Cornerstone Conversations: Recent Episodes
Cornerstone Church
From time to time at Cornerstone Church someone will say, "You guys seem to focus on Jesus a lot." We are always glad to hear that because it is our aim to focus on Him. The Gospel message about the good news of who Jesus is and what He has done for us is simple, but deep. We believe there is inifite truth to explore about our Savior and His grace towards us and that we are all best fed and helped as we do so together. On today's podcast our pastors discuss this intentional emphasis at Cornerstone Church.
On today's podcast, our pastors discuss the recent Brown University shooting, refelcting on the realities of human grief and fear and highlighting the importance of holding onto hope in a good and merciful God in the face of such tragedies.
Via phones, tablets, and computers people are spending more time online than ever. We are magnetically attracted to our devices and to our virtual connections through them. As with so many other areas of life, the impact of this phenomenon is being felt in the church as well. More and more people are being tempted to withdraw from in-person church and choosing instead to get their spiritual nourishment online. While there are some benefits of social media ministry, there are also some costs. On today's podcast our pastors strive for balance discussing this highly relevant topic.
Description: The recent loss of Charlie Kirk due to his assassination has rocked many of us, our families, our church, and our nation. What would have possessed someone to commit such a heinous act? Can we relate? What is hate speech? Was he guilty of it? Are we guilty of it? What peace can we find for ourselves and our relationships, including with others who think differently from us, at a time like this?
There is a lot of blood in the Bible. In our current sermon series at Cornerstone Church, Pastors Rob and Jeff are teaching through Hebrews, highlighting the sacrificial system of the OT and how it all points to fulfillment in Christ. All the bleeding, dying bulls, rams, goats, etc. foreshadow the sacrifice of Jesus Himself. As grusome and uncomfortable as it can be to think about blood and death, it is a helpful reminder of the seriousness of human sin and the graciousness of God's provision for it.
The book of Hebrews upholds Jesus as our Great High Priest, our ultimate mediator. He understands us; He sympathizes with us; and He provides for our full forgiveness and full access to our Creator God. Because of Him, we can come confidently to God's throne of grace, to find grace and mercy to help in time of need. On today's podcast, our pastors spend some time exploring some of the invaluable benefits of having such a relationship wtih Jesus and with God through Him.
We all battle with deep rooted restlessness. We struggle to trust that every need we have has been, is being, and will be provided for. We struggle to trust God to take care of us. Despite God's proven faithfulness, we often waver in unbelief. Thankfully, the highest and best provision has been made for us through Jesus. Not only do we have the promise that God will take care of our natural needs, we have the provision of Christ for our spiritual needs, including full pardon for all the other areas of unbelief that plague our lives. He has provided for our full purification and relationship with our Creator. On this week's podcast, we talk about ways in which this restlessness affects us as well as how God has solved the problem through Jesus. He will freshly invite us to embrace Christ's rest.
Today marks Cornerstone Conversation's 50th episode. On this celebratory day, our pastors sat down to talk about how the truth of the Gospel, the goodness of God to us through Jesus, is our only sure foundation. The truth of God's grace doesn't give us perfect lives or make all of our problems magically go away, but it does stabelize us and secure us as we walk through life in a fallen world and as we wait to go to our heavenly home. We are grateful to have made it to Episode 50! We hope you enjoy today's episode and look forward to many more to come.
On today's podcast, we discuss the hugely helpful reframing of our lives offered by our understanding of God's fatherly discipline. In all the challenges of life, it can anchor and edify us to know that God is up to good, teaching us to understand and experience our faith more richly.
Our pastors are excited to embark upon a new sermon series from the book of Hebrews. On today's podcast, they sit down to talk about what they love about this book, written thousands of years ago, but so relevant for today.
Our pastors recently sat down to talk about the most enjoyable and the most difficult parts of the Christmas season. However you are feeling about Christmas this year, there are ways it can point you to the blessednes of belonging to your God through Christ. We hope you enjoy this fun and thought-provoking podcast. Merry Christmas!
Approaching the celebration of Thanksgiving in 2024, Pastors Rob and Jeff shared an encouraging conversation about the appropriate place of gratitude in our lives, why it can be difficult to be grateful sometimes, and how God graciously brings us to deeper gratitude through the Good News of the Gospel.
We recently received the results of the 2024 general election and learned that Donald Trump will once again be President of the United States. With words of truth, compassion, gratitude, and caution our pastors talk through the implications of this election for Christians living in America today.
In this Cornerstong Conversation, our pastors continue discussing the amazingly unique nature of Jesus' royalty as displayed in the Gospel of John. While we are all like psuedo sovereigns, constantly plagued by our desire to control our lives and the people and things in them, Jesus gives it all up and lays it all down for the glory of His father and the good of His people. While we are constantly fighting for our little kingdoms, fighting in our relationships, fighting in our stewardships, and even fighting in our politics, Jesus is dying for His kingdom, dying for us on the cross to welcome us into His family of humility, love, and service. He invites us to denounce our own false sense of royalty and to find freedom and peace by putting our full trust in Him. If you sense your need to be dethroned and to find hope in enthroning Him, check out today's podcast.
The evangelical world has been hit yet again with a bombshell annoucement of a prominent pastor who has disqualified himself from ministry due to personal moral failure. The news has sent shockwaves of sorrow, outrage, and confusion throughout the church. How do we make sense of spiritual leaders falling into sin? How does the Bible account for such things? What help and what hope does it have to offer us? Our pastors sit down to address these questions and others on this week's Cornerstone Conversation.
In this episode of Cornerstone Conversations, we are talking about “Glorifying God.” This is a commonly discussed biblical topic. Followers of Jesus often think about and talk about their desire to glorify God. In last Sunday’s sermon Pastor Rob talked about it quite a bit as it came up several times in our study of John 17. We will discuss this statement which was made in last week’s sermon: “We don’t make God more glorious; He is glorious.” God is glorious; His glory is most clearly seen through Christ and the Gospel; We glorify God in our lives as we know Him and show Him.
There is arguably no more formative relationship in a person's life than with their father. For better or worse, our sense of security, provision, and protection often comes from this relationship. In the Bible, God is frequently referred to as our "Heavenly Father," and unlike His earthly counterparts, He is perfect in every way, in His love, discipline, and provisions. He is also always available and always faithful. And He invites us to come to Him often and honestly. He delights in our dependence upon Him. Today's podcast explores this heavenly father to earthly child relationship.
More than anything else, we need rescue from ourselves, from our fallen thinking, and from our opposition to God. And, God, in His amazing love and mercy, pulls out all the stops to save us, even using the sufferings of this life to open our eyes to our desperate need for Him.
We are just a few months from the 2024 General Election and many of us are feeling anxious. It is a time of uncertainty, a time of divisiveness, and even a time of hostility. The polarization of the political right and the political left is at a fever pitch. On today's podacst, our pastors talk about navigating through a troubling election cycle with the anchoring hope of the Gospel.
There has been a lot of chatter among Christians online lately about whether mental illness is an actual form of suffering or whether it is sin. In today's podcast, Pastors Jeff and Rob talk about the importance of having a balanced perspective on the topic and how the Gospel gives hope for all sin and suffering, including that which is associated with mental illness.
The words "godly," "godliness," "ungodly," and "ungodliness" recur throughout English translations of the Bible. Sadly there is often a misunderstanding of these terms that understimates both the human problem and the divine solution through Christ. In today's podcast, our pastors work toward a more accurate and contextual understanding of the concept that magnifies the kindness of God.
All around us are reminders of our mortality. We can often feel senses of hopelessness and dread as we navigate through this broken world. Sadly, even with all the mental health resources available today, levels of anxiety and depression are on the rise. Suicide remains an alarming and growing trend in our society. The Gospel announces to us the good news that there is hope for our fallen minds and bodies and for this fallen world. On today's podcast our pastors talk about how we can find true, solid hope in the person and work of Jesus Christ.
On today's podcast, our pastors continue their conversation on the Light of Jesus and what it looks like to walk in His Light together as fellow believers. Fellowship with God and each other is the greatest gift we have and it is only possible because of the truth and love of God. We hope you are encouraged by today's discussion.
Jesus is "The Light of the World." As believers in Him, we are called "children of light" (Jn 12:36), and we are invited to "walk in the light" (Jn 12:35; 1 Jn 1:7-10). This involves two main realities: Seeing who God is clearly through Jesus, and seeing who we are apart from Him. It is also an invitation to appreciate our great God for who He is, to trust Him, and to walk in His light. It is to live with humility, honesty, and trasparency in our relationship with Him and with one another as we endeavor to love as we've been loved by Him.
Life is filled with ups and downs and twists and turns. It's not predictable and certainly not controllable, including our spiritual life. There can be unexpected twists there as well, as God shows us that He is in control, that He is parenting us, shepherding us, etc. Sometimes we will see growth, or change, and other times we will not. But, He is still God and He is still up to good in our lives, in His patient, loving way, putting to death our old way of life and raising us to new life in Christ. On today's podcast, our pastors discuss the Christian life as a sort of living by dying.
We are living in troubling times. Every day there seems to be some news headline that has us thinking, “Wow, are we heading toward the end of the world…like soon?!” Believers and Non-believers alike have strong feelings about what could be coming. For Christians, we cannont help but think about Jesus' return. Could it be soon? It seems so. On the other hand, we cannot know for sure. So, how ought we live in light of the possibilities? What does readiness for the King's return look like? In today's podcast, our pastors talk about how a careful look at Christ's first coming helps us prepare for His second coming.
As we close out 2023 and begin 2024, our pastors sit down to reflect on things to be thankful for when looking back and things to be hopeful for when looking forward. For most of us, entering a new year brings a mix of both eager anticipation and nervous apprehension. There are things we are excited for and things we are concerned about. Lamentations 3 tells us that God's mercies are "new every morning" (v. 23). Whatever lies ahead of us in the new year, we can have confidence that our God is for us and that He has new mercies waiting for us each day.
It is Christmas 2023. We are one year farther from the occurance of Christ's birth, but no farther from its relevance. Because we humans are so naturally plagued by our pride, our reaching upward, God humbled Himself and reached downward. Jesus came in the most lowly way to rescue us from our toxic pride. In today's conversation, Pastors Rob and Jeff talk about the incarnation and how amazing it is that God has so loved us. They talk about how these truths of Christmas connect with all of us, whether we are having a great and fun Christmas or a not-so-great and painful Christmas.
In our John series, we recently encountered a passage in which Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (10:27). What does it mean to follow Jesus? What does His invitation to follow Him say about His pursuit of us? Are there ways in which our following of Jesus differs from the disciples of the first century? Are there ways in which it is the same? In this week's Cornerstone Conversation, Pastors Rob and Jeff talk about this important New Testament principle and its manifestation in our daily lives.
In a world filled with sinners, there's arguably nothing more necessary than forgiveness. Without it, every relationships is doomed to some kind of failure. It is only a matter of time before offenses, whether intentional or not, whether minor or major, drive a wedge between people. In this episode, our pastors talk about the importance of forgiveness, where it comes from, what it looks like, and what it doesn't look like.
It has been a while! After a few months off, Pastors Rob and Jeff sit back down to regroup and to encoruage one another in the Gospel reality that we are "Complete in Christ." It is an awesome concept, but it is also one that can be hard to grasp. On today's podcast, our pastors give some real-life examples and explanations of this life-giving truth.
In this episode, Pastors Rob and Jeff continue their conversation responding to the controversial documentary Shiny, Happy People, addressing the distorted and dismal view of Christian parenting it portrayed and offering a Biblical, Gospel-Centered, and hopeful alternative.
Sadly, Christianity is often presented and understood as primarily about us and what we do for God rather than about Him, Who He is for us, and what He has done for us. In this week's episode, Pastor Jeff sits down with an old friend to talk about their personal experiences with performance-based Christianity and renewal in the Gospel.
The recently released documentary Shiny Happy People is causing a stir in and around the Evangelical community. It follows the rise and fall of the Duggar family, who rose to stardom through The Learning Channel's (TLC) show 19 Kids and Counting. Since its release years ago, some of the dark secrets of family members have come into light and have caught the public's attention, pulling down the facade, and revealing that the perfect Christian family persona seen on TV was only part of the story. The Duggars are real, broken people with many evidences of fallenness and a profound need for grace like the rest of us. On today's podcast, Pastors Jeff and Rob sit down to talk about the documentary, what can be learned from it, and redemptive possibilities for it.
June is LGBTQ+ Pride month. It forces to the forefront an extremely divisive and volitile topic, as the Pro-LGBTQ+ camp and the Anti-LGBTQ+ camp go to war with one another. In the middle of this cultural conflict, there is a good opportunity for clear, balanced, biblical thinking that takes into consideration Jesus message of grace directed at both sides in this debate.
God created us in His image with intelligence and capability to invent many of our own creations. In recent decades, technology has fast-forwarded our advancements in significant ways, making life much different than it was just a decade or two ago. In some ways it is easier, and in other ways it is harder. How does God's redemptive plan, as recorded long ago in Scripture, help us think through the benefits and costs of technological advancements in our day. Pastor Jeff and Brian Prata recently sat down to think through this important topic.
On today's podcast, Pastor Rob and Pastor Jeff talk about Pastor Rob's upcoming deployment, things to pray for, things to be thankful for, and how temporal changes are opportunities to rest in the rich provisions of Jesus.
We really enjoyed "Holy Week" and its refreshing reminders of the amazing grace of our God to us. On this podcast, Pastors Rob and Jeff discuss the holiness of God and how it is displayed so stunningly through the events of the final week of Jesus' life.
Many people quit on church, and they do it for a whole lot of reasons. One reason commonly cited these days is “spiritual abuse.” For example, someone has experienced a pastor to be controlling or domineering in some way and they have felt personally harmed and concluded that Christianity is a sham, or at least that church is. So, they walked away. Is there such a thing as spiritual abuse? How do we understand it? What does it look like? What does healthy, non-abusive leadership look like? We’ll answer those questions on today’s Cornerstone Conversation.
Who am I? It’s a question most of us ask ourselves at some point. We try to make sense of who we are and our place in this world. We all try to find or establish an identity for ourselves. While doing so, our natural temptation is to look within, to our own perspective and opinions, but that can actually be harmful. It can end up robbing us of security and peace. There is better way that starts, not by looking within, but by looking up.
An old theologian famously said, “God has made us for Himself and our souls are restless until they find rest in Him.” Restlessness is a part of all of our lives. Thankfully, Jesus has come to give us supernatural rest, a kind of rest we will never find in this world apart from Him. On today’s podcast, we’re going to talk about the kindness of God in granting us His rest.
A recent Grammy night performance has social media ablaze once again with the religious right battling the progressive left. How can we respond to Sam Smith's "Unholy" performance in a way that is both truthful and loving? Our pastors spent a little extra time in studio today to answer that important question.
Do you always have rock solid assurance that God is real, that the Bible is true, that Jesus rose from the dead and that you will too? You probably don’t. If we’re honest, most of us have our doubts at times… sometimes deep, plaguing doubts. Is there help for us? We’ll answer that question on today’s Cornerstone Conversation.
On today’s podcast, we’ll be addressing "toxic masculinity,” which we hear a lot about these days. It’s open season on men in our culture it seems. Are the criticisms warranted in any way? Are they unfair in any way? What does the Bible say about masculinity? What is distinct about it? What is dangerous about it? How does redemption apply? We’ll consider all these things on today’s Cornerstone Conversation.
Happy New Year, everyone! 2023 has just begun. How are you feeling about it? As you look forward, are you excited or anxious, hopeful or fearful? For most of us, it’s a mix. On today’s podcast we’re going to talk about facing a new year with faith. We’re going to talk about how God’s commitment to loving us and providing for us gives us confidence as we head into a new year.
At the time of Jesus' birth in Luke 2, the angels proclaimed, "Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, goodwill to men!" How was His peace present on earth then and how can we know it now? Today, our pastors talk about God graciously sending His peace into our conflict-ridden world.
At Christmas time, we celebrate Jesus' coming as Immanuel, which means "God with us." In today's podast, Pastor Rob and Pastor Jeff talk about the here-and-now significance of His coming thousands of years ago.
We all know a control freak…and we all are control freaks in one way or another. On today’s episode, our pastors talk about the root of this problem and how God compassionately addresses it in our lives.
In today’s podcast, our pastors discuss the challenging topic of gay marriage as it has re-emerged into the public discourse via the recent debate between famous podcasters, Joe Rogan and Matt Walsh. If you are open to a clarifying, truthful, biblical conversation on this topic that drips with God’s grace, please listen in.
When we say “Jesus is life,” or “the Gospel imparts to us new life,” what do we mean? What kind of “life” has God given us and what difference does it make in our day to day experience? In today’s podcast, our pastors seek to give encouragement by answering these questions in ways all can understand and relate to.
In today’s podcast, our Pastors talk about Jesus’ unique title as “The Logos” and how it relates to the hope and help He offers. They address its relevance not only for personal life but also for navigating through heated political topics of our day, like how to understand and respond to societal trends like transgenderism
Toda Today we dig deep. We discuss conflict and what to do during and how to overcome conflict
Join us as we continue in the book of Ecclesiastes. This week we talk about what emptiness and fullness means and how it effects you in your everyday life!