Ministry Fair 2016

, great to see all of you here today. thank you for choosing to worship with us today. we got a lot of things to talk about, this morning. before we get going with some of that, we do have a, a newly married couple that we want to, recognize.

this is the first Sunday that they have been here since. getting married 5 weeks ago. Jake and Brianna Bissard, could you guys stand? Yeah.

They are now, living in Tucson, Arizona, but they're visiting with us this weekend, so we're happy to have them, with us in our service today, and we're happy to have them staying in our home as well. we also, have some sobering and yet joyful news to, share with you, Marlene Brugge. A dear sister in Christ and a blessing to so many in our church, body went home to be with the Lord Wednesday night of, do we have PowerPoint? No PowerPoint.

OK. she went home to be with the Lord on Wednesday night of, this past, week, and, as information becomes, available about her memorial service, we will pass that information, along to you, but it will likely occur toward the end, of, of, of this month. Obviously, we do not grieve for Marlene. We know that she is rejoicing in the presence of Jesus Christ right now, and she is right now in a worship service that's better than the one we're in.

all of us who are believers in Jesus are on a journey from the brokenness of sin all the way to glory, and Marlene has finished her journey and achieved that glory. And we rejoice for her, we rejoice with her, and we're jealous of her, and we look forward to the day when we will join her, but we're so thankful for the deep mark she has made on so many in our church body, especially the younger generation coming through our Sunday school ministry. So many children here at Cornerstone were taught by her and prayed for, by By her and the marks she has left has been deep indeed.

Today, Marks the beginning of our ministry year.

September is the month in which many of our ministries begin, afresh. Our care groups, resume, meeting, after a little bit of recalibration, during the brief, break in, the month of August. Our Sunday school program relaunches actually next week. Our man forum.

And our men's leadership meetings, begin afresh, and our women's Bible studies along with our college career and youth meetings start up again, as well. And let's not forget that our Iana ministry begins on October 12th. So all of these things are, are beginning afresh here in the month of September and early October. This is also The month in which our deacons and our deaconesses and some of our elders' terms of service are renewed.

today, we have a number of people in our church family who are starting or they are renewing their service as deacons of Cornerstone for the coming ministry year that essentially begins, this week. in fact, I'd like to read off the names of our deacons for This ministry year and as I read the names, I'd like to ask these individuals to stand and remain standing until I'm done reading all of the names. our care group deacons for this ministry year are Daniel Benchadler, Rayshawn Bobo, Brian Gill, Brian Kearns, Chris Kidder, Manoj Lal, Jonathan Langley, Mike Lenard, Dave Schilling, and Moses Tay.

Our Agape team deacons are Daniel Benschadler, Rayshawn Bobo, Sean Feeley, Mike Martinez, and Dave Schilling.

Our college career deacons are Alan Wang and Jaime Rodriguez. Our women's ministry deaconesses are Michelle Bobo, Kim Davis, Melissa Kaufman, Ruby Kimball, Lynette Kumamoto, and Donna Vincent. Our two Sunday Children's Ministry Deaconesses are Kelly Lamon and Miriam Pascarello. In addition to these, there is John Escetarian, Who leads our AV ministry, Eve Hansen, who leads our technology ministry, Ed Soto, who leads our safety team, Peggy Barreto, our church bookkeeper, Jira Hansen, who leads our in-house catering ministry, and Chris Kearns, who serves our church as Administrative assistant, please remain standing.

Then there are our elders, Alvin Davis, please stand, Mike Berry, Carlos Limpiaco, and Paul Kumamoto. Jonathan Jones is beginning a new three-year term of service as an elder starting this month, and Mario Lemmon is starting his first three-year term of service as a brand new elder starting this week. Pray for him. Our elders have been known to haze rookie elders.

As we told you back in June, Bill Payne is not renewing his term of service as an elder at this time. God has called him to be the hands and the feet of Christ to his parents in Texas where he has spent most of the last Several months. Bill was actually planning on being back in California and being here today, but his dad's health took a turn for the worse this week. So Bill is remaining in Texas with his dad.

we miss Bill and we will miss having him on our board, but we're happy that he will continue to be a part of the ministry team as he is able. But we're thankful for all of you that are standing and some who are not here today. who have agreed to serve in these roles, and we're thankful to you as a congregation for your overwhelming affirmation of each of these individuals to serve in these roles during this ministry year. So let's just express our appreciation to these individuals.

If you could remain standing throughout the length of the sermon, I would appreciate it. No, you may be seated. In Ephesians chapter 4, the apostle Paul, says, and Jesus Christ gave some as apostles and some as prophets and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry. The saints do the work of ministry.

And we're thankful, not just for those who were standing a moment ago, but for all of you Cornerstone saints who minister in so many capacities here at Cornerstone. Cornerstone is a congregation of ministers who are ministering in many ways, and the ministry fair this morning puts some of that. Some of that on display. We have, I believe, 32 ministries represented in our ministry fair this morning, and we put these ministries before you today to give you an idea of all that God is doing here in the body life of Cornerstone and through the people of Cornerstone.

And we also do so in order that you might have the opportunity at the conclusion of our service today. To go by and see what ministries you can benefit from, as well as ministries that you can get involved in. Also, In Acts chapter 2. We find 4 things that the first Christians in the book of Acts were passionate about and devoting themselves to.

In Acts chapter 2 verse 42, Luke, the historian says they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of the bread, literally is what the Greek text says, that's communion. And 2, prayer. The Greek word that is translated devoting themselves is the word that literally means to be strong towards something. So the early Christians prized these things and they gave the best of their strength to coming together again and again to hear.

And talk about the apostles' teaching, the fellowship with one another and to celebrate the Lord's table together and to pray together as well. We also learned that they did not just do these things as they met in the larger gatherings at the temple in Jerusalem. In Acts chapter 2, in verse 46, and following, Luke tells us that they were also breaking bread from house to house, taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart, praising God, and literally the way that I would suggest translating the Greek text here is literally having or showing grace toward all the people.

As they were opening their hearts to the people around them, and the Lord was adding to their number, to the number of those who were practicing these things and living this way.

Day by day, those who were being saved. We would love for these descriptions to be said of the people of Cornerstone, and I'm so thankful that in so many ways this does describe so many here in this church body. This is why fundamentally we ask all of our members of Cornerstone to participate. at the very least in our Sunday morning services and to be involved in a care group as well.

If you have time for nothing else, you consider yourself a corner stoner. And you have time for nothing else. Be here on Sunday mornings and be Involved in a care group. And you will get tremendous benefit.

in the church life here of Cornerstone. Every person who becomes a member of Cornerstone has committed themselves to arranging themselves under the authority and the care of the elders of this church. And one of the principal ways that the elders, after 3 years of trying to figure out a way to structure this, One of the principal ways that the elders have determined to best execute their ministry of shepherding and care is through the care group ministry. So beyond participating in our Sunday morning service, it's critically important for you to be an active participant in a care group.

When you do that, you put yourself in a position To benefit from the shepherding ministry of the church, and you also put yourself in a position to give and receive the benefits of relationships with the people in your care group. Our care groups, for those of you that may not know, are intergenerational, meaning there may be children present all the way to people who are retired. And we're all together. And each one of these care groups on average meets maybe 3 times a month, about 10 or so months out of the year.

Most of our care groups meet on Sunday afternoon or evening, and one of them will actually be meeting on Monday evening starting September 19th if Sunday proves to be difficult for you. If you've never been to a care group meeting, a typical care group, takes place in someone's home and the formal part of it may last roughly about 2 hours, give or take 1 hour or 2. during that meeting time, the people who are gathered generally will worship God through song. Celebrate communion weekly, fellowship around the teaching of God's word from the pulpit and pray together, and they usually eat and overall care for one another.

As I said a couple of weeks ago during the announcements, and others have said this before, and I've stolen it from them, your sanctification is a community project. A project that by specific divine design as explained in the New Testament, This project includes pastors and teachers and elders and deacons and brothers and sisters of all ages that you are in relationship with, ministering to one another and ministering alongside of each other as well. And our care groups provide opportunities for you to experience the benefits of doing this community in the context of the Cornerstone family.

So if you consider yourself a part of our church family, And again, if you have time for nothing else, a good minimum standard for you is to participate in our Sunday morning service.

And also be involved in a care group. If you're not presently a member of a care group, you are welcome to begin signing up for a care group today. Presently, we have 13 care groups, most of which have room for more people. If you have any questions about our care group ministry or would like to get involved in a care group, please visit the care group table after the service.

And where's the care group table? There we are, over there in the alcove. The care group sign-ups are primarily for people who are no longer on a care group roster or who have never committed. already to a particular care group.

If you're already on a care group roster, there's no need to sign up. in the event that the roster for a particular care group is full, you can sign up to be placed on a waiting list or sign up for another care group, and please know that there will be another opportunity to sign up. for a care group next Sunday as well. essentially, guys, our goal is not simply that you will, sign up to attend a care group now and then, but that you will sign up, essentially committing yourself to be a vital, participating, contributing.

And consistently attending member of that care group during the coming ministry year, playing an important role on the care group team and helping your care group to be a healthy and an effective and vibrant part of the body life of Cornerstone. If you've not made that commitment to a group yet, we hope that you'll be able to do that today or next week. For those of you that already are members of a care group, and for those of you that will be joining a care group, we want you to be thinking about the nature of gospel community.

as we've talked about, before, God is a trinity of persons who coexist in perfect community.

This is the fountain from which all of the good that we know in Christ is experienced. It flows from the Trinitarian community of the Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit love one another. In perfect community.

But as you read the Bible, you learn that they have not kept each member only for themselves. We see in Scripture that God is a sending forth God, sending forth His Son into the world and even sending forth his Spirit into the world. God is a going forth God, Jesus went forth into the world and the Spirit. Went forth into the world as well on the day of Pentecost.

And God is also a bringing in God. Jesus saves us and brings us back with him into the enjoyment of relationship with all the three members of the Godhead. This is why Jesus and his high priestly prayer in John chapter 17, prays to the Father, and he's praying for us. And part of what he prays is that they may be in us, that they, that's you and me, may be in us.

In other words, that we, he prays, may. be brought inside the enjoyment of the love relationship between the members of the Godhead. Isn't that amazing? We have sinned and rebelled against God.

We deserve to be wiped out. We deserve God's eternal wrath for our sin. And instead, as we read our Bibles, we now discover that there's a man in the Trinity, the God man, Jesus Christ, who went forth from the Father who came to earth. He died on the cross and was raised from the dead in order that we, or that he might bring many sons to glory.

And bring us, usher us into the enjoyment of the love relationship between God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Not surprisingly, we then read in the book of Acts and discover that the early church was the same way. The early Christians were a loving one another community, and ascending forth community, and a going forth community and a bringing in community, thereby reflecting the image of the triune God who had saved them and brought them in. In our care group ministry, we want to exhibit the same community that we're looking at here, loving one another, but also reaching out and bringing others into our care groups and as our care group grows and expands, we wanna be willing to send forth members of our care group who will go forth And the new care groups that can now bring more people into the community of Cornerstone.

If we do community the way that the triune God does community and the way that the early church did, then it's inevitable that our care groups will become multiplying communities as God adds souls to our number. Overall, we're, we're actually wanting to keep the roster of each care group smaller this year than what we've had in the past because we want our care groups to, be small enough to have room to invite and welcome newcomers to our church. and invite them into their care group.

I love it when I talk to visitors of Cornerstone who have been here a week or 2 or 3, and they tell me, I've, I've hardly been here at Cornerstone and I've already been invited to 3 different care groups.

That's the way it should be. And we want you to be a small enough as a care group to have the room to run and to do that inviting and welcoming of precious souls into your care group. So again, go by the care group table if you have questions about our care group ministry or if you are interested in signing up to be a part of a care group. Wanna talk a little bit about our Sunday school.

Ministry as well, beyond our Sunday service, our Sunday school ministry represents another Sunday venue in which we seek to impart to you the deposit of the truth that God has called us to deliver to you. Our Sunday school ministry starts up next Sunday morning at 9 o'clock. We encourage you starting next week to make the 9 o'clock hour a part of your Sunday routine both for yourself and for your children. I was excited a couple Sunday mornings ago, Saturday mornings ago to peek in and see all the Sunday school teachers and the workers assembled here on a Saturday morning for the teacher training workshop led by Carlos Price.

These are caring people. who are already preparing diligently and who will impart God's word to your children with excellence, with prayer, and with care. Our teachers will be using the Answers Bible curriculum which essentially provides a Genesis to Revelation overview of the whole Bible over a four-year span, capturing the Bible's major themes from creation in the Book of Genesis all the way to the great consummation of history that we find detailed in the Book of Revelation.

In our adult Sunday school program, Mike Barry will be teaching through the material.

And he will be starting up, next week, roughly in Genesis 18 and continuing on from there. And the material that is in the adult classes coordinated with what the children will be, learning in their classes. Each age group is learning the same material from the same curriculum at different levels with the goal. facilitating family discussions over this material in the home.

But again, our Sunday school ministry starts next Sunday, and we encourage you to make the 9 o'clock hour a part of your Sunday schedule if you are able. Basically, if you attend Sunday school for 4 years, you and your children will have been given a, a thorough overview of the entire Bible, and that's wonderful. I'm reminded of the Puritans, who had a very high view of the Lord's day. They referred to Sunday as the market day of the soul.

And they're thinking the Lord's Day is the day that the soul goes to market and stocks up on teaching and resources and fellowship and encouragements for the week ahead, and we would commend that mindset. To all of you. And if you do have that mindset, please know that our Sunday school ministry is one of those things in that market, a place where your soul can go to market on a Sunday morning in addition to our morning service and our care group ministry. Beyond that, I just, I, I actually, just so you guys know, I do have a little mini sermon for you guys this morning.

and we're getting to that, all right. but all of this is just an attempt to give you a sense of the vision that I think emerges from our understanding of scripture in ways that we want to serve you as a church body and what we're providing for you as a church. so let me talk just for a moment about our men's ministry. Our man forum, begins this Tuesday, 2 days from now at 6 o'clock right here in the alcove of the auditorium.

And 6:30 in the evening on Thursday nights in the church lobby. The motto of our men's ministry is every man, a pastor, a pastor of his household and a leader to others. And the purpose of our man forum is to encourage our men in their walk with Christ and in fulfilling the calling that God has laid upon them. The Man Forum is also a place where we as men learn to confess our weaknesses and our ignorance and our failures, and we learn to pray and look to Jesus as our only hope.

So if you are a man, single or married, and you are free at 6 a.m. on Tuesday mornings or 6:30 Thursday nights, come to one of the two or do what some men do and attend both. Also, our men's leadership meetings, start up this Tuesday. Also, there's two meetings, the morning meeting at 9 o'clock and the other is the evening meeting at 6 here at the church.

we cover the same material and both of these men's leadership, meetings in order to, accommodate the schedules of as many of our men as possible. And starting this Tuesday, we're going to continue working through the second half of Romans 8, digging deeper into the glories of the gospel and learning how to bring those glories to bear on our lives and bring those glories to bear on our leadership of others. So if you are a man and you are free for an hour and a half, 9 o'clock or 6 p.m.

on Tuesdays, feel free to join us.

in room 102 for our men's leadership meetings as we study God's word and fellowship together. Our women's ministry is all about helping our women to journey toward biblical womanhood and helping our women to fulfill the calling. That God has laid upon them. And to that end, our women's Bible studies start up this week also on Tuesday evenings at 6 o'clock and on Thursday mornings at 9:15 and Thursday evenings at 6:30.

These are three Bible study meeting times. Our ladies will be working through John 14 through 17 this fall. And ladies, if you're looking for an opportunity to get into the word of God with your sisters in Christ, come and be a part of one of these Bible studies that fits your schedule. There's many other ministries that you will see listed in your bulletin this morning and represented in the ministry fair.

also, some of these ministries can use your help. consider volunteering for our Ana ministry which starts up on October 12th and is seeking to mark the next generation with an understanding and memorization and treasuring of God's holy word. Consider volunteering to help in our Sunday children's ministries, whether that be in children's church, Sunday school, or the nursery. some of these ministries represented in the room this morning can be of service to you.

As well. So view today in a sense, as the market day of your soul and see as you visit around what can be of service to you and what ministries you might want to become involved in as we seek to do the Lord's work together. Amen. Which leads me to my brief devotional that I wanna share with you, this morning.

just addressing, just some quick thoughts. Why do we do the work that we do? Why do we minister? Why are we excited?

About the work we're doing here at Cornerstone, and we, why are we excited about you joining us and getting involved in serving and ministering. Alongside of us. With the time that we have remaining. I want To just give you three reasons that we are excited about doing the work of the Lord.

Together this ministry year. Reason number one, Because Christ saved us for good works. Christ saved us for good works. These good works that we want to do this year, we were saved for this.

In Ephesians 2:8 and 9, the apostle Paul tells us that we are saved by grace and through faith, and that it's not a result of works. Nonetheless, he tells us in verse 10 that we have been saved for good works. Listen to what he says in verse 10, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, so that we should walk in them, the good works. Based on this passage, we know that Christ has saved us.

If we believe in Him. We know that in saving us, he made us His workmanship. We know that in making us His workmanship, he created us for good works. We know that the works themselves that he created us for have been prepared beforehand by God.

And we know that Christ now intends for us to walk in those good works, as we go and live from day to day. Jesus Christ did not save us so that we could live a life of sin and do bad works. Nor did he save us to sit on our hands and do nothing and watch everybody else do the work that Christ saved them for. Christ has given us the amazing privilege of being involved in his work, of building up the church, the body of Christ, until the church reaches the measure of the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ.

In Ephesians 4:16, we learned that the whole church body causes the growth of the body according to the proper working of each individual part. So all of the growth comes from Christ, but it comes through the members of the body, and it's the whole body of Christ that causes the growth of the body as each individual part. is working properly. So everybody in the church has a role to play.

Everyone has gifts and abilities to bring to the table. Everyone has a contribution to make, and that includes me and that includes you. And what I love about Cornerstone is so many people are involved in so many ways. And some of you who have come to Cornerstone in the last couple of years, You, you, you, you've come for a while and then you're like, what can I do?

I want to serve, I wanna give back. I wanna be a blessing to others and you have found something to do by way of service to your brothers and sisters in the body and we just love The heart That is so evident in the people of this congregation that God has brought to us who your hearts are open wide to receive and you also feel this urge to give and to serve, and to put your hand to the work. of what God is doing in and through Cornerstone. There's a second reason why we are excited about doing the work of the Lord together this coming ministry year, and that's because our work In the Lord will not be in vain.

That's good to know, isn't it? Our work in the Lord will not be in vain. There are many things that we could give our time to. But the question, one of the questions that we should be asking is this one day, I'm going to stand before Jesus Christ at the judgment, and all that I have done will be tested by fire.

And will what I have done and given my time and energies to survive the fires of Judgment Day. The good news is that if we give ourselves to the Lord's work, our work will not end up being lost, and for naught. How many of you have ever been working on your computer, typing a document, and after hours of work, it just never crossed your mind to actually save that thing, just in case something bad happens. And after hours of work, your computer crashes or you lose the document and all of your work is lost and irretrievable.

How many of you would say that's happened to you? OK. It's happened to me. There's nothing more frustrating than that.

But imagine that happening on judgment day. There are people who will stand before Christ on judgment Day after a lifetime. Of work and busyness, and it will all be lost forever and irretrievable. Imagine The feeling And there's not even a chance at that point to start over from scratch.

But look at what Paul says to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15:58. He says, therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. Paul is being very clear here, he's not saying be always abounding in work. Knowing that your work, whatever it is, will not be in vain.

That's not what he's saying. What he says is be always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain. In the Lord. When we do the Lord's work in the Lord's way, we can know that our work will never be in vain.

As the saying goes, only one life will soon be passed. And only what's done for Christ. will last. I love the fact That Paul uses the word toil in this passage.

This word speaks of the fact that doing God's work can sometimes be wearisome and exhausting and overwhelming and full of discouragements and setbacks. Paul gets that. He experienced that toil. Sometimes doing the work of the Lord can be a long slog.

With discouragements and setbacks, but Paul assures us That our toil will not be in vain in the Lord. That's why he calls us not just to do the work of the Lord, but to actually be abounding in the work of the Lord. We should be excited about that because when I'm doing the work of the Lord, God's work in God's way, it will not be in vain, none of it will, and it will endure forever and survive the fires of Judgment Day and produce fruit. That will remain for eternity.

We're also excited about doing the Lord's work together this coming ministry year. Not only because we know that it will not be in vain, but there's another reason. Let's just give this to you this morning. Because we know that God delights.

To use imperfect people to accomplish. His purposes. I take so much comfort. In this reason here.

You think about, as you read the Bible, it's amazing the pattern that you see when God was looking for a man to lead his people in the battle, he chose the shy Gideon with his puny army. When God wanted a king for Israel, he chose the least of the house of Jesse, whose name was David and he made him great. When God was choosing who the first eyewitnesses and messengers would be of the birth of Christ, he chose a group of shepherds. Shepherds were esteemed so lowly in Israel that and had such a bad reputation for dishonesty that shepherd's testimony was not even admissible in a court of law during the first century, and God chose shepherds.

When Jesus was looking to choose who the first eyewitnesses and messengers of his resurrection would be, he chose women. During the first century, the testimony of women was not admissible in a court of law either, yet Jesus chose women to be the first eyewitnesses and the first messengers. Ancient anti-Christian apologist, actually used this fact that women were the first eyewitnesses and messengers as an argument against Christianity. But Jesus chose women.

And gave them this honor to use them in this way. When Christ wanted to pick a man who would carry the torch of Christianity and write 25% of the New Testament, he chose a man named Saul, who later became known as Paul. And the Greek word for Paul literally means small. Paul was Mr.

Small, and God chose Mr. Small. Think about what choice it was for Jesus to pick Paul. Paul was a vicious persecutor of the church.

He had a horrible past. He was a violent aggressor and a blasphemer. In Paul's own mind, Paul was the least of the apostles. He was not even worthy to be called an apostle.

In fact, in Paul's own mind, he was the very least. Of all the saints. Literally, he was the leastest of the saints. Take the least of all the saints and Paul would say, I am even beneath that.

And he in his own mind was the foremost of sinners, and yet God chose him and God saved him and used him to plant many churches and to spread the gospel and to write a sizable chunk. Of our New Testament. And today, 2000 years later, we are still benefiting from the legacy of Paul, whose name meant small. What's even more amazing is the fact that God Use Paul on occasions when Paul was not even on his A game.

In 1 Corinthians 2, Paul is writing to the Corinthians and he's recalling a time a few years earlier. When he preached Christ and Him crucified to the Corinthians, but he says that when he did so, he did so in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling, in much physical shaking. When you put the data together with the Book of Acts and 1 Thessalonians, you realize that a part of the problem During Paul's first visit to the city of Corinth was that Paul was anxious and worried sick about the welfare of the Thessalonian Christians, whom he had left a few weeks earlier when he was driven out of the city.

He had been beaten and imprisoned in Philippi, and then he went to Thessalonica for several weeks, planted a church there, but then he was driven out of town by the Jews.

He then went to Berea, but was then driven out of Berea by the Jews again. So he went from there down to Athens and then to Corinth. And by the time Paul got to Corinth, he was so distraught and fearful that Jesus had to make a personal appearance to Paul and say to him in the city of Corinth, do not be afraid any longer. Stop being afraid, Jesus says, no man will attack you.

In order to harm you. Stop looking over your shoulder. And relax, Jesus says in the city of Corinth. And do my work here because I have many people in this city.

So when Paul ministered in Corinth, As he's recalling that here in 1 Corinthians 2. He preached in weakness. And fear and in much physical shaking. I remember when I was in college, my freshman year, I knew God wanted me to be a, a, a preacher, so I, I knew I needed to have something to preach, so I was a Bible major and I knew I needed to learn how to speak, so I was a speech minor.

But I, it made me so nervous to get up in front of a class. I would physically shake and I remember my freshman year delivering a speech, and I don't know what happened, but my right leg just was shaking violently as I was speaking. And none of the students in the class, including the teacher, were looking at my face. They were all watching my right leg.

I know what that's like to speak with much physical shaking. This is Paul's memory of his preaching to the Corinthians when he was with them a few years earlier, weakness and fear, and in much physical shaking. He was no match for the eloquent philosophers who walked the streets of Corinth. He did not speak with flowering, eloquent speech.

In fact, the Corinthians would later describe his sermons as contemptible. Yet God showed up. In his ministry to the Corinthians and use Paul's preaching and he saved people through Paul's preaching, even though Paul was not on his A game. So here's a man, Paul, whose name meant small, with an awful past, the least of the apostles, not worthy to be called an apostle, the very least of all saints in his own perception of himself and the foremost of sinners, who was preaching on an off day in weakness and fear and in much physical shaking, and God still showed up and used Paul in his weakness and save people through his preaching.

That's good news for us, isn't it? Guys, God is not waiting until you and I reach perfection and full maturity before he lets us be involved in his work. He doesn't wait until we reach our A game before he decides to use us. In fact, he actually gets more glory for himself and using us now when we are so far from perfect.

And it never ceases to amaze me the ways that God does this. In your life And in my own A couple of years ago, my wife and I went out for dinner. At Panera's in Moreno Valley, and part of our purpose in going out to dinner. was to enjoy dinner, but also to talk about something, to have a conversation about something that we needed to work through.

And as the dinner unfolded, I broached the topic and Donna and I started our conversation and it started off OK but eventually things started being said that got the other person defensive. We both started bristling. With defensiveness and the conversation became testy. I know you married couples cannot identify.

We didn't raise our voices because we were in a restaurant and people could hear, but you could, you could cut the tension between us with a knife. Pretty quickly, we both realized what was happening. We took a deep breath. We had had this same conversation about 20 times before and the same thing had happened.

So we calmed down, we backed up a little bit and then we reapproached the topic again. We stayed calmer this time around, but we still made no progress. Feeling defeated, I said to her, why don't we pick this up later? And she agreed.

So we finished our dinner with some small pleasant talk. Eventually, we got up from our table to leave and I know I was feeling, and she also was feeling discouraged. And defeated But as we headed for the door, just as we got to the door, we heard someone. Call out to us.

We turned around and saw an African American gentleman who was seated at a table that was two tables away. From where we had been seated, and he motioned for us to come over to him. And when we got to his table, he introduced himself and then he made this confession. He said, I, I hate to admit this to you, but I have been listening.

OK. And on your conversation that you guys were having, and I could tell that things were not going the greatest, but you pushed through some of the issues and you tried to work it out. You didn't just give up and even in the end, you resolved to continue the conversation later. And it was at this point I noticed tears in this man's eyes.

And he said, I just want you to know that there's a conversation. That I need to have with my wife who's at home right now. And I've been putting off this conversation for a long time. But tonight sitting here, I know what I need to do.

And I just wanted to thank the two of you for showing me. What I need to do. We chatted for a few minutes with this man and found out he was a Christian who attends church in Riverside and then Don and I walked out the door of the restaurant, profoundly humbled. But profoundly encouraged and amazed at the topsy-turvy ways of God.

Of all conversations that my wife and I have had over the years, we've had amazing conversations in restaurants that That would have inspired anybody who would have listened in. I would have never picked that conversation and said, here Lord, use this conversation to help somebody else. Never. That night, Donna and I were not on our A game, not even close.

We were on our game. And guess what? God used us. In fact, had Don and I had been on our A game that night and this man said what he said to us.

We probably would have thought, yep, we're pretty amazing, aren't we? Of course, God would use us. Instead, God chose to use us on a very imperfect night when we were not even at our best. We were on our sea game.

And it left us amazed at him. That he would use us, even on a night like that. Amazed at him and not amazed at ourselves. This is the God we serve.

This is why We are excited To do work, his work, this coming ministry year. God is a God who encamps upon our weaknesses, and he chooses the foolish and weak things of the world to confound the mighty and to leave us boasting in Him alone. And he uses us, all of us, even though we have so far to go. And not a one of us ever ministers in a perfect flawless way.

God still uses us. And that's why we want to glorify Him. That's why the cry of our hearts. is unto this God who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think.

According to his power that works inside of us, unto Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all ages, forever and ever. And all God's people said, Amen. Let's pray together. Lord, we thank you for the work that you have done to accomplish our salvation.

We thank you for the privilege that you have bestowed upon us to invite us into your work and you've given us stuff to do. That's an amazing privilege. That we get to serve you and serve alongside of you to be the hands and feet of Christ as members of the body of Christ. We get to serve one another and bless one another and minister to one another, and we get to stand side by side with each other.

And serve. And represent the cause of Christ to the world around us. What an amazing privilege this is. Lord, I pray for all of our elders and deacons and deaconesses that you would prosper them in their ministry this year.

I pray for every member of the Cornerstone family that you would, prosper our way, Lord. As we do your work in your way, knowing that it will not be in vain. Taking the small, the few fish and loaves we can bring to the table. And put that in your hands, knowing that you will bless it and you will use it far beyond what anyone would have ever imagined.

So we're excited, Lord, about the year ahead. Most of all, we're excited about how we will grow to know you better and experience your grace and your glory and the abundant and amazing things that we will see you do in us and through us for the glory of Jesus Christ. We thank you for the opportunity we have right now to give our offerings to you, Lord. Receive these funds, do much with every penny.

That is given for the glory of Jesus Christ and the spread of the good news of the gospel of salvation through him. We ask all of these things in the name of Jesus, and all God's people said, minutes.