Cornerstone West Los Angeles » Sermons

Jesus teaches that the greatest commandment, which encompasses all others, is love—love for God and love for others. In this sermon, we look more closely at growing in love for God as his disciples. Across the Bible, we find that loving God means listening to him in Scripture, speaking to him in prayer, and working what he says into our hearts. These large categories—Bible, Prayer, and Heart Work—...

Application Questions 1. Why does God have such a profound heart for the poor and the marginalized? 2. Who are the poor and the marginalized in Los Angeles? 3. How can you cultivate a love and compassion for those who are suffering in these ways? 4. How is God calling you to serve the marginalized? 5. What stands in the way of Cornerstone being a community that is welcoming to the marginalized? Wh...

Application Questions 1. Why is it important to understand the reality of orphans in our city? Why do you think it is easy to forget? What can you do to help yourself remember? 2. Why should a Christian identify with orphans and value them? Do you see that at work in your own life? 3. Everyone is called to do something to care for orphans. What are some of the ways that you can care for orphans as...

Application Questions 1. How have you tended to be pro-baby or pro-woman in the past in exclusion of the other? 2. How can we love and communicate God's grace to those who have had abortions in the past? 3. How can we as a church community serve and love prenatal children and their parents in ways that empower parents to know that they aren't stuck and that they have realistic choices other than a...

Application Questions 1. How does God's promise to Abraham in Genesis 12 tell us about God's ultimate plan of redemption for all peoples? How is this reflected in Revelation 7:9? 2. What is the difference between race and ethnicity, and why is it so important? 3. How in your life can you stop being a wall to other ethnicities, and function as a bridge?

Application Questions 1. Every human being is made in the image of God. How should that change the way you treat the people you work with, socialize with, and live with? 2. When we take God out of the equation, what reasons are there to treat all people with dignity? What do you think would happen in a society that wants dignity for all but doesn't ground it in the image of God? How do you see tha...

Application Questions 1. Which areas can you identify discontentment in your own heart and life? 2. What does a life of passion-filled contentment look like? How can you have both (passion and contentment)? 3. How do circumstances reveal what is in your heart? What created things do you put your hope in, and how can you redirect that hope into Christ? 4. How does the future glory speak to your cur...

Application Questions 1. How do you view and respond to conflict in the church? Do you know the process of gospel reconciliation? 2. How do you view and respond to worries and anxieties in your life? 3. What are ways that you can make prayer a more sustainable part of your life? 4.What do you dwell on during a normal day? How can you fill your mind with worthy truth rather than unworthy lies?

Application Questions 1. Who are the faithful Christians in your life that you can seek to emulate? 2. How would your life look different if you were more consistently emulating those people? 3. Who / what are the“enemies of the cross” that you find yourself imitating? Who shapes your life that you need to pay less attention to? 4. What are some of the key rights and responsibilities of being a ci...

Application Questions 1. Think of some of the reasons you are motivated to improve yourself. Which of them flow from the Gospel? Which of them flow from other desires? 2. Do you tend to view growth as following the rules better or getting to know Christ better? How has that view affected your growth? 3. Are you more focused on the direction you're headed in your growth (trajectory) or where you ar...

Application Questions 1. What are some ways that you "put your confidence in the flesh" (build your own identity outside of Christ)? What is on your "resume"? 2. What would it look like for you to "count these things as loss"for the sake of knowing Christ? How wouldyour life (attitude, relationships, decisions) change? 3. For you, is Christianity primarily about building a resume for yourself or r...

Application Questions 1. What are some of God's greatest blessings in your life? 2. Are you truly cherishing and enjoying those blessings? If not, what hinders your enjoyment? 3. In what ways are you planning / preparing to part with those blessings for the sake of the Gospel? 4. How would your life be different if you lived it "ready to share," planning to part with many of your blessings for the...

Application Questions 1. What would be different in your life if you saw God's salvation as a gift to be enjoyed? 2. Are you growing in your faith? How can you tell? 3. What do you complain about? Have you confessed and repented? 4. How does your security in Christ anchor you from the storms of life?

Application Questions 1. How does pride (concentration on the self) look in your life? Where do you see it affect your attitude, relationships, and decisions? 2. What strikes you most about Jesus' attitude in vv 6-11? Where in life are you trying to grasp your own significance instead of giving it away for others? 3. What would have to change for you to experience true humility? What is some of th...

Application Questions 1. What are ways that you find yourself pursuing surface-level unity, not empowered by the gospel? 2. In what ways are you tempted to think of yourself as more significant than others? 3. How would your relationships at work change if you considered others more significant than yourself? 4. How would your relationships in your Community Group change if you considered others m...

Application Questions 1. What are the ways that fear prevents you from growing in Christ? 2. Are you in a state of surviving or thriving? 3. How can you continue to strive forward in the gospel regardless of your circumstances? 4. What areas of life do you need-courage-? What courageous act is God calling you to next?

Application Questions 1. How often do you take time to consider death? What might be a benefit of you considering it more? 2. What does “to die is gain” mean to you? 3. What are the things in this world (apart from Christ) that are “really living” for you? 4. What is one thing in your life that you look to for joy and satisfaction that is really just “McDonalds” ? 5. If God desires to keep you her...

Application Questions 1. How much do your circumstances affect your attitude? Take a moment and think about why that is. What is it about different circumstances that influence you so much? 2. Think of times you've seen the gospel advance in your own heart, in the lives of Christians around you, or in the lives of non-Christians who have come to believe. What were your circumstances like during th...

Application Questions 1. What habits exist in your life that help you grow in Christ? 2. What are ways that you grow in your love for God and for others? 3. How can you refocus your life around things that are “excellent” and God-glorifying? 4. What fruit of righteousness do you see in your life? Whatshouldyou see that you don't?

Application Questions 1. How can you live with the purpose of being a partner in the gospel? 2. Are you overjoyed that your life is a painting and God is the master artist? What kind of painting do you expect God to paint in your life? What would give Him the most glory? 3. What would it look like for you to partake of the grace of God every day? What would it look like to see your whole life, the...

Application Questions 1. How does understanding the story of Paul's imprisonment change how you read and understand the letter to the Philippians? 2. How might the following verses take on a different meaning in light of understanding Paul's experience? -Philippians 1:2 -Philippians 2:3 -Philippians 2:14 -Philippians 4:4 -Philippians 4:6 -Philippians 4:11 -Philippians 4:13 3. What parts of the sto...

Application Questions 1. How has God taught you to grow more and more through the letter to the Thessalonians? 2. In what areas of your life are you "half-living"? What steps of faith can you take (or spiritual habits you can put into practice) to grow in those areas to live abundantly? 3. What parts of life do you need to let go of in order for you to be able to "take hold of that which is truly...

Application Questions 1. How should you respond to your non-Christian neighbors, co-workers, and friends in light of the Day of the Lord? 2. What does a life of eager expectation look like? 3. How often do you grieve the brokenness of this world and long for the next? Are you awake, or asleep, to spiritual realities in your life? 4. What habits can you develop in your life that can stir and awaken...

Application Questions 1. How does Jesus'return change your view of death? 2. How does Jesus'return change your view of your life? 3. How does Jesus'return change your view of your possessions? 4. How does Jesus'return change your view of disappointment and suffering? 5. How does Jesus'return change your view of love and blessing? 6. What are some practical ways you could encourage those around you...

Application Questions 1. How could you make the pursuit of holiness a more prominent goal in your life? 2. What areas of sexual immorality is God calling you to confess to him, confess to a brother or sister, and repent of? 3. How can we make our church family a place that draws people out of the hidden corners? 4. What aspects of the gospel do you think people need to be reminded of the most when...