Cornerstone West Los Angeles » Sermons

James gives us examples of trials we face when he brings up“lowliness” : having little money, little power, and little social standing. He also discusses the rich, who enjoy more power, comfort, and respect. But James turns things upside down: he encourages the low to boast in their high position, and the rich to boast in their low position. He does it because he is aware of eternity, and what it...

As we try to navigate life in our fallen world, we are constantly confused by the situations we find ourselves in. We don't know what to do. We don't know where to turn. We don't even understand the reality of what's happening. Thankfully God gives us the lens of wisdomthrough whichto view the world, which provides clarity and an accurate picture of reality. But wisdom can seem like a difficult (i...

James begins his book with a discussion of trials, because living faith is seen in unique ways in the midst of suffering. He wants us to understand that it is actually possible, through faith, to count trials as joy without pretending they don't hurt. And he teaches us how by showing us what trials look like, what they produce, and how these things lead to actual joy that runs deeper than the pain...

All of the signs in John lead up to the ultimate, final sign: the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Much like the other signs, it teaches us about the authority Jesus has over the universe, death, and even our daily lives. It also teaches us about the love Jesus has in returning to life in such a way that we are drawn into it, now and into eternity. Unlike the other miracle stories, this miracle happe...

As we've looked at the signs of Jesus, they've revealed Jesus' glory. He has shown us who He is. The signs have been pointing us to Him. But here in the last sign of His public ministry, we are being pointed forward. It's calling us to do more than contemplate who He is, but to follow Him because of who He is. This sign is a call to trust Jesus finally and concretely with a living trust that activ...

To the disciples, the blind man who begged on the side of the road was simply a topic for theological discussion. But Jesus saw in him an image-bearer, desperately in need of divine mercy. Even after the man was given sight, the Pharisees still only saw him as a topic of theological discussion. And again, Jesus saw him as a beloved child who needed even deeper mercy than simply sight for his physi...

It's so easy to get familiar with and enjoy the compassion and provision of Jesus. But if we're not careful, we will become enamored with His gifts, and reduce Jesus to a miracle-worker at our disposal. Treating Jesus this way will always result in our disappointment. Learning to see His compassion and provision as acts of mercy towards us will help us to come to Him as the True King that He is. A...

John's retelling of Jesus healing a paralyzed man and then encountering the religious authorities in a temple teach us about who Jesus is and what he has come to do. Far from just healing a man and leaving, he both chases the man down later and encounters the religious authorities. In both situations, we find Jesus pointing them away from where they thought they'd find wholeness, and pointing them...

In the healing of the official's son, we see Jesus perform a miracle from a distance, and he performs a miracle that could have possibly been interpreted as having a different cause. Because Jesus wasn't there and because the timing of the healing was conveyed secondhand, the official could have chosen to believe that it was all some crazy coincidence. But, because of his softened heart, the offic...

Too often, we read our Bibles thinking,“If only I could have been there and seen these things, it wouldn't be so hard for me to believe.” But Scripture gives us a different picture. Jesus revealed His glory through the miracles that He performed, and in our Bibles we have all of the signs that we need to believe. Application Questions 1. Think about this miracle in comparison to Jesus' other mirac...

The miracles performed by Jesus are signs that teach us about God, ourselves, and the world around us. But today, many people struggle to believe that they happened in the first place. In a time when we assume there is always a natural explanation for everything, can we still believe in miracles? And even if we believe in them, how are we supposed to respond to them? The signs and wonders of Jesus...

We know that Jesus died for us to be a family and we also know that unity is the glue that keeps us together as one family. God has made our family at Cornerstone so diverse that we represent and reflect our surrounding community. I believe that as we continue to grow in our diversity, God wants us to be a more unified family. We will learn this morning from the apostle Paul that there are lies th...

God has made us a family from among all sorts of different ethnicities, cultures, and even languages. In a linguistically diverse place like Los Angeles, we have the opportunity and blessing to live life cross-lingually with our brothers and sisters in Christ as a part of one local church. But, how do we do that? What does that practically look like? How do you build a relationship with someone wh...

Cornerstone is committed to being a multi-ethnic and multilingual local church. But why? Being a multilingual church is incredibly difficult, and there are always going to be divisions in this world, so why bother? But Christ calls us to do hard things for the sake of the gospel, and the local church is meant to be the in-breaking of the Kingdom of God on earth, a multilingual community declaring...

As we conclude our series through the book of Isaiah, we consider again how different life is when we remember that the LORD is the central reality of all of life. As the book concludes, its perspective shifts to remind us that the LORD is not only the central reality of this life, but also of the life to come. The eternal promises of God remind us that we have an eternal hope that is guaranteed a...

As a church our deepest need is for redemption and renewal, and forgetting who we are and what God has done for us is dangerous, sending us off into practicing false religion. Isaiah 58 unmasks our false religion and shows us true religion that pleases the LORD, not to make religious people into better religious people, but totransform us from self-serving people to God-glorifying people. It's abo...

In light of the Servant, what happens to people who build their security on other things? The LORD tells his people that all their attempts to find satisfaction outside of him leave them empty...yet they return to them over and over again. And yet God invites them to take refuge in him, and demonstrates that even though the problem is deeper than they realize, his love runs deeper still through th...

Like the leaders of Israel in Isaiah's time, we often are short-sighted, seeing this world and only this world. But when God breaks into our world we see with new eyes; we see a God who turns the world upside down, giving hope and everlasting joy to those who have none in this world. Application Questions 1. What are the ways that you see short-sightedness in your life? 2. How can you fight the te...

As we meditate on the reality of the physical, emotional, and spiritual suffering that Jesus endured at the crucifixion, we begin to understand the immense power of God's grace and love demonstrated at the cross. The horror of the cross is meant to show us the devastating nature of our sin, and the unfathomable lengths that God would go to in order to bring us back to himself.

In the midst of the Servant Songs, we pause to look at Israel's ideas about God. Encouraged by his promises of redemption, they tell the Lord to“awake, awake” and come to rescue them. But this betrays their way of thinking: that thus far, God has been asleep to them. The Lord's response is to tell them and show them that He has been awake to them, but they have fallen asleep on him. The same can b...

Isaiah 50 is telling us an incredible story. You and I have dishonored the Lord, and He is right to reject us in everlasting disgrace. But, instead, He gives us His Servant as His instrument of redemption. The Servant accomplishes our redemption by leveraging the honor befitting His obedience and intimacy with The LORD for our sake. To rid us of disgrace, He embraced disgrace, to bring us a transf...

The center of Isaiah focuses on the Servant, whom the New Testament authors identify as Jesus Christ. This is the second of four“servant songs” that detail why Jesus comes into the world and what he comes to accomplish. Here we see the breadth and the depth of Jesus'mission, and also something more: we get a lesson in how to experience his love when we feel numb to it. Application Questions 1. Wha...

All of human history points to and culminates in the person of the Servant. The entirety of the Bible up to the point of Isaiah asks the question,“Who is the Messiah? Who will save us?” , and the book of Isaiah itself leads up to this point where the LORD introduces His Servant to His People. This Servant is in the exact nature of the LORD Himself: gracious, just, merciful, powerful, and accomplis...

As the book of Isaiah transitions to the message God gave the exiles for the time when they would inevitably be taken into exile, we find a powerful message of comfort. In the depths of sorrow, when dreams have been destroyed and lives have been turned upside down, God reminds us that he is near, he is holding us close, and he has the power to bring about his promised redemption. Application Quest...

We are an increasingly restless people, constantly busy and always working on various parts of our lives. Humans have always naturally tried to work our way to strength, stability and security. In Isaiah, we've seen the the LORD is the only rational place to put our trust and hope for the future. But the people of Israel—and us today—turn instead to other ways of managing our fears and desires. Ne...