Cornerstone Christian Center
Cornerstone Christian Center
Clothed with Power | On Fire
What does it mean to be "clothed with power from on high"? This question forms the heart of today's exploration into spiritual transformation and mission effectiveness.
Looking out from Shakespeare & Company bookstore in Paris onto Notre Dame Cathedral, our narrative begins with an honest confession of missionary frustration. How do we become light in spiritual darkness? The answer wasn't found in grand strategies but in surrendering to God's power working through ordinary relationships.
The stories shared transport us from the bustling streets of Paris to intimate moments of transformation—Kwabena finding God just days after arriving in a new country, Nam abandoning Buddhism for Christ, Mohamed coming to church seeking romance but finding salvation, and Christophe surrendering to Jesus in the shadow of the Grand Arch (ironically built to symbolize humanity's advancement beyond religion). Each story demonstrates how God's power works through faithful presence and authentic connections.
At the core of this message lies Luke 24:48-49, where Jesus promises to clothe His followers with power from on high. This clothing isn't merely a covering but a complete empowerment that transforms our effectiveness. We discover that being clothed with power requires recognition of our limitation, submission to Holy Spirit's leading, and faithful obedience in small things before greater responsibility.
The imagery of fire recurs throughout—not just any fire, but one that creates sparks that fly outward, igniting transformation in others. This divine power operates not through overwhelming force but through one relationship at a time, starting in our immediate sphere of influence before expanding outward.
The profound promise "I am with you" anchors everything. We're never alone in this mission because the very power we need is available through His presence. Will you allow yourself to be clothed with this power today? Take a moment now to surrender your limitations and ask for fresh fire that doesn't just warm you but ignites transformation in everyone you touch.
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Amen. Today we're talking about this idea of being clothed with power. Clothed with power Because we want to be on fire for God. You know, I was thinking about this journey that God has taken us on, and when I turned 30, we were moving to France, actually to be missionary, church planters and to establish an international church in a very spiritually dark city. One of those things that happened was that when we moved to Paris, was that we realized very quickly that people did not care what we had to say, because they were very sure that they had the answer already. So it was one of those things that we would start to talk with people and they were very warm to us at first, and then we'd start dialogue and then, all of a sudden, they would start to push back because we got to spiritual things, and so what we talked about was like Lord man, I was wrestling with this concept of how do we become this light in the darkness, lord? How are we going to do this thing? How are we going to establish this church?
Speaker 1:And so one of the places I used to go in between my meetings, I would go kind of hole up in this bookstore there in Paris. It's on the left bank. It's called Shakespeare and Company. It's a famous old bookstore. It's been there for ages and all these famous authors have kind of holed up there. They've stayed there, They've written there at this bookstore. It's kind of been one of those places for a long time.
Speaker 1:And so for people that are kind of a book nut, kind of a person really like books, you guys can see, this is what it looks like inside. It is floor to ceiling books Everywhere you go, as you walk up the staircases very narrow staircases there are books all the way around and it's quite the place. It's pretty amazing, a very small place but usually packed with people. But I would get there and I would just kind of, I would just kind of camp out and I would start to write and then upstairs in the window there's, there's the kind of a ledge that's there and a small desk and I would sit and and I would just kind of start to write and listen and study and kind of hear from the Lord. And as I was doing so I was looking out the window and the picture window that's upstairs in this bookstore looks directly across at the Notre Dame. So you're looking across the river and you see the Notre Dame right out the window. It's pretty breathtaking actually.
Speaker 1:And so, as I was sitting there, I, just to be very honest, I started to complain to God about what was going on. Lord, it's just not going the way we thought it would go, and it's these people aren't coming in the way we thought it would do. And it's there's people aren't coming in the way we thought it would do. And and I just started complaining complaining. Anybody ever complained to God before? And I was complaining about all these things. And it was like man, lord, they, you know people, they they'll roll their eyes at me. Or when I talk about being a pastor, they, like you know, smirk and they curse at me and all these things. And I was complaining to God.
Speaker 1:And even where we have our church, we plant it in the western suburbs of Paris. That side of town is all where the business district is, it's called La Défense and it's where all the sky rises are, just outside of the Parifrique in Paris. And one of the things that they built when they started building all these big towers was they build what they called the Grand Arch. So you have the Arc of Triomphe which is there on the Champs-Élysées. That goes with the lineage all the way down into the Louvre, the Place de Concorde, and on the other direction you have this great arch, which is done in a style like the buildings around it and it's beautiful, but the thing that they were making was a statement with this arch, because the space underneath the arch is exactly what it takes to fit the Notre Dame. So what they're saying with their architecture is that we have gone beyond these things of the past in this church of the past, and we are now above it and we are something else.
Speaker 1:And so, with that kind of an attitude, I was like complaining to God, looking out this picture window at this beautiful church, and I was whining. Nobody ever whines, it was just me. I'm going to talk to the people online then. So you guys remember. And what I was whining about was like God, well, you know this and that. And he's like, yeah, yeah, you can't do it on your own. That's why I asked you to go do it. And if I ask you to go do it, then guess what? That I'm going to give you the power to do it if you come to me and ask me for the power to do it. So if you try and do it on your own, then it's not going to work because that's in your own ability, that's in your plan. But if it's the plan that I asked you to do, then if you come to me, then guess what? Then I will give you the power to do these things. And guess what? It's not some dynamic thing, it's not some crazy thing. It's one person at a time. It's being the light of God inside of me, shining the light into the spiritual dark places, and that those people will be illuminated by the light of God.
Speaker 1:As I interact with people one by one, and what I started to understand was that that's what it means for us to be clothed in power is to walk in step with Holy Spirit, where he's guiding us and directing us to go to deal with the junk that's inside of us and not operate in fear, but instead encourage and to step out and to really see something dynamic happen. And I don't mean just in small amounts. God will do something amazing with small amounts, it says, with a grain faith the size of a mustard seed, he can move the mountain. But what starts to happen? If you really start to believe and say Lord, I really want to be used by you it's this phrase my dad used to say all the time is that he wanted to see so much of God going on that God would let the sparks fly and see. That's what he wants in our lives too, that, spiritually speaking, that we don't keep our little fire contained, but instead the fire of God is burning in our lives and the love of God and our character of God and the fruit of the spirit is interacting with people around the. The sparks are flying and, friends, I can tell you today it wasn't by anything that we did, but that that church in Paris exists still today, reaching people with the gospel message in a spiritually dark city so that they could be the light of God today, because the fire of God took hold of some people and it changed their life, one after the other, after the other.
Speaker 1:I think of my friends, kwabena Quabano, who came in. He flew in and he didn't know anybody. He heard about a party was happening. He comes alongside at the party. There was some big, wide, open block party. He meets a friend from university back home that already was a part of our church. He comes to church the next day, on Sunday. He's been in the country two days and he got saved on that Sunday morning. That was because they came and got saved and then they reached out to their friend.
Speaker 1:Do you think it's beyond God that he would move you countries across just so he can interact your life? So it didn't matter what country he was from in Africa. The idea was that he wanted a plan and a purpose instilled in Kwabena so he could take that and do something across the world. Our friend Nam, same thing with him. He moved there following his wife as she was going to school and he was working. He didn't really believe, he was Buddhist, didn't really believe in Christ, and started to spend time with us. We started to walk down these pathways together and we started to dialogue what it meant to follow Jesus and he could no longer skate the idea what am I going to do with Jesus? And so there in the middle of a life group, we started to talk about how we'd make a decision to follow Jesus. Friends. That next weekend he committed his life to Jesus Christ. People from Asia, people from Africa that are giving their lives to God.
Speaker 1:I was thinking of my friend Mohamed, and Mohamed was an interesting guy. I've told you guys about him before. Mohamed was very suave. He was one of these guys that came to church and he was like, bonjour, how are you? And he was there looking for a nice church girl, and so we were paying attention to Mohamed. I'm like my man, I'm watching you, my man. What I love about that is that God was using even that kind of a heart. He changed it around and he used my bed and my med came to faith in Jesus. My med became a life group leader. My med became somebody who was sold out to God and was on fire for Jesus. So, even though he came in with one kind of a perspective, god turned that around and made something alive in his heart and his life.
Speaker 1:I was thinking about my friend, christophe. Christophe was French and Christophe he was married to an Irish woman and she loved Jesus and she just prayed for her family, and so, as she would do so, she would pray for Christophe, for her husband and I started spending time with Christophe one-on-one. We'd catch a coffee and then he joined our life group. We started shooting photos across the city and it was powerful, it was amazing, and as we did so, we were having these dialogues about faith. And what happened is that his son, who was like a hardcore punk rocker with big like three-foot spikes, come out of his head Like I ran a skate park man, this is like a kid in my youth group, like I didn't think anything about it, we just loved on Alexi. We're like, yeah, come on in here, man, like we love you. And the fact that we loved Alexi when all the rest of society shunned Alexi had such a big change in Christoph's heart. It really sparked something inside of him. And so we began to just show the love of God by being the love of God where we were, and Alexi responded to the love of God. Do you know? Alexi is a missionary today in Marseille, isn't that amazing?
Speaker 1:So I get a call and it's Christoph's wife, isol, and she said hey, jay, can you go find Christoph? He just took off without his keys, without his phone, he just walked out of the house and he's just walking. We can't get, we can't find him. And so I kind of traced behind him and I kind of looked for him for a while and then I was like I think I know where he's headed and I headed out to that place where that grand arch is at. And we were standing right in front of that grand arch when I caught him and I said hey, man, I've been looking for you, how are you doing? And what I saw on his face, which is a very serious guy, very analytical guy. He did engineer software, all sorts of things like this, very smart. He had been wrestling with God during his whole walk down there. You could see his eyes were wet from crying and he could no longer say no to God and he turned his life towards Jesus and he invited Jesus into his heart and life that very day in front of that grand arch.
Speaker 1:And what's amazing about these stories is that all of them were one by one. All of them were a spark of the fire of God inside of one of us, reaching into another person. And today those same people are now leaders in churches across the world, in Paris, right there, same, with Christophe and Isolde still there, still part of the church, and others. As they've gone back to their native countries or other places. They're taking the light of the gospel wherever they go. Friends, let's see the sparks fly. Let's let the sparks fly in our life and see people get on fire for God. Would you say amen to that Amen.
Speaker 1:And so what we see is that none of us are perfect. All of us are on that journey, following Christ. That means that we are following Jesus wherever he's leading us to go. So, since none of us are perfect, we're all in need of a savior, and so that's why we talk about, we want to be more like Jesus. Our ambition collectively is to love God and make disciples to reach the world, and so that's why we reach the world right where we're at. That's why we do things like going and doing Mercy House, because we serve there those children and those families, because the love of God is in those actions and we want to see those kids be able to thrive and their kids to thrive. And now we've seen generations of people know Jesus because of the obedience of people serving right here in our community, friends. That's what it means to reach the world is that we reach the world starting where we are, in our sphere of influence. We're intentional to connect, to grow, to serve the Lord. Would you say amen? Amen?
Speaker 1:Well, today we're continuing on this theme of on fire and we're talking about this question. Last week, what are you on fire for? We talked about how a fire takes different elements, how each element is important to have the fire there, and without the oxygen, you wouldn't have the fire, though you have the flame. And without something to the oxygen, you wouldn't have the fire, though you have the flame. And without something to burn, then you wouldn't have that either. And we talked about how all those elements are so important.
Speaker 1:We talked last week at a second Timothy with this scripture verse For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control, or sound mind in some translations. We talked about how these are. What we're called to be is to have that mind of Christ, to be those who are not living in fear but living in the courage, in the power of God. You say amen to that, and so, because we're not gonna be motivated by fear, we're gonna be those that are walking in his courage and his strength. That's what it means to be on fire for God, and so in talking about that a little bit more, we see this next scripture, which is what we're looking at for today, if you move your Bible, your tablet, your phone. We're looking at Luke 24, verse 48. It says you are my witnesses of these things and, behold, I'm sending the promise of my Father upon you, but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Lord, we pray over your word today that you would breathe upon it, that you would make it alive, that you would make it transformative to us. We're so very thankful. We pray a blessing upon the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Speaker 1:Now we're talking about this idea of on fire for God and, as we look to that, that imagery of a flame we see so often. Holy Spirit is represented by flame because it is that oil. The essence of the anointing was something that we see throughout the Old Testament. We see it as a symbol of the fiery, the burning bush that did not be consumed, as Moses is being called into leadership. We see it in the tabernacle, being there before the Lord as an offering before him. We see it later in the temple in the same way of that offering before the Lord, that light, that incense burning up before God.
Speaker 1:Each one of those imageries is something that we see here as the anointing of God, the power of God, and so we're called to be those that we are a part of this power. And then we say, lord, have your way in us. I want your power to live for you. Well, I want to be clothed with power, and so that's what we start to pick up here in this scripture, as we start to look, is talking about this idea of being clothed with power, and so that's what we start to pick up here in this scripture, as we start to look, is talking about this idea of being clothed with power from on high. It picks up in Luke 24, verse 44. And he said to them these are my words, that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled. Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures. I love this.
Speaker 1:This is after the Lord has come back to life and he's appeared to the disciples. It's before his ascension. And as we start to see these different pieces, we start to navigate how they are interacting with the Lord, and he starts to go and say listen, I never left you, I am still with you, and friends, that's the same word he has for us today, though Jesus goes and returns back to the Father, he gives us Holy Spirit. Father, son and Holy Spirit, he has not left us alone. I am with you is God's message to you today. That you might be someone who's going through something where you feel isolated, maybe you feel alone, even in a crowd. Friends, he is with you. The Lord says I am with you. See, he won't leave you, he won't forsake you, he is by your side. It says that he calls us friend, which is amazing, that the living God, the creator God, would call us friend, and so that's something that's dynamic.
Speaker 1:And his promise is true today, as it was all those days ago when he said it to his disciples I am with you, and he was telling them. While I was still with you, I was trying to give you this instruction to model before you be a mirror of the Father's message to you, so that you, in turn, could be a mirror of my message to others that we would reflect the glory of the Father. And so we see this again and again. He's saying in me scripture is fulfilled. So it means that all of the rules and all the regulations, all the guidance I tried to give you that you could never live up to all of those things I fulfilled. Today I have become the Messiah for all these things, and they are fulfilled today. See, he gave us the rules not to have a set of rules for us to fail against. He gave us the rules to guide us towards a life in him, all the while knowing that we're broken people and that we're going to mess up. And so he gave a way for us to be put back in right, standing through sacrifices. And so Jesus, he comes down to become the ultimate sacrifice for all people, for all time, and in him all of the prophets and all that Moses had taught, the word of God that had been given down as instructions for his people. All of that had been fulfilled in Jesus Christ alone. And see, what's amazing about it is he starts to give them this interaction, this understanding.
Speaker 1:You know, just a few miles away from here, on Litchfield Park, there's a Bible museum, and in it you can see some old copies of the Bible, like you see this one here, ones that go all the way back to the first printing of the Bible in different languages. And that was a huge moment for the church, because that meant that now you could read the word of God in a language you understood. You wouldn't just be clergy someone like me up here speaking in Latin and you couldn't understand it. No, now you could be able to understand it and go and read it for yourself. And this is a big marker, because people you know I could tell you whatever I thought, because you didn't have a copy of the book to counteract me. But now you have a book and I'm trying to give away books so you'll read it. You know what I mean. So you put it into action in your life.
Speaker 1:So when we stand up here, it's an encouragement of the word of God that you're already reading in your life. It's not something new to you because you read it already. It's just spending time with him and then, collectively, as we have this gathering together, he starts to open up the scripture, the meaning behind the words. It said that he opened up their minds. He opened their minds and see, that's what we want to be is. We want to open our minds, we want to have him open our minds as well, saying Lord, make this word of yours alive to me, because if I'm not of faith, then I read these sets of words and I'm like I don't. I don't know what this is. What are these rules? What is this history? I don't get it. But whenever we start to look through a lens of faith, then we start to see something totally dynamic, something transformative in our lives.
Speaker 1:See, jesus comes on the scene. He's the ultimate servant leader. He's the authentic leader that everyone was looking for. They thought he was going to overthrow the Romans and kick them out. He was going to become a king like David and establish a kingdom like Solomon, but instead Jesus says no, you don't get it. I didn't come here just for you. I came here for everyone, forever, for every tribe, for every tongue, for every people group, that everyone would be saved. And so he became the sacrifice for all people and in doing so, he started to open their mind. We could think about how we think and all the synapses and all the firing and triggering of our thoughts, and he started to open up their minds to see the scripture and see it through a lens of faith that they would say Lord, I believe you are who you say you are, and, lord, I believe that you can do great and mighty things. So I'm gonna trust you and I'm gonna walk in your ways. And so that's the challenge that he began to do for them in opening their minds is to be something that helps them to live with the purpose and the plan of the things that he had said to them. It continues here in verse 46. It says, and he said to them thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day, rise from the dead, and that the repentance of forgiveness of sin should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, starting from Jerusalem. I love this, that it should be proclaimed to all nations. And see, this is huge, because see before that they were following Jesus.
Speaker 1:So the disciples' main job was to come and to navigate the crowds and to say, hey, yeah, jesus is over here, jesus is going to be ministering. Hey, I want to introduce you. To navigate the crowds and to say, hey, yeah, jesus is over here, jesus is going to be ministering. Hey, I want to introduce you to Jesus, I want to introduce you to Jesus. And so now he's saying, listen, I have to go back to the Father, I'm going to go back Now. It's on you. You need to take this message. But actually it's no different than what you were doing before. All you're doing is introducing people to me. It's not on you, you're not gonna save them, it's not your role. You're gonna introduce them to me. So what you're gonna do is go and proclaim what I have done for them, and I want you to do that, starting right here.
Speaker 1:And he was talking about in their own sphere of influence. He talked about going to all the world, and all the world is amazing. We think about our globe. We think about all the people, the 7 point, whatever billion of us that live here, and that's pretty dynamic, it's pretty amazing. But at the same time, we understand. How would we be able to take that on? It's much like me sitting in that window in Paris. How are we going to help this city? Well, it's really easy. It's one at a time. It's one at a time.
Speaker 1:See, he started. What is his commandment? To start first right here in Jerusalem. It means in your sphere of influence, in your family, with your friend group, with your colleagues at work, with those people you go to school with, with your neighbors next door, the people that see the love of God in your life. That's where you start to share the love of Christ, so that that's where things happen. And whenever that starts to happen, guess what? Then you can be obedient right there. Then he can trust you to go to the next level. You know, it's like what we were talking about with Gage and Denea sharing their testimony of trusting God. See, they were willing to trust God with something and he was able to trust them with more. It's the same as we talk about as being a good steward. We give you know, we're given a dollar. We give 10% back to God as our first gift and as tithe to him. If he can trust you with a dollar, he can trust you with 10. If he can trust you with 10, he can trust you with 100 and 1,000 and 100,000 and on and on. But if he can't trust you with see, instead he wants to trust you with the little things.
Speaker 1:Maybe you're somebody you're like man, I should get involved, I should use my talent for god. So you jump in with the team you're gonna be on a serve team and then you're like, ah, first weekend I get scheduled to go. You know, I don't really feel like going. Today I'm gonna call out which that happens, happens whatever. But then, like you know, week two comes around, you're like I don't don't know, not really feeling it today. Pastor Jay still has a big nose. I'm not going to do it. Week three runs around, same deal, and here's the deal. Then you're like, oh God, use me in my life, use me for great things. He's like cool, I'm trying to you keep calling out all the time. I'm going to talk to these people because they're going to give me feedback. You guys know what I'm talking about. See, if he wants to take you and use you as an impact to all nations, it starts right here first, right here in our own life first, right here in our own little sphere of influence, first On our yes to God.
Speaker 1:I was thinking back to some years ago, right after university. I graduated and I kind of had this interesting situation happen to me where I ended up going and living down in Mazatlan, mexico, and I did so in helping a church to plant the church, and it's a beautiful place, amazing. And so we went down there to go serve and help plant the church there, centro de Vida Mazatlan. And in doing so, man, go serve and help plant the church there, centro de Vida Mazatlan. And in doing so, man, it's a beautiful place. I mean, you see the white sand, the beautiful water. We didn't live anywhere near that. We lived in the barrio, in the back in the dirt with a bunch of other people. You guys know what I'm talking about and so that's where we were at. But what we did is we helped run missions teams to help plant the church. We were doing church out at the dump where people that lived on the dump they actually got their food from the dump we did church for them. We did church in the prison. We did church, obviously, on the weekends with those things. We had all across the city had all sorts of things going on, and so we're running these teams and all this stuff. But we ran hard, we played hard, it was all that process and, as you can imagine, man, it's a beautiful place and we're summer people.
Speaker 1:We were out there in the water. You know I was a little more aerodynamic in those days. You guys know what I'm talking about. I had this long, beautiful blonde hair, big gait. I was beautiful, you guys, it was beautiful. It's the only time in my whole life, but it was amazing. And so I was tan, I was out.
Speaker 1:We would like go get up 4.30 in the morning, go ride our rickety bicycles to the beach, go surf or go like you know, go paddle out, go dive off these rocks. And in doing one of those this one time we ran into a problem where my friend Tim and I, we got into all of these sea urchins that were all over these rocks. And Tim, he had very lovingly let a friend of ours, matt from Australia, he let him use his flippers and then Tim got stung in the face by a jellyfish. And when he got stung in the face he was like ah, ah and he put his feet down, both feet, into sea urchins on razor sharp coral and in me, trying to get his feet out of it, I got it over my hands, I got it in my foot, I got it in my hands, I got it in my foot and in my arm and so we were a mess. He had like over I think it was like over 50 pieces in his feet. And so we have to ride, we have to paddle back out to the beach, ride bicycles with stuff in our feet to the hospital, and we're supposed to show up to work to help these teams and we are a mess. We're a mess, we are sunburned, we are stung by jellyfish, we have sea urchins in our feet. We are like barely holding it together, man. And so we go, we lay down and, like we stayed at this ghetto place that had bedbugs, we're like laying in pain. Bedbugs are like time to eat, you know. So they're trying to get a bite too.
Speaker 1:I did not feel like running a team for church that day. Anybody Our leaders come knocking for us. Hey, hey, you missed the meeting. Why are you sleeping? And we had a choice to make. Am I going to let my yes be yes? Am I going to get up, even though I don't feel like it, and go do this thing because they're relying on us, or am I just going to say no? And we decided, as the Lord would give us power to do so, that we would get up that day and go do the work he had called us to do. And so, friends, what we did was do obedience to God, and we were able to run team that day. And because of that, because of the team and the word of God that was going on, people that day made a decision to follow Jesus, and so we got to be a part of that by saying yes to him, even though it didn't feel like it, even though we had stuff that we had an out, we had things legitimately happen. No, we chose to say yes anyway and let the fire of God burn through us so that we could shine the light of the gospel to other people. Amen, so that we could shine the light of the gospel to other people. Amen.
Speaker 1:And looking back at this scripture, we see here where it picks up. It says in Luke 24, 48, you are witnesses of these things and behold, I'm sending the promise of my father upon you, but stay into the city until you're clothed with power from on high and see. That's what he's saying to you and to me is that he wants us to be clothed with power to do these things. See, he has a great plan and a purpose for your life. It's so much bigger than your plan for your life. But the thing is is that you have to go and be in step with him in order to see those things accomplished. What that means is that you have to be clothed with power from Holy Spirit to really see these things happen, because if not, we can't do it in our own power.
Speaker 1:We know this and in order to see the sparks fly, something really dynamic happen, then it has to be the small yes, followed by the small yes, followed by the small yes of an everyday. After God we say amen. What we see is that see for us. We don't want to just see a small flame happening. We want that yes, but what we want to see is someone breathing upon it, holy Spirit, making that thing go and see.
Speaker 1:I don't want just sparks to happen off your life. I'm all for that. I want to see the sparks go off. But, friends, I want more than that Out of your life. I want sparks to turn into fireworks. You guys know what I'm talking about Like some real dynamic, amazing, divine, miraculous things to happen in your life and through your life. What happens if you step out in faith and just agree in prayer for your neighbor and God heals them, then the fireworks are happening in their life and it changes everything. Because something happened where, by faith, you stepped out and you're like it's not me healing anybody, but I'll agree that God can heal you because he wants to and agree in prayer. Man, I can't solve your problem in your marriage, but I know a guy who can. His name is Jesus, and so I'm going to pray right now that you guys can have forgiveness with each other, there'll be unity in your life Am I talking to somebody? And that we walk together in this thing.
Speaker 1:Friends, he wants to see the sparks fly in your life and he goes back to the scripture that we saw, this last bit of the 50, luke 24, verse 50. It says and he led them out as far as Bethany and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up to heaven. I love this last moment of Jesus on earth. His last thing that he did is he blessed his church. He blessed you because he believes in you and he values you. So he was praying a blessing over his disciples then and over us now, that we would be those that walk in his peace and in his provision.
Speaker 1:We see that as a depiction here in this painting of the ascension, and you can imagine what that'd be like. It's all of these different people that are there. They're looking at Jesus and, as he's talking to them, he's returning back to the father, and so he goes back up to his returns to the father. And what I love about this moment. I don't know about you. I would have been a little bit freaked out. I'd be like Jesus, where are you going? No, please stay, please stay longer. But he said, listen, I have to go. But he said, listen, I have to go, but Holy Spirit is going to be here, that you are not alone. And I love their response.
Speaker 1:It says and they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. They weren't living in fear, they weren't worrying about those things, they were worshiping God for fulfilling all the scriptures, for doing all these things. And they continually worshiped the Lord, even in the temple giving, doing all these things. And they continually worship the Lord, even in the temple, giving glory to God for Jesus. Friends, our worship is a sign of our heart after God. It's a weapon against the darkness, it's a weapon against depression, it's a weapon against these kinds of lies that'll come into us that we worship the creator, god. See what happens was we had the word of God today that came to us. What happens was we had the word of God today that came to us. What happens whenever you profess the word of God over your life, over your family, over your children, over your grandchildren. See what happens that God won't fulfill his word. He will. He will do it.
Speaker 1:Last week we talked about this in John 14. It says these things I've spoken to you while I'm still with you, but the helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you, friends. He is with you. His sentence to you is I am with you. He wants to be like we talked about last week that fire. He wants to spark that in your life so that you can shine for him, that you can burn for him. That the promise of the Father, holy Spirit, is available for you to be clothed with power, so that you don't try to do this thing on your own. That you will have the fire for God in your heart and in your life, that you will walk every day with the promise of the Father is that he won't leave us, and so, because of that, you're clothed in power with what he's doing, and then we can let the sparks fly, as we're obedient to what he wants to do in our lives.
Speaker 1:Friends, our ambition is to be more like Jesus. Today we have this opportunity to respond to his love, and it's a question that each one of us has to answer. And have you embraced, jesus? See, that question is for you, it's for every single one of us, and we have to answer it for ourselves alone. No one can answer it for you.
Speaker 1:The symbol of the cross is one of forgiveness. For us, it's one of freedom. The cross becomes the place where Jesus takes all of the sin of the world, all of my mistakes, all of my brokenness, all of yours. He took it to the cross and he paid for it once and for all, and in doing so he made a way for us to be reconnected back in relationship with the Holy God. See, for us, we can't earn our way into God's grace. It's not possible. What do we have to offer a Holy God? We can't earn our way into God's grace. It's not possible. What do we have to offer a holy God? We can't earn it. So because of that, jesus came all the way to us as the sacrifice for all people, and in doing so we can say Lord, I believe you are who you say you are. Lord, I acknowledge that you became the sacrifice for me. Lord, I invite you into my life as my Lord and Savior, and by doing so, by faith, we start a new relationship with God.
Speaker 1:The Apostle Paul. He writes to the church at Rome. It says this 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 one believes and is justified. With the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Speaker 1:Friends, today is your day. It's your opportunity to say yes to Jesus. I'm gonna ask everyone in the room if you'd stand to your feet right where you're at you, bow your head as Christians are praying for those about to respond Online. Wherever you are, you take a stop from whatever you're doing. Just prepare your heart for what God wants to do, even in this moment, wherever you are, you've heard this message about all that God wants to do in and through us by his spirit, but you don't yet have a relationship with him. His heads are bowed here.
Speaker 1:If that's you, if you've never made a decision to follow Jesus, today you want to make that decision, or maybe perhaps you've made it in the past but have walked away from living that decision. Today is an opportunity to recommit your heart back to God. If that's you right now, if you just raise your hand right where you're at and say, pastor, that's me. I want to be included in this prayer to give my heart to God. See the hand that's there, thank you, jesus. Others making decisions for God today See another hand that's there, thank you God. Others as well in the earlier service, making a decision to follow Jesus. Thank you, god.
Speaker 1:As others are making decisions, friends, I'm going to ask if everyone would pray this prayer out loud after me Lord, 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. I pray Amen, amen.
Speaker 1:Friends, we rejoice in you making a decision to follow Jesusesus today. Those that raise their hand praise the lord. Hey, let us know about the decision you made today. Connect with us. We have a team in the back and at the, at the cafe, we want to put some materials into your hands so you can be successful in living this life after god. If you're online, message us wherever you are so we can know. We can connect with you to do the same.
Speaker 1:Friends, all of us that are already Christ followers. Today is an opportunity to draw near to him. It's an opportunity to ask Holy Spirit for an impartation of his spirit, of freshness, of what he wants to do in us. So my challenge to each one of us today is that we would leave our seat where we are, that we would come down and make an altar with God, asking for more of the Spirit of God in our lives. Lord, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you, lord, how you give it to us and challenge us. Lord, knowing that we are not alone, that you are with us. Lord, that you haven't forsaken us. Instead, you want to empower us. Lord, that we will be clothed with power to be obedient in the things that you have for us. Lord, as we're being spirit-led and spirit-formed. Lord, that we would be those that walk full of your spirit.
Speaker 1:Lord, as we come to this altar today, we do so with intentionality, lord, just saying more of you in my life. Lord, for what I'm doing for my family, for all that you have for me. Lord, more of you in my life. Lord, for what I'm doing for my family, for all that you have for me. Lord, more of you in my life. We pray, pray this in the precious name of Jesus Christ, amen. Can we have one more hand of appreciation for all of our graduates today? Amazing, we got those in first service, second service. We'll have a little bit of them next week as well. So proud of you, yes absolutely.
Speaker 2:I want to let you know we're going to do party with the pastor following this service. You can find us on the east side of the building, down the hallway. It's for anyone that has been here in about the last three months and we have not personally been able to meet you. You have not met our team. We want to say hi. We want to put a face to the name. So if you would come, if you have children, grab them first, bring them with you. We have some snacks in there, but we just want to spend some time with you, get to say hi. It's very informal, we're not going to hold you up all afternoon, but we just want to meet you and get to know you.
Speaker 1:Amen. Before we go, we pray this blessing over us. The Lord bless you and keep you. Lord, make his face to shine upon 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, that you empower us by your spirit to live your love out to those around us. 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.