Cornerstone West Los Angeles » Sermons

1 Corinthians 2 is shaped like the Trinity. The Father decrees the gospel before the ages, the Son purchases our salvation on the cross, and the Spirit applies that salvation to us as we perceive and enjoy the wisdom of God. Far from making things dry or overly intellectual, the doctrine of the Trinity enriches and deepens our spiritual lives as we appreciate God in his fullness drawing us into hi...

Paul is giving the Corinthians a better way for wisdom, and he finishes in this passage. In a city where the gospel can look so foolish to so many, Paul gives us confidence that it really is God’s wisdom and power in the world. But we receive that wisdom by the Spirit, not by our own intelligence, effort, or morality. That means we live in the city as humble recipients of God’s own Spirit, who bas...

Our hearts are always preaching and being preached to. The world and our own hearts naturally prize our own wisdom and strength. But the gospel is best received in weakness, so that we are better able to see what is most true and rest in not in our own wisdom, but in God’s power.

Paul transitions from talking about the foolishness of the cross to talking about the foolishness of the church according to worldly standards. God has designed the church to be weak and foolish according to the world's standards, because this brings Him great glory. Application Questions: 1. What does allegiance look like in your life? 2. How does your job, your worldly "success," attempt to draw...

Paul teaches the Corinthians the difference between the wisdom of the city and God’s wisdom. Worldly wisdom focuses on success, significance, and strength, while God’s wisdom reveals itself in the seeming insignificance and weakness of Christ crucified. Application Questions: 1. In your own words, how would you describe the “wisdom of the world” that Paul talks about in this passage?   2. How have...

The world offers us countless social, religious, and political tribes. When these tribes show up inside the church they turn disagreements into divisions. These tribes tell us that they are our most significant identity and the reason for our hope. But, in reality, they're just God-replacements characterized by empty promises and fleeting belonging. Christ offers us a better way. Application Quest...

The book of 1 Corinthians is written to Christians in a vibrant and challenging city. Paul writes to show them a better way to live than what their city has on offer, and in this introduction he lays the foundation: the grace we find in Christ.  Application Questions: 1. How does the description of Corinth compare to your experience of Los Angeles? 2. Paul mentions four blessings Christians receiv...

Paul closes the letter to the Galatians by reminding them not to boast in the flesh, but to boast in the cross of Jesus Christ.  Application Questions: 1. How has Galatians affected you over the past several months?  2. How do you experience the siren song of boasting in yourself or something in the world?  3. What about boasting in the cross excites you? What about boasting in the cross challenge...

A life of freedom is a life lived for the good of others. When we are set free from our self-salvation projects, we are able to live the deeply interdependent relational lives we were created to live. The problem is, living our lives for others often makes us tired and weary. It doesn't feel as picturesque as the Bible describes it. Paul meets us in our weariness with a surprising anecdote: a remi...

Paul shows us how the fruit of the Spirit is meant to be directed outwardly to one another in the context of the Church. We are called to humility towards one another, not comparing and judging others. We are called to reconciliation with one another, forgiving and restoring. And we are called to sacrifice for one another, bearing one another's burdens. Application Questions: 1. Do you view the ch...

The fruit of the Spirit is not a list of things to do but a description of what Christian growth looks like. Paul shows us the content, the nature, and the process of Christian growth so that we can participate more fully in what the Spirit is doing in our lives. Application Questions: 1. What is compelling to you about experiencing the fruit of the Spirit in your own life?  2. Christian growth is...

The book of Galatians insists that Christians are free in Christ. But what does that freedom look like in your daily life? Paul explains that the life of the Christian is marked by a conflict of desires: old selfish desires combat new selfless desires inspired by the Holy Spirit. When we understand this conflict, we understand ourselves better, and we find hope for growth. Application Questions: 1...

Paul's explanation of the ramifications of the gospel in our lives continues: the gospel sets us free from sin, guilt, shame, and the Law, and this freedom is an opportunity to serve others, as well as an opportunity to walk in the Spirit. Application Questions: Confession: What are some ways you use your freedom in Christ to serve yourself rather than others? Transformation: How can you use your...

In this passage, Paul expresses his pastoral heart for the Galatians—he longs for them to hold fast to the gospel and its truth, reject the lies of the circumcision party, and use their freedom in Christ to serve one another. Application Questions 1. What does gospel freedom look like in your life? How do you cling to gospel truth day in and day out? 2. Why does Paul use such aggressive language t...

Paul wants the Galatians to live in the freedom of the gospel, and he uses an Old Testament story to show them. We can live trying to control our own future, or trust God to take care of us by his own power. One leads to slavery, the other to freedom. For Christians, life is lived secure in the promise of God. Application Questions: 1. What are some reasons you might be tempted to live “under the...

Paul gives us a profound analysis of human beings, from our motivations to our decisions. Just like the Galatians, we are all tempted by idolatry: replacing God with something else we look to for stability and hope. It is so ingrained in us that we don’t see it, and it enslaves us. The solution, Paul says, is the knowledge of God—both our knowledge of him and, more importantly, his knowledge of us...

Our fractured, divided, and imperfect world keeps us from knowing and relating to ourselves and others as we should. But our union with Christ makes us all sons of God and heirs according to promise. Through Christ we have our identity shaped and established, our way settled, and our relationship with God secured, as we enjoy a sonship, through any and every circumstance, both in part now and one...

Paul finishes explaining God’s law with the image of a guardian or tutor in ancient Roman society. Like tutors, life under the law was a time of preparation, not a final destination. The law is meant to drive us to the promise of God’s grace in Christ, which gives us a new identity and forms a new community. Application Questions: 1. Why does Paul think it's so important that we are no longer unde...

What do we do with the Old Testament? Paul shows us that we don’t need to ignore it or downplay it. The whole Old Testament points to the promise of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ.  Application Questions: 1. Why should we read the Bible as a cohesive story and not a big collection of truths?  2. Why is it important that Christianity is based on promise not law?  3. How would your life be different...

We all want the blessing of the Spirit, even if we don’t usually think about it in terms of Abraham and the Old Testament law. When we connect our daily lives to this search for the blessing, we find a powerful lesson about faith in Christ who took our curse so we could share in his blessing. Application Questions 1. How do you see a desire for the blessing of God in your own life?  2. Can you rel...

How do we change and grow? We're all in the process of striving to change, mature, or grow in one way or another. We want to grow in our career, as parents, as friends, simply as humans.  But how does real, lasting change actually happen? Self-help books and life-hack blogs promise they hold the keys to success. But what does God say? Surprisingly, the answer is a lot simpler than we could ever im...

This passage is at the heart of Galatians, and it deals with the doctrine of justification by faith. Paul is extremely clear: we are justified by what God does, not by what we do. When we go to Christ with nothing, we get everything. Application Questions: 1. How do you see a need for justification at work in your own life? 2. Why isn’t faith a “work”? How does that help you understand what it mea...

Being a Christian means first, believing the gospel, and second, letting your belief in the gospel take such a deep root that everything in your life is then shaped by the gospel. Paul here confronts Peter, because Peter was not walking "in step with the truth of the gospel," and invites us to a life of consistency in which everything in our lives flows from and is shaped by the gospel. Applicatio...

This passage doesn’t stand out to us, but it’s pivotal, because in it Paul is fighting for the future of the church. When we see how Paul and the apostles preserve the gospel, we’ll know how to preserve it ourselves so that we keep the freedom and the fellowship that Christ gives us by grace. Application Questions: 1. What are ways you’ve seen people try to reconstruct the gospel? Why is that some...

The life of Paul can often seem like one that is unassailable, out of reach for the average Christian.  But Paul's own words remind us of the transforming power of the gospel that is available and at work in every believer, for the glory of God and the Christian's eternal joy and good. Application Questions: 1. Does the initiating revelation of the gospel by God humble you? Why or why not? 2. Do y...