Cornerstone Christian Center
Cornerstone Christian Center
Deep: How Deep with God will you go?
Imagine standing on the edge of a cliff, heart pounding as you face a fear that has haunted you for years. That's precisely what one contestant experienced on "The Amazing Race," and it serves as a powerful metaphor for the personal challenges we all face on our spiritual journeys. We dive into this thrilling moment to explore how overcoming fear can parallel the spiritual growth we strive for, especially during Cornerstone Church's 21 days of prayer and fasting. Prepare to be inspired to reflect on the choices you make in your spiritual life, as we set our sights on a transformative 2025.
Throughout our discussion, we shine a light on the varying levels of commitment people have in their faith, comparing it to a day at the beach. Just as many dip their toes in the water without diving in, so too do some approach their relationship with Jesus. Drawing from the story of Simon Peter, we witness how distractions and the busyness of life can hinder our spiritual depth. The quote, "If the enemy cannot get you to sin, he will just keep you busy," serves as a poignant reminder of the importance of intentionality, encouraging us to say no to diversions that pull us away from our spiritual path.
As we reflect on Simon Peter's journey from doubt to deep faith, the call to go "all in" becomes clear. By stepping beyond our comfort zones, we open ourselves to the abundance and blessings that faith promises. This episode is an invitation to embrace a deeper connection with God, moving from mere ankle-deep experiences to fully immersing ourselves in the spiritual richness He offers. Concluding with a heartfelt blessing and prayer, we hope you'll feel empowered to live out love in your community, experiencing a week filled with grace and peace.
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So there's a show that my family likes to watch. We've watched it for many years. It's called the Amazing Race. I don't know if any of you have seen it before, but we love it because people get to travel all over the world, and so we're big cheerleaders for seeing things around the world. So part of this show is that you get to choose a partner and I mean you're choosing it. The show doesn't put it together for you, but you choose a partner and you send in a video and you hope you're selected. So many of the partners that are chosen are usually a husband and wife, a boyfriend, girlfriend, maybe a roommate, maybe you chose somebody in your family, but you want to choose very wisely, and what happens is there's kind of a timer on you and you're going to travel literally from country to country, and when you get to that country, part of what you do is you will do some type of activity or something that is timed, and the faster you go you become in first place. And so there was a situation on one of the episodes where a couple had to choose who was going to do the event. You don't know what the event is. Maybe when you open the clue. There's one word on there, maybe. It says windy. And you're like hmm, which one of us wants to do windy? And so, all of a sudden, the girl was like I'll do it. And so he's like all right, here we go. And then, as soon as you decide who's doing it, you get another clue that says you must now go to the top of this cliff, harness in, and you're gonna bungee, jump off the cliff and there's a river flowing through the bottom. This poor girl was about to die. She was so afraid of heights. And the whole time we're on the other side of the TV going you can do it, you can do it, come on, girl. And she was in first. Their team was in first place, but she was so scared and so she goes to the edge and she's about to climb up the stairs to get to the top and the whole time she's just shaking. And you can see other teams are now arriving at the location and they're starting to just go up as fast as they can. She's trying to get harnessed into the gear and the whole time she's like deep breaths, deep breaths, deep breaths. And we're on the other side going come on, girl, just get in there, just get in there and do it. And she's like, oh my gosh. And she gets to the edge of the cliff. She's like I need a moment, I need a moment, I need a moment. Anybody been there, and we. It is so easy to be on the other side of the TV and act like you know what you would do. And here you've got my family of five and we're like, oh my gosh, come on girl, just get in there. And, needless to say, man, her fear just started taking over and you would just see team after team after team go and her poor partner is down at the bottom. Just, he's about to give up, he's about to surrender because he's just waiting so patiently for her just to take the dive.
Speaker 1:I have a question for you this morning, and my question for you is how deep with God will you go? If you are a guest with us, welcome. It is an honor to have you this morning here at Cornerstone. My name is Celeste. My husband and I, jay, along with an amazing team, get the honor of leading this church closer to Jesus every week, and we love being on the journey with you, and so it's an honor to have you here with us. We strive to be more like Jesus, and how many of you have been fasting this last seven days? And you know that being more like Jesus takes every bit of effort you can give. When you are hangry, you are not nice, and so I'm telling you, I have to just keep saying be like Jesus, be like Jesus, be like Jesus.
Speaker 1:Well, we are started a 21 day days of prayer and fasting, and so we are in week one. We've just finished. We're about to start week two today, and so if you haven't joined us yet, you still have time to jump on, but we are so expectant of what God is going to do in these 21 days. You'll see a QR code behind me. You can just plug that into your phone, on your camera, and it'll open up to a prayer guide, and we want you to join with us. We want you to read the scriptures with us each day and pray with us, and we are going to believe for a move of God in 2025. Here, how many of you are with that? Amen? We are in a series called Deep. So, if you have your Bible with me, we are on week two. We are going to open up to Luke, chapter five. If you don't have it. If you have the Bible app on your phone, I encourage you to open that, and if you have a way of taking notes I am a big advocate of note-taking If you don't have a paper and pen with you, I encourage you to open up your phone and open up the notes page. But, man, there are times when God is speaking to you and you will write it down in the service and you will look back at it one day and go oh my gosh, I forgot that God was speaking that to me, and you'll just begin to reflect on some things that are stirring up in your spirit. So I encourage you to write down some notes. We're going to start in Luke, chapter five, verse one. I'm going to read it for you. Here we go.
Speaker 1:On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Genesaret and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's, he asked him to put out a little from the land and he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch. And Simon answered Master, we toiled all night and took nothing, but at your word, at your word, I will lay down the nets. And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them and they came and filled both the boats so that they began to sink Deep.
Speaker 1:My question is how deep with God, will you go? I've read Luke 5 many times and over the past week, as I've been studying for today, I have seen some things come out of here that I have not noticed before, and I want to share with you this morning some of the things that Luke 5 shows us on how deep we can go with God. And so, number one, we're going to talk about being ankle deep. How many of you love the beach? I mean, you live in the wrong state for it, but how many of you love it? There's something I know you're hesitant to tell me you like it because you don't know what I'm about to say about the beach. How many of you, honestly, you just love the beach. It's okay, I'm not going to remember after this. The beach is amazing. I will tell you that. But there's something about the beach, and when you go to the beach, you're going because you need to relax, right? You're going to get away from it all. You're leaving work, you're taking time off, you're taking your kids and just hoping they fill their time by themselves without you needing to look at them.
Speaker 1:Where's the lifeguards? Yes, and so that's what we do at the beach. The beach is a place where we just go and hang out. People set up a chair, maybe they set up a blanket. They get to that place. I know some people who will just sit there all day and read a book. They're like it's my one time to set aside, go away from everything and just fully get into a book, and so they'll just be reading the whole day. Other people maybe they'll bring games. Other people are there all about the food. They're all about the food. They got their tacos, they got all their stuff, they're ready to eat. It's going to be an all-day event, but whatever it is, you go to the beach to get away and to relax. And so there's something special about the beach.
Speaker 1:We read in verse 2. It says and he saw two boats by the lake. It's talking about Jesus. He saw two boats by the lake but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. So it's referring here in verse 2 that Simon was on the beach. There's something interesting when I read this and I find out that Simon isn't in the boat. Something interesting when I read this and I find out that Simon isn't in the boat.
Speaker 1:If you know anything about Simon, simon Peter Simon was a fisherman by trade, so he was actually a professional fisherman. He would go out all nights and he would fish, and then he would take those fish and he would sell them at the market. He would also have food for himself and his family. And so it says in verse 2 that he was not in the boat at this moment because he had been toiling all night and caught nothing. So he was out of the boat and he was on the beach ankle deep washing the nets. I see two perfectly good boats sitting on the beach with nobody in them. If anybody can appreciate that, it is my father-in-law who's a fisherman. That is a waste of two boats, simon. Since he didn't catch anything, he just decided to go back to the beach. There's nothing else to do. I'm just gonna go hang out over there. He chose not to work anymore, not to have any more responsibilities, but he's just going to go back and figure out what to do next. Instead of trying harder, he just got out and stayed on shore.
Speaker 1:I want to talk to you about what it's like to follow Jesus at an ankle-deep level. There's something about just letting the water only get to a certain point in your walk with Jesus. This is what it's like to be at ankle deep level. You know him Well. Guess what? I know a lot of people in the world that know God. They will tell you, everywhere you go I know God, I know God, I believe in God. I believe one day, when I die, I will either go to heaven or hell. I'm hoping it's heaven. I believe in God. A lot of people will tell you that. They'll even tell you that they're a Christian, but I have seen no fruit from them at all. So sometimes, when they tell me a Christian, I am literally shocked, like wow, I had no idea that you were a Christian? No idea, you just blindsided me with that comment. People that are ankle deep in their walk with Jesus, they don't want to go too far from here. This is safe. This is comfortable. This is where I go to relax. This is where I don't want to do too much, I just want to hang out. I don't want to get too wet, I just want to keep busy with other things, just like Simon washing the nets outside of the boat.
Speaker 1:There's something about busyness in today's world that has filled and consumed our lives. We're busy all the time. One of the most common things I hear when I ask somebody how are they doing? I'm busy and it makes me sad. We can all be busy. All of us can. I can fill my life with many things, but sometimes, when we become too busy, we preoccupy ourselves too much and we take our eyes off of Jesus. Let me tell you some things that interrupt us all the time Family drama.
Speaker 1:All of a sudden, you get a phone call it's always on a Sunday morning, right when you're getting ready to come to church, because your family has no other drama any of the other six days of the week except Sunday morning and you'll get that phone call. Oh my gosh, I need your help. Drama. There's also this other word we throw around a lot, which is an emergency. We have emergencies all the time, but if I was to look at that emergency, I could tell you right away that I knew that emergency was coming. It actually happened days before, but it just became something you wanted to deal with at that moment and so it became an emergency in everybody else's life. Right, it's getting very quiet and I just want to warn you this morning that I love you and I am here because I want to speak God's word to you this morning. So I do pray that you will still talk to me after this.
Speaker 1:There's also other situations that arise, but I want to tell you this the best thing that I've learned and it took a long time to learn it is that it's okay to say no to something. It's okay. I have learned as a child of God, but I've also learned as the oldest of all my siblings and being raised in a divorce home that I can't fix everything. In fact, I can't fix most things and I can't be everywhere at once. So I had to learn very fast that it's okay to say no, that it's okay to say no.
Speaker 1:And sometimes people are trying to follow Jesus and they're staying at that ankle deep level because they let all the things of this world distract them and take them away from moving deeper with God. There's a quote I heard recently. It says this if the enemy cannot get you to sin, he will just keep you busy. I want you to think about that. If you're a strong person and you're like I don't give into this or this sin or this sin great, but are you giving into the busyness of life that you're staying at an ankle-deep level? It's whatever it takes, so that you don't go any further than ankle deep. You know why? Because something so powerful happens when you leave that ankle deep level. There is something so amazing that takes place in your life when you just begin to go deeper. How deep with God will you go? Number two waist deep.
Speaker 1:Verse three says this getting into one of the boats. This is Jesus getting into one of the boats, which was Simon's. He asked him to put out a little from the land and he sat down and he taught the people from the boat. You have Simon, a professional fisherman, on the sideline cleaning his net, and we read in this story that Jesus appears with a crowd of people at the same area that Simon is just ankle deep, area that Simon is just ankle deep. Jesus is there with the crowd, and he needed to be able to speak to all of them, and so his idea was I'm going to choose one of these useful boats that are sitting on the sideline, I'm going to get into one of them and I wisely choose Simon's, and I'm going to ask Simon, who's not busy doing anything, he's just sitting there playing to push the boat out a little bit off the water so that I can teach the people. And so that's what he did. He asked Simon hey, can you help me? Can you push the boat just a little bit off the water?
Speaker 1:Now, if you know anything about Simon, he's in a bad mood, I guarantee you right now. And let me paint that picture for you. First of all, simon is a man. Simon is a professional fisherman. Simon's been fishing all night long and Simon caught nothing. Bad mood, bad mood. He is there, he is done, he doesn't want to do anything else, he's calling it a day.
Speaker 1:And then Jesus appears and he picks his boat and he said listen, simon, you're no good, just sitting there on the sideline, just sitting there washing your net. I have something for you, I have a plan for you, so why don't you come and help me? Jesus is calling you, the same as he is calling Simon. He's saying to you I have so much more for you than for you to just be sitting there on the sideline ankle deep. I have so much that I want to do with you, but I need you to get back in the boat and come a little bit further out with me.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're too busy and you just haven't taken the steps to go waist deep yet, because to follow Jesus deeper means that you're gonna have to trust him. Did you know that, man? Trust is a scary word. It is very hard for people who have been hurt and offended to trust. But you're gonna have to trust Jesus if you're gonna go deeper. You're also gonna not look back at what everybody else is doing at the ankle deep level.
Speaker 1:I want you to hear this the Bible is very clear that sin is fun for a season and then it ends, and so if you are going to choose to go from this location waist deep, you are going to have to teach yourself that you're not going to look back anymore at what anybody else is doing at the ankle deep level. You know why? Because as soon as you turn your eyes that way and you start looking oh, they're so lucky, they don't have to do anything, they're just relaxing. I've volunteered to do this and I have to be here every week. I told you you're not going to like me, have to be here every week. I told you you're not going to like me, but I'm going to speak to you that I want you to go deeper, god wants you to go deeper, and when you start to move, the first thing the enemy will do is go oh, look what everybody else is doing. Look what everybody else is doing. And in my 20s I had to learn that so quickly Quit looking back, quit looking back, quit looking back.
Speaker 1:There's nothing there for you, nothing there for you. You have to keep your eyes on Jesus and you have to keep listening as he speaks. There's something about being waist deep. As soon as you begin to go waist deep, things around you begin to change, distractions start to get removed. There's this quote that I've known pretty much my whole walk with Jesus and it's this the closer that you get to the cross, the thinner the crowd gets around you, and I want you to understand this that there's a lot of people hanging out at the beach level a lot but if you are going to make the decision to follow Jesus deeper and deeper, you're going to have to leave that crowd and start walking with just him, and there are times that you're going to feel lonely. There are times when you're going to be like this is not fair, but he has something so great in store for you that the more you follow him, the thinner that crowd gets.
Speaker 1:The deeper you go, the freer you will become. Answers that you've been looking for will be on their way. You'll begin to not have to reach out to people and say what should I do, a or B? You'll just wake up and be like I know exactly what I'm going to do. I don't even need to ask anybody because I heard directly from the Lord what I'm supposed to do. Your direction will be visible. There will be a peace that rests upon you that you have never experienced before in your life, and some of you, in the start of 2025, need that peace more than anything else. You're 20 days in and you wish that you could start all over already. And God is saying just come a little deeper, come a little deeper. It will just be you and me. How deep with God will you go? Number three there's ankle deep, there's waist deep, and then there's all in Verse four says and when he had finished speaking he said to simon put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.
Speaker 1:We have no idea what jesus was teaching on that boat. We have no idea what he was saying, but I do know that there was a man on there named Simon who was tired. He had been out all night. He came back with nothing. It's like working all day and not getting paid. It's miserable. And then he's asked by some stranger to help him push the boat out so he can talk to a crowd. And then from there Jesus is done teaching the crowd and he looks to Simon. He says you know what? Actually, I want you to go deeper, I want you to take that net and I want you to throw it over the boat. Waist deep isn't enough.
Speaker 1:I'm wondering if Simon and the other fishermen who were standing by him wanted to say the following things to Jesus. Excuse me, do you know that he already worked all night. I'm sorry. What's your name again, jesus? Do you know that he already cleaned his net? Oh, I'm sorry, jesus, do you know that? He's not in a good mood, obviously, and you made him go back in the boat and push it back a little bit so you could talk to everybody. Come on.
Speaker 1:And now you're asking him to go fishing again. Oh, you're really making him mad. And Jesus is looking at Simon. Are you going to go all in? What about you? Maybe you haven't been ankle deep, but maybe you've been waist deep for a long time. Maybe you and your walk with Jesus are still trying to control some things and you don't want to hand them over yet. You keep trying to fix them or change them, only to get the same results. You have to go deeper and let him help you. Maybe he's been asking you to do something and you keep saying no, not right now, it's not a good time, I'm really busy. Maybe you're thinking all in is too much for you. Maybe you're afraid of commitment. You're afraid of being let down. You're afraid of your expectations will be too high and God won't meet them. Newsflash he is God and you are not, and we don't understand his ways. We never will. But let me tell you this he will do what he says he will do. You will never experience true joy and wholeness until you allow the one who created you in to help you. I never noticed this.
Speaker 1:In verse four, it says that Jesus told Simon what would happen as soon as he obeyed. He said Simon, as soon as you put out into the deep, as soon as you put out into the deep, as soon as you make that conscious choice to not just be waist deep, but as soon as you decide to go deep all in, you're going to let down your nets for a catch. He already told them what would happen if he went all in. It wasn't a hesitation, it wasn't a well, maybe, since it's a different time of the day, you might find some fish if you let down your nets deeper. He said no, listen, if you go deep and you throw that net out, you are going to catch something. He would find what he'd been looking for all night long. Some of you already know what will happen if you go deep, if you go all in. Yet you still hesitate. How deep with God will you go all in? Yet you still hesitate. How deep with God will you go?
Speaker 1:After Jesus tells Simon to cast his net into the deep, simon responds, probably the way most of us would. It starts in verse 7 and it says this and Simon answered Master, we toiled all night long and took nothing. But at your word, remember? We don't know what happened in that boat when Jesus was teaching, but something changed in Simon's heart and he said all of a sudden at your word, because it's you and because I know something's different about you, at your word, I will let down the net. And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, fish and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help and they came and filled both boats so that they began to sink.
Speaker 1:You have a professional fisherman who has been in that water many, many times. That's not the first time. He's been in that body of water. When he goes out, he knows what to take. If you're a fisherman and you go to a body of water and you've been there a lot of times you know the bait to take, you know the boat you need, you know what you need to catch the fish. Peter or Simon knew, simon Peter knew.
Speaker 1:And all of a sudden, this man, jesus, says listen, I just want you to go deeper with me, because what you're doing right now isn't working for you. You're ankle deep with nothing to show. So I'm going to ask you not just to get in the boat and go waist deep, but now I'm going to ask you to go all in, go to the deep, take that net, throw it in for a catch. So here's Simon. He takes that net that he uses all the time in the same body of water and he throws it out. And scripture very clearly says that all of a sudden there was this probably tugging on the boat. That's a lot of fish. Simon probably had no idea what was happening. Did I get a whale? What did I get in this body right now? And he starts to pull. And there are just so many fish that the net that he uses all the time doesn't work.
Speaker 1:And he asked to yell for the other fishermen who were obviously on shore, because their boat was left unattended as well. And he said I need your help. All the blessings that are coming in from this man, jesus, my net won't hold them, so I need other people to come to get the blessing. There's so much coming in, help me. And all these men start coming and they bring their nets and it says they brought all the catch up. And as soon as it landed on the boats, the boats began to sink. Boats, the boats begin to sink. God has something so beautiful in store for you. If you just go deep, you will begin to see the promises that he has promised you come to pass. There's ankle deep, there's waist deep and then there's all in. I'm going to invite the worship team to come and back.
Speaker 1:When Simon was on the beach and he was there, just probably so discouraged, he had wasted many, many hours there trying to fish for the night and he came up empty-handed. At that moment he was not a follower of Jesus. He believed in God. He was culturally a follower of God, but he had not met Jesus yet. You'll see, in verse 11, in the same chapter, after this scenario took place, it says in verse 11, that when they brought their boats to the land and they brought all of the blessing that God had given them, they left everything and they followed him. Something changed in Simon. Simon was all in. He went from a place of ankle deep to frustrated, sitting on a boat, waist deep, to all in, and he left everything and he followed Jesus.
Speaker 1:Right now, we are in a season of fasting, and what that means is is that when you started this fast, if you started at the ankle deep level, you're not going to be at the ankle deep level within that 21 days. You're going to move deeper. If you've been sitting here at the waist deep level just listening God's saying all right, now it's time to go all in. God's saying all right now, it's time to go all in. And that fast is going to help you to get rid of things. They could be good things, but you're getting rid of them for the better things and for 21 days, you're emptying yourself of where you've been and putting yourself where you should be, but you should not remain where you are right now.
Speaker 1:The only thing that happens when you stay where you are is you grow stagnant. Stagnant means you show no activity and you are dull. If you have a friend and every time you ask your friend what they want to do, they're like I don't know. Whatever. You're going to find a new friend. That friend is stagnant. They're not going anywhere. They're content where they are, and I don't want you, as a follower of Jesus, to remain stagnant, but I want you to keep moving deeper. When you stay stagnant, you keep experiencing the same things over and over and over again until they don't mean anything anymore. That's why we often see people who are following Jesus that only stay at that ankle deep level. They often just quit walking with Jesus altogether. They're bored. There's nothing new. They've seen it before and they chose not to go any deeper with the Lord. Eventually, your heart after God will grow cold. If you remain, what once was a happy place becomes cold and lonely. 1 Timothy 4.15 says this Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, go all in so that all may see your progress.
Speaker 1:That show that my family and I watched the Amazing Race. What I love about this scenario of the girl who was bungee jumping is they have cameras that follow her around and so they're filming everything and she finally did jump. She was scared and when she got done, she was just beaming with joy and I remember her partner was hugging her and he was so proud of her. He's like you did it. And she said you know what? I'm so glad that I did it, it was worth it. It was worth it and just like that, show our family on the other side of the TV cheering them on. Come on, you can do it. You're all in. You have a church family who is cheering you on in your walk with Jesus. We don't want to see you over here. This is for a season and that season's done. We want to see you going deeper and deeper and we're cheering you on saying, yes, do it, it's worth it.
Speaker 1:Go all in, go all in Everything he has for you. Go, get it. How deep with God will you go? I'm going to ask you to stand with me this morning. Maybe you're here and somebody invited you. Maybe it's your first time You're a guest with us. It's an honor to have you.
Speaker 1:Maybe you came in searching for an answer this morning. Maybe you're watching online and you just tuned in and you're just searching and something caught your attention. God's trying to get your attention. He has a plan for you. You were created on purpose and for purpose. God loves you so much. He knew that all of us are born into sin and the best way that he could save mankind was to send his one and only son, jesus. And Jesus came. He left the glory of heaven to come to earth as a man, and he sacrificed his life for you. That sacrifice on the cross gives you a second chance at eternity, gives you the opportunity to be clean, to have the weight of the world, the weight of your sin, lifted off of you, to make a decision to say yes to Jesus and no to the things that this world offers you.
Speaker 1:This morning, if you're here, I'm going to ask everyone to close their eyes, and you're here, and you have to make that decision for yourself. If you're going to follow after the Lord, you're here and you have to make that decision for yourself. If you're going to follow after the Lord, I'm going to ask you this morning. I'm going to read the scripture to you first. It's in Romans, chapter 10. It says because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart the heart one believes in is justified, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved With your eyes closed.
Speaker 1:There's not a specific prayer that we pray, other than we just admit that we are a sinner and that we're grateful for the Lord for coming and for paying the price on our behalf. And if you're here this morning and you want to make a decision to follow after Jesus, I'm just going to ask you just to slip your hand up. I'm the only one looking around, but I just want to pray amen, yes, I see that. Yes, amen, amen, yeah. I'm going to ask everybody that's in the room to repeat this prayer after me. God, thank you for loving me, thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you In Christ's name. Amen, amen. Hey, we celebrate with you if you made that decision.
Speaker 1:It is the first step to a changed life. The next step is you got to find a church. You can't do it by yourself, and so if you don't live near this area, I encourage you to find a Bible-believing church. I also have a packet that we want to give you before you leave. You can come identify yourself. You can come find me afterwards, or we'll have some men at the back. They'll have some packets in their hand, but we want to get you in the word of God. That's how you're going to grow deeper. So for all of you that are here today.
Speaker 1:2025 is a new year and we're 20 days in. I don't know what your 20 days have looked like Only you do but 2024 was not enough for me. I'm ready to go deeper. I'm ready to be completely submerged in whatever the Lord has. That means it's going to take me out of my comfort zone. That means it's going to challenge me in some areas, but I need to, because I don't want to be content and grow stagnant.
Speaker 1:And so we're going to open up this altar this morning, and if you feel in any way that you are ready to go deeper, we want to pray with you.
Speaker 1:We have some prayer warriors in the house and we also have our staff. We want to agree with you, but we want to open it up. We don't want to see you grow dull in your walk with Jesus. So, father, this morning, I know that you're speaking to hearts right now, and I know that you are beginning to challenge people. Father, do what only you can do. I pray you take away fear. I pray that you would take away those speed bumps, those road bumps that cause people to hesitate to go deeper. And right now, holy Spirit, I pray for just a gentle move of your spirit that you would begin just to lead people to be fully submerged in your presence. This altar is open for you. We just want to let you know that next Sunday we are doing a water baptism, and so if you're ready to go all in, we're going to be cheering you on, and if you're interested, you can go on the app and sign up, or you can call the office for more details.
Speaker 2:Would you bless by the word today. I know I was such a powerful challenge. Thank you so much. Encouragement to you to embrace that, go after the deep things of God Before we go. I want to pray this blessing over us today Lord, bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. Lord, lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Lord, I pray a blessing upon your church, your people. Lord, you empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. We pray all this in the powerful name that is Jesus Christ. Amen, Amen. Know this. We love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you and have a great week.