Sermons on Belief (Page 3)

Sermons on Belief (Page 3)

The Wise Choice | Proverbs 9:1-18

Sometimes it all comes down to a single choice. You ever watch that old gameshow Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? It finally got cancelled this summer but the concept was pretty simple. The original gameshow host Regis Philbin would ask a contestant trivia questions. The questions were pretty easy at first but they got progressively harder and harder. But that also meant that each question was worth more and more, ranging from $100 to $1,000,000. If you answered all…

Four Responses to the Resurrection | Luke 24:36-53

In 2009 the retired minister of the First Unitarian Church of Portland Oregon, Marilyn Sewell, interviewed one of the most famous atheists of her day, Christopher Hitchens. Unitarians do not believe in the Trinity or that anyone goes to hell but that God is love and all go to heaven. They are considered theologically liberal while a church like Cornerstone is much more theologically conservative. We believe in the Trinity and that you must trust in Christ Jesus in order…

The Easter Parade | Luke 19:28-44 (Palm Sunday Sermon)

You may remember our sermon series “The Certain Gospel” in Luke that we started last year. We’re going to go back to Luke and slow down for the closing chapters. We won’t be able to hit everything, but we will focus more time on his entry today, the night of his betrayal, his crucifixion, resurrection, and the closing chapters of Luke. Lord willing that will set us up for Acts in the fall. This will line us up more closely…

Four Prayer Requests | Ephesians 3:14-21

Let’s start by reviewing the big picture of the book of Ephesians. Chapters 1-3 How God is gracious to us Chapters 4-6 How we are to live-out grace The first three chapters, chapters 1-3, don’t include many imperatives, or commands. They don’t tell us how to live as much as they tell us what God has done for us. The next three chapters, chapters 4-6, tell us how to respond to grace and are full of imperatives and commands. Grace…

The Certain Gospel: Bait & Switch Christianity | Luke 14:25-35

When I was in college I was walking to my car when I found a poster slipped under my wiper blades. It advertised free pizza. All I had to do was go by the local Dominos and I would receive my own pizza. I looked at this poster for a long time. It didn’t say I had to do anything to get that pizza. It simply said that I had to show up and I would get my pizza. But…

The Certain Gospel: The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector | Luke 18:9-14

The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, Cornerstone Luke 18:9-14 By Rev. Bernie Michaud, June, 2018 Question:  Why did you come here today? What do you want form God? What do you need, what do you expect to receive from God today? I know that if we were perfect, we would not come as needy people; we would come just to sing praises and to worship God. But, we are just people who are in need, and God…

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: Three Life or Death Questions | Luke 9:18-27

Have you ever had to answer a question like your life depended on it? Maybe some of you have seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail. King Arthur and his men are on a quest to find the Holy Grail, and they come up to the Bridge of Death, where they “must answer three questions from the bridge-keeper to pass.” The bridge-keeper, an old hermit with a scraggly beard, asks the first knight, “What… is your name?” “Sir Lancelot of…

The Certain Gospel: Faith on the Outside | Luke 7:1-10

Did you ever play sports as a kid? What’s the worst part of starting a game? Picking sides! Someone appoints team captains and they line everyone up. Then each team captain picks one kid and then another and another. And who do they always end up picking first? They pick the tallest kid or the fastest kid, definitely the most athletic kid. And when they pick them, it’s like, “High five! Yeah! We got you!” But then, all the best…

The Certain Gospel: Grace for Doubters | Luke 1:5-80

Have you ever noticed how two people can respond differently to the same news? “Look, free puppies!” Great news for kids. Bad news for parents. “Mom and dad, I got into my first choice of college, the expensive private one!” Great news for their child. Bad news for their bank account. “The verdict is… not guilty.” Great news for the defendant. Bad news for the plaintiff. In Luke chapter one, we read how two different people respond to similar news.…