Fresh Vision

Yesterday I had the privilege of getting away with my church leadership team for this new church year at Cornerstone (2008-2009). It has been a while since I have done this with my leadership teams but it is something I feel is worth while and something I felt was needed for this time in the life of our church.

I was VERY encouraged by the discussions I had with my leaders. It seems that we are all hungry to see God do new things in our lives as a church body. I shared a devotional thought from Deuteronomy 1:6 where God said to Moses and the children of Israel that they had stayed at Mount Sinai long enough, that it was time to break camp and move on to receive God's promise for them. It is SO easy for all of us to get comfortable with where we are, to allow "good enough" to be good enough. I am sure that the Israelites felt that even though Mount Sinai was not exactly paradise that it was good enough. They were not living in the lap of luxury but they had what they needed. Things were OK, but God had so much more for them and the only way they could receive it was to take a risk and move on to new places.

I think these next 12 months and beyond will be exciting times at Cornerstone, but I am sure they will be challenging and probably a bit scary at times as well. If the definition of insanity is correct, "To keep doing what you have always done but expecting a different result" then I do not wish to be insane. Change for the sake of change is not good but change for the sake of reaching new places in our relationship with God and in our ministry as a Church body is necessary. I look forward to see what God has in store for me personally and us as a church here in this community God has called us to serve.

Pastor Sheldon

John 3:16

Well it is Monday morning and I have been working on my sermon for Easter. It's a little unusual but I like to have my sermons done two weeks in advance. This allows time for my worship leaders and myself to consider the theme of the day and how to structure the service and its elements to most effectively reach the people who attend.

This Easter I am preaching a very simple message from a simple yet profound passage, John 3:16. I am pretty sure that John 3:16 is the most well know verse in the entire Bible. We see the verse all the time at sporting events like this guy. But do we really understand the magnitude of what God is telling us in John 3:16? I am not sure that we do so I hope that through this message I will be able to share this profound truth of God's love for ALL OF US in such a way that people who come to our Easter service this year will understand this love and open their hearts to Christ. I hope that all of you who read this and attend other churches will also see those you care for come to Christ this Easter.

God Bless,
Pastor Sheldon

A Beautiful day!

Well it is another beautiful day here in Southern California. The only problem with today is that it is daylight savings time and because we are supposed to set our clocks forward this is the one Sunday of the year when a lot of people tend to miss church. They forgot to set their clocks or they stayed up to late last night and losing that extra hour of sleep just is too much.

I am anticipating a great day of Worship! Today I am preaching from Philippians 1:10-11 and looking at the results of our spiritual growth. According to Paul those results should be Discernment as we noted last Sunday then today we will explore the three other things Paul says will result in our lives as we grow in Christ. If you are visiting my blog from out of this area you can hear my sermons by scrolling down to the bottom of this page and clicking on our Sermon Player.

I hope that where ever you are today you find yourself in a worship service celebrating God's goodness and grace and that as you leave you find yourself better prepared to share this good news with others as you enter this new week.

Have a GREAT day!

Trying To Get Back In The Saddle

Hello Everyone!
Well I sure haven't done well keeping my blog up to date. I guess I just lost interest, but like it or not I am going to see if I can get things back up and running again. I guess posting the great video World Vision did for us with our Faith In Action Sunday in November 2007 inspired me to get back in the game. I don't know that I will have a post every day but I hope to make several posting each week so if you can stop by now and again to look and see what's up.

I hope you all remembered to set your clocks ahead since we have daylight savings time coming a bit early this year. Of course if you didn't then you got to be really early for church which is always encouraging to us pastors!

If you haven't been by my blog lately and are not a part of this church then you may not know that for the past eight weeks we have been in a sermon series in the letter Paul wrote to the Philippian church. This is a series with a start date but no real end date. I am not going to force this series through in 8 or 10 weeks (obviously). Instead we will just take our time and learn all we can from this great letter. If you want to hear or read one of these sermons go to the bottom of this blog for our sermon player. There you can hear a sermon or even download a hard copy of my manuscript.

This week (March 9) we will continue looking at what I believe Paul said would be the results of spiritual maturity in us. Last week I talked about this "discernment" Paul mentioned and this week we will see what he meant by Purity, Blamelessness, and the fruit of righteousness. Be sure to listen online if you can't attend. I am having a Great time preparing and sharing these messages. This series has given me a new passion and excitement for sharing God's word.

Have A Great Day!
Pastor Sheldon

Be The Church

In November 2007 my church along with New Hope Christian Fellowship and Valley Christian Church here in Chino got together to cancel our regular Sunday morning services to go into our community and Be The Church. This video produced by World Vision is the result of that days ministry to our city.

Lobster Anyone?

Caught these the other night with a guy from my church. They were 4 1/2, 8 1/2, and 9 1/2 pounds.

Down IN The Valley

Greetings Everyone!
Have you ever climbed to the top of a mountain? My older brother is quite an avid hiker and I have had the privilege of hiking to the top of a few mountains with him. In fact I am looking right now at a photo that was taken of me in 1984 at the top of a mountain I climbed with him called Mt. Elbert. Now that will not mean much to you unless you are also a hiker, if you are then you know that Mt. Elbert is the second highest mountain in the lower 48 states. Mt. Elbert is 14,433 feet above sea level it is second only to Mt. Whitney as the tallest mountain in the lower 48 states of the U.S. Let me say it was quite a thrill to reach the top of that mountain especially considering how out of shape I was at the time.

Well why all this talk about mountains? Well it is not to brag (although I will confess to some pride in the accomplishment) rather it is to make a point. If you have ever been to the top of a mountain even if you reached it without climbing you know it can be an exhilarating experience. It is an awesome sight to look back down over the valley you came from to reach that mountain peak. You get to see all sorts of things you never saw while you were on the valley floor, but guess what? You and I were not made to live on the mountain tops. We visit them for a while, a short while at that and then we go back into the valley where we live out most of our lives.

This same principle holds true for our spiritual lives. In our walk with God we also get to enjoy mountain tops once in a while and they are great aren't they? Isn't it wonderful when your marriage is great, the kids are getting good grades, the bank account is full and the car has no mechanical problems? Oh yes we love those times but you know don't you that before long strife will occur in your marriage, the kids will get a "D" or worse they will funk a class. The bank account will go bankrupt and the car will break down. We all know don't we that it is in these times that we discover just how mature we are in our walk with God. I can be a Great Christian when all is well and life is good, but what am I like when I walk the valley floor? Remember the story of the Mt. of Transfiguration recorded in Mark 9? Peter and John are with Jesus when Moses and Elijah appear and talk with Jesus. Peter being the man of great depth and maturity said (I paraphrase) "Lord, this is awesome!" "Let's build a church and stay here." God then spoke and told Peter to listen to His son, the next thing we see is them going down the mountain where a demon possessed boy needed healing.

I think that story is a reminder to us that we can have wonderful experiences while we are up on the mountains but we are not designed to stay up there but we are designed by God to spend most of our time down in the valleys serving those who need the touch of Jesus that we received while we were up there on those mountain tops. If you are on a mountain top today I encourage you to enjoy the experience but to remember that this is not where God wants you to stay. Take the joy and encouragement His gives you while you are up there and share it with those who are down in the valley. If you are in the valley now and you are in a difficult period then I encourage you to remember what you saw on your last mountain top. Remember what it was like to look back over those things you couldn't see when you were in the valley. Remember how God was faithful to you, remember how He lead you through and remember He will lead you through again.

Let me stress just one more thing. God will lead you through but He will not lead you out. We want "out" of our valleys but God wants to lead us through" because it is going through them that grows us and makes us more effective in service to our Lord.

God Bless You!
Pastor Sheldon