From the First Day Until Now

Anyway, let me, invite you to turn in your Bibles to, Philippians chapter one. For our time of study and the word, this morning. we're gonna be looking at verses 3 through 11, and if you want to give a title to the message, we would lift these words from the text, and it's from the first day until now. Over the last 2.5 decades of my life, January 1st has always had a double meaning for me.

It represents the start of a new year and a clean slate, and it also represents the anniversary of my first day as an official pastor here at Cornerstone. which was January 1st, 1992. So last Sunday, January 1st, marked the 25 year anniversary of my first day as a pastor here at Cornerstone. But you guys all already know that I hear.

but as this 25 year, anniversary has, approached, I've spent a lot of time over the last few weeks, reflecting. on this milestone and the things that God has taught me, I even bought a journal book, hardback book to just write down the things that the Lord has taught me over the last 2.5 decades and, done a lot of reflecting and at least two things have loomed large in my mind, which I was sharing with, Kumi a couple of weeks ago. First of all, it's not every congregation. That a pastor would want to stay with for 25 years.

But this congregation is. And I suspect that whoever Cornerstone would have hired back in 1992 would still be pastoring here today because he would know a good thing when he sees it and he would be most reluctant to walk away from a congregation like you. The other thing I've been thinking about is the fact that it's not every congregation that would let a pastor stay for 25 years, but you have, and that is not lost on Donna and I. That is a miracle of grace that we give God all the glory for.

A part of me, hoped. That we could just sneak past this anniversary with no fanfare, but you would not let that happen. And I'm OK with that. I'm happy to join with you together with my wife, and making a big deal out of today because it gives Donna and I the opportunity to give glory to God and to celebrate you.

And the difference you've made in our lives. Our presence here at this church over the last 25 years says as much about you as it does about anybody, and today provides us the opportunity to say thank you to you for the blessing that you've been to Donna and to me and to our 4 children over these past 25 years. My first sermon to you was in July of 1991, 25.5 years ago, and it was from Philippians chapter 4, verses 6 and seven. I have the very notes, that I preached from.

In, that sermon here in the pulpit with me this morning. And I know I've shared this with you guys before, but the very first line of my first sermon to you, was this. I took a, I took a picture of it. I don't know if you can read it.

It says, if Moses were to come down from the mountain again today, the only tablets he'd be carrying would be aspirin. It's literally the first thing on my Notes, the first thing I said to you. 25.5 years ago and with that powerful statement, My preaching career was launched here at Cornerstone, and it's been uphill ever since. My first sermon to you was from the book of Philippians, so it's only appropriate for me to speak to you today from this precious book.

There's two things I especially love about the book of Philippians. first of all, it's the most personal. And the most affectionate of all of Paul's letters to churches. I, I don't think Paul played favorites.

with churches, if you ask Paul, what's your favorite church, I don't think he would have answered that question. He would have said they're all My favorites, just like my parents always said, all four of our children are, our favorites, even though deep down we all knew I was their favorite child. But they didn't let on to others, especially the other siblings, that that was the case, and Paul would probably behave similarly, but if Paul did have a favorite congregation, the Philippian Church could offer Paul's epistle to them as proof that they were his favorite.

In the book of Philippians, Paul speaks to this congregation with a depth and a frequency of affection and gratefulness that surpasses anything you see in any of his other letters to other churches, and we see some of that language in our passage today.

The other thing I love about the book of Philippians is how frequently the gospel is mentioned, and it's mentioned in organic ways. It doesn't seem that Paul sets out to write a treatise on the gospel in this letter, yet the gospel spills out and everything he says. To the Philippines. About his relationship with them and as he seeks to motivate them to godly living.

I've been reading in recent weeks, Philippians chapter 1 verses 3 through 11 in connection with this milestone that we reach as a church today and these verses represent a lot of what I've been thinking and feeling about you as a congregation. So I would like to take a look at these verses and use them to say some things that That I want to say to you this morning. So we'll frame our study this way, 6 things that Paul says to a congregation that he deeply loves. 6 things that Paul says to a congregation that he deeply loves.

The first thing he says is, I thank God. Whenever I remember you. Verse 3, he says, I thank my God and all my remembrance of you. Paul is not simply saying here that he thanks God for the Philippians.

He's telling them that he thanks God for them every time he thinks about them. Paul wants the Philippians to know that God brings them to his mind on many occasions. And when God does so, Paul's heart is encouraged and he ends up thanking God every time. He thinks about them.

Paul wants the Philippians to realize that they minister encouragement to him on multiple occasions that they don't even realize. Every time he thinks about them, he's encouraged. Paul is sitting in prison as he writes this letter. His circumstances are not the best from a natural standpoint.

Yet while he sits in prison, Paul is remembering the Philippians and various things about them, and he finds his heart encouraged on every thought of them. And here in verse 3, he's telling them so because he wants them to know. I get What Paul is saying here is A pastor who loves this congregation, you have no idea. How many times God brings various ones of you to my mind and I am encouraged on every thought of so many of you.

I think of the lessons that I have learned from you over these past 25 years, the example that many of you have set for me and for my family. I think back over many of the battles that a number of you have fought and won. I think of the waiting on the Lord that some of you have had to do and some of you are still doing. I think of the work that we've done together by God's grace.

I think of the mind numbing hardships that some of you have had to endure and how you have stayed true to your faith in Christ. And I am blessed on every thought of so many of you. I think of Susan Meyers, a heroic sister in our church who back in 2004, lost her eight year old daughter, Elizabeth. In a car accident on the 91 freeway.

Susan, I will never forget the sound of your cry from down the hallway at the hospital where you were with your daughter. And you had the excruciating decision to make to take your daughter off of life support and surrender her to Jesus. I will never forget Susan's agony. I will also never forget the memorial service.

Of Susan's daughter, Elizabeth, and hearing how many lives she had touched in her short 8 years of life. She touched more lives in her 8 years than many people do in 50. And amazingly, Susan, where are you? I see you, you did not let the loss of your daughter make you bitter.

Through your battles with cancer and through the loss of your daughter. Life has crushed you. And you have been giving off the fragrance of Christ ever since. You have clung to Christ and he has clung to you and you to this day are a servant to many in this church body, and it when I often tell you that you are one of my greatest heroes.

Could you stand, Susan? Let's express our appreciation of this sister. She didn't know that was coming. There's so many stories in this church body and so many people to think about and give thanks to God on every thought of them, and Susan is one of them.

We literally walk among giants here at Cornerstone and Don and I are truly blessed on every thought of so many of you. I remember Barbara Brown, the first secretary I ever had. as a pastor here of Cornerstone, about 3.5 to 4 months into my pastorate here at Cornerstone, I asked an elder what I needed to know about planning for the upcoming Memorial Day picnic. It was my first church-wide non-Sunday event as a pastor, and I didn't know what I was supposed to do to plan it.

And this elder's answer to me. was 3 words that I will never forget. He said, here we go, he said it just happens. I was like, really?

He said, yeah, you don't need to do anything. It just happens. Later that week, I walked into the church office and Barbara said to me, we need to start planning for the Memorial Day picnic. And I said to her, I was told we don't need to do anything, it just happens.

And I remember Barbara laughing quietly and then she began opening my eyes to the magic of all the details involved in making an event like that go without a hitch. It was then that I discovered that Barbara Brown was not just the church secretary. She was the wizard behind the curtain. The real brains of the operation as was Betty Brown after her, and then Legina Skelly, and then Lillian Warkinton, and now Chris Kearns and Kelly Lamone.

I remember Ron Needham, the former chairman of our elder board, teaching us to love our wives and modeling for us what that looks like by how he loved his wife, Emily. This, by the way, is how Ron and Emily were dressed on the first Sunday I met them. They had just returned from, I believe, a trip to India. I remember Ron at times hearing men putting their wives down.

and Ron would say, why would you hit your thumb with a hammer like that? And he taught us that putting your wife down and mistreating your wife is like hitting your own thumb. With a hammer. I remember Emily Needham.

I will forever remember her as the author of the first thank you note that I ever received as a pastor. I was 27 years old and I had been a pastor for less than a year. I didn't know you got thank you notes for being a pastor, but Emily was the first of many to show me what that blessing felt like. I remember Jim Brown, who pastored Cornerstone for the 1st 10 years of Cornerstone's existence.

He met with me weekly for the first year of my ministry as a pastor here. I was 27 years old, freshly graduated from the master seminary. I had little practical knowledge of pastoring a church, and the weekly meetings with him were invaluable in helping me to get started as a pastor, and I'm so thankful for his investment. In my life.

I will forever remember Vernon Anderson. Who was our church organist. He never got married. He was literally a bachelor till the rapture, and boy was he a student of the rapture and all things prophetic.

I also remember when we started our men's accountability groups and we're encouraging transparency amongst our men and I remember him finding the notion of accountability and transparency odd. His generation knew little of that transparency, but he learned and became a vital member of our men's accountability group. I remember the first funeral that I did as a pastor, it was the funeral of Elva Cantrell, Leah Lindsay's mother, and I believe Jim Brown officiated. that service together.

I remember the first wedding that I officiated, the wedding of Jesse and Glenn Lee Casillas. Jim Brown officiated that wedding with me also. And on the screen behind me is a picture of the little bag of rice that they passed out at their reception, and I keep that on my desk in my office. In fact, I brought it.

Here this morning I remember the first baptism. That I ever did was in April of 1992. It was my privilege to baptize a single young man named Maurice Roberson, who is still here at Cornerstone. With his family and look at you, Moe, all grown up and everything.

One of my favorite memories is of singing in the Cornerstone Quartet. On Many Sundays, it was Leah Lindsey, Emily Needham, Betty Brown, and myself. We made beautiful music together for a number of years until they removed me from the group. And became the Cornerstone Trio.

I remember Ed Lindsay. A faithful servant in our church since its founding. Cornerstone's first worship service was held in his and Leah's home. when I arrived in 1991, Cornerstone was meeting in the YWCA on Magnolia here in Riverside and Ed Lindsay was the provider of the coffee.

It was his job to make sure that everyone was properly caffeinated on the Lord's Day when they showed up for church, and I remember the faithful labor of Ed and, and many others and setting up the YWCA for worship every Sunday and taking everything down after the service. I remember Kumi and Lynette. Taking ownership of our youth ministry many years ago and taking our youth ministry to the next level. And I remember the first time after that, that I actually heard a a couple, some parents saying to me, our family decided to settle at Cornerstone because of the youth ministry.

That was an amazing moment for me. No one had ever said that. before. And the married couple that said that were the parents of a girl named Jenny Jensen, who is now Jenny McCullough, who is now serving the Lord in Indonesia with her husband, Steve.

We just gave them over $16,000 in our gifts for Jesus offering. A couple weeks ago. I remember Lauren and Velma Bentley, who were premier servants in our church for a number of years. They would serve so many and Donna and I were recipients of their faithful service.

They would come up to Donna and me and just chat with us after a service and ask us questions and to our knowledge, we revealed nothing of any needs in our life. But somehow, they were always able to discern some need and sure enough the next day we would see their truck parked out in front of our house, ready to serve and address some need. Donna always has had a very tender spot in her heart for Velma. Over the years after the Bentley's moved away and went home to be with Jesus.

Donna frequently has talked about how much She misses Velma. I will forever thank God on every remembrance of these and so many. Other precious brothers and sisters, including you. Whose DNA runs through the bloodstream.

Of this church. Maybe Paul had similar kinds of memories of the Philippian Christians, whatever his memories were, and he says to them, I thank God. On every remembrance of you. There's something else Paul says to this congregation that he deeply loves.

Basically, he says to them, it's a pleasure to pray for you. It's a joy to pray for you, he says. He says in verse 4, always offering prayer with joy in my every prayer for you all. Paul is here telling the Philippians that he prays for them, but he's doing more than this.

He's telling them that he prays for them with joy. He relishes being their advocate in prayer before God. He's telling them that. It's a pleasure They are a pleasure.

To pray for Paul rejoices to pray for them, no doubt because he loves them. He also rejoices to pray for them because he appreciates the fact that prayer is one of the greatest things you can do for somebody else. Paul is in prison right now. He'd rather be with them, ministering to them face to face.

He can't do that right now. So he serves them through prayer. And part of the reason Paul is rejoicing to pray for them is because he knows that God is a prayer, hearing and prayer answering God. Paul knows that if he prays for the Philippians according to God's will, God will hear and answer his prayers on behalf of these Christians that Paul loves so much.

One of the blessings of being a pastor over the last 25 years is the privilege that has been mine and Donna's. To pray with so many of you, and to pray for you and to see God work in answer to prayer. And the care groups that we have led over the years, Donna has often kept a journal of everybody's prayer request over the course of the year. And she would often record when God would answer those requests and at the end of the care group year, She would often pull out her book and read to the care group, read through those requests out loud to the group.

And it was always encouraging to look back and see the slow motion miracles that God had been doing, to see the answers to prayer and to know that We as a care group got to participate. And all of that. Through prayer Ruby Kimball, where are you? I remember, your battle with smoking.

Cigarettes over 22 years ago and how hard it was for you to quit your habit of smoking 30 cigarettes a day. I remember how you would try to quit, but the withdrawals. Put you in a foul mood. And after a couple of days of witnessing that foul mood, That came over you, Britt would go to the store and buy cigarettes for you.

And he would come home and toss those cigarettes at you, practically pleading with you to smoke them so that you would return to your normal self. I remember though, the day that you and Britt came together and met with a handful of us here at Cornerstone. You told us that you both were all in and ready to quit and Britt was by your side in that. We prayed together that day around the dining room table in our home.

In addition to praying, everyone in that circle of prayer. Told You some specific thing that we would do without for every cigarette you smoked after that day. Now, remember I told you that I would go without coffee for a day, for every cigarette that you smoked, and that was back when I was drinking 2 good sized mugs of coffee. A day.

And in the days that followed, I was very motivated to pray for you. Because I did not want to go a day without my coffee. But amazingly, Ruby never smoked again after that day. And the chains of a lifetime habit were shattered.

Ruby, your road after that was not an easy one, but by God's grace, you learned to look to the savior, not to cigarettes. It's been 22 years, 2 months, and 3 weeks since you smoked your last cigarette. And just as amazing, Britt has gone 22 years without buying you any cigarettes. To get you to calm down.

I thank God on every remembrance of you and Britt and the work that God has done in your lives over the years. Your life is a living demonstration, as are so many of your lives, of the power of prayer, a living demonstration of the privilege that it is to be able to lift up the members of the Cornerstone congregation in prayer before a prayer hearing God who delights to do good things for his people. Amen. Paul rejoiced to pray for the Philippian Christians and he tells them so, but Paul says something else to them that serves to explain where his joy comes from, and this leads us to the next thing that Paul says to this congregation that he deeply loves.

Where he essentially says, I rejoice in your ongoing participation in the gospel. He says in verse 5, in view of your participation in the gospel from the first day until now. The word participation is a translation of the Greek word koinania, a term many of you have heard, which means fellowship or partnership or participation. Paul is telling these Philippian Christians that he thanks God for them, and he rejoices in them because of their fellowship in the gospel.

The good news of salvation for hell deserving sinners to the person and the work of Jesus Christ who died for our sins and rose again. Paul is telling the Philippians here that he is mindful of how they have been fellowshipping together with him in the gospel from the first day until now. Paul is relishing their gospel history together. He is remembering how they believe the gospel and were saved through the gospel.

He's remembering the ways that they have supported him in his gospel ministry. He's remembering how they have joined him in partaking of the good of the gospel and how they have matured in the gospel and how they have labored by his side in the cause of the gospel. Paul is not merely marveling in the fact that they've been saved through the gospel, but in how they're still participants and partners in the gospel after all of these years from the first day until now. Let me ask, this morning, how many of you were a part of Cornerstone at its founding 36 years ago.

Could, could I have you stand? Sorry to make you stand, but If you were a part of Cornerstone at its founding 36 years ago, please stand. Awesome. and then how many of you were a part of Cornerstone when my wife and I came to Cornerstone in 1991?

Could you stand? OK. Yeah, thank you so much for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day. Until now Steve Rojas and his family are among those who were here when Donna and I came to Cornerstone.

I've never shared this from the pulpit before, but, and Steve and I were just talking about this this past week, but during my first year as a pastor of Cornerstone, I did a bonehead thing and I said something to Steve after a Sunday morning service that I should not have said. What I said was ill advised and it was hurtful and it left Steve seriously doubting whether he would ever minister at Cornerstone again. Someone told me of the hurt that I had caused and so I called Steve that week and we talked it through and I apologized to him and asked for his forgiveness and Steve 24 years ago was gracious to forgive me and Steve is still here, partnering with us in the cause of the gospel together with his family from the first day until now.

Think about it.

If Steve did not forgive me 24 years ago, imagine how many Christmas plays we would have missed and other blessings that we would have missed over the years. One of the things I've been thinking about in recent weeks is how often I have failed as a pastor. And I'm mindful of the fact that I stand up here every Sunday and I look into the faces of people that I've had to seek forgiveness from and some who have had to seek forgiveness from me. At some point I've, I've had to ask every elder to forgive me for one thing or another, and yet they're still partnering with me in the ministry here.

At Cornerstone, still loving and still serving together. Being at a church for 25 years shows me, it has shown me what grace looks like over the long haul. For every one of you. who has forgiven me or endured disappointment or hurt at my hand, I thank you for your forgiveness and for still being partners in the cause of the gospel from the first day until now.

I can testify This morning and say that I know what the grace of God looks like with skin on it because of you. And I'm a better man today and I wanna be a better man tomorrow because of you. There are many who are a part of Cornerstone's past who have moved on and are serving the Lord elsewhere. We cherish their partnership in the gospel from those early days until now.

They will always be a part of the story of what God is doing here at Cornerstone. They have made their mark. And their thumbprints are all over the work of God that is here. And if Paul's letter to the Philippians proves anything, it proves that distance is no hindrance to the fellowship of hearts in the cause of the gospel.

Paul has not finished expressing his heart to the Philippians. Another reason Paul gives thanks to God on every remembrance of them and prays for them with such joy is because of the next thing that he says to them, to this congregation that he deeply loves, where he essentially says to them, I am confident in God that he will perfect his good work in you. He says, for I am confident, verse 6 in this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus, for it is only right for me to feel this way about you all.

Paul is confident.

That it is God who began his good work in them, and he's confident that God will continue that work and bring his work to perfection in the day of Christ Jesus when the ultimate transformation happens. Notice that Paul doesn't say, I began a good work in you, and I will complete it. Instead, he speaks of God and says, He who began a good work in you, he will complete that work. Later in this chapter, Paul acknowledges that his own ministry as a man is beneficial to the Philippians.

But here he makes it clear that he's not the doer of the ultimate work. God is. God is the one who has saved them. God is the one who works in them both to desire and to do his good pleasure, and God is the one who will complete his work in them.

This is part of why Paul is OK being in prison hundreds of miles away from the Philippians. This is why Cornerstone would be OK if God removed Donna and me from Cornerstone today, because it is God who works in you. And he who began a good work in you will bring that work to completion. All the way through to the day of Christ Jesus, with or without us.

That's the God we serve. And that's what brings joy and ministry. Part of what I love about Paul's language here in verse 6 is that it indicates that when he looks at the Philippians, he doesn't just see them as they are right now. He sees them as they will be.

In glory in the day of Christ Jesus. There's still defects that are in their lives, to be sure, and Paul will deal with those defects in chapters 2 and 3. Some of these believers aren't getting along with each other, and Paul's actually gonna have to call them out by name in this public letter to encourage them to get along with each other. But despite these present imperfections, Paul never loses sight of what they're gonna look like in glory, and he never loses his confidence in what they're going to become.

He knows one day they will be perfect. Just as you will be. And this I believe is one of the great secrets of loving a church over the long haul. Over many years.

One day, We will be a perfect church. Without spot. Without blemish or any such thing. One day I will look at you in heavenly glory.

Each one of you that knows the Lord, and I will say, look at you. I always knew you would be like this. Look at you And throughout eternity, it will always be mine and Donna's privilege. And pleasure to know that we got to be your partners and your journey to perfection, and we will be grateful to have had you as our partners and our journey to God's throne as well.

Looking back at Philippians one, Paul justifies his confidence regarding the Philippians in an interesting way. He says, for it's only right for me to feel this way about you all. To feel this way. About you all.

The word translated feel is from the Greek word that speaks of more than just simply an intellectual mindset about someone, but of an attitude towards someone. Which is why several translations. of the Bible use the word feel to translate this word. Paul is saying, I don't just think this way about you, but I feel this way about you.

I feel the truth of this deep in my bones. I know that God will complete his work of grace in you, and I know this not just intellectually, but I know it in a deep feeling way. Now, why does Paul think this way? About the Philippians in such a deep feeling way.

This brings us to the next thing that he says to them and about them and let's put it this way, he says, I have you in my heart as fellow partakers of grace. He says in verse 7, for it's only right for me to feel this way about you all because I have you in my heart. We don't find this language anywhere else in any of Paul's other epistles. Why do I have such confidence in the Lord regarding you?

Paul would say, because I have you in my heart. That's why That's so subjective, isn't it? But Paul goes on to say that he has them in his heart because verse 7, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you are all partakers of grace with me. The word that is translated partakers again is the same word that Paul uses earlier.

It's the word Koinania combined with the word together. Paul is saying, I have you in my heart because you guys are fellowshippers together with me in the grace of God and you're partners with me in this ministry of grace. Paul has found himself in many situations in his ministry when he is under attack and has had to defend the gospel, even now he's in prison for his ministry of the gospel. On the other extreme, Paul has experienced many high moments when the truth and the power of the gospel have been confirmed in amazing powerful ways.

And Paul is speaking of all of that here. And he's saying to the Philippian Christians, whether the gospel has been under attack and I've been imprisoned, or been on the defense or being persecuted, or when the gospel is prevailing in confirming power, you guys have always remained steady partners. And have been partakers of grace together with me. You've always had my back and stood with me, and you've never let anything that's happened to me, good or bad, sway you from being a partaker of the grace of God in the gospel.

I could say the same. About This congregation About the leadership of this church. I love the ministry team that we have here at Cornerstone. I've, I've been in the trenches with Mike Berry and Carlos Limpiaco.

I have seen these brothers in the ministry take hits and they've seen me take mine. Some hits we've taken together. We've been On the battlefield together. I've been in the trenches with Alvin Davis and Kumi and Jonathan Jones and Mario Lemmon and Bill Payne, Carlos Cuellar and other elders from our past.

At times we've been under attack together and at other times, one elder was taking the hits. You are blessed to have the leadership and the elder board that you have here at Cornerstone. I could tell you stories that would make your ears burn. That's ministry.

Ministry is warfare. And in warfare, it's good to have people who won't leave you behind on the battlefield. And I'm thankful. For the partners of grace that we have in the ministry here at Cornerstone.

It's a huge part of the reason. Donna and I are still here. Many of you have been partners in grace with Donna and me. As we've sought to raise our 4 children through the nursery and children's church, Sunday school, Ina, the children's choir, Cornerstone Kids Club, youth ministry, vacation Bible school, home school groups, so many in this church body.

We have given our four children over 8000 hours of their time. To instructing our children and bringing them along in their understanding of the gospel of grace. Our children are not just the product of Donna and me, trust me. They are the product of this church community.

It takes a church to raise a child. Don and I will be forever grateful to so many of you for being our partners in the ministry of grace to our children as well as to us. Paul says a final thing to these Philippian Christians to express his heartfelt thoughts towards this congregation that he deeply loves. He basically says to them, I long for you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

Paul says in verse 8, for God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection. Of Christ Jesus. Paul says, I long for you. I yearn for you.

And this is not the longing of selfishness, this is the longing of affection. Paul is saying, I don't just value you and appreciate you. I long for you. I really miss you when we are not together.

I yearn to be Together with you, Paul is saying, and I yearn for you, I have longings for you. I long for you to experience all of God's best. Even more than that Paul says, I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. The word affection is the Greek word.

for bowels. which were viewed in this day as the seat of the emotions. It's translated as compassion elsewhere, like in the gospels. Literally, Paul is saying, I yearn for you with the very bowels.

Of Christ It's as if Paul is saying, I, the, the very emotions of Jesus Christ himself, the very bowels of Christ, the very affections of Christ for you are inside of me. And I feel in my own person, his love for you and his affection for you that is inside of me makes me yearn for you. With the very affection of Christ Jesus. Do you experience that towards your brothers and sisters?

I know you do. In part, what Paul is saying is, I want you to know that the love I have for you ultimately derives from Jesus, so give him the glory. For that love and know how much he loves you. And Jesus has been good to let me personally feel His love for you and my own being.

I could say the same to you as a congregation. I love you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is not a touchy feely, smarmy, happy go lucky, romantic hallmark love. It's a love that many times involves a vulnerability to pain.

Having the bowels of Christ inside you toward others, and many of this is true, is a double-edged sword. When people are being obedient to God, you experience the very delight. of God over them in your innermost being. Yet when somebody is hurting or being disobedient to God, you feel the very pains of Christ for them.

That's why Paul says to the Galatians, That he's enduring labor pains for them until Christ be formed in them. And over the last 25 years, I've experienced both sides of The bowels of Christ, the affections of Christ, as I'm sure many of you have, I have felt my heart welling up with the very affections of Christ for someone, and I've said this often to people in this church body, I know Jesus loves you. Because I feel his very love for you in my own heart. But I have also felt the churning.

Of Christ's very bowels inside of me when someone in this church is hurting or going astray. Even last week, we had a week vacation. And I woke up several times in the middle of the night with my heart racing. And my gut-wrenching with burden.

For some And this church body who are hurting and some who go astray. I've learned that the bowels of Christ don't take a week's vacation when I do. That's ministry And what that's like in your own life with those that you minister to, as you minister to your children in the ministry of souls, including the ministry of parenting, you laugh 1000 laughters and you weep 1000 tears, but through it all, you get to experience the heart of Jesus Christ Himself for his precious people.

That Paul gives expression to here.

What does Paul do with this longing and affection for the Philippians that he expresses here? He takes it to prayer, which is the good thing to do. And what follows in verses 9 to 11 is essentially the very affections of Christ, the very bowels of Christ being put into words through the prayer of the apostle Paul. And I've been praying this prayer for you as a congregation in recent weeks and this morning, I'm, I say to you with the apostle Paul, and this, I pray.

That your love may abound still more. And then once that happens, and more. In real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ, having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and the praise of God. As we close This morning, there's, there's two things I want to ask.

of you today and if you give me these two gifts today, I would consider this special Sunday complete. First of all, I would ask that you receive this prayer in Philippians chapter 1 verses 9 through 11 and seek to live in accordance with it. If you're here today and you've never believed in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, I call upon you to believe in Him today. No one can love you.

Like he can. Let him begin a good work in you and then walk in the good of, of this prayer. All the way from here to glory. If you are a believer in Jesus, let your love abound more and more in real knowledge, like biblical knowledge, gospel knowledge, and discernment, knowing the difference between right and wrong.

And what is beautiful and what is not beautiful. Knowing the difference between obedience and disobedience, surrender and lack of surrender. Put to the test and approve only those things that are morally excellent and right in the days ahead. Let Christ make you sincere and blameless.

Let him fill you up with the fruit of righteousness in your life and make sure That you give glory to God for any good. That he does and you. On the road ahead Walk in the good of this prayer. And you will rejoice, my heart.

And the heart of Christ walk in violation of the sentiments expressed in this prayer, and you will break the heart of Jesus Christ and you will break the heart of all those who have the bowels of Christ within them. Secondly and finally, I will confess to you that I have never felt like more of a rookie. As a pastor than I feel right now. I've been a pastor at Cornerstone for the last 25 years, but I'm brand new at being a pastor of Cornerstone in the year 2017.

Times have changed. This congregation has changed. I've never yet pastored Cornerstone at the stage that Cornerstone is at this moment of Cornerstone's history. And I firmly believe that pastoring Cornerstone on the road ahead will require a gifting from me that is beyond what I presently have, and I've been sharing this with some of the elders in recent weeks.

I've never felt more inadequate, more out of my league, and more desperate for the Lord's help than I feel right now. So this is what I'm gonna ask. At the beginning of my ministry here at Cornerstone, the elders laid their hands on me. And prayed for me, praying that God would gift me and empower me to serve as the pastor of this precious congregation.

Today I'm asking the elders to lay their hands on me again. And to pray for me that God will gift me and empower me to be exactly the pastor that Cornerstone needs for me to be. At this stage of her history. Also, they, I know there's at least one person here who's in that picture, who's no longer an elder, and that's Ed Lindsay.

And Ed, if you don't mind, I would, really appreciate it if you would join the elders and Laying your hands on me and praying for me. Today. There's also one person who's missing. From this picture.

And that's my beautiful wife, Donna, and I would like to have her kneeling next to me today. Joining me and being prayed for. I don't know what the program. After lunch holds for us.

I'm a terrible shepherd. They have sheep that I have no idea what they're up to. But I've already expressed this request to the chairman of our elder board, and he's assured me that they will pray for us in this way during the afternoon program. So I thank them for their Willingness to do that.

but for right now, let's, let's go to the Lord and, and pray together. Lord, I do pray for myself and I pray for this church body that That on the road ahead, that our love, that, that we would not plateau. Settle But that our love would abound still more and more in real knowledge, just a deepening knowledge of you and your precious gospel, that we would be a church that loves with a love that's characterized by discernment. I pray, Lord, that you would help us as a church to put to the test everything and to approve the things that are morally excellent.

That you would make a sincere. And blameless until the day of Christ. I'm asking you, Lord, to fill us with the fruit of righteousness. Which comes, we know through Jesus Christ.

And we promise you, Lord, today, on this day that we will give you the glory. And the praise. For all that you do. You are the one we celebrate.

It is your love, your affection that we celebrate today. And to you be all of the glory. You are a good God. And you're good to bring us together as a church family and to allow Donna and I and our family to be a part of this special work.

In this church body Thank you, Lord. We thank you for the opportunity to give our offerings to you and we pray, Lord, that you would receive these funds and do much with every penny that is given in this offering for the glory of Jesus and the spread of this amazing Announcement of salvation through Jesus Christ. And we ask these things in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said, Amen.