Cornerstone Church With Dustin Bates

What does it truly mean to be a friend of God? Psalm 25:14 reveals that God shares His secret counsel with those who fear Him, not out of terror, but out of a deep reverence and a greater fear of living without His presence. There is a significant difference between being a fan of God and being a friend. A fan keeps a safe distance and accumulates knowledge, while a friend accepts the invitation i...

Christianity is unique among world religions because God chose to reveal Himself to us, both through creation and through His Word. The Bible is not simply a book written by men but a divinely inspired text that has shaped nations, transformed hearts, and guided generations. The story of King Josiah offers a striking picture of what it looks like to truly encounter Scripture. When Josiah heard the...

Holiness is not about following a rigid list of rules or becoming someone unrecognizable. It simply means being set apart from sin and set apart for God, until we begin to look more like Him. Drawing from 1 Peter, three dimensions of holiness shape the life of every believer: holy hope, holy desires, and holy confidence. Holy hope is anchored in what God has already done through Jesus Christ and p...

Jacob was one of the most flawed figures in the Bible, a deceiver and manipulator who spent his life trusting only himself. His story reaches a turning point in Genesis 32, when he is left alone in the dark and wrestles through the night with God in human form. Rather than crushing him, God engaged him, and when Jacob finally told the truth about who he was, everything changed. God gave him a new...

The phrase 'fear of the Lord' appears throughout Scripture, but it is not a single concept. There are actually three distinct types of fear found in the Bible, and knowing the difference can transform your relationship with God. Sinful fear drives you away from God, rooted in shame and the lie that He is holding something back from you. Right and healthy fear draws you toward God through trembling...

Every man has a calling, and it goes far beyond a job title or a church role. Through the lives of Abraham, Moses, and David, we see three dimensions of that calling: stepping out of comfort and into obedience, leading with courage and humility, and investing intentionally in the next generation. God called each of these men not because they were perfect, but because they were willing. Abraham lef...

A man of legacy is a man whose life is worth imitating, giving others something worth following. Romans 1 describes what happens when humanity rejects God: thinking becomes corrupt, and the mind becomes ruled by envy, greed, and pride. But Romans 12:1-2 offers the answer, calling believers to be transformed by the renewing of their minds rather than conformed to the patterns of this world. This tr...

What does it mean to be a man of legacy? It starts not with outward success, but with the condition of the inner man. Scripture is clear that when men lead and love well, everyone around them flourishes. The difference between a man and a boy comes down to one word: responsibility. A man takes ownership of his actions, his failures, and the people in his care. Drawing from the life of King David,...

Bad things happen to good people, and the life of Joseph shows us that God is still at work even in the middle of betrayal, suffering, and broken promises. Promises form the foundation of trust, and when they are broken by people we love, they can distort the way we see God. But unlike people, God has never broken a single promise. Joseph spent 22 years moving from a pit to a prison to a palace, a...

Life rarely goes the way we plan, but that does not mean God has lost the plot. The story of Joseph in Genesis 37 reveals how favoritism, resentment, and revenge can fracture even the closest relationships, and how God works through broken families to accomplish something far greater than we can imagine. Jacob's extreme favoritism toward Joseph poisoned his household, and his sons responded with h...

Baptism is one of the most visible steps a believer can take, but it is important to understand what it actually means. It is an outward expression of an inward change that took place at salvation. Baptism does not save you. Jesus saves you, and the water is a symbol of that reality. When a person goes under the water, it pictures the burial of the old life. Coming up out of the water pictures bei...

Life rarely feels fair, and the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 speaks directly to that tension. Abel brought his best to God and still lost his life, proving that doing the right thing does not guarantee a fair outcome. The difference between Cain and Abel was not what they gave but the heart behind it. Cain went through the motions while Abel gave genuinely and wholeheartedly. God is not int...

Most of us believe we are good people, but we tend to slide the moral scale in our own favor while holding others to a higher standard. When everyone defines goodness for themselves, there is no real standard at all, and history shows where that leads. God does not simply possess goodness. He is goodness, and every true good thing flows from Him. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collecto...

Questions about Jesus are common in classrooms, workplaces, and online conversations, and Christians are called to be ready with real answers. Historical evidence for Jesus comes not just from Scripture but from hostile outside sources like Tacitus, Pliny the Younger, and Josephus, all of whom had no reason to support Christianity. Even skeptical scholars like Bart Ehrman acknowledge that the hist...

Many Christians find themselves spiritually exhausted not because they have walked away from God, but because they are running on empty. Drawing from 1 Peter, four practical infusions can help restore spiritual vitality. The first is remembering your identity as someone chosen by God and adopted into His family. The second is anchoring your trust in God's living promises, grounded in the historica...

Being a godly father is one of the most important callings a man can answer, and Psalm 15 gives a clear and practical picture of what that looks like. Four key areas shape a father's lasting impact on his children: his actions, his words, his circle of friends, and his integrity. Children are always watching, and what they see in their father will shape their faith, their character, and their futu...

Jesus's parable of the talents reveals what it means to be a faithful servant while waiting for His return. Three servants received different amounts of money - two invested and doubled their talents, while one buried his out of fear. The faithful servants received identical praise regardless of the amount they managed. This parable teaches that God entrusts us with five key talents: time, relatio...

Cornerstone Church celebrates 30 years of God's faithfulness, tracing its remarkable journey from humble beginnings to community transformation. The story begins with Pastor Henry and Doris Hunkapiller's missionary work in Liberia, whose legacy continued through their daughter Georgie and her husband Pastor Artie Davis. Despite initial reluctance after previous church planting failures, God called...

Life presents only two fundamental paths: walking by the Spirit or walking by the flesh. Every decision you make today actively shapes your legacy through God's multiplication principle - you don't choose whether your life multiplies, only what it multiplies. The mature Christian response isn't perfect walking, but quickly recognizing when you've strayed, repenting, and changing course. The fruit...

Life is more than daily routines and immediate pressures - you are actively building a legacy that will outlast you. Every person has two parts to their legacy: what they were given (both blessings and baggage inherited from family and circumstances) and what they choose to build with it. While you cannot control what was handed to you, you are responsible for what you pass on to others. The key i...

Three mothers demonstrate how lasting legacy is built through everyday faithfulness rather than grand gestures. The first mother exemplified wisdom and prayer, teaching her children character while serving as their spiritual shield through constant intercession. The second showed that transformation can happen at any stage of life, demonstrating that following Jesus means knowing where to go when...

Faith goes beyond intellectual belief to become personal trust that moves us to action. While belief is accepting facts mentally, faith involves trusting God enough to act without seeing the complete picture. Abraham exemplified this by leaving everything behind when God called him, not knowing his destination. True faith means moving before seeing the end result and enduring circumstances we don'...

Fear can either protect us or paralyze us, but God wants to transform our greatest weakness into boldness. The Apostle Peter's journey from denying Jesus out of fear to boldly preaching the gospel shows us this transformation is possible. True biblical boldness isn't recklessness or aggression - it's spirit-given confidence to speak and obey God even when it costs us something. This boldness comes...

Shame affects everyone and creates feelings of isolation, unworthiness, and contamination that keep us from God's calling. It originates from things we've done or things done to us, making us feel exposed and unlovable. Peter's story illustrates how shame works - after denying Jesus three times, he retreated from his calling and went back to fishing. Jesus rescued Peter through confrontation, nour...

In our culture of suspicion, doubt has become our default setting, leading to isolation and anxiety. The story of Thomas reveals that doubt isn't neutral - it has a destination that locks our hearts and separates us from community. When Jesus appeared to Thomas, He didn't shame him for questioning but offered peace and evidence. Christianity provides substantial historical, philosophical, and cult...