Weekly Bulletin - February 12th

Cornerstone Church,

Showdown Throw Down

Exodus 4:1-5  ¹Then Moses answered and said, "But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, 'The LORD has not appeared to you.'" ²So the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?" He said, "A rod." ³And He said, "Cast it on the ground." So he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent; and Moses fled from it. ⁴Then the LORD said to Moses, "Reach out your hand & take it by the tail" (And he reached out his hand & caught it, and it became a rod in his hand), ⁵"that they may believe that the LORD God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you."

Moses argued with God. We would probably point out that this is a dumb thing to do, except we often catch ourselves arguing with God too. Moses’ lack of faith needed some correction. God chooses to use his simple shepherd’s staff as a symbol of His own power.  

A rod is first, a crutch. What Moses would lean on as he trudged through the rocky terrain of the desert. Symbolically God is telling Moses to abandon his crutch. Willingly toss aside what he is leaning on and learn to lean completely on God.  

A rod secondly, is a weapon. Moses no doubt had used his staff to fend off predators and to separate two sheep that were battling for dominance. Rods are effective weapons of warfare. God did not want Moses to rely on the weapons of this world, but on the weapons of spiritual warfare. Willingly toss aside your weapon and let God fight your battles.

A rod finally, is a symbol of power. In the hands of a king we call it a scepter. The shepherd’s staff had a crook in it like a candy cane. That hook is used to control the sheep by taking it by the head. God did not intend for Moses to go back to Egypt and challenge pharaoh for control. God wants us to let go of our desire to control and allow Him to be King of our lives.

Don’t argue with God. Throw down your crutch and learn to lean on Him. Lay your weapons down and say with David before Goliath, “The battle is the Lord’s.” Be willing to relinquish control of your life to Him. Throw down that rod and see it for the dangerous serpent it is.

Now… and only now… take up that serpent by the tail. Moses need to know the danger of power, of warfare, of crutches. He was right to flee from those dangers. But now, by faith God commands him to take them up again. This time with caution, this time with purpose. What purpose you ask? That others may believe!

-Pastor Joel Johns

Continue to enjoy the songs we sang on Sunday as you spend time with the Lord this week.

Cornerstone Church,

I am beyond humbled by the incredible support you all showed for the Chili Cookoff and Dessert Auction this year. You as a church stepped up to the plate and went ALL OUT for an afternoon of SPICY competition between more than 30 cooks! My eyes are STILL watering from all of the amazing chili that was prepared, and we followed it up with an incredible Live Auction to raise a phenomenal amount for student scholarships to be at our annual Youth Summer Camp.

To all the cooks, the auctioneers, the judges, the teens, the attendees, the bidders, our incredible youth leaders, the amazing church staff, and anyone else with a hand in this event, I can only say THANK YOU! May you be greatly encouraged in serving the kingdom of God by loving the people of God sacrificially. Where else would such joy be found in carving out a Saturday to give of your own resources so that a young man or woman's soul is cared for? Christ said His disciples will be known by their love for one another - may He get all the credit for the love you have displayed to one another!

Your brother in Christ!

Josh Gaydos

This past Thursday we received word from the county that our application to expand our building has received “final approval”! The approval clears the way for us to move to the next step in the process which is to present our detailed plans to the county building department for review. Once we have received approval from the building department we can begin to pull permits and break ground. 

Please join us in praying specifically for the finalization of the plans and for the meetings with the county. 

This will be an evening of worship as we praise the Lord together with some classic hymns. Join us for a wonderful evening of fellowship!

Join us for time of processing and working through the loss of a loved one. This week we will focus on what it looks like to walk through Guilt and Anger. We hope this can be a blessing to you.

The perfect event for newcomers to meet our staff, hear what we believe, and enjoy some dinner with other new attenders.