HERE WE GO

Good Friday to You, Serve SoILL is now upon us! This could go down as one of the most impacting Saturdays in Cornerstone’s history. There are literally hundreds of us registered to go out serving in our communities across Southern Illinois. This event reminds me of one of the very first Bible verses I memorized, Matthew 5:16. Jesus said,
“Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
There are two beautiful truths in Jesus’ statement:
First, when we let our light shine, we are displaying a gift given us by God. Others see the Good News of Jesus in our actions. We become like the most beautiful full moon on a crisp, clear Fall night. We are so bright our light is even casting shadows on the ground. You may think of yourself as being about as bright as a rock…but on those spectacular nights of a full moon, we see just how bright a big rock can be when it functions as a reflector of light!
Second, the response of others is equally notable. When others witness our light, they give glory to God! There is something about our shining (aka reflecting) that points people to the original source. When we are truly lighting up our communities people respond by praising God. In our serving, we actually get to lead others to worship God!
And get this…ironically, we will be the ones most blessed. Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35). We know He’s right! We’ve all experienced the thrill of watching a loved one open a present we worked hard to give. There is great satisfaction in taking the focus off of our needs and wants and instead focusing on the needs of others. There is moving comradery when joining with others on a shared mission to be a blessing to others. Our giving positions us to be the most blessed!
Then, we get to gather on Sunday not only to celebrate how God reflected His glory off of us to Southern Illinois, but also to dream about how we can continue shining His light in Southern Illinois. As we wrap up our Gifted sermon series, we get to look at how God commissioned the Israelites to bless their city during the Exile. Though many of
them would die in captivity, God commanded them to bless the city He had sent them. Out of that difficult season, God brought about His spectacular plan to restore His people and bring salvation to the world. Maybe, just maybe, God will use us to bring salvation to more and more in our part of the world!
You can get a head start by reading Jeremiah 29 (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/? search=Jeremiah+29&version=ESV). You will find one of the most popular bible verses (v. 11) in this passage. By reading and studying the entire passage, you will discover this verse becomes even more meaningful than when quoted on its own.
Hope to see you this weekend,
Pastor Michael