Cornerstone West Los Angeles » Sermons

Paul normally starts his letters with thanksgiving and encouragement, but in Galatians he begins with admonishment. Paul is deadly serious about any adjustments people make to the gospel of grace in Christ, and in this short passage he shows us how to tell the difference between the true gospel and its counterfeits. Application Questions 1. Why can’t you make any adjustment to the gospel without r...

Galatians is a powerful book that has contributed to revivals in history and can do so today. In Paul’s introduction, we get major themes from the rest of the book on the importance of doctrine, the heart of the gospel, and the way we can put doctrine to work in our own lives. Application Questions 1. What are some ways you’ve seen doctrine affect your life?  2. What about the gospel seems most re...

Paul prays that we would know the message of Easter not just with our minds but in our bones. How? By seeing that Jesus’ resurrection can be our resurrection. God in Christ meets us in our sin and raises us to life, with more life to come for eternity. Application Questions: 1. How does the resurrection show us the power of God? What does that mean for our spiritual life? 2. Why does Paul want us...

Missional hospitality is built to fit into a life of self-giving love. When we live as those who daily take up their cross, losing our lives to find it in Jesus, missional hospitality will fit naturally. Application Questions: 1. Why do you think Jesus wants us to take up a cross to follow him?  2. How does losing your life for Jesus’ sake lead to saving it? What does that kind of life look like d...

As we continue to explore how God is calling each of us to extend his welcome to our city, we look at a third practical question that often hinders us. "What exactly am I supposed to say?" Over the years you may have learned all sorts of different gospel presentations, but they inevitably all feel awkward or strange to deliver. How do we convey the message of the gospel in a way that is compelling...

Missional hospitality can seem daunting, but the example set for us by Jesus and Paul is one where people are invited into the rhythms of their lives. The same is true for us. We let our light shine before men by inviting them into the things in life that we already do: Work, Rest, Celebrate, and Eat. These are the contexts for welcoming in others around us, and these are the places where we will...

As we seek to understand how God is calling each of us to extend his welcome to our city, a number of practical questions arise. The first question we're going to examine is: Who, specifically, is God calling me to welcome?  In a city of millions of people, where do we start? Application Questions: 1. When deciding who to spend time with, what usually determines your choice? 2. How does the exampl...

When God’s family gathers in Sunday services or community groups, it’s like family dinner: our values, the way we treat each other, and the way we treat our guests are on full display. This sermon explores how God’s welcome extends through the church community to newcomers when we gather together. Application Questions: 1. When was the last time you were new at church? What was that experience lik...

Jesus changed the world and impacts lives every day in a surprising way: zoomed in, one person at a time. He not only sees individuals and their specific needs, but he saves and celebrates, with a singular focus, each person adopted into his family. Application Question: 1. Is there someone in your life who needs to seen by you the way Jesus sees you? Pray and ask God to show you who you need to s...

Multiplication has always been part of God's plan since He formed humanity in His Image. We should desire multiplication because we want those around us to hear the gospel's Good News. God does not want us to hoard the fruit of Spirit, but by our fruit, those around us should know we are His and desire Him. Multiplication is bittersweet because there is a cost to welcome others into God's family a...

How did Christianity go from a local, Galilean, Jewish religion to a worldwide faith where we are worshipping Jesus 2,000 years later and 8,000 miles away? After the Resurrection, Jesus gives His disciples the command to go and make disciples of all nations, inviting all peoples to come to know and love God. The welcome that we have received from God we now turn and offer to others. Application Qu...

People with disabilities are often overlooked, but they are a valuable part of God’s kingdom. Learning more about those with disabilities teaches us how to be more welcoming, and gives us a vision for a community that truly serves one another. Application Questions: 1. How have you or someone close to you experienced disability?  2. God creates, works through, and reveals his glory through people...

The church is more than just a building: it's a community, a God-ordained assembly where we are to be reminded of and refreshed by his goodness. We gather to enjoy and share the welcome of God with one another that we might be better equipped to share it with others. Application Questions: 1. What does church mean to you? 2. In what ways can you work to see church as more of a community and a fami...

As we reflect on the welcome of God, and the peace we have because we have been welcomed in, Jesus turns our attention toward being a welcoming presence in our city. Just as Jesus was sent from the Father, now we have been sent for a purpose and with a mission. Application Questions 1. If Jesus welcomed in the disciples after they had abandoned him, what does that teach you about his welcome of yo...

To understand how we are to be missionally hospitable to others we must understand and enjoy the hospitality of God. In His love God redeems us from bondage to slavery, and more so adopts us into His family. In Christ your identity is His child, and He invites you to savor your inheritance. Application Questions: 1. What does it look like to find your security in your identity in Christ? 2. How ou...

The gospel is God’s hospitality to us, and once you see it you’ll find it throughout scripture. Ephesians 1 is an expansive look at the way God welcomes us through Christ by the Holy Spirit. Once we see that we’ve received God’s welcome, and learn how to enjoy it, we’ll find ourselves ready to extend it to others. Application Questions: 1. Have you ever thought of God’s love in terms of hospitalit...

We begin the year with a new sermon series exploring the calling of our church in our city.  Why does God have us here? How does he want us to live here as his children? How is this unique moment a key opportunity for the church? As ones who have been welcomed into God's family, he has placed us in this city to reflect his welcome through lives of missional hospitality. Application Questions: 1. A...

King David is known as the man after God's own heart. His relationship with and trust in God is often held up as the goal for all of God's people to strive for, but in this psalm we see David pleading for God to deliver him from spiritual darkness. David shows us how to be honest, reach out to God, and request deliverance from God through desperate prayer.

The story of Jesus' life continues after Christmas in powerful and surprising ways. As a young child, his family flees an oppressive government, he lives as a refugee, and ends up growing up in a small, obscure town. Not quite the origin story we might expect for the hero of the world. But it's exactly the story God has been pointing toward and foreshadowing throughout all of human history. Applic...

The darkness of death is the natural culmination and pinnacle of the darkness of sin and suffering.  It is an overbearing weight.  But the coming of the true light in the person and work of Jesus rescues us from this burden and frees us from death's grip, to give back the life we were meant to have. Application Questions: 1. What are some ways you avoid thinking about death? 2. How does meditating...

The darkness of suffering is real, complex, and something we all struggle to deal with. Advent points us away from our attempts to cope with suffering on our own to Jesus Christ, the true light, who overcomes the darkness. While our suffering is still real and deeply painful, Jesus walks with us as one who suffered for us.  Application Questions: 1. How do you try to cope with suffering by control...

Advent is a time of reflection on our need for the light of Christ in the darkness of sin, but we have a difficulty in understanding our hearts. We often try to utilize artificial light to help us navigate the darkness of the world and our heart, but it cannot take us out of the darkness. This sermon is about how dark our sin really is in each of us, and how precious it is that true light has come...

Advent is a time of reflection on our need for the light of Christ in a dark world, but we don’t always feel that need in our bones. We need to meditate on the brightness of the Light and the depth of the darkness to move Advent from our heads to our hearts to our lives. This sermon looks at the beginning of John’s gospel to get a sense of the brightness of the Light of Christ, and what it means t...

God has been so good to us in so many ways that it is not that hard to be thankful to Him for our families, our jobs, our children, our careers, our health, etc. We also are thankful for things that we own, like our cars, homes, computers, cell phones, etc. It is good to cultivate a thankful heart for all those things we have received from Him. But what about our great salvation that He has given...

Jesus concludes his sermon with a stark illustration about the eternal implications of where we put our faith. The bless-ed life that Jesus has been describing isn't just about fulfillment and joy in this life, but is the basis for eternal human flourishing as well. In Jesus we find the fulfillment of our humanity both in this life and in the life to come. Application Questions: 1. Have you put yo...