Cornerstone Christian Center
Cornerstone Christian Center
Seasons
What happens when you're completely unprepared for a change of seasons? That's exactly what I experienced landing in Paraguay for mission work—stepping off a plane from Phoenix summer straight into winter with nothing but a thin sweater. Shivering on a prayer mountain at 5:30am, I learned a powerful lesson about seasons that applies to every aspect of our spiritual lives.
Life unfolds in seasons, and understanding the spiritual significance of each one transforms how we navigate our journey with God. Just as the natural world moves through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, our spiritual lives follow similar patterns. Spring brings new beginnings and fresh opportunities. Summer offers abundance and growth but can tempt us toward pride. Autumn provides harvest and reflection on what we've cultivated. Winter demands complete trust during times of rest and restoration.
The wisdom of Ecclesiastes reminds us that "for everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." These seasons aren't random—they're divinely ordained with specific purposes. Consider David, who would never have become an effective king without those lonely nights as a shepherd, developing his heart of worship and dependency on God. What appears to be an insignificant or challenging season might actually be essential preparation for what God has next.
Three truths about seasons can help us navigate them wisely: they are ordained by God with divine purpose, they each serve a specific role in our spiritual formation, and they inevitably change. The question isn't whether your current season will transition but what you'll learn and how you'll grow before it does. Many of us make the mistake of clinging to good seasons too long or trying to skip difficult ones altogether—both approaches leave us spiritually stunted.
Ready to embrace your season instead of fighting against it? Whatever phase you're experiencing right now, remember God is faithful through every season, and what you sow today directly impacts your harvest tomorrow.
Cornerstone
https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/
Follow Jesus
https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/follow-jesus
Life Groups
https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/life-groups
Giving
https://cornerstoneaz.churchcenter.com/giving
Church Center App - Download then add Cornerstone Christian Center in Avondale, AZ
iOS
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-church-center/id1357742931?mt=8&ls=1&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ministrycentered.churchcenter
----
Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/cornerstoneaz
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/cornerstoneaz.org
Twitter
https://twitter.com/cornerstoneaz.org
Good morning. Well, I have a question for you today. My question is what season are you in? When I was about 20 years old, I headed off to the country of Paraguay. If you don't know where that is. If you look at a map, south America would be towards the bottom, and I was headed there to serve in missions. I was young, it was the first time I was going to go somewhere by myself, without a group or a team, and I was excited. I was going there to help a church that was thriving. They were doing amazing things, and still are to this day and I knew that God had put that nation in my heart.
Celeste Brown:So I left Phoenix, I showed up to the airport, I had everything packed, ready to go and I was about to head out. It was the middle of summer here, the beginning of summer, so you know how hot it is in Phoenix and I got onto the plane and did my transitions and made it into Asuncion, the capital, and when I arrived to Paraguay, it is opposite seasons of the year. So when I arrived, I arrived in the middle of winter. Now, it was not freezing, but it was cold, so cold. You know the kind of cold that like is deep in your bones and you just cannot warm up. And I got off the plane and I was headed with the family and I thought, man, I did some bad packing for this trip. I was thinking of what I had in my suitcase and I had a couple pairs of slacks, I had some thin long sleeves and I brought one sweater, because if you grew up in Phoenix, one sweater is all you need. And I showed up there and I thought this is not good. So we got to the missionary's house and they were talking to me and they said hey, listen, in the morning we're just going to put you right into the groove of life here. We're going to meet really early. We're going to leave our house about 5 30, and we're going to head over am 5 30 am and we're going to head over to this mountain. You'll see a picture of it behind me. It has a cross on it. We're going to go up and we're going to pray and people from the church we gather together and we pray over the city. So you're just going to join us. And the wife looked at me and she said did you bring any winter clothes? And I said, well, I brought a sweater. She goes, let me see it. I showed it to her, she's like oh girl, no, I have a jacket you can borrow. And so she gave me her jacket. It was like a jacket that I would wear if I was going to Flagstaff to go snowboarding or something. Okay, and so I put it on.
Celeste Brown:The next morning got up, it was dark, we got into the car and I was just from the moment I left that house, I just remember just shaking. I was just shaking. I was like, oh my gosh, it's so cold I can't even focus. And so we got up to the mountain and I had no gloves. They were all wearing gloves. I did not have any. And I was trying to put my hands in my pockets and you know, when they're so cold, your hands are red. They're just red. And I was like, oh, this is not good, this is not good. And then my eyes started watering because it was freezing. And as they're watering, they're just turning into icicles on my face. And at that point I can't even pray. I just pray and Lord, deliver me from this cold, just get me out of here. I just want to go home. I was not ready. Let's say that I was not ready. I had left a summer in Phoenix and went straight into the to the winter without being ready for the change of seasons.
Celeste Brown:So this morning I want to talk to you about seasons, and I want to start by telling you this God knows what season you are in. He does. So I want to say welcome to Cornerstone. If this is your first time you're a guest with us, it is an honor to have you here. We love people and so we're so grateful that you've joined us. This morning You'll see a picture of Jesus walking with his disciples, and we just kind of set our steps with this picture. We want to be wherever Jesus is. So if Jesus is moving, we want to be moving with him. We don't want to be straggling behind doing our own thing. We get nowhere that way, but we need to be with him. So our motto is we want to be more like Jesus, and we are entering a new season of life groups, and so today you'll get the opportunity to sign up. I encourage you to do so. There are new ones, there are ones that are repeating, but be part of a life group. Join up, grow, stretch, build relationships and, just like we do here we love God, we make disciples and we reach the world for Jesus, amen.
Celeste Brown:Well, if you have your Bibles with me, I want you to open it to Ecclesiastes, chapter 3. And we're going to start by reading a few scriptures. If you have a paper and a pen, I'm going to challenge you this morning to take some notes. I'm going to be giving you a lot of scripture, but if you don't have paper and a pen, take out your phone but only have it on the notes page. If your friend sees you in anything else, you have the right to nudge them and tell them turn the phone off. They got to focus today. Okay, it's going to be a good morning. Well, if you're there, ecclesiastes 3, verse 1, says this For everything there is a season and a time, for every matter under heaven Time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pluck up what is planted.
Celeste Brown:A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up what is planted. A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up. A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance. A time to cast away stones and a time to gather stones together. A time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing. A time to seek and a time to lose. A time to keep and a time to cast away. A time to tear and a time to sew. A time to keep silence and a time to speak. A time to love and a time to hate. A time to war and a time to hate. A time to war and a time for peace.
Celeste Brown:How many of you know that there are different seasons in the year? How many of you know that? If you do, and you enjoy the different seasons, I feel like you are living in the wrong place, because here in Phoenix we have two we have summer and we have spring. We do not have fall, we do not have winter, and the reason I know that we don't have winter is because I see people wearing shorts 365 days a year. I see people swimming in a swimming pool 365 days a year. I see people swimming in a swimming pool 365 days a year. So we have summer and we have spring, but if you were to venture outside of the Maricopa County area, you would actually discover that there are four seasons in a year. It's fascinating, it's amazing. It's something to try if you're daring, but I just want to give you a little recap of what the four different seasons are. So we have spring.
Celeste Brown:Spring is a transitional season from winter to summer. Spring is when the weather is amazing. Okay, I know that it kind of gets hot here, but just visualize the whole world. It's amazing. Spring is amazing, it's mild, it's cool. Sometimes you even get a little bit of rain and people want to go outside. So the one thing that we have that's amazing here in Phoenix is we have spring training games, and it is a time that either starts really well or it's not so well. And this is how we judge it by. If you show up to a spring training game and you decided to wear a regular t-shirt, and then you spring training game and you decided to wear a regular t-shirt, and then you leave the game and you take your shirt off and you got the farmer's tan, the whole season started off bad, right? Or you wore shorts and only one leg got tan and the other didn't. I am not speaking from experience, but I have heard that this happens. So that is spring.
Celeste Brown:The next season that we go through is summer, and let me sum up summer. In Phoenix, it is hot, hotter, and the hottest days of the year. Is that right? So if anybody says I'm about to move to Phoenix, just say listen, this is what it's like. It's hot, hotter and hottest, and so that is summer. It is long days, meaning that the sun stays out the longest during summer, so you feel like you have more time. When you leave work in the morning, if you leave early, the sun is already up. When you come home at night, the sun is still out and you're like wow, I feel like I have so much more time today that I can get things done. Has anybody ever felt like that? That is summer. So it's the long days that give you energy to get things done.
Celeste Brown:Another season is autumn. Some people call it fall. It's a transition from summer to winter and the weather changes to cooler temps and the days become shorter. Now in Phoenix, we miss this completely. We don't have leaves that fall, we don't have this pretty scenery, but we try to live in a pumpkin and spice type world, even though it does not apply to us. So when I see people that are like, oh, it's all about pumpkins. I'm like why, this is not our world, but I know you want to be in that world. So we're good Autumn. The next season is winter. This is the coldest time of the year and the days are really short. The weather can bring snow or frost, and here in Phoenix, we just enjoy it. Honestly, we just enjoy the winter. It's the best season of our lives.
Celeste Brown:But Ecclesiastes 3, I just want to read verse 1 to you again. It says this for everything, everything, there is a season. Do you know that we also have spiritual seasons? Did you know this? There is a season for everything. In fact, if you were to reread Ecclesiastes verses 2 through 8, it will say things like this there's a time to be born. Verses 2 through 8, it will say things like this there's a time to be born.
Celeste Brown:So congratulations, you have passed that season, you have been born. You are here. There's a time to die. There's a time to plant. There's a time to remove things. Somebody needs to hear that today. There is a time to remove things. It happens. There's a time to build up. There's a time to heal. There's a time to dance. Don't judge people in worship when they're dancing. You want to be there, I know it and you will, but, man, they are celebrating the season that they are in. There's a time to dance, there's a time to weep, there's a time to laugh, there's a time to seek, there's a time to keep silent. I don't know if you have ever gone through that season yet. It is one of the hardest seasons you can encounter, when you can't say anything and God says nope. And then there's a time to speak, and I feel like a lot of Christians got that one down In every season.
Celeste Brown:Let me tell you this God is in full control of time and purpose. Do you understand that? God does not function in time like we do, but he lives outside of time? So when you are living your life, you're living your life on a timeline through seasons, and God is in full control of time and purpose. In fact, he has a perfect and permanent plan that no man can change. So if you want to be stubborn, go ahead and be stubborn, but you're not going to change God's plan. If you want to be hard-headed and do things your own way, go ahead, do them your own way, but you're not going to change God's plan. If you want to go and do your own thing and run ahead of God, go ahead, do your own thing, but you are not going to change the permanent plan that God has, because no man can change that. So God knows what season you are in. I want to tell you a few things about seasons. Number one seasons are ordained. God ordains the seasons that you are in. Do you know what ordained means? It means they are ordered, so God has ordered them.
Celeste Brown:There's examples in the Bible you can see it throughout all of scripture of men and women who you will watch their progress through the seasons. One of them that I love to follow is the life of David. For those of you that are not as familiar with David, david started out as a shepherd boy. He was the youngest of his entire family. There was many boys in his family and he was the youngest, and so he got the privilege to go and take care of the sheep out in the field. He started out from a shepherd boy and, as you watch the seasons of his life, he became a king. His seasons were ordered.
Celeste Brown:I will tell you that when David was young and he was in the fields, no one was paying attention to that young boy. He was just kind of thrown out there. Why? Because all the older sons, they were too good for that job. So they just gave it to David, they put him out there, and then it says in scripture that the Lord was going to remove Saul from being king.
Celeste Brown:So he sent the prophet Samuel and he said I want you to go to the house of Jesse. Jesse is David's dad. He said I'm going to send you to the house of Jesse. Jesse is David's dad. He said I'm going to send you to the house of Jesse and there I'm going to select a new king. And so, as he goes to that house, he asked Jesse to line up all his boys. And so Jesse put everyone in order, from oldest to almost the youngest, and they were standing there before Samuel, and I'm sure that Samuel had some good options and Samuel being the prophet, he would just go in front of each person and every time he stood there God would say not this one, and he'd go to the next one, not this one. And he'd go all the way down the line of the men in that family till he got to what he thought was the youngest boy, and God said no. And Samuel was very confused and he said Jesse, are there any more boys in this family? And he said well, the youngest one. He's out in the field taking care of the sheep. And so Samuel said listen, I will not sit until you go and you bring him to me. And so they waited and waited until David arrived on the scene. No one and I'm telling you, no one, not even the prophet at that moment, knew that David's season was about to change.
Celeste Brown:David's season was ordained by God. He was ordered to be a king and no one in that entire room looked at him. But God had a plan. It says in the book of Daniel, chapter 2, verses 20 and 21. Daniel answered and said this Blessed be the name of God forever and ever. To whom belong wisdom and might? He changes times and seasons. He removes kings and sets up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. Do not underestimate what God can do. He changes times, he changes seasons, he removes kings and he puts kings into place. And we see that in the life of David. You know that he created you for this time and this season. You might not feel like it. There might be times you wake up and think man, what is this life all about? There's got to be more. But you were ordained for this time and this season. Your season is ordained. You take that which God has given you and you give it your all. So let me give you an example.
Celeste Brown:It's easy to complain Anybody with me. I can complain very easily if I want to. We're all like that. We don't even have to be taught to be complainers, we can just do it well, and God will give us. Things will come into our life. Okay, a bad situation here, something we didn't really care for here. Maybe somebody cut us off in traffic. We didn't ask for that. Okay, things take place.
Celeste Brown:And what God is saying is listen, your seasons are ordained. You take everything I give you and you do something with it. You make the most of it. It says in Acts, chapter 17, starting in verse 24 the God who made the world and everything in it, being the Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything, and he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for in him we live and move and have our being. That is God. That is God. Your seasons are ordained. Number two seasons have purpose.
Celeste Brown:From before the time you were born, your life already had a purpose. That can be very hard to understand. Maybe you've been adopted. Maybe you are from parents who were never married. Maybe you were what you thought created in a bad situation. You were not, because your life had purpose before you were even created, had purpose before you were even created. Maybe you're in a tough season right now and you don't see a way out or a way through. Your season has a purpose.
Celeste Brown:It says in Isaiah 44, verse 24,. Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb. I am the Lord, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb. I am the Lord who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself. Nothing is by chance, nothing. You were created on purpose and for a purpose. You see, the living God has been accomplishing his divine purpose Since before you were born, before our parents were born, before anybody we knew was ever born. God has been doing life. He has been accomplishing things. His divine purpose has been being accomplished throughout all of history. And if you choose, you have to make the choice. But if you choose to cooperate with God's purpose and timing, your life will have meaning. Simple, if you choose to cooperate with the living God and you take all the things that are in your life and you choose to cooperate, your life will have a purpose. But if you choose to do your own thing, know this God's plans will still be accomplished. Romans 8.28 says this, and we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose, not yours.
Celeste Brown:His Spiritual seasons. So what is a spiritual season? They're phases that we experience in our life as we're following after Jesus. That's what a spiritual season is, and you know that spiritual seasons, they happen over and over and over again. They're just not once and done, just like I know it feels like we have summer all year long, and then summer again next year, and then summer again next year, but it repeats there's a breakup. There's a breakup, there's something different that happens. The phases change, and so I want to explain to you the four seasons from a spiritual perspective.
Celeste Brown:Number one is spring. It's a season of new beginnings. It brings new opportunities and possibilities. I love spring season because it's the time when God puts something into your heart and the light bulbs come out and you're like whoa, this is amazing. I can't wait to start this or do this or be a part of this. This is going to be fun and it's like that moment of something fresh. That's the spring season. But know this about the spring season Usually the decisions that you make in this season of spring, they will determine the other seasons. So maybe God has put something in your heart, maybe he's given you a responsibility, maybe he's asked you to do something and you dropped the ball. It affects the rest of the seasons, but if you take it and you move and you go where he's leading you, it affects the rest of the seasons.
Celeste Brown:Spring, then we get to summer. It's a season of abundance, it's a season of fruitfulness, it's a time of spiritual growth. You're serving God more than you ever have before. You're excited. You're so in love with him. You want to be wherever he is. You just want to be there. You don't want to miss what God's doing. That's the summer season.
Celeste Brown:So if you're sitting here today and you feel like you don't have that passion like you used to have, go back to spring and see what he handed you that you did nothing with, because you can't sit here and say god's not talking to me, god's not moving, god's not doing anything in my life. He is, but maybe you didn't do anything with what he gave you originally and now you're just sitting here complaining. Summer is a time when we experience the blessing of God. Summer is a time when, in the spring, you planted seeds and in the summer, you get to see them bloom. Do you have flowers or do you have weeds? Because if you have weeds, you got to go back and you got to see what did he give me that I'm not doing anything with?
Celeste Brown:Then we get to the third season. It's autumn. It's a season of harvest and reflection. It's the season where you begin to see the results of your hard work. And let me tell you, following Jesus is not easy. It is work. It is work to not go with the flow but go against the flow. Right, you can always be like them, but they got to do a hard turn to get back to where you are. It's a season where you are seeing amazing things take place, but it's also a season that, if you are not careful, you will see pride begin to take root in your heart and you'll begin to think you are making that happen. You'll begin to think, wow, I do a good job. Wow, they should ask me to do all the things. Look what I accomplished.
Celeste Brown:It's also the point when, if somebody who is a brother or sister in Christ that you love and you respect and you go to battle spiritually with them and they come up to you and they tell you I've been noticing a little bit about your life it looks like you're not as excited as you were for God. It looks like you're just kind of fading a little bit and you get mad Check your season Because all of a sudden you're not listening anymore and you think you're the one in charge. You're the one doing it. It's never about you, it's always about him. I think that's the hardest thing as a human being is to know it's never about you. Lord, I receive no glory, no honor for any of this. It's always you, lord. I receive no glory, no honor for any of this. It's always you, jesus, you bore that cross, not me. It's always about you.
Celeste Brown:Then we get into winter, a season of rest and restoration and trust. What is it like to be in a season when you put everything you have into trusting Jesus, everything you trust provision you, you trust him for healing, you trust him for breakthrough, you trust him. You don't have to go around going what should I do? What should I do? You're like what should I do? Just you, just you. What should I do? And not like going over here like can I get your advice? I'm having a really hard time. And then they tell you and you're like I don't really like that. What about you? What would, what do you think I should do? Oh, that's not a good answer. That's a lot of work actually. But you just look and you just say God, all trust goes to you and you alone. That is the winter season. There is a purpose for every season that you go through.
Celeste Brown:I want to tell you about David. He would have never been a good king if he did not spend those nights in that field, being a shepherd. I don't know if any of you have taken care of sheep and you've spent time in a field I have not, but I can envision it very clearly. If I could fly a drone over David when he was young and we were looking at his field, I would see many things I would see. Number one that he probably doesn't shower very often, so there's probably a smell. I would see that he probably looks crazy to people because he's probably talking to the sheep as though they're people. Hey, what have you been doing today? Yeah, you getting a little muddy. Like he's probably just out there, like those are his people, right, he's a shepherd. And if you're getting a little muddy, like he's probably just out there, like those are his people, right, he's a shepherd. And if you're watching him, you're like he's a little bit crazy. And then you can see him out there and he's probably got names for every one of the sheep, but he's out there by himself, he's alone.
Celeste Brown:He probably had moments where there was quiet times with the lord, moments when he would just look up to the heavens and say, wow, man could not have created this. This is only created by the hand of a living god. There's other times when he had to sleep there at night with those sheep. If it was me and the lights went where the sun started coming down, I'm out of there. I literally would pray a hedge of protection over those sheep please, lord, don't let any of them leave and then I would go and I would be there at the break of dawn to check on them. But he was out there. He was a shepherd, he relied on the lord in those dark nights and that is where he gained the heart of a worshiper. I have daughters and they love to sing. They sing in our house and they are loud. And I imagine David, when he is in that field and no one's around him but those sheep, that he just lifted his voice as a young boy and he sang to the top of his lungs glory and honor to God, praising him and exalting him, and that his praises just echoed and echoed and echoed. He gained the heart of a worshiper as a shepherd boy.
Celeste Brown:So you've gone through some stuff Good, bad. Let me tell you this it shapes you and it molds you and it creates the person that God wants you to be If you choose to take each of your seasons and you cooperate with God's purpose and timing, your life will have meaning. It will make you strong. Seasons have purpose. And number three seasons are changing and everyone in Phoenix said amen, seasons are changing. And everyone in Phoenix said amen, seasons are changing. The season that you are in right now will end. It will, yeah. So if it's not a good season, you are like thank you Lord, I am counting down the days. If it's a good season, you're like no, no, no, no, no, I don't want it to end. Seasons change and a new season will begin.
Celeste Brown:Seasons do not last forever. It's actually not healthy for them to last forever. Here in Phoenix, if we had 110 plus days, 365 days a year, it's not healthy. It's not healthy for many reasons. Number one I don't think our electrical grid can handle it. Number two our drivers cannot handle it. We already got some mad ones. We give them more heat and it's going to get uglier.
Celeste Brown:But seasons change. It says in Isaiah 43, verses 18 and 19. Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I, the Lord, am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, and some of you should be grateful that where you are right now you will not remain. But something new is on the horizon. He is doing a new thing.
Celeste Brown:As we look at King David, later in his life he made some bad decisions. He had seasons of growth and favor and then he had a season where the Lord literally took his spirit away from him. And that is a tough spot to be in To have been somebody who has a heart after God, worships with all his might, dances before the Lord, and then to enter a season where the Lord took his spirit off of him because of the choices that he was making. I bet he so longed for that season to change. All seasons change and what we do in each season is important.
Celeste Brown:Some of us we try to hang on to a season too long Ever been there. You don't want it to end. Things are going well, things are prospering. Maybe you've had more money than you've ever had before, maybe you're blessed with relationships or friendships, maybe things are going your way and you just want to stay in that season. There is nothing worse than hanging on to something that God is done with and just like that picture of Jesus with his disciples as he is moving. You need to be moving with him, or you're going to be the one straggling over here by yourself saying where did everybody go? Life was so good, I was loving it, and they've all moved on. And you're just standing here saying, oh, I wish I could be back in this season. And scripture says behold, I am doing a new thing.
Celeste Brown:Others try to skip a season and pass to another one. Nope, I'm not going to go this way. I'm just going to bypass this entire season. I'm just going to go over here. I wish we could. But whatever it is, the Lord wants to teach you in that season. You better learn it, or you're going to be going back to that season again. You know how I know that, because think of the Israelites and how many years they spent in the desert Just circling and circling and circling. Because if you don't learn it the first time, I guarantee you're going to learn it the second time. What we sow in one season directly impacts the other seasons, it says in Galatians 6, 9. And let us not grow weary of doing well, for in due season we will reap if we do not give up. What season are you in.
Celeste Brown:I'm going to invite the worship team to come and join me up here and I want to tell you that story that I mentioned at the beginning about living in Paraguay. You know, leaving here in the summer, getting there in the winter, I just wasn't ready for the change of seasons. Now, to my benefit, we didn't have cell phones. Back then, we didn't have access to the internet. This was a long time ago, and so I just couldn't look up what's the weather like over in Asuncion when I land tomorrow at 4 pm. I just didn't know. And I just showed up and it was different.
Celeste Brown:And I've been in those seasons where I didn't want to leave. I've been in those seasons where life is going so well, things are going well, whatever it is, things were just good. And I was the type of person that you just want to put your heels in and sink all the way down and be like don't move me, this is good, this is good. And God says come on, it's going to get better, it's going to be better than you ever could imagine. But you got to move, you got to move.
Celeste Brown:And then there's those seasons where you already know what's coming. It's kind of like the game of telephone. Somebody says something and it's moving through and everybody's talking about it. You already know what's coming and you're like I am not even entering that season. I will, I refuse. This is not gonna be good. I'm be struggling to breathe, it's just gonna be miserable. I'm probably gonna be depressed. I don't even wanna go there. And God's saying I need you to move through it. If you want to get to where I'm leading you, you've got to move. You've got to move.
Celeste Brown:But in every season I can tell you this without a doubt God has been faithful and he has never left me. The enemy will lie to you and the enemy will tell you that he is not there, but he is lying because God is faithful faithful. Ecclesiastes 3.1 says this for everything, everything, there is a season. I'm going to ask you to stand with me thing. There is a season. I'm going to ask you to stand with me.
Celeste Brown:Maybe you're here and you're like man, somebody just invited me and I just showed up to this service. I'm glad you're here. We love having guests with us. You are not here by chance. Maybe you've been coming for a few weeks now and we're so grateful you're returning. You are not here by chance, but God has a plan for you. We're so grateful you're returning. You are not here by chance, but God has a plan for you. You'll see a cross behind me, and one thing I love about this cross is it just represents victory. Victory. You will not see Jesus on that cross, because Jesus has been raised from the dead. He is seated at the right hand of God. Scripture says he's making intercession for you, and so we look at that cross. It's empty and it represents victory.
Celeste Brown:The desire of God's heart is that everyone is in a relationship with him. He doesn't want anyone to perish without knowing him, but he wants you to have life and to have life more abundantly. And this morning you may be here, you may be watching online, and you have never made a decision to actually follow Jesus. There's nothing weird that you have to do. In fact, scripture says in Romans 10, verses 9 and 10, 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, and with the mouth, one confesses and is saved. That's it. You just say, lord, it's not about me. It's about you and you've created me, and whatever I've been doing with my life it hasn't worked out too great and I need the Savior of the world to come and guide me, and I want to follow you all the days of my life. I want to declare you the Lord of my life.
Celeste Brown:If you're here today, I'm going to ask everyone to bow their head, close their eyes, just out of respect for somebody who may be making this decision today. Maybe you're here I'm the only one looking around, but if you're like, you know what I want to make a decision to follow after Jesus with my whole heart. I'm just going to ask you to slip your hand up. I'm going to pray for you. We're going to make sure we get a Bible into your hands before. Yeah, amen, amen. I see your hands, amen, amen. I'm going to ask everybody 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, amen. We celebrate with you.
Celeste Brown:So there's a couple steps. I just want to tell you that, if you made that decision to follow after Jesus. Number one I want to give you a Bible. So if you come and find me or one of our pastoral team, we want to get a Bible into your hand, or one of our ushers. Number two I need you to find a church. So if you don't live in this area and you go back home, you need to find a church that actually opens the Bible and reads from the Bible. Okay, a Bible-believing church. Then, if you are in this area, we would love to have you come back. This church is for you. We have services 9 and 11. Come join us, but then, if you're going to join us, get plugged into a life group, because we need you to be around a group of believers that you can just build a friendship with and that you can just keep moving after the Lord. Amen.
Celeste Brown:Okay, believers, spiritual seasons are ordained, they have purpose and they're changing. What season are you in? This altar is going to be wide open today, because there's some of you who do not like the season you are in, and that's okay. We've all been through that. But I want you to come and I want you just to tell God Lord, whatever it is I got to learn from this season. Let me learn it fast and let me obey and then move me along to the next one, because I'm ready. Maybe you're in a really good season and you're like I ain't budging, I ain't moving. You need to come and get your heart ready so you can keep moving further with him. He wants to take you places you've never been before, but he can't take you there if you're digging your heels in and saying no, he wants to do so much more than you could even imagine, and so this altar is going to be open for you this morning.
Celeste Brown:Lord, I pray, I pray right now for you to move. I know there's people that are in this room that are in different seasons of life. Some are good, some are bad, some are just like whatever. But, god, our desire is that we draw closer to you and that you would do so much more with us and through us and in us. So this morning, as we open up this altar, I pray that you would move on hearts, that you would touch lives and that, holy Spirit, you would do what you do. We thank you for your faithfulness, in the mighty name of Jesus 20 years for Angus and Annie.
Jason Brown:Congratulations, friends. Praise the Lord. Hey, we have a special event happening this week. We'll ask if there's any guys that can help us. Right after this service. We need to break all these chairs down and bring in tables, because we're actually hosting a bunch of pastors this week for an event that we're holding later today. So if you could help us with that, we'd appreciate it.
Celeste Brown:And life group signups. As you head out, you'll see QR code. Just scan it, go view through it. There's some ones that are carried over, some new ones, but be a part of something.
Jason Brown:Before we go. I want to pray this blessing over us Before we go. Lord, I pray this blessing over us. The 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. Pray all that in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen, amen. Know this we love you very much here at Cornerstone. God bless you and have a great week.