Sermons (Page 25)

Sermons (Page 25)

The Certain Gospel: Get Your Go Bag Ready! | Luke 12:35-48

Christians believe that one day Jesus is going to come back. We believe his return is going to be unexpected, surprising, and everyone will see it. Today’s passage explains how to prepare for that day. That got me thinking about other times in life where we prepare for someone’s arrival, but we don’t know when they are coming. And of course that reminded me of our upcoming baby’s arrival. Our care provider has given us a due date of Saturday,…

The Certain Gospel: 6 Warning Signs of a Heart Problem | Luke 11:37-54

My family has a history of heart-attacks. My uncle died of a massive heart-attack, and my dad had two heart attacks. So I personally am interested in not having a heart attack, but also being able to identify the signs of a heart attack. The American Heart Association lists Warning Signs of a Heart Attack: Pain or discomfort in chest Lightheadedness, nausea, or vomiting Jaw, neck or back pain Discomfort or pain in arm or shoulder Shortness of breath It’s…

The Certain Gospel: Ministry Burnout | Luke 10:38-42

Do you ever feel burned out by church? Churches have a tendency to burn people out. When first-time guests Benjamin and Olivia Smith walk through our door, we hope they’ll come back the next week. When they do we’re so excited, we invite them to our fellowship dinner, and when they’re at the fellowship dinner we tell them about all our fantastic ministries and ask if they’d like to join any of them. When we find out Benjamin can play…

The Certain Gospel: 72 Go! | Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

I want to start by talking about my job. What are pastors for? At Cornerstone, we have “roles of ministry.” We believe elders are called to lead and shepherd, deacons are called to serve the people, and the pastor is called to equip the congregation who are to engage in ministry. Our philosophy of ministry says: “Staff Equipped: We believe that Pastors are called to serve the church by equipping the believers for the work of the ministry.” This is…

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

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: To Hell with the Devil! | Luke 8:26-39

Last summer we went through a series called What We Believe and Bernie preached on Satan. I’ll admit it. For some reason I was a little jealous. Well today I get to preach on Satan and demons, but now I’m not so sure that’s anything to be happy about. See, demons are dark and scary and not fun to study. One of my very first introductions to the fallen angel Satan and demons was on one of those old church…

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: What is the Sabbath? | Luke 6:1-11

What is the Sabbath? I want to offer you two definitions: “Biblical Sabbath is a twenty-four-hour block of time in which we stop work, enjoy rest, practice delight, and contemplate God.” The Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter Scazzero “Saturday; the holy day when Jewish people were commanded not to work.” Luke 1-12 For You by Mike McKinley Our first definition is more modern and explains how the Sabbath matters for us. Our second definition goes back to the original context…

The Certain Gospel: Eat, Drink, Talk | Luke 5:27-32

The first sermon I can remember on Jesus eating and drinking with sinners was at the first church-planter’s conference I attended. In March 2013, I attended the Nineveh Project, which was the  4C’s (our denomination’s) church planting conference. It was in Revere Massachusetts and I went because Monica and I had taken a class on church planting the previous summer. I met the Conference Minister Ron Hamilton there and he told me he heard Monica and I studied Westford in…

The Certain Gospel: Jesus Cares | Luke 4:14-30

Jesus cares. Jesus cares about the poor. He cares about those who live on welfare, those below the poverty line, those on Medicaid, those who will never live in Westford unless it’s in low-income housing. He cares about the rural white poor and the inner city black poor. Jesus cares about prisoners. He cares for those behind bars, not just the innocent ones, but the guilty ones too. Jesus cares for felons, for violent offenders, for white-collar criminals, for sex…