October 6, 2025 • 43 mins
A withered fig tree, a mustard seed, and a mountain stand in our path—each one becomes a lens for seeing how faith actually works in ordinary life. We open with Luther’s spark and the Five Solas, then zoom into sola fide to ask a simple, searching question: do you have faith to believe? Anchored in Matthew 21, Ephesians 2:8–10, and Hebrews 11–12, we unpack why salvation is a gift of grace received through faith, why works can never earn it, and why good works still matter as our joyful response. Along the way, we talk about Peter’s rough edges, Paul’s dramatic turn, and how God continually chooses unlikely people to carry His story forward.
You’ll hear how Scripture alone steadies our prayers, teaching us to align our requests with God’s promises rather than our impulses. We explore the difference between demanding outcomes and trusting God’s character, and we offer three practices to make faith tangible: pray the Word, speak hope into hard places, and take concrete steps of obedience. The goal isn’t hype; it’s endurance—laying down the weights of shame and old labels so we can run light, eyes fixed on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of faith.
If you’re wrestling with a mountain right now—fear, sickness, broken relationships, or heavy uncertainty—this conversation invites you to plant even a mustard seed of trust in good soil. Christ alone mediates, grace alone saves, faith alone receives, and our lives become living doxology: to the glory of God alone. If this encouraged you, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help others find these conversations. What mountain are you asking God to move this week?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
AI Video (00:00):
500 years ago, a monk named Martin Luther ignited a
fire that would reshapeChristianity forever.
His stand against theprevailing doctrines of his day
wasn't just a protest, it was acall to return to the
foundational truths of thefaith.
This pivotal moment of theProtestant Reformation wasn't
about creating a new religion,but about rediscovering the
(00:21):
gospel.
At the heart of thisrediscovery were five core
principles, Latin phrases thatbecame the rallying cry for
reform.
These are the five solas, solascriptura, scripture alone.
The Bible, not tradition orhuman authority, is our ultimate
and infallible guide for faithand life.
It's the final word, thehighest court.
(00:42):
Sola fide, faith alone.
We're justified, declaredrighteous in God's sight, by
faith alone, not by our words.
We trust solely in Christ'sfinished work on the cross.
So is God's gift, grace alone.
Salvation is an earth, it's agift from God.
It's his unmerited favor thatsaves us.
Nothing we do can ever deserveit.
So is Christus, Christ alone.
(01:04):
Jesus Christ is the onlymediator between God and
humanity.
He is the one and only way tosalvation, our one true King,
and our sole Redeemer.
Solide of Gloria, to the gloryof God alone.
The ultimate purpose ofeverything, including our
salvation, is to bring glory toGod.
Our lives are to be lived forhis praise, not our own.
(01:26):
These aren't just historicalslogans.
They're living truths thatanchor our faith.
Jason Brown (01:31):
Do you have faith to believe?
Jesus starts a story in Matthewwhere he's walking with his
disciples, and as he's doing so,he's living life, and he's
teaching them, he's trainingthem on how they should live,
and he's walking out thisexample in front of them.
And in doing so, he's very muchincarnate.
He is there living in flesh theway we do.
(01:51):
But he doesn't have the brokennature that we do from when we
were young.
Instead, he has this perfectnature.
And so he's going about it andhe's walking down this way and
he comes across this fig tree.
Now, the fig tree is beautiful.
It should be in season, itshould have fruit, and so he
expects to be able to go up andpick a piece of this fruit.
(02:12):
And I don't know about you, butman, it's nice to have a little
bit of sweet something alongthe way.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout?
And so, you know, maybe it'snot our culture here, you know,
where we don't really eat figson the regular.
I don't know if it's in yourdiet or not, but you know, you
have like the Christmas song,bring us some figgy pudding.
It's not really a thing here inArizona.
Um we say bring us sometamales, because this is from
(02:33):
the Lord.
Hacemos gracias, senhor, poreste comida, senor, and you know
what I mean?
Like this is the thing.
So, but you can imagine forthose who could think along the
fig way, maybe you were like meand you had something called fig
newtons.
Did you guys ever have a fignewton?
So it's like a cookie that'sreally, we try to act like it's
healthy, but it's really mostlysugar.
So we're kind of fakingourselves out.
(02:53):
You guys know what I'm talkingabout?
It's wonderful.
It's wonderful.
And so he goes to reach forthis fig, and there's nothing
there.
And so Jesus, he's disappointedbecause this tree, which looks
like it should have fruit, doesnot.
And so Jesus curses this treefor not doing what it was
designed to do, and so he goeson his way.
(03:14):
And as he comes back, his thethe disciples, they notice,
they're like, Man, this tree,which was huge and beautiful,
now has withered back intonothing because Jesus spoke the
words to it.
And so the scripture picks uphere and it actually starts to
talk about this story.
It says it in Matthew 21,verses 21 and 22.
(03:36):
And Jesus answered them, TrulyI say to you, if you have faith
and do not doubt, you will notonly do what has been done to
the fig tree, but even if yousay to this mountain, be taken
up and thrown into the sea, itwill happen.
And whatever you ask in prayer,you will receive if you have
faith.
(03:56):
I think there are a lot of usthat we experience mountains
that are blocking our path inour life.
And where there's these thingsthat feel insurmountable.
It feels like it's it'soverwhelming, something that we
could never move if we had athousand lifetimes to do so.
But what we see here inScripture is how Jesus, by the
word, since he's the creatorGod, the one that was in the
(04:18):
beginning in Genesis, the one wehear about how he's the truth,
he is the word of God in John.
When we hear this out of hiswords, he instead says, Listen,
if you pray by faith inalignment with me, then the
mountain can be moved into thesea and out of your way.
And friends, that's the kind offaith that we want to have.
(04:39):
We want to have the kind offaith that is one that is
aligned with God, full of faith,saying to the mountain in front
of us, though you're somethingthat I can't change, I know the
God who created you and he cantake you out of my way.
And friends, the very thingsthat we're dealing with, the
situations that arise in ourlife, though God didn't create
those things, he can move themout of our way and out of our
(05:02):
path, because he is mightierthan anything that we are
facing.
Someone say amen to that.
And so in our obedience, in ourfaith with God, we have to
answer that question (05:10):
do you have faith to believe?
Today we continue in our theme,the five solas.
We've been talking about eachof them, sola scriptura,
scripture alone, sola fide,faith alone, sola gratia, grace
alone, solos Christus, Christalone, and soli deo gloria,
(05:34):
glory to God alone.
And so as we look at these fivesolas, these five statements of
faith, they help guide us inhow we live our life for God.
You know, if it's your firsttime at Cornerstone, welcome.
We're glad you're here as aguest of ours.
And if you are that guest, thenwelcome home.
We see ourselves very much as acommunity of faith, people that
(05:55):
are living in the way of Jesus.
None of us is perfect.
All of us are in need of asavior.
And so that's why we use thisimagery of walking with Jesus
because that's how we viewourselves, as people that are on
a journey with Christ,following where he's leading us
to go.
That's why our ambition, mostpersonally and then corporately,
is to be more like Jesus.
(06:17):
And we do that by living it outin our everyday and our
gatherings here in the weekends,as well as throughout the week,
throughout the city.
We do that through life groups.
And so it's an opportunity forus to be intentional, to connect
and build relationships witheach other, to grow in our
relationship with God, to godeep in his word, and also to
serve, to use our time and ourtalent as stewards of what God
(06:39):
gives us.
And so as we do each one ofthose, and we get to do the
larger focus of what he calledus to do, the great commandment,
the great commission, andloving God and making disciples
and reaching the world.
And so it's by those things andwith that mandate that we come
into the five solas, thinkingabout how it directs us and how
we respond to each one of thesestatements, these five
(07:00):
statements of faith that we seefrom 500 years ago during the
Reformation.
And we talked about last weekthis kickoff of what started the
Protestant Reformation, andthat was found with Martin
Luther, who was a Catholicpriest, a Roman Catholic priest,
who, as he came to Rome and waslooking for this epiphany
spiritually, he actually found alot of things that were going
(07:22):
against the very faith that heheld sacred.
And as he returned back to hisstation in Germany, where he was
there at the church, he startedto fast and pray and mull those
things over.
He had a great conviction toreturn to the very focus of the
word, the focus of scripture andwhat we believe, not being
guided by just traditions orrelics, but instead by the word
(07:43):
of God and faith in God andgiving people context and be
able to have the word of God ina way they could understand.
And so he writes these 95theses, he nails them to his
church door, goes the story, andthis becomes a huge turning
point in the Christian faith,and returning back to that early
church example that we see inscripture in the book of Acts
(08:04):
and in the epistles, and beingthose people that are walking
our faith out with God in apersonal manner.
That means each one of thesethings that helps us to
understand what it means tofollow the Lord.
And in doing so, we firstlooked last week at sola
scriptura or scripture alone.
So it isn't the word of just achurch leader that guides us or
saves us or not, but the word ofGod is the authority for us as
(08:28):
Christ followers.
And therefore we can read itand it can become alive for each
one of us.
So we look to our scripture.
This last week we talked aboutthis very thing.
If you didn't highlight it, Iencourage you to do so in your
Bible.
It was 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17.
All scripture is breathed outby God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, forcorrection and for training in
(08:50):
righteousness, that the man ofGod may be complete, equipped
for every good work.
In this way, as we go into ourscripture, as we go and we open
our Bible every day, then westart to envelop the word of God
comes around us, it becomesalive.
We ask the Holy Spirit to makeit alive in us and to reveal
(09:10):
what it should say for us forthe day.
And in doing so, it starts tochange who we are.
It starts us out in thedifferent mentality of having
the mind of Christ.
And as we say, Lord, give ustoday our daily bread, then it
starts to be something thatguides our decision making, our
attitude, and the way we viewthings, which it changes the way
we make decisions and live ourlife.
(09:32):
In the same way, today we'retalking about this idea of sola
fide, or by faith alone.
Have your Bible, your tablet,your phone, we're looking at
Ephesians 2 today, verses 8through 10.
I encourage you to highlightthis as well as we go back to it
next week looking at grace.
It reads here in Ephesians 2,for by grace you have been saved
(09:52):
through faith.
And this is not your own doing,it is the gift of God, not a
result of works, so that no onemay boast.
But for we are all hisworksmanship created in Christ
Jesus for good works which Godprepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them.
(10:12):
Let's pray.
And we thank you, Lord, forbreathing upon it.
We thank you, Lord, for therevelation of what it is, the
Rhema of God.
And so, Lord, we ask, Lord, fortoday, Lord, you would
penetrate hearts and lives.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
So faith alone.
(10:34):
As we start to look at thestatement of faith alone, it has
a lot to do with how we believeand what we believe.
Now, in Martin Luther's day,this was really important
because you had to do a seriesof things.
You had to earn your way intomembership in the church, and
your alignment with yourmembership in the church was
what said you were going to makeit to heaven or not.
So it wasn't just your faith inGod.
(10:56):
It was also if you alignedyourself with the steps that
they said you had to do.
And so this went in alignmentwith other kind of religious
beliefs, but went against thevery faith that we hear in the
gospel message.
And so as we start to take alook at it and start to unpack
it today, it starts to becomerevelation to us.
One of the most famous piecesof scripture is found in John 3,
(11:17):
16 and 17.
It's where Jesus is talking toNicodemus about what it means to
become alive again in yourspirit, to be born again is the
term.
And in doing so, he starts totalk about these things.
It starts to give us a veryclear picture of the mandate of
why Jesus came to earth.
You might know it.
If you don't, I encourage youthat you would highlight it and
(11:38):
memorize this so that it'd besomething that washes over you.
And it reads here in the ESVfor God so loved the world that
he gave his only son, thatwhoever believes in him should
not perish, but have eternallife.
For God did not send his soninto the world to condemn the
world, but in order that theworld might be saved through
(12:01):
him.
Someone say amen to that.
So this is the gospel, this isthe message of hope, this is the
message of redemption that weget to experience.
And this is somethingtransformative, transformational
in our lives.
What does it mean?
It means that we are changinginto the image of God by faith.
(12:22):
We're believing he is and whohe says he is, and we're
following him in that way.
Now, it was interesting becauseas I became a pastor some over
20 years ago, I had a lot offriends who knew me pre-becoming
a pastor.
And say they were like, You?
You're becoming a pastor?
I said, Yes.
They were like, ooh, they'reletting anybody do this job.
(12:45):
No, no.
What they knew is that I wasreal serious.
I'd been getting real seriousin my faith and walk with God.
I'd been really serious as I asI did those, even as an example
to colleagues in my workplaceand corporate sales and other
things I was doing.
And we would have theseconversations about what it
means to have faith.
Now, like you, I probably havemany friends of different
faiths.
(13:05):
I also have friends that havefaith in nothing, and it's
called atheism.
Because they also have faith insomething.
How do people know that?
So just like we believe thatGod created the world as we read
it in the book, they believethat it happened by
happenstance, and they have allthese other thought processes
that they're placing their faithin.
So they're having in faith inpeople that they've never met,
(13:27):
in books that they don't knowwho really wrote them, and in
concepts that they can'tsubstantiate.
Sometimes I think they havebigger faith than us.
You know what I'm saying?
Because I believe in a God, ina creation I can see, in a
presence that I can feel andexperience, and they're just
placing their faith in somethingthat's arbitrary.
So each one of us then hasfaith in something.
(13:48):
It's where are you placing yourfaith in?
And so for us, as those who arefollowers of Christ, we place
our faith in God because ourfaith in God is eternal, it's
not temporal.
We can place our faith inthings or people, but so often
it will fail us, won't it?
Because none of us are perfect,so all of us will let someone
down sometime.
And it's that very thing thatactually keeps us from being
(14:11):
able to be those who are holybecause we have a brokenness
inside of us.
It's that brokenness that youdon't have to teach, right?
We know it from the time thatwe're little.
Even when we're a baby, whatyou can you can love a baby and
hold a baby and feed a baby andclean a baby, and it's time to
go to sleep.
And you set the baby down.
I want to be picked up.
(14:33):
Right?
And we're that way sometimestoo, even as adults.
I want my own way.
Half of our prayers are reallyjust complaining to God, right?
God, I didn't get my way, and myscratchy tickets didn't hit
today.
Instead of having faith in Godand walking according to his
(14:56):
precepts, according to what heteaches us to do and how to
live.
And so as we look and havefaith in God, as we return to
the scripture as our source, itencourages us to live a
different way.
Now, we've been talking aboutthis idea of Ephesians 2, and in
verses 8 and 9, we see here,for by grace you have been saved
through faith.
(15:16):
Someone say, through faith.
Through faith.
It's not your own doing, it isthe gift of God, not out as a
result of works, so that no onemay boast.
Man, this is so pivotal for usbecause it says, by grace you
have been saved.
It means that you don't deserveit.
See, we have that problem evenin our generations now, where we
(15:39):
just think that we deserveeverything.
And it's the sense that we,it's like, oh man, I deserve
everything.
And it's an entitlementmentality that is not correct.
See, we are broken people andwe have things that have been
given to us by our creator thathe made us in his image and he
values us, and he has a plan anda purpose for your life and all
those things, but it doesn'tmean that you get everything
(16:01):
automatic.
What it means is that we walkby faith with him through the
process.
And that's really hard becausewe can order in our pocket right
now as I'm preaching thissermon, and all of you guys
could have like a deliveryhappen and people walking in
with food or whatever elsebefore the end of the service,
because that's how instantaneousour world is.
And so it's by faith and andand and by long suffering and by
(16:26):
patience that we walk thesethings out with God.
And that's a dangerous prayerto pray when we start praying
for patience, because God willgive you an opportunity to be
patient.
So as you pray for this thefruit of the Spirit of God to be
in your life, be careful as youpray those prayers.
No, we want all of this fruitof the Spirit in our lives,
(16:46):
don't we?
So we want to be those thatlive all of these different
pieces.
But what does it say?
It says it's not by works thatthese things are done.
So as we look at the Word ofGod, it's it's not by anything
that any individual did.
And so as we as the wordbecomes alive in us, as we see
the word of God and we start todwell upon it, we see story
after story after story ofpeople that have been dedicated
(17:07):
to God.
They've been devoted to Him,but they didn't start out in the
best shape.
Some of them I wouldn't havepicked to do the job that they
ended up doing in the Bible.
Can we be honest with that?
It's like whenever they'repicking a person to go be a
savior of the world, I probablywouldn't have picked a murderer
to go and just save the peopleof Israel from Egypt.
You know, he killed somebody,and then he's off in Saudi
(17:29):
Arabia being a shepherd.
But God saw what he was doingin Moses' life, and he
challenges him to do somethinggreater than himself by
obedience in God, having faiththat God can do it even through
me, a broken person.
And that's the story you seetime and time again throughout
scripture is that the Lord willuse broken people to do amazing
(17:53):
things.
You know, it's interesting howGod would use somebody like
Peter, he was a salty sailor,right?
He's a salty fisherman.
He's like the Jack Sparrow ofthe Bible.
And he's over here saying crazystuff, pulling a knife, cutting
people's ears off.
It's wildness.
Still has the guts, the moxieto step out on the water and
walk to Jesus.
It's this guy that the Lorduses after he restores him, full
(18:17):
of his spirit, to use and toprof he profoundly address all
of those who were studied, thereligious, uh, the religious
hierarchy of his day.
He's speaking to them in thedeep knowledge of God, not
because he read it and studiedit growing up.
No, he was a sailor, afisherman.
No, but by the Holy Spiritrevelation that it started
(18:38):
working in his life and throughhis life to profound these
people who had studied theirwhole lives and didn't know the
revelation of God.
It took this guy, Peter, to doit.
But by the Spirit of God, ashe's full of the Spirit of God,
then as he's walking even hisshadow, it said healed people by
the Spirit of God.
That's powerful.
(18:59):
At the same time, there's a guynamed Saul who is studied.
He's like the lawyer's lawyerof the word of God, of the law
of God.
And so he knows all of thedifferent pieces that are there.
And so he's the one that Goddecides to use to be the
greatest church planter of alltime.
You know, the guy who hated thechurch, the guy who was
throwing Christians in prison,the guy who was persecuting them
(19:19):
and killing Christians.
That's the guy that God picks.
That's the guy that he takesand changes.
He's he changes him into a newcreation.
By his spirit, he lights a firefor him and he becomes an
amazing church planter acrossthe world.
Most of the epistles we readare from Paul writing to the
(19:40):
churches that have beenestablished.
Friends, that's a powerfulthing.
What God can do, because he hasa purpose and a plan for your
life from the very beginning.
And he can do amazing thingseven with us that are broken by
faith.
So as we believe that he can doit, he will do it.
(20:01):
And so we look to the scripturehere and we see that it's not
us earning our way in, it's byhis work in us that we respond.
Galatians 2, Paul writing tothe church at Galatia, he says
this we ourselves are Jews bybirth, not Gentile sinners.
Thanks, Paul.
Appreciate you, man, for all ofus Gentile sinners in the room
who are not 100% Jewish.
Yet we do know that a person isnot justified by works of the
(20:24):
law, but through faith in JesusChrist.
So we also have believed inChrist Jesus in order to be
justified by faith in Christ andnot by works of the law.
Because by works of the law, noone would be justified.
Justified means to be put inright standing.
And so it means that you cannotearn your way to a holy God by
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doing good works.
It's not by works that we aresaved.
And this is a big distinctionand a deviation from every other
kind of religious approachthat's across the world.
Every single one of those istrying to earn your way into
some kind of a nirvana, ahierarchy, a heaven, a something
by doing enough good thingsthat you're found as an
(21:09):
honorable person, and thereforethe door open sesame gets opened
to you.
News flash, you're not perfect.
Probably already knew that.
I'm sorry for breaking the newsto you if you didn't know.
So am I, neither am I perfect.
And since we're not perfect,then how can we, as broken
(21:29):
people, approach a holy God?
We cannot.
In the Bible, it says, none ofus is holy, no not one.
It means the things that wehave to offer are filthy rags
before the Lord because they'rewhat do we have to offer God?
How can we impress a holy Godwho created everything?
What do you get God for hisbirthday?
You know what I'm talkingabout?
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Well, you give him your heart,that's what you do.
But the idea is that it's whatdo you have to offer?
Well, we have nothing to offer.
That's why he came all the wayto us.
And that's why he came and didthose things on our behalf.
That's why by grace, his heartwas moved towards us in
compassion, and he was graciousto us, and so he came all the
way to us.
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And so our heart, our belief isin him.
We can't earn our way in to hisgrace.
It's only by faith we canaccept his work for us upon the
cross.
It continues in Ephesians here.
We see it in verse 10.
It says, For we are hisworkmanship created in Christ
Jesus for good works.
Somebody say good works.
Good works, which God preparedbeforehand that we should walk
(22:35):
in them.
So good works is what we'resupposed to do.
But the good works are not forearning our way into the
presence of God.
No, that is by faith we aresaved and placing our faith in
him by the grace of God.
But instead, our response isgood works because he set us in
place to do something onpurpose, with a purpose, on
(22:56):
purpose.
Amen.
And since that's true, then ourresponse to his love is to act
in love.
And that is to serve others, todo the work of God, to do the
good works.
What is it saying?
To serve the widow, to servethe one that's the foreigner, to
serve this person and thatperson.
Throughout scripture, it talksabout how we're called to be
those who serve motivated bylove.
(23:18):
In the scripture, it says inanother place how if we don't do
these things as of love, we canhave all sorts of spiritual
giftings, but the love is whatreally changes the heart.
Because it's the love of Godthat penetrates our heart and
our heart and heart and sees thelife change happen.
So without love, we're aclinging symbol or a gong,
right?
(23:38):
And so we're called to be thosethat do good works as a
response to the love of God, notdoing good works to try to earn
God's grace.
We already have God's grace.
He already loves us that much.
He loves us so much that hecame all the way to us.
And so instead we respond tohim and we live this life as
stewards of our time and ourtalent, doing good works as a
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response to God's love and ourlove back to him.
It continues in scripture hereas we see it illuminated for us.
It says, Now faith is theassurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things notseen.
And that's what it means tohave faith.
It's based on this concept ofhope.
And if you know your Bible inHebrews, there's a whole list of
(24:24):
stories of people that wereobedient to God and they did
great things by being obedientto God and having faith that God
would come through.
And so we see that time andtime and time again.
And I think if we're notcareful, then we'll dismiss it
that these great people of theBible, how could I ever be like
them?
Well, friends, you could belike them because all of them
(24:44):
were broken people that God tookand challenged and changed and
used by his spirit for hispurposes.
And it's the same thing hewants to do in your story.
It's the reason that he'silluminated Christ in your life,
is he wants to use the love ofGod in your life to affect those
around you.
He wants you to take themessage of what you've
experienced in life change forGod, and he wants you to share
(25:06):
it with those around you and seethe spark of life change happen
in them.
That's why the scripture saysit's by the word, it's by the
blood of the Lamb that meansChrist sacrificed for us and the
word of our testimony.
It's the story that he's givenyou that's uniquely yours.
It's the one that no one canshake because your story is your
story.
And you've experienced the loveof God.
(25:27):
So as you share it with otherpeople, it sparks something in
them because they're looking forthe same thing.
They want to know theircreator, they want to live with
purpose, they want to have aneternity with a living God.
That we would be so bold as toshare the hope of the gospel
with them.
It continues in scripture here,and we see it as it starts to
(25:49):
reveal to us in what it says.
It says in Hebrews 11,continuing forward, by faith, we
understand that the universewas created by the word of God.
So that what is seen is notmade out of things that are
visible.
That's why when we read in thebeginning, it says, in the
beginning, God created theheavens and the earth.
It says that he spoke thesethings into existence and the
(26:10):
creation of the world became.
That's why in the beginning ofJohn, it talks about in the
beginning was the word, and theword was with God, and the word
was God.
Nothing was created withoutJesus.
And so as we look to him and wesee these things happen, it's
by our faith in what he has donefor us that sparks our heart
towards God by faith.
(26:31):
And we have to have faithbecause faith is the currency of
the kingdom of God.
It changes everything.
Hebrews 11 6, continuing alittle bit further, it says, And
without faith, it's impossibleto please him.
For whatever who whoever woulddraw near to God must believe
that he exists and rewards thosewho seek him.
As we draw near to God.
(26:54):
Now think about that.
I know people that even theythey align their lives and do
the things that scripture asksthem to do.
Maybe they give of their oftheir of their business and of
their own uh salary, they give10% and they give a they see
blessing happen in their lives,even if they don't believe.
But here's the thing what if webelieve and we do what God
says, even greater things willhappen.
(27:15):
Because it says, how do youdraw near to God?
But without faith, you can't gonear God because you don't
believe he is who he says he is.
So you have to have faith thatGod keeps his promises, that God
will sustain you through, thatGod will be your provision, he
will be your guidance, he willbe your peace in the middle of
the storm, he will be all thosethings and more.
(27:37):
And that's how we draw near toGod is that we spend time with
him and that we believe he iswho he says he is.
When it says in scripture thatyou can trust me and place your
faith in God and trust him, andsee that he will draw you near
to himself.
And scripture continues forwardand it says this in Hebrews 12,
(28:02):
the following chapter, verses 1and 2.
Therefore, since we aresurrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us also layaside every weight in sin which
clings so closely, and let usrun with endurance the race
that's set before us, looking toJesus, the founder and
perfecter of our faith.
For the joy that was set beforehim endured the cross,
(28:26):
despising the shame, and isseated at the right hand of the
throne of God.
Someone say amen to that.
And so we're called to be thosethat, as the writer of Hebrews
says, that runs the race withendurance, and that we would be
those that run this race offollowing after God.
We we run it with endurance.
That means not giving up whenit gets difficult.
(28:47):
I have a few friends that theyare blessed to be those who are,
they have a passion forrunning.
I am of the other sort, more ofthe other ones that stay there
and cheer for them.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout?
That's my more my people.
But I cheer for them.
I think it's amazing.
A lot of them have runmarathons, and I have a few
friends that have run ultras,which is like 100 miles or more.
Some people that are doingIronmans that we've got to know.
(29:08):
And it's very impressive.
I mean, they have a tenacitythat doesn't give up.
But you know what they alsodon't do is that when they're
starting the race, they alsodon't go and strap on all the
weights of things that they'vebeen training with to go and try
to run the race.
And the reason is because theyknow they won't make it because
it's too heavy to carry all thethings of the past with them
towards the goal that they'retrying to run.
(29:29):
In fact, they try to get aslightweight as possible to run
with endurance to the very end.
And at the same time, wespiritually speaking might be
those that we we get free andget charged to run this race
after God, and he frees us ofall this sin and all these
things, these burdens.
And then we decide to go aheadand pick those things right back
up and try to run the raceholding on to our old junk.
(29:54):
And I wonder how many times weidentify our identity as wrapped
up in the brokenness.
That we used to live.
It was in the hurt that we'veexperienced.
And what God is saying is thatlisten, that's the story that
you come from.
I'm healing you of that.
You can let those things go.
And you can run this race withme because I have a better
future for you than your past.
(30:14):
And that you're, I'm taking yousomewhere that you can't take
that stuff with you.
You can't take your guilt andyour shame and your brokenness
and your sin.
You can't carry it with youforward because I have a new
place for you to go.
So you need to trust the Lordand ask forgiveness of those
things and lay those things downat his feet and then walk
forward into the future that Godhas for us.
Friends, by faith, we can trusthim that he will be those that
(30:38):
doesn't hold it against us, butinstead he forgives us as we ask
repentance of those verythings.
He will be just to forgive usof our sin and heal us and
cleanse us of allunrighteousness.
And the scripture continuesforward here.
And it says in Matthew 17,Jesus is giving an example, and
he starts to tell this storyabout what it means to have
(31:01):
faith.
And they're talking about howthey lack faith.
And he says, Listen, you shouldhave faith, but faith doesn't
have to be this grandiose thing.
It could be something simple.
And it starts in Matthew 17,verse 20.
He said to them, Because ofyour little faith, for truly I
say to you, if you have faith,the grain of a mustard seed, you
will say to this mountain, Movefrom here to there, and it will
(31:22):
move, and nothing will beimpossible for you.
You know, we lived in Francefor a number of years, and so we
got to see mustard fields thatwere there, beautiful.
It'd be yellow with flower.
This example is actually fromBangladesh, where they have some
of those fields there.
Amazing, so beautiful.
And you know, the seed that itproduces is actually quite small
(31:42):
because the plant they don'tlet it grow that high.
You could see an example of thelittle flowers that are here,
the beautiful yellow flowers.
And they produce this tinylittle seed.
In fact, you could holdhundreds of them in the palm of
your hand.
A sack of them would bethousands, just a small sack.
And each one of those becomes aplant.
And if you plant it in thecorrect soil and you don't
harvest it straight away whenit's young, then actually it
(32:04):
will grow into a substantialplant.
It actually will go past beinga plant even into a tree.
And the example we see inscripture is that the faith that
we have in God, even a smallamount, can be something amazing
that grows.
It becomes shade for others, itbecomes a place, a home for the
birds of the field, it becomesall these other things that
(32:25):
start out in a very small amountof faith.
And so that the small amount offaith that we have that we put
in the correct soil, which isthe eternal faith in God, those
things can blossom and becomesomething amazing.
Because it's not it's not justtemporal, it doesn't just fade
away with this world.
It isn't just something that wehave faith in this person or in
(32:46):
this thing or this politicalmovement or whatever, but it's
faith in God that has subs, ithas substance, it has
substantial change that happenswhen we place our faith in God
and say, Lord, my small amountof faith, if you will use it for
your glory, I want to beobedient what you called me to
do.
And friends, God can do bigthings with even a small amount
(33:09):
of faith.
Amen.
So we have a few things here aswe answer that question.
We've been looking at it,talking about it.
Do you have faith to believe?
Three things that we're takingaway today.
First is this prayers of faith,they align us with the word.
So our prayers of faith alignus with the word of God.
And as we read through the wordof God, we can pray the things
(33:30):
that we see that's there.
As we read the Psalm, we readthe Proverbs, we read these
stories that Jesus tells us inparables.
We can say, Lord, I see thisthat's here, have that happen in
my life.
Lord, you says that you are theone that is healer.
Lord, heal my situation.
Lord, it says you are the onethat heals these diseases and
heals relationships and does allthese things.
So do that in my life.
(33:53):
And as we align ourselves withthe word of God, see that God
will answer your prayer.
A small amount of faith canhave a huge difference.
The second thing that we'retaking away today is that
prayers of faith speak hope toour circumstances.
What did it say?
It says that faith is a hope ofthings that we don't see.
(34:13):
And so what we're doing isspeaking by faith, trusting God,
saying, Lord, I trust you.
I believe your word is true.
And so my prayer today is toalign myself with your heart and
so I want to see these thingshappen.
And what happens is that youralignment with your heart, even
if your circumstances don'timmediately change, your
perception, your thought processof what's going on changes.
(34:36):
And your heart starts to havehope in situations that would
otherwise be hopeless.
Does that make sense?
He starts to change it in ourheart first before he changes
our circumstances.
And so let it be something thatdoes that because it will be
things that speak hope to ourcircumstances, because he starts
it in our heart, and then thecircumstances fall into
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alignment.
The third thing today isprayers of faith help us to take
steps of obedience.
Is that like a cuss word sayingobedience?
I know, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Whenever you say obedience, itmeans change.
That's another cuss word inchurch.
Five-letter cuss word, I'msorry.
Because people don't like it.
When I say change, the wholecrowd is like, ooh.
(35:19):
That's how it feels, doesn'tit?
Because he starts to talk to usabout things that maybe we
don't want to change, aboutpeople that we need to forgive
that we don't want to, aboutthings that we need to let go of
so we can run this race thatmaybe we've made it a part of
our identity, that I'm a victim,or I'm this person, or I've
done this thing.
But he wants you to let go ofthat so that you can walk free
(35:42):
into what he has for you, sothat we can be those that are
obedient to what he wants us todo.
If we're served, if we werethose who are saved with purpose
and on purpose for a purpose,then let's be obedient to the
purposes he has for us.
Be those that take stepssaying, Yes, God, I will change
in the ways you guide me to do,so I can be used by you to the
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fullest.
And in doing so, friends, we'llanswer that question: Do you
have faith to believe?
Because our faith is in theliving God.
Today, each one of us has anopportunity to respond to this
message of God's hope.
You know, for us, we have toanswer that question of have you
embraced Jesus?
Each one of us has to answerit.
(36:25):
No one can answer it for you.
It's your own answer that he'slooking for.
Because it's for your heart andfor your life.
For us as Christ followers,this is something pivotal.
It's where we have embraced thelove of Christ.
It's why we're not perfect, butwe want to be more like Jesus.
And so we're walking to becomemore like his character and to
see the fruit of the spirit comeoff of our lives.
(36:48):
We want to be those thatreflect the love of God to
others.
But see, it didn't start there.
It started with us being brokenand hurting and all those
things.
It's only by Jesus, only by hisgrace, his sacrifice for us
that we're made in rightstanding.
We didn't earn it, as we talkedabout.
That's why the symbol of thecross is so profound, because
(37:08):
the cross is a place where Jesustook all of our pain and all of
our sorrow and all of ourbrokenness, and he paid for it
on the cross once and for all.
He took all of my sin and allof my mistakes.
He took all of yours.
And as he took it on himself,he it wasn't something he
deserved.
He lived a sinless life.
He didn't deserve any of that.
(37:30):
But he took on the weight ofthe sin of the world on himself,
and as he did, it separated himfrom the Father.
Because the Father is holy andhe becomes this representative,
this sacrifice for all people.
And in that way, he goes to hisdeath upon the cross.
He pays for all the sin, andall the sin dies with him on
(37:51):
that cross.
But the good news is, friends,that we don't worship a dead
person.
We worship a living savior.
And that death did not holdhim, and he came back to life,
and he's seated at the righthand of the Father, and we
celebrate that.
And that's why we have anactive relationship with the
living God.
So we're not trying to honorthe memory of some dead prophet.
(38:12):
No, we're in an activerelationship with the living God
and the creator God of allthings.
And so that's why the symbol ofdeath and of torture that we
see in the cross becomes asymbol of hope for us, because
we remember the great sacrificethat he made for us, for all
people.
With the heart, one believesand is justified.
(38:47):
With the mouth one confessesand is saved.
Friends, today is your day.
It's your opportunity to sayyes to Jesus.
Each one of us has made adecision to invite him into our
heart and life.
To say, Jesus, I believe youare who you say you are.
(39:07):
Lord, I ask you to forgive meof my sin.
Lord to wash me clean and makeme a new creation.
Lord, I want to follow you inthe ways of you.
Lord, I have faith to believe.
And in doing so, we have a newlife in Jesus Christ.
That's the hope of the gospelmessage.
Friends, I'm gonna ask ifeveryone here in the room, if
you would just stand to yourfeet right where you're at.
(39:28):
Christians are praying.
You're online, take a momentwherever you are to be still and
listen to what God wants to doin this moment for you.
Maybe you're here and you'venever made a decision to follow
Jesus.
Today is your opportunity.
It's your opportunity to sayyes to him.
Or maybe you have made adecision in the past to follow
(39:51):
God.
And you need to recommit yourheart to life, to him today.
Friends, that's the opportunitythat we give to you.
His heads are bowed here in theroom.
If that's you, and you justwant to make a commitment to
Jesus today to invite him intoyour heart and life, you just
raise your hand right whereyou're at.
I won't embarrass you, justwant to be able to identify you
so I can pray with you today.
You see the hand that's there,it's the hands that are there.
(40:12):
Thank you, Jesus, as people aremaking decisions to follow you
today.
Thank you, Lord.
Yes, you see the hand that'sthere as well.
Praise the Lord.
Friends online, wherever youare, we acknowledge you as well.
I'm gonna ask if everyone wouldif they'd pray this prayer out
loud after me.
Lord, thank you for loving me.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
(40:34):
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.
(40:55):
Amen.
Amen.
Friends, we rejoice with youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
Those that raise their handshere, the earlier service as
well.
Praise the Lord.
Huge.
Let me encourage you in this.
Take a moment, take a snap ofthis next steps QR code.
It will guide you both onlinehere in the room of what the
next steps are, what we believe,how to get involved, what it
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means to follow Jesus.
I want to, we don't want you tolive this life alone.
I want you to be connected withus.
Friends, it's our opportunityfor each one of us to respond to
God's love for us and to havethe faith to believe what he
wants to do through us.
As we open this altar today, wedo so with an intentionality to
draw close to God, to draw nearto him.
(41:38):
So maybe you're walking thisthing out and you just need more
of his presence.
You need faith to believe inyour circumstance, to say to
that mountain to move.
Or maybe you're navigating thatright now, you just need more
of his presence or his peace.
Maybe you need wisdom forsomething you're going through,
or you just want to draw near toGod in this moment.
As you come forward, we'll havepeople that come and pray an
agreement prayer with youbecause we want to be those that
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draw near to God.
Lord, we thank you so much forthis word today as you've spoken
it to us.
Lord, as we come to your altar,we do so with intentionality.
Lord, we thank you, though,because we can't earn our way to
you.
So you came all the way to us.
And Lord, today, as wecelebrate with those, Lord, that
made a decision to follow you,Lord, as we celebrate with those
that went public in their faiththrough baptism today, Lord, we
(42:23):
rejoice with these huge momentsof saying yes and following
Jesus.
Lord, as we come to your altar,we do so seeking you, drawing
near to you, God, for you arealways available to us.
We do so asking for animpartation of your presence and
guidance.
We pray this in the name ofJesus Christ.
Amen.
Celeste Brown (42:42):
So we are having a fall family day.
It's coming up soon, and wewould love for you to invite
everybody you know.
Um, somebody from yourneighborhood, maybe a whole, the
whole block.
Just invite everybody.
It's gonna be great.
Um, you know, people come tochurch because they're
personally invited.
And so this is a great way toget them to come.
It's gonna be after our secondservice.
So ask them to join you forchurch, and then right after
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everything is free.
It's gonna be so much fun, andwe're praying for the best
weather that day.
Amen.
Jason Brown (43:12):
Before we go, pray this blessing over us today.
The Lord bless you and keepyou.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
(43:36):
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 here atCornerstone.
God bless you, and have a greatweek.
500 years ago, a monk named Martin Luther ignited a
fire that would reshapeChristianity forever.
His stand against theprevailing doctrines of his day
wasn't just a protest, it was acall to return to the
foundational truths of thefaith.
This pivotal moment of theProtestant Reformation wasn't
about creating a new religion,but about rediscovering the
(00:21):
gospel.
At the heart of thisrediscovery were five core
principles, Latin phrases thatbecame the rallying cry for
reform.
These are the five solas, solascriptura, scripture alone.
The Bible, not tradition orhuman authority, is our ultimate
and infallible guide for faithand life.
It's the final word, thehighest court.
(00:42):
Sola fide, faith alone.
We're justified, declaredrighteous in God's sight, by
faith alone, not by our words.
We trust solely in Christ'sfinished work on the cross.
So is God's gift, grace alone.
Salvation is an earth, it's agift from God.
It's his unmerited favor thatsaves us.
Nothing we do can ever deserveit.
So is Christus, Christ alone.
(01:04):
Jesus Christ is the onlymediator between God and
humanity.
He is the one and only way tosalvation, our one true King,
and our sole Redeemer.
Solide of Gloria, to the gloryof God alone.
The ultimate purpose ofeverything, including our
salvation, is to bring glory toGod.
Our lives are to be lived forhis praise, not our own.
(01:26):
These aren't just historicalslogans.
They're living truths thatanchor our faith.
Jason Brown (01:31):
Do you have faith to believe?
Jesus starts a story in Matthewwhere he's walking with his
disciples, and as he's doing so,he's living life, and he's
teaching them, he's trainingthem on how they should live,
and he's walking out thisexample in front of them.
And in doing so, he's very muchincarnate.
He is there living in flesh theway we do.
(01:51):
But he doesn't have the brokennature that we do from when we
were young.
Instead, he has this perfectnature.
And so he's going about it andhe's walking down this way and
he comes across this fig tree.
Now, the fig tree is beautiful.
It should be in season, itshould have fruit, and so he
expects to be able to go up andpick a piece of this fruit.
(02:12):
And I don't know about you, butman, it's nice to have a little
bit of sweet something alongthe way.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout?
And so, you know, maybe it'snot our culture here, you know,
where we don't really eat figson the regular.
I don't know if it's in yourdiet or not, but you know, you
have like the Christmas song,bring us some figgy pudding.
It's not really a thing here inArizona.
Um we say bring us sometamales, because this is from
(02:33):
the Lord.
Hacemos gracias, senhor, poreste comida, senor, and you know
what I mean?
Like this is the thing.
So, but you can imagine forthose who could think along the
fig way, maybe you were like meand you had something called fig
newtons.
Did you guys ever have a fignewton?
So it's like a cookie that'sreally, we try to act like it's
healthy, but it's really mostlysugar.
So we're kind of fakingourselves out.
(02:53):
You guys know what I'm talkingabout?
It's wonderful.
It's wonderful.
And so he goes to reach forthis fig, and there's nothing
there.
And so Jesus, he's disappointedbecause this tree, which looks
like it should have fruit, doesnot.
And so Jesus curses this treefor not doing what it was
designed to do, and so he goeson his way.
(03:14):
And as he comes back, his thethe disciples, they notice,
they're like, Man, this tree,which was huge and beautiful,
now has withered back intonothing because Jesus spoke the
words to it.
And so the scripture picks uphere and it actually starts to
talk about this story.
It says it in Matthew 21,verses 21 and 22.
(03:36):
And Jesus answered them, TrulyI say to you, if you have faith
and do not doubt, you will notonly do what has been done to
the fig tree, but even if yousay to this mountain, be taken
up and thrown into the sea, itwill happen.
And whatever you ask in prayer,you will receive if you have
faith.
(03:56):
I think there are a lot of usthat we experience mountains
that are blocking our path inour life.
And where there's these thingsthat feel insurmountable.
It feels like it's it'soverwhelming, something that we
could never move if we had athousand lifetimes to do so.
But what we see here inScripture is how Jesus, by the
word, since he's the creatorGod, the one that was in the
(04:18):
beginning in Genesis, the one wehear about how he's the truth,
he is the word of God in John.
When we hear this out of hiswords, he instead says, Listen,
if you pray by faith inalignment with me, then the
mountain can be moved into thesea and out of your way.
And friends, that's the kind offaith that we want to have.
(04:39):
We want to have the kind offaith that is one that is
aligned with God, full of faith,saying to the mountain in front
of us, though you're somethingthat I can't change, I know the
God who created you and he cantake you out of my way.
And friends, the very thingsthat we're dealing with, the
situations that arise in ourlife, though God didn't create
those things, he can move themout of our way and out of our
(05:02):
path, because he is mightierthan anything that we are
facing.
Someone say amen to that.
And so in our obedience, in ourfaith with God, we have to
answer that question (05:10):
do you have faith to believe?
Today we continue in our theme,the five solas.
We've been talking about eachof them, sola scriptura,
scripture alone, sola fide,faith alone, sola gratia, grace
alone, solos Christus, Christalone, and soli deo gloria,
(05:34):
glory to God alone.
And so as we look at these fivesolas, these five statements of
faith, they help guide us inhow we live our life for God.
You know, if it's your firsttime at Cornerstone, welcome.
We're glad you're here as aguest of ours.
And if you are that guest, thenwelcome home.
We see ourselves very much as acommunity of faith, people that
(05:55):
are living in the way of Jesus.
None of us is perfect.
All of us are in need of asavior.
And so that's why we use thisimagery of walking with Jesus
because that's how we viewourselves, as people that are on
a journey with Christ,following where he's leading us
to go.
That's why our ambition, mostpersonally and then corporately,
is to be more like Jesus.
(06:17):
And we do that by living it outin our everyday and our
gatherings here in the weekends,as well as throughout the week,
throughout the city.
We do that through life groups.
And so it's an opportunity forus to be intentional, to connect
and build relationships witheach other, to grow in our
relationship with God, to godeep in his word, and also to
serve, to use our time and ourtalent as stewards of what God
(06:39):
gives us.
And so as we do each one ofthose, and we get to do the
larger focus of what he calledus to do, the great commandment,
the great commission, andloving God and making disciples
and reaching the world.
And so it's by those things andwith that mandate that we come
into the five solas, thinkingabout how it directs us and how
we respond to each one of thesestatements, these five
(07:00):
statements of faith that we seefrom 500 years ago during the
Reformation.
And we talked about last weekthis kickoff of what started the
Protestant Reformation, andthat was found with Martin
Luther, who was a Catholicpriest, a Roman Catholic priest,
who, as he came to Rome and waslooking for this epiphany
spiritually, he actually found alot of things that were going
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against the very faith that heheld sacred.
And as he returned back to hisstation in Germany, where he was
there at the church, he startedto fast and pray and mull those
things over.
He had a great conviction toreturn to the very focus of the
word, the focus of scripture andwhat we believe, not being
guided by just traditions orrelics, but instead by the word
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of God and faith in God andgiving people context and be
able to have the word of God ina way they could understand.
And so he writes these 95theses, he nails them to his
church door, goes the story, andthis becomes a huge turning
point in the Christian faith,and returning back to that early
church example that we see inscripture in the book of Acts
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and in the epistles, and beingthose people that are walking
our faith out with God in apersonal manner.
That means each one of thesethings that helps us to
understand what it means tofollow the Lord.
And in doing so, we firstlooked last week at sola
scriptura or scripture alone.
So it isn't the word of just achurch leader that guides us or
saves us or not, but the word ofGod is the authority for us as
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Christ followers.
And therefore we can read itand it can become alive for each
one of us.
So we look to our scripture.
This last week we talked aboutthis very thing.
If you didn't highlight it, Iencourage you to do so in your
Bible.
It was 2 Timothy 3, 16 and 17.
All scripture is breathed outby God and profitable for
teaching, for reproof, forcorrection and for training in
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righteousness, that the man ofGod may be complete, equipped
for every good work.
In this way, as we go into ourscripture, as we go and we open
our Bible every day, then westart to envelop the word of God
comes around us, it becomesalive.
We ask the Holy Spirit to makeit alive in us and to reveal
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what it should say for us forthe day.
And in doing so, it starts tochange who we are.
It starts us out in thedifferent mentality of having
the mind of Christ.
And as we say, Lord, give ustoday our daily bread, then it
starts to be something thatguides our decision making, our
attitude, and the way we viewthings, which it changes the way
we make decisions and live ourlife.
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In the same way, today we'retalking about this idea of sola
fide, or by faith alone.
Have your Bible, your tablet,your phone, we're looking at
Ephesians 2 today, verses 8through 10.
I encourage you to highlightthis as well as we go back to it
next week looking at grace.
It reads here in Ephesians 2,for by grace you have been saved
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through faith.
And this is not your own doing,it is the gift of God, not a
result of works, so that no onemay boast.
But for we are all hisworksmanship created in Christ
Jesus for good works which Godprepared beforehand, that we
should walk in them.
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Let's pray.
And we thank you, Lord, forbreathing upon it.
We thank you, Lord, for therevelation of what it is, the
Rhema of God.
And so, Lord, we ask, Lord, fortoday, Lord, you would
penetrate hearts and lives.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
So faith alone.
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As we start to look at thestatement of faith alone, it has
a lot to do with how we believeand what we believe.
Now, in Martin Luther's day,this was really important
because you had to do a seriesof things.
You had to earn your way intomembership in the church, and
your alignment with yourmembership in the church was
what said you were going to makeit to heaven or not.
So it wasn't just your faith inGod.
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It was also if you alignedyourself with the steps that
they said you had to do.
And so this went in alignmentwith other kind of religious
beliefs, but went against thevery faith that we hear in the
gospel message.
And so as we start to take alook at it and start to unpack
it today, it starts to becomerevelation to us.
One of the most famous piecesof scripture is found in John 3,
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16 and 17.
It's where Jesus is talking toNicodemus about what it means to
become alive again in yourspirit, to be born again is the
term.
And in doing so, he starts totalk about these things.
It starts to give us a veryclear picture of the mandate of
why Jesus came to earth.
You might know it.
If you don't, I encourage youthat you would highlight it and
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memorize this so that it'd besomething that washes over you.
And it reads here in the ESVfor God so loved the world that
he gave his only son, thatwhoever believes in him should
not perish, but have eternallife.
For God did not send his soninto the world to condemn the
world, but in order that theworld might be saved through
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him.
Someone say amen to that.
So this is the gospel, this isthe message of hope, this is the
message of redemption that weget to experience.
And this is somethingtransformative, transformational
in our lives.
What does it mean?
It means that we are changinginto the image of God by faith.
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We're believing he is and whohe says he is, and we're
following him in that way.
Now, it was interesting becauseas I became a pastor some over
20 years ago, I had a lot offriends who knew me pre-becoming
a pastor.
And say they were like, You?
You're becoming a pastor?
I said, Yes.
They were like, ooh, they'reletting anybody do this job.
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No, no.
What they knew is that I wasreal serious.
I'd been getting real seriousin my faith and walk with God.
I'd been really serious as I asI did those, even as an example
to colleagues in my workplaceand corporate sales and other
things I was doing.
And we would have theseconversations about what it
means to have faith.
Now, like you, I probably havemany friends of different
faiths.
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I also have friends that havefaith in nothing, and it's
called atheism.
Because they also have faith insomething.
How do people know that?
So just like we believe thatGod created the world as we read
it in the book, they believethat it happened by
happenstance, and they have allthese other thought processes
that they're placing their faithin.
So they're having in faith inpeople that they've never met,
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in books that they don't knowwho really wrote them, and in
concepts that they can'tsubstantiate.
Sometimes I think they havebigger faith than us.
You know what I'm saying?
Because I believe in a God, ina creation I can see, in a
presence that I can feel andexperience, and they're just
placing their faith in somethingthat's arbitrary.
So each one of us then hasfaith in something.
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It's where are you placing yourfaith in?
And so for us, as those who arefollowers of Christ, we place
our faith in God because ourfaith in God is eternal, it's
not temporal.
We can place our faith inthings or people, but so often
it will fail us, won't it?
Because none of us are perfect,so all of us will let someone
down sometime.
And it's that very thing thatactually keeps us from being
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able to be those who are holybecause we have a brokenness
inside of us.
It's that brokenness that youdon't have to teach, right?
We know it from the time thatwe're little.
Even when we're a baby, whatyou can you can love a baby and
hold a baby and feed a baby andclean a baby, and it's time to
go to sleep.
And you set the baby down.
I want to be picked up.
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Right?
And we're that way sometimestoo, even as adults.
I want my own way.
Half of our prayers are reallyjust complaining to God, right?
God, I didn't get my way, and myscratchy tickets didn't hit
today.
Instead of having faith in Godand walking according to his
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precepts, according to what heteaches us to do and how to
live.
And so as we look and havefaith in God, as we return to
the scripture as our source, itencourages us to live a
different way.
Now, we've been talking aboutthis idea of Ephesians 2, and in
verses 8 and 9, we see here,for by grace you have been saved
through faith.
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Someone say, through faith.
Through faith.
It's not your own doing, it isthe gift of God, not out as a
result of works, so that no onemay boast.
Man, this is so pivotal for usbecause it says, by grace you
have been saved.
It means that you don't deserveit.
See, we have that problem evenin our generations now, where we
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just think that we deserveeverything.
And it's the sense that we,it's like, oh man, I deserve
everything.
And it's an entitlementmentality that is not correct.
See, we are broken people andwe have things that have been
given to us by our creator thathe made us in his image and he
values us, and he has a plan anda purpose for your life and all
those things, but it doesn'tmean that you get everything
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automatic.
What it means is that we walkby faith with him through the
process.
And that's really hard becausewe can order in our pocket right
now as I'm preaching thissermon, and all of you guys
could have like a deliveryhappen and people walking in
with food or whatever elsebefore the end of the service,
because that's how instantaneousour world is.
And so it's by faith and andand and by long suffering and by
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patience that we walk thesethings out with God.
And that's a dangerous prayerto pray when we start praying
for patience, because God willgive you an opportunity to be
patient.
So as you pray for this thefruit of the Spirit of God to be
in your life, be careful as youpray those prayers.
No, we want all of this fruitof the Spirit in our lives,
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don't we?
So we want to be those thatlive all of these different
pieces.
But what does it say?
It says it's not by works thatthese things are done.
So as we look at the Word ofGod, it's it's not by anything
that any individual did.
And so as we as the wordbecomes alive in us, as we see
the word of God and we start todwell upon it, we see story
after story after story ofpeople that have been dedicated
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to God.
They've been devoted to Him,but they didn't start out in the
best shape.
Some of them I wouldn't havepicked to do the job that they
ended up doing in the Bible.
Can we be honest with that?
It's like whenever they'repicking a person to go be a
savior of the world, I probablywouldn't have picked a murderer
to go and just save the peopleof Israel from Egypt.
You know, he killed somebody,and then he's off in Saudi
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Arabia being a shepherd.
But God saw what he was doingin Moses' life, and he
challenges him to do somethinggreater than himself by
obedience in God, having faiththat God can do it even through
me, a broken person.
And that's the story you seetime and time again throughout
scripture is that the Lord willuse broken people to do amazing
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things.
You know, it's interesting howGod would use somebody like
Peter, he was a salty sailor,right?
He's a salty fisherman.
He's like the Jack Sparrow ofthe Bible.
And he's over here saying crazystuff, pulling a knife, cutting
people's ears off.
It's wildness.
Still has the guts, the moxieto step out on the water and
walk to Jesus.
It's this guy that the Lorduses after he restores him, full
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of his spirit, to use and toprof he profoundly address all
of those who were studied, thereligious, uh, the religious
hierarchy of his day.
He's speaking to them in thedeep knowledge of God, not
because he read it and studiedit growing up.
No, he was a sailor, afisherman.
No, but by the Holy Spiritrevelation that it started
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working in his life and throughhis life to profound these
people who had studied theirwhole lives and didn't know the
revelation of God.
It took this guy, Peter, to doit.
But by the Spirit of God, ashe's full of the Spirit of God,
then as he's walking even hisshadow, it said healed people by
the Spirit of God.
That's powerful.
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At the same time, there's a guynamed Saul who is studied.
He's like the lawyer's lawyerof the word of God, of the law
of God.
And so he knows all of thedifferent pieces that are there.
And so he's the one that Goddecides to use to be the
greatest church planter of alltime.
You know, the guy who hated thechurch, the guy who was
throwing Christians in prison,the guy who was persecuting them
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and killing Christians.
That's the guy that God picks.
That's the guy that he takesand changes.
He's he changes him into a newcreation.
By his spirit, he lights a firefor him and he becomes an
amazing church planter acrossthe world.
Most of the epistles we readare from Paul writing to the
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churches that have beenestablished.
Friends, that's a powerfulthing.
What God can do, because he hasa purpose and a plan for your
life from the very beginning.
And he can do amazing thingseven with us that are broken by
faith.
So as we believe that he can doit, he will do it.
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And so we look to the scripturehere and we see that it's not
us earning our way in, it's byhis work in us that we respond.
Galatians 2, Paul writing tothe church at Galatia, he says
this we ourselves are Jews bybirth, not Gentile sinners.
Thanks, Paul.
Appreciate you, man, for all ofus Gentile sinners in the room
who are not 100% Jewish.
Yet we do know that a person isnot justified by works of the
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law, but through faith in JesusChrist.
So we also have believed inChrist Jesus in order to be
justified by faith in Christ andnot by works of the law.
Because by works of the law, noone would be justified.
Justified means to be put inright standing.
And so it means that you cannotearn your way to a holy God by
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doing good works.
It's not by works that we aresaved.
And this is a big distinctionand a deviation from every other
kind of religious approachthat's across the world.
Every single one of those istrying to earn your way into
some kind of a nirvana, ahierarchy, a heaven, a something
by doing enough good thingsthat you're found as an
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honorable person, and thereforethe door open sesame gets opened
to you.
News flash, you're not perfect.
Probably already knew that.
I'm sorry for breaking the newsto you if you didn't know.
So am I, neither am I perfect.
And since we're not perfect,then how can we, as broken
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people, approach a holy God?
We cannot.
In the Bible, it says, none ofus is holy, no not one.
It means the things that wehave to offer are filthy rags
before the Lord because they'rewhat do we have to offer God?
How can we impress a holy Godwho created everything?
What do you get God for hisbirthday?
You know what I'm talkingabout?
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Well, you give him your heart,that's what you do.
But the idea is that it's whatdo you have to offer?
Well, we have nothing to offer.
That's why he came all the wayto us.
And that's why he came and didthose things on our behalf.
That's why by grace, his heartwas moved towards us in
compassion, and he was graciousto us, and so he came all the
way to us.
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And so our heart, our belief isin him.
We can't earn our way in to hisgrace.
It's only by faith we canaccept his work for us upon the
cross.
It continues in Ephesians here.
We see it in verse 10.
It says, For we are hisworkmanship created in Christ
Jesus for good works.
Somebody say good works.
Good works, which God preparedbeforehand that we should walk
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in them.
So good works is what we'resupposed to do.
But the good works are not forearning our way into the
presence of God.
No, that is by faith we aresaved and placing our faith in
him by the grace of God.
But instead, our response isgood works because he set us in
place to do something onpurpose, with a purpose, on
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purpose.
Amen.
And since that's true, then ourresponse to his love is to act
in love.
And that is to serve others, todo the work of God, to do the
good works.
What is it saying?
To serve the widow, to servethe one that's the foreigner, to
serve this person and thatperson.
Throughout scripture, it talksabout how we're called to be
those who serve motivated bylove.
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In the scripture, it says inanother place how if we don't do
these things as of love, we canhave all sorts of spiritual
giftings, but the love is whatreally changes the heart.
Because it's the love of Godthat penetrates our heart and
our heart and heart and sees thelife change happen.
So without love, we're aclinging symbol or a gong,
right?
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And so we're called to be thosethat do good works as a
response to the love of God, notdoing good works to try to earn
God's grace.
We already have God's grace.
He already loves us that much.
He loves us so much that hecame all the way to us.
And so instead we respond tohim and we live this life as
stewards of our time and ourtalent, doing good works as a
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response to God's love and ourlove back to him.
It continues in scripture hereas we see it illuminated for us.
It says, Now faith is theassurance of things hoped for,
the conviction of things notseen.
And that's what it means tohave faith.
It's based on this concept ofhope.
And if you know your Bible inHebrews, there's a whole list of
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stories of people that wereobedient to God and they did
great things by being obedientto God and having faith that God
would come through.
And so we see that time andtime and time again.
And I think if we're notcareful, then we'll dismiss it
that these great people of theBible, how could I ever be like
them?
Well, friends, you could belike them because all of them
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were broken people that God tookand challenged and changed and
used by his spirit for hispurposes.
And it's the same thing hewants to do in your story.
It's the reason that he'silluminated Christ in your life,
is he wants to use the love ofGod in your life to affect those
around you.
He wants you to take themessage of what you've
experienced in life change forGod, and he wants you to share
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it with those around you and seethe spark of life change happen
in them.
That's why the scripture saysit's by the word, it's by the
blood of the Lamb that meansChrist sacrificed for us and the
word of our testimony.
It's the story that he's givenyou that's uniquely yours.
It's the one that no one canshake because your story is your
story.
And you've experienced the loveof God.
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So as you share it with otherpeople, it sparks something in
them because they're looking forthe same thing.
They want to know theircreator, they want to live with
purpose, they want to have aneternity with a living God.
That we would be so bold as toshare the hope of the gospel
with them.
It continues in scripture here,and we see it as it starts to
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reveal to us in what it says.
It says in Hebrews 11,continuing forward, by faith, we
understand that the universewas created by the word of God.
So that what is seen is notmade out of things that are
visible.
That's why when we read in thebeginning, it says, in the
beginning, God created theheavens and the earth.
It says that he spoke thesethings into existence and the
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creation of the world became.
That's why in the beginning ofJohn, it talks about in the
beginning was the word, and theword was with God, and the word
was God.
Nothing was created withoutJesus.
And so as we look to him and wesee these things happen, it's
by our faith in what he has donefor us that sparks our heart
towards God by faith.
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And we have to have faithbecause faith is the currency of
the kingdom of God.
It changes everything.
Hebrews 11 6, continuing alittle bit further, it says, And
without faith, it's impossibleto please him.
For whatever who whoever woulddraw near to God must believe
that he exists and rewards thosewho seek him.
As we draw near to God.
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Now think about that.
I know people that even theythey align their lives and do
the things that scripture asksthem to do.
Maybe they give of their oftheir of their business and of
their own uh salary, they give10% and they give a they see
blessing happen in their lives,even if they don't believe.
But here's the thing what if webelieve and we do what God
says, even greater things willhappen.
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Because it says, how do youdraw near to God?
But without faith, you can't gonear God because you don't
believe he is who he says he is.
So you have to have faith thatGod keeps his promises, that God
will sustain you through, thatGod will be your provision, he
will be your guidance, he willbe your peace in the middle of
the storm, he will be all thosethings and more.
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And that's how we draw near toGod is that we spend time with
him and that we believe he iswho he says he is.
When it says in scripture thatyou can trust me and place your
faith in God and trust him, andsee that he will draw you near
to himself.
And scripture continues forwardand it says this in Hebrews 12,
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the following chapter, verses 1and 2.
Therefore, since we aresurrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us also layaside every weight in sin which
clings so closely, and let usrun with endurance the race
that's set before us, looking toJesus, the founder and
perfecter of our faith.
For the joy that was set beforehim endured the cross,
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despising the shame, and isseated at the right hand of the
throne of God.
Someone say amen to that.
And so we're called to be thosethat, as the writer of Hebrews
says, that runs the race withendurance, and that we would be
those that run this race offollowing after God.
We we run it with endurance.
That means not giving up whenit gets difficult.
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I have a few friends that theyare blessed to be those who are,
they have a passion forrunning.
I am of the other sort, more ofthe other ones that stay there
and cheer for them.
You guys know what I'm talkingabout?
That's my more my people.
But I cheer for them.
I think it's amazing.
A lot of them have runmarathons, and I have a few
friends that have run ultras,which is like 100 miles or more.
Some people that are doingIronmans that we've got to know.
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And it's very impressive.
I mean, they have a tenacitythat doesn't give up.
But you know what they alsodon't do is that when they're
starting the race, they alsodon't go and strap on all the
weights of things that they'vebeen training with to go and try
to run the race.
And the reason is because theyknow they won't make it because
it's too heavy to carry all thethings of the past with them
towards the goal that they'retrying to run.
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In fact, they try to get aslightweight as possible to run
with endurance to the very end.
And at the same time, wespiritually speaking might be
those that we we get free andget charged to run this race
after God, and he frees us ofall this sin and all these
things, these burdens.
And then we decide to go aheadand pick those things right back
up and try to run the raceholding on to our old junk.
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And I wonder how many times weidentify our identity as wrapped
up in the brokenness.
That we used to live.
It was in the hurt that we'veexperienced.
And what God is saying is thatlisten, that's the story that
you come from.
I'm healing you of that.
You can let those things go.
And you can run this race withme because I have a better
future for you than your past.
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And that you're, I'm taking yousomewhere that you can't take
that stuff with you.
You can't take your guilt andyour shame and your brokenness
and your sin.
You can't carry it with youforward because I have a new
place for you to go.
So you need to trust the Lordand ask forgiveness of those
things and lay those things downat his feet and then walk
forward into the future that Godhas for us.
Friends, by faith, we can trusthim that he will be those that
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doesn't hold it against us, butinstead he forgives us as we ask
repentance of those verythings.
He will be just to forgive usof our sin and heal us and
cleanse us of allunrighteousness.
And the scripture continuesforward here.
And it says in Matthew 17,Jesus is giving an example, and
he starts to tell this storyabout what it means to have
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faith.
And they're talking about howthey lack faith.
And he says, Listen, you shouldhave faith, but faith doesn't
have to be this grandiose thing.
It could be something simple.
And it starts in Matthew 17,verse 20.
He said to them, Because ofyour little faith, for truly I
say to you, if you have faith,the grain of a mustard seed, you
will say to this mountain, Movefrom here to there, and it will
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move, and nothing will beimpossible for you.
You know, we lived in Francefor a number of years, and so we
got to see mustard fields thatwere there, beautiful.
It'd be yellow with flower.
This example is actually fromBangladesh, where they have some
of those fields there.
Amazing, so beautiful.
And you know, the seed that itproduces is actually quite small
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because the plant they don'tlet it grow that high.
You could see an example of thelittle flowers that are here,
the beautiful yellow flowers.
And they produce this tinylittle seed.
In fact, you could holdhundreds of them in the palm of
your hand.
A sack of them would bethousands, just a small sack.
And each one of those becomes aplant.
And if you plant it in thecorrect soil and you don't
harvest it straight away whenit's young, then actually it
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will grow into a substantialplant.
It actually will go past beinga plant even into a tree.
And the example we see inscripture is that the faith that
we have in God, even a smallamount, can be something amazing
that grows.
It becomes shade for others, itbecomes a place, a home for the
birds of the field, it becomesall these other things that
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start out in a very small amountof faith.
And so that the small amount offaith that we have that we put
in the correct soil, which isthe eternal faith in God, those
things can blossom and becomesomething amazing.
Because it's not it's not justtemporal, it doesn't just fade
away with this world.
It isn't just something that wehave faith in this person or in
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this thing or this politicalmovement or whatever, but it's
faith in God that has subs, ithas substance, it has
substantial change that happenswhen we place our faith in God
and say, Lord, my small amountof faith, if you will use it for
your glory, I want to beobedient what you called me to
do.
And friends, God can do bigthings with even a small amount
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of faith.
Amen.
So we have a few things here aswe answer that question.
We've been looking at it,talking about it.
Do you have faith to believe?
Three things that we're takingaway today.
First is this prayers of faith,they align us with the word.
So our prayers of faith alignus with the word of God.
And as we read through the wordof God, we can pray the things
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that we see that's there.
As we read the Psalm, we readthe Proverbs, we read these
stories that Jesus tells us inparables.
We can say, Lord, I see thisthat's here, have that happen in
my life.
Lord, you says that you are theone that is healer.
Lord, heal my situation.
Lord, it says you are the onethat heals these diseases and
heals relationships and does allthese things.
So do that in my life.
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And as we align ourselves withthe word of God, see that God
will answer your prayer.
A small amount of faith canhave a huge difference.
The second thing that we'retaking away today is that
prayers of faith speak hope toour circumstances.
What did it say?
It says that faith is a hope ofthings that we don't see.
(34:13):
And so what we're doing isspeaking by faith, trusting God,
saying, Lord, I trust you.
I believe your word is true.
And so my prayer today is toalign myself with your heart and
so I want to see these thingshappen.
And what happens is that youralignment with your heart, even
if your circumstances don'timmediately change, your
perception, your thought processof what's going on changes.
(34:36):
And your heart starts to havehope in situations that would
otherwise be hopeless.
Does that make sense?
He starts to change it in ourheart first before he changes
our circumstances.
And so let it be something thatdoes that because it will be
things that speak hope to ourcircumstances, because he starts
it in our heart, and then thecircumstances fall into
(34:56):
alignment.
The third thing today isprayers of faith help us to take
steps of obedience.
Is that like a cuss word sayingobedience?
I know, I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
Whenever you say obedience, itmeans change.
That's another cuss word inchurch.
Five-letter cuss word, I'msorry.
Because people don't like it.
When I say change, the wholecrowd is like, ooh.
(35:19):
That's how it feels, doesn'tit?
Because he starts to talk to usabout things that maybe we
don't want to change, aboutpeople that we need to forgive
that we don't want to, aboutthings that we need to let go of
so we can run this race thatmaybe we've made it a part of
our identity, that I'm a victim,or I'm this person, or I've
done this thing.
But he wants you to let go ofthat so that you can walk free
(35:42):
into what he has for you, sothat we can be those that are
obedient to what he wants us todo.
If we're served, if we werethose who are saved with purpose
and on purpose for a purpose,then let's be obedient to the
purposes he has for us.
Be those that take stepssaying, Yes, God, I will change
in the ways you guide me to do,so I can be used by you to the
(36:05):
fullest.
And in doing so, friends, we'llanswer that question: Do you
have faith to believe?
Because our faith is in theliving God.
Today, each one of us has anopportunity to respond to this
message of God's hope.
You know, for us, we have toanswer that question of have you
embraced Jesus?
Each one of us has to answerit.
(36:25):
No one can answer it for you.
It's your own answer that he'slooking for.
Because it's for your heart andfor your life.
For us as Christ followers,this is something pivotal.
It's where we have embraced thelove of Christ.
It's why we're not perfect, butwe want to be more like Jesus.
And so we're walking to becomemore like his character and to
see the fruit of the spirit comeoff of our lives.
(36:48):
We want to be those thatreflect the love of God to
others.
But see, it didn't start there.
It started with us being brokenand hurting and all those
things.
It's only by Jesus, only by hisgrace, his sacrifice for us
that we're made in rightstanding.
We didn't earn it, as we talkedabout.
That's why the symbol of thecross is so profound, because
(37:08):
the cross is a place where Jesustook all of our pain and all of
our sorrow and all of ourbrokenness, and he paid for it
on the cross once and for all.
He took all of my sin and allof my mistakes.
He took all of yours.
And as he took it on himself,he it wasn't something he
deserved.
He lived a sinless life.
He didn't deserve any of that.
(37:30):
But he took on the weight ofthe sin of the world on himself,
and as he did, it separated himfrom the Father.
Because the Father is holy andhe becomes this representative,
this sacrifice for all people.
And in that way, he goes to hisdeath upon the cross.
He pays for all the sin, andall the sin dies with him on
(37:51):
that cross.
But the good news is, friends,that we don't worship a dead
person.
We worship a living savior.
And that death did not holdhim, and he came back to life,
and he's seated at the righthand of the Father, and we
celebrate that.
And that's why we have anactive relationship with the
living God.
So we're not trying to honorthe memory of some dead prophet.
(38:12):
No, we're in an activerelationship with the living God
and the creator God of allthings.
And so that's why the symbol ofdeath and of torture that we
see in the cross becomes asymbol of hope for us, because
we remember the great sacrificethat he made for us, for all
people.
With the heart, one believesand is justified.
(38:47):
With the mouth one confessesand is saved.
Friends, today is your day.
It's your opportunity to sayyes to Jesus.
Each one of us has made adecision to invite him into our
heart and life.
To say, Jesus, I believe youare who you say you are.
(39:07):
Lord, I ask you to forgive meof my sin.
Lord to wash me clean and makeme a new creation.
Lord, I want to follow you inthe ways of you.
Lord, I have faith to believe.
And in doing so, we have a newlife in Jesus Christ.
That's the hope of the gospelmessage.
Friends, I'm gonna ask ifeveryone here in the room, if
you would just stand to yourfeet right where you're at.
(39:28):
Christians are praying.
You're online, take a momentwherever you are to be still and
listen to what God wants to doin this moment for you.
Maybe you're here and you'venever made a decision to follow
Jesus.
Today is your opportunity.
It's your opportunity to sayyes to him.
Or maybe you have made adecision in the past to follow
(39:51):
God.
And you need to recommit yourheart to life, to him today.
Friends, that's the opportunitythat we give to you.
His heads are bowed here in theroom.
If that's you, and you justwant to make a commitment to
Jesus today to invite him intoyour heart and life, you just
raise your hand right whereyou're at.
I won't embarrass you, justwant to be able to identify you
so I can pray with you today.
You see the hand that's there,it's the hands that are there.
(40:12):
Thank you, Jesus, as people aremaking decisions to follow you
today.
Thank you, Lord.
Yes, you see the hand that'sthere as well.
Praise the Lord.
Friends online, wherever youare, we acknowledge you as well.
I'm gonna ask if everyone wouldif they'd pray this prayer out
loud after me.
Lord, thank you for loving me.
Thank you for sending Jesus.
(40:34):
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.
(40:55):
Amen.
Amen.
Friends, we rejoice with youmaking a decision to follow
Jesus today.
Those that raise their handshere, the earlier service as
well.
Praise the Lord.
Huge.
Let me encourage you in this.
Take a moment, take a snap ofthis next steps QR code.
It will guide you both onlinehere in the room of what the
next steps are, what we believe,how to get involved, what it
(41:17):
means to follow Jesus.
I want to, we don't want you tolive this life alone.
I want you to be connected withus.
Friends, it's our opportunityfor each one of us to respond to
God's love for us and to havethe faith to believe what he
wants to do through us.
As we open this altar today, wedo so with an intentionality to
draw close to God, to draw nearto him.
(41:38):
So maybe you're walking thisthing out and you just need more
of his presence.
You need faith to believe inyour circumstance, to say to
that mountain to move.
Or maybe you're navigating thatright now, you just need more
of his presence or his peace.
Maybe you need wisdom forsomething you're going through,
or you just want to draw near toGod in this moment.
As you come forward, we'll havepeople that come and pray an
agreement prayer with youbecause we want to be those that
(42:01):
draw near to God.
Lord, we thank you so much forthis word today as you've spoken
it to us.
Lord, as we come to your altar,we do so with intentionality.
Lord, we thank you, though,because we can't earn our way to
you.
So you came all the way to us.
And Lord, today, as wecelebrate with those, Lord, that
made a decision to follow you,Lord, as we celebrate with those
that went public in their faiththrough baptism today, Lord, we
(42:23):
rejoice with these huge momentsof saying yes and following
Jesus.
Lord, as we come to your altar,we do so seeking you, drawing
near to you, God, for you arealways available to us.
We do so asking for animpartation of your presence and
guidance.
We pray this in the name ofJesus Christ.
Amen.
Celeste Brown (42:42):
So we are having a fall family day.
It's coming up soon, and wewould love for you to invite
everybody you know.
Um, somebody from yourneighborhood, maybe a whole, the
whole block.
Just invite everybody.
It's gonna be great.
Um, you know, people come tochurch because they're
personally invited.
And so this is a great way toget them to come.
It's gonna be after our secondservice.
So ask them to join you forchurch, and then right after
(43:04):
everything is free.
It's gonna be so much fun, andwe're praying for the best
weather that day.
Amen.
Jason Brown (43:12):
Before we go, pray this blessing over us today.
The Lord bless you and keepyou.
Lord, make his face to shineupon you and be gracious to you.
Lord, lift up his countenanceupon you and give you peace.
Lord, I pray a blessing uponyour church, your people.
(43:36):
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 here atCornerstone.
God bless you, and have a greatweek.
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