Cornerstone West Los Angeles » Sermons

The question of why politics are important really begins with the question of why the government is important. Some see government as a savior. Some see the government as a necessary evil. But, how are we, as Christians, to understand the nature of government from a God-centered worldview? And once we understand the nature of government, how does God call us to relate to the government that is ove...

How should a Christian think about their country if they don't want to worship politics? People talk—and argue—a lot about patriotism, and how it fits into our current political landscape and the Christian faith. In Daniel 3 we get a good look at the ways patriotism can go wrong, and a model for how it can go right. What's more, we get pointed to our heavenly citizenship, which, far from removing...

Political discussion is crazy, and it seems like it's only gotten crazier recently. But why is politics such a heated topic when other important things aren't? It comes into focus when we see that politics can become a kind of religion, dealing with our fears, desires, and hopes for the future. When we understand this dynamic, we see how the gospel frees us to keep politics in its proper place. Ap...

Politics can bring out the worst in people. Division, contempt, and frustration pop up anywhere things "get political," and far too often we ourselves get drawn into the fray. It's easy to be overwhelmed, confused, and hopeless that things can be different. But the Christian faith gives us a vision of political engagement that looks very different: the fruit of the Spirit. Far from focusing only o...

Jonah is a reluctant prophet, who doesn't want to preach God's word to his enemies the Ninevites so he runs away from God. But one can never truly run away from God because the God of the Bible is a God whopursues. God pursues Jonah, chasing him even to the bottom of the sea in the belly of a fish. When Jonah relents and turns back to God, then Godsendshim again to Ninevah and the people of Nineva...

David and Bathsheba is a story about secret sin, consequences, exposure, and unimaginable grace. In a time when we are all isolated, cut off from community, and spending more and more time on our screens, it contains numerous powerful reminders that we all desperately need to hear. Sin may be a secret for a while, but it never stays that way. But when it's exposed, God doesn't meet us with condemn...

David and Goliath may be the single most well-known story in the Old Testament. To read the story is to feel like we've heard it a thousand times. But a more careful look reveals that there's much more to this incredible story than the popular interpretations and applications show. Join us as we dig in and see how the story of David and Goliath not only reveals truth about how we can face our gian...

Ruth is an exemplary woman of faith. She models what perseverance looks like in the midst of suffering, and gives us a picture of what it looks like to possess godly faith, godly humility, godly boldness, and to experience godly redemption. Application Questions: 1. How does Ruth's simple, everyday faith inspire you to trust the Lord more? 2. Why is humility such a powerful virtue in honoring God?...

The story of Samson is strange: he has amazing strength, and is used by God, but is also often foolish and led around by his own desires. How do we make sense of the stories the Bible tells about Samson and what are we supposed to learn from them? When see ourselves in Samson, and reckon with the deliverance he brought, we learn to look to Jesus for something better, and find how God's grace reach...

The battle of Jericho—where the Israelites march around a city for seven days until the walls miraculously fall down—is well-known but confusing. What are we supposed to learn from a story like this? There's more to the story than meets the eye, and there's much to learn from the parts that come right before and right after. When we look at Jericho with fresh eyes, we find lessons on the life of f...

The story of the Exodus is the story of God exercising His mighty hand and outstretched arm to rescue His people from slavery in Egypt. At the beginning of Exodus God's people are enslaved in Egypt, the most powerful and impressive kingdom on the earth. But God's power extends over and beyond the power of the kingdom of Egypt. In rescuing His people out of slavery God shows us His power over the k...

Deliverance is what every heart yearns for through the various suffering and struggles of life. Seeing God move in the life of Moses from his birth is meant to encourage us that God is always at work in the lives of his people and has nothings but the best in store for them, no matter the circumstances of life. Application Questions: 1. What are some of the things in your life you want to be deliv...

When we look carefully at the biblical story of Joseph and his brothers, we find that the story is much more difficult, dramatic, and unpredictable than we tend to assume. In a time when all of life seems to similarly be more difficult, dramatic, and unpredictable for most of us it is the perfect story for this moment. It reminds us that not only is God always in control, but that is plan is perfe...

Throughout the story of Abraham and Sarah, God continually initiates. God chooses Abram and calls him to leave his homeland. God unilaterally makes promises and commitments to Abram. God enters into a covenant with Abram on His own terms. God changes Abram's name to Abraham. God fulfills the promise of a descendant for Abraham. And God provides a substitute sacrifice for Abraham's chosen son. Abra...

The story of the tower of Babel is about a lot more than language. It's about two ways of viewing the world, and two ways of finding security and significance. One comes from a city we try and build to keep our life safe and important apart from God. The other comes from God by grace. Christianity offers a city to come, that is built by God for us through Jesus Christ. Application Questions: 1. Wh...

We usually think of Noah and the ark as a kids story, especially the animals going on the ark two by two. But a closer look at the story shows us a rich message about what God is like, how we can be delivered from our sin, and how we find hope and a future. What's more, we see the kind of refuge God provides us in Jesus Christ that we can turn to now and forever. Application Questions: 1. What par...

We're probably all familiar with the story of Adam and Eve. There's a tree, and an apple (or a "fruit"), and a couple of fig leaves. But when was the last time you took the time to really look carefully at what God was revealing about himself through this incredible historical story. When we slow down and walk through this story with our eyes fixed on God we begin to see things we never saw before...

God's glory is the weightiness of his nature and character—the summary of what we've been learning in the entire series. When Moses asks God to show him his glory, he teaches us all about what we really needs, and what it means to be close to a God this significant. Application Questions: 1. How has this series helped you get to know God better? How has that affected your life? 2. Where do you try...

In a world where pain, struggle, and difficulty continue to mount, we instincitvely turn in all sorts of directions looking for comfort. But, we so seldom find it. What does it mean that God is the "God of all comfort?" And how can we access that true comfort when the waves of suffering keep coming? In our passage today God teaches us about the true nature of comfort, and about the ultimate purpos...

God is sovereign over the entire universe. He is sovereign over the natural world, He is sovereign over individual people, and He is sovereign over the spiritual realm. His sovereignty is one of His perfections that makes Him absolutely unique in all the universe, and absolutely powerful over all things. Application Questions: 1. How does the biblical picture of God's sovereignty over all the univ...

The author of Hebrews writes to people who are weighed down and struggling, and at the end of chapter 6 he points them to God's faithfulness as the anchor that can hold them fast even when the world is spinning around them. We also need God's faithfulness, not just in a pandemic but all the time. Without it, we have no anchor that can really hold. When we know God's faithfulness, we enjoy his secu...

Knowing God means knowing his justice, an often misunderstood aspect of God's character. Far from being something that repels us, God's perfect justice invites us to joy, comfort, and even a new way of being in the world. Application Questions: 1. How do you react to the idea that God is just? Is God's justice compelling or dry, troubling or joyful? 2. What makes God's judgment different from our...

As we continue to set our eyes on God, being reminded of his never-changing nature in the midst of an ever-changing world, we are given hope and peace. But hope and peace don't come simply from recognizing God's holiness, love, and power. For these characteristics to be truly comforting the God of holiness, love, and, power must be near. He must be with us. Application Questions: 1. How can you pr...

Power is something we all look to as a means of having purchase on our lives. But God's power is overwhelmingly greater than anything else in the universe, which rightly elicits fear. But God's power is for us and changes everything in our lives, providing comfort and peace that nothing can touch. Application Questions: 1. What are some ways you have related to power poorly or looked to it in the...

Christianity is not about following a bunch of rules, or practicing a bunch of rituals. Christianity is fundamentally about having a relationship with God. There is a difference between knowing thingsaboutGod, and knowing Godrelationally. To know Godrelationallymeans to know Him deeply and personally,andit means to be knownby Himdeeply and personally. Jesus calls us to this kind of vibrant relatio...