Cornerstone Berean Church

If the Christian has any animating passion other than love for Jesus Christ, God will use trials to remove those from their heart.

2024 ACBC AC Plenary 2 - Carl Hargrove - Jesus the Forgiving Counselor https://vimeo.com/1024841937/8dc650e717

Jesus demonstrated His compassion for sinners like us by calling a corrupt tax collector to Himself and then by dining with his scandalous friends to do the same.

Jesus is the final Adam and faithful Israel who resisted the temptations of Satan in the wilderness and obeyed God as our flawless representative.

Our hold on Christ strengthens during our trials, as does Christ's hold on us.

Luke wrote to ensure that we understand and find hope in Jesus' identification with us as the promised Servant of God sent to redeem His people. 

True repentance reorients the heart away from self to Jesus, the incomparable Christ, who will gather to Himself those who trust Him but will judge those who reject Him.

God sends His messengers to you with gracious warnings so that you will hear, respond, and be saved.

Truth #4.  You Belong Together Truth #5.  Hope in God Creates Affection for Others Truth #6.  Divine Justice Empowers Full Forgiveness

Jesus' circumstances and interactions testify to His identity as the Son of God, and His words and actions, even at 12, serve to instruct us now.

How do we address our differences when they are, in fact, matters of Righteousness? How Christians address differences says something about Christ.

God promised to pour out His Holy Spirit on His people to reveal the gospel to us and to empower us for godliness.

Overview of 1st Peter

https://vimeo.com/1024840111/4bd4a5603c?fl=pl&fe=sh

The LORD faithfully orchestrated the formation of His Servant, Jesus, making Him perfectly fit for His ministry of redemption.

The depth of your joy will be in direct proportion to the depth of your understanding of God and His promises and the depth of your gratitude for His grace.

Because of the tender mercy of our faithful God, we have now been set free to serve Him fearlessly and righteously.

If you are to truly worship God as He desires, you must understand what worship is, what worship does, and what will move you to it.

You can be at peace in this world and secure in your salvation because God is powerful to accomplish all that He promises.

Mary is an example of the authentic humility that flows from a properly oriented heart and that should mark every follower of Christ.

Judgement Chapter 32 — Paragraph 1 God has appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness, by Jesus Christ;1 to whom all power and judgment is given of the Father; in which day, not only the apostate angels shall be judged,2 but likewise all persons that have lived upon the earth shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, to give an account of their thoughts, words, and deeds, and to receive according to what they have done in the body, whether good or evil.3 1 Acts 17:31; John 5:22–27 2 1 Cor. 6:3; Jude 6 3 2 Cor. 5:10; Eccles. 12:14; Matt. 12:36; Rom. 14:10,12; Matt. 25:32–46 — Paragraph 2 The end of God's appointing this day, is for the manifestation of the glory of his mercy, in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of his justice, in the eternal damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient;4 for then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fulness of joy and glory with everlasting rewards, in the presence of the Lord; but the wicked, who do not know God, and do not obey the gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast aside into everlasting torments,5 and punished with everlasting destruction, from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.6 4 Rom. 9:22–23 5 Matt. 25:21,34; 2 Tim. 4:8 6 Matt. 25:46; Mark 9:48; 2 Thess. 1:7–10 — Paragraph 3 As Christ would have us to be certainly persuaded that there shall be a day of judgment, both to deter all men from sin,7 and for the greater consolation of the godly in their adversity,8 so will he have the day unknown to men, that they may shake off all carnal security, and be always watchful, because they know not at what hour the Lord will come,9 and may ever be prepared to say, Come Lord Jesus; come quickly.10 Amen. 7 2 Cor. 5:10–11 8 2 Thess. 1:5–7 9 Mark 13:35–37; Luke 12:35–40 10 Rev. 22:20

As the final Word of God and the last and perfect Adam, Jesus alone was made fit to stand in your place before the Father. 

Paragraph 1 The bodies of men after death return to dust, and see corruption;1 but their souls, which neither die nor sleep, having an immortal subsistence, immediately return to God who gave them.2 The souls of the righteous being then made perfect in holiness, are received into paradise, where they are with Christ, and behold the face of God in light and glory, waiting for the full redemption of their bodies;3 and the souls of the wicked are cast into hell; where they remain in torment and utter darkness, reserved to the judgment of the great day;4 besides these two places, for souls separated from their bodies, the Scripture acknowledgeth none. 1 Gen. 3:19; Acts 13:36 2 Eccles. 12:7 3 Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 5:1,6,8; Phil. 1:23; Heb. 12:23 4 Jude 6, 7; 1 Peter 3:19; Luke 16:23,24

We can have as much of God as we want.  Let that encourage us to seek more.

The Silence is Broken Luke 1:5-25 and 57-66 After 400 long and quiet years, the Lord graciously broke the silence, announcing His promised forerunner who would prepare the way for our Redeemer.

After careful research, Luke wrote an orderly account of Jesus' fulfillment of God's promises to His people so that we could have certainty in our faith.

Deliberating with Death: Preparing for Your End With Hope Finishing Faithfully: Preparing for Life's Last Leg A Seminar to Help You Face Aging and Death with Hope and Joy “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 We all know that the body is decaying and that death is coming— but few of us prepare for it, leaving loved ones to navigate what we avoid. This seminar will help you and your loved ones think biblically and practically about the final season of life. We will learn to plan with joyful hope by deliberating with decline, dependence, and death. You'll receive help to: • Think biblically about aging and death with an aim toward joy • Plan your living arrangements for later life • Know when to stop driving and how to empower loved ones to help • Stay connected when connection becomes difficult • Make thoughtful burial and funeral plans

Session 2: Deliberating with Decline: Preparing for Dependence with Joy Finishing Faithfully: Preparing for Life's Last Leg A Seminar to Help You Face Aging and Death with Hope and Joy “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 We all know that the body is decaying and that death is coming— but few of us prepare for it, leaving loved ones to navigate what we avoid. This seminar will help you and your loved ones think biblically and practically about the final season of life. We will learn to plan with joyful hope by deliberating with decline, dependence, and death. You'll receive help to: • Think biblically about aging and death with an aim toward joy • Plan your living arrangements for later life • Know when to stop driving and how to empower loved ones to help • Stay connected when connection becomes difficult • Make thoughtful burial and funeral plans

Session1: Deliberating with Dust: Reckoning with Your Human Condition Finishing Faithfully: Preparing for Life's Last Leg A Seminar to Help You Face Aging and Death with Hope and Joy “So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 We all know that the body is decaying and that death is coming— but few of us prepare for it, leaving loved ones to navigate what we avoid. This seminar will help you and your loved ones think biblically and practically about the final season of life. We will learn to plan with joyful hope by deliberating with decline, dependence, and death. You'll receive help to: • Think biblically about aging and death with an aim toward joy • Plan your living arrangements for later life • Know when to stop driving and how to empower loved ones to help • Stay connected when connection becomes difficult • Make thoughtful burial and funeral plans

If by faith you will reckon with the realities of this ruined world, remembering your Creator, you will taste the sweetness of life and will learn to rejoice in it all.

Paragraph 5 The outward elements in this ordinance, duly set apart to the use ordained by Christ, have such relation to him crucified, as that truly, although in terms used figuratively, they are sometimes called by the names of the things they represent, in other words, the body and blood of Christ,7 albeit, in substance and nature, they still remain truly and only bread and wine, as they were before.8 7 1 Cor. 11:27 8 1 Cor. 11:26–28 — Paragraph 6 That doctrine which maintains a change of the substance of bread and wine, into the substance of Christ's body and blood, commonly called transubstantiation, by consecration of a priest, or by any other way, is repugnant not to Scripture alone,9 but even to common sense and reason, overthrows the nature of the ordinance, and has been, and is, the cause of manifold superstitions, yea, of gross idolatries.10 9 Acts 3:21; Luke 14:6,39 10 1 Cor. 11:24–25 — Paragraph 7 Worthy receivers, outwardly partaking of the visible elements in this ordinance, do then also inwardly by faith, really and indeed, yet not carnally and corporally, but spiritually receive, and feed upon Christ crucified, and all the benefits of his death; the body and blood of Christ being then not corporally or carnally, but spiritually present to the faith of believers in that ordinance, as the elements themselves are to their outward senses.11 11 1 Cor. 10:16, 11:23–26 — Paragraph 8 All ignorant and ungodly persons, as they are unfit to enjoy communion with Christ, so are they unworthy of the Lord's table, and cannot, without great sin against him, while they remain such, partake of these holy mysteries, or be admitted thereunto;12 yea, whosoever shall receive unworthily, are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord, eating and drinking judgment to themselves.13 12 2 Cor. 6:14–15 13 1 Cor. 11:29; Matt. 7:6

The proof God uses that we are born from above is that we persevere in the faith.

Paragraph 1 The supper of the Lord Jesus was instituted by him the same night wherein he was betrayed, to be observed in his churches, unto the end of the world, for the perpetual remembrance, and showing to all the world the sacrifice of himself in his death,1 confirmation of the faith of believers in all the benefits thereof, their spiritual nourishment, and growth in him, their further engagement in, and to all duties which they owe to him; and to be a bond and pledge of their communion with him, and with each other.2 1 1 Cor. 11:23–26 2 1 Cor. 10:16–17,21 Paragraph 2 In this ordinance Christ is not offered up to his Father, nor any real sacrifice made at all for remission of sin of the quick or dead, but only a memorial of that one offering up of himself by himself upon the cross, once for all;3 and a spiritual oblation of all possible praise unto God for the same.4 So that the popish sacrifice of the mass, as they call it, is most abominable, injurious to Christ's own sacrifice the alone propitiation for all the sins of the elect. 3 Heb. 9:25–26,28 4 1 Cor. 11:24; Matt. 26:26–27 Paragraph 3 The Lord Jesus hath, in this ordinance, appointed his ministers to pray, and bless the elements of bread and wine, and thereby to set them apart from a common to a holy use, and to take and break the bread; to take the cup, and, they communicating also themselves, to give both to the communicants.5 5 1 Cor. 11:23–26, etc. Paragraph 4 The denial of the cup to the people, worshipping the elements, the lifting them up, or carrying them about for adoration, and reserving them for any pretended religious use, are all contrary to the nature of this ordinance, and to the institution of Christ.6 6 Matt. 26:26–28, 15:9, Exod. 20:4–5

God is the first cause of the saint's perseverance in the faith.

Terry Enns Are you now Being Perfected in the Flesh? No Youtube link. Redirected to Vimeo link provided by ACBC https://vimeo.com/878851558/c7f13740f4?share=copy

Fools do foolish things and cause harm, but the wise act wisely and cultivate grace.

— Paragraph 1 Baptism is an ordinance of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, to be unto the party baptized, a sign of his fellowship with him, in his death and resurrection; of his being engrafted into him;1 of remission of sins;2 and of giving up into God, through Jesus Christ, to live and walk in newness of life.3 1 Rom. 6:3–5; Col. 2:12; Gal. 3:27 2 Mark 1:4; Acts 22:16 3 Rom. 6:4 — Paragraph 2 Those who do actually profess repentance towards God, faith in, and obedience to, our Lord Jesus Christ, are the only proper subjects of this ordinance.4 4 Mark 16:16; Acts 8:36–37, 2:41, 8:12, 18:8 — Paragraph 3 The outward element to be used in this ordinance is water, wherein the party is to be baptized, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.5 5 Matt. 28:19–20; Acts 8:38 — Paragraph 4 Immersion, or dipping of the person in water, is necessary to the due administration of this ordinance.6 6 Matt. 3:16; John 3:23

Paragraph 1 Baptism and the Lord's Supper are ordinances of positive and sovereign institution, appointed by the Lord Jesus, the only lawgiver, to be continued in his church to the end of the world.1 1 Matt. 28:19–20; 1 Cor. 11:26 — Paragraph 2 These holy appointments are to be administered by those only who are qualified and thereunto called, according to the commission of Christ.2 2 Matt. 28:19; 1 Cor. 4:1

The wise will understand and take to heart that wisdom is better, but that foolishness is weightier, and so the wise will guard wisdom and persevere under the sun.

We all walk through the valley of deep darkness, and the shadows being cast here are universal and unpredictable, but by faith you can choose joy in the shadows.