All Saints

Let's go to the Lord in prayer and just ask His help and His blessing. On us as we Hear from him today. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we just, come before you and we confess to you.

Our need of you. our weakness. We stand in need of multiple miracles, Lord, in our own hearts and in our midst as a church, the needs are vast. We pray for victims of Hurricane Harvey that are still just crawling out from underneath the, the wreckage.

That was caused by this natural disaster. We pray for those that are have already been affected. by Hurricane Irma and those who are directly in its path. It's a weighty thing, Lord, to To consider, The, the loss of life, the hundreds of billions of dollars in damage, the upheaval that things like this cause, we rest, Lord, in your sovereignty.

We confess our trust in you. And we pray for those that will be affected by these natural disasters, Lord, that this would be a time in which they would turn to you above all. We don't have complete answers, Lord, as to why there is suffering and evil in our world, but we know, Jesus, that you Placed yourself on a cross and became the number one victim of suffering and evil that the world has ever known. And so you suffer together with us in the sufferings that we experience.

In this fallen and broken world that has been broken by our sin. Help us as a church to be the hands and the feet of Jesus. Help Christians in Texas and in Florida and other places, Lord, to, to be the hands and feet of Christ, ministering aid in Jesus' name in a way that would direct people's focus to you, and may souls be saved and lives be changed and stories be told in the years to come. Of the great and mighty things that you have done.

You're a good God, and we just confess to you that though we don't have all the answers, we know that you are sovereign, you're in control. And you love us, and we confess today that we trust you. We ask that you would open our hearts to your word this morning and help us to receive all that you have for us as we launch in this ministry year. that begins here in September.

Lord bless all those that are serving in various capacities and may today be a day. of great excitement and looking forward to all that you have in store for us. We just commit ourselves to you, Lord, in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen. There is an insert that is in your bulletin regarding our man forum and our men's leadership.

class offerings or meetings that we'll be having, those are starting up this week, and we would encourage you guys to take a look at this insert, read the information. that is here. And men, be joining us if you're free on Tuesday morning or Tuesday evening. please join us for our man Forum time at 6 in the morning and our men's leadership, meeting, which is 6 in the evening and you'll find information about that on our men's ministry, insert.

Also, every person who has covened to be a member of Cornerstone. has covenanted to arrange themselves underneath the authority and the care of the elders, and one of the key ways that the elders have chosen to execute their ministry of shepherding and care is through our care group, ministry. So if you consider yourself to be a cornerstoner, it is important that you be an active and vital member of our care group, ministry. When you do that, you put yourself in a position to be able to benefit from the shepherding ministry of the church.

You also put yourself in a position to give and receive benefits of, of doing life and living in relationship with your brothers and sisters in Christ who are in your group. Our care groups here at Cornerstone are intergenerational, with children present all the way to those who are retired, and each of these care groups, meets on most of the Sundays of the year for about 11 months out of the year, and most of our care groups take place on Sunday afternoon or evening, and I believe we have one that meets on a Monday night and one that meets on Friday.

evening as well. If you've never been to a care group, meeting, a typical care group usually takes place in somebody's home, and the formal part of the meeting lasts for maybe a couple hours.

During that meeting time, the people who are gathered in that care group will worship God. through song and celebrate communion, fellowship around the teaching and preaching of God's word from the pulpit, and also pray together. Beyond that, usually they eat together and just in general, love one another and care for one another in the context of that, that meeting. If you're not a part of a care group, yet, we're taking signups today in the sign-up table.

for our care group ministry is right over here to my right. We would invite you to visit the table after the service, with any questions that you may have or to look at what the group offerings are and sign up for one of them. And then finally, before we get underway, looking at the word this morning, our Sunday school ministry starts up next Sunday morning at 9 in the morning. and we encourage you starting next week to make The 9 o'clock hour a part of your Sunday morning routine, both for yourself as well as for your children.

Our teachers are going to be, using the Answers Bible curriculum, which provides a Genesis to Revelation overview of the whole Bible over a four-year span, capturing, the Bible's major doctrines and themes from creation in Genesis all the way through to the great consummation of history recounted in the book of Revelation. In our adult program, Mike is gonna be teaching here in this room from that material and Carlos. Lemtiaco will be teaching a counseling class as well in room 103.

So join us next Sunday.

for the 9 o'clock hour and bring your children with you. Let me have you turn to Acts chapter 2 for Our time in the word this morning. We, we have over 30 ministries that are represented this morning in our ministry fair which will give you A good view after our service of what is available for you to benefit from and get involved in here at Cornerstone. Well, we hope you'll take time to visit these tables today.

This Sunday also represents the start of our ministry year with a number of our ministries relaunching here in the month of September. and as we find ourselves in the starting blocks for this ministry year, I, I just want to talk to you this morning and give you some challenges and encouragements and if you want to give a title to the message this morning, it would be All Saints. All saints, and the key word of our sermon today is the word all. I want to give you seven all expressions that are found in the New Testament, that I think we all would do well, to keep in mind and live by during this ministry year.

So we'll look at 7 all expressions that I just want to put before you, this morning that maybe serves as a good template, for us as we see ourselves and the way we're gonna do life and do ministry and serve the Lord, during this ministry year. And again, these are all from the New Testament and the first of these is the expression all together, all together, we're told in Acts chapter 2. That 120 of the earliest believers in Jesus were gathered together on the day of Pentecost, and we're told that they were all together in one place.

Great works of God happen when believers come together and that's exactly what happens here.

While they were all together, we're told, verse 2, That suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Verse 4 tells us that they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they began to speak in tongues of the mighty deeds of God, drawing a crowd of thousands of people who then heard Peter's preaching of the gospel, and as a result of Peter's preaching of the gospel, we're told that 3000 people believed and thus the church was born, and it all started on an occasion when these early believers were all together in one place.

It's interesting to note that in the following verses, we see that the believers in this growing church continued to be together. Verse 44.

And in verse 46, we're told that continuing with one mind in the temple and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart. Coming together, being all together is one of the earliest characteristics seen. In the first Christians in the very first church. In Matthew chapter 18 verse 20, Jesus says where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them, telling us that there's a special way that we experience the presence of Jesus when we come together with our brothers and sisters, even if it's 2 or 3.

who are gathered together, even in difficult moments when we as believers may be taking a stand against sin in a believer's life, which is what Matthew 18 in this context is all about. So let's be a church that is all together this year. Let's be a people who are not forsaking our own assembling together. Let's be a people who relish assembling together in our Sunday morning services and in our care group gatherings and in other ministry gatherings that are going to be taking place so that we can experience Christ.

And the overlap of our lives with one another as we minister to one another and together with one another in His name. There's another all expression that I wanna put before you this morning that we do well to keep in mind, and that is the expression all grace, all grace. one of my favorite passages in scripture is 2 Corinthians chapter 9 verse 8, where Paul speaks about the enabling grace of God in the life of the believer. Listen to what he says and notice how many times he uses the word awe, and this is more of a literal translation of the passage that I have on the screen.

He says, and God is able to make all grace abound to you so that always having all sufficiency in all things, you may have an abundance for all good deeds. Notice the five all's combined with the word abound and abundance. God is able to make all grace abound toward us. Every empowering and enabling grace that we would ever need from God, God is able to supply us with such grace in a bounding proportions.

And the result is that we will experience always a satisfying sufficiency of provision from the Lord in every situation where we are ministering to others and be left with an abundance of resources to engage in good deeds that God wants us to engage in for the benefit of others and for His glory. Keep in mind that in the context of this verse, Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to move toward need and to be generous givers and meeting the needs of others and to not be stingy.

He's encouraging them to give sacrificially. Generously, knowing that God will only respond by blessing them with greater capacity to give even more.

And in giving this assurance that Paul gives to the Corinthians and to us, Paul is addressing, I think, one of our biggest fears about sacrificial giving to the needs of others. Sometimes we are afraid to get involved in loving someone because of what that might require from us. The need is too big, we think, for us to handle. We're afraid to move toward the need because we're not sure that we are going to have what it takes.

Sometimes fear. we fear that we might be left empty and drained of life and resources if we get too involved in facing someone's need and addressing that need. But Paul is saying you don't have to worry about that. You cannot outgive God.

You cannot outgenerous God. The more we give, the more God expands our souls and blesses us with the capacity to give to others even more. God is able to make all grace abound toward us. So that always having all sufficiency in all things, we might have an abundance for every good deed that God wants us to do for others.

Do you believe that? I got to experience this in a tiny way. firsthand when Donna and I, Donna and my wife and I were back in Indianapolis. On vacation a few weeks ago visiting family.

We have a precious niece. whose car was undrivable due to fuel that was leaking in puddles under the driver's side of the car. this niece lost her dad. A year ago, and she, this niece, is in the final rounds of her treatments for leukemia.

And she was supposed to be driving off to college in 14 days, but her car was undrivable. My brother-in-law and I were over at her house. We were installing a front door on their family's home. but as we were doing that, working on the door, the car was sitting out in the driveway, and I was just wrestling over whether or not to even get remotely involved in Our niece's car situation and my hesitancy is that I'm not a car guy.

I don't know a whole lot about cars, but fortunately, I know people who do. So I ended up very tentatively moving toward the need and doing some research on the internet, making some phone calls. And I discovered that there's actually a recall on the fuel tank and the fuel pump of this particular car. So we ended up getting a free gas tank and free fuel pump installed in our niece's car under the provision of that recall.

But we also discovered that the fuel lines of this car were rusted out and needed replaced and a few other things needed to be done connected to that. So we ordered that work to be done at a dealership that the carmaker had told us to go to. I explained our niece's situation to the man at the dealership and he was able to help us out and cut some costs for us. And the price of those repairs ended up being more than what I had anticipated and prepared for.

But in the end, Donna and I and my parents and a couple of mine and Donna's children contributed toward the repairs, and you guys contributed about 20% of the cost of the repairs through your giving to the Agape Fund. And in the end, Our niece and her family were blessed to the point of tears. And that whole little adventure turned out to be one of my favorite ministry stories of the year. And I'm not even a car guy.

But the whole episode was a reminder to me of the truth of 2 Corinthians 9:8. If you move toward the need of others, you are in for an adventure that may require more of you than what you expect, but you will experience surprising providences. God will go with you, and God will make all grace abound. Toward you, giving you surprising sufficiency in all things so that you might have an abundance for every good deed.

And sometimes that provision of grace comes through your brothers and sisters in the Lord through their wisdom. And also what they contribute. And I know as I shared this, you, many of exactly what I'm talking about because this is the way you live your life. And you could share story after story of God's amazing provision for you as you move toward the needs of others and serve them.

If we truly believe 2 Corinthians 9:8, we will always believe that we always have all the grace that we need to do everything that God is specifically calling us to do. In the way of good deeds for others. There's another all that we should keep in mind, I think as we launch into this ministry year, and that is all prayer. All prayer.

Notice Paul's use of the word all in connection with his call to prayer in Ephesians 6:18. He says with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. This is not, guys, just a call to prayer. It is a call to all prayer.

What is all prayer? It means all kinds of prayers. Prayers of rejoicing, prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of petition. It means short prayers, long prayers, prayers prayed in the morning, prayers prayed in the evening, prayers prayed in the middle of the night as we toss and turn on our beds because of a burdened heart for somebody.

All prayer includes prayers prayed privately, prayers prayed together with others. It includes prayers prayed silently, prayers prayed out loud. It includes prayers that we make up and pray on the spot, and it also includes prayers that are recorded in the Psalms and in the Old Testament and the New Testament that we can pray. Paul also defines what all prayer means by what follows in this verse.

All prayer includes praying at all times. It includes praying with all perseverance, which implies that not every prayer we pray is gonna be answered right away, yet we are to keep praying with all perseverance when prayers are not answered as quickly as we would wish. All prayer also involves praying for all the saints, not just for ourselves. But for our brothers and sisters who are also in the thick of the battle.

And all prayer also involves praying in the Spirit, letting the Spirit direct us as we pray. Keep in mind that this call to all prayer comes in a section of Ephesians. Where Paul is telling us how to engage in spiritual warfare. He tells us in Ephesians 6:12 that we do not war against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world.

He tells us to be strong in the Lord and the power of his might as we engage in battle. He tells us to put on the whole armor of God, and to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. But that's not all that he tells us to do inside of this warfare. That we're engaged in.

If we are to be victorious in battle, if we are to truly be strong in the Lord and mighty warriors for him, we must pick up one more weapon, and that is the weapon of all prayer. And we must wield that weapon in the context of the battle that we are in. I've been struck more than ever in recent months. How that in and of myself, I am impotent against sin in myself and in the lives of those that I minister to as a brother and as a pastor.

I cannot through my own cleverness or creativity or wisdom, tear down strongholds in my own life or in the lives of those that I may be ministering to. God must show up. And he must do what only he can do, or all that I do and all that we do is for naught. We can't even minister the right way in our own strength, right?

And even if we did, even if this coming ministry year we all engaged in ministry absolutely perfectly. Nothing of any eternal value would happen. Unless God showed up. And blessed those efforts and did what only he can do.

And that's why God gives us this weapon of all prayer. We access the arm of God and we invite him to join us in our ministry through prayer. And the people who recognize that the Christian life and Christian ministry is warfare, are the ones who are best positioned to make use of this weapon called all prayer. Does that make sense?

Several years ago, John Piper said the following about prayer. He says in order to sustain a will to pray in our hearts, we must talk first about war. Until you believe that life is war, you cannot know what prayer. is for And I think this is why, like in the book of Ephesians, Paul does not call us to prayer.

Until he has spoken to us first about war. The war we are in. Piper continues, he says, prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission. It is as though the field commander, Jesus called in the troops, gave them a crucial mission, which is go and bear fruit, handed each of them a personal transmitter coded to the frequency of the general's headquarters and said, comrades, the general has a mission for you.

He aims to see it accomplished. And to that end, he has authorized me to give each of you personal access to him through these transmitters. If you stay true to his mission and seek his victory first, he will always be as close as your transmitter. To give tactical advice.

And to send in air cover when you or your comrades need it. But Piper continues, he says, but what have millions of Christians done? They have stopped believing that we are in a war. No urgency, no watching, no vigilance, no strategic planning.

Just easy peacetime and prosperity. And what did they do with the walkie-talki? They tried to rig it up as an intercom in their cushy houses and cabins and boats and cars, not to call in firepower for conflict with a mortal enemy, but to ask the maid to bring another pillow to the den. We need to hear that This is a good challenge for us.

May we not do that with prayer. Guys, we are at war. The church is at war against principalities, against powers, against the world forces of this darkness that prevails in our culture today and being at war with them, that makes us a target. And if we are going to minister to our fullest potential and produce fruit for eternity, we must make use of the weapon of all prayer.

May God help us to pray. When we pray, for example, in our care groups and elsewhere, may God help us to pray like warriors. May our care groups and homes not just be places of prayer, but may they be places of all prayer. May Cornerstone not just be a church of prayer, but a church of all prayer, where the weapon of all prayer is wielded.

Effectively In battle. There's another all expression that is in the New Testament that we would do well to keep in mind. This ministry year, and that is all diligence, all diligence. And 2 Peter 1.

Peter says, now for this very reason, because of the great and exceeding precious promises of God through Christ, For this very reason also, applying all diligence in your faith, supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. Who wouldn't want those qualities? Peter continues, if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And I want you guys to notice that Peter doesn't just tell us to add these qualities to our faith.

He tells us to apply diligence in adding them to our faith. And that word diligence speaks of quick movement, hastiness, and zeal in the task. Like the way kids descend on candy when a pinata breaks. grabbing as much as they can.

You can try to distract them from their goal, but you can't. They're focused, they're diligent, trying to grab as much as they can, and that's how we are to be. With these qualities seeking to lay hold. Of these qualities and adding them to our faith.

Peter is saying, guys, the pinata has broken. And these qualities are available to you. They're yours for the taking. Apply diligence.

And laying hold of them, and he doesn't just tell us to apply diligence, but apply all diligence. To this task, pulling out all the stops. Making every effort to lay hold of these qualities and to add them to your faith. How earnestly are you pursuing sanctification?

How earnestly, diligently are you pursuing Becoming equipped to serve the Lord and serve his kingdom and to be a blessing to others. Are you applying all diligence? Are you as focused and diligent in pursuing sanctification as Tom Brady is in search of another Super Bowl? I actually had this question in my sermon notes prior to Thursday's defeat of the Patriots.

But you get my point. Are you all in? Are you going all out in your effort to be as godly and as fruitful as God wants you? To be How about we go all out.

And apply all diligence this year. Let's do this together. Let's encourage one another. To make this aim.

I want to grow in my faith, I want to lay hold of these qualities because I want to be fruitful for the Lord Jesus Christ, and that we pursue it together, these things with all diligence. There's another all expression that we do well to keep in mind during this coming ministry year that's related to this, and that is all the more, all the more. In Hebrews 10:25, the writer of Hebrews tells us that we should not be forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another and all the more.

As you see the day drawing near.

In other words, do this assembling together and encouraging of one another, all the more as you see evidences that the day of Christ is drawing near. Don't just do these things, do them all the more motivated by the approaching day of Christ, as you see. It approaching It's easy to read the news today and experience fear. Whether we're reading about North Korea Or Hurricane Harvey or Hurricane Irma.

The fires in LA. The earthquake down in Mexico. We know from scripture that God is in control. Amen.

And history is moving towards its climax when Jesus returns. Earthquakes and tornadoes and hurricanes are the birth pangs of a planet that is groaning for the redemption of all things when Jesus comes. And one day, Jesus is going to return. from heaven and he will establish his kingdom on the earth and he will defeat his enemies and he will establish his righteous reign upon the earth.

And in that day, everyone will know that believers in Jesus, Those who believed in Jesus, were on the right side of history all along. And the writer of Hebrews is saying, as you see, various evidences. That the day of Christ is getting ever closer. Be assembling together, all the more and encouraging one another all the more, encouraging one another to stay true to Jesus Christ.

Do these things all the more knowing that your vindication is coming soon This past week, Had some hot days here in Riverside. We may have a few more hot days. In the next week or so, but I don't know how, what you're like, but I always laugh at the final hot days of summer. Because I know that it's summer's last gasp.

Even in the heat, I see the beginning of summer's undoing. The temperature at night drops down into the 60s, and I know scientifically that the Earth is shifting in its orientation toward the sun, and I know that the fall will soon push aside the summer. And that's the way we as Christians need to be at this stage of history. The world still rages and Satan roars.

But the great undoing of this world system has already started and the coming of Christ is drawing near. So we can be strong and even laugh in the face of adversity. And we can be all the more motivated to gather together and be encouraging one another and ministering in Jesus' name, all the more as we see the evidences that the day of Christ is drawing ever closer. Speaking of the great undoing of this world system that has already started, there's yet another all expression that we would do well to keep in mind this ministry year, and that is all the nations.

All the nations. We're told in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 22 that God has put all things in subjection to Jesus Christ, and that includes all the nations. Whether the nations realize it or not, or submit or not, Jesus Christ is Lord right now over all the nations. And Matthew 28.

Jesus said to his disciples and all of us, all authority has been given unto me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Guys, when we preach the gospel to other people, we are announcing to them that Jesus is Lord. And we're calling all people everywhere to repent and yield to his lordship.

So that they might be saved and receive the forgiveness of their sins. When Jesus says make disciples of all the nations. That word nations is ethnos, from which we get our word ethnic. Jesus is telling us that every ethnic group is included in the call to salvation.

We Christians should be the most anti-racist, unprejudiced. People against others of other ethnicities because Christ has called us to reach out to people of all ethnicities. Sharing with them the same good news by which we have been saved. In verse 20 we learned that part of making disciples of all the nations involves teaching them to observe all things.

Jesus says that I commanded you, all things, not some things. We're not just called here to teach parts of God's word that are maybe popular in our present day, things that people love to hear. But we are to teach all that Christ has spoken, even when what he has spoken. is diametrically opposed to the prevailing wisdom of our culture today.

And we can't be afraid. To speak truth, even when the truth we speak collides against. What the cultural consensus may be. How will we have the courage to do this?

Jesus encourages us at the very end of this with a Another all statement. He says in verse 20 at the very end, behold, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. Wherever we go. Guys, in our effort to make disciples, whenever we set about the teaching what Jesus has commanded, we can know that he's with us, he's helping us, he's equipping us, he's sustaining us, he's protecting us as we do these things.

So many of you do such a great job of this and reaching out to the lost and sharing Christ with them. Keep that up. Let's continue reaching out to others at every opportunity, sharing Christ with them. We do not do well to keep Jesus to ourselves, but to share Him and declare him to others.

And we can do that knowing that we speak for a risen Lord who has been given the reins of heaven and earth, and he has all authority. Let's be heralds of the good news of the gospel like we learned about last week from Pastor Mike Berry's message. And speaking of all statements, let's live in such a way that we can say with Paul in 1 Corinthians 9, I have become all things to all men that I may by all means save some, and I do all things for the sake of the gospel. That I may become A fellow partaker of it.

Paul's saying, I'm not content to just be a partaker of the gospel, I wanna be a fellow partaker with others in the gospel. Guys, we should seek to win souls to Christ so that we can increase the number of those who are dining at the gospel table together with us as we feast. There's still yet one final all expression that we would do well to keep in mind as we come into this ministry year, and that is all to the glory of God. You had to know we were heading here, right?

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 10:31, whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Let's do all that we do this year. For the glory of God. It's easy to be sidetracked and do things that are sinful and worthless and foolish that do not glorify God.

It's also easy to do good things, to do ministry things, yet to do those good ministry things for our own glory. If we're not careful, we can end up making the good things that we do all about us, rather than about God and His glory. And that's a tendency that we all have in us. Some people's prayer, and you've probably heard this prayer is Lord, please send revival to this church and let that revival begin with me.

Amen. But then their hearts secretly prays, and Lord, when you do that, can you make sure that everyone in the church knows that it all started with me. That's our hearts. The sin The pride, the glory seeking that is in our hearts, but imagine us being a people who care nothing about our own glory, a people whose only obsession is that God be glorified in us and through us.

There's no telling what God can do through this church. What God can do in us and through us if we care nothing about who gets the glory. So long as God gets all the glory. So let's make this our goal this year and all we do to glorify God, to make his name great, to show forth the greatness of who God is.

Putting it all together, this is the call. To us as a congregation, let's be all in, let's go all out. Let's be all together and minister with all grace, praying with all prayer, applying all diligence, reaching all the nations and doing these things all the more as we see the day of Christ drawing near, and let's do all that we do. To the glory of God.

Let's renounce. A sometime Christianity. And embrace in all the time, Christianity. Let's renounce and I surrender some brand of Christianity and actually mean it when we sing I surrender all.

Let's be done. With lesser things. And give ourselves to God's grand cosmic. Plan to bring blessing to all the families of the earth through the seed of Abraham.

Through Christ, we get to be a part of that several 1000 year old mission. That was articulated back in Genesis 12:3, and we get to participate in that. Today In 2017. I'll close with this.

I don't know who wrote this. Some say a Christian pastor from Zimbabwe wrote these words of dedication and determination as a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I'm sure many of you have heard this before, but I'll end by reading this to you. Listen to what he says. He says, I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed.

I have Holy Spirit power. My die has been cast. I have stepped over the line, the decision has been made. I'm a disciple of Jesus.

I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My Past is redeemed, my present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on his presence, walk by patience, am uplifted by prayer and labor by power. My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, and my mission is clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up. preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till he comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till he stops me. And when he comes for his own, he will have no problem recognizing me, my banner. will be clear And may it be that our banner.

will be just as clear. As we serve Jesus this year. Let's bow our heads in prayer. If you're here today and you have never become a disciple of Jesus, I hope that And trust that the Spirit's working in your heart today, showing you, your, you, your need for forgiveness.

I trust that Jesus has been Made visible to you. This morning and you see his greatness and His glory and that you would surrender your life to Him and to his love and receive the forgiveness of his sins that he is happy to provide you through his shed blood at the cross, if you would but look to him and admit your bankruptcy. And call upon him as your Lord and Savior. Do that today if you have not.

Done that before, and ask God to save you. And give you life and make you his child. Lord, we just come to you, this morning as your people confessing. To you are, are utter weakness and inadequacy.

Help us, Lord, in your name. To truly be all in, you have given us. The gift of your Son. You have surrendered what was most valuable to you so that we might be saved and our lives transformed.

May we respond to your love by being all in. To the life that you have called us to and to be done with lesser things that Not only distract us and take us down, but we know, Lord, that these lesser things are, they don't satisfy. Only you satisfy. We pray for all of our ministries, Lord, that are too numerous to, to mention here, but for all those who labor.

In ministry to the people of Cornerstone, the people of this community. To the children of this church and to the men and the women of this church, to our young people, Lord, I pray that we would experience your blessing, experience your pleasure in all that we do. Help us to be an encouragement to one another. I thank you, Lord, for the body that we have and the ministry team that we have.

Here, the congregation here at Cornerstone. I could not be more blessed to serve as a pastor. Of this amazing congregation. It is a blessing to serve with them and to be on their team.

But we know that all that we do, we cannot do. What we're called to do unless you enable us to do that. And we also know that if we did everything perfectly, still nothing would happen unless you showed up. We don't want the form of godliness without the power, we want the power with godliness, and we want your power to be evident in our midst.

So that you would be glorified, not us. We promise, Lord, that we will give you all of the glory for all that you do, and we ask that you would do such a great work in our midst and through us as a congregation during this ministry year that would be so wonderful and so great and so amazing that no one would ever accuse us. Of having done it All would know that this is God's doing and it's marvelous in our eyes. We thank you for this opportunity to give our offerings to you, Lord.

Receive these funds, do much with all that is given in this offering today. In Jesus' name, and all God's people said, Yeah.