[09.05.21] Cornerstone Online - You Got This

[Music] one [Music] one [Music] is [Music] me [Music] uh [Music] one [Music] if [Music] me oh [Music] um [Music] [Music] me [Music] go go uh uh hi everyone and welcome to cornerstone online my name is naomi and i'm so glad you're hanging out with us today in just a minute our band is going to play and then pastor fred will continue our sermon series prepare to move on now let's continue spending time with god we're going to share with you a clip from one of our chapel sessions this was a time that some of our band and tech team gathered in our chapel to meet with and worship god as they worship we hope you're able to do the same [Music] now [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] are you [Music] is [Music] [Music] bye [Music] oh [Music] foreign [Music] holy [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] are you is [Music] [Music] movies [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] so [Music] hmm [Music] jesus [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] precious [Music] is [Music] as we come to the offering section of our worship service i want to remind you that it's the first sunday of the month and that means that i want to call your attention to our benevolence fund the benevolence fund is a fund used by the leadership in our church to meet the acute financial needs of people in our church if you give to the benevolence fund it's really an above and beyond offering beyond our normal offering our normal act of worship by giving we give to the benevolence fund to be used to help people who are in acute financial need so i want to remind you of the different ways that you can give and you can give to both benevolence and to our normal fund this way you can give with a physical check we have giving boxes in our four-year here at our live services but you can also give in our website and you can do direct deposit both of those things will will meet the need and we thank you once again for worshiping in this way so [Music] it was the biggest game of junior's teenage life junior is the main character in sherman alexis book the absolutely true diary of a part-time indian junior lives on a native american reservation in spokane washington but halfway through the book of which he narrates he's decides to leave the high school on the rez and to go to an all-white high school in the frontier town nearby and by some miracle he makes the basketball team and now he is about to play the most important basketball game of his young life and the coach has challenged him to cover the best player on the other team in other words he's called to shut down the best player on the other team this is a kid that he knows it's complicated you have to read the book to really get all the narrative excitement of it but what you can grasp is that this is a moment when junior feels overwhelmed the task before him is too great for him shutting down this basketball player in front of a group of strangers standing up as the only person of his race at his school and his coach says to him you can do it you can do it junior narrates right after that he says do you understand how amazing it is to hear that from an adult do you know how amazing it is to hear that from anybody it's one of the simplest sentences in the world just four words but there are the four hugest words in the world when they're put together you can do it i can do it and then junior screams to his basketball players let's do it and they run onto the court and mayhem ensues and it's a great part of the book you should read it you don't have to be a high school senior going to school in a new place with a lot of pressure to feel overwhelmed by life a lot of us go through phases where we just feel overwhelmed there's too much to do too many responsibilities too many things pointed in our direction or maybe you're facing a challenge that you don't think you can meet might not be on a basketball court but it might feel just as drastic feeling overwhelmed is not uncommon but it is always unpleasant and like junior it can mean a lot to have somebody say you can do this you got this as we come to the end of our series in the book of deuteronomy we hear moses saying this to us moses is toward the end of his sermon and he's looking at this group of israelites who are on the banks of the jordan river about to enter the promised land and he has just spoken to them the entire law he has challenged them to be the people of god as they enter this new world and now he seems to be saying to them you can do this you can do this and that's important to us because as we read deuteronomy we can hear god challenging us we are entering a new world we're renting a new post-pandemic world that's going to be different than any place that we've ever lived before and the challenge that we hear from god is i want you to be my people i want you to point toward me and that can be overwhelming and yet now moses says you can do it you got this let me show you what i mean we're in deuteronomy chapter 30. we're starting in verse 11 and moses says to the people this now what i am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach it is not up in heaven so that you have to ask who may ascend to heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it it is not beyond the sea so that you have to ask who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so that we may obey it no the word is very near you it is in your mouth it is in your heart so that you may obey it what does moses mean here we sense that he's trying to encourage us but but what is he saying well i think in a way he is contrasting the notion of god revealing himself to the jews with kind of the search for truth in other religious traditions i don't know how much he knows about other religious traditions but if you think about it it's not uncommon in some religious traditions to have the search for truth the search for god the search for meaning to be a long torturous process like siddhartha that kids have to read in high school by herman hess or probably the best example of the search for hidden truth to find meaning and purpose is the marvel movie doctor strange right you've got this main character who is a surgeon he's a well-thought-out very successful surgeon he gets in a car accident he breaks his hands and he can't use them to the same degree and it sends him into a tailspin and he's trying to find healing and he ends up in hong kong he ends up meeting this group of people who are the keepers of secret mystic knowledge he learns to to change matter and time by not concentrating by not using his rational mind by tapping into these mystical roots hey it's a marvel movie you're not looking for uh iron tight logic but the point is is that he discovers a kind of mystical language of mystical knowledge that's out of the realm of everybody else and what moses is saying is what i'm calling you to do is not mystical and hidden it is plain it is here for you you don't have to go searching up in heaven you don't have to go searching for the far corners god has revealed himself to us and so it is doable now having said that you know having a relationship with god is mystical in a sense you're living a mystery because you have a relationship with the creator god you're living a mystery and there are parts of god and parts of his plan and parts of his will that will never really grasp god will always be beyond our complete understanding but it's not a mystery where you're searching for god it's a mystery that you are living with god in the same way the spiritual life is a journey it's a journey but it's not a journey to find something it's a journey with someone it's walking with god through your life growing all that time so it's mystical and it is a journey but it's not a hidden journey meant for only a few it is revealed by god to you and so moses says you got this god has made it clear so what is it that he wants us to do well look in verse 15 he says see i set before you today life and prosperity death and destruction for i command you today to love the lord your god to walk in obedience to him to keep his commands decrees and laws then you will live and increase and the lord your god will bless you in the land you are entering to possess but if your heart turns away and you are not obedient and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship then then i declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed you will not live long in the land you are crossing the jordan to possess so moses says you got this because this is what god is calling you to do i am calling you today to love god to love him and to walk with him in obedience obeying god and following his way is is the way that we love god in return and so when you read this you say okay well that sounds a little overwhelming you know to live our lives in obedience to god but the more troubling thing might be that you're reading this and it seems like you're making a deal with god it seems like you're saying god's saying like if you obey me then i will be happy and bless you and if you don't obey me then i'll be angry and you will be destroyed and so we are it feels like we're earning god's favor and love by doing the right thing and we're bribing him to make our lives go well that's how it feels and of course that's the way life is with every other relationship that we have right almost all the relationships we have if we do what they want they like us and if we don't do what they want they don't like us and we do our part they do their part and it's kind of a quid pro quo so it wouldn't be shocking if that's the way that god worked but it would be maybe disappointing well it feels that way but i want to let you know to grasp it that way is to miss the overall context of what god is saying here remember that there is an aspect where god says to the nation of israel because they're a political nation i'm going to protect you and i'm going to cause you to prosper and i'm going to defeat your enemies because that's the way i'm going to reveal myself to other nations so the nation has to be prosperous and you have to be obedient for everybody to see me through you and so if your disobedience just doesn't work but even more than that you have to grasp that when god is saying i'm calling you to love god with all your heart and your mind and your soul i'm calling you to love god and to obey him and to walk in his ways god is saying that to a people that he's already saved remember he already saved the nation he took them out of slavery in egypt he brought them into the promised land he has chosen them to be his representatives in the world and now he's telling them how to live but the whole the whole notion that god has revealed how to live is something that grows out of god's love and out of his grace if it hadn't been for god revealing himself they wouldn't even know anything about god and he has already saved them he's already made them as people and now he's telling them how to live in a sense even learning how to live according to god's way is an act of grace it's a privilege to be told by god how to live it's like imagine that you have a very bad injury and you've been told look this knee is destroyed and if we're lucky we can get it put back together again but you'll probably walk with a limp for the rest of your life and you'll never run and jump and dance again that's out of the question we're just trying to save the leg it's that bad and so you're dealing with that reality and you hear about a doctor in new york city he hears about your case he's usually somebody who only deals with professional athletes but he agrees to meet with you and then he agrees to treat you and he and not only that he agrees to operate on you and even though he's not in your insurance plan he says i don't care i'm just going to take whatever the insurance gives me it's not going to cost you a dime i feel like doing this now imagine that that doctor says to you this operation is going to be tough and it's going to take a while and then after that you're going to need a period of of of rest and you're going to need some really hard physical therapy but if you do what i say if you let me do this and if you let us reconstruct it and if you do the work of physical therapy and you are willing to go on this journey you will not only walk without a limp you will run and jump and dance and all the things that you want to do but if you don't do this your leg will be compromised and it'll never be the same and you'll be lucky just to walk on it for the rest of your life now in that context that doctor has told you some really stark news obey me and you will flourish disobey and you will walk with a limp for the rest of your life but in the context of that you realize it's a privilege just to have this doctor talking to you that is the tone of this passage in deuteronomy the jews are supposed to realize that it's a privilege that they even know god and that this is their this is their calling this is their purpose the reason moses can say you got this is because god saved them to live this way and it's the same message for you and i god has saved us to transform us and to invite us to be part of what he is doing to save the world and he is saying the same thing to us i've already saved you i've made you my people and now i want you to walk in my ways so that your life shines and points other people to me he says he says and if you do that your life will grow and bloom and blossom and be blessed and if you don't you're just going to bring death and chaos into your life now one more thing when we hear god say if you obey me you'll prosper we as americans tend to think of prosperity in one way we have more stuff than we used to that's what prosperity means it means we have more stuff right but remember from god's standpoint what he's trying to do is to make us good he's trying to make us good loving patient wise people people who can wisely guide and love and help other people generous people who point others to god and so above all god's trying to make us good so when he says i'm going to make you prosper it means i'm going to transform you when you're going to live these good wise lives and if you disobey me you're going to live selfish self-centered sin centered lives and it'll bring death and chaos to you and to everybody else around you and so when we see these words about prosperity we just have to remember what god thinks prosperity is god's prosperity is living a good life now just to emphasize that this command to obey god and be blessed is really a command of grace and that it's available to you just to remind you that you got this i want to bring you to romans chapter 10. now in romans chapter 10 the setting is very different here the apostle paul is writing a letter to a group of jesus followers living in rome about 25 or 30 years after the resurrection so it's only a couple of decades after the resurrection and there's already a group of gentile jesus followers living in rome and paul's writing to them and he's writing to them about living the jesus life and he quotes this deuteronomy 30 passage because of course paul had memorized it as a young jewish boy and he says in romans chapter 10 verse 6 he says this this will go this will go past you you won't grasp all of it but just follow along as i read it romans chapter 10 verse 6 says this but the righteousness that is by faith says do not say in your heart who will ascend to heaven that is to bring christ down or who will descend to the deep that is to bring christ up from the dead but what does it say the word is near you it is in your mouth and in your heart that is the message concerning faith that we proclaim if you declare with your mouth jesus is lord and believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead you will be saved for it is with your heart that you believe in are justified it's with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved for scripture says anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame for there's no difference between jew and gentile the same lord as lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him for everyone who calls on the name of the lord will be saved paul uses the deuteronomy 30 passage and he applies it to our life following jesus he says just like in the past god graciously gave the nation of israel the law and said live as my transformed people now he has come and revealed himself in jesus so we all know god even better now because we can look at jesus and see god not only that but the promise is now available not just to jewish people but to all people and so jesus is doesn't have to be sought after he doesn't he's not hidden he's not out there somewhere you can find him he has already revealed himself to you all you need to do is accept him and that's why he says and this is how you begin a relationship with god this is how you accept jesus if you confess with your mouth jesus is lord the most basic confession that christians have ever had jesus is lord that means he's the one who's the lord of my life that means he's the son of god it means he is the ruling power in my life and if you believe in your heart that god raised him from the dead that means that you understand that his death was for sin and that he conquered sin and can forgive sin by rising from the dead you will be saved you will be invited into a relationship with god and you will have an opportunity to live a transformed life and so the ultimate affirmation you got this is that look you can do this because jesus himself will come and live his life through you and so you really can live a transformed life a life centered on jesus christ a life lived lovingly obeying god and so he closes out going back to deuteronomy he closes out this section in deuteronomy 30 verse 19 saying this day i call heaven and earth as a witness against you that i have set before you life and death blessings and curses now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the lord your god listen to his voice and hold fast to him for the lord is your life so he says here's the thing after all these words after this whole series over the summer after this challenge to enter this new world this post-coven world as the people of god people who live a jesus centered life he's saying choose life i'm leaving you right here you can choose to to accept christ enter into a relationship with god walk in obedient blessing and be a light to other people or you can choose death and reject the way of god and and and you'll be separated from him more than that your life will have all sorts of other stuff in it that won't point to god and he's saying choose life so the question for you is how do you choose life today for some of you you need to stop and realize i need to receive jesus as my savior i don't think i've ever done that i don't think i've ever actually asked him to come into my life for some of you you need to remember that the transformed life is the life that god has for you he made you to live it and so for some of you to choose life is to say i will respond to god's love in obedience there's something going on in your life that you need to be obedient about and you need to trust him enough to obey it because it's in our obedience that our life shines and so moses says i know it's a challenge i know i'm calling you to live a different kind of a life a god-centered life a life centered on jesus christ but i want to tell you by the power of god in you you got this let me pray father would you live your life through us would you help us to live transformed lives would you um help us to live in a new way a way that people can see you at work in us so that we can be part of your plan to save the world in jesus name amen [Music] one of the traditions of our church is on the first sunday of the month to celebrate communion together this is not unique to our church it's not an innovation of our church it's actually something we do in obedience to jesus christ because it was jesus who said for us to take the simple elements of the bread and the cup and to remember his death until he comes again it is something every church needs to do and it is uh it's profound because it's something that we do as individuals and it's something that we do as a body not only as a local body a cornerstone christian church but as part of jesus's body around the world it's individual because we're going to take bread and we're going to take the cup and you're going to ingest those and with the with the with the bread we remember the body of jesus and with the with the cup we remember the blood of jesus and nothing's more individual than eating right i i can't eat for you and only you can eat for you and when you eat it goes into your body so there's nothing more individual than than eating and it actually becomes a part of your life which is a picture of how our faith is meant to transform us and yet communion is not something we do individually we always do it together even doing it online like this it's something that we're doing together i'm leading you and all of those who are watching online right now to take these elements so we do it together to remind us that jesus death for us is at the heart of our faith so i'm going to read the passage we're going to take the elements and after each one i will give you some time to pray and meditate on the meaning so the words are from first corinthians chapter 11 and it says this for i received from the lord what i also passed on to you the lord jesus on the night he was betrayed took bread and when he had given thanks he broke it and he said this is my body which is for you do this in remembrance of me let's take the bread together [Music] so [Music] [Music] the passage continues in the same way after he's after supper he took the cup saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood do this whenever you drink it in remembrance of me for whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the lord's death until he comes let us drink the cup together [Music] [Music] amen hey everyone welcome back thanks so much for spending time with us today if you have any questions about what pastor fred talked about today or if you'd like someone to pray with you we'd love to do that if you're watching this live we have a prayer host here just for you if you're not watching this live you can email us at onlinecornerstonenj.org and we will have a pastor or a staff member contact you for prayer before we go i wanted to let you know that starting on sunday september 12th our live services will be going back to our previous 9 a.m and 10 45 a.m times this will give us more time to worship and more time to get to know each other in between services thanks again for hanging out with us and have a great rest of your day bye [Applause] [Music] you

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Length: 40min 51sec (2451 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021