Sermons on Paul (Page 5)
Introducing Grace | Ephesians 1:1-2
Today maybe you’ve come to Cornerstone because it’s the beginning of the fall season or a friend invited you. I want you to know that I have the most encouraging message prepared for you. In fact, I want to start off with a word of encouragement I received at the last church conference attended. My encouragement to you is this… “You are good for nothing.” You are good for nothing… You, are good, for nothing. Would everyone say this phrase…
Discipleship 101: The Connection Between My Peace & Our Peace | Philippians 4:2-9
I worked on a ranch for a summer. While I was there I helped brand cows, run cattle through chutes, and even tagged one cow’s ear. I’m not much of an animal person, but I do know that in a cattle herd the health of one cow can affect the health of the whole herd. Sickness and disease can spread quickly, so you want to make sure each cow is healthy. If one cow becomes stressed, it can get sick,…
Discipleship 101: Philippians 2:19-3:9 | Two Great Disciples & One Garbage Disciple
Have you ever gotten sucked into one of those cheap magazine or buzzfeed quizzes that tries to tell you something about yourself? You answer a dozen questions and it categorizes you as a certain type of person (introvert, extrovert, shy, outgoing, etc.) or as a character from one of your favorite movies or books. I took a “Which Harry Potter Character Are You” quiz and got Severus Snape. Severus Snape is pretty much the bad guy for most of Harry…
Discipleship 101: The Excitement of Being a Disciple | Philippians 3:10-4:1
For the last month or so we have been looking at what it means to be a disciple. We discovered that being a disciple means to be a student. And in our scripture text for today Paul says that He wants to know Christ. Paul was not satisfied just to know about Jesus. He wanted to know and to experience everything about Him. Please click “Save” and then “PDF” to download a copy of Bernie’s sermon manuscript. Thank you! Church Service You can watch…
Discipleship 101: Joyful Disciples | Philippians 2:12-18
Jesus and the 12 disciples walk into a restaurant and Jesus says to the hostess, “Table for 26 please.” So she says to him, “But there’s only 13 of you?” Jesus says, “Yes, but we all want to sit on one side.” Is it okay to tell jokes in church? Is it okay to laugh? I think so. But what if I were to tell you that the Bible actually encourages us to be joyful and happy as a church.…
Discipleship 101: Counter-Cultural Disciples | Philippians 1:27-30 (Tim Tebow vs. Colin Kaepernick)
What word would you use to describe our world right now? Chaotic? Angry? A mess? It seems like every week there’s a new story covering the strife in Washington and filling our globe. North Korea. Russia. Healthcare. The President. NFL. It seems like no matter the topic, our world is bitterly divided. But the great news is that Christians are in agreement! We are unified. We are at peace. We offer a safe-haven to those who want to get away…
Discipleship 101: The Difficulties of Discipleship | Philippians 1:12-26
As I was preparing this sermon on the difficulties of following Jesus this, I began to think about places we face hardship, and I thought of boot camp. I have not gone through boot camp, but my brother went to the Marine Corps boot camp. Boot camp is known for being really hard. You constantly drill, study, workout (sit-ups, push-ups, pull-ups, running), and this all culminates at the end in the crucible. The crucible is a 54-hour test where you’re…
Discipleship 101: The Praying Disciple | Philippians 1:3-11
Have you ever thought about how you might act if you were to meet someone really important? What you would say? How you would talk to them? If I were to meet Prince William and Kate (formerly Middleton), the Duchess of Cambridge, I’m not sure how I would act. Should I bow or shake their hands? Should I do both at the same time? What should I say to them? How long should I talk to them? This is William…
Discipleship 101: The Servant Disciple | Philippians 1:1-2
What is a disciple? That’s not a word we hear very often. When you think of a disciple, you may think of a religious person who adheres to the teachings of Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Plato, or some other religious teacher or philosopher. Disciple means “learner” or “student,” but the idea of being a disciple seems to be less and less popular, at least among my generation, the millennials. According to a Pew Research Center study, more than one-third of Millennials…
What We Believe: The Son | Philippians 2:6-11
Paul Little, in Know What You Believe, starts his chapter on Jesus Christ by pointing out how important Christ is to Christianity. You can lose Buddha, and still have Buddhism. You can lose Muhammad and still have Islam. You can lose Confucius and still have Confucianism. You can lose millions of Hinduism’s 330 million gods, and still have Hinduism. But you can’t lose Christ, and still have Christianity. Jesus is: the hero of the Bible’s story (John 3:16) the founder…