Cornerstone Christian Center
Cornerstone Christian Center
Sola Scriptura | The Five Solas
A lightning storm, a vow, and a question that won’t quit: why do you believe it? We follow Martin Luther from fear to courage and from indulgences to conviction, then bring his protest forward to the five solas that still ground a restless age. The heart of our time together is Sola Scriptura—Scripture alone as our final authority—not to flatten tradition or voices we trust, but to line them up under the Word that points us to Jesus. You’ll hear how access changed history, why translation and the printing press opened the Bible to ordinary people, and how manuscript evidence gives you solid reasons to trust what you read today.
From there we get practical. We explore what it means to let the Word dwell richly—how to read different genres with context, how Hebrews’ “living and active” sword cuts through pretense, and how Jesus’ call to build on rock becomes a durable plan for life when storms hit. If you’ve wrestled with doubt, struggled to make time for Scripture, or wondered how the Old and New Testaments form one story of redemption, this conversation offers clarity, courage, and next steps. We don’t stop at information; we invite transformation—returning to the gospel where grace alone saves through faith alone in Christ alone, to the glory of God alone.
Along the way, we share the beauty of community: imperfect people following Jesus, learning to ask better questions, and making choices shaped by wisdom rather than hurry. If you’re ready to anchor your beliefs, rebuild your rhythms, and respond to a Savior who still calls by name, you’re in the right place. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs solid ground, and leave a review to help others find the show. Your voice helps this message reach someone standing in their own storm.
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500 years ago, a monk named Martin Luther ignited a fire that would reshape Christianity forever. His stand against the prevailing doctrines of his day wasn't just a protest, it was a call to return to the foundational truths of the faith. This pivotal moment of the Protestant Reformation wasn't about creating a new religion, but about rediscovering the gospel. At the heart of this rediscovery were five core principles, Latin phrases that became the rallying cry for reform. These are the five solas. Sola scriptura, scripture alone. The Bible, not tradition or human authority, is our ultimate and infallible guide for faith and life. It's the final word, the highest court. Sola fide, faith alone. We're justified, declared righteous in God's sight, by faith alone, not by our works. We trust solely in Christ's finished work on the cross. So would God give grace alone. Salvation is an earth, it's a gift from God. It's his unmerited favor that saves us. Nothing we do can ever deserve it. So is Christus, Christ alone. Jesus Christ is the only mediator between God and humanity. He is the one and only way to salvation, our one true King, and our sole redeemer. Solideo Gloria, to the glory of God alone. The ultimate purpose of everything, including our salvation, is to bring glory to God. Our lives are to be lived for his praise, not our own. These aren't just historical slogans, they're living truths that anchor our faith.
Jason Brown:So why do you believe it? That's the question we're answering today is why do you believe it? A little over 500 years ago, there was this guy named Martin Luther, and he became a catalyst of change for what the way we believe and how we worship the Lord and returning back to a first century church and the thought process of worshiping the Lord in that way. Now, he didn't start out to be a theologian or a pastor or a priest in any way. He actually was training to be a lawyer. And so he was doing so, going to his studies and actually traveling down the road when he was caught in a storm one day. And it was a terrible storm, a lightning storm, much like what we just recently experienced. And so any of us that have got caught in out of a storm, we understand how scary that could be. Except all of us normally are riding in a car or something protected, whereas he was out in a carriage or a horse, and so he was he was really frightened about his life. And so he cries out to God and promises God that if he makes it, then you ever made those prayers to God? Did you fulfill what you said, what you promised to God in that moment? Some people do, you know, maybe like, God, I'll never miss church again. I promise. How are you guys doing with that? You doing okay with that? I mean, you guys are here, but are you always here after you promised it? You know what I'm saying? Whatever it is, his promise to the Lord was, God, if you allow me to survive this, I swear I'll become a priest and dedicate my life to you. And then he fulfilled his word to God. And it's pretty interesting because that storm became a catalyst in his life and so many others in his obedience to the Lord. He went and told his parents, who were actually wealthy people who owned a business and they were sending him, funding his schooling. And they're like, oh, wait, you're you're gonna go take vows of poverty and not be a lawyer for our family. Great. Yes, yes, this is a great decision. Yeah, they were not excited about it, you know, him leaving what they thought was a future and all these great things for him and to go and to take, you know, these these vows. But he was hard in his heart, dedicated to this idea, and he was connected to it, saying, I'm to be devout to these things. And he became a priest and he studied deeply and he had the opportunity to go and actually head back to Rome, to the holy city, and see the church and its grandeur. And as he went, it would be much like you or I today. As he was there, he saw the remnants from time past and he would see the Colosseum and in its current state, and because he was, you know, experiencing it that way. And he was taken back, he was taken in awe of all the amazing things that he was seeing with his eyes. But at the same time, as he walked the streets and you can kind of see that as an overview, he started to encounter that this isn't a place that's a model for everywhere else. This place is actually wrapped in debauchery. There was open prostitution, and there was all sorts of conniving and thieving, and there was all sorts of stealing of funds, and there was people that were buying their way into positions of power. And he saw all this unveiling in this church that he loved and this thing he had dedicated his life to. And he saw how the church was not mirroring what the gospel said in the book. And it started to really trouble him, and he came across these people that were selling indulgences. I mean, indulgence was it was a get out of sin free card. So they could either pre-buy it where you would buy it, and then you would go and get to do your sin without having any guilt, or so they thought. Or you would buy it for after the fact of the things that you had already done, or buy it for your family so they could get out of purgatory and make it into the good spot. But none of this stuff can you find in the Bible, none of it is legit as far as the gospel message. This was just something that they had come up with for funding something. And so they started, he started to talk about this and come against it, started to speak against indulgences, and he was told to be quiet. And it didn't set well with him. And so he started to study, started to fast, and started to pray. And he started to write, going through the gospels and seeing what the gospel was really supposed to be about. It wasn't supposed to be about this tradition or that tradition. It wasn't supposed to be about relics and about praying to saints. It was supposed to be about you and your heart with God. In 1517 in Germany, then he writes what is famous, a pivotal point in the Christian faith, where he writes 95 theses, and the story goes that he nailed them to his church door where he served as a statement of faith, saying, These are the things that we hold from the gospel as true to be what it means to follow Jesus. Now, this went directly against the power of his day, the Roman Catholic Church, and so they saw him as a heretic, told him to recant his statements, and he could not. The Pope reaches out to the Holy Roman Emperor, which was ruling over that area. He calls an audience with Martin Luther, and Martin Luther himself goes before the ruler, he tells him the same message. Sir, I cannot. This is from my heart. What we see in the scriptures here, I cannot change it. And so he was marked as someone for death, and it started what was called the Protestant Reformation. What it means is that they were protesting against the things that were not in alignment with the scripture, and they wanted to see that the church that they loved so much be reformed or changed back into an alignment with the scriptures. And this was a big thing because he starts to teach on these alignment of these 95 thesis straight from the Word of God. Now, here's the thing: most of the people in that day, when they came to services like the one we're experiencing right now, they came into it and it was in Latin. They lived in Germany. Not so many Latin speakers around. You know what I'm saying? So you'd come to church and not really understand much of what was being spoken. Reading, he's reading from a book which you don't have access to. And then whenever you come and ask a question, he just tells you what you're supposed to do because he's the only one with access to the book. And so he starts to challenge these ideas and he starts to challenge the idea that you would need to go through a priest in order to get to God. In fact, he says, I don't see that anywhere in here. The reason Jesus came is so there would have to be no other sacrifice, that Jesus alone is the sacrifice for all people for all time. It's what's called the priesthood of the believer, that each person can be someone connected directly to God. That each one of us is responsible for living as an example of Christ to other people, not just the priests. That each one of us is to live that life in connection with God, just like the early church did. That everyone was in need of forgiveness. That meant that even yes, the priest and yes, the cardinal, and even yes the Pope was infallible, that they too needed forgiveness from Jesus. Why? Because in the scripture it says, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Full stop. That means Peter and all the other apostles, they too needed Jesus. They too need a savior. And so what means that all of us are in need of forgiveness. And this started a really big rift within the church. It started a really big challenge within what was happening there. And you started to see these five statements of faith that were something that they stood upon as an alignment with the people in their day that were saying, This is true. We're gonna need to return back to the scripture, return back to our heart with God. What are you called? The five solas. You can see them here as sola scriptura or scripture alone, sola fide or faith alone, sola gratia or grace alone, solus Christus or Christ alone, and solide of gloria, God's glory alone. Friends, it's these things that hinge our faith. It's these statements of who Christ is and what all the authority is his, all the authority belongs to him. And since the authority is his, that means this book that gives us the wisdom from God, the authority relies back in the scripture. Now, this was a big problem for Martin Luther and the church that he was a part of because they excommunicated him from the church, saying he was a heretic. Whereas he said, no, the actual authority is the scripture that speaks to us. And I'm gonna make it available to everyone so they can see exactly what it says. And so they started to change that and actually write copies into the local languages so you'd see it in German or in Spanish or French or whatever languages of the people in that time in those locations. And they had this amazing thing that happened technologically in the printing press. And as they had the printing press now, that it wasn't a scribe having to copy page by page. That's where you would get mistakes. But instead, this time they would print them page after page and then bring them together so that each place, each place could have a Bible, and eventually each person could have a copy of the Bible themselves. That they themselves could go into the Word in a language they understand and it become alive to them, and they could read the words of God themselves. And so what happens is this transformation change happening in the world, it sparks all sorts of shift. It sparked wars in Europe and all sorts of things because for them it became about control, but for him, it became about a faith in God that is rooted in the scriptures. Friends, today that's why we value the word of God so highly. That's why here at Cornerstone we teach from it every week. It's because not just a feel-good club where we do self-help. No, friends, we want to talk about the living word of God, which challenges us and calls us into refinement in the living God. That's what it's about for us. So when we ask the question, why do you believe it? Then we can have an answer to share with the people around us. And it could be transformative. So that's what we're gonna be looking at in these weeks to come, the five solas and what they speak to us. Now, if you're a guest of ours here at Cornerstone, welcome. We're glad you're with us. We haven't had a chance to meet. My name is Jay. And Celeste and I, we have an opportunity to lead here at Cornerstone. It's a blessing to do so. And we're thankful that all of us are getting a chance to worship. If you're online with us, thank you for joining with us wherever you are across the world. We very much see ourselves as imperfect people, that all of us are in need of a savior. And since that's true, then it means that we are on a journey following Jesus, much like the disciples are, and they were, is that we're following where he's leading us to go. And our ambition is to be more like Jesus. And so that's why we're living this thing out and doing that both privately and collectively to be more like him. We do that as we connect with others and with him, as we grow in our relationship with God, as we serve using our time and talent. That's why we meet throughout the week, throughout the city in life groups, because it goes beyond the weekend gatherings that we're a part of here as the church, the people, is that we're meeting in other places so that we can be built up in our faith and connect with each other. As a part of uh life groups this past week, man, it's such an amazing moment, some of those groups, and seeing new people get connected and meet a friend for the very first time. How do people know that they need a friend? And especially when you get into the thickest stuff, man, to have a friend alongside you, praise God. And that's what it's about. Collectively, we are wanting to do the great commandment, the great commission, which is to love God, to make disciples, to reach the world. So today, as we head into the five solas, that's what we're thinking about and looking at. As we said, we looked at those five statements and those five areas. Today of those, we're gonna be looking at sola scriptura or scripture alone. You have your Bible, your tablet, your phone this morning. We're gonna be looking at and jumping off from 2 Timothy 3, verse 16 and 17. Let me encourage you to open it up and highlight it in your book and that it would be something you go back to and ruminate over this week. Let it speak to you as you think over it and in the Holy Spirit uh breathe over it today for you today. It says in verse 16, all scripture is breathed out by God for profitable teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word today and we pray over it, asking, Lord, for you to illuminate it or to use it, Lord, in our lives. Lord, give us a hunger for the things that you have for us. We pray this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Now, looking to this scripture, it's interesting, right? It's saying that the word of God, the scripture of God, it's breathed out by God, meaning like his inspiration for the words that we hold dear in the scripture is something that comes from the Lord. He is the author using people as the scribe. And so the people that we see are the author of the books of the Bible. They are actually essentially scribes by the work of the Holy Spirit as He's guiding them in this process. And so what we see is that it becomes something that we can use for instruction. This is Paul, the apostle, writing to his one he's mentoring, Timothy. And they have that relationship where Timothy is now acting as a pastor and as a leader over various churches. And so he's instructing him, saying, Listen, the thing you hold dear, you need to teach to others that this scripture is the life that which we establish our faith. It's not off of a tradition, it's not off of what I say or off of Apollo says or Peter or someone else. No, it's from the Word of God that we hold it so dear. And so as we dive into the Word of God, it starts to spark something inside of us. And it starts to refine us, it starts to come against us and starts to sharpen us up to be used by God. And that's not always the funnest process, is it? Sometimes when you read the Bible, there can be very challenging things in there, both to you or even to understand. And so it becomes something that's like either a stepping stone or a stumbling block. And we can see if you're not a person who's reading with the eyes of faith, then so often the Bible itself, it actually can be a thing that you start to trip over as you're trying to work through these things. You're like, well, how could they think this? Or how could this be true? How could I pray for my enemy and turn my other cheek and how could I do this? And then those who are reading it through the eyes of faith are seeing it as a stepping stone, something to step up onto to be more like Jesus. And so these things that we bring together, the butt, the Bible itself, it becomes 66 books or scrolls that were compiled together. Some of those actually being seen as one larger one that was broken up for uh identification reasons, things like Kings or Chronicles, but you could see where it's 66 books from over 40 authors with 1,500 years to write it all down. It spans 4,000 years of time in history that it was written during. So it's a large amount of time that recant and re that recall, I'm sorry, recall all of the history that we see within the book. It transitioned from being something that was a verbal tradition and an oral tradition and being passed from generation to generation to be and inscribed down so they could carry it with them forward and people could look back to exactly what was said. And that's what compiles into the Old and New Testament. That's the way we hold it as one book in our hands today, when in actuality it's 66 books compiled together. The Old Testament is that which happened before the time of Jesus and into the exile and even the return of the people, the children of Israel back into Israel, modern day Israel today. And you can see where that journey of God with mankind, that's what's it takes place in the Old Testament. And the laws and the guidance he gives us is for instructing the people of God to live a holy and righteous life, both in what they do and also in how they act. And so it was that idea of God walking in this covenant with the people of God so very often, instructing them to stay in covenant or connection to him. And did they do it? No, they didn't. Because spiritually they were teenagers for most of this time and they had their own ideas of what they wanted to get up to. Anyone know what I'm talking about? And so God would come and correct them, and he would say, Listen, I told you, walk with me, and things will go good for you. I will fight the battle for you. Things will thrive if you stay with me. And they're like, Cool story. I'm gonna do what I want to do. Anyone ever done it? Everyone ever like told your kids not to do a bad decision, and then you go make a bad one? Yeah, same. Also same. And so this is the story of the Old Testament over and over and over again. But what the promise of the Old Testament and what we looked at in the minor prophets, in the prophets and others, was a pointing towards that there would be a Messiah, one person that becomes the redemption for all people. And friends, we find that in Jesus Christ. And so the New Testament is a continuation of the story from the Old Testament, same story, same crimson thread of redemption, of the ark of God redeeming people back to himself, but this time done once and for all, for all people, for all time in Jesus Christ. And so no longer are they needing to go and make this kind of sacrifice and for the sin of this animal to take the sin off of them. But no, Jesus comes and does that for all people. And the narrative shifts that Jesus is challenging his disciples to take that word to everyone around him. And that's why it's the Bible is written from 1400 BC all the way to 90 AD through this massive span of years, because it's that narrative that shows us all the story as it's tied so intricately together. If you saw the weaving of these things together, it would blow your mind because each piece of it is tied backwards and forwards to what God has said to the prophet and how he fulfilled his promise. How God made these things be a promise and how Jesus fulfilled it over here and back and forth and back and forth. How we are called to live holy as unto God, but not just in our actions of the Old Testament, but in our heart of the New Testament. And so as we see this narrative go forward, we see it unveil and it starts to challenge us on how we live our life. Now, the the Bible itself is 66 books, it's 1,292 verses and in chapters, sorry, and then three, 31,102 verses. It is a ton of things to try to encapsulate in our minds. And it's these things that as we start to look to, we start to unpack it. And that's why you can spend lifetimes in studying your Bible. And even if you read something that you've read a hundred times, God can breathe upon it and you could see it in a new reflection. You could see it in a new light. You could see it challenge you differently than how it challenged you before. Interestingly, you know, so many times the argument comes back. I've heard it on popular podcasts as well, where it's like, well, these people wrote this thing, and we're not denying that authors wrote it, that they were inspired by God. But they they wrote it, and we don't even know if this is the original copy, is what it was supposed to say, right? Because other religious documents, they say, well, an angel gave this to me in a cave, and therefore this is directly from God. This is exactly how it is, or I found this and it was golden plates, and then we translated it, and this is how it says. And instead, what we're seeing is like, no, this is copies that go all the way back to the original sources. In fact, you could see a comparison to here to the Iliad, which is Homer, and you see the concept of what we have in the actual copies of them, and then their source materials. As we look here on this diagram, you could see where it was written in 900 BC and the New Testament was written much closer to us. And so we see the difference where it started back at 1400 BC all the way up to 90 AD. You could see what happens there and the process of that. You could see how the span between the original copy and the copies they found was much larger for something like the Iliad than it is for the Bible. You see where the copies, the amount of copies that we have that are intact copies that you could read from. Whereas Homer's Iliad has only 643, there are 5,600 plus copies of the gospel message that's there for us to reference, going all the way back to the source material. That's why whenever you read your Bible, you can trust the words that are there because it's brought back to the word itself. You can see the copy errors that people made as the scribes copied them from one to the other. 95% accuracy for the Iliad, 99.5% accuracy for the scriptures. And that's a powerful thing because it what it shows us is the alignment of all these different copies from all these places that were compiled together across the world at that time. I could tell you, Celeste and I have been in uh the Alexandria Library, and down on a lower level, they have this amazing uh display of different things they found. So they found sunken pieces of cities, and they have all these ancient things, and it's pretty amazing. And one of the things they have there is pieces of scripture, paparus, that's there written, and it's amazing. There's something transformative to see the words of Paul written on papyrus that's under glass right there, saying the exact same words we know from the Bible in our language. And it's a powerful thing. I stood and just looked at it. You could ask Celeste, I was like, this is amazing. This is amazing. And then to fast forward and see copies of the early Bibles, even here on Lichfield Road, right by us, there's a there's a Bible, uh, there's a Bible place that you can see copies and old copies of the Bible. Amazing, amazing, hundreds of years old, the same words that we have today. And so as we look to the scripture, we do so, understanding it instructs us and gives us insight. Picking up here in Hebrews 1, Hebrews tells us the stories of all these juggernauts of faith and all that God has done and challenges us to live for God. It starts in verse 1 of chapter 1. Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets. But in these last days he has spoken to us by his son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom he also created the world. Friends, what I love is that from the very first part of the story is God's creation of the world. And from the very beginning, it says, in the beginning, right? First page, first sentence, God created the heavens and the earth. That same narrative we see in the New Testament in John, where it says, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. That Jesus Himself, the truth, the only truth, is there from the beginning. Father, Son, Holy Spirit, the triune God, there from the beginning of the world. And so Jesus Himself becomes a sacrifice for all people. And it's this hinge, this truth that we find in the scriptures, is which we hang our faith upon. So as you spend your time and your reading, as you spend your time and your quiet time with the Lord every day, it starts to build upon your faith. It starts to instruct us, starts to give us insight and how to live and challenges us in our decision making. It starts to spark something different and how we can live for God to be more like Jesus. It continues in the scripture. You can see it in Matthew 7. Jesus is telling this story as an example about a wise man and a foolish man. He says, Everyone who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand, and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it. When we can understand, I don't know if you've seen, but recently, even here in our state and globe and Miami and places like this, there was so much water it became a river down the streets. Did you guys see this? It was coming pouring down the street, and you could see cars getting washed away and things like that. And all I could say was, Lord, be with those people as they're navigating this crazy thing that doesn't happen here very much. But there were houses that were built on the rocky hillside that stood right there in the middle of the storm as the storm washed everything else away. And you could see that parallel in our own lives. We talked about it a few weeks back, how Jesus is our cornerstone. He's the thing that we built our lives off of. And that's why when we talk about building our life in God, it's upon Jesus. That's why when we talked about clinging on to the salvation of the cross, that is the thing that will save us. It's eternal. Whereas those who build their lives on other things, those are temporary things. It's like sand. It shifts and it moves and it's washed away so easily. It's like we're sandcastle kings and queens. And if we build on those things, they will move away and will not be eternal. But if we build our life on Jesus Christ, then friends, we have a life that's built on something that goes beyond this realm and into the next one as we live in glory with Jesus Christ. The scripture continues and challenges us, and again, this time in Colossians, Paul writing to the church at Colossae and the challenge is here in chapter 3, verse 16. And we could do this across the Bible so many places. A few snapshots today. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. I love this. It's saying, like, let the word of God speak to you, let it be wisdom for you, and encourage each other with it. Today, as we sang these prayers, we're doing so. It's based in Scripture. So many of the promises that we're singing, the prayers we're singing are right out of the Psalms, right out of the Proverbs, different parts of Scripture where we are singing Scripture, we're professing what God has established for us. You know, often we'll people will come and we'll be dialoguing with them and being a sounding board for them, being counsel for them. And they'll ask me and they'll come like, Pastor, what about this situation? And you know, I need wisdom from God in this place. And we'll agree together, we talk, and then we'll pray. But often I'll ask the question, well, what has God been speaking to you in your quiet time about? What wisdom has God been giving you? And many times what the answer will be is that what you know it's been such a mess, it's been such a disaster. I haven't really had time to spend with God. And then my question was, where do you think the wisdom was gonna come from? I'm gonna try over here, maybe I'll get a better response. So when people don't have wisdom that's from God, it's usually because they haven't been spending time with God. And it's for a very bunch of reasons, sometimes legitimate, but the idea is that it's really the source of where we're gonna get the life-changing wisdom comes from God. And when we align ourselves with Him, the peace that we find is found in Jesus Christ. It's not just found in one little thing shifting here or there, it's from inside that we experience the Prince of Peace, giving peace that passes all understanding. It's from him where the wisdom comes, and a perspective change can happen that's outside of our normal mentality and our own emotional set. Or he can change something in just a second and change the way we see something, and now our actions are different. And now our alignment is different, and now the way we live is different because we let it transform us, and we're all in process. None of us is perfect in this. We're all walking this thing out with Jesus. The word continues and it says this in Hebrews 4 for the word of God is living. And active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing into the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him in whom we must give account. See, it's saying here in the scripture, in Hebrews, as the author writes to us, saying, Listen, you think that you can follow the law, and that's enough. That's not what this is saying. It says that you need to be in alignment with he who is the creator God because you will give an account to him one day. And you won't be able to hide around anything else. That's why in the garden, whenever Adam and Eve sinned, immediately they recognize their nakedness and they had to cover themselves up. And then God kills animals and takes their skins to cover them so they don't feel shame. In the same way, we will get to the end of our life and we will feel the shame of nakedness because we have nothing to hide behind. You can't hide behind grandma's faith in Jesus because guess what? That's grandma's faith. Can't hide behind daddy's faith in Jesus, that's dad's faith in Jesus. Your best friend, your wife, your spouse, whoever it is, you can't do that because it's your question with the living God of did you believe in Jesus? And what did you do with it? Each one of us has to give an account. And so that's why whenever we look to the scripture, we don't look for condemnation. No, the idea is we look for conviction because it's correction so we can change our lives to live for God. And friends, I could tell you, because I asked, Lord, help me be more like you. That's a dangerous prayer. He's like, I don't like your attitude. I'm like, Lord, I didn't ask about my attitude. I said, Lord, help me be more like you. He's like, shut your face and stop saying things you've been saying. Lord, maybe you didn't hear my prayer. I wasn't asking about me changing. I was saying, just give me more blessings, right? He's like, I will. But first, you gotta be Lord like me. Because if you if you're not and I give you the blessings, you're just gonna ruin it. Whereas if you're more in alignment with me, I could trust you with a thing I put in your hands so you don't bankrupt yourself spiritually for eternity. Jesus help us. That we would walk in alignment with Him, with a hunger for the Word of God. A couple things. As we look to the Word of God, we understand it's a compilation of different types of writing. So we read it differently. Some are historical, others are epistles from a person to a person or a person to a group, and some are more artistic, like psalms or something more like a wisdom writing. And so you you read them differently, and some of them being examples of how that might happen. And so you have to read them within their context. And as you do, it'll help us not preach things out of context or live things out of context. There's a lot of people that take a word and they'll run with that thing, and it's like, well, you have to read it within the balance of everything that's in the scripture. If you build your life off of one little thing, though, the words are correct, the way you're reading it is wrong, therefore the application is wrong. Does that make sense? And so let's talk about it for just a second here within the idea of context. First is the immediate context, the paragraph in which you find a scripture verse. You need to read it within that scripture verse because if you don't, then all these things will come out of alignment. So we need to read it within what is being said in the larger amount of what's being written to the people in that time, the general context, the book in which it's written. So if you're reading something that has something to do with a specific people group in a time, well, then let's look in that way and understand how it applied to them in that day and how that same thing can apply to us today. In the same way, the global context or the entire Bible, its entire script of looking for that crimson thread of redemption that we see all the way back in Genesis, that we see through Exodus, and even in Leviticus, and the guiding of people towards the ways of God, and all that we see through the judges, and all that we see through the narrative of the kings, and all the way we see, even in people coming back from being taken into slavery, all of that thread has everything to do with the New Testament as well. So you can't just read the red words and take it out of context, and you have to take it in its full context of what's being said. And then the fourth is the cultural context, the immediate audience. As you write Hebrews, it's first to the Hebrews. And so it's important to understand their thought process, their cultural context, what's been experienced, what they've told from generation to generation. And then you can take it and apply it to us. And so as long as it's in alignment, those are good things to teach. It's the right way to read it. But friends, let's not take things out of context that shouldn't be taken out of context, but look to the word so it can speak to us and give us life, not death. Amen. So let's go back to that question for application here for just a second. Why do you believe it? I'll tell you the first thing is this the scriptures help us learn from the past. All these things are a story. It's a real person in a real place. It's not a mythical land. This isn't Narnia. This isn't the Lord of the Rings, and we're trying to throw something in a volcano. No, these are real people that went through a real story. It's the real people of God. They really went through the situation. There was the real miracle. There was the real history of what God did to intercept with someone. And as we do that, we can understand that we can learn from the past so that we don't have to make the same mistake. Someone say amen to that. The second thing we see is that scriptures they speak to us today. It's not just for yesterday, but by the Spirit of God, He can make it illuminate. What does it say? Give us today our daily bread. That means the new thing for today, Lord, reveal it to me. I can't tell you how many times I've read the book of Romans, but I can open the book of Romans today and the Holy Spirit can say, Oh, did you see this part of this thing? I'm like, whoa. I've never even seen that. I've read this a thousand times and never saw that that way. And see, friends, today, for the day, what is it that the Lord wants to say to you? What truth does he want you to live? What is the takeaway he wants you to have? Give us today our daily bread. The third is this that the scriptures, they are guidance for the future. Just as we talked about with wisdom in the past, it's a guidance for the future. He's saying, Lord, if we're gonna, if I'm gonna live this way, then the decisions I need to make are be in alignment with you. And if he gives us wisdom about how we live our life and how we spend our money and how we are good stewards of what can be trusted, we can align ourselves with those values and it will help us for decision making going forward. We won't live upside down in credit card debt and all these other things because we don't have to prove to someone our value because we already have our value, because you are valued by God. You are unique, you are a son or daughter of the most high God. You have value outside of what you have. You can have everything stolen, your value remains the same. So we don't have to live for stuff, we don't have to live for that. We can live generously because we can live beneath our means and have surplus to give all these things in the book. All these things setting us up for future that's better than our past. Being those who look to the next generation to give them not just money or availability, but skill set and mindset so they can live for God and the generation behind them live for God, and the generation live behind them for God. Not run from God because they're now a rich kid who doesn't need God. Because their grandparent was the one that lived diligently after God and God blessed it. But instead, that they too would have the mindset, which is the real riches, is the mindset that's after God. Friends, why do you believe it? Well, I believe it because this is the word of God, and so I believe it because He is the truth, and there is no other truth. Today we have this opportunity to respond to the Word of God, to the message of God that's been here for us. Maybe you're here and you hear this story about why we believe what we believe, you hear this story about people challenging the idea of praying to other things and returning back to heart in God. You hear a story about a God who loved us so much that though he created the world and though he was holy and all-powerful, he emptied himself of all glory and came down in the form of creation as a man. And Jesus lived this life sinless so that he could become the holy sacrifice for a holy God and be the bridge that connects us back to the Father. Friends, he is the only way. We cannot earn it. We can't do enough good things, we can't buy our way into it. It's not possible. It's only through us accepting what Jesus has done for us. So each one of us has to answer the question: have you embraced Jesus? See, for us as Christ followers, we realize that the cross is a symbol of freedom because Jesus took my mistakes there. He took my sin, he took my brokenness, he took all the evil things I've done, and he paid for it on the cross so I could be made in right standing with the Father. So I could be drawn into his presence so that you could be drawn into his presence. He doesn't want you to live this life outside of his presence. He doesn't want you to live this life alone. That's not what it's called for. He wants us to live in communication and relationship with him. But it only comes through Jesus Christ. And so Jesus came and he took all of my sins and all my mistakes and all my brokenness, and he took yours and he died with it on that cross. And he did so so that he could become the sacrifice. So no longer was it the animal, no longer would it be me at the end of eternity. No, it's now Jesus who takes our place. And as Jesus takes our place, then what he says is, No, as you come to me and ask forgiveness, I give you righteousness instead of sin. I give you a new creation instead of brokenness. I make you a new thing altogether. I've been praying for you that you would make a decision to follow Jesus today. Set on me so heavy this week. Someone needs to know because your eternity is in the balance. Telling them the Romans who had everything, who had all the power and every God to pray to, he pointed them back to the cross and to Jesus Christ. He says in Romans 10, 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, with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Friends, today's your day. It's your day to say yes to Jesus. You're here in the room, if you just stand to your feet and bow your head as Christians are praying, as people are making decisions. Friends, if you're online, wherever you are, take a moment. Stop for what God wants to do in your life. Said you're bad. Maybe you're here and you'd say, Pastor, that's me. I've never made a decision to follow Jesus, but I want to make that decision today. I place my faith and my trust in him, and I want to live for Jesus. Ask him to forgive me of my sin, to live with him as the Lord of my life. Maybe you have made that decision in the past, but you walked away from living for him. Prince today that you would recommit your life back to God because He's looking for the parodical to come back to Him. If that's you, you just raise your hand right here, right now, in this moment. Say, that's me, Pastor. I want to be included in that prayer today to make a decision to follow Jesus. Thank you, Lord. It's people making decisions, people raising their hands today. See the hand, see that hand. See the hands out here today. Friends Allah, wherever you're at. We believe with you as well. I'm gonna ask if you would just pray this prayer out loud after me, everyone, if you would. Lord, thank you for loving me. Thank you for sending Jesus. I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins. And I believe he rose again. Forgive me of my sins. I surrender my life to you. In Christ's name I pray. Amen. Amen. Friends, we rejoice that you make a decision to follow Jesus today. What a powerful decision. Several hands in the room, others online. Praise the Lord. Friends, let me encourage you in this that you would uh take a shot of that QR code for next steps and get connected to us. It's a way to find out of what we do, how to believe, how to get apart. We don't want you to live this life alone. We want you to have the resources to live for Jesus. Today, as we come to this altar in this response time, we do so with hearts that are turned towards him, asking for his insight, asking for his wisdom, asking for his provision. Maybe you're someone who needs healing in your physical body today or in your emotions today. Maybe it's in your relationships today. Whatever it is, he's more than enough as the good shepherd who looks out for us. He is Jehovah Jirah. He is Jehovah Rapha. He is all these things and more that God will meet us right here. So let me pray as we come to this altar. Lord, we thank you so much for your word. Lord, we thank you for even the challenge and the courage of people like Martin Luther. Lord, that went back to the source of your scripture, Lord, to the heart that was after you. In the same way, Lord, that we would have a high regard for the word of God. Lord, give us a hunger for your word, Lord, that we would dive deep into it. Lord, that it would be something, Lord, that gives us roots into who you are. Lord, that we stay connected to you. Lord, that in this season we would look to it, Lord, that would give us insight, Lord, to live from the lessons of yesterday for today, Lord, and direct us for decisions in the future. Lord, we thank you that you're a God who meets us right here. And as we come to this altar, we ask for an impartition, Holy Spirit, of who you are. We pray this in Jesus Christ. Amen. So I want to encourage you, buy tickets, help us as we fundraise for Mercy House. It's amazing over 30 years of Mercy House ministry in the community. We're thankful for that. So be a part, invite a friend.
Celeste Brown:Yes, and we have water baptism coming up. And so if you're ready to take that next step in following after the Lord and you would like to be baptized in water, we're gonna celebrate with you. We're doing it first and second service. You can go on the app and sign up. You can also call the office and let them know. Um if you can't get on the app and just let them know that you would like to be a part of that. But we are excited for you as you continue in your journey with Jesus.
Jason Brown:Before we go, we want to 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, give this lift 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 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.