Sermons on Peter (Page 2)
Holiness | Acts 5:1-11 (Ananias & Sapphira)
Today we’re going back to our series in Acts. I actually wrote this sermon before the Coronavirus landed. Today I want us to start to get back into a rhythm. So today I’m preaching the story of Ananias and Sapphira and how their story tells us about the holiness of God. When you think of holiness, what do you think of? Maybe you think of a big beautiful cathedral. There’s something sacred and awe-inspiring about a beautiful church or cathedral.…
Life in the Shadow | Acts 5:12-16
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) put out a graph that’s been going around the internet. It’s called “flattening the curve” and it shows two trajectories. The first trajectory shows what will happen when people don’t take protective measures seriously—when we don’t practice social distancing and hand washing and self-quarantine. It shows a high number of cases overloading our healthcare system, which can lead to high loss of life. This curve is steep and sharp. It looks like a looming…
CHRIST OVER COVID | Matthew 8:14-17
A plague hit Rome from 249 to 262 AD. This plague lasted 13 years. Our pandemic has been a week and a half and we’re already going crazy. Can you imagine what that was like? Historians have studied this plague and it was bad, real bad. I don’t want to describe it to you but if you look up the Plague of Cyprian you can read all the details. It killed about 5,000 people a day. The city of Alexandria…
Knowing God | Acts 4:23-31
I want to read you a quote from one pastor’s last sermon. He said… Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He has allowed me to…
Outward Courage | Acts 4:1-22
John and David are out back working on the AC Unit. John is a believer and begins to ask David, “Do you go to church?” David explains that he used to go to mass but hasn’t been in years. They talk a little bit about the differences between Catholicism and John’s church, but the details stay high-level. Catholics have priests. Protestants have pastors. Catholics baptize babies. John’s church doesn’t. They don’t talk about any real theological differences. They don’t speak…
Our True Need | Acts 3:1-26
As I was thinking about you this week, imagining you sitting in these chairs, I was thinking that we all have a need. Your need is that thing or issue that’s on your mind, and that’s weighing on you but you don’t know how to solve. If we were to each stop and publicly identify our need, we’d be here a while. Some of us would identify money as our need. We need a job, or a raise, or help…
A Gospel Witness | Acts 2:14-41
We talk a lot about sharing our faith with others here at Cornerstone. But have you ever gotten into a situation where you had the chance to share the gospel and you froze because you felt like you didn’t know what to do? Can you think back to the last time a friend or family member brought up something about Christianity or the Bible and you thought, “What a great opportunity!” as it sailed right past you? Today, I want…
The Perils of Denying Jesus | Luke 22:47-62; John 21:15-19
Jesus can turn the worst of deniers into the best of disciples. Let’s think about denial for a moment. Denial means “to declare that something is untrue.” We tend to think of denial as a bad thing. I recently watched the Netflix Documentary Behind The Curve. There is a growing movement of people who believe the earth is flat. They believe the earth is not a round globe but a flat disk surrounded by a barrier of ice. Some believe…
Meditations on Gethsemane | Luke 22:39-46
Meditation #1 – Prayer defeats temptation by connecting us with Christ and each other. (Luke 22:39-41, 45-46) Tonight I have three meditations on Jesus’ time in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before his crucifixion (Matt 26:36; Mark 14:32). After each meditation you will have a chance to pray and reflect and respond in song. We’re doing this with the hopes that this passage will sink in deeper and be more life-changing. We don’t want to come to church and…
Cookies and the Cross | Acts 2:22-24 (Easter Sunrise Service)
Have you ever been blamed for something you didn’t do? Kids do this all the time, right? You tell them not to eat the chocolate chip cookies and when you come back into the room the cookies are gone. And you ask the child, “Did you eat the cookies?” And he says, “No, my brother did.” Of course, you have to ignore the chocolate wiped across his face, that he’s holding an empty cookie jar, and that his brother was…
The Certain Gospel: Out of Glory into Chaos | Luke 9:28-43a
Why does God take us from mountaintop worship experiences into everyday chaos? You can listen, watch, or read Mark Pender’s sermon from Luke 9:28-43a to find out why. The sermon manuscript is available by clicking “Save” and then “PDF.” Church Service You can watch the full service on Facebook or only the sermon on YouTube. This is Mark Pender’s first sermon at Cornerstone. Sermon Slides
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