It’s August 1980 in South Akron. A small-but-growing group of Jesus-followers, led by a husband and wife pastoral team, call themselves “Cornerstone Church.” They rally behind the mission of helping people find the Father, a family, and a fulfilling future. And that’s exactly what they do...day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year. But as Cornerstone advanced the Kingdom of God, a perfect storm of opposition sought to snuff it out, culminating in the COVID-19 pandemic that brought the world—and many churches—to a halt. In fact, the average lifespan of a church is 40 years. August 2020 should’ve been our swan song. But that’s not where the story ends. It’s where the story begins again. August 2020 now marks the launch of renewed ministry at Cornerstone, and a re-establishment of our mission to help people find the Father, a family, and a fulfilling future. It’s the start of what we believe will be banner year after banner year, seeing God moving in our midst. It’s a brand new day—but it’s a lot like our first day...

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God doesn’t want us to hold to a blind faith. God wants us to have a “without any doubt” faith. A faith that can stand up to any power of Hell or scheme of man. And such a faith can be built. You don’t have to throw away your logic or intellect to put your confidence in Jesus. As John remarks, his account is written so that we may believe—without any doubt.

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John 13 is a hingepoint in the Gospel of John—a scene that both sets up and recaps the beauty of Jesus, his ministry, and his destiny...facing his own death at the Cross. And the overriding force behind all of it? Self-sacrificing love. It’s the message of Jesus. It’s the message of the Cross. And it’s the message for his Church to embrace and live out today.

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A major theme in the Book of John is how Jesus fulfills the entirety of God’s Law on our behalf. So yes, Jesus is our Lord and Savior—but he’s even more than that! As we study the Scriptures, we see themes of God’s goodness at work in the ministry of Jesus with new eyes. We see Jesus not just as our Lord and Savior, but as Prophet, Priest, and King.

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Jesus didn’t claim to simply be a teacher or rabbi. His claim was far more scandalous and ground shaking—Jesus claimed to be one with Yahweh. And if any of the authors of the Gospels go to far lengths to stress this claim, it is the Gospel of John. In its 21 chapters, Jesus continually points back over and over to the truth of his identity: that he is Lord.

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No one’s ever been more misunderstood than Jesus. The crowds to whom he ministered, the religious leaders he debated—even his closest friends and family—all misunderstood Jesus. And the reason for the misunderstandings? Projecting their own idea of what Jesus “should” look like onto him. And unfortunately, 2,000 years later we often do the same...

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No matter how hard we wish it were otherwise—once time has passed, it’s gone forever. We can’t create more time, but we can take advantage of time. Seizing the moments ahead of us is the closest we can get to having a time-machine; a way to redeem the decisions and missed opportunities of the past to advance us confidently into the future.

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There’s a term used in navigation called “dead reckoning.” It’s the process of calculating one's position by estimating the direction and distance traveled. You find out where you are by looking at where you’ve been. And if you want the second half of the year to be better than the first half, you need to evaluate the direction in which you’ve been living.

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The average roller coaster ranges in height from 150 to 250 feet at its highest point, and travels 60 to 70 miles per hour. The average commercial airplane flies at 35,000 and travels 550 miles per hour. Yet a higher percentage of people are more nervous about a trip to Cedar Point than they are to Cleveland Hopkins Airport. What’s the deal? It all comes down to one word—desensitization. It doesn’t feel like you’re going that fast or up that high when you’re in an airplane, but it does on a roller coaster. Which is why they induce so much fear...but, it’s also why they inspire so much fun. Did you know your walk with God should feel more like going over the edge on a 300-foot coaster than a routine red-eye to Boston? It’s time for believers to REsensitize our faith and step out in risk. Because when you’re protected from the elements, you’re also protected from the thrill.

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We live in some wild times. We’re available 24/7 on our smartphones. We have little to no work/life balance as a result of remote work. We know everything about everyone due to social media…I mean, is it any wonder why we’re anxious and worried? The good news is it doesn't have to stay that way if we follow the non-anxious and unworried way of Jesus.

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It was Winston Churchill who stated: "Never let a good crisis go to waste”—meaning that even in a horrific situation, you can find opportunities in the obstacles. That’s good advice, especially when it comes to our fear and worry. Even in the midst of the harshest pressures of life, we can know God will walk with us to bring purpose out of the pressure.

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