2023 Wk 22: Faith and Love
Follow Me • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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INTRO
The Cornerstone Family is excited that you have taken time to attend our weekend service! Here on campus or by capturing our LIVE Stream.
Cornerstone exists to “Bring Hope to Find and Follow Jesus.”
You will see us use a hashtag that says #hereforyou.
We often talk about Loving God and Loving Others.
So, like some churches we believe that together we can live stronger lives and thus Change the World we live in.
There are 5 Distinctives that guide us to keep our ministry culture on mission:
We teach for TRANSFORMATION, not information.
We worship with PASSION, a lifestyle focused on serving with all of our heart and with all of our might.
We reach for the UNCHURCHED, even the De-churched, to connect to a Community connected to the Real God.
We love with ACTION, to passionately show Jesus to others.
We desire to leave a LEGACY, actively investing in future generations.
If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me as we are learning to live authentic lives in Christ.
So, thank you for joining us today, we hope you feel the Holy Spirit in a unique way and want to come back again and bring a friend with you.
MEMORIAL DAY
So grateful for those who served and gave their lives—on and off the battle field.
Have people stand to recognize their fallen family and friends.
WORSHIP SET
GENEROSITY
Ask for a couple of scriptures from the crowd to share.
8 Give to the Lord the glory he deserves!
Bring your offering and come into his courts.
Bring an offering - A Thank Offering.
This is language is taken from the temple-worship, and means that God is to be worshipped, in the manner which he has prescribed, as a suitable expression of his majesty.
The word here rendered "offering" is that which is commonly used to denote a "bloodless" offering - a thank-offering.
13 Stop bringing me your meaningless gifts;
the incense of your offerings disgusts me!
As for your celebrations of the new moon and the Sabbath
and your special days for fasting—
they are all sinful and false.
I want no more of your pious meetings.
Albert Barnes (American Theologian 1798-1870) notes
“God strong abhorrence of the manner in which it was done. He desired a better state of mind; he preferred purity of heart to all this external homage.
UPDATE
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Invite Invite— Follow Me is our New Series!!
“FOLLOW ME”!
“FOLLOW ME”!
Our culture today…always looking for more “LIKES”
Newspapers look for increased circulation.
We look for social acceptance on Social Media asking people to “like” us etc!
Special branding—
clothing— Nike, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent
cars, sound systems, cell phone etc...
WE ARE CONSTANTLY ASKING PEOPLE
Do You Know Our Church Motto?
Bringing Hope to Find and Follow Jesus!
Foursquare’s Motto
Hebrews 13:8 (NLT)
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
What is Your Motto?
I don’t know if Jesus had a Motto— How about these Scriptures
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19 and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.”
28 “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. 29 Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble, easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. 30 For all that I require of you will be pleasant and easy to bear.”
THE MESSAGE TRANSLATION
28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30 MSG
THAT IS IT — THIS IS THE JESUS WHO ASKED “FOLLOW ME”
Come to me.
Get away with me
Take a real rest
Walk with me
Work with me
Watch how I do it
Keep company with me
Live freely and lightly
Jesus’ phrase “Follow Me” — struck a chord in the lives of people.
Not a chord to strong-arm them
Not a chord to force, demean, intimidate, or con them.
HE HAD SOMETHING TO SAY THAT THEY WANTED TO HEAR!
MY QUESTION LAST WEEK WAS…
DO WE HAVE SOMETHING THAT PEOPLE WHAT TO HEAR?
See, He turned to men who were
fishermen,
a tax collector,
a zealot,
a thief, and others we don’t know their background—
but nevertheless they saw him, heard him and bore witness of him and
they did—they Followed Him.
The Chord He struck was a Chord of LOVE, ACCEPTANCE, AND FORGIVENESS!
As we look at a passage from John 21 — let’s lead up with some Jesus happenings that took place around this time.
Jesus enters Jerusalem on the back of a donkey
there is the upper room,
shared the Lord’s Supper,
he was betrayed
Peter denys him three times.
He was crucified and buried
the Resurrection
he appears to some people
then he appears on the shore at the lake for breakfast
15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
“Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
“Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
“Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.
18 “I tell you the truth, when you were young, you were able to do as you liked; you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted to go. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and others will dress you and take you where you don’t want to go.” 19 Jesus said this to let him know by what kind of death he would glorify God. Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.”
Then Peter sees John, who leaned on Jesus chest..
20 Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved—the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, “Lord, who will betray you?” 21 Peter asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?”
Reality sets in sometimes and we enter the comparing game…
just like Peter sees John and asks, “What about him?”
or
We might hear that voice of blame and guilt say, “What about me?”
Jesus says,
“What does it matter Peter?
“Peter, what does it really matter in the scheme of things?”
“YOU — Follow ME!”
think about it...
3 years earlier— Peter’s life was ALL about the water.
When Jesus walked by the water— He Called Peter— Follow Me
Two things about Following Jesus...
1. Faith
What is Faith?
1 Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.
Faith simply put = Trusting
The disciples didn’t just automatically Trust Jesus— it was a process.
They where walking with Jesus // Following Jesus.
Yet, they were walking through their own problems, situations, and issues.
They were discovering Jesus.
I’m sure there were some inner turmoil and sleepless nights!
Peter seeing miracles, but not seeing them in His life to the degree others experienced.
Saying possibly in the back of his mind...
”Why hasn’t Jesus done this in MY LIFE?”
We are possibly hindered because we start that Thinking Game.
We spend time with God— then we step away and we get focused on others and THINK wondering— “why is God doing that with them, but not with me?”
KNOW THIS: God’s expectations are different than ours!
Peter rose up above this and had FAITH to TRUST!
BACK TO OUR STORY OF JESUS AND PETER ON THE BEACH FOR BREAKFAST
1 Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. 2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
“We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?”
“No,” they replied.
6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. 8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. 9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
Jesus is making a fire and tells them to cast their net to the other side… this becomes a reviving of Peter who earlier had denied being a follower of Jesus
vs 6. The disciples landed a bunch of fish in their net.
vs 7. John sees Jesus and says to Peter looking, “it is the Lord”
Peter gets out of the boat to hustle to the beach.
Jesus calls them to bring fish and eat with him.
ARRIVING ON THE BEACH:
They didn’t talk about the elephant in the room.
12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord.
They simply TRUSTED that it was Jesus
“They knew it was him.”
THEN LOOKING RIGHT OUT PETER— EYE TO EYE...
NOTE: Jesus is calling us everyday to FOLLOW and to TRUST Him, for on the other side of every decision, Jesus is saying “Follow Me”.
Faith is a critical part of our FOLLOWING, but there is a second part— LOVE!
2. Love
Faith gets us started, but LOVE keeps us established day after day after day.
The heart of God in that breakfast moment was when Jesus looks at Peter and said,
“Do You Love Me?”
LOVE, must be the central motivation of anything we do in our Christian Life!
HERE IT IS:
“You can’t Follow Jesus without Faith and You can’t FOLLOW Jesus over the long haul if you don’t understand LOVE.” ~Darryl Love, Pastor Crossover Community Church
STORY… BOOK BY FRANCIS CHANG:
His Mother died at his birth and his dad never showed him any emotional love.
It wasn’t until Francis stood looking at his children when he discovered something that went beyond his own understanding—real love— the God kind of love.
While studying this book years ago on a Wednesday Night...
In my group one night, I was sitting with little Jimmy Smith (maybe 86 y/o)— I asked him if he had experienced that kind of Love that Francis was describing?
Jimmy looked at me and then lowered his head a little saying, “I don’t know that kind of love and I never will— cause I never have had any children to call my own.”
Yes, it’s a Crazy kind of Love.
God’s Love is kind of a Crazy Love.
You can study it, but you have to actually experience it for yourself.
We try to explain it, but people need us to show them the Father’s LOVE.
Jesus was asking Peter, “do you love me” with this kind of Crazy Love?
LOVE Defined:
God "is love" and God prefers as that we...
embrace His will (choosing His choices) and
obey those choices through His power.
Well then, “Feed my lambs.”
FAITH and LOVE: Are these sustainable attributes for us to grab hold of and let impact our life?
Is Faith sustainable?
17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
YES!
Is Love sustainable?
Many of us would say, “NO” as people have strolled into our lives and then blew things up and ran out of our lives. BUT WHAT DOES GOD’S WORD SAY?
16 “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
There is nothing that we have to do to get God’s Love
Ok, there is a payment for sin, but the Righteous, the goodness of, the gift of salvation by Jesus for us — OVERCOMES ALL SIN AND UNRIGHTEOUSNESS THAT THE LAW BROUGHT TO US!
(PAUL SAYS IT THIS WAY FROM ROMANS IN the NIV)
5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
The Love of God is why we are standing here today with Him looking at us and will never leave us or deny us.
Jesus is looking into our eyes today and he is asking...
“Do You Love Me?”
“Do you see my unfailing love?”
“Do you grasp the fact that My Love is sustainable in Me?
“FOLLOW ME!”
1 Corinthians 13:4–10 (NLT)
4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude.
It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.
6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
8 Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!
9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!
10 But when the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless.
IF WE ARE NOT CAREFUL...Our imperfections will keep us from seeing the perfect for our physical will keep us bound from seeing the spiritual.
“For God so Loved He gave His only Son...”
NOW THAT SON IS WITH PETER AND WITH US TODAY ASKING, “DO YOU LOVE ME? FOLLOW ME!”
What about THEM? FOLLOW ME!
THIS IS WHAT WILL CHANGE YOUR WORLD THIS WEEK...
When you start your day and you are seeing all the issues and complications of life— STOP AND REMEMBER— You walk by Faith, but you are sustained by His Love!!
IF YOU NEED TO BE LOVED ON— COME TO JESUS!
The alter is open.
Time for Jesus.
The next step is Now!
REMEMBER: Jesus genuinely loved people.
Jesus genuinely loves people.
Jesus loves you, genuinely loves YOU!!!
He wants to...
redeem you
restore you
heal you
provide for you
care for you
and sustain you through every situation!
YOU ARE LOVED!!