Sermons on Discipleship (Page 2)
How to Listen to a Sermon | Acts 17:10-15
Sermons are boring!… Let me rephrase. Sermons can be boring. I grew up in a Baptist church in Estes Park, Colorado. The pews were, and still are, a lovely shade of orange. For a long time, I got out of having to listen to sermons regularly by helping my dad with children’s church. It was like a “get out of jail free” card. It was fantastic. At children’s church, there were plenty of club crackers, and the Gatorade was flowing.…
Strangely Comforting | Acts 15:36-16:15
In today’s text, I want to tell you about three things. I want to tell you about something I find strangely comforting, something I find oh so convicting, and something I find incredibly hopeful. In that way, it kind of reminds me of 495. I find the sound of I-495 strangely comforting. When I wake up in the morning, if I listen carefully, I can hear the white-noise buzz of 495. When I hear the cars whizzing by, the truck…
What is a Successful Church? | Acts 2:46-47
Sermon Acts 2:46-47 | Outward Church: What is a Successful Church? 46 Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, 47 praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. The unit of thought starts at verse 42 or perhaps back at the beginning of the chapter/book. Subject: What is a Successful Church Compliment: The Church…
What is a Successful Mission? | Acts 14:1-28
My friend got hired at a retail company to work in their software department. This company does most of their retail online and they use a very specific software to sell their products. My friend has a lot of experience in software and about six months in he recognized that there was a serious problem with this company’s software. The software worked fine, but it had a fatal flaw that left its users personal data vulnerable to theft. The only…
Acts of Change | Acts 6:1-7
Pastor Sam Kim of the Intercultural Mission Church in North Andover joined us for this morning’s sermon. Pastor Jonathan has appreciated Pastor Sam’s mentoring and discipleship in his life, and is excited to introduce him to the Cornerstone church family. The general idea of the Acts 6:1-7 sermon is this: By the Holy Spirit, the early church was able to change for those they loved, as the Son of God changed (fully God to fully God and fully human) to…
5 Steps | Matthew 18:15-18 (Accountability & Church Discipline Sermon)
What do you do when someone you love has a runny nose? You shove a Q-tip up their nose! But before-covid, what would you do? You’d hand them a tissue. That’s it. Maybe you’d say, “Your nose is running. Here’s a tissue.” But what if they don’t want to wipe their nose? What if they don’t realize they’re sick? You could forcefully wipe their nose with a tissue, like I do with my son, who by the way, is getting…
It’s Time To Get Real | Matthew 7:1-5; James 4:1-3
Hurricane Sally just hit the southeast—Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia. It toppled trees, flooded streets, and damaged houses. One news station reports, “More than 500,000 people have lost power.” Another estimates it will cause $2-$3 billion in damage. But did you know that termites do approximately $5 billion in damage to U.S. homes each year. Stephen Mansfield says, “Statistically termites do more damage in America than massive storms.” He adds, “Storms get the media. Termites quietly work away.” Apparently,…
But… Why? | Galatians 6:1-2
This summer my son started doing something that’s really cute. We’ll ask him to pick up his toys, or take a few more bites, or get his shoes on, and before he does any of those things he’ll ask us a question. Do you know what it is? “But… why?!” He throws his arms open wide and with the deepest look of sincerity a two-year old can muster he asks, “But… why?!” That’s probably the first question we are asking…
Three Life-Lessons For New Believers | Acts 9:19b-31
For me one of the most exciting things in life is to see someone new come to faith in Christ, or someone who has been kind of surface-level about Jesus, really commit and dive deep. I love the passion, the excitement, the willingness to share about Christ. It’s a special time. If you’re a new Christian, this sermon is for you. How can we keep a good thing going? I want to talk about how we can plug you in…
Where He Leads | Acts 8:26-40 (Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch)
Listen to Mark Pender preach on Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8:26-40. You can watch the full service on Facebook or only the sermon on YouTube.
Philosophy of Missions | John 13:12-17
Sermon John 13:12-17 | Philosophy of Missions 12 When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. 13 “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. 15 I have set you an example that…
The Way of Jesus | Acts 6:8-15 (Stephen)
What does it mean to follow Jesus? The early Christians in the book of Acts identifies themselves as “the way” (Acts 9:2). It sounds kind of mystical—“the way…” They were following “the way” of Jesus, who identified himself as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). Jesus tells us what his way is like: Luke 9:23 (NIV) Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily…