November 3, 2025 • 37 mins
What if the most crowded parts of your week are actually the doorway to deeper peace? We step straight into the rush—kid drop-offs, work sprints, grocery runs, weekend marathons—and ask a harder, better question: where is the space for God when every square of the calendar is filled? The answer isn’t to tidy up first. It’s to bring the whole mess—exhaustion, pressure, deadlines, and all—and let God meet you there.
We unpack a simple, strong framework from James 1: count it all joy, let steadfastness grow, ask boldly for wisdom, and pursue righteousness that shows up in everyday choices. Joy in trials sounds impossible until you see what it really is: perspective anchored in promise. Steadfastness isn’t a heroic moment; it’s the daily habit that readies you for the tests you didn’t plan for. Wisdom isn’t scarce; God gives it generously to those who ask. And righteousness isn’t earned; it’s received in Christ, then expressed as being quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
To make this real, we walk through imperfect heroes—Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Samson—people who stumbled and still stepped into God’s purpose. Their stories remind us that failure isn’t final and your past doesn’t get the last word. We get honest about anger and bitterness, how they masquerade as protection but function like chains. Freedom comes when we lay them down and invite the Holy Spirit to form new reflexes. We talk practical rhythms too: putting God first before the phone, building community that keeps you grounded, and creating small, repeatable practices that hold when life gets loud.
If your life feels messy, you’re not disqualified—you’re ready. Listen, share it with a friend who needs the reminder, and subscribe so you never miss a conversation that brings peace into the middle of real life. And if this spoke to you, leave a review with one insight you’re putting into practice this week.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sermon Bumper Video (00:00):
Life is messy, but God can handle the
messy.
Life gets busy fast.
You've got kid drop-offs andpickups, then you need to figure
out how you're going to get allof your work done in between
that.
After work, you have the kids'practices, the endless grocery
runs, helping with homework, andtrying to find time to clean.
(00:21):
And through all that, you can'tforget to squeeze in time for
lunch or factor in the morningstruggles.
And the weekend is no break.
Saturday is a 7 a.m.
game.
Haircuts and two birthdayparties.
Costco, Target, and a vacuummarathon before we collapse at
10:30 p.m.
Then comes Sunday, 8 a.m.
(00:42):
service while setting up andteaching, brunch, grocery run,
soccer game, and laundry loadnumber one.
All before we try to finishworking mails at 10 p.m., every
hour is spoken for.
Every single square is filled.
We're running on caffeine andborrowed time, fighting to keep
all those balls in the air.
(01:03):
But where is the moment to bestill?
Where is the time to breathe?
Where is the space for God?
Don't feel like you need toclean up the chaos before you
ask for help.
Bring the exhaustion, thepressure, the deadlines, and the
endless mess.
Bring it all.
We can't forget to scheduletime for God.
(01:24):
Life is messy, but God canhandle the messy.
Jason Brown (01:30):
So messy, our new theme is messy because life is
messy.
Now, this uh fall season is abeautiful one.
How many people enjoy thechanging of the leaves color and
all that that you see ontelevision, not here, because it
doesn't exist.
Just our our palm trees getslightly brown.
That's all that happens.
(01:50):
So, you know, you think aboutit, it is beautiful.
And for those that have got achance, some people actually get
talked into taking the driveand going and seeing the
changing of the leaves.
It is very beautiful.
It's pretty.
Uh, but it is the reality ofthat, if you've ever lived in a
place like that, means thatsuddenly, after all the beauty
of the leaves changing color,you have to go and shovel or
rake all those leaves and getrid of them.
(02:12):
Isn't that right?
And I think that's how it worksin our lives often is that the
very thing that is sometimesbeautiful, the change that's
happening, often means we alsohave to clean up the mess of
some of that change as well.
And I think that's part of thedealing with how life is messy
and that we're never going to beperfect in the way that we live
this thing out.
That's why we're always turningto look towards Jesus.
(02:34):
You know, when we would talkabout this in a different way,
we would talk about, man, wewant to put our best face
forward and we want to be thosethat are that are kind of have
our countenance towards God, butthat doesn't mean that we have
everything together.
And it also means that we don'twant to be those that are
plastic and putting on a facethat's fake.
What we want to be is authenticand we want to live in faith,
(02:56):
but also the tension of thatwhat we're going through is not
easy and that life can sometimesbe messy, but that's okay
because God can handle messy.
Now, some years ago, we livedin Egypt, and one of the things
that we did is we hung ourlaundry out to dry.
And so we didn't have dryers.
That wasn't really a thingwhere we lived there.
(03:17):
And you know, it worked goodabout half the year whenever it
was nice and sunny.
The other half the year when itwas rainy, it meant you put on
wet clothes most of the timeafter it hung outside for a
little bit because they nevergot all the way dry.
And one of the things I missedfrom America was having a dryer
where you could pull uh pull atowel out of a dryer.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout, and you embrace the
(03:38):
towel, and it's like that, ohyou guys know what I'm talking
about?
You guys haven't done this?
If you do that in Egypt andyou're like, uh, it's like a
brilliant on your face, you'relike, it's not the same.
And so those are things thatyou I missed, but there's an art
to hanging your clothesoutside, especially when you
(03:58):
live surrounded like we did inVertical Village.
We were on the 12th story of afloor of a building on top, and
we had neighbors hanging theirstuff out, and we had people
beside us and around us andabove us looking down at us,
watching us instead of thetelevision.
Like, mmm, yes.
So you had to watch how youhung your your laundry outside.
You had to put like yourclothes or your bed sheets on
the outside with yourunmentionables in the middle of
(04:22):
those clothes.
How many people were trackingwith what I'm saying?
Because if not, then all yourneighbors are like, oh,
especially you gentlemen, whenare you getting crazy with those
things?
Your unmentionables go in themiddle of those pieces to
protect them from yourneighbor's eyes.
So that's how it worked.
And that's why you hear theterm, it's an old term, is
airing your dirty laundry.
(04:44):
And they talk about this ideaof having dirty laundry.
And truth be told, all of ushave dirty laundry.
It means we have things in ourlives that aren't put together
correctly yet.
It means all of us havesomething that we're working on
and the Holy Spirit of God isworking on in our lives.
That's why whenever I pray foryou every week, that you would
have no satisfaction except forthe things of God.
(05:06):
It means that whenever you'recoming into this place, as you
set foot on any campus, as youturn on any stream, as you do
anything that's coming towardsGod's presence, that you will
feel the conviction of God toredirect you towards what he
wants you to do.
Whether or not I say it fromthe front or anyone does in a
song in all these prayers thatwe sing, and our our teams do
(05:27):
such a great job, and we're sothankful for our media teams and
our kids' teams and everybodythat helps us, even if we don't
say anything that you're goingthrough, the conviction of God
can be there and redirect youtowards his purpose.
Is that true?
You know how I know is becausewhenever I got rebellious and
left church and wasn't going tochurch consistently, when I did
go to church, I felt theconviction of God like the
(05:49):
preacher was talking right to meabout my stuff.
He wasn't even on that subject.
And I was like, Oh, I feelconviction.
We all have dirty laundry.
So what we have to understandis that when we walk into a
place that none of us isperfect, and since that's true,
then whenever we're airing ourdirty laundry, meaning other
people can see through ourfacade, guess what?
(06:11):
They too have the same thingthat they're going through.
All of us have dirty laundry,and what we're doing is that we
cannot make our ownrighteousness.
It's not possible.
It's only through Jesus'righteousness, only through what
he has done for us that we'remade righteous.
So, what we do is we take allof our things that are broken
and we give those over to theLord.
(06:32):
And by his grace and mercy andthrough our obedience to follow
him as the Lord of our life, hein turn gives us something brand
new.
He gives us a brand new heartand a brand new spirit.
He calls us a brand newcreation.
He washes away all that sin andguilt and shame.
It's no longer who you are, itis your past and not your
(06:52):
future.
Friends, we belong to the Lord.
And here's the thing (06:56):
this is the story throughout the Bible.
You would see it time and timeagain.
It goes back to the verybeginning of your book.
If you start in Genesis, youread where the Lord He creates
us and breathes his life intous.
He makes us in his image, hegives us power and he gives us
control over the world of thattime, and everything's perfect.
And there is no shame and thereis no guilt and there is no
(07:16):
hunger or anger or anything.
Instead, we, even in thatplace, we decide to go against
the very rules that he had givenus, the very command he had
given us, and break God's heart.
And it causes us to have thisbrokenness in us, this sin
nature inside of us.
And so even as we are thrownfrom the Eden and from the
(07:36):
garden, so we now toil in thisworld in trying to do all we
can, all the while still beingbroken a little bit inside of
who we are.
You think about the greatfathers of faith like Abraham.
We know Father Abraham, he hadmany sons.
Many sons had Father Abraham.
If you don't know that song,you need to go to kids' church
because those guys rock.
(07:57):
But Father Abraham, once knownAbraham, as we see in Genesis
12, the Lord comes to him andsays, That you will leave your
father's house and all that youwould know, and I will show you
a place we'll go, and you willtrust me, and I will bless you,
and I will curse all that curseyou, and I will be with you, and
I will make you a multitude.
And all these promises that aremade to Abraham as he walks
(08:18):
connected to the Lord'spurposes.
And in doing so, he still isnot perfect.
He doesn't get everything rightall the time.
And even as they get down intoplaces like Egypt, he comes down
there and his wife, who's verybeautiful, he starts acting like
he's not, she's not his wifebecause he's afraid they're
gonna kill him and steal hiswife.
So he's like, Oh no, this is mysister.
(08:38):
Like, uh, you could yeah, goahead.
Bro, what are you doing?
That's your hot wife.
What are you doing?
But he messed up.
And it wasn't the only time,but you guys can get the point.
Even our father of our faithmessed up.
Isaac, in the same way, though,though Abraham goes and he's
given Isaac, he first messed upwith Ishmael and that whole
(08:59):
debacle, which is a whole notherthing.
But even in having Isaac, thispromised child who will become
the multitude, even through him,he decides, Lord, I will not
even withhold him, I'll bewilling to sacrifice Isaac.
And Isaac learns that lesson,and he too has the commitments
from the Lord for his behalf,and he too has the promises of
God, and the Lord comes andmakes a covenant, and you see
(09:20):
the continuation.
But Isaac himself makes thesame mistake that his dad makes,
and it's a mess.
And then you fast forward alittle bit and you see that
Jacob and Esau are there, andthey're twins that have been
wrestling and struggling sincebirth.
And Jacob, he goes in and hesteals away his brother's
birthright from him.
And then he goes and he fakesthat he's his brother and lies
(09:44):
to his father to get theblessing.
This is the guy that theyrenamed Israel, that the whole
place is named after.
This is the guy.
Remember?
But here's the deal (09:53):
that guy, during his his struggle, he goes
and literally struggles withGod.
He says, wrestles with the Lordand has this moment with God.
See, God will take someonewho's messy and doesn't have it
together, and he'll do dynamicthings through their life.
Because it doesn't matter whereyou start, it's where you're
going and what he wants to dothrough you.
(10:14):
And you have Moses who he he isrescued from this genocide of
children in his day, and andhe's rescued by the princess and
brought into Pharaoh's home,raised up to rule and understood
all the mysteries in that day,but was someone who is Hebrew
and knew the ways of God, andand in his anger, he strikes out
and kills an Egyptian, and hehas to flee for his life.
(10:37):
You know, the guy who God woulduse and call from being a
shepherd out in Saudi Arabia.
He'll call to him from a fierybush and tell, Hey, I've
anointed you to go save yourpeople from Pharaoh.
That's who God chose.
He chose an angry murderer.
God can use anyone to do greatthings.
(11:01):
He chose a guy who couldn'teven, he had a stutter in his
talk.
He couldn't even speak well toothers.
He chose that guy to be themouthpiece of God.
See what it means is that thevery things from your past that
you say that's insurmountable,there's nothing that I can do to
overcome them.
Friends, that is where Godstarts and takes it forward in
(11:22):
our story.
You think about even as Joshuacomes and he goes and liberates
all of Israel and they establishthe tribes there, it's then
ruled over by a series ofjudges.
And one of those is famous fromthe very first moments of his
life, and Samson is anointed asset apart unto God.
And because of it, he has thisradical strength and this
tenacity, this ability to fight,and he's set apart unto God.
(11:45):
Plus, he has amazing hair likeFabio.
Which, for old people like me,we all understand.
And young people, I would meansomeone who has like really cool
hair, bro.
You know what I'm talkingabout?
So what's he known for?
He's known for his strength,he's known for his tenacity,
he's known for his fighting, butall the while, the very thing
(12:05):
that kept him empowered was hishonoring of God and keeping his
commitment, and then he decidesto go sleep with the enemy.
And the enemy puts a hook inhim and starts to draw him in
slowly, and draw him in slowly,and draw him in slowly, and
before he knows it, his power isgone, his lights are out, and
he is no more the man he used tobe.
(12:26):
But even in the midst of all ofthat heartbreak, God was not
done with Samson's story.
And God can even take thedepths of despair and the worst
situation, and he can use thatfor his glory.
Somebody say amen to that.
See, life is messy, but God canhandle it.
If your life is messy, God canhandle it.
(12:51):
He can take you from where youare to where he wants you to be
if you submit your life to him.
We're so thankful we have thisopportunity to worship today
together today at Cornerstone.
We haven't met.
My name is Jay.
And Celeste and I have such agreat opportunity to lead here
at Cornerstone.
It's a blessing to do so.
And we hope that you're herewith a friend because they
(13:12):
invited you to come to FallFamily Day.
We hope that you have friendson the way to come meet you
because we want to be able to bethose who are connecting to
others and we want to build acommunity of faith that goes and
is a light of the gospelwherever we go.
We just say amen to that.
See, we see ourselves on ajourney with Jesus, and none of
us being perfect.
It means that all of us need tobe active and following after
(13:33):
him.
That's why we use this imageryof Christ walking with the
walking with his disciples, isthat we have the same ambition.
We want to be more like Jesus.
So that's why we do what we do.
It's why we meet in community,that's why we meet throughout
the week, throughout the cityand life groups, is that we want
to be those that connect andgrow and serve.
(13:53):
We want to do all thesedifferent people pieces because
that's our intentionality.
We want to love God, we want tomake disciples, we want to
reach the world.
So that's why today, as we takea look at this scripture, we go
into this understanding that weare people in need of a savior,
following him where he'sleading us to go.
And so we're walking after hisplan and after his purposes.
(14:14):
Today, if you have your Bible,your tablet, your phone, we're
looking at James 1, starting inverse 2.
Encourage you to highlight itin your tablet, your your Bible,
your phone today.
It says it says this count itall joy, my brothers, when you
meet trials of various kinds,for you know the testing of your
(14:35):
faith produces steadfastness.
Lord, we thank you for yourword and we pray over it.
Or that you would use it,breathe upon it, make it alive
and challenging, we pray inJesus' name.
Amen.
Messy.
We know that life is messy.
And so we start talking abouthow life is messy.
We start talking about how weencounter these different
(14:57):
difficulties that aren'tnormally on our schedule.
I think as we saw the videoearlier, it resonates with us,
right?
How many people live off of aschedule and without it, you'd
be in big trouble?
How many people just wing itand just like, oh, that's fine,
whatever.
And so that to me, that'sstressful, man.
The fact that you're winging itmakes me stressed.
You know what I mean?
But it's true.
I think if we're not careful,we can so easily start to
(15:19):
prioritize the urgency ofwhatever's the moment is instead
of what's in really importantin our lives.
And those very things that willsustain us, like our
relationship with God, theystart to get bumped.
And our time with him starts toget bumped.
We're talking on a podcast theother day with some friends, and
we're saying, hey, what's thefirst thing you grab in the
morning?
What's the first thing you do?
And so all of us, I had toadmit, what we do is we grab our
(15:41):
phone first.
You know, I wish that all of uswould respond like we spend
three hours in meditative prayerquietly.
You know, it's like, no, wegrab the phone and then we're
like, we gotta resort it out.
Like, what's my priority first?
Start the day with the Lord,read first, maybe open my Bible
up first on my phone instead ofthe news or my email or social.
And instead be someone thatmakes a priority of our life
(16:04):
with God.
Because if we don't and westart to shuffle and he doesn't
get put into our priorities,then suddenly he's no longer a
priority.
And that means that thatwhenever we start to have things
that happen in our life, likeit says that trials will come,
that's what the scripture justsaid, then that means that we're
gonna go through these trials.
That if we go through thetrials with God, then we're
(16:24):
okay.
Because he's with us in thetrials.
But if we go through the trialand we are the ones that have
pushed God away, he's comingtowards us.
We're the one keeping him atbay, pushing him away.
Then we're going through thetrial on our own.
And so we get battered down andbeat down and we're down in
despair, and then we cry out toGod.
I'm gonna try over here whereit's probably gonna respond
(16:48):
better.
So we try it on our own and weget beat down and bit all the
way to the ground until we'renothing, and then we cry out to
God.
And the truth is that's all ofus have been there.
All of us have done it thewrong way.
And so that we instead wouldturn back to him and towards his
purposes, understanding thatlife is messy, but that we can
(17:10):
be intentional to live this lifewith God because he does not
forsake us.
He's with us even in the middleof the mess.
What does it say?
In the valley of the shadow ofdeath.
I would say that's a messy, asticky, a bad situation, but
that he's with us even in themidst of that.
We pick up here looking back tothat scripture and seeing that
we count it all joy.
(17:31):
Well, that's an interestingperspective, isn't it?
To count it all joy whenevertrials come to us.
See, it's a perspective.
And we see here with James,similar to Peter, in that
whenever they're writing theseideas, they're going through
something significant.
There's persecution happeningto the church in Jerusalem.
People are being dragged offand put in prison or killed.
(17:52):
James himself would die for hisfaith in Jesus.
We see the same thing happeningas Peter's writing so often.
He's writing, Paul is writing,and what are they writing?
They're writing from prison,they're writing from being in
hiding, they've been stoned andleft for dead.
All sorts of things havehappened.
And what do they write?
Praise be the God to our Lordand Savior Jesus Christ.
(18:13):
We give him praise.
What do they have?
They have an attitude of praiseeven in the midst of their
terrible circumstances.
Their terrible situation, theyhave an attitude of praise.
And friends, that helps usbecause whenever the testing
comes and the testing is coming,right?
The things that aren't in theschedule, the emergency's
coming, the problem is coming,it will wedge itself into your
(18:36):
schedule.
And then whenever it does come,that we would be those that are
ready for it.
Now, we can remember back whenwe were students.
I hope you were like this youngstudent where she's, you know,
ready, she's crushing the test,she's doing a great job.
But if you've ever beensomebody who have walked into a
pop quiz or a test and weren'tprepared, there is this anxiety
that you have to explain thateverybody in that circumstance
(18:58):
shares.
Where they're like, there's atest today?
You ever had those words comeout of your mouth?
And you're like, I don't have aScantron.
Can I borrow a pencil?
Can I run out of here?
Will they notice?
Can I suddenly fake a cough?
You know, you're like, oh, um,I need to go to the nurse.
Anybody else?
So here's the deal you can'tget away from it.
And so that's why it's such adifferent thing.
(19:18):
And and and many times,whenever we're not ready for
something to happen becausewe're not prepared, then we
don't maybe make the rightchoices.
You ever made the wrong choiceon a scantron, tried to go back
and erase it?
You're like scratching it out,trying to choose another option.
It doesn't really work in yourfavor.
And that's how we are with someof our choices sometimes,
(19:39):
because we make just like thosein the Bible, sometimes we make
poor choices.
We make poor choices, itusually has poor outcomes
because those aren't choicesthat we made in alignment with
God.
And since that's true, then itmeans that we're walking in our
own choices, which have our ownconsequences.
And that means that thingsaren't going to plan.
(20:02):
Even for people that areplanners, even those that are
scheduling, it means so oftenthat we get out of sorts.
Life gets messy.
Life gets a mess.
But the good news is, friends,is that we don't have to stay
there, that we don't have to bethose that that live locked in
in this mess, that instead wecan turn our hearts to God.
(20:22):
He's the one that will wash usaway.
He was the one that will washus clean.
He will make us a new creation,he will forgive us of our sin
and cleanse us of allunrighteousness.
It's by his power in our livesthat all these things happen.
And I could tell you that if wetry to do this life without
him, friends, it won't go theway we're thinking it's gonna
(20:43):
go.
Instead, it's gonna be a mess,followed by a bigger mess.
I could tell you that wheneverI was young, man, the thing I
fought with the most was dealingwith my unforgiveness that came
from my anger.
And if I wasn't willing to dealwith it, then I never could
move forward in loving otherpeople.
Because the root of what I wasdealing with and I'm not wanting
(21:06):
to deal with it made itimpossible for me to move
forward in my life with God.
Because God was kept onchallenging me about that thing.
And I would come to the altarand I try to do one of these
scoop moves, you know, where youscoop that thing behind you
like it doesn't exist.
And you're like, no, I'm notdealing with that, God.
He's like, Really?
Because I'm God and you're thereason that I'm the reason
you're here.
(21:26):
Why are you trying to fake meout about what you're really
dealing with?
Nobody.
Praise the Lord.
But here's the thing, wheneverwe are cleansed of all our
unrighteousness and all thesethings, then we feel ready
whenever the next test comes.
You can see like this gentlemanhere, like he's ready, he's
locked in, he's ready to go.
Because there's nothing shakinghim because he was ready for
(21:48):
the test.
You can imagine it's likewhenever these problems arise,
and having the Holy Spirit toguide us is much like having an
instructor there helping usunderstand how to navigate a
difficult circumstance.
Think about it in chemistry.
If you were just handed a bunchof random chemicals, you know,
you would want someone toinstruct you on how you should
put these things together.
You don't want to just randomlythrow them in there.
(22:10):
You might make napalm, youmight just like nuke the whole
place, you know what I mean?
But instead, that we wouldlisten to the instruction that's
given to us so that we couldeven safely navigate what would
otherwise be a very difficulttest.
But because we have the insightfrom the Lord, the things that
would otherwise make our lifemessy are now being able to be
(22:32):
accomplished.
Would you say amen to that?
Looking to the scripture, wepick back up here uh in some
three key things that we takeaway.
First is James 1, 4.
Let steadfastness have its fulleffect, that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking innothing.
Friends, we're called to besteadfast.
(22:52):
What does that mean?
It means that we should bethose that stay on the path
towards God.
Means that we need to keepconnected to him, keep tenacious
after the presence of God, thatwe would hold on to him because
he is our righteousness.
It's through him that we seethese things accomplished.
So he's saying to us as Christfollowers, challenging us to be
(23:14):
those that hold on to Jesus andnot let go.
I could tell you that, youknow, I've dealt with this from
time to time as a pastor, youknow, where especially with guys
for some reason where theythink the church and giving
their heart to Christ is somesomehow like a sissy thing.
And I would tell you theopposite.
I would tell you that actuallyit takes a lot of boldness, a
(23:34):
lot of courage to be a man whogives his heart to Jesus and is
reformed into Jesus' image.
It's actually more of achildish thing to hold on to all
your childish ways and my, my,my, me, me, me thought process.
Instead of standing up andbeing a man who takes
accountability for himself andfor his family and for his
community and becomes a man ofGod who's steadfast in the word.
(23:56):
And I can tell you that as aman in process, not as someone
who's arrived in any way, but assomeone who is walking that
out, saying, Lord, help me to besteadfast.
Help me to be an example, helpme to be the one who lived with
your reflection so that I can besomeone who steps up whenever
the moment comes and has thecourage of God to do something
about it.
It only comes from us beingsteadfast in the daily, not in
(24:19):
the in the special moment, butin the daily, which prepares us
for the special moments that mayarise.
That we be steadfast after hispurposes.
Continues in James 1, 5.
Here we see it, picks up, itsays, If any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God, whogives generously to all without
reproach, and it will be givenhim.
(24:41):
It continues in this thought inver in verse 12.
It says, Blessed is the man whoremains steadfast under trial,
for when he has stood the test,he will receive the crown of
life, which God has promised tothose who love him.
Our second takeaway today,friends, is generous, that the
Lord is generous.
(25:01):
It says he pours out his wisdomand he's generous with it.
Doesn't mean he just gives youa little, it means he gives
generously to you.
And as you draw near to God, itsays if you humble yourselves
and that you put him first, allthe other things will be added.
What does that mean?
It means that as we are thosewho are generous in our time
with God, that so he will begenerous to us in pouring out
(25:22):
his perspective, his mindset,his presence upon us.
There's something you can'tbuy, it's called the peace of
God.
The peace of God that's with uswhen we walk through the middle
of difficult circumstances, thepeace of God that's with us
when we're in the middle of amessy situation, the peace of
God that rests upon us.
(25:43):
And that means that what westart to do is reflect his
image, that we too becomegenerous with our time and with
helping and serving, because wetoo reflect what is the wisdom
that comes from God, which isputting him first.
Continues here in James.
(26:04):
We pick up in verse 19 and 20,it says, Know this, my beloved
brothers, let every person bequick to hear, slow to speak,
slow to anger.
For the anger of man does notproduce the righteousness of
God.
Therefore put away allfilthiness and rampant
(26:24):
wickedness, and receive withmeekness the implanted word
which is available to yoursouls.
The third takeaway today isthat righteousness, the
righteousness that comes fromGod, righteous in the image of
God.
He calls us to be maderighteous, to be those who draw
(26:46):
near to him, because it's onlythrough his work in our lives
that we're made righteous.
We talk about how you can't buyyour way into the righteousness
of God.
You can't earn your way intothe righteousness of God, but it
is an action step.
It's obeying what he's asked usto do and be created in his
image.
What did it say here?
It said, Be those who are slowto speak and slow to anger.
(27:08):
I can tell you that my numberone thing that I battled as a
young man was my anger.
I did not have it in control.
And what happened in my lifewas that I started even here as
a church kid, as a pastor's kid,I would see how the people of
God who are broken people, butfrom my perspective, I was like,
well, they have it together.
(27:28):
They're people of God.
They should treat everybodywith love and respect the way
the Bible says.
Doesn't always go that way.
So the people of God in thatday, they would say things
against my parents and saythings to them and about them.
And my parents would forgivepeople, and man, they would just
let that stuff roll off theirback.
But I was angry and I wanted toget even and I hated church
(27:50):
people.
And I thought they were allhypocrites that would burn with
me in hell.
So I'll see you later, suckers.
I'll see you there.
That was my attitude.
And even later, when a friendwould invite me to like a Bible
study, I would be like, Oh, whatare you gonna talk about?
And he'd be like, Well, I'mgonna use this scripture verse.
I was like, That's a good one.
You should also add thisscripture verse so you look cool
in front of people with a crossreference, and then say what's
(28:10):
up to Jesus for me, dude.
Like anger had become a wedgebetween me and God.
Not that He put there, that Iput there.
And that wedge of anger hadbecome bitterness and had taken
(28:31):
root.
And friends, whenever I wouldjust try to shake it loose, it
didn't work because I somehowthought it was a safety blanket
to keep me at bay from the worldaround me, and my anger was
somehow a gift against this orthat.
And friends, it's not, it'sbrokenness that will keep you
there as Jesus wants you to goup the mountain.
And you can't carry your angerwith you, you can't take your
(28:53):
bitterness with you up themountain towards God.
It doesn't belong up there.
You can't carry it that way.
This is a message for someonetoday that you need to let go of
that anger that you're holdingin your heart because God wants
to do something through yourlife that's greater than what
you're experiencing right now.
You need to be free in the nameof Jesus Christ.
If we're not careful, man, evenme resaying it to you right
(29:18):
now, if we're not careful, wecould pick those hurts right
back up.
Put them in a basket and try tocarry it.
I rebuke it in the name ofJesus Christ.
I'm free of that stuff.
I don't want to live in thosechains.
That's my prayer for you.
That you would have the samefreedom in Jesus, that you would
be in right standing with him,the righteousness of God.
(29:42):
It would emanate off your lifethat when you walk into a room,
people take notice, not by theway you look or what's going on
or what you say, but by thepresence of God that walks in
that room in front of you.
Friends, let it be so of us.
Because here's the thing.
We know where we're at.
We know our brokenness.
(30:03):
We know our faults and ourfrailty.
We know our mistakes.
We know our sin.
We know it's a mess.
Life is messy.
God can handle it.
God can handle it.
So you can come to God in yourmess.
You commit your life to him andto his process.
(30:26):
And see that he will make you anew creation.
Wash that stuff off of you.
So you don't have to live withthe ramifications of your past.
You can live in the promise ofyour future and what God has for
you.
Somebody say amen to that.
That's the word for us today isthat life is messy, but God can
handle the messy.
Today we have an opportunity torespond to the love of God, and
(30:49):
we do so.
Each one of us has said yes toJesus.
We've invited Him into ourheart and life.
That's what makes us a Christfollower, makes us a Christian.
And so we each have thatquestion we have to answer is
have you embraced Jesus?
Maybe you're here and you'venever made a commitment to
follow Jesus.
Today's your day.
(31:10):
For us, we see the symbol ofthe cross of one of profound
liberty and freedom.
It's the one that where Jesuscame and he took all of my sin
and all my mistakes and all ofmy brokenness.
He took all of that to thecross.
And though he didn't deserveit, he didn't sin at all.
(31:32):
He took on all my sin.
He took on all of yours.
And as he went to the cross andwas nailed there, as he gave
his life upon the cross, he didso because he loves you so very
much.
If you would have arelationship with him forever.
(31:54):
And it's amazing because whatdo we have to offer?
We can't earn our way in or buyour way in.
No, it's not by that.
It's the gift, the grace of Godthat gives us salvation as a
gift.
We say, Lord, I believe you arewho you say you are.
I invite you into my heart andlife to be the Lord of my life,
and I want to live for you.
Apostle Paul, he writes to thechurch at Rome, he says it like
this (32:17):
because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord, believe in your heart thatGod raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
With the heart one believes andis justified, with the mouth
one confesses and is saved.
Friends, today is your day.
(32:38):
It's your opportunity to sayyes to Jesus.
That you would join with othersin services today already that
have made that commitment toJesus.
I'm gonna ask if you would, ifyou're here in the room, if you
just stand to your feet whereveryou're at, if you're online,
take a pause from whateveryou're doing, listen to what God
wants to do in and through yourlife today.
As heads are bowed here in theroom and Christians are praying,
(33:01):
friends, we've been praying foryou that you would respond to
God today, that you would invitehim into your heart and life,
and that you would make thatcommitment, a new life in Jesus.
If that's you, maybe you'remaking that decision for the
first time, or maybe you havemade a decision in the past,
much like my story.
(33:22):
But you are in need of reredeciding to follow Jesus,
recommitting your heart to God.
If that's you as well, today beincluded in this prayer.
As heads are bowed, if that'syou and you want to invite Jesus
Christ in your life for thefirst time, or maybe commitment
to him, if you just raise yourhand right where you're at.
So I want to pray with you,remember you and raising your
(33:44):
hand to follow God today.
See those that are makingdecisions to follow Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus.
See the hand that's there.
Others, thank you, Lord, makingcommitment to follow Jesus.
Friends, wherever you are,online, praying with you as
well.
Praise the Lord.
I'm asked if everyone would, ifthey would pray this prayer out
loud after me.
Lord, thank you for loving me.
(34:06):
Thank you for sending 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.
(34:28):
In Christ's name I pray.
Amen.
Amen.
Friends, we rejoice that youmake a decision to follow Jesus
today.
Those that raise their hand,praise the Lord.
Hey, I want to encourage you inthis.
Take a moment, take a shot atthis QR code.
It's the next steps offollowing Jesus.
We want you to get connected.
(34:48):
We don't want you to do thislife alone.
Today, as we come to thisaltar, we have this song of
response, and I want to give youthis opportunity to respond to
what the Lord has said to us.
Maybe you're here, you needmore of God's presence, that you
would come and make an altarwith him and just meet him,
asking him for whatever youlack.
And maybe you need wisdom inthe season you're in that says
(35:08):
that if you ask of wisdom, youreceive wisdom.
Maybe you're dealing withthings like anger or words
you're speaking, that you comeand give those things over to
God, that you wouldn't pick themup, and that you'd be free of
that in the name of JesusChrist.
Friends, we serve a good God,and he will meet us here
whenever we draw near.
Lord, we thank you for yourword.
We thank you, Lord, forspeaking to us.
(35:28):
Holy Spirit for making it aliveand challenging us, Lord, to
become more like you.
And so, Lord, today, withhearts open, Lord, we come to
this altar.
Lord, seeking more of yourinsight, more of your power,
more of your presence, we pray.
Lord, that you would give uswisdom where we lack it and
provision, Lord, and open doors,we pray.
Lord, we pray, Lord, for thosethat are dealing with anger or
(35:50):
with other feelings, Lord, ofbrokenness.
Lord, we just pray that youwould take those things from us.
We ask for forgiveness fromthem.
Lord, you'd forgive us from anyplace where we've been uh angry
and had bitterness.
Lord, we just ask for freedomin the name of Jesus Christ.
Lord, as we come to this altar,we ask for all these things and
more.
Lord, asking for more of whoyou are.
We pray in the name of JesusChrist.
(36:11):
Amen.
Celeste Brown (36:13):
We want to say congratulations again to the
Contreras family and dedicatetheir children.
What a blessing.
So if you see them afterservice, just congratulate them
and give them a hug.
And we are so excited for yourjourney with your family.
Jason Brown (36:28):
We have Fall Family Day immediately following here.
I have a few instructions foryou if you guys have that map
for me.
Um, we have a little bit of amap to give you insight into how
it's gonna work today.
So if you alreadypre-registered with your kids,
then you're good to go.
I'd say grab your kids and getback in line.
We're actually gonna go throughthis line to stay indoors in
the air conditioning.
Praise the Lord.
And we're gonna go rightthrough the kitchen out this
(36:48):
way, and then all the stuff'sgonna be outside.
If you want to register, youcan use the QR code on the says
on events on the side.
It's an easy way to do that.
Even as an adult, you can beincluded in our Amazon gift
cards.
We have we have multiple giftcard giveaways today, so you
want to be a part of that, andalso take part in the chili
that's being out there to seewhich one you would have be the
winner.
Amen.
(37:09):
All right, before we go, we'regonna play this blessing over
us.
The Lord bless you and keepyou.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to
you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
(37:30):
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
Pray all this in the powerfulname that is Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Amen.
Know this.
We love you very much, EricCornerstone.
God bless you.
Let's have a great Mall familyday.
Life is messy, but God can handle the
messy.
Life gets busy fast.
You've got kid drop-offs andpickups, then you need to figure
out how you're going to get allof your work done in between
that.
After work, you have the kids'practices, the endless grocery
runs, helping with homework, andtrying to find time to clean.
(00:21):
And through all that, you can'tforget to squeeze in time for
lunch or factor in the morningstruggles.
And the weekend is no break.
Saturday is a 7 a.m.
game.
Haircuts and two birthdayparties.
Costco, Target, and a vacuummarathon before we collapse at
10:30 p.m.
Then comes Sunday, 8 a.m.
(00:42):
service while setting up andteaching, brunch, grocery run,
soccer game, and laundry loadnumber one.
All before we try to finishworking mails at 10 p.m., every
hour is spoken for.
Every single square is filled.
We're running on caffeine andborrowed time, fighting to keep
all those balls in the air.
(01:03):
But where is the moment to bestill?
Where is the time to breathe?
Where is the space for God?
Don't feel like you need toclean up the chaos before you
ask for help.
Bring the exhaustion, thepressure, the deadlines, and the
endless mess.
Bring it all.
We can't forget to scheduletime for God.
(01:24):
Life is messy, but God canhandle the messy.
Jason Brown (01:30):
So messy, our new theme is messy because life is
messy.
Now, this uh fall season is abeautiful one.
How many people enjoy thechanging of the leaves color and
all that that you see ontelevision, not here, because it
doesn't exist.
Just our our palm trees getslightly brown.
That's all that happens.
(01:50):
So, you know, you think aboutit, it is beautiful.
And for those that have got achance, some people actually get
talked into taking the driveand going and seeing the
changing of the leaves.
It is very beautiful.
It's pretty.
Uh, but it is the reality ofthat, if you've ever lived in a
place like that, means thatsuddenly, after all the beauty
of the leaves changing color,you have to go and shovel or
rake all those leaves and getrid of them.
(02:12):
Isn't that right?
And I think that's how it worksin our lives often is that the
very thing that is sometimesbeautiful, the change that's
happening, often means we alsohave to clean up the mess of
some of that change as well.
And I think that's part of thedealing with how life is messy
and that we're never going to beperfect in the way that we live
this thing out.
That's why we're always turningto look towards Jesus.
(02:34):
You know, when we would talkabout this in a different way,
we would talk about, man, wewant to put our best face
forward and we want to be thosethat are that are kind of have
our countenance towards God, butthat doesn't mean that we have
everything together.
And it also means that we don'twant to be those that are
plastic and putting on a facethat's fake.
What we want to be is authenticand we want to live in faith,
(02:56):
but also the tension of thatwhat we're going through is not
easy and that life can sometimesbe messy, but that's okay
because God can handle messy.
Now, some years ago, we livedin Egypt, and one of the things
that we did is we hung ourlaundry out to dry.
And so we didn't have dryers.
That wasn't really a thingwhere we lived there.
(03:17):
And you know, it worked goodabout half the year whenever it
was nice and sunny.
The other half the year when itwas rainy, it meant you put on
wet clothes most of the timeafter it hung outside for a
little bit because they nevergot all the way dry.
And one of the things I missedfrom America was having a dryer
where you could pull uh pull atowel out of a dryer.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout, and you embrace the
(03:38):
towel, and it's like that, ohyou guys know what I'm talking
about?
You guys haven't done this?
If you do that in Egypt andyou're like, uh, it's like a
brilliant on your face, you'relike, it's not the same.
And so those are things thatyou I missed, but there's an art
to hanging your clothesoutside, especially when you
(03:58):
live surrounded like we did inVertical Village.
We were on the 12th story of afloor of a building on top, and
we had neighbors hanging theirstuff out, and we had people
beside us and around us andabove us looking down at us,
watching us instead of thetelevision.
Like, mmm, yes.
So you had to watch how youhung your your laundry outside.
You had to put like yourclothes or your bed sheets on
the outside with yourunmentionables in the middle of
(04:22):
those clothes.
How many people were trackingwith what I'm saying?
Because if not, then all yourneighbors are like, oh,
especially you gentlemen, whenare you getting crazy with those
things?
Your unmentionables go in themiddle of those pieces to
protect them from yourneighbor's eyes.
So that's how it worked.
And that's why you hear theterm, it's an old term, is
airing your dirty laundry.
(04:44):
And they talk about this ideaof having dirty laundry.
And truth be told, all of ushave dirty laundry.
It means we have things in ourlives that aren't put together
correctly yet.
It means all of us havesomething that we're working on
and the Holy Spirit of God isworking on in our lives.
That's why whenever I pray foryou every week, that you would
have no satisfaction except forthe things of God.
(05:06):
It means that whenever you'recoming into this place, as you
set foot on any campus, as youturn on any stream, as you do
anything that's coming towardsGod's presence, that you will
feel the conviction of God toredirect you towards what he
wants you to do.
Whether or not I say it fromthe front or anyone does in a
song in all these prayers thatwe sing, and our our teams do
(05:27):
such a great job, and we're sothankful for our media teams and
our kids' teams and everybodythat helps us, even if we don't
say anything that you're goingthrough, the conviction of God
can be there and redirect youtowards his purpose.
Is that true?
You know how I know is becausewhenever I got rebellious and
left church and wasn't going tochurch consistently, when I did
go to church, I felt theconviction of God like the
(05:49):
preacher was talking right to meabout my stuff.
He wasn't even on that subject.
And I was like, Oh, I feelconviction.
We all have dirty laundry.
So what we have to understandis that when we walk into a
place that none of us isperfect, and since that's true,
then whenever we're airing ourdirty laundry, meaning other
people can see through ourfacade, guess what?
(06:11):
They too have the same thingthat they're going through.
All of us have dirty laundry,and what we're doing is that we
cannot make our ownrighteousness.
It's not possible.
It's only through Jesus'righteousness, only through what
he has done for us that we'remade righteous.
So, what we do is we take allof our things that are broken
and we give those over to theLord.
(06:32):
And by his grace and mercy andthrough our obedience to follow
him as the Lord of our life, hein turn gives us something brand
new.
He gives us a brand new heartand a brand new spirit.
He calls us a brand newcreation.
He washes away all that sin andguilt and shame.
It's no longer who you are, itis your past and not your
(06:52):
future.
Friends, we belong to the Lord.
And here's the thing (06:56):
this is the story throughout the Bible.
You would see it time and timeagain.
It goes back to the verybeginning of your book.
If you start in Genesis, youread where the Lord He creates
us and breathes his life intous.
He makes us in his image, hegives us power and he gives us
control over the world of thattime, and everything's perfect.
And there is no shame and thereis no guilt and there is no
(07:16):
hunger or anger or anything.
Instead, we, even in thatplace, we decide to go against
the very rules that he had givenus, the very command he had
given us, and break God's heart.
And it causes us to have thisbrokenness in us, this sin
nature inside of us.
And so even as we are thrownfrom the Eden and from the
(07:36):
garden, so we now toil in thisworld in trying to do all we
can, all the while still beingbroken a little bit inside of
who we are.
You think about the greatfathers of faith like Abraham.
We know Father Abraham, he hadmany sons.
Many sons had Father Abraham.
If you don't know that song,you need to go to kids' church
because those guys rock.
(07:57):
But Father Abraham, once knownAbraham, as we see in Genesis
12, the Lord comes to him andsays, That you will leave your
father's house and all that youwould know, and I will show you
a place we'll go, and you willtrust me, and I will bless you,
and I will curse all that curseyou, and I will be with you, and
I will make you a multitude.
And all these promises that aremade to Abraham as he walks
(08:18):
connected to the Lord'spurposes.
And in doing so, he still isnot perfect.
He doesn't get everything rightall the time.
And even as they get down intoplaces like Egypt, he comes down
there and his wife, who's verybeautiful, he starts acting like
he's not, she's not his wifebecause he's afraid they're
gonna kill him and steal hiswife.
So he's like, Oh no, this is mysister.
(08:38):
Like, uh, you could yeah, goahead.
Bro, what are you doing?
That's your hot wife.
What are you doing?
But he messed up.
And it wasn't the only time,but you guys can get the point.
Even our father of our faithmessed up.
Isaac, in the same way, though,though Abraham goes and he's
given Isaac, he first messed upwith Ishmael and that whole
(08:59):
debacle, which is a whole notherthing.
But even in having Isaac, thispromised child who will become
the multitude, even through him,he decides, Lord, I will not
even withhold him, I'll bewilling to sacrifice Isaac.
And Isaac learns that lesson,and he too has the commitments
from the Lord for his behalf,and he too has the promises of
God, and the Lord comes andmakes a covenant, and you see
(09:20):
the continuation.
But Isaac himself makes thesame mistake that his dad makes,
and it's a mess.
And then you fast forward alittle bit and you see that
Jacob and Esau are there, andthey're twins that have been
wrestling and struggling sincebirth.
And Jacob, he goes in and hesteals away his brother's
birthright from him.
And then he goes and he fakesthat he's his brother and lies
(09:44):
to his father to get theblessing.
This is the guy that theyrenamed Israel, that the whole
place is named after.
This is the guy.
Remember?
But here's the deal (09:53):
that guy, during his his struggle, he goes
and literally struggles withGod.
He says, wrestles with the Lordand has this moment with God.
See, God will take someonewho's messy and doesn't have it
together, and he'll do dynamicthings through their life.
Because it doesn't matter whereyou start, it's where you're
going and what he wants to dothrough you.
(10:14):
And you have Moses who he he isrescued from this genocide of
children in his day, and andhe's rescued by the princess and
brought into Pharaoh's home,raised up to rule and understood
all the mysteries in that day,but was someone who is Hebrew
and knew the ways of God, andand in his anger, he strikes out
and kills an Egyptian, and hehas to flee for his life.
(10:37):
You know, the guy who God woulduse and call from being a
shepherd out in Saudi Arabia.
He'll call to him from a fierybush and tell, Hey, I've
anointed you to go save yourpeople from Pharaoh.
That's who God chose.
He chose an angry murderer.
God can use anyone to do greatthings.
(11:01):
He chose a guy who couldn'teven, he had a stutter in his
talk.
He couldn't even speak well toothers.
He chose that guy to be themouthpiece of God.
See what it means is that thevery things from your past that
you say that's insurmountable,there's nothing that I can do to
overcome them.
Friends, that is where Godstarts and takes it forward in
(11:22):
our story.
You think about even as Joshuacomes and he goes and liberates
all of Israel and they establishthe tribes there, it's then
ruled over by a series ofjudges.
And one of those is famous fromthe very first moments of his
life, and Samson is anointed asset apart unto God.
And because of it, he has thisradical strength and this
tenacity, this ability to fight,and he's set apart unto God.
(11:45):
Plus, he has amazing hair likeFabio.
Which, for old people like me,we all understand.
And young people, I would meansomeone who has like really cool
hair, bro.
You know what I'm talkingabout?
So what's he known for?
He's known for his strength,he's known for his tenacity,
he's known for his fighting, butall the while, the very thing
(12:05):
that kept him empowered was hishonoring of God and keeping his
commitment, and then he decidesto go sleep with the enemy.
And the enemy puts a hook inhim and starts to draw him in
slowly, and draw him in slowly,and draw him in slowly, and
before he knows it, his power isgone, his lights are out, and
he is no more the man he used tobe.
(12:26):
But even in the midst of all ofthat heartbreak, God was not
done with Samson's story.
And God can even take thedepths of despair and the worst
situation, and he can use thatfor his glory.
Somebody say amen to that.
See, life is messy, but God canhandle it.
If your life is messy, God canhandle it.
(12:51):
He can take you from where youare to where he wants you to be
if you submit your life to him.
We're so thankful we have thisopportunity to worship today
together today at Cornerstone.
We haven't met.
My name is Jay.
And Celeste and I have such agreat opportunity to lead here
at Cornerstone.
It's a blessing to do so.
And we hope that you're herewith a friend because they
(13:12):
invited you to come to FallFamily Day.
We hope that you have friendson the way to come meet you
because we want to be able to bethose who are connecting to
others and we want to build acommunity of faith that goes and
is a light of the gospelwherever we go.
We just say amen to that.
See, we see ourselves on ajourney with Jesus, and none of
us being perfect.
It means that all of us need tobe active and following after
(13:33):
him.
That's why we use this imageryof Christ walking with the
walking with his disciples, isthat we have the same ambition.
We want to be more like Jesus.
So that's why we do what we do.
It's why we meet in community,that's why we meet throughout
the week, throughout the cityand life groups, is that we want
to be those that connect andgrow and serve.
(13:53):
We want to do all thesedifferent people pieces because
that's our intentionality.
We want to love God, we want tomake disciples, we want to
reach the world.
So that's why today, as we takea look at this scripture, we go
into this understanding that weare people in need of a savior,
following him where he'sleading us to go.
And so we're walking after hisplan and after his purposes.
(14:14):
Today, if you have your Bible,your tablet, your phone, we're
looking at James 1, starting inverse 2.
Encourage you to highlight itin your tablet, your your Bible,
your phone today.
It says it says this count itall joy, my brothers, when you
meet trials of various kinds,for you know the testing of your
(14:35):
faith produces steadfastness.
Lord, we thank you for yourword and we pray over it.
Or that you would use it,breathe upon it, make it alive
and challenging, we pray inJesus' name.
Amen.
Messy.
We know that life is messy.
And so we start talking abouthow life is messy.
We start talking about how weencounter these different
(14:57):
difficulties that aren'tnormally on our schedule.
I think as we saw the videoearlier, it resonates with us,
right?
How many people live off of aschedule and without it, you'd
be in big trouble?
How many people just wing itand just like, oh, that's fine,
whatever.
And so that to me, that'sstressful, man.
The fact that you're winging itmakes me stressed.
You know what I mean?
But it's true.
I think if we're not careful,we can so easily start to
(15:19):
prioritize the urgency ofwhatever's the moment is instead
of what's in really importantin our lives.
And those very things that willsustain us, like our
relationship with God, theystart to get bumped.
And our time with him starts toget bumped.
We're talking on a podcast theother day with some friends, and
we're saying, hey, what's thefirst thing you grab in the
morning?
What's the first thing you do?
And so all of us, I had toadmit, what we do is we grab our
(15:41):
phone first.
You know, I wish that all of uswould respond like we spend
three hours in meditative prayerquietly.
You know, it's like, no, wegrab the phone and then we're
like, we gotta resort it out.
Like, what's my priority first?
Start the day with the Lord,read first, maybe open my Bible
up first on my phone instead ofthe news or my email or social.
And instead be someone thatmakes a priority of our life
(16:04):
with God.
Because if we don't and westart to shuffle and he doesn't
get put into our priorities,then suddenly he's no longer a
priority.
And that means that thatwhenever we start to have things
that happen in our life, likeit says that trials will come,
that's what the scripture justsaid, then that means that we're
gonna go through these trials.
That if we go through thetrials with God, then we're
(16:24):
okay.
Because he's with us in thetrials.
But if we go through the trialand we are the ones that have
pushed God away, he's comingtowards us.
We're the one keeping him atbay, pushing him away.
Then we're going through thetrial on our own.
And so we get battered down andbeat down and we're down in
despair, and then we cry out toGod.
I'm gonna try over here whereit's probably gonna respond
(16:48):
better.
So we try it on our own and weget beat down and bit all the
way to the ground until we'renothing, and then we cry out to
God.
And the truth is that's all ofus have been there.
All of us have done it thewrong way.
And so that we instead wouldturn back to him and towards his
purposes, understanding thatlife is messy, but that we can
(17:10):
be intentional to live this lifewith God because he does not
forsake us.
He's with us even in the middleof the mess.
What does it say?
In the valley of the shadow ofdeath.
I would say that's a messy, asticky, a bad situation, but
that he's with us even in themidst of that.
We pick up here looking back tothat scripture and seeing that
we count it all joy.
(17:31):
Well, that's an interestingperspective, isn't it?
To count it all joy whenevertrials come to us.
See, it's a perspective.
And we see here with James,similar to Peter, in that
whenever they're writing theseideas, they're going through
something significant.
There's persecution happeningto the church in Jerusalem.
People are being dragged offand put in prison or killed.
(17:52):
James himself would die for hisfaith in Jesus.
We see the same thing happeningas Peter's writing so often.
He's writing, Paul is writing,and what are they writing?
They're writing from prison,they're writing from being in
hiding, they've been stoned andleft for dead.
All sorts of things havehappened.
And what do they write?
Praise be the God to our Lordand Savior Jesus Christ.
(18:13):
We give him praise.
What do they have?
They have an attitude of praiseeven in the midst of their
terrible circumstances.
Their terrible situation, theyhave an attitude of praise.
And friends, that helps usbecause whenever the testing
comes and the testing is coming,right?
The things that aren't in theschedule, the emergency's
coming, the problem is coming,it will wedge itself into your
(18:36):
schedule.
And then whenever it does come,that we would be those that are
ready for it.
Now, we can remember back whenwe were students.
I hope you were like this youngstudent where she's, you know,
ready, she's crushing the test,she's doing a great job.
But if you've ever beensomebody who have walked into a
pop quiz or a test and weren'tprepared, there is this anxiety
that you have to explain thateverybody in that circumstance
(18:58):
shares.
Where they're like, there's atest today?
You ever had those words comeout of your mouth?
And you're like, I don't have aScantron.
Can I borrow a pencil?
Can I run out of here?
Will they notice?
Can I suddenly fake a cough?
You know, you're like, oh, um,I need to go to the nurse.
Anybody else?
So here's the deal you can'tget away from it.
And so that's why it's such adifferent thing.
(19:18):
And and and many times,whenever we're not ready for
something to happen becausewe're not prepared, then we
don't maybe make the rightchoices.
You ever made the wrong choiceon a scantron, tried to go back
and erase it?
You're like scratching it out,trying to choose another option.
It doesn't really work in yourfavor.
And that's how we are with someof our choices sometimes,
(19:39):
because we make just like thosein the Bible, sometimes we make
poor choices.
We make poor choices, itusually has poor outcomes
because those aren't choicesthat we made in alignment with
God.
And since that's true, then itmeans that we're walking in our
own choices, which have our ownconsequences.
And that means that thingsaren't going to plan.
(20:02):
Even for people that areplanners, even those that are
scheduling, it means so oftenthat we get out of sorts.
Life gets messy.
Life gets a mess.
But the good news is, friends,is that we don't have to stay
there, that we don't have to bethose that that live locked in
in this mess, that instead wecan turn our hearts to God.
(20:22):
He's the one that will wash usaway.
He was the one that will washus clean.
He will make us a new creation,he will forgive us of our sin
and cleanse us of allunrighteousness.
It's by his power in our livesthat all these things happen.
And I could tell you that if wetry to do this life without
him, friends, it won't go theway we're thinking it's gonna
(20:43):
go.
Instead, it's gonna be a mess,followed by a bigger mess.
I could tell you that wheneverI was young, man, the thing I
fought with the most was dealingwith my unforgiveness that came
from my anger.
And if I wasn't willing to dealwith it, then I never could
move forward in loving otherpeople.
Because the root of what I wasdealing with and I'm not wanting
(21:06):
to deal with it made itimpossible for me to move
forward in my life with God.
Because God was kept onchallenging me about that thing.
And I would come to the altarand I try to do one of these
scoop moves, you know, where youscoop that thing behind you
like it doesn't exist.
And you're like, no, I'm notdealing with that, God.
He's like, Really?
Because I'm God and you're thereason that I'm the reason
you're here.
(21:26):
Why are you trying to fake meout about what you're really
dealing with?
Nobody.
Praise the Lord.
But here's the thing, wheneverwe are cleansed of all our
unrighteousness and all thesethings, then we feel ready
whenever the next test comes.
You can see like this gentlemanhere, like he's ready, he's
locked in, he's ready to go.
Because there's nothing shakinghim because he was ready for
(21:48):
the test.
You can imagine it's likewhenever these problems arise,
and having the Holy Spirit toguide us is much like having an
instructor there helping usunderstand how to navigate a
difficult circumstance.
Think about it in chemistry.
If you were just handed a bunchof random chemicals, you know,
you would want someone toinstruct you on how you should
put these things together.
You don't want to just randomlythrow them in there.
(22:10):
You might make napalm, youmight just like nuke the whole
place, you know what I mean?
But instead, that we wouldlisten to the instruction that's
given to us so that we couldeven safely navigate what would
otherwise be a very difficulttest.
But because we have the insightfrom the Lord, the things that
would otherwise make our lifemessy are now being able to be
(22:32):
accomplished.
Would you say amen to that?
Looking to the scripture, wepick back up here uh in some
three key things that we takeaway.
First is James 1, 4.
Let steadfastness have its fulleffect, that you may be perfect
and complete, lacking innothing.
Friends, we're called to besteadfast.
(22:52):
What does that mean?
It means that we should bethose that stay on the path
towards God.
Means that we need to keepconnected to him, keep tenacious
after the presence of God, thatwe would hold on to him because
he is our righteousness.
It's through him that we seethese things accomplished.
So he's saying to us as Christfollowers, challenging us to be
(23:14):
those that hold on to Jesus andnot let go.
I could tell you that, youknow, I've dealt with this from
time to time as a pastor, youknow, where especially with guys
for some reason where theythink the church and giving
their heart to Christ is somesomehow like a sissy thing.
And I would tell you theopposite.
I would tell you that actuallyit takes a lot of boldness, a
(23:34):
lot of courage to be a man whogives his heart to Jesus and is
reformed into Jesus' image.
It's actually more of achildish thing to hold on to all
your childish ways and my, my,my, me, me, me thought process.
Instead of standing up andbeing a man who takes
accountability for himself andfor his family and for his
community and becomes a man ofGod who's steadfast in the word.
(23:56):
And I can tell you that as aman in process, not as someone
who's arrived in any way, but assomeone who is walking that
out, saying, Lord, help me to besteadfast.
Help me to be an example, helpme to be the one who lived with
your reflection so that I can besomeone who steps up whenever
the moment comes and has thecourage of God to do something
about it.
It only comes from us beingsteadfast in the daily, not in
(24:19):
the in the special moment, butin the daily, which prepares us
for the special moments that mayarise.
That we be steadfast after hispurposes.
Continues in James 1, 5.
Here we see it, picks up, itsays, If any of you lacks
wisdom, let him ask of God, whogives generously to all without
reproach, and it will be givenhim.
(24:41):
It continues in this thought inver in verse 12.
It says, Blessed is the man whoremains steadfast under trial,
for when he has stood the test,he will receive the crown of
life, which God has promised tothose who love him.
Our second takeaway today,friends, is generous, that the
Lord is generous.
(25:01):
It says he pours out his wisdomand he's generous with it.
Doesn't mean he just gives youa little, it means he gives
generously to you.
And as you draw near to God, itsays if you humble yourselves
and that you put him first, allthe other things will be added.
What does that mean?
It means that as we are thosewho are generous in our time
with God, that so he will begenerous to us in pouring out
(25:22):
his perspective, his mindset,his presence upon us.
There's something you can'tbuy, it's called the peace of
God.
The peace of God that's with uswhen we walk through the middle
of difficult circumstances, thepeace of God that's with us
when we're in the middle of amessy situation, the peace of
God that rests upon us.
(25:43):
And that means that what westart to do is reflect his
image, that we too becomegenerous with our time and with
helping and serving, because wetoo reflect what is the wisdom
that comes from God, which isputting him first.
Continues here in James.
(26:04):
We pick up in verse 19 and 20,it says, Know this, my beloved
brothers, let every person bequick to hear, slow to speak,
slow to anger.
For the anger of man does notproduce the righteousness of
God.
Therefore put away allfilthiness and rampant
(26:24):
wickedness, and receive withmeekness the implanted word
which is available to yoursouls.
The third takeaway today isthat righteousness, the
righteousness that comes fromGod, righteous in the image of
God.
He calls us to be maderighteous, to be those who draw
(26:46):
near to him, because it's onlythrough his work in our lives
that we're made righteous.
We talk about how you can't buyyour way into the righteousness
of God.
You can't earn your way intothe righteousness of God, but it
is an action step.
It's obeying what he's asked usto do and be created in his
image.
What did it say here?
It said, Be those who are slowto speak and slow to anger.
(27:08):
I can tell you that my numberone thing that I battled as a
young man was my anger.
I did not have it in control.
And what happened in my lifewas that I started even here as
a church kid, as a pastor's kid,I would see how the people of
God who are broken people, butfrom my perspective, I was like,
well, they have it together.
(27:28):
They're people of God.
They should treat everybodywith love and respect the way
the Bible says.
Doesn't always go that way.
So the people of God in thatday, they would say things
against my parents and saythings to them and about them.
And my parents would forgivepeople, and man, they would just
let that stuff roll off theirback.
But I was angry and I wanted toget even and I hated church
(27:50):
people.
And I thought they were allhypocrites that would burn with
me in hell.
So I'll see you later, suckers.
I'll see you there.
That was my attitude.
And even later, when a friendwould invite me to like a Bible
study, I would be like, Oh, whatare you gonna talk about?
And he'd be like, Well, I'mgonna use this scripture verse.
I was like, That's a good one.
You should also add thisscripture verse so you look cool
in front of people with a crossreference, and then say what's
(28:10):
up to Jesus for me, dude.
Like anger had become a wedgebetween me and God.
Not that He put there, that Iput there.
And that wedge of anger hadbecome bitterness and had taken
(28:31):
root.
And friends, whenever I wouldjust try to shake it loose, it
didn't work because I somehowthought it was a safety blanket
to keep me at bay from the worldaround me, and my anger was
somehow a gift against this orthat.
And friends, it's not, it'sbrokenness that will keep you
there as Jesus wants you to goup the mountain.
And you can't carry your angerwith you, you can't take your
(28:53):
bitterness with you up themountain towards God.
It doesn't belong up there.
You can't carry it that way.
This is a message for someonetoday that you need to let go of
that anger that you're holdingin your heart because God wants
to do something through yourlife that's greater than what
you're experiencing right now.
You need to be free in the nameof Jesus Christ.
If we're not careful, man, evenme resaying it to you right
(29:18):
now, if we're not careful, wecould pick those hurts right
back up.
Put them in a basket and try tocarry it.
I rebuke it in the name ofJesus Christ.
I'm free of that stuff.
I don't want to live in thosechains.
That's my prayer for you.
That you would have the samefreedom in Jesus, that you would
be in right standing with him,the righteousness of God.
(29:42):
It would emanate off your lifethat when you walk into a room,
people take notice, not by theway you look or what's going on
or what you say, but by thepresence of God that walks in
that room in front of you.
Friends, let it be so of us.
Because here's the thing.
We know where we're at.
We know our brokenness.
(30:03):
We know our faults and ourfrailty.
We know our mistakes.
We know our sin.
We know it's a mess.
Life is messy.
God can handle it.
God can handle it.
So you can come to God in yourmess.
You commit your life to him andto his process.
(30:26):
And see that he will make you anew creation.
Wash that stuff off of you.
So you don't have to live withthe ramifications of your past.
You can live in the promise ofyour future and what God has for
you.
Somebody say amen to that.
That's the word for us today isthat life is messy, but God can
handle the messy.
Today we have an opportunity torespond to the love of God, and
(30:49):
we do so.
Each one of us has said yes toJesus.
We've invited Him into ourheart and life.
That's what makes us a Christfollower, makes us a Christian.
And so we each have thatquestion we have to answer is
have you embraced Jesus?
Maybe you're here and you'venever made a commitment to
follow Jesus.
Today's your day.
(31:10):
For us, we see the symbol ofthe cross of one of profound
liberty and freedom.
It's the one that where Jesuscame and he took all of my sin
and all my mistakes and all ofmy brokenness.
He took all of that to thecross.
And though he didn't deserveit, he didn't sin at all.
(31:32):
He took on all my sin.
He took on all of yours.
And as he went to the cross andwas nailed there, as he gave
his life upon the cross, he didso because he loves you so very
much.
If you would have arelationship with him forever.
(31:54):
And it's amazing because whatdo we have to offer?
We can't earn our way in or buyour way in.
No, it's not by that.
It's the gift, the grace of Godthat gives us salvation as a
gift.
We say, Lord, I believe you arewho you say you are.
I invite you into my heart andlife to be the Lord of my life,
and I want to live for you.
Apostle Paul, he writes to thechurch at Rome, he says it like
this (32:17):
because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is
Lord, believe in your heart thatGod raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
With the heart one believes andis justified, with the mouth
one confesses and is saved.
Friends, today is your day.
(32:38):
It's your opportunity to sayyes to Jesus.
That you would join with othersin services today already that
have made that commitment toJesus.
I'm gonna ask if you would, ifyou're here in the room, if you
just stand to your feet whereveryou're at, if you're online,
take a pause from whateveryou're doing, listen to what God
wants to do in and through yourlife today.
As heads are bowed here in theroom and Christians are praying,
(33:01):
friends, we've been praying foryou that you would respond to
God today, that you would invitehim into your heart and life,
and that you would make thatcommitment, a new life in Jesus.
If that's you, maybe you'remaking that decision for the
first time, or maybe you havemade a decision in the past,
much like my story.
(33:22):
But you are in need of reredeciding to follow Jesus,
recommitting your heart to God.
If that's you as well, today beincluded in this prayer.
As heads are bowed, if that'syou and you want to invite Jesus
Christ in your life for thefirst time, or maybe commitment
to him, if you just raise yourhand right where you're at.
So I want to pray with you,remember you and raising your
(33:44):
hand to follow God today.
See those that are makingdecisions to follow Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus.
See the hand that's there.
Others, thank you, Lord, makingcommitment to follow Jesus.
Friends, wherever you are,online, praying with you as
well.
Praise the Lord.
I'm asked if everyone would, ifthey would pray this prayer out
loud after me.
Lord, thank you for loving me.
(34:06):
Thank you for sending 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.
(34:28):
In Christ's name I pray.
Amen.
Amen.
Friends, we rejoice that youmake a decision to follow Jesus
today.
Those that raise their hand,praise the Lord.
Hey, I want to encourage you inthis.
Take a moment, take a shot atthis QR code.
It's the next steps offollowing Jesus.
We want you to get connected.
(34:48):
We don't want you to do thislife alone.
Today, as we come to thisaltar, we have this song of
response, and I want to give youthis opportunity to respond to
what the Lord has said to us.
Maybe you're here, you needmore of God's presence, that you
would come and make an altarwith him and just meet him,
asking him for whatever youlack.
And maybe you need wisdom inthe season you're in that says
(35:08):
that if you ask of wisdom, youreceive wisdom.
Maybe you're dealing withthings like anger or words
you're speaking, that you comeand give those things over to
God, that you wouldn't pick themup, and that you'd be free of
that in the name of JesusChrist.
Friends, we serve a good God,and he will meet us here
whenever we draw near.
Lord, we thank you for yourword.
We thank you, Lord, forspeaking to us.
(35:28):
Holy Spirit for making it aliveand challenging us, Lord, to
become more like you.
And so, Lord, today, withhearts open, Lord, we come to
this altar.
Lord, seeking more of yourinsight, more of your power,
more of your presence, we pray.
Lord, that you would give uswisdom where we lack it and
provision, Lord, and open doors,we pray.
Lord, we pray, Lord, for thosethat are dealing with anger or
(35:50):
with other feelings, Lord, ofbrokenness.
Lord, we just pray that youwould take those things from us.
We ask for forgiveness fromthem.
Lord, you'd forgive us from anyplace where we've been uh angry
and had bitterness.
Lord, we just ask for freedomin the name of Jesus Christ.
Lord, as we come to this altar,we ask for all these things and
more.
Lord, asking for more of whoyou are.
We pray in the name of JesusChrist.
(36:11):
Amen.
Celeste Brown (36:13):
We want to say congratulations again to the
Contreras family and dedicatetheir children.
What a blessing.
So if you see them afterservice, just congratulate them
and give them a hug.
And we are so excited for yourjourney with your family.
Jason Brown (36:28):
We have Fall Family Day immediately following here.
I have a few instructions foryou if you guys have that map
for me.
Um, we have a little bit of amap to give you insight into how
it's gonna work today.
So if you alreadypre-registered with your kids,
then you're good to go.
I'd say grab your kids and getback in line.
We're actually gonna go throughthis line to stay indoors in
the air conditioning.
Praise the Lord.
And we're gonna go rightthrough the kitchen out this
(36:48):
way, and then all the stuff'sgonna be outside.
If you want to register, youcan use the QR code on the says
on events on the side.
It's an easy way to do that.
Even as an adult, you can beincluded in our Amazon gift
cards.
We have we have multiple giftcard giveaways today, so you
want to be a part of that, andalso take part in the chili
that's being out there to seewhich one you would have be the
winner.
Amen.
(37:09):
All right, before we go, we'regonna play this blessing over
us.
The Lord bless you and keepyou.
The Lord make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to
you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
(37:30):
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
Lord, you empower us by yourspirit to live your love out to
those around us.
Pray all this in the powerfulname that is Jesus Christ.
Amen.
Amen.
Know this.
We love you very much, EricCornerstone.
God bless you.
Let's have a great Mall familyday.
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