Mid-Week Announcements and Thoughts to Ponder – 3/25/2020

This video is a brief mid-week update with current announcements, prayer requests, and a few thoughts to ponder during this time our church is refraining from gathering together physically.

If you or anyone you know would like a DVD of our services, especially during this period of shelter-in-place, please contact Michael W. or Pastor Peyton via phone or text message. You can also request a DVD through the “Contact Us” page of our church website (top right corner of the main menu).

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” -II Timothy 1:7

To read the amazing things God has been doing through believers in Wuhan, China please visit HeartCry Missionary Society: https://heartcrymissionary.com/mission-updates/a-door-opened-in-wuhan-china/

For more information on Secret Church, please visit https://secretchurch.radical.net/

To sign up for Secret Church, please use the sign up sheet in the Church Foyer, or send us a message through the “Contact Us” page of our church website.

COVID-19 Coronavirus Statement – From the Pastor

March 14, 2020

Dear Corner Stone Family,

I am writing to give you an update about where we are as a church pertaining to services since our nation has been declared in a state of emergency due to COVID-19. At this point we will continue to gather as a body of believers at our regular scheduled times with a few changes.

Please refrain from hugs and handshakes at the church for now.  With that in mind, we will be suspending the welcome/greeting time in our Sunday morning worship service.

Ushers will have collection plates at doors after the Sunday services. 

Please place your tithes and offerings there on your way out of the sanctuary as we will not be passing the collections plates during the services.

We will not be having our children’s message in the morning service until further notice; However, all of our children’s classes will continue as normal.

If you or an immediate family member are ill, please do not feel guilty not attending services or events until you are better. We recommend that you stay home from church and events when you or your immediate family have any of the following (that are not allergy related):

  • Fever or have had one in the last 24 hours  (The CDC recommends not returning for at least 24 hours after a fever or signs of a fever, without the use of fever-reducing medications.)
  • Persistent cough, runny nose, excessively snotty
  • Sore throat
  • Vomited in the last 24 hours
  • Dysentery / Diarrhea

If you are a high-risk individual (or live with a high-risk individual) or have concerns about potential exposure, please use your own judgment about attending services or events. We do understand! If you would like a DVD of the service, please let us know! Sermons can also be found at https://youtube.csbcva.org.

If you or someone in your home is diagnosed with COVID-19, please let me or our deacons know so that we can support and care for you and your family.

With my love and because of Him,

Pastor Peyton

Secret Church 2020 – God, Government, and the Gospel

Please make plans to join us for Secret Church April 24, 2020 at 7:00PM for six hours of intense Bible Study and prayer.  A sign up sheet is being posted in the church foyer – please sign up to help us determine how many study guides we will need to order.  All are welcome – more details coming soon – check back!

Visit the Secret Church Website

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00EUprhLUgs

Food Pantry Giving

During this time of year, people seem to need a little extra help especially around the holidays.  We are hoping to collect enough to provide food boxes for those needing some assistance.

For the next 3 Sundays, we will be collecting the following items for our food pantry:

  • Canned Yams
  • Canned Green Beans
  • Canned Corn
  • Canned Carrots
  • Small Canned Hams
  • Boxed Stuffing mix
  • Boxed Mac and Cheese mix
  • Pinto Beans
  • Peanut-Butter
  • Jelly

There is a collection box at the rear of our sanctuary.

The Privilege of Intimacy

Preached Friday PM, September 20, 2019

Privilege of Intimacy

To view the video of this message, please visit our Resurgence 2019 page.

“The church has no greater need today than to fall in love with Jesus all over again” -Vance Havner

“The most important thing is your personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is first above everything else because who you are and who you will become flow out of your intimacy with Him.” -Charles Stanley

“Make your ultimate goal your own personal relationship with Him” -Oswald Chambers

Scripture: Luke 10:38-42; John 12:1-8

Supporting Passages:
James 4:8- Draw near to God and He will draw near to you”
Jeremiah 29:13 – And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Intimacy Defined: Closeness, the experience of really knowing and being know by another person

Scripture teaches that it is we, not God who determines the degree of intimacy we experience with Him

Everything in our Christian life and service flows from our relationship with God

How do we know that God wants an intimate relationship with us?

  • He created human beings with relationship in mind – Genesis 1:26; 3:8
  • He provided a way for us to spend eternity with Him through Christ – John 3:16, 17
  • He chose to make us the dwelling place of His Spirit – John 14:17; 1 Corinthians 6:19
  • He encourages us to pray and read His Word – Philippians 4:6; Joshua 1:8
  • He says repeatedly in scripture, “I love you” – John 3:16; Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:4; John 17:23 “Thou hast loved them, as thou hast loved me”
  • His greatest commandment is for us to love Him – Matthew 22:37
  1. The Privilege of Intimacy
    1. Object of our intimacy – Infinite God
      1. Self-existent – Self-caused, no origin (Exodus 3:14)
      2. Infinite – Limitless (Jeremiah 23:24; 1 Kings 8:27)
      3. Eternal – Everlasting, always was, always is, always will be (Deut. 33:27)
      4. Incomprehensible – No one can remotely understand and comprehend God (Isaiah 55:8)
      5. Immutable – Unchanging (Malachi 3:6)
      6. Omniscient – All knowing (Psalm 139:3)
      7. Omnipresent – Everywhere present (Psalm 139:7)
      8. Omnipotent – All powerful (Revelation 19:6)
      9. Holy – Separate, set-apart, absolute purity (Isaiah 6:3; 1 Peter 1:16)
      10. Glorious – Weighted down with brilliance, brightness, radiance (Psalm 8:1)
    2. Access to the Throne (access to God Himself)
      1. Hebrews 4:14-16
      2. Matthew 27:50, 51 – Veil of the Temple torn
    3. Acceptance with God
      1. Ephesians 1:6 – To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.
      2. In the death of Christ, provision is made for a cleansing so deep, so radical, so continuous that a believer can walk with God in unbroken communion and deepening fellowship.
    4. Indwelling Holy Spirit
      1. While on earth, Jesus was geographically limited – Our Lord’s departure from earth made possible a deeper, more constant intimacy with Him through the Holy Spirit
      2. “The great business of the Holy Spirit is to stand behind the scenes and make Jesus real” – According to Dr. A. B. Simpson
      3. I Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
  2. The Discipline of Intimacy
    1. Time
      1. It’s not if you have time, but will you make time?
    2. Solitude
      1. Matthew 6:6 – But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
      2. Alone with Him in His presence
    3. Drawing near – James 4:8
      1. Communion with God that is close and real
      2. Prayer
        1. “The primary point of prayer is not to get something, but to know someone.” –David Platt
      3. Scripture Reading
        1. “There is an inseparable relationship between your affection for Christ and your affection for the Scripture.”
      4. Listening and responding
    4. Focus
      1. Intimacy grows out of a deepening revelation of the divine character
    5. Moment by Moment Walk
      1. Walking in the Spirit – Galatians 5:16
        1. Walk is a term for daily living
        2. To walking in the Spirit will require a walk-in accordance with the Word the Spirit has inspired (See Colossians 3:15)
  3. The Embrace of Intimacy
    1. “Be absolutely His” – Oswald Chambers
    2. Decision of the will
      1. Our wills have a responsibility of choosing
      2. The Law of Desire: “We do what we do because we want what we want.”
    3. Ordering of priorities
      1. Passion: “An intense desire that saturates every aspect of life and compels us to pursue its object”
    4. Consistent Pursuit
      1. Daily drawing near
    5. Intentional Trust
      1. Trust is the heart of intimacy
      2. Psalms 73:28 – But it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD, that I may declare all thy works.
  4. The Product of Intimacy
    1. Deepening knowledge of God
      1. An experience of intimacy with Christ will only feed the flames to know Him still better
    2. Heightened sensitivity to sin
      1. “The closer we are to God, the more the slightest sin will cause us deep sorrow” -R.C. Sproul
    3. Experience of His presence
    4. Radiance from His glory – Exodus 34:29
      1. Peace
      2. Joy
      3. Contentment
    5. Elevated desire to please Him
      1. “Effective ministry to people grows out of intimate experiences with God” -Jerry Bridges
  5. The Obstruction of intimacy
    1. An Impure Heart
      1. A pure heart is one in which no known, conscious, unjudged sin is tolerated and entertained
      2. Psalm 24:3, 4 – Who shall ascend into the hill of the LORD? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
    2. Some thing or someone else
      1. “Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ” -Oswald Chambers
    3. Lack of Desire
      1. Ask the Lord for the desire (the thirst)
        1. Psalms 63:1-2a – O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy power and thy glory
        2. Psalms 84:2 – My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
      2. Taste and see that the Lord is good!
        1. Psalm 34:8a – “O taste and see that the LORD is good.”
      3. Lack of Relationship – Because of being in a lost condition

Invitation:
Confess lack of desire for Him
Tell the Lord that you want a desire, a thirst for Him
Begin to taste and see that the Lord is good through getting to know Him as never before

Thank Him for the privilege of intimacy with Him

Maybe you have realized tonight that you don’t desire the Lord because you are unsaved, you don’t know Him as Lord and Savior

Chili Cook-Off!

Following the morning service October 28, 2018 Corner Stone will be having our annual Chili Cook-Off.

Come, bring your favorite chili (or any crock pot dish!), and enjoy a time of great food and fellowship.