Focus | Future Family

We tackle the pull of constant noise and offer a practical path to a God-honoring home, starting with two simple questions we ask our teens and should ask ourselves: where are you going, and how will you get there? From Deuteronomy 6 to Jesus’ greatest commandments, we explore how loving God with heart, soul, and might becomes more than belief—it becomes the culture of your household.

We share honest stories about parenting through the “teenage” phases of faith—those emotional swings and course corrections—and why apology and repair are powerful discipleship tools. You’ll hear how to bind God’s word to your hands and eyes, shaping both your actions and your perspective, and why rival voices work so hard to claim your identity. Then we get concrete: write the vision and make it plain, adopt a mission you can practice daily—love God, make disciples, reach the world—and lean on values that act as guardrails when life gets messy.

To help you move from aspiration to traction, we walk through seven core habits that sharpen family focus: commitment, community, communication, competence, creativity, compassion, and celebration. Think of these as the lens adjustments that take you from blurry intentions to clear outcomes. Along the way, we highlight simple rhythms for Scripture, prayer, and neighbor-love that your kids can watch and imitate. Whether you’re single, dating, married, or deep into parenting, you’ll leave with a plan to align decisions with purpose and a hopeful vision your children can carry further than you did.

If this helps you refocus your home, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review with one takeaway you’ll practice this week.

Cornerstone
https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/

Follow Jesus
https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/follow-...

Life Groups
https://www.cornerstoneaz.org/life-gr...

Giving
https://cornerstoneaz.churchcenter.co...

Church Center App - Download then add Cornerstone Christian Center in Avondale, AZ

iOS
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/my-ch...

Android
https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...

----

Instagram
cornerstoneaz

Facebook
cornerstoneaz.org

Twitter
cornerstoneaz.org

Chapters

• 0:00 Legacy And Future Family Theme
• 0:59 Attention, Teenagers, And Spiritual Drift
• 4:32 Where Are You Going And How To Get There
• 7:31 Deuteronomy 6 And Giving God Everything
• 11:22 Teaching Faith To The Next Generation
• 15:04 Hands, Mind, And Competing Marks
• 18:20 Focus, Vision, And Practical Alignment
• 21:18 Jesus’ Great Commandments And Formation
• 24:00 Vision, Mission, Values For Family Culture
• 28:10 The Seven C’s For Sharpening Focus
• 31:25 Lifting Our Eyes Beyond The Mountain
• 34:05 Decide Your Family’s Direction
• 38:20 Salvation Invitation And Communion

Transcript

Video: 0:00

The world will always find a way to pull us apart. It's been happening for generations. We are surrounded by noise, yet isolated in our own world. But the legacy of your family isn't determined by where you've been. It doesn't matter if your family history didn't walk this path. It doesn't matter if you didn't start yesterday. The legacy of a God-honoring home begins the moment you decide to leave. Because your children's future isn't written in the stars, it's written in the Word.

Jason Brown: 0:45

Say amen to that. I want to say special thanks to Jeremy for putting together those kind of videos in our team, our creative team. We have a hand for our creative team. They do such a great job. Jeremy and Serena, for Joel and the team on media, we're so appreciative of that. Today we're talking about this new focus for this month, and it's a theme that we're looking at called future family. The question that we're answering today is what is your family focus? What is your family focus? For us, it's interesting because so much of what we do with our life, it's really about attention, trying to give our attention to something specifically. And that's the thing that all of us want as well when we were kids. That's what our kids are trying to get is our attention. And they're trying to fight for attention and all the devices that we have now, they're fighting for our attention. And they're trying to prompt us to pick them back up and show them attention, right? Your yippie dog, your cat that hates your guts, it's trying to get your attention. All these things are fighting for attention. It's interesting because as we talk about our focus, we're talking about our attention and how we give it, how we use it, and what that looks like. Now, I'm in a world full of teenagers. Anyone that has a life full of teenagers, that's how I'm existing in my life. And they're pretty rough. You can see this gang of teenagers here. Tough characters, man. It's the thuggish, ruggish bone right there. Those guys are serious. No, but you know, teenagers, man, it's they're great. They're fun. It's when you're coming, you're becoming more of an adult and you're trying to figure out what's going on. So sometimes you make rational decisions, sometimes you make wildly emotional decisions, and all of that is part of being a teenager. So I have one in college, we have one in high school, one in junior high, and it's fun at my house because you know, my son is out in college. Now it's a lot of high-pitched singing in my house, friends. That's where it's going on, as well as recorder right now. I don't know why. The Lord is testing me, but that's what's going on. And it's not a bad thing, it's a fun thing, but it's one of those things that it's the thing you're like, why am I enduring this? And then later, when it's not there and it's quiet, you're like, why is it not loud here? And so there's a piece of that which we're we're both cherishing and also trudging through. And so that's how it works. And I think so often the teenager era of our spiritual life is where people get caught up in their walk with God. So their first phase, they they start to go in with faith and they're excited, they're passionate, and everything is gung-ho. And then suddenly they might hit a snag or a trial or something, and suddenly they start to go waver, they start maybe going back and forth a little bit teenager-y in our decision making. Anyone following with me? And that's how we start to react. And so the thing that whenever our teenagers, let's just make the parallel, if our teenagers are headed out of the house to hang out with their friends, the question that we want to ask them is, Where are you going? It's the first question, right? Like, I'm gonna head out with my friends. Great. Where are you going? And and the question for us, even spiritually, is the exact same question. Where are you going? You know, if if we're asking our teenagers where they're going, then we should probably know where we're going as spiritual adults that are going after the things of God. And then the second question that we ask our teenagers whenever they say that they're gonna go somewhere and hang out, the second question is, how will you get there? And they're usually they want the mom bus, the dad bus. You guys know what I'm talking about? We are also professional Uber drivers. That's what we also do, apparently, according to our children. They want to take a, you know, have us take them from place to place. So the question, those two questions is where are you going? How will you get there? It really talks about our focus. And today, as we talk about future family, we're gonna talk about this concept of focus and about our idea, focusing in on the things of God, on the values that the Lord has for us. Give your Bible, your tablet, your phone. We're looking today in Deuteronomy, and be jumping off there in Deuteronomy 6, verse 5. Encourage you that you'd highlight it today in your Bible, on your phone, on your tablet. Let it speak to you, let it be something you focus on this week. The word says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Say those three things with me with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might. And that is the question that we have today is what is your family focus? Lord, we pray over your word today, asking you, Holy Spirit, to breathe upon it, make it alive and Rhema and challenging to us. Lord, it'd be something that speaks to us that we could be transformed more into your image. We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Now, we've been talking about here at Cornerstone, about being those who live in community. And if we haven't met, my name is Jay. Celeste and I have such a great opportunity of leading here at Cornerstone, and it's a blessing to do so with such a great team of people. Uh, we see ourselves in this idea of future family as being those who live in community with each other. That's why we have a new series of life groups. It's starting today, and it'll be running through this month. Let me, through this uh semester, this two months ahead, a couple months. Let me encourage you to get involved in what God wants to do in your life, that you would get connected in a group. And we have those three types of group. We have connect groups, which is building relationship. We have grow groups, which is going deeper in your life with God in your book or Bible study. And we have a serve group. It's using your time and your talent for the Lord. And in doing so, these three opportunities are good ways to build relationships with each other, to get involved in your faith. You know, there's a lot of options there. You can see some of these things for a connect group that you can get involved with. Maybe you're one of the ladies that likes to go on a hike or one of the guys that wants to be a part of marksman or something that's going to happen with one of our ladies or men's events. Let me encourage you to sign up. Let it be a blessing to you. If you're going for a grow group, you could see something like we talked about last week, which is a digital life group where we'll send you every week or every day one of the challenges that happen from the Bible and the daily devotional. So maybe that's something you could sign up for and be a part of it. Maybe you want to go and be a part of celebrate recovery. We have some of those that have just started. You can jump in with them. Or maybe there's other opportunities where you want to use your talent and your time to serve the Lord. There's a lot of opportunities there. You could do something as as uh as good and as genuine as the cafe. It's a nice way to help people connect with them and to connect with new guests here. Maybe you want to be a greeter, maybe you want to become a scriptural member, serve on a kids' team or one of the teams that's there. Let me encourage you to take the step in this season. Be intentional to be one of the people that gets involved. Amen. There's an opportunity to do that right after service today. So we're talking about this idea of future family. And as we do so, we've been talking about the concept of focus because that's how we see ourselves. Now, for us, when we talk about focus, often we're talking about direction. It's the direction in which we're going. So we're picking up in Deuteronomy there in uh in chapter six and looking at what it would say to us, speaking to the from the word of God. Deuteronomy six at verse one says, Now this is the commandment, the statues, the rules that the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over to possess it, that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you all the days of your life, and that your days may be long. Someone say amen to that. A lot of challenge in that. As you start to look through it, it says, in all the things that you do, and the way that you live and how you teach, God wants to be a part of everything. Say everything. Everything. That's what he wants to be a part of in your life. Is he wants to be a part of everything. And I think what can happen so often is that we want to kind of put our mind into segregation and separate it away into different quadrants. Like, God, you can have this Sunday morning part and maybe a little bit part of the week, but I'm just gonna kind of run it from here on out. And what he's talking to about us is living and giving everything to God. That means all of our ambition, all of our drive, all of our focus and what we're doing with our life, how we live and where we are going. And we talk about that, you know, he's talking here in the setting, the first context in which the scripture is written, is talking to those who are gonna go into the promised land, who are gonna have these battles and take over this place, and they have to be prepared in heart and live according to the statutes of God. For God, he said, I will be with you, but you need to walk with me. You need to trust me. And we see that they don't do that very well, do we? That we've made similar mistakes as the children of God did in that day. And so it's challenged again and again, and your son's son, not just you, but your son, not just him, but his son, and so on and so forth. That each generation would be those that embrace the living God. And we can understand it from a focused perspective, because if we were on this mountain and we wanted to go over to the next mountain, then we have to have a perspective and a focus to say that is where I desire to go. That I won't just stay here, that I'm gonna head that direction to where he's having us to go, where he's leading us to be about. And so that means that many times we're gonna have to traverse the great chasm between where we are and where we want to go. And it's not going to be easy. And we know this because it's a character issue, right? It's about us becoming refining in the characteristics of God. It's about us saying yes to God, it's about us giving up our time and our talent for the Lord. It's about us changing. And that's the hardest part, is because we like where we're at. We want to be safe, we want to be comfortable, we don't want to have to do anything. We're gonna go into the future of Wally where we sit in the big chairs and we float around. You guys know what I'm talking about. But that's not what we're called to do. We're called to be those who are about the mission of God. It continues here in Deuteronomy, and you can see it in verse 5, what we just read earlier. You shall love the Lord your God with your heart and with your soul and with all your might. Friends, he wants everything. Say it with me. Everything. He wants your heart, your soul, your might. He wants every part of who you are, every part, because it's not just this section over here, and I'm gonna keep this one section for me. This one section where I have unforgiveness, I'm gonna keep that for me, God. He's like, No, no, no. Maybe you didn't hear me in the first few verses of Deuteronomy 6. I want everything. And as we give everything to him, then we start to be in alignment with the values that he has for us. It talks about it continues in verse 6 and 7. It says, These words I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children. You shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. What God is saying is that He expects you to get active and you to teach the generations behind you what it means to live for God. That you would have the action step to be the one that instructs, not just by what you say, but how you live and how you model it, that God would have everything. Say it with me. Everything. And so as we read this time and time again, as it starts to unpack it before us, we understand that he wants all of who we are. And that's what it means to start to model and to teach the generations behind us. You see, it's it's hard because we're people who make mistakes. We talk about it often that none of us is perfect, all of us are on that journey following after Jesus. And in doing so, then we have to be those that are willing to give everything. Because if we don't, then we're modeling a broken system to those behind us. And if we model that system to them, then they're gonna model even a more broken system to those behind them. And so what starts to change is I'm gonna say, right now, as for me in my house, I'm gonna say we will serve the Lord. So I'm gonna set my parameters and my vision and my values according to his values. And in doing so, I'm gonna instruct my kids. And whenever I start having a teenager moment as an adult, that means reacting out of my emotions and not out of my heart for God. Whenever I start to respond to them and say something snappy and cut them down, then it means I have to go back to my wife, to my daughters, to my son, and say, I'm so sorry. Please forgive me. That wasn't the right reaction that I needed to say to you. And friends, and we're willing to do that instead of it's my house. If you don't like it, kick rocks, get out of here. I don't like you anyway. You have a weird nose, you know, like whatever we're saying. It's easy for me to do that and feel like a big fish in my tiny pond. Or I could live differently and understand that I want to slingshot my children past all the mistakes that my wife and I have made, that they would be those that live triumphantly more than conquerors in him who loved us first, that they have an identity as a child of God, who have parents that are, yes, make mistakes but are after the will of God, that they would go further and faster and farther than we could ever reach. Why? Because they haven't had to be in the pitfalls that we were in. Because they learned that if you give everything to God, he will take you so much farther than anything you can imagine. It continues back here in the scripture. It's interesting that it speaks this to us. In verse 8, it says, You shall bind them, meaning these words, as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. It's interesting here because as we start to talk about the word of God, as we start to talk about the things that are valuable to us, what does it say? He says that you would bind them, you would bind them to what? Your hands, what your hands are doing. That they're saying it's on your hands because whatever you do with your hands, you do as unto God. What is it saying? It's upon the front, let's in between your eyes, it's the mark that's here. What is it saying? That I would have the mind of Christ, the vision of Christ, the perspective of Christ. Our founding pastors, Rich and Cindy Brown, they would teach, and this concept of decisions determine your destiny. And it's the idea that the very lens by which we look through it affects our perspective, it for per it affects our worldview, it changes the way we think and feel. So we have to get those things right. So whenever we bind these things to us, whenever we're putting God's perspective and the mind of Christ on us, that's what's talking about to have his perspective on it, to have that kind of value that when a person sees you, they're gonna look you in the eyes, they see that you're a child of God. I'm not talking about physically marking your head or your hands, I'm talking about walking in the understanding that his is greater than yours, and that we walk according to what he has, that we give him everything. Say everything with me. Everything. And so when you think about the same reference to take that to another place in Revelation, it talks about the very same concept. What will it say? It says the mark of the beast will be upon the hand or between the eyes. What is it talking about? Is it a chip? Is it a tattoo? Is it a this? Is it a that? Friends, I know this is the enemy of your soul, wants to command what you are doing with your life. He wants to command the way you see things. He wants to command what your identity is when people look at you. See, he wants you to belong to him, but friends, you are already, you can shake that off. You are already belong to the Most High God. You already have his imagery upon you, you already have the mind of Christ. You already have hands that are doing things as unto God. What is we talk about before at the beginning of this year in prayer and fasting? Pure hands, clean hearts before God. That we would walk according to his statutes, knowing that we're not perfect, but getting up and doing it again and asking for forgiveness, that our focus would be on him. Now, as we talk about focus, you see this gentleman who's using a scope, and it might be something like this. You know, for those of us in the photography world, we're like, that's right, this is awesome. You know, in anything like this where you're trying to get a vision of where you're focused at, and we understand the concept because you're trying to look through and trying to focus in on something ahead of you. It's that concept of trying to have a trying to have a focus that's beyond where you are. And it has to be something that you're intentionally doing. You just don't fall into this concept. And so as we look to it, we start to see the words of Jesus that parallel these very things that we've read in Deuteronomy. It picks up here in Matthew 22, verse 35. Let me encourage you to turn there in your Bible today, that you would highlight this in his response to this lawyer. In Matthew 22, 35 and 36, one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets. Think about this. Jesus challenges us to step up to the very thing that we learned in Deuteronomy, the thing that he was teaching the children of God at that time is the very thing that he was teaching people as he walked on earth, is that we should give everything we have to the Lord. And not just that, but we should put it into an action step that we should not just think about it, but we should do it, and that we should love our neighbor as ourself. In Leviticus, it speaks to this very same concept. It says that you should not have anything against your brother, you should love your neighbor as yourself. So Jesus is saying the same thing to us today that we should be those that put these things into application, that as we focus our life and we start to give the Lord all of who we are, we understand that's what drives us to be people of the book. People that are spending time in the Bibles, people that are spending time in prayer and letting the Spirit of God wash over us and challenge our attitude, challenge our perspectives, challenge our decision making so that we're in alignment. Our focus is with Him. And what I love is that it says throughout the Word that if we are people who are diligent to do this, then the payoff comes from being those who walk in alignment with God. I love this promise that's here for us, and it'd see it here in Proverbs 22, 6. Train up a child in the way he should go. When he is old, he will not depart from it. What that means is that the seed of the gospel is more powerful than anything else. And so it will be something that is not, it cannot be squashed or taken away. It's something that's there as a seed inside of that person's heart. They have to make a decision themselves. Mom, you can't make it for them. Grandpa, you can't make it for them. They have to make it for themselves. So, young person, you have to make that decision for you. No one can make it for you. So we need to be people that are making that same decision. And in doing so, then we need to have, if we're gonna have a focus, then we need to be those that live with a vision for the future, with a mission, a way to get there, and with values that help direct us along the way. Organizationally, each organization has these type of things, vision for the future. What is a vision? A vision is seeing something that is unseen as though it's reality. And I and I love what it says here in Habakkuk. Habakkuk it's it's it's speaking to him and saying, This is what the vision I give you, you should make it clear to people. It says this, and the Lord answered me, write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. What is that making? It means not don't make it big and wordy, don't make it all this really hard process. If someone is running by as a messenger, they can read the concept, apply the concept, keep running with the message. And so the vision for us as we see it is to be those who are following after Jesus. And that's not an easy thing, that's a difficult thing. See, vision is always difficult because it means we can't stay here. We have to go where the vision is at. And so, as we're gonna be those who have a vision for our family, in the same way, we need to apply that to our own lives and that I'm gonna be someone who follows Jesus. That means that I'm gonna go to Jesus when I start making big decisions. That's why the vision for us is that both personally and corporately, we want to be more like Jesus. And that's not easy. That's very hard. Because that means every day we have to pick up our cross and follow Jesus. Every day we have to come to Him and say, Lord, today I need your daily bread for today. That yesterday isn't good enough, and I'm not Worried about tomorrow. Tomorrow we'll have this own anxiety, as the scripture says, for today, I need your impartation, I need your guidance. And as we do, then my steps today will align with the greater vision that He has for me in the future. Not just the how where are you going, but how are you going to get there? The mission that God has given you. And so the mission for us corporately here is that we're called to love God, make disciples, and reach the world. That's hard because loving God means that we need to be intentional. Loving God means that we need to put Him first. Loving God means that we need to give Him everything, not just part. It means a lot of things. But if we're going to really do it, if that's how we get to the vision, then we need to make those action steps and do it every day. If we're really going to be someone that makes disciples, our challenge last week and through this year is that each person, each one reach one, every single person leads someone personally to Jesus this year. What does that mean? It means you're a good steward, not just of your testimony, not just of your time and your talent and your treasury, but that all of those things come together. And people get to see you and say, What's different about you? And you say, Well, actually, let me tell you about Jesus in my life. It's not on a street corner with a bullhorn. It's not any of those kind of things. What it is is sharing your story about the redemption of God that you've experienced personally and how that will challenge those around you because they get to see the change that's in your life with consistency. Friends, that we would be those that make disciples. That it's not just a social club of Christians, but that we're people on a mission for God. The third is like it, it's reach the world. Now we're here in our own little area. We can only work, we could worry only about the West Valley, be like, Scottsdale, kick rocks. We don't like you. You know, like we could do whatever we want. But if we kept that little mentality about just our little part of the world, we wouldn't have the greater scope of what it is to be a Christ follower. That's why we say reach the world, that together, as we give through generosity, things like kingdom builders, friends, we have impact around the globe. And that's pretty amazing if you think about it, because it's just us coming together that's making that possible. Any one of us couldn't do it. But together we can accomplish so much more that literally we can be a part of reaching the world with the gospel message of Jesus Christ. So that's our vision, that's our mission. The third thing is the steps and what gives us the guardrails on how we get there. That's the values of God, what God gives us as values. That's why we talk about every week. We talk about what it means to connect, what it means to grow, what it means to serve, because that's how we see ourselves. As we want to be people that are making connection, having one more friend, that we are those who are going deeper in our relationship with God every season, a step closer to Him, and that we're those who give up our time and talent in serving. And as we do these things, it helps us get into focus. Now, going back to this uh this analogy, you know, if you point the focus at something, it's fine, but you have to actually slide and get it into the right focus because even just having the right direction doesn't always help you. You guys ever had um somebody who doesn't know how to operate a camera take pictures for you? And you're like, no, no, you need to put it, you need to put it in in focus. They're like, what? And they're taking pictures of the ceiling. Anybody? Nowadays your phone is so good, it'll take really sharp pictures, makes everybody look professional. You know, but back in the day, in my day, you guys want to understand this that are young, there was this thing, it goes click, click, click, click, click, snap. That's how the sound went for a camera. Because you would have to zip it up, zb, zb, z, z, z, zb, and then you take the snap. And if you didn't have the focus right, then half your role was out of focus. It was no good. And you'd have to go turn in your film and they would actually give you the pictures, and you'd be like, uh, Nana, who gave Nana the camera? What is this? You know what I mean? It's like all just out of focus, out of focus, her pocket for some reason. You know what I mean? Like whatever's going on. And you're like, this isn't helping. And see, I think that's with any of us, is that if we don't have our focus correct, then everything seems misshapen, everything doesn't isn't clear. And we start living in this kind of opaque understanding of God. That's why for us, whenever we start to have our focus on being more like Jesus, then we have to dial in according to what he's speaking to us. We need to clarify what's happening and talk about how it applies to my circumstance. Lord, you want me to be more like you? Okay. Then I'm gonna need help in forgiving some people that I really don't like. And Lord, I'm gonna need your help to pray for people I really don't agree with politically. And Lord, I need your help to understand that I have a greater worth than what's in my account or in my stock portfolio. That I'm I'm better than the amount of tangible gold I have on my person and whether or not it goes up to 4,500 or 5,000 an ounce. I'm worth more than these things because I am eternal and I belong to you. And when we start to have that kind of clarity on things, then it really starts to sharpen who we are and how we're living for God. Part of those things that help us is what we call the seven C's here. It's these elements that we want to apply to our lives. It's commitment, community, communication, competence, creativity, compassion, and celebration. Those are those things that help us sharpen and that apply it to our life, that God will use us in every piece of this, that we'll be committed to Him and what it means to walk according to His ways, that we live in community because none of us is called to live this life alone, that we are those who communicate the gospel, both in the way we live and the words we share with other people. That we are those that understand and have a competence and understanding and excellence of how we're living for God. And that we're people that go in the book so we can find out more about what he says for us, that we're people that use the creativity he's given us. Man, we have some very creative people in the house. And I love how they're using their creativity for God in many, many different ways and what that looks like. That we have people who are compassionate for others, that we see the same way that God has seen you and seen me, He has a compassionate heart towards us. And that, friends, that we celebrate whenever someone's having a moment, that we're not haters, but that we celebrate alongside them for their victory and the healing, for the forgiveness for whatever is going on in their life, that we get to celebrate with them what God is doing on their behalf. Friends, that's the values that we want to focus in on. That's the things that we want to focus in our life, towards the vision with the mission and the values that God has given us. That we are those that live with that type of focus. Now, as it becomes more clear, then it starts to help us with our perspective and where we're looking, where we get our eyes off of ourself and our immediate problem to things that are out in front of us. I love this uh this image that's brought to us by Ready Set Grow to a series of um of pastors that are helping our church leadership right now walk and try to be more uh better in reaching our community. And they use this as an imagery of talking about vision. And the concept is pretty easy, is that the higher that we get up and understand to look out, the higher the connected we are with God, the more we'll get away from just our immediate circumstance of having all of our attention. And it starts to be where it's like, okay, I see that there's this mountain and I understand that I have to go through it. It's gonna be hard. But when we get there, we'll be able to see even greater things on the other side of what's happening. And friends, what I love is that the scripture says that those who have a faith like a mustard seed can say to this mountain, move, and it will go into the sea. And so what we start to do is walk in obedience step after step, day after day. And pretty soon you're able to go right past that chasm. You're able to walk through the valley of the shadow of death because he is with us and hasn't forsaken us. And we can ascend to the mountain and go beyond that to the next place God has for us. Why? Because he's given us a vision to be more like Jesus, he's given us a how and being those that love God and make disciples and reach the world. He's given us the nuts and bolts of why to do it and how to do it. So let's go all the way back for our family. So, family, where are you going? Whenever people talk about your family and your culture, how you do what you do, what would they say about you and where you're going? Friends, let's be those that decide where we're going as a family. Even if you're not married right now, you as a person, what are you gonna do? What are you gonna value? The person you're gonna have a relationship, what are they gonna value? Are you gonna give up your values for their values? Or are you gonna both go after the things of God? See if we're trying to go towards each other, we go past each other. We go towards God, we get closer together. So if we're already there, maybe we're already married and in that relationship, okay, now where are we going together? What does God have for us? What are the things that He's laid on our heart? How can we be those who use those parts of who we are, connect and grow and serve? And how are we going to get there? Friends, we have to start with the end in mind in order to get there. So, how will you get there? And as we talk about that and we start to talk about how we're gonna get there, what decisions we're gonna make, I'll tell you it's greater than the amount of money you live for your kids and a trust, is how you live for God right now. So they have this skill set to trust God and to walk for Him all the days of their life. It's more value than the other thing. But it's also a good thing that if you're those that already are making these decisions, we also leave them the trust with the resources to do something great about it. But it's an either or it's and both. Because when we start to do these things, we start to elevate the things that they can do for God because now they're not doing the same thing we had to do. Now they can trust God in a whole nother level. Friends, I know this, I don't want my kids to experience what I've experienced. I want them to experience so much more than what I've experienced. And should Jesus tarry and we get to have a whole stack of grandkids? You heard me, children, a whole stack of grandkids? I want a pat of families, I want a path familiar to wade through them, you know, it's crazy. And I want those kids to live for God just like their parents live for God. That they have the same values. And so that is the third takeaway from today that we would be those that focus on our values, to be the guidance of our vision and how we're gonna get there. Friends, each one of us is challenged to do that very thing, to be those that if our future family was to show up today, they would say you did good because you walked in a vision of the future, walking day by day in the presence of Lord. Today we have this opportunity as we prepare ourselves for the table to remind ourselves of the great sacrifice for Christ. As we answer that question, what is your family focus? Each one of us has to come and say, Lord, what would you have me to do? Maybe you're here and you've never made a decision to follow Jesus. Today is your opportunity. Each one of us has to answer that question of have you embraced Jesus? See, for us, the symbol of the cross is one that's profound. Because the cross is the place where Jesus took all of my sin and all of my brokenness and all of my mistakes. He took all of those things to the cross for me. And that's why the symbol of the cross is so important, because the cross is the place where Jesus, He took your brokenness and your sins there as well. For each person, for all of us, he did this. See, he didn't have sin in his life. He didn't have that brokenness that we get that's passed down from us. He walked in a different way, he was sinless. And so, as doing so, he becomes the holy gift, the holy sacrifice to God that pays for the sin of the world. That's what's different about us and every other religion is that I'm not praying to some kind of dead deity that they made a statue of and kind of a water feature. Friends, that's not what we're about. Jesus is not dead because he paid for it, but he is risen. And so our relationship is with the living God. And so as we walk in that relationship, that is what I'm talking about is the guidance, the focus, the drive to go after the things of God. Because it's not just about a bunch of dead statutes, it's about a living relationship with the living God. That's why the Apostle Paul, someone who he himself in the past had tortured the church. He had done all sorts of terrible things, but God got a hold of his life, changed everything for him, made him a new creation, and forgave him and gave him a new mission and a new purpose, a new focus. This man who went on to plant the church across the world, through great suffering and tenacity, he writes to the church at Rome and 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. Friends, today is your opportunity. It's your opportunity to say yes to Jesus. I'm gonna ask if everyone would if they'd stand to their feet today and bow their heads as Christians are praying. Friends online, wherever you are, take a moment and pause for what God wants to do in and through your life right now. Maybe you're here and you've never made a decision to follow Jesus. Friends, today is your opportunity to place your faith and trust in Him. To say, Jesus, I believe you are who you say you are. Lord, I ask you to forgive me of my sins. I invite you into my life, to be the Lord of my life. I want to live this new relationship with you. Or maybe you're here and you have made a decision in the past, but then you walked away from actively living it. Let me challenge you today that you would recommit your heart back to God. As heads are bowed and Christians are praying here in the room. If that's you, you'd say, Pastor, that's me. I want to be included in this prayer today, to give my heart to Jesus. If that's you, just raise your hand right where you're at. Won't embarrass you, just want to indicate that you're here. Thank you, Lord. We see the hands that are raised that are there. Others making decisions for God today. We see those hands that are there, friends in the balcony, others online, we see the hands that are here. Thank you, Jesus. People agreeing, people making decisions. I'm gonna ask if you would, 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. Friends, we rejoice if you make a decision to follow Jesus today. Hey, if that was you, take a moment, take a snap of this QR code you see on the sides. You'll see it on your screen online as well. And let that be a blessing to you. We want to put materials into your hands so you can be successful in living this life after God. Today we're gonna have this opportunity to respond during this song, and then we're gonna come back and have communion together. And so during this song, let me encourage you that if you're someone who wants to make an altar with God, maybe you just want to take a step and draw near to him and ask him for more empowerment in your daily week. If if maybe you're going through something, you need the healing of the Most High, you need restoration in your marriage, you need healing in your relationships, you need provision and wisdom to make decisions. Whatever it is that you could come and make an altar with God, let him speak to you, that we want to be those as we come to the communion table with pure hands, pure hearts before him, that we remember his great sacrifice for us. Lord, we thank you so much for this word. We thank you, Lord, for speaking to us directly. And Lord, how you challenge us not just to believe it, but Lord, to put it into action, to love our neighbor as ourself. Lord, that we would be those with a focus after you, Lord, that our future family would live with that with that vision, that mission, those values that help drive us and guide us to make decisions, Lord, to be together with that culture of living after you. Lord, today we come to your altar asking, Lord, for an impartation of your spirit. Lord, that you would pour yourself out upon us. We pray this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Celeste Brown: 39:05

Today is life group signups. So as you head out of the building, you will see some tables set up. There are people there that are ready to answer questions for you. Maybe you're interested in a life group, but you have some things you just want to know about, where they're meeting, what it involves. Go and speak to them, find out, but sign up for something. We want this to be the best semester yet.

Jason Brown: 39:25

Amen. And next week I think it's the Super Bowl, is it not? My team didn't make it again. Weird. Um, let me encourage you in this come be a part of service. It's gonna be Team Sunday. We're gonna wear our jerseys to represent our favorite team and talk about in this theme, future family, and what it means about being on the same team. And don't worry about it because you know uh the game is much later in the afternoon, so come to church. Before we go, I 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, 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.