The Point of Purpose // How to Survive a Christmas Movie

Cindy Lou Who is on a mission—a mission to find the true purpose of Christmas. Is it about gifts? Is it about lights and decorations? Or does Christmas mean a little bit more? And what about ourselves—what’s our purpose in all of this? Do we have any deeper meaning than just going to school or going to work? What purpose does God have in store for each of us?

Jordan SanchezDecember 17, 2023Grinch, mission, purpose, lights, decorations, more, ourselves, deeper, meaning, school, work, God, each, Advent, Christmas, At the movies, pop culture, traditions, music, nostalgic, magical, Classic, favorites, craziness, reality, struggle, identity, entertainment, holidays, Christian, Akron Ohio, Local Church, Non-Denominational, Loving, Kind, Faith, Jesus, relationships, holiness, saved, Father, family, futureComment

Isolation Issues // How to Survive a Christmas Movie

All Kevin McAllister wanted for Christmas was to be left alone—until he got his wish. Faced with the true nature of isolation, Kevin started to change his tune…all he wanted now? His family back with him. But unfortunately for many of us, Christmas is a time of crippling loneliness and isolation that we can’t wish our way out of. How do we handle it?

Jordan SanchezDecember 10, 2023Christian, Akron Ohio, Local Church, Non-Denominational, Loving, Kind, Faith, Jesus, relationships, holiness, saved, Father, family, future, Advent, Christmas, At the movies, pop culture, traditions, music, nostalgic, magical, Classic, favorites, craziness, reality, struggle, identity, purpose, entertainment, holidays, heart, story, Buddy, travel, New York City, search, father, sound, familiar, moments, lives, wondering, truly are, good news, answered, spoken, truth, Home Alone, wish, isolation, tune, unfortunately, crippling, loneliness, handleComment

Identity Crisis // How to Survive a Christmas Movie

“Who am I?” That’s the question at the heart of the movie “Elf.” It’s a story about an elf named Buddy who travels to New York City in search of his father. Sound a little familiar? Of course! We all have moments of identity crisis in our lives…wondering who we truly are. And the good news is that God has already answered our question! He’s spoken the truth of who we are in Him.

Jordan SanchezDecember 3, 2023Christian, Akron Ohio, Local Church, Non-Denominational, Loving, Kind, Faith, Jesus, relationships, holiness, saved, Father, family, future, Advent, Christmas, At the movies, pop culture, traditions, music, nostalgic, magical, Classic, favorites, craziness, reality, struggle, identity, purpose, entertainment, holidays, Elf, heart, story, Buddy, travel, New York City, search, father, sound, familiar, moments, lives, wondering, truly are, good news, answered, spoken, truthComment

What Did You Expect? // How to Survive a Christmas Movie

Poor Clark Griswold...all he wants is a picture-perfect family Christmas where nothing goes wrong and everyone is happy. Is that too much to ask for? Many of us are exactly like Clark—setting up unrealistic expectations that no relationship or event can ever live up to. How can we start to temper and manage our expectations in a truly healthy and godly way?

Jordan SanchezNovember 26, 2023Clark Griswold, picture-perfect, happy, exactly, unrealistic, expectations, relationship, temper, manage, healthy, godly, Advent, Christmas, At the movies, pop culture, traditions, music, nostalgic, magical, Classic, favorites, craziness, reality, struggle, identity, purpose, entertainment, holidays, Christian, Akron Ohio, Local Church, Non-Denominational, Loving, Kind, Faith, Jesus, family, relationships, holinessComment

Eyes On the Prize // The Verse After the Verse

God likens living out our faith to the running of a race—a metaphor that overflows with connections to the Christian life. We see this analogy at play in Hebrews 12:1, but the analogy doesn't stop there. Every athlete knows that to win a race, you need a winning training regimen. And in the verse after the verse, that’s exactly what God gives to us.

Jordan SanchezJune 4, 2023Cornerstone ChurchChristians, Cornerstone Church, Akron, Ohio, Jesus, Love, Millennials, Gen Z, 2021, Now, God, Bible, Nondenominational, Created, creation, hate, positivity, negativity, positive, negative, worship, allow, suffering, prayers, pray, praying, hope, LGBTQ+, welcome, Pastor, ministry, ministries, evil, question, questions, return, returned, disappointment, disappointed, disappointing, forgotten, traditional, tradition, modern, religious, create, made, heaven, hell, surprise, onsite, onlineComment

The Point of Prayer // The Verse After the Verse

Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us the truth: “God has a plan.” But those words don’t exactly inspire confidence in many people. “Is my cancer God’s plan? Does God even take my prayers into consideration if He already has a plan?” If you’ve ever wondered what’s the point of prayer if God already has His plan, it’s time to read the verse after the verse.

Jordan SanchezMay 28, 2023Cornerstone ChurchChristians, Cornerstone Church, Akron, Ohio, Jesus, Love, Millennials, Gen Z, 2021, Now, God, Bible, Nondenominational, Created, creation, hate, positivity, negativity, positive, negative, worship, allow, suffering, prayers, pray, praying, hope, LGBTQ+, welcome, Pastor, ministry, ministries, evil, question, questions, return, returned, disappointment, disappointed, disappointing, forgotten, traditional, tradition, modern, religious, create, made, heaven, hell, surprise, onsite, onlineComment

Let Me Rephrase That // The Verse After the Verse

John 3:16…the King of Bible verses. Almost everyone knows it by heart. Sadly, the verse after the verse doesn’t hold the same recognition. As we keep reading, we see Scripture doesn't just emphasize the message of salvation—but the message of no condemnation. Jesus’ mission was to save, not to judge. And now it’s time for the Church to follow suit.

Jordan SanchezMay 21, 2023Cornerstone ChurchChristians, Cornerstone Church, Akron, Ohio, Jesus, Love, Millennials, Gen Z, 2021, Now, God, Bible, Nondenominational, Created, creation, hate, positivity, negativity, positive, negative, worship, allow, suffering, prayers, pray, praying, hope, LGBTQ+, welcome, Pastor, ministry, ministries, evil, question, questions, return, returned, disappointment, disappointed, disappointing, forgotten, traditional, tradition, modern, religious, create, made, heaven, hell, surprise, onsite, onlineComment

Peace In My Problems // The Verse After the Verse

Jesus’ promise in Matthew 11:28 is beautiful—it’s a promise to give rest to all those who come to Him. But Jesus’ idea of “rest” isn’t about taking away the problems of life. It’s about making us stronger and content in Him, despite our circumstances. It’s about the peace that comes when we realize that if our rest is found in God, nothing can disturb it.

Jordan SanchezMay 14, 2023Cornerstone ChurchChristians, Cornerstone Church, Akron, Ohio, Jesus, Love, Millennials, Gen Z, 2021, Now, God, Bible, Nondenominational, Created, creation, hate, positivity, negativity, positive, negative, worship, allow, suffering, prayers, pray, praying, hope, LGBTQ+, welcome, Pastor, ministry, ministries, evil, question, questions, return, returned, disappointment, disappointed, disappointing, forgotten, traditional, tradition, modern, religious, create, made, heaven, hell, surprise, onsite, onlineComment

Friends In Low Places // The Verse After the Verse

Outside of John 3:16, there may not be a more memorable verse than the one found in Philippians 4:13. Paul writes: “I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.” It’s a wonderful declaration about the power of God. But as we continue reading, we find out that help doesn’t just come from God above us—help comes from friends around us.

Jordan SanchezMay 7, 2023Cornerstone ChurchChristians, Cornerstone Church, Akron, Ohio, Jesus, Love, Millennials, Gen Z, 2021, Now, God, Bible, Nondenominational, Created, creation, hate, positivity, negativity, positive, negative, worship, allow, suffering, prayers, pray, praying, hope, LGBTQ+, welcome, Pastor, ministry, ministries, evil, question, questions, return, returned, disappointment, disappointed, disappointing, forgotten, traditional, tradition, modern, religious, create, made, heaven, hell, surprise, onsite, onlineComment

Faith to Move Forward // Here & Now Building Our Future In the Present

We’ve taken huge leaps of faith to get where we are today as a church. But those steps of trust in God won’t take us where we need to go next. New moments require new miracles, and we’re going to need to trust God to come through for us. The good news? God has delivered on His word time after time, and we can trust that He will do it again.

Jordan SanchezApril 30, 2023Cornerstone ChurchChristians, Cornerstone Church, Akron, Ohio, Jesus, Love, Millennials, Gen Z, 2021, Now, God, Bible, Nondenominational, Created, creation, hate, positivity, negativity, positive, negative, worship, allow, suffering, prayers, pray, praying, hope, LGBTQ+, welcome, Pastor, ministry, ministries, evil, question, questions, return, returned, disappointment, disappointed, disappointing, forgotten, traditional, tradition, modern, religious, create, made, heaven, hell, surprise, onsite, onlineComment

God Bless the Broken Road // Here & Now Building Our Future In the Present

If you’ve lived for any length of time, you’ve seen your share of hardships. But if you’ve put your trust in Jesus in the midst of those hardships, you’ve also seen God’s faithfulness. In fact, one of the best things we can do in the “here and now” is look back to the “there and then” and see how God used the pressures in our life for our good.

Jordan SanchezApril 23, 2023Cornerstone ChurchChristians, Cornerstone Church, Akron, Ohio, Jesus, Love, Millennials, Gen Z, 2021, Now, God, Bible, Nondenominational, Created, creation, hate, positivity, negativity, positive, negative, worship, allow, suffering, prayers, pray, praying, hope, LGBTQ+, welcome, Pastor, ministry, ministries, evil, question, questions, return, returned, disappointment, disappointed, disappointing, forgotten, traditional, tradition, modern, religious, create, made, heaven, hell, surprise, onsite, onlineComment

What If, What Is & What’s Coming // Here & Now Building Our Future In the Present

It’s an amazing thing to witness a “What If?” transform into a “What Is…”—and we’ve lived this experience at Cornerstone. We’ve seen God take our dreams and turn them into reality. But the truly incredible thing is that we know He’s just getting started! God’s doing abundantly more than we could imagine, and we can’t wait to see what He has in store!

Jordan SanchezApril 16, 2023Cornerstone ChurchChristians, Cornerstone Church, Akron, Ohio, Jesus, Love, Millennials, Gen Z, 2021, Now, God, Bible, Nondenominational, Created, creation, hate, positivity, negativity, positive, negative, worship, allow, suffering, prayers, pray, praying, hope, LGBTQ+, welcome, Pastor, ministry, ministries, evil, question, questions, return, returned, disappointment, disappointed, disappointing, forgotten, traditional, tradition, modern, religious, create, made, heaven, hell, surprise, onsite, onlineComment