Transforming Lives Through Faith and Community

Good morning, Cornerstone. It's a pleasure to be in the house of the Lord with you this morning for the first Sunday of 2025. What a better way to start the year than in God's house, worshiping with God's people, lifting up the name of Jesus, knowing that he carried us through last year and he will carry us through this year because we serve the same God in 2025, the God that David served and Moses served and Abraham served. Our God never changes. He is faithful. He is good. He loves us. [00:00:09]

And what we like to do, one of our traditions here at our church, and there's a purpose for it, is we like to open up our New Year's reminding ourselves who we are as God's people here at Cornerstone and why we're here. Because if we don't start out by doing that, if we don't remind ourselves, we end up slowly drifting and our church will start heading in the wrong direction. And I know this to be true because every church in the New Testament that we read about somehow lost their way along their way. [00:19:04]

So you may have seen this on our social media, on posters around the building. Maybe you heard about it, seen it on the app. This is our verse for our church. This is part of how we got our name. So Ephesians 2, starting in verse 20. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. The cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. [00:24:39]

Everything and anything we do here at Cornerstone, and every, I mean, this is not an exaggeration, is built on two immutable truths. Number one, Jesus Christ is the cornerstone, which means everything we build must be perfectly aligned with him. Him. If you know anything about building, you know this is how a building will last forever. When a cornerstone is laid, the whole point is that every other stone that is laid after must be in perfect alignment with that stone or it will not work right. [00:26:54]

We align every ministry, every event, every team, every program with Jesus Christ's desire for his church. So we are constantly looking at the work of our hands as we're designing things and saying, does this line up with the desire of Jesus Christ's heart? Because if it doesn't, we're not doing it. If it doesn't further the work of our hands, the heartbeat of Jesus Christ, we don't want to be a part of it because that's not our calling. [00:27:48]

We look at him, how he lives, what he does, what's near and dear to his heart, and then we simply model that behavior. And second, we lay the foundation of our faith, which is the scriptures. It's in our name. We are a Bible church. We are a Bible church because we believe the Bible. That may not sound profound to you, but it is. The word of God doesn't change with time. The word of God changes how we live all the time. [00:31:20]

The human body has many parts. But the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one spirit, and we all share the same spirit. Yes, the body has many different parts. Not just one part. But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. [00:35:01]

There's a reason why believers are called the body of Christ. because even though we've been given individual responsibilities, we are called into community to fulfill them interdependently. There are no lone rangers in the kingdom of God. There's no one that was called to do this alone. We were all called to do this together. Every single member of the body of Christ is expected to contribute. To the work of Christ. [00:36:02]

All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, and to sharing in meals, including the Lord's Supper, which we will do today, and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. [00:44:22]

The early church was home, because people did life together. They were devoted. to one another. And the word devotion means a continued, steadfast, single-minded commitment. They were united in spirit. They were united in goal and purpose. They studied the word, broke bread, took communion, celebrated milestones, cried together, saw miracles, got through tough times, went into the dining rooms and living rooms. They gave generously to those in need when they went through tough times. [00:49:39]

And then we want to be devoted, not to what the culture says church should be, to what the Bible says church should be. And that's how everyone here, I didn't mean everyone here, no matter what your age is, no matter what your culture is, no matter what you have in your bank account or what zip code you live in, none of that matters to me. If you live out Acts 2, 42 to 47, this will become your spiritual home, and it will change you. It will change your life. And you are welcome here. [00:51:43]

Father I thank you for the word you have given us I thank you for the clear direction you've laid out for us, Father I pray that we would be devoted to these spiritual disciplines as your family and I pray Father as we approach the communion table I pray that you would stir in the hearts and the minds of your people and draw people close to your heart in Jesus name, Amen [00:54:27]