Cornerstone West Los Angeles » Sermons

Life has too many decisions to know how to make them all perfectly right. But that doesn't stop us from trying. The problem is, when we analyze decisions and try to figure out the outcomes ahead of time, it leaves us paralyzed and often unable to actually make a decision. In our passage today we are reassured that the way to make good decisions is not to be able to control their outcome or even be...

This week was a Unity Sunday service, so the sermon audio is in both English and Spanish. After explaining that life is a vapor, the Preacher teaches us what wisdom looks like as a human being who isn't in control. He shows us that wisdom is extremely valuable, but easily overlooked. To prove the point, he spends an entire chapter detailing the different aspects of foolishness: its destructive nat...

In one of his last sustained meditations on death, the Preacher forces us to deal with the reality of our own death: its certainty, its evil, its finality. And he does it to point us to the kind of joyful life that stops pretending we can be God and starts enjoying the gifts of God right in front of us. As the great humiliator, death reminds us that we are human and dependent on God for things we...

Jesus exemplifies for us as Christians exactly what wisdom looks like in real life. This sermon explores how Jesus embodied the wisdom that Ecclesiastes teaches- wisdom in humility, patience, and vindication. Application Questions 1. How does Jesus embody the Wisdom of the Book of Ecclesiastes? 2. What would it look like in your life to embrace Christ's wisdom of humility? 3. How can you grow in y...

Our quest to understand life is often frustrated by the fact that we simply don't have the capacity to understand all that God is doing and why. He is in control, he is working things according to his perfect plan, but why doesn't it seem to make sense to us sometimes? In our complex passage today the Preacher of Ecclesiastes identifies the real problems in life and reminds us of the few fundament...

The Preacher wants us to face up to the uncomfortable realities of life: death, grief, suffering, and more. And in order to help us do that, he highlights the ways we often try to avoid uncomfortable realities, turning instead to distractions. But living life avoiding reality has costs that we need to understand. And facing up to reality has benefits that we don't often realize. Ultimately, the re...

Money will not and cannot satisfy your soul. In this world many believe that financial and career success will bring soul satisfaction, but the Preacher shows us the emptiness of putting our hope in money and wealth. Application Questions 1. Which of money's lies does your heart find most compelling? 2. What are the ways that you seek to satisfy your soul in money, wealth, or possessions? 3. How c...

The Preacher in Ecclesiastes identifies two realities of life in a fallen world that undermine the pursuit of“gain” under the sun: Death and Injustice. These twin evils show us our weakness and the extent to which the world is fallen and broken. All of this points us to the fact that we need to be rescued, and that one day God is going to bring life where there is death, and bring justice where th...

The Preacher tells us that there is a time for everything, but we rarely think of time that way. We like to think of time as something we control by filling the minutes with whatever we'd like. Instead, the Preacher shows us that we can't control the times and seasons we go through in life. The only one with any real control is God. But we can find joy when we embrace God's control, knowing that h...

The Preacher is at the end of his tour of failed attempts to control life as a human being. We can't know enough to shape our lives, and we can't experience enough to shape our lives. Now, he shows us that we can't achieve enough to shape our lives. The various things we are working on day to day and week to week don't provide a soul-level satisfaction for us. Only God though Jesus Christ can put...

After having evaluated the wisdom of the world, the Preacher of Ecclesiastes next searches out earthly pleasure as a possible source of joy and fulfillment. Unsurprisingly, he also finds pleasure lacking the ability to truly satisfy. He tests entertainment, alcohol, work, possessions, and sex and finds that they are all fleeting and“vanity.” None of them truly last or satisfy. However, each one ca...

It's generally assumed that the more you know, the more you can control the things that happen in your life. The idea is that if you get the right knowledge and know the right techniques, you can shape your life into what you want it to be. But the Preacher in Ecclesiastes shows us that this is playing pretend: as human beings, we don't have access to enough knowledge to get control over life or c...

Ecclesiastes asks hard questions to show us what life is really like—and to show us the way to have joy in it all. It opens with an explanation of how fleeting and uncontrollable life really is. While we might pretend we know how to make things happen in the world, the truth is that outcomes are out of our control. Instead of coping by trying to make life obey our will, or by trying to find meanin...

God calls us to worship Him, but what does that mean? The psalmist tells us in Psalm 84 that worship is about what is going on in our hearts towards God. Do you find your home, your comfort, in His presence? That is worship. Do you find your strength in His power? That is worship. Do you find your satisfaction in Him and Him alone? That is worship. Application Questions 1. What would it look like...

Thanksgiving should be a natural response to the God of the universe, but so often we forget to thank Him or choose not to take the time to. In Psalm 34 David draws our eyes to characteristics of God that will fuel our hearts for thanksgiving in all circumstances. Application Questions 1. Do you remember to give thanks to God after He delivers you from difficulty? 2. Is your thanksgiving focused m...

Laments are the most common form of Psalms found in the Bible. So, why are they so unfamiliar to us? Most often it's because we don't truly understand what lament is. Living in a fallen and broken world, lament ought to be an expected part of our lives and relationships with God. This week we explore how to correctly understand biblical lament and how to develop it as a regular spiritual disciplin...

What do we do when we need rescue? We bounce back and forth between feelings of confident joy as saved people, and treacherous despair when darkness surrounds us. By showing us what it means to live as saved people and as people who need saving, Psalm 40 teaches us how to live our life as people who are continuously being saved by God. Application Questions 1. How often do you retell the story of...

We often think of confession as something to be either avoided or endured. We don't want to think of ourselves as being “that bad.” But when we confess our sins to God, we acknowledge the truth of our imperfection and the holiness of God. In doing so, it draws us deeper into Him and frees us to live more authentic lives. Application Questions 1. What comes to mind when you hear the word“confession...

The psalms teach us how to respond to life and connect our daily experience to God. As we begin a short series on the psalms, we start with the foundation behind them all: adoration of God. David teaches us to adore God in his greatness and his goodness, pointing us ultimately towards Jesus. True Christianity leads us to adore God for who he is in himself, and set our gaze on him as we live our li...

Jesus finished the Sermon on the Mount with a simple but powerful image: homes built either on sand or on the rock. One is fragile and eventually washed away; the other is secure and withstands the storm. In this image Jesus is summing up the entire Sermon. What is above ground and external can be beautiful, but anchored to sand. It will eventually fall. But what is anchored to the rock—to Jesus h...

There are people who pretend to speak for God and who pretend to act for God. But God is not deceived. One day standing before the judgment seat of Christ, there will be those who will receive the judgment of eternal condemnation. Some will be confused because they have spoken for God as prophets. Others will be confused because they have done mighty works for God. But salvation is not based on us...

It is very hard to go against our natural selfish desires and it is easy to love ourselves only. The whole world around us continues to tell us that our lives are more important than the lives of others. And in the mist of this way of living, Jesus commands us to be empathetic to the needs and suffering of others. Jesus knows that the path of empathy will bring life to our souls if we choose to ob...

Where do we get the resources to live out the Sermon on the Mount? Jesus addresses our need to ask, seek, and knock in prayer to God for this and much more. Our problem is not just that we don't ask, it'swhywe don't ask: because we doubt God's goodness. When we hear Jesus'teaching and see his death and resurrection, we find a God who is a good, generous Father. With this kind of Father, why wouldn...

As Jesus begins to sum up the Sermon on the Mount, he addresses the way we engage others. In a fascinating set of images, he demonstrates that disciples are to lovingly evaluate others for their good, not stand over them in condemnation. At the same time, disciples are to be wise in the way they move out into the world, always being discerning in relationships. When we live this out as Christians...

In light of the call to lay up for ourselves“treasures in heaven,” most of us inevitably respond with some form of worry. If we are to give ourselves up for others, who's going to look out for us? We can feel alone, confused, and hopeless when anxiety washes over us and we feel paralyzed by our own fears. But Christ shows us a better way. He shows us the way to be freed from our anxieties and fear...