understanding fasting as a personal journey rather than a public display. Through shared stories and a sprinkle of humor, we reflect on childhood memories of fasting and offer a prayer guide to support your daily reflections.
As we draw closer to God, the essence of soul care and stewardship emerges as integral to our spiritual growth. Aligning our time, talents, and resources with God's purpose fosters miraculous changes, not only within us but also in our communities. Together, we conclude with a heartfelt prayer of blessing, reaffirming our commitment to the Cornerstone family and encouraging each other to spread this spirit of love and connection into the world.
Cornerstone
https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/
Follow Jesus
https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/follow-jesus
Life Groups
https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/life-groups
Giving
https://cornerstoneaz.churchcenter.com/giving
Church Center App - Download then add Cornerstone Christian Center in Avondale, AZ
iOS
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-church-center/id1357742931?mt=8&ls=1&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ministrycentered.churchcenter
----
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/cornerstoneaz
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/cornerstoneaz.org
Twitter
https://twitter.com/cornerstoneaz.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
God sees you, he knows exactly where you are, he
knows what you're going throughand though it's a new year,
maybe you're dealing with thesame problems.
God sees you and he knows whereyou're at.
You are not alone in yourstruggle.
You are not alone in yoursituation.
(00:21):
He is with you.
You are not forgotten.
You are not fighting this fightalone.
He is for you and through himwe are already more than
conquerors.
Through him, who has done agreat work on our behalf,
friends, I felt it so strongthat this week we were supposed
(00:41):
to change everything up and Iwas supposed to tell you this
that the God of the universeloves you and he cares about you
and he sees you and he knowsyour name, he knows your
circumstances, he knows whatyou're going through.
He has not forgotten you.
You are his child and he lovesyou very much.
(01:02):
We are focusing and we are goingafter the deep things of God
this year.
Friends, that we would go afterthe deep things of God this
year, friends, that we would goafter the deep things of God.
No more surface level, no moreplasticity in Christianity.
The deep things of God, if youwant to see a miracle in your
family, if you want to see amiracle in your situation, then
(01:22):
you have to go to the miracleworking God.
We have to go.
We have to go together.
It can't be just one of us,just two of us, friends.
We need to go after the deepthings of God for what he has
for you, what he has for me, foryour family, for your children,
(01:43):
your grandchildren, for yourneighbors, for your lost best
friend.
He cares about them.
He wants to see them come back.
But it becomes whenever you goafter the deep things of God.
That's when it happens thisyear, as we set out on 21 days
of prayer and fasting, it's tofocus on the deep things of God
(02:09):
that he would draw us into, whathe wants to show us that we
would leave behind the otherthings.
The scripture says this in Psalm139, how precious to me are
your thoughts, oh God, how vastis the sum of them, and if I
would count them, they are morethan the sand.
(02:29):
I awake and I am still with you, lord.
We just open up our hearts andminds to you today and all that
you wanna do on our behalf.
Lord, we thank you for yourspirit and how you breathe alive
upon us and make this thingalive, and your word that you've
given to us the truth, lord,that you are the only way.
(02:49):
You are the light, lord, youare the focus of our worship
today.
So we come with our heartstowards you, open to you and
what you want to say to us.
We pray this in the powerfulname that is Jesus Christ, amen.
So I was thinking about thisidea of the sand and God's
thoughts of the sand, and I wasthinking about how much I love
(03:10):
the beach.
Anybody a beach person out here, how many of you are from
Arizona?
You are a beach person, whetheror not you chose it.
You know a lot of beach, noocean.
You know what I mean and that'sone of the things.
I grew up loving the beach.
A sand kid out here runningaround in the desert, and one of
the things that was a challengeis that there is no ocean.
So I had this like yearning,this drawing to the ocean.
You know, occasionally ourfamily get a chance to go to the
(03:31):
ocean.
I absolutely loved it.
I would spend all my time out inthe ocean and you know there's
a situation where it's like man,you just want to get in there,
get in the mix, and that's alearned process, right?
You can't just jump in all theway.
You have to kind of learn howto navigate that.
And, and over time I startedkind of taking my love for the
ocean and started going after itand going to where it's like,
(03:52):
okay, I'm going to get a maskand I'm gonna start to go under
the water.
You can see a little bit ofthat here.
We were in Zanzibar free divingwith some friends and it's
interesting because you start togo and take those deep breaths
and you start to go down and seethings a little bit clearer and
you get to have that a littlebit more of an adventure because
you're no longer at surfacelevel Now.
You're deep and you're in it,you're in the mix of it all.
(04:13):
You see in this next video,it's like man, you start to go
to that next little place andyou take bigger breaths and
suddenly you start to go deeperand longer and faster and all
those things start to come aliveand you're starting to learn
this process of going into thedeep.
But I'll tell you, there's onlyso much you can do.
That is on your own breath.
(04:35):
And so there starts to be thisthing what if I could stay down
here even longer, and so I hadthat going on in my life
whenever I was young, and so itwas these things where I'm like,
well, let's get scuba certified.
And so I became a scuba diverand started getting a chance to
dive around the world.
This dive was in Sudan, in PortSudan.
This is a World War II Italianship that was sunk by the
(04:57):
captain so the British couldn'ttake it, and so we got a chance
to dive through it and get achance to navigate through it,
all because of this love for thedeep and for the ocean.
And I was thinking about thatas it parallels our faith and
our walk with God.
And you see the beach in allits glory, you see these waves
that are coming in, and it'sreally, you know, as we're
(05:19):
called to the deep things of God.
It's a question for us if we'regoing to just stay out here on
the sand or we're going to comeinto the deep things of God.
It's a question for us if we'regonna just stay out here on the
sand or we're gonna come intothe deep things that he has for
us.
And I wonder how often, as westart to kind of look over that
water, how much we're willing togo.
Are we people that just kind ofwalk by the sand?
You know long walks on thebeach, you know I'm sort of
spiritual, I'm adjacent tospiritual or are we people that,
(05:46):
like, I might put my toe inthere, I might come.
I might come to church, I mightdo it?
You know you come in there, getyour foot in the feet in there,
but you're definitely not goingto go up to like your knees,
cause that's that's commitment.
And there's some that they'relike man I'm already this man,
may I just get in this thing alittle bit.
And they get in there aboutwaist deep, but still they can.
(06:06):
Still they're okay.
They still got their arms out.
They're okay.
They're not really committed,they got their arms out.
And then there are others whowanna go all the way in and they
wanna go to the deep things ofGod and friends.
I can tell you as somebody whohas fought through a whole
(06:28):
season to that, I understandexactly what that is and I
understand where it's like man.
Well, what's the thoughtprocess as you start to look at
all of that commitment andgetting deeper in the things of
God, it's like well, then I'llhave to deal with what happens
to me.
If I get in this thing, I mean,people will know I'm in here,
people will see that I'mcommitted into this thing and I
(06:55):
don't know, maybe I just want toblend in with the people on the
beach, or maybe it's not.
That it's because I feel solack of control in my life that
this is the little bit ofcontrol I have, and even though
the ocean could really dowhatever it wants with me, I
have my feet kind of set andmaybe I could do something.
Maybe I could run out if Ineeded to.
So I'm only gonna get into myankles because going any deeper
would mean that I would losecontrol of what he's asking me
(07:17):
to do.
Or maybe whenever I get waysteep, it's like man, there's
scary things when it goes past.
Here, this is safe, this issafe, I'm in it, I'm committed,
(07:39):
I'm here.
But if I go all the way, if I goall the way, well, that's the
unknown, that's the deep Friends.
That's where all the answersyou've been looking for in your
spiritual life are.
They're in the deep things ofGod.
That's what it means for us towalk after Jesus.
It's why we follow him.
It's why we talk about what itmeans to be a follower of him.
(08:01):
For us, we're starting up thisyear with prayer, and it's an
amazing thing because as we pray, it's a focus of our hearts.
And that's what we want to dois starting with an
intentionality towards prayer.
Prayer is our communicationwith God.
That's simply it.
And I think so many timesespecially if we haven't grown
(08:22):
up in church or grown up maybein a different type of church,
you think you have to have allthe beautiful words that would
be there like in a liturgy, andthat's just not true.
You can speak from your heartto God.
He already knows our thoughts,what do we read in the scripture
?
And since that's true, then wecan just speak to him the way we
are, and that's okay.
You can fumble over it, and healready knows what you mean, and
(08:47):
we don't have to say a lot ofbeautiful words.
In fact, many times, the moreeloquent, the more trying we're
trying to posturize ourselves.
It's a false piety, it means afalse holiness, and so instead,
what we need to do is actuallybe ones that are just contrite
with our heart, that we're justhumble in our heart and say Lord
, this is where I'm at, becausehe already knows where you are
(09:09):
and, at the same time, we don'tneed to doubt who he is.
We can have those statements offaith.
Lord, this is my situation, butI know what you say.
I am because I belong to youand speak that as truth.
And that's the kind of thingswe speak over ourselves.
Because we speak doubt, wespeak death and we speak all
these other curses overourselves.
Guess what.
That's what we're going toexperience.
But instead, if we start to bethose that pray the prayer of
(09:32):
faith, lord, this is what Imight be feeling, but I know
what your word says for me.
I know where we're at, but, god, I believe that you can do
something bigger on my behalf.
All of those things are whatthe strength of prayer is about.
That's why we talk about ourdaily bread and about having
that time with God every day isthat we're called to be those
(09:53):
that are always praying, alwayshaving a relationship with him.
And you see that that's what itmeans to be people of prayer.
And so, during this 21 days,it's not like we're suddenly
going to start praying.
No, friends, we are people whoare praying.
What we're going to do is we'regoing to pray more because we
want to hear from the Lord.
(10:14):
Fasting is just an extension ofthat too, and we'll talk a
little bit more about that.
But we're going to start 21days of fasting and what that
looks like.
We'll see what it starts totake shape and how that starts
to happen and you start to thinkabout what that would mean for
you.
In fact, whenever you starttalking about how to fast, it
(10:34):
starts to wrestle with okay,what does this mean?
Are these people a bunch ofzealots?
Are they a bunch of radicalsfor God?
What are they doing?
There's food in their cupboard.
Why are they not eating it?
Tamales exist.
Why are they not eating them?
You understand, I still havethree in my freezer.
(10:55):
I am saving them from my family.
You understand what I'm saying.
But the idea is this thatfasting is not it's not a thing
where we're earning God's gracethat's given to us.
We can't do enough to earn hisgrace.
We're not twisting God's armbehind his back so he answers
our prayers by doing some kindof penance.
It's not that either.
It's not where we're not doingsomething or withholding from
(11:17):
something, not eating food, sothat we're punishing ourselves.
Friends, that's not what that'sabout.
You are God's child.
He has already paid the pricefor you.
He will correct you and guideyou by his spirit.
He doesn't need to flog youwith not eating tamales.
What he can do is instead besomeone who speaks to you.
What fasting is about is instead, not that.
(11:40):
Fasting is about the opposite.
While we don't feast on ourphysical things that would build
up our flesh, instead we feastspiritually on the things he has
for us, and so we feast on theword of God instead of on food,
and we're doing it withintentionality.
So it's a thing if you'redealing with hunger and you're
barely making a buy, then don'tdo a fast in this way.
(12:02):
Instead, eat so you can besustained.
But the idea is it's anintentionality.
In fact, the scripture starts totalk about how we should fast.
It says and when you fast, donot look gloomy like the
hypocrites, for they disfiguretheir faces that their fasting
may be seen by others.
Truly, I say to you they havereceived their reward.
(12:25):
Man, how often is it?
You know I want to be seendoing something good.
You know there's a lot ofbrands out there that, like you
know, oh, if I buy this brand,then it's seen as I'm doing
something good, because that'swhat this reflects.
So that's why I buy this brandis because then I'm associated
with being good.
(12:45):
You know what I'm talking about.
And so you kind of got yourreward right there, instead of
just like giving money to helppeople, and that's the trouble
is the same thing here,spiritually is that you know if
you're trying to do something soyou seem holy, then you've got
your reward right there.
Instead of pursuing after theGod of the universe which is the
whole point of the exercise isdrawing near to him and quieting
(13:10):
our hearts so that we can hearfrom him.
It continues here in thescripture.
It says this but when you fast,anoint your head and wash your
face that your fasting may notbe seen by others, but by your
father, who's in secret, andyour father, who sees in secret,
will reward.
(13:30):
You See, I love this becausewhat it's saying is that, no,
instead I'm doing this for God,I'm not doing this if someone
else sees me do it.
No, I'm gonna do this because Iwanna draw near to God and to
hear from his heart for me.
I will tell you this friends,this week, as we start to fast,
this is the week your coworkerswill bring you donuts.
It is the week that yourcoworkers who don't really like
(13:54):
you will suddenly invite you tolunch.
It is the week that the thingyou are fasting will come up
with the best brand new, freeversion of the thing you are
fasting, and it's gonna be likewell, I don't wanna pass up on
the best brand new, free versionof the thing you were fasting.
And it's going to be like, well, well, I don't want to pass up
on the blessings from the Lord,so I shall participate and then
I will fast later.
See, nobody's making you do it,so it's about the
(14:20):
intentionality of your heart.
It's like the reason I'm notdoing this is because I choose
not to do it, not becausesomeone's making me, or you know
, pastor Celeste is going tofind out and she's holy.
And if she finds out, then, man, I know you're going to worry
about me, but you know what Imean.
You're going to worry about her, and that's the point of
(14:40):
fasting.
You know, whenever we were young, we didn't quite get it.
My brother and I and I've toldthe story before but he and I
would be like my parents were.
You know, we're going to fastas a family and they weren't
even making us.
You guys, you guys fast with us, yes, and they're crying, you
know.
And so, of course, we arepeople that could probably do
without food for most of the day.
(15:05):
My brother and I like crazypeople and then forget to eat
and eat at the end of the day.
And my brother, though, thefirst morning we woke up fasting
.
He's like food.
I need food.
Now I'm like, dude, you're fineman and you know, like my mom,
she would, she'd cook an amazingbreakfast.
We had breakfast for dinner thenight before and, and she'd
cook an amazing breakfast, andso she had done that and we had,
like you know, bacon and eggs.
(15:25):
It's the Lord's breakfast, youknow what I mean.
He's blessed it.
I know it's not kosher, but youguys get it.
So my brother like sneaks inthere and like finds the very
edge of bacon grease that wasn'twiped out of the cast iron
skillet and goes like Friends,bacon grease on an empty stomach
.
Let me suggest you don't do it.
You know what I'm going to say.
Let me suggest you don't.
(15:45):
It's not fun.
The kid's like, blah, blah.
You're like, well, you got awhole other realm of fasting, my
friend, that's not what it'sabout.
The idea of fasting is to drawnear to God, to draw near to
what he wants to do in your life.
That's what fasting is about.
(16:05):
And what does it say?
It says that your father, whosees in secret, will reward you
Matthew 6, 18,.
If you have your tablet, yourBible, that you would open it
today, you'd highlight thatpiece.
See, it's your father, who's insecret, will reward you.
What is it saying?
It's saying that because ourintentionality are from the
(16:27):
heart, that the one that we aredoing it for, he's the one that
will draw us near to himself,and it's that blessing, that
proximity to his heart, to hitwhat he wants to do in our lives
.
That's what he's gonna do onyour behalf, and so that's what
it means for us.
Is that, as we fast, that wewould be those that are focused
(16:48):
after him In the same way.
How to pray so often we weretalking about that.
It's like how do we pray?
What are we going to pray inthis process?
Well, the focus that we've madefor us in this how to pray is
we've given you a prayer guideand we'll give you a QR code
here.
I'm encouraging you to take outyour phone and shoot it so you
can get this prayer guide andmake it available to you.
(17:10):
We're also gonna be showing itevery day on our social media.
But let this be something of ablessing to you, because what it
does is day by day.
It's gonna give a focus for theday, scripture that we can read
, a reflection and a prayer thatwe can pray.
Something simple, somethingeasy, but a blessing for us to
(17:32):
do together, collaboratively.
Of course, this is just astarting point, so you can, of
course, add your list to it.
I know, as a staff, we pray forall the things that everyone
are doing.
Mind your way, so sorry.
Wow, I'm going to move.
Where is it at?
I'm going to stand way overhere in the corner.
(17:54):
Who made this slide?
I made this slide.
You see this square here.
I feel like Vanna White, all ofa sudden, in front of this
video wall.
Shoot this with your phone, doyou guys have it?
Here's what we see.
(18:14):
This is an example of what it isfor day one.
We're gonna go through ittogether.
You see, it says fasting andprayer.
Today's focus is the service aswe come together, and our
scripture is this one out ofJoel 2.
It says, yet even now, declaresthe Lord return to me with all
your heart, with fasting, withweeping and with mourning, and
rend your hearts and not yourgarments.
(18:36):
Return to the Lord, your God,for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding insteadfast love.
He relents over disaster.
You can see the reflection forthe day, and that's how it talks
about the beginning of our 21days of fasting and prayer.
It says as we embark on thesacred time of drawing closer to
(18:57):
God, joel 2 reminds us of theimportance of sincere repentance
and heartfelt devotion.
This season is a time for us toreturn to God with our whole
hearts, fasting, weeping andmourning over the sin in our
lives, but also rejoicing in thegrace, mercy and steadfast love
of God.
In these next 21 days, let'sprepare our hearts to receive a
(19:19):
refresh outpouring of God'spresence.
May our hearts be open andready for what God wants to do
in us and through us.
So our prayer pointscollectively are these today Our
prayer points are one ask Godto give you a heart of
repentance and humility as youbegin this time of fasting and
(19:41):
prayer.
Two pray for the Lord to revealhis will and purpose for this
season in your life.
And three pray for our churchto experience a fresh move of
God's spirit during this time.
Would you say amen to that?
We see this a sample prayer.
Lord, as we begin this seasonof fasting and prayer, we come
before you with open hearts.
(20:01):
We ask you to search us andreveal any area of our lives
that need to be surrendered toyou.
We repent of anything thatseparates us from your presence
and pray that you would pour outyour grace and mercy upon us,
help us to hear your voiceregularly and clearly during
this time and align our heartswith your will.
May this time of fasting bringus closer to you and prepare us
(20:24):
for all you have in store, inJesus' name.
Amen.
And that's how easy it is.
So we encourage you in thisprocess that tomorrow you would
do the exact same thing and youwould open up this guide and let
it be a blessing to you.
Now we're talking about thisidea of the deep things of God
and going deep with God.
(20:44):
You have your Bibles.
We're going to stay right there.
In Psalm 139.
It picks up here, in the verybeginning, with verse one.
It says oh Lord, you havesearched me and know me.
You know when I sit down andwhen I rise up.
You discern my thoughts fromafar.
You search out my path and mylying down and you are
acquainted with all my ways.
(21:07):
See, what I love about thispiece is it starts out in this
psalm, the psalmist writing tous, and we understand exactly
what he's saying.
He's saying you know everythingI'm doing, you know all of the
plans that I have, but, lord you, that you would guide me.
See, the direction is such akey part of our lives and it's
the main thing.
(21:27):
Is why we don't wanna manytimes go deeper with God is that
we know we have to let go ofthe control, and that's very
honest, right?
Is that we know the deeper wego with God, the more he's gonna
say hey, I need that controlfrom you, I need to guide and
direct your life, I need tocontrol from you, I need to
guide and direct your life, Ineed to give you priorities, and
(21:47):
maybe we're just not ready yet.
But, friends, it's interestingbecause at the same breath we'll
say Lord, I want you more, morethan yesterday.
I need you more.
I want you to guide me, lord.
I want you to help my family,lord, I want you to bless my
children.
Lord, I want you to guide me,lord, I want you to help my
family, lord.
I want you to bless my children, lord, I want you to guide my
(22:09):
grandchildren.
And he's like that's what I'mtrying to do.
I need to guide you, I need togive you direction, and
meanwhile we're like but, lord,I have my plan and I have what
I'm gonna do.
And he's like but, lord, I havemy, I have my plan and I have
what I'm going to do.
And he's like then you're goingto have your outcomes.
(22:29):
If you want my outcomes, let'sgo where I'm leading you to go.
It continues here in verse four,and you could see it.
It says, even before a word ison my tongue behold, o Lord, you
know it all together.
You hem me in behind and beforeyou lay your hand upon me.
(22:52):
Such knowledge is too wonderfulfor me.
It is high.
I cannot attain it.
See, this is the glory and thewonder of God.
What does he say?
He's that he is for you andthat he is with you, that his
hand is upon you and not apartfrom you, that he's beside you,
he's behind you, he has yourback.
(23:14):
It's the one, that God, thatdoes not leave you in the depths
of despair.
He's the one that guides us,with his rod and his staff,
through the places of darkness,through the shadow of death.
He's a God who is the one whostands on our side, and so if
you feel like you're in thatsituation, know that you are not
(23:35):
alone, that God is with you andhe's fighting for you, and that
if you listen to where he'sdirecting you to go, it'll keep
you out of the pit and fallingoff the mountain and it'll keep
you going the direction he hasfor you to go See, because he's
not just in a far off place orhigh up in heaven somewhere.
No, he's given us his spirit toguide us right where we are.
(23:59):
His hand upon us that we woulddraw near to him and to his
heart for us.
It says this in verse sevenwhere shall I go from your
spirit?
Or where shall I flee from yourpresence?
Or if I ascend to heaven, youare there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, youare there.
If I take the wings of themorning and dwell in the
(24:20):
uttermost parts of the sea, eventhere, your hand shall lead me
and your right hand shall holdme.
Friends, this is our prayer.
Is that it's the height of allof creation, out into the stars,
into the depth of space, downinto the deepest parts of the
(24:41):
sea.
There is nothing that escapesGod's presence.
There's nothing that escapeshis awareness.
He is aware and knows all thesethings, and not just that.
But what does the word say here?
It says that your hand shalllead me and your right hand
shall hold me.
(25:01):
See, that means it's one ofendearing.
That means that it's not onewith a weapon.
He has a hand where he isembracing us, and so that's what
he wants to tell you is thathe's intentional towards you,
that he loves you.
He's drawing you near tohimself to embrace him, so that
(25:23):
he can keep you close to him, sothat he can help you navigate,
so he can help direct you and hecan give you the steps to take
that you can trust him, friends.
That's what it's about this.
Last week, pastor Bridget wastalking about soul care and
talking about how we're calledto be those who have goals and
(25:46):
all that God has given us, andthat's true.
We talk about that all the time, about all the things that God
has given us and how we arecalled to be those who are good
stewards of what he has for us.
So, as we talk about our health, that we would be those who are
intentional in these thingsthis year and now.
(26:11):
We would not just make likesome kind of you know, oh, I'm
making a resolution or a goal.
No, let's make focus and buildhabits so that we can go after
the things of God.
And we all know where we fallshort in these things in beating
ourselves up or maybe not doingenough exercise or being those
who overload ourself with stuffthat is it's not stuff we should
carry, it's from social mediaor from watching stuff that we
shouldn't watch, and we get allburned down in our mind and our
heart.
Let's clear all that junk out.
Let's be those people that arephysically and mentally and
(26:35):
emotionally healthy, because wehave a loving God who's the
healer of all those things andwe believe in divine healing.
So, if you're someone who'sdealing with anxiety, know the
peace of God is for your life.
If you're someone who'semotionally broken, know that
the healing God doesn't justheal your body, he can heal your
emotions too.
(26:58):
That we are called to have themind of Christ and to set
ourselves in step with him.
Not just our health, but alsoour wealth.
It's what God has given us tohave over.
It's our time, our talent, ourtestimony, yes, even our
treasury.
How are you being a goodsteward of all the things that
God has given you?
And so often we think aboutourselves in a compare me to
(27:21):
another person type of situation.
That's not what he's called usto do.
He's called us to be those whounderstand what we're given and
use it to the fullest, and hewill give us more because we can
be trusted.
You wanna see somethingmiraculously happen in your
situation?
Use what God already has givenyou to use.
Share your testimony withsomebody else.
(27:43):
Use your time wisely and notwaste it.
You know how many times we'relike I can't find time to read.
That.
That's cool.
What was the fourth season ofthat arbitrary show that you'll
forget next year?
What was that like?
Was it good?
Did you not like the director?
Oh, what's your Bible story?
Do you know the story?
You don't know the story.
You know the Bible has beenthere a couple thousand years.
(28:05):
You read it yet.
Am I getting in your stuff?
Yet I'm getting in my own stuff.
So hopefully you guys know notjust health, not just wealth,
but also the spirit.
Friends, we're called to bethose who have a purpose in God,
with a focus and a worship ofhim.
It's our heart in entirety aswe draw near to what he wants to
(28:28):
do in us.
He's calling us to himself thatwe would be those full of the
spirit of God, that we wouldalign our purpose with his
purpose for us, that we wouldhave a focus with his purpose
for us, that we would have afocus and make a priority of
what it is to worship the Lord.
And my challenge to you is thattomorrow you do do your reading
, you do do the plan, becausewhat that does is starts to
(28:49):
build a habit of what it meansto walk that thing out with God
every day, not weekend toweekend, but every day.
And then it goes every day toevery moment of every day where
we start to abide in Christ.
Friends, this is what it meansto go deep with God, that we're
(29:10):
on this adventure with God, thatwe're drawing near to him and
what he wants to do in our lives.
We come back to this scriptureas we prepare our hearts.
Today we're gonna go intocommunion after our worship song
, but my challenge to all of you, to us, is that we would be
(29:30):
people that come and we drawnear to God, even find an altar
with God, prepare our hearts aswe go into communion and we have
this meal to start our fast,saying Lord, we remember your
sacrifice for us, your body,your blood, which was shed for
me, that you took on my sin, mymistakes.
You took that to the cross atthe greatest cost there ever
(29:54):
could be.
And that's what this adventureis about of living with Christ.
It's trusting him because hehas such a greater plan for your
life than you have for yourlife.
The scripture we read againcomes from Joel.
It says and even now declaresthe Lord, return to me with all
(30:15):
your heart, with fasting, withweeping, with mourning, and rend
your hearts means tear yourhearts and not your garments.
Return to the Lord, your God,for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding insteadfast love.
(30:35):
He relents over disaster.
Friends, it's our challengethat we would be more like Jesus
.
Today.
You might be here and you'venever said yes to following
after Christ.
Your question you have toanswer is have you embraced
Jesus?
See for us, that's what makesus a Christ follower, a
(30:58):
Christian is that we've said yesto Jesus.
We say Jesus, I believe you arewho you say you are and I
invite you into my heart andlife, lord, that you would be
the Lord of my life, that youwould guide and direct me.
Lord, I know what you've doneon my behalf and, lord, I ask
you to forgive me, that I wouldstart this new life with you.
(31:18):
And so, as you say yes to that,you realize that, for you and
for us, the symbol of the crossis one of freedom, because it's
a place where Christ took all ofthe weight of the world, the
sin of the world, all the thingsthat were separating us from a
loving God, and he took thatupon himself.
And when he did, he paid for itonce and for all.
That we would not be separatedfrom him for the rest of
(31:41):
eternity, but instead that wewould be drawn near to his heart
.
Friends, that's the challenge Ihave for you today that you
would say yes to Jesus.
Apostle Paul writes like thisto the church at Rome because if
you confess with your mouththat Jesus is Lord and believe
(32:01):
in your heart that God raisedhim from the dead, you will be
saved.
For with the heart one believesand is justified.
With the mouth one confessesand is saved.
Today is your day to make adecision to follow Jesus.
I'm gonna ask everyone in theroom to stand to your feet,
(32:22):
right where you're at, bow yourhead.
Maybe you're here, you've nevermade a decision to follow Jesus
.
Today is your day to do so.
It's your opportunity to sayyes to God.
Or maybe you have, but you'vebeen away from living for God.
Today is your opportunity torecommit your heart to him, so,
as heads are bowed here in theroom, if that's, you just say,
pastor, that's me.
I want to be included in thatprayer.
Today, if you just raise yourhand right where you're at, say
(32:43):
Lord, I want to make acommitment to you to invite you
into my heart and life.
Thank you, lord, thank you God.
Yes, lord, people makingdecisions for God, I'm going to
ask friends if we'd all wouldrepeat this prayer out loud
after me Lord, thank you forloving me, thank you for sending
(33:06):
Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you.
In Christ's name, I pray Amen,amen.
(33:30):
Friends, I rejoice in youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
For those that raised theirhands today, hey, connect with
us in the back.
We wanna put some materialsinto your hand or online Message
hands today.
Hey, connect with us in theback.
We want to put some materialsinto your hand or online Message
us so that we can connect withyou and help you in following
after Christ.
Friends, as we go into this fasttoday, as we go into communion
today, we do so withintentionality.
(33:52):
My charge to you is that youwould make an altar with God,
that there be nothing toseparate you from him.
Lord, we thank you so much foryour word and, lord, we thank
you how you challenge us or howyou call us into the deep things
of your presence.
Lord, you call us there becauseyou want to guide and direct us
.
Lord, you don't want to fightus for control and, lord, you
(34:14):
want to be those that direct usand guide us in what we are
supposed to do with the purposefor our lives.
So, lord, as we come to thisaltar, we do so with
intentionality.
Lord, to draw near to you.
Lord, to experience more ofyour spirit, more of your peace,
more of your presence, your joy, in the middle of circumstances
that are hard to deal with,lord, that you are there with us
(34:35):
.
And so, lord, we draw near toyou at this time as we prepare
our hearts to receive all thatyou've given us in communion.
We pray this in the name ofJesus Christ, amen.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
If you have been a guest of ours over the last
several weeks, we would love tomeet you.
We are doing Party with thePastor immediately following
this service.
If you have children, you cango and grab them and then meet
us out here to the east side ofthe building there's a hallway
and just come join us.
We'd love to meet you and justanswer any questions you may
have, and it's real informal,but we'd love to just put a face
(35:06):
to the name.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
We have baptism coming up.
So for those of you who made adecision to follow Jesus, make a
decision to follow him inbaptism.
It's coming up in a few weeks,so we challenge you to say yes
to him in that way.
Let me pray over us before wego today.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
(35:32):
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
We pray this in the powerfulname that is Jesus Christ.
Amen, amen.
Know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
(35:52):
God bless you and have a greatweek.
God sees you, he knows exactly where you are, he
knows what you're going throughand though it's a new year,
maybe you're dealing with thesame problems.
God sees you and he knows whereyou're at.
You are not alone in yourstruggle.
You are not alone in yoursituation.
(00:21):
He is with you.
You are not forgotten.
You are not fighting this fightalone.
He is for you and through himwe are already more than
conquerors.
Through him, who has done agreat work on our behalf,
friends, I felt it so strongthat this week we were supposed
(00:41):
to change everything up and Iwas supposed to tell you this
that the God of the universeloves you and he cares about you
and he sees you and he knowsyour name, he knows your
circumstances, he knows whatyou're going through.
He has not forgotten you.
You are his child and he lovesyou very much.
(01:02):
We are focusing and we are goingafter the deep things of God
this year.
Friends, that we would go afterthe deep things of God this
year, friends, that we would goafter the deep things of God.
No more surface level, no moreplasticity in Christianity.
The deep things of God, if youwant to see a miracle in your
family, if you want to see amiracle in your situation, then
(01:22):
you have to go to the miracleworking God.
We have to go.
We have to go together.
It can't be just one of us,just two of us, friends.
We need to go after the deepthings of God for what he has
for you, what he has for me, foryour family, for your children,
(01:43):
your grandchildren, for yourneighbors, for your lost best
friend.
He cares about them.
He wants to see them come back.
But it becomes whenever you goafter the deep things of God.
That's when it happens thisyear, as we set out on 21 days
of prayer and fasting, it's tofocus on the deep things of God
(02:09):
that he would draw us into, whathe wants to show us that we
would leave behind the otherthings.
The scripture says this in Psalm139, how precious to me are
your thoughts, oh God, how vastis the sum of them, and if I
would count them, they are morethan the sand.
(02:29):
I awake and I am still with you, lord.
We just open up our hearts andminds to you today and all that
you wanna do on our behalf.
Lord, we thank you for yourspirit and how you breathe alive
upon us and make this thingalive, and your word that you've
given to us the truth, lord,that you are the only way.
(02:49):
You are the light, lord, youare the focus of our worship
today.
So we come with our heartstowards you, open to you and
what you want to say to us.
We pray this in the powerfulname that is Jesus Christ, amen.
So I was thinking about thisidea of the sand and God's
thoughts of the sand, and I wasthinking about how much I love
(03:10):
the beach.
Anybody a beach person out here, how many of you are from
Arizona?
You are a beach person, whetheror not you chose it.
You know a lot of beach, noocean.
You know what I mean and that'sone of the things.
I grew up loving the beach.
A sand kid out here runningaround in the desert, and one of
the things that was a challengeis that there is no ocean.
So I had this like yearning,this drawing to the ocean.
You know, occasionally ourfamily get a chance to go to the
(03:31):
ocean.
I absolutely loved it.
I would spend all my time out inthe ocean and you know there's
a situation where it's like man,you just want to get in there,
get in the mix, and that's alearned process, right?
You can't just jump in all theway.
You have to kind of learn howto navigate that.
And, and over time I startedkind of taking my love for the
ocean and started going after itand going to where it's like,
(03:52):
okay, I'm going to get a maskand I'm gonna start to go under
the water.
You can see a little bit ofthat here.
We were in Zanzibar free divingwith some friends and it's
interesting because you start togo and take those deep breaths
and you start to go down and seethings a little bit clearer and
you get to have that a littlebit more of an adventure because
you're no longer at surfacelevel Now.
You're deep and you're in it,you're in the mix of it all.
(04:13):
You see in this next video,it's like man, you start to go
to that next little place andyou take bigger breaths and
suddenly you start to go deeperand longer and faster and all
those things start to come aliveand you're starting to learn
this process of going into thedeep.
But I'll tell you, there's onlyso much you can do.
That is on your own breath.
(04:35):
And so there starts to be thisthing what if I could stay down
here even longer, and so I hadthat going on in my life
whenever I was young, and so itwas these things where I'm like,
well, let's get scuba certified.
And so I became a scuba diverand started getting a chance to
dive around the world.
This dive was in Sudan, in PortSudan.
This is a World War II Italianship that was sunk by the
(04:57):
captain so the British couldn'ttake it, and so we got a chance
to dive through it and get achance to navigate through it,
all because of this love for thedeep and for the ocean.
And I was thinking about thatas it parallels our faith and
our walk with God.
And you see the beach in allits glory, you see these waves
that are coming in, and it'sreally, you know, as we're
(05:19):
called to the deep things of God.
It's a question for us if we'regoing to just stay out here on
the sand or we're going to comeinto the deep things of God.
It's a question for us if we'regonna just stay out here on the
sand or we're gonna come intothe deep things that he has for
us.
And I wonder how often, as westart to kind of look over that
water, how much we're willing togo.
Are we people that just kind ofwalk by the sand?
You know long walks on thebeach, you know I'm sort of
spiritual, I'm adjacent tospiritual or are we people that,
(05:46):
like, I might put my toe inthere, I might come.
I might come to church, I mightdo it?
You know you come in there, getyour foot in the feet in there,
but you're definitely not goingto go up to like your knees,
cause that's that's commitment.
And there's some that they'relike man I'm already this man,
may I just get in this thing alittle bit.
And they get in there aboutwaist deep, but still they can.
(06:06):
Still they're okay.
They still got their arms out.
They're okay.
They're not really committed,they got their arms out.
And then there are others whowanna go all the way in and they
wanna go to the deep things ofGod and friends.
I can tell you as somebody whohas fought through a whole
(06:28):
season to that, I understandexactly what that is and I
understand where it's like man.
Well, what's the thoughtprocess as you start to look at
all of that commitment andgetting deeper in the things of
God, it's like well, then I'llhave to deal with what happens
to me.
If I get in this thing, I mean,people will know I'm in here,
people will see that I'mcommitted into this thing and I
(06:55):
don't know, maybe I just want toblend in with the people on the
beach, or maybe it's not.
That it's because I feel solack of control in my life that
this is the little bit ofcontrol I have, and even though
the ocean could really dowhatever it wants with me, I
have my feet kind of set andmaybe I could do something.
Maybe I could run out if Ineeded to.
So I'm only gonna get into myankles because going any deeper
would mean that I would losecontrol of what he's asking me
(07:17):
to do.
Or maybe whenever I get waysteep, it's like man, there's
scary things when it goes past.
Here, this is safe, this issafe, I'm in it, I'm committed,
(07:39):
I'm here.
But if I go all the way, if I goall the way, well, that's the
unknown, that's the deep Friends.
That's where all the answersyou've been looking for in your
spiritual life are.
They're in the deep things ofGod.
That's what it means for us towalk after Jesus.
It's why we follow him.
It's why we talk about what itmeans to be a follower of him.
(08:01):
For us, we're starting up thisyear with prayer, and it's an
amazing thing because as we pray, it's a focus of our hearts.
And that's what we want to dois starting with an
intentionality towards prayer.
Prayer is our communicationwith God.
That's simply it.
And I think so many timesespecially if we haven't grown
(08:22):
up in church or grown up maybein a different type of church,
you think you have to have allthe beautiful words that would
be there like in a liturgy, andthat's just not true.
You can speak from your heartto God.
He already knows our thoughts,what do we read in the scripture
?
And since that's true, then wecan just speak to him the way we
are, and that's okay.
You can fumble over it, and healready knows what you mean, and
(08:47):
we don't have to say a lot ofbeautiful words.
In fact, many times, the moreeloquent, the more trying we're
trying to posturize ourselves.
It's a false piety, it means afalse holiness, and so instead,
what we need to do is actuallybe ones that are just contrite
with our heart, that we're justhumble in our heart and say Lord
, this is where I'm at, becausehe already knows where you are
(09:09):
and, at the same time, we don'tneed to doubt who he is.
We can have those statements offaith.
Lord, this is my situation, butI know what you say.
I am because I belong to youand speak that as truth.
And that's the kind of thingswe speak over ourselves.
Because we speak doubt, wespeak death and we speak all
these other curses overourselves.
Guess what.
That's what we're going toexperience.
But instead, if we start to bethose that pray the prayer of
(09:32):
faith, lord, this is what Imight be feeling, but I know
what your word says for me.
I know where we're at, but, god, I believe that you can do
something bigger on my behalf.
All of those things are whatthe strength of prayer is about.
That's why we talk about ourdaily bread and about having
that time with God every day isthat we're called to be those
(09:53):
that are always praying, alwayshaving a relationship with him.
And you see that that's what itmeans to be people of prayer.
And so, during this 21 days,it's not like we're suddenly
going to start praying.
No, friends, we are people whoare praying.
What we're going to do is we'regoing to pray more because we
want to hear from the Lord.
(10:14):
Fasting is just an extension ofthat too, and we'll talk a
little bit more about that.
But we're going to start 21days of fasting and what that
looks like.
We'll see what it starts totake shape and how that starts
to happen and you start to thinkabout what that would mean for
you.
In fact, whenever you starttalking about how to fast, it
(10:34):
starts to wrestle with okay,what does this mean?
Are these people a bunch ofzealots?
Are they a bunch of radicalsfor God?
What are they doing?
There's food in their cupboard.
Why are they not eating it?
Tamales exist.
Why are they not eating them?
You understand, I still havethree in my freezer.
(10:55):
I am saving them from my family.
You understand what I'm saying.
But the idea is this thatfasting is not it's not a thing
where we're earning God's gracethat's given to us.
We can't do enough to earn hisgrace.
We're not twisting God's armbehind his back so he answers
our prayers by doing some kindof penance.
It's not that either.
It's not where we're not doingsomething or withholding from
(11:17):
something, not eating food, sothat we're punishing ourselves.
Friends, that's not what that'sabout.
You are God's child.
He has already paid the pricefor you.
He will correct you and guideyou by his spirit.
He doesn't need to flog youwith not eating tamales.
What he can do is instead besomeone who speaks to you.
What fasting is about is instead, not that.
(11:40):
Fasting is about the opposite.
While we don't feast on ourphysical things that would build
up our flesh, instead we feastspiritually on the things he has
for us, and so we feast on theword of God instead of on food,
and we're doing it withintentionality.
So it's a thing if you'redealing with hunger and you're
barely making a buy, then don'tdo a fast in this way.
(12:02):
Instead, eat so you can besustained.
But the idea is it's anintentionality.
In fact, the scripture starts totalk about how we should fast.
It says and when you fast, donot look gloomy like the
hypocrites, for they disfiguretheir faces that their fasting
may be seen by others.
Truly, I say to you they havereceived their reward.
(12:25):
Man, how often is it?
You know I want to be seendoing something good.
You know there's a lot ofbrands out there that, like you
know, oh, if I buy this brand,then it's seen as I'm doing
something good, because that'swhat this reflects.
So that's why I buy this brandis because then I'm associated
with being good.
(12:45):
You know what I'm talking about.
And so you kind of got yourreward right there, instead of
just like giving money to helppeople, and that's the trouble
is the same thing here,spiritually is that you know if
you're trying to do something soyou seem holy, then you've got
your reward right there.
Instead of pursuing after theGod of the universe which is the
whole point of the exercise isdrawing near to him and quieting
(13:10):
our hearts so that we can hearfrom him.
It continues here in thescripture.
It says this but when you fast,anoint your head and wash your
face that your fasting may notbe seen by others, but by your
father, who's in secret, andyour father, who sees in secret,
will reward.
(13:30):
You See, I love this becausewhat it's saying is that, no,
instead I'm doing this for God,I'm not doing this if someone
else sees me do it.
No, I'm gonna do this because Iwanna draw near to God and to
hear from his heart for me.
I will tell you this friends,this week, as we start to fast,
this is the week your coworkerswill bring you donuts.
It is the week that yourcoworkers who don't really like
(13:54):
you will suddenly invite you tolunch.
It is the week that the thingyou are fasting will come up
with the best brand new, freeversion of the thing you are
fasting, and it's gonna be likewell, I don't wanna pass up on
the best brand new, free versionof the thing you were fasting.
And it's going to be like, well, well, I don't want to pass up
on the blessings from the Lord,so I shall participate and then
I will fast later.
See, nobody's making you do it,so it's about the
(14:20):
intentionality of your heart.
It's like the reason I'm notdoing this is because I choose
not to do it, not becausesomeone's making me, or you know
, pastor Celeste is going tofind out and she's holy.
And if she finds out, then, man, I know you're going to worry
about me, but you know what Imean.
You're going to worry about her, and that's the point of
(14:40):
fasting.
You know, whenever we were young, we didn't quite get it.
My brother and I and I've toldthe story before but he and I
would be like my parents were.
You know, we're going to fastas a family and they weren't
even making us.
You guys, you guys fast with us, yes, and they're crying, you
know.
And so, of course, we arepeople that could probably do
without food for most of the day.
(15:05):
My brother and I like crazypeople and then forget to eat
and eat at the end of the day.
And my brother, though, thefirst morning we woke up fasting
.
He's like food.
I need food.
Now I'm like, dude, you're fineman and you know, like my mom,
she would, she'd cook an amazingbreakfast.
We had breakfast for dinner thenight before and, and she'd
cook an amazing breakfast, andso she had done that and we had,
like you know, bacon and eggs.
(15:25):
It's the Lord's breakfast, youknow what I mean.
He's blessed it.
I know it's not kosher, but youguys get it.
So my brother like sneaks inthere and like finds the very
edge of bacon grease that wasn'twiped out of the cast iron
skillet and goes like Friends,bacon grease on an empty stomach
.
Let me suggest you don't do it.
You know what I'm going to say.
Let me suggest you don't.
(15:45):
It's not fun.
The kid's like, blah, blah.
You're like, well, you got awhole other realm of fasting, my
friend, that's not what it'sabout.
The idea of fasting is to drawnear to God, to draw near to
what he wants to do in your life.
That's what fasting is about.
(16:05):
And what does it say?
It says that your father, whosees in secret, will reward you
Matthew 6, 18,.
If you have your tablet, yourBible, that you would open it
today, you'd highlight thatpiece.
See, it's your father, who's insecret, will reward you.
What is it saying?
It's saying that because ourintentionality are from the
(16:27):
heart, that the one that we aredoing it for, he's the one that
will draw us near to himself,and it's that blessing, that
proximity to his heart, to hitwhat he wants to do in our lives
.
That's what he's gonna do onyour behalf, and so that's what
it means for us.
Is that, as we fast, that wewould be those that are focused
(16:48):
after him In the same way.
How to pray so often we weretalking about that.
It's like how do we pray?
What are we going to pray inthis process?
Well, the focus that we've madefor us in this how to pray is
we've given you a prayer guideand we'll give you a QR code
here.
I'm encouraging you to take outyour phone and shoot it so you
can get this prayer guide andmake it available to you.
(17:10):
We're also gonna be showing itevery day on our social media.
But let this be something of ablessing to you, because what it
does is day by day.
It's gonna give a focus for theday, scripture that we can read
, a reflection and a prayer thatwe can pray.
Something simple, somethingeasy, but a blessing for us to
(17:32):
do together, collaboratively.
Of course, this is just astarting point, so you can, of
course, add your list to it.
I know, as a staff, we pray forall the things that everyone
are doing.
Mind your way, so sorry.
Wow, I'm going to move.
Where is it at?
I'm going to stand way overhere in the corner.
(17:54):
Who made this slide?
I made this slide.
You see this square here.
I feel like Vanna White, all ofa sudden, in front of this
video wall.
Shoot this with your phone, doyou guys have it?
Here's what we see.
(18:14):
This is an example of what it isfor day one.
We're gonna go through ittogether.
You see, it says fasting andprayer.
Today's focus is the service aswe come together, and our
scripture is this one out ofJoel 2.
It says, yet even now, declaresthe Lord return to me with all
your heart, with fasting, withweeping and with mourning, and
rend your hearts and not yourgarments.
(18:36):
Return to the Lord, your God,for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding insteadfast love.
He relents over disaster.
You can see the reflection forthe day, and that's how it talks
about the beginning of our 21days of fasting and prayer.
It says as we embark on thesacred time of drawing closer to
(18:57):
God, joel 2 reminds us of theimportance of sincere repentance
and heartfelt devotion.
This season is a time for us toreturn to God with our whole
hearts, fasting, weeping andmourning over the sin in our
lives, but also rejoicing in thegrace, mercy and steadfast love
of God.
In these next 21 days, let'sprepare our hearts to receive a
(19:19):
refresh outpouring of God'spresence.
May our hearts be open andready for what God wants to do
in us and through us.
So our prayer pointscollectively are these today Our
prayer points are one ask Godto give you a heart of
repentance and humility as youbegin this time of fasting and
(19:41):
prayer.
Two pray for the Lord to revealhis will and purpose for this
season in your life.
And three pray for our churchto experience a fresh move of
God's spirit during this time.
Would you say amen to that?
We see this a sample prayer.
Lord, as we begin this seasonof fasting and prayer, we come
before you with open hearts.
(20:01):
We ask you to search us andreveal any area of our lives
that need to be surrendered toyou.
We repent of anything thatseparates us from your presence
and pray that you would pour outyour grace and mercy upon us,
help us to hear your voiceregularly and clearly during
this time and align our heartswith your will.
May this time of fasting bringus closer to you and prepare us
(20:24):
for all you have in store, inJesus' name.
Amen.
And that's how easy it is.
So we encourage you in thisprocess that tomorrow you would
do the exact same thing and youwould open up this guide and let
it be a blessing to you.
Now we're talking about thisidea of the deep things of God
and going deep with God.
(20:44):
You have your Bibles.
We're going to stay right there.
In Psalm 139.
It picks up here, in the verybeginning, with verse one.
It says oh Lord, you havesearched me and know me.
You know when I sit down andwhen I rise up.
You discern my thoughts fromafar.
You search out my path and mylying down and you are
acquainted with all my ways.
(21:07):
See, what I love about thispiece is it starts out in this
psalm, the psalmist writing tous, and we understand exactly
what he's saying.
He's saying you know everythingI'm doing, you know all of the
plans that I have, but, lord you, that you would guide me.
See, the direction is such akey part of our lives and it's
the main thing.
(21:27):
Is why we don't wanna manytimes go deeper with God is that
we know we have to let go ofthe control, and that's very
honest, right?
Is that we know the deeper wego with God, the more he's gonna
say hey, I need that controlfrom you, I need to guide and
direct your life, I need tocontrol from you, I need to
guide and direct your life, Ineed to give you priorities, and
(21:47):
maybe we're just not ready yet.
But, friends, it's interestingbecause at the same breath we'll
say Lord, I want you more, morethan yesterday.
I need you more.
I want you to guide me, lord.
I want you to help my family,lord, I want you to bless my
children.
Lord, I want you to guide me,lord, I want you to help my
family, lord.
I want you to bless my children, lord, I want you to guide my
(22:09):
grandchildren.
And he's like that's what I'mtrying to do.
I need to guide you, I need togive you direction, and
meanwhile we're like but, lord,I have my plan and I have what
I'm gonna do.
And he's like but, lord, I havemy, I have my plan and I have
what I'm going to do.
And he's like then you're goingto have your outcomes.
(22:29):
If you want my outcomes, let'sgo where I'm leading you to go.
It continues here in verse four,and you could see it.
It says, even before a word ison my tongue behold, o Lord, you
know it all together.
You hem me in behind and beforeyou lay your hand upon me.
(22:52):
Such knowledge is too wonderfulfor me.
It is high.
I cannot attain it.
See, this is the glory and thewonder of God.
What does he say?
He's that he is for you andthat he is with you, that his
hand is upon you and not apartfrom you, that he's beside you,
he's behind you, he has yourback.
(23:14):
It's the one, that God, thatdoes not leave you in the depths
of despair.
He's the one that guides us,with his rod and his staff,
through the places of darkness,through the shadow of death.
He's a God who is the one whostands on our side, and so if
you feel like you're in thatsituation, know that you are not
(23:35):
alone, that God is with you andhe's fighting for you, and that
if you listen to where he'sdirecting you to go, it'll keep
you out of the pit and fallingoff the mountain and it'll keep
you going the direction he hasfor you to go See, because he's
not just in a far off place orhigh up in heaven somewhere.
No, he's given us his spirit toguide us right where we are.
(23:59):
His hand upon us that we woulddraw near to him and to his
heart for us.
It says this in verse sevenwhere shall I go from your
spirit?
Or where shall I flee from yourpresence?
Or if I ascend to heaven, youare there.
If I make my bed in Sheol, youare there.
If I take the wings of themorning and dwell in the
(24:20):
uttermost parts of the sea, eventhere, your hand shall lead me
and your right hand shall holdme.
Friends, this is our prayer.
Is that it's the height of allof creation, out into the stars,
into the depth of space, downinto the deepest parts of the
(24:41):
sea.
There is nothing that escapesGod's presence.
There's nothing that escapeshis awareness.
He is aware and knows all thesethings, and not just that.
But what does the word say here?
It says that your hand shalllead me and your right hand
shall hold me.
(25:01):
See, that means it's one ofendearing.
That means that it's not onewith a weapon.
He has a hand where he isembracing us, and so that's what
he wants to tell you is thathe's intentional towards you,
that he loves you.
He's drawing you near tohimself to embrace him, so that
(25:23):
he can keep you close to him, sothat he can help you navigate,
so he can help direct you and hecan give you the steps to take
that you can trust him, friends.
That's what it's about this.
Last week, pastor Bridget wastalking about soul care and
talking about how we're calledto be those who have goals and
(25:46):
all that God has given us, andthat's true.
We talk about that all the time, about all the things that God
has given us and how we arecalled to be those who are good
stewards of what he has for us.
So, as we talk about our health, that we would be those who are
intentional in these thingsthis year and now.
(26:11):
We would not just make likesome kind of you know, oh, I'm
making a resolution or a goal.
No, let's make focus and buildhabits so that we can go after
the things of God.
And we all know where we fallshort in these things in beating
ourselves up or maybe not doingenough exercise or being those
who overload ourself with stuffthat is it's not stuff we should
carry, it's from social mediaor from watching stuff that we
shouldn't watch, and we get allburned down in our mind and our
heart.
Let's clear all that junk out.
Let's be those people that arephysically and mentally and
(26:35):
emotionally healthy, because wehave a loving God who's the
healer of all those things andwe believe in divine healing.
So, if you're someone who'sdealing with anxiety, know the
peace of God is for your life.
If you're someone who'semotionally broken, know that
the healing God doesn't justheal your body, he can heal your
emotions too.
(26:58):
That we are called to have themind of Christ and to set
ourselves in step with him.
Not just our health, but alsoour wealth.
It's what God has given us tohave over.
It's our time, our talent, ourtestimony, yes, even our
treasury.
How are you being a goodsteward of all the things that
God has given you?
And so often we think aboutourselves in a compare me to
(27:21):
another person type of situation.
That's not what he's called usto do.
He's called us to be those whounderstand what we're given and
use it to the fullest, and hewill give us more because we can
be trusted.
You wanna see somethingmiraculously happen in your
situation?
Use what God already has givenyou to use.
Share your testimony withsomebody else.
(27:43):
Use your time wisely and notwaste it.
You know how many times we'relike I can't find time to read.
That.
That's cool.
What was the fourth season ofthat arbitrary show that you'll
forget next year?
What was that like?
Was it good?
Did you not like the director?
Oh, what's your Bible story?
Do you know the story?
You don't know the story.
You know the Bible has beenthere a couple thousand years.
(28:05):
You read it yet.
Am I getting in your stuff?
Yet I'm getting in my own stuff.
So hopefully you guys know notjust health, not just wealth,
but also the spirit.
Friends, we're called to bethose who have a purpose in God,
with a focus and a worship ofhim.
It's our heart in entirety aswe draw near to what he wants to
(28:28):
do in us.
He's calling us to himself thatwe would be those full of the
spirit of God, that we wouldalign our purpose with his
purpose for us, that we wouldhave a focus with his purpose
for us, that we would have afocus and make a priority of
what it is to worship the Lord.
And my challenge to you is thattomorrow you do do your reading
, you do do the plan, becausewhat that does is starts to
(28:49):
build a habit of what it meansto walk that thing out with God
every day, not weekend toweekend, but every day.
And then it goes every day toevery moment of every day where
we start to abide in Christ.
Friends, this is what it meansto go deep with God, that we're
(29:10):
on this adventure with God, thatwe're drawing near to him and
what he wants to do in our lives.
We come back to this scriptureas we prepare our hearts.
Today we're gonna go intocommunion after our worship song
, but my challenge to all of you, to us, is that we would be
(29:30):
people that come and we drawnear to God, even find an altar
with God, prepare our hearts aswe go into communion and we have
this meal to start our fast,saying Lord, we remember your
sacrifice for us, your body,your blood, which was shed for
me, that you took on my sin, mymistakes.
You took that to the cross atthe greatest cost there ever
(29:54):
could be.
And that's what this adventureis about of living with Christ.
It's trusting him because hehas such a greater plan for your
life than you have for yourlife.
The scripture we read againcomes from Joel.
It says and even now declaresthe Lord, return to me with all
(30:15):
your heart, with fasting, withweeping, with mourning, and rend
your hearts means tear yourhearts and not your garments.
Return to the Lord, your God,for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding insteadfast love.
(30:35):
He relents over disaster.
Friends, it's our challengethat we would be more like Jesus
.
Today.
You might be here and you'venever said yes to following
after Christ.
Your question you have toanswer is have you embraced
Jesus?
See for us, that's what makesus a Christ follower, a
(30:58):
Christian is that we've said yesto Jesus.
We say Jesus, I believe you arewho you say you are and I
invite you into my heart andlife, lord, that you would be
the Lord of my life, that youwould guide and direct me.
Lord, I know what you've doneon my behalf and, lord, I ask
you to forgive me, that I wouldstart this new life with you.
(31:18):
And so, as you say yes to that,you realize that, for you and
for us, the symbol of the crossis one of freedom, because it's
a place where Christ took all ofthe weight of the world, the
sin of the world, all the thingsthat were separating us from a
loving God, and he took thatupon himself.
And when he did, he paid for itonce and for all.
That we would not be separatedfrom him for the rest of
(31:41):
eternity, but instead that wewould be drawn near to his heart
.
Friends, that's the challenge Ihave for you today that you
would say yes to Jesus.
Apostle Paul writes like thisto the church at Rome because if
you confess with your mouththat Jesus is Lord and believe
(32:01):
in your heart that God raisedhim from the dead, you will be
saved.
For with the heart one believesand is justified.
With the mouth one confessesand is saved.
Today is your day to make adecision to follow Jesus.
I'm gonna ask everyone in theroom to stand to your feet,
(32:22):
right where you're at, bow yourhead.
Maybe you're here, you've nevermade a decision to follow Jesus
.
Today is your day to do so.
It's your opportunity to sayyes to God.
Or maybe you have, but you'vebeen away from living for God.
Today is your opportunity torecommit your heart to him, so,
as heads are bowed here in theroom, if that's, you just say,
pastor, that's me.
I want to be included in thatprayer.
Today, if you just raise yourhand right where you're at, say
(32:43):
Lord, I want to make acommitment to you to invite you
into my heart and life.
Thank you, lord, thank you God.
Yes, lord, people makingdecisions for God, I'm going to
ask friends if we'd all wouldrepeat this prayer out loud
after me Lord, thank you forloving me, thank you for sending
(33:06):
Jesus.
I believe Jesus died on thecross for my sins.
I believe he rose again.
Forgive me of my sins.
I surrender my life to you.
In Christ's name, I pray Amen,amen.
(33:30):
Friends, I rejoice in youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
For those that raised theirhands today, hey, connect with
us in the back.
We wanna put some materialsinto your hand or online Message
hands today.
Hey, connect with us in theback.
We want to put some materialsinto your hand or online Message
us so that we can connect withyou and help you in following
after Christ.
Friends, as we go into this fasttoday, as we go into communion
today, we do so withintentionality.
(33:52):
My charge to you is that youwould make an altar with God,
that there be nothing toseparate you from him.
Lord, we thank you so much foryour word and, lord, we thank
you how you challenge us or howyou call us into the deep things
of your presence.
Lord, you call us there becauseyou want to guide and direct us
.
Lord, you don't want to fightus for control and, lord, you
(34:14):
want to be those that direct usand guide us in what we are
supposed to do with the purposefor our lives.
So, lord, as we come to thisaltar, we do so with
intentionality.
Lord, to draw near to you.
Lord, to experience more ofyour spirit, more of your peace,
more of your presence, your joy, in the middle of circumstances
that are hard to deal with,lord, that you are there with us
(34:35):
.
And so, lord, we draw near toyou at this time as we prepare
our hearts to receive all thatyou've given us in communion.
We pray this in the name ofJesus Christ, amen.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
If you have been a guest of ours over the last
several weeks, we would love tomeet you.
We are doing Party with thePastor immediately following
this service.
If you have children, you cango and grab them and then meet
us out here to the east side ofthe building there's a hallway
and just come join us.
We'd love to meet you and justanswer any questions you may
have, and it's real informal,but we'd love to just put a face
(35:06):
to the name.
Speaker 1 (35:08):
We have baptism coming up.
So for those of you who made adecision to follow Jesus, make a
decision to follow him inbaptism.
It's coming up in a few weeks,so we challenge you to say yes
to him in that way.
Let me pray over us before wego today.
The Lord bless you and keep you.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
(35:32):
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
We pray this in the powerfulname that is Jesus Christ.
Amen, amen.
Know this.
We love you very much here atCornerstone.
(35:52):
God bless you and have a greatweek.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!