Cornerstone West Los Angeles » Sermons

We tend to live out lives investing in temporary treasure, but God calls us to something greater, more beautiful, and more lasting. Investing in eternal treasure is one of the hallmarks of a disciple of Christ, and it is a radical call. But as we are empowered by the Spirit and motivated by the gospel, God transforms our generosity in ways we never even knew were possible. Application Questions 1....

On this youth Sunday, we spoke about prayer on several levels. We learned with our children's church kids about how we always talk to people we love, which is why we pray to God. We learned with our junior church kids how God wants us to engage him about the real things in our life. And we learned through our shorter sermon how the Lord's Prayer teaches us to pray by remembering who God is, relati...

This Sunday we invited new and growing preachers in our church to each preach at one of our three services. They covered the next section in the Sermon on the Mount: Jesus teaching about the danger of religious hypocrisy. The Christian life is not just a bunch of religious activities, but a changed heart that is motivated differently. When we see how many of our good actions are actually motivated...

Jesus takes aim at our obsession to get what we think we deserve, and to give others what we think they deserve. Instead of operating our lives on“fairness,” Jesus asks us to operate on love. But how do we do that when our default mode is to live for ourselves and not for others? The gospel opens to door to a grace that leaves us eternally secure and reshaped to love others not based on what they...

The Pharisees were fixated on finding“loopholes” to the rules of God's Word. They weren't concerned about obeying and following God from their hearts, they were focused on doing what they were“supposed to” in an external way, but their hearts were far from Him. God calls us to something radically different in Christ- to be people who are so enraptured with what Jesus has done for us that we live a...

The concept that looking at a woman with lustful intent is a form of adultery is ridiculous and offensive in the world today. But, it is just another part of the radical ethic Jesus is laying out in the Sermon on the Mount. In fact, he is so serious that he tells his disciples that dramatic steps must be taken to pursue his ethic. However, he gives them hope in the fact that through his sacrifice...

We've all heard that Jesus said that being angry is like murdering someone in your heart. But, is that really true? Is this just Jesus using hyperbole, or is he genuinely laying down a radical ethic that is seemingly impossible to keep? In our sermon this week we explore how each one of us has a problem with anger that is greater than we knew, how God's grace is greater than we imagined, and how G...

How do we handle God's requirement that we be righteous? Typically we try to either build our lives on being good enough, or reject the idea that we should be good in the first place. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus addresses God's law. He tells us that we can't ignore it, and that we'll never live up to it. Instead, he has come to fulfill it in our place, giving us a righteousness deeper than w...

In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus offers a different way of life that stands in sharp contrast to the world. He calls His followers to have a different purpose for their life (to live for God, not for ourselves), different priorities (to radically love God and others rather than radically loving ourselves), and a different posture (to serve others rather than serve ourselves). And yet this“differen...

Jesus goes up on a mountain to deliver the Sermon on the Mount. The crowd is eager to hear how his kingdom will deliver them the good life: more comfort, more security, more approval. Instead, Jesus gives them the beatitudes, a jarring set of blessings that run counter to everything we think about the good life. When we look closely at Jesus'words, we find that he is here to deliver a blessing tha...

Palm Sunday is the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem to begin the last week of his life. In that way, Jesus the King arrives in his capital city to do battle with sin. We cannot understand sin without seeing how it intersects with our King. When we do, we are humbled, repentant, inspired, and most of all beloved. Application Questions 1. Why does it matter that Christ“knew no sin” ? 2. How does unders...

Christianity has always believed in a God of wrath, who stands in judgment over humans in their sin. But we don't talk about it much. What's more, for people in the West, God's wrath is hard to reconcile with God's love. If God is love, should he ever get angry? The Bible helps us make sense of God's wrath, square up to the reality of our situation, and appreciate the love of God displayed on the...

We all want to change and grow, but we are sometimes fuzzy on the end goal. In what direction should that change and growth take us? What are we aiming for? God makes clear that the basic Christian life is growth in a single, encompassing direction: Christlikeness. As we walk in love for God and love for others, God is growing us to look more and more like his Son. We need to keep our eyes on him,...

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 others as his disciples. Across the Bible, we find that loving others means close relationships with Christians, close relationships with non-Christians, and pursuing our God-given roles and responsibilities. These large ca...

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...