Search for 'advent' (Page 3)
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Frontline Redeployment: 3 Truths for When God Sends us Someplace New
Over the course of my life, I’ve had a few occasions where God has ‘redeployed’ me to a new frontline – in fact, since I began my career in the Navy, many of these were actual redeployments! Sometimes we welcome these changes. For example, I was really excited when I was heading off to college and about to embark on that new adventure. Other redeployments are not as welcome. Several years ago, when I learned that my team was going…
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel | Isaiah 7:14; Luke 1:78 (Christmas Eve Homily)
O come, O come, Emmanuel, And ransom captive Israel, That mourns in lonely exile here Until the Son of God appear. Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel. I tried to lead our college and young adults group to sing this song last weekend, and while the words were beautiful, my rendition was pretty awful. Part of the reason for that is because there’s a bunch of different verses, and I wasn’t always sure which one to sing.…
A Message of Hope | Isaiah 40:1-5
Ethan Wormell was born and raised in Massachusetts. He is married to Catherine and has a son named Henry. He served for five and a half years in the U.S. Marine Corps and is a graduate of Westminster Seminary in California. He is pursuing pastoral ministry and church revitalization in New England. Please enjoy his Christmas message from Isaiah 40:1-5. A Message of Hope | Isaiah 40:1-5 At Christmas time we often reflect on the birth of Christ and the…
Next Gen Ministry Coordinator
Mackenna Platteel
Meet Mackenna! Our Next Gen Ministry Coordinator. She joined our Cornerstone Family back in 2016. Her job around the church is to intentionally foster relationships between our youth and herself, the church, and God. By coordinating events and Bible studies with our team of youth leaders. Mackenna has lived in Chelmsford Mass since 2006. She was homeschooled up until the eighth grade, entered into public school her freshman year, and graduated from Chelmsford High in 2019. Mackenna is currently a…
The Light of Christmas | Isaiah 9:2
I love Christmas lights. After Thanksgiving my wife and I decorated our front yard with Christmas lights. We actually got into a bit of a contest. She decorated the bushes on one side of the house, and I decorated the other side. Which side you think is better? That’s right. The right side! My side. Now which house do you think is better? Our house? Or this house in Wilmington that won $50,000 for their Christmas lights display? They won…
Dec 24, 2020
Christmas Eve on the Westford Common 6pm
Cornerstone Congregational Church is hosting an outdoor Christmas Eve candlelight service on the Westford Common at 6:00pm, December 24th. We’ll sing Christmas carols, read the nativity story, light the advent candle, and sing Silent Night by candlelight. We hope you can join us. Please wear a mask the entire time and maintain social distance. There are no bathrooms. More info, visit CornerstoneWestford.com. Merry Christmas! You can download and print yourself a copy of the lyrics here.
What’s the story? | Acts 13:13-52
Elijah loves Dora the Explorer. When he goes to bed, he almost always asks for a “Dora story.” So I sit down and I tell Elijah a story about Dora going on an adventure. There’s only one problem. Although I’ve been telling Dora stories for months, up until last Tuesday, I’d never actually watched an episode of Dora the Explorer. So everything I told Elijah was based on what I’d heard Monica tell him, what I’d seen here or there…
No King but Jesus | Acts 12:1-25 (first-person narrative sermon)
When I was at my Doctorate of Ministry (D.Min) program in October, we talked about preaching. For one assignment we had to take one sermon we’d preached and preach it again in an entirely different form. Same message, different approach. Three of my classmates tried preaching first-person narratives. That’s where you pretend to be a person from the Bible story and preach it from their point-of-view. My cohort mentor challenged us to try new ways of preaching, so today, I’m…
Mission vs. Maintenance | Acts 11:19-30
What are the two happiest days in a boat-owner’s life? The day they buy the boat… and the day they sell the boat. Some say a boat owner is happiest the day they sell their boat and buy a bigger boat. I never want to own boat, but I would like to have friends who own boats. I also want a friend with a pool. Boats require a lot of maintenance. From what I gather, the day you buy a…
Education | Matthew 22:34-40
Does education matter? Most of probably think, “Of course!” In Westford alone an estimated 45% of the population has a four-year college degree or higher. At the very least we live in a community that values education. Maybe I should rephrase the question. Does education matter… to God? A Pharisee, one who was “an expert in the last” asked Jesus a similar question (Matt 22:35). Matthew 22:36-37 (NIV) 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37 Jesus replied:…
Walking in Grace | Ephesians 4:1-6
I want to tell you about how God sees this church, how God sees our church. We’ve been reading and studying the book of Ephesians together, and it tells us how God sees our community of believers. When God sees our church he sees holy and faithful people. (1:1) God sees the ones he chose before the creation of the world. (1:4, 11) God sees his adopted children—we’re sons and daughters like Christ. (1:5) God sees those he has redeemed…
Nov 30, 2018
Decorate the Church
Do you have an eye for design? Come help decorate the church for the Advent Season. We are asking the Youth and the adults to help! There probably be some cookies and cocoa involved!! Please let Angela Crawford know if you can attend, even if you don’t have an eye for design… we need help!