The Cornerstone of Our Lives.

Good morning, everyone. This is our first ever morning service in the history of New Culture Church. I'll invite you to find your way back to your seats as we get ready to dive into the word. Turn to the person next to you and say good morning. I'm proud of you. You're here. You did the things.

For five and a half, six years now, we've always been in the evenings. I travel and speak at other churches in the morning. Normally I'll say, hey, it's so good to be with you tonight. Then everyone looks at me like, that's not normal. So here we are, and we are excited. This is something our team was praying about, and we're excited to try this out for the summer and see how it goes.

We are in our series Set Apart Summer. We're going through the book of Acts, looking at the journey of the early church. There was this group of people that decided to live radical lives where they were completely consecrated, set apart, fully devoted to the Lord, his mission, his work, seeing his kingdom come. What I love about these stories is that they were ordinary people. They were ordinary people who decided to follow Jesus and be fully obedient, to live these set apart lives. And we see God do the miraculous through them.

I haven't been here for a month. I was in Greece traveling and learning. I'm getting my master's in counseling right now, and part of our program was to go to Greece and learn. We got to learn about stories in Acts and the life of Paul. It was amazing. You all should go sometime to see the places where the Bible took place.

I'm excited to be back and excited to have listened to some of the sermons from Nathan, one of our very own who preached a couple weeks ago, and then my dear friend and mentor Una, who was here with us last week. But today we are jumping into Acts chapter four.

The passage and the cornerstone

The priest and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand. The next day the rulers, the elders, and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and other members of the high priest's family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them. By what power or what name did you do this? Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them. Rulers and elders of the people. If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who is lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this. You and all the people of Israel. It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved. When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished. And they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. What are we going to do with these men? They asked. Everyone living in Jerusalem knows that they have performed a notable sign and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name. So they called them in and commanded them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied. Which is right in God's eyes, to listen to you or to him? You be the judges. As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard. After further threats, they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over 40 years old.

Acts 4:1-22

Let's pray. God, we thank you so much for your word. We thank you so much that your presence is here with us in this place as we are gathered here today. We thank you that we can open up your word, we can hear these stories, and we can see how you worked then and that you are that same God and you want to continue to see your kingdom come. You want to continue to see the miraculous done through us, these ordinary people as we sit here today.

God, I just pray for these next few moments. Would you speak to us in a way that we too cannot help but share about your goodness? That we too cannot help but share what we have seen you do? Lord, may we be like Peter and John. May we see God, look at what you're doing, and we cannot deny your provision, your miraculous power. We wanna see more of it. Come, Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the cornerstone and how to live it out

The main thing that we're going to talk about today is that Jesus is the cornerstone. And now what do we do with that? Once we recognize that, we have to let the cornerstone lead even in the time in between. That's what we're going to be talking about today.

First, let me ask: who are the players here? We see these religious leaders. They saw the miracle that took place. They arrest Peter and John for doing that. Think about the cultural implications. The people of the Bible were human. They had families and roles and responsibilities and things that they were risking to see the gospel of Jesus move forward. Because of the way that they had walked with Jesus, the things that they saw God do, they could not help from sharing about this.

### Share your testimony courageously

The first thing I want to talk about today is that we need to courageously share our testimonies. We need to courageously share what God is doing in our life. Sometimes courageously sharing might be those moments where you're shouting from a rooftop, but more times than not, it might be simply opening up those doors in conversation with the people around you or being unafraid when good things are happening to point to the goodness of God and to name that only Jesus could do that for you.

How many times do we get a little nervous? If we're around people and we're like, I don't know if you believe what I believe. I'm not sure how you're going to receive this. So we'll talk about good things happening, and rather than being like, God provided this for me and it was a miracle because there's no other way other than Jesus that this could happen, we're like, yeah, I got a raise. No big deal. Just not giving God the credit for what he's doing.

Personal testimony goes a long way. How many of you look up reviews before you go to a new restaurant? How many times are we going anywhere and we're trying to see what are other people saying? What do my friends say about this place or this band? I have been known to be the type of person where if I see a piece of clothing that I really love, I'll literally be like, where did you get it? And if someone's like Target, I'll be like, which season? Was it this summer, last summer? Can I still get it? Because if I like it enough and you're wearing it, I know it looks good on you. I want that too.

I had this happen to me just this past week when I was in Greece. I kind of have my travel wardrobe down to a T. I just went three weeks in a carry-on. People with like two giant check bags and a carry-on and a giant backpack that definitely is not a personal item. I'm like, what are you doing? How are you possibly going to wear that much stuff in the next three weeks? I just had my one little carry-on and I made it work because I know what pants I want to wear that are going to absorb all the sweat and heat. I know what tops are going to get me through the week.

I have this one pair of pants that never fails. Every time I wear these pants, everyone's like, where did you get those? To the point where I'm like, man, I need to become like an ambassador or get affiliate links or something because I could be getting free pants at this point for the amount of recommendations I've given.

There's something about when you have that personal recommendation. It's not just like an Instagram ad told me to buy this, but it's a friend that's saying this is good. And I look around. Many of you are guilty of this with the types of water bottles that you're drinking from. I feel like our church went from being a Hydro Flask church to all of a sudden we're like a Stanley Cup church. And now we're like, is it a Yeti? Is that it? We got some brand ambassadors in the house today. But there's something about those personal recommendations. When someone that you know is endorsing something, you're that much more likely to go and you're going to want it.

In the same way, when you've experienced something so good, you're like, I want you all to experience this. This is the type of thing that's happening with John and Peter. They've experienced Jesus so much so that they're going to risk everything for it. They want you to have this. They could not help but share about what the Lord was doing to the point that it landed them in prison.

How scary would that have been for them? How scary would it be to be in this place where you don't know, is it going to be a day? Is it going to be weeks? Is it going to be months? And for doing a good thing.

### Know the stories of God

At this point, scripture as we know it today didn't exist yet. Things were passed out orally in the Old Testament. They knew stories of Moses and other things, but it was passed down orally. When you see Jesus talking, sometimes he'll quote scripture from the Old Testament. It'll be like one little verse. Most people in the New Testament, first century Jewish culture, would have memorized a good chunk of the Old Testament. Jesus would quote a verse, referencing maybe a whole story that they know. He wouldn't have to get into it because they know the whole thing.

I can maybe reference a movie and I'm not going to sit here and be like let's watch the whole movie so you can understand this one little point. I might just reference it and you're going to be like, we got that, we know. So oftentimes they would just reference things. Things were passed down from family members to generations.

How did they make it through this time? How did they continue to risk everything even when it would lead them to places like prison? Well, they knew stories of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who were thrown into the fiery furnace because of their obedience to God and God protected them. They knew stories of Joseph who was sold into slavery by his brothers and then thrown back into prison. They knew stories of how God continued to make a way and protect his people when they were obedient, even when their obedience led them to really hard, difficult places.

This is why it is so important for us to be people that are in the scripture. We're sharing stories, not only with each other, but we're reminding each other of what God has been doing for generations all throughout church history. From Old Testament to New Testament to today. So that we can remember we are not the first that are following Jesus. We will not be the last. We are not the first people that might find ourselves in hard, unwanted, painful situations because of our obedience to what God is asking us to do. But we can go back and look and see how God has been faithful for generations.

### Rely on the Holy Spirit

Verse five says: the next day the rulers, the elders, and teachers met in Jerusalem and they're questioning them. And in verse eight, it starts by saying Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes upon him, speaks through him. He has this confident declaration of saying, rulers and elders of the people. You're speaking to these people of authority. If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who is lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this. You and all the people of Israel. It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

Jesus is quoting scripture from the Old Testament and says this: the stone you builders rejected has become the cornerstone. Salvation is found in no one else. There's no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we can be saved.

The next thing I want to talk about is that we need to rely on the Holy Spirit to speak through us. Rely on the Holy Spirit to speak through you. Peter was filled with the Spirit. Peter took time to let the Holy Spirit be the one to speak through him. I think sometimes we can put so much pressure on ourselves that we have to figure everything out. That when we find ourselves in tough situations, it's like, how am I going to get through this? But God is always at work. God's presence is always in our midst.

Our response in times of trouble, when we're faced with these rulers and elders coming down upon him, is to let the Holy Spirit speak through him. What does this look like practically? Well, one of the things that I have made a practice in my life is even just giving space for God in the little things. This summer we're going to talk so much about how can we live set apart and fully devoted. We have the daily rhythms books that we want everyone to walk through so that we can continue to center our lives around prayer and scripture and being with Jesus. The more that we can daily practice these things, the more it's just so a part of who we are. When we are in these heightened situations, we're going to be that much more ready in how we respond.

I know myself well enough to know that if I'm not practicing how I can attentively and intentionally listen to the voice of God, I can fill space with words. I can get up there and ramble. Imagine how Peter could have been defensive in that moment, but he let the Holy Spirit speak through him. It was not his words. It was not his plans. It's not what he may have thought in the moment was going to lead to comfort, lead to him having what he wanted, even being free. His agenda was not the priority. It was Holy Spirit, speak through me.

And what is he doing? He's quoting scripture, which tells me scripture was deep in his life. He knew the word of God. Not only is he letting the Holy Spirit speak through him with new words saying, hey, this is what's happening now, but scripture is speaking in this moment. This is where we get to the fun part. He is reminding the people here that Jesus is the cornerstone.

### The cornerstone in Old Testament and New Testament

This is an excerpt from the Old Testament, and there's a couple places that this is referenced. Psalms 118:

Open for me the gates of righteousness that I may enter and give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord. The righteous shall enter through it. I will give you thanks for you have answered me and you have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day that the Lord has made. I rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:19-24

The book of Isaiah also has many different references to the Messiah that's coming. In Isaiah 28:16, it says:

See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation. The one who trusts will never be dismayed. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the plumb line.

Isaiah 28:16-17

Whenever we read scripture like this, Old Testament or New Testament, we always have to recognize and realize that scripture wasn't written to this American westernized culture. The context that they're in and what that represents to them is a little bit different than maybe our instinct because of the culture that we live in.

I've spent time in Israel learning and studying, and one of the things that I've gotten to do is see a lot of ancient homes and how they're built and structures. Recently in Greece, I went to the city of Corinth and we looked at some ancient ruins and talked about how they built things in the structure.

In the Old Testament, when they would build their homes, they would typically have the cornerstone in the corner. Where would you think you'd put a cornerstone? The corner, right? So this would not only just be the corner but it would be known as one of the foundation stones. A stone that was the foundation. The stone that would then guide the rest of the project, the rest of the building. It was very significant.

Old Testament placed in the corner would be the stone that guided. It was often the first stone that was laid down and would be part of the foundation. So when in the Old Testament they're hearing this and they're hearing like, oh, the Messiah is coming. He will be the cornerstone. It's like, whoa, okay, that's going to be the stone that guides. That's going to be the stone that lets us know where we're going. That stone is our foundation. The Messiah is our foundation. The Messiah is the first.

But then you move to the New Testament. In the New Testament, the buildings were different. Most of them in Greece. The Old Testament was written to a Jewish culture, so those would be the Jewish builders. The New Testament was written in Greece and primarily written to a Greek culture. The structures that they would have there often had a lot of dome shapes, a lot of arches.

The cornerstone in Greek culture would be like the center stone on the top there of that arch. When Peter is now saying, he's telling them like the cornerstone, the stone that you rejected, Jesus, you rejected him. He's now the cornerstone. So he's referring, using scripture to tell them, Jesus is now the center stone. Jesus is now the one when you look up, you see. Jesus is the stone. Without that stone, the entire structure falls apart. Jesus is the one that holds it all together.

I love this because it shows us like in the Old Testament they were looking for the Messiah to come and to guide them, to be their foundation. In the New Testament, it's saying yes, Jesus is the cornerstone. Jesus is the first. He laid down his life. Jesus is the foundation. But Jesus is the one that we look up to. Jesus is at the center and we need Jesus because he is the only one that can hold it all together.

Jesus Christ, our cornerstone. The one that people rejected is now at the center and lifted high above any other stones in his rightful place where he should be. This is the power of us looking back and understanding the stories and the culture so that when we hear these references, we go, wow, like that's who Jesus is. Peter is saying, do not try to place anything else in place of where Jesus needs to be. Because Jesus, you need Jesus to hold it together.

You need Jesus to be at the center. You need Jesus to be the first and you need Jesus to be the last. The one that guides you. The one that you build your life upon. The one that you look to. The one that you put all your trust in.

Every other stone is putting their weight and their trust in that stone to hold it all together. But many reject it.

### The foundation must be real

I remember one of the first times I was at a wedding and no judgment, but someone pointed out this beautiful cake. And I was like, whoa, that's a beautiful cake. And someone says, well, it's like fake. I was like, what do you mean? I didn't know that a common trick is that they'll make this gorgeous layer cake and every single layer except for the top small layer will be cardboard. It's empty. They'll decorate the outside of these cakes but it's fake. It's not real. But it looks beautiful. It looks like a strong, firm structure.

Then that's why like if you're like why did we just get like cookies and punch and like why didn't we get any cake at this wedding? Because it was fake. It wasn't real. There was not enough cake to go around.

I say this because this is just one small example of different ways that in our life we can try to cut costs and cut corners. Where we say, well, I'm going to build my life and I'm going to build this structure and it's going to be beautiful. Everybody coming around is going to look and be like, oh, that is a firm foundation. But you go to cut into it and it's empty. You go to cut into that cardboard that's not real cake and it's all going to collapse.

Unless we truly place Jesus at the center, everything is going to fall apart because he is the only one that can hold it all together. The only one that through we can be saved. The only one that through we can be healed. We need to have Jesus as our cornerstone.

Can I ask you even this morning as you process this to even ask yourself the honest conversations and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you. Where in your life have you or are you trying to cut costs? Where has it seemed just a little too pricey to follow Jesus? What are those things that you're like, I'll do it all, but giving up this just feels a little too painful?

Can I remind you Jesus is the firm foundation. The one that holds it together. He's the one that we need to fill us and to keep at the center. When we're talking about building our lives and cutting costs, if we cut costs now, it will only cost us more later. Taking time to build your life upon Jesus and to keep Jesus at the center, to be your cornerstone, as hard as it may seem now, it is worth it to keep him at the center.

### The courage of ordinary, obedient people

I love in verse 13, it says, they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled, ordinary men. They were astonished and took note and said, these men, they've been with Jesus. Ordinary, unschooled, obedient to Jesus. This is the story of Christianity for generations. Sure, there's people that go to seminary and get ordained. But the story of Christianity is ordinary, unschooled, obedient people that built the church and continue to share the gospel and usher in God's kingdom right here and now.

Who are we to underestimate what God wants to do through us and our lives and our hands? What you see here in Peter and John is that because Jesus Christ was their cornerstone, he was the only thing in their lives that they centered it around. They were willing to let the Holy Spirit speak.

If we are centered around people pleasing, if we're centered around comfort, if we're centered around success, then we're going to have a really hard time letting the Holy Spirit speak through us. We're going to have a really, really hard time putting ourselves in situations like Peter and John, where we're ending up in prison and we're like, we don't even care because Jesus, you're worth it. Sharing about your goodness is worth it.

If we're centered around people pleasing, we're going to struggle because we're always going to be afraid of what are people going to say about this? What are people going to think of me? If we're centered around comfort, we're going to struggle to speak because we're always going to be afraid and thinking about what is this going to cost me if I do this or if I do that?

But if we're centered around Christ, if we allow his Holy Spirit to speak through us and surrender every single outcome to what he is doing and what he has been doing for all of eternity, Jesus must be the first. Jesus must be the one that guides us. The foundation. The center. The one that we look up to. The one that we put all of our weight, all of our problems, all of our anxieties, all of our stress, trusting that he's going to hold it all together, just like he has for generations.

Verse 14 says, because they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. They ordered them to withdraw. It says, what are we going to do with them? Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they've performed this notable sign and we can't deny it.

When we make room for Jesus, Jesus does the rest. When we make room for the Spirit to come, the Spirit does the heavy lifting. We're not the ones that have to figure out like, how are we going to raise the dead back to life? How are we going to see these miracles happen? We just have to release and surrender and invite the Holy Spirit to come and know that the miracle is not ours, but it's for the Lord and for his glory. But it can flow through our hands.

Sometimes when that happens, like you see, even the religious leaders at that time got really scared and really controlling. They throw them into prison. Why? Because something was happening that was out of their control.

Trust God in the in-between

The enemy wants nothing more than for us to believe that where we're at is our final destination. Whether it's really good or it's really bad. Because maybe some of you today, you're like, man, life finally seems like it's going well. And I'm feeling really great about where I'm at with my relationship with Jesus, my friends, my family. And maybe some of you, you're like, yeah, I'm in a place where I don't know how I got here. I feel like I'm following Jesus. I feel like I'm doing the things. Yet I don't know that this is where I want to be. I feel stuck.

The biggest lie that the enemy wants us to believe is: this is our final destination. Can you imagine if Peter and John lived that day in prison as if this was their final destination? But remember, they knew the stories of the past. They were reminding themselves. They knew the scriptures that God came through. We know today that because of Jesus' death and his resurrection, that scripture tells us that if we believe in him, we will not perish but have everlasting life. That this is not our final destination but we were created for eternity. We can live in that confidence that we are walking in faith and following Jesus every single day, knowing that this is not our home. This is not our final destination. But there is more to come. And where we're headed is what we were created for. And that is good news.

The next thing is the enemy wants us to doubt. He wants us to doubt and believe the lie that it's a sign of God's rejection. That the rejection that we face is a sign of God's rejection. Again, for Peter and John, their obedience did not leave them in that moment to this great reward. It led them to rejection. It led them to people speaking against them, even though they did a really good thing and a man was healed.

How can we in the time in between not get down and believe the doubts and believe the lies that rejection from people around us is a sign of God's rejection? Because it's not. Sometimes when we face rejection, it can be a sign of God's protection. It can be a sign of God saying, hey, there's something that you were headed that way that I don't want you to be a part of this. You might feel like these people are rejecting you and it's really bad, but this is actually a good thing.

There's other times that that same thing could be like a redirection for you. God is completely redirecting what he has for you. He's saying, yes, just keep following, keep following, but where you're following me, it might not lead you to where you thought you were going to go. But that's okay. Because sometimes we hear from God and he's like, go this direction. We're like, got it. We start headed there and then we start making up in our mind why he's leading us there and what he has for us there. Then when it looks completely different, we're like, God, why did you do that? He's like, well, I never told you all of that. I just said, move in this direction.

Sometimes when we're faced with rejection, God could be protecting you. He could be redirecting you. But I want to make this very clear: even in that it can be really painful. It can be really painful when we are being obedient to the things that Jesus is asking for us and we're still not seeing the reward that we thought was going to come from it. It can be painful.

I can imagine that it was not fun for them to be in prison. I can imagine what my heart and attitude might be like if I was like, God, this person was sick and I prayed for them and they were healed. I thought people would be celebrating that you're moving. Instead I'm thrown into prison and now you're telling me don't speak of this. But why? This is good. Why wouldn't I speak of this?

We have to be careful to not explain the pain away, but to recognize that sometimes when we're following Jesus, it can be painful and it can be hard. But this is not our home. This is not what we were created for. And although it may be hard, it is also worth it. When we live with eternity in mind, we can invite the Holy Spirit to give us the strength to endure. We can carry on.

I couldn't help but even think, as I was writing this this week, of times when it's like you've been obedient and you're doing the thing that represents the gospel well. Be it you're being rejected, rejected, rejected. We celebrated Juneteenth this week. You think of that, of how many people fought to end slavery and they were killed for it. They were murdered for it. They were thrown into prison for it. They died and gave their lives when everybody should have been celebrating and right there with them saying, yes, set the captives free. Like this is the gospel. This is what Jesus came to do. Yet people that were being obedient to the gospel and were working to see people set free were instead met with not just rejection. But murder and being killed. And continue even today, people that are fighting for justice get rejected. But that cannot stop us from continuing to preach the good news and the gospel of Jesus and to do what is right even when other people don't accept it or celebrate it.

The third thing is disbelief. Believing the lie that the reward isn't worth it. The enemy wants nothing more than for us to believe the lie that following Jesus isn't worth it.

For Peter and for John, they walked with Jesus up close and personal. They saw him die on the cross to pay the price for their sins. They saw him be raised back to life. They saw him after that. They walked with him after he was raised back to life. From that, because of walking so closely with him, they were willing to give their entire lives to sharing about the good news and the hope that only Jesus can bring.

There's something so beautiful about that. The people that were closest to Jesus, they knew who he really was. They're like, you're worth it. You're worth giving everything for. They decided that Jesus was going to be the cornerstone. Jesus, to them, was worth it.

Is Jesus our cornerstone? Are we centering our entire lives around him? Or is Jesus just a stone in the structures that we're trying to build? Because unless he's at the center, unless he's the foundation, the one holding it all together, we are always going to feel like we're in scrambles. Maybe today you felt that, where you're like, it just feels like I'm trying to put Jesus in these certain places in my life, but everything just always feels like a little wobbly. Could it be that we need to get back to the place where Jesus is at the center?

Closing invitation

Who is leading your life? Who or what is at the center? Is there anything that's keeping you stuck in the in-between? Is it discouragement? Is there doubt? Is there disbelief? And how can you keep or place Jesus at the center?

This whole idea of us as a church saying this summer we want to live set apart and fully devoted to Jesus. To the point where we have this whole book that every single day, it's going to give you prompts in the morning, in the middle of the day, and in the evening to pray and spend time with Jesus. I can't stress enough. I want you to grab this because God moves in the miraculous through us and he can come and he can heal us.

If you're faced with discouragement, I believe that as we start to go into this time of prayer and say, God, would you give me courage? God can give you courage. His Holy Spirit can fill you with courage. If you're like, I need to be healed from the lies of these doubts, God can do that. His Spirit can do that.

But then we have a responsibility once we're healed to train ourselves to walk healed, to walk whole. That's why we practice things like prayer and reading the Bible. Because it would be foolish of us to only come here and hear scripture on Sundays. It would be foolish of us to only come here and pray on Sundays and say every week, God, come and fill me. When every single day, God wants to meet with you and he wants to heal you and he wants to restore you.

Peter and John, because every single day for years of their lives, they walked so closely with Jesus, they were like, he's worth it. He's worth going to prison for. He's worth getting beaten for. He's worth it all because we want people to know the hope.

I want to know Jesus like that. I want to experience his goodness like that. And you can tell that they knew the scriptures in a way that when they're faced with this public place and people coming down on them, they're saying, hey, you rejected this stone, but that stone is now the cornerstone. Jesus is now sitting high above everything else in his rightful place at the center.

I want to know scripture like that. I want to be able to pray for people and see them healed and restored. It's both. It's us coming together in these spaces and saying, come Holy Spirit, heal me, fill me, speak to me, show me. Where do I have discouragement? Where do I have disbelief? Where do I need you to come and give me courage again? And then it's waking up tomorrow and saying, come Holy Spirit, I'm opening my Bible. I'm inviting your presence into my day, into this space. I'm repenting. I'm inviting you here because I want to see your kingdom come.

Jesus, we are living set apart and fully devoted to you as our king, as our cornerstone. I want to invite you to stand today as we close in a time of worship and prayer. I just invite you to close your eyes and if you're comfortable, just stretch your arms out in front of you as a posture to receive.

In the same way that we see God gave Peter and John courage, he gave them words to speak. I just want to invite you that as we enter into this time of prayer and worship, that you would invite God to come and fill you with what it is that you need. If it's healing, if it's forgiveness, would you just invite the Holy Spirit to come?

God, we just pray today that where things feel heavy, you would give strength. God, where there's anxiety, you would give peace. Where there's questions, you would draw us close to you. Where there's discouragement, that your Holy Spirit would give us courage. God, would you fill us once again?

It can be so easy to say, yes, Jesus, we're centering our lives around you. You're our cornerstone. But the reality is that that can take some heavy lifting. At times it can feel hard. At times it can be discouraging. God, I just pray that as we move from this place, that your Holy Spirit would fill us and empower us and give us the strength so we wake up tomorrow, it's you at the center. When we go to sleep tonight, it's you at the center.

Lord, we want to see you lifted high. Your son Jesus' name lifted high above any others because we know that when Jesus is our cornerstone, when Jesus is at his rightful place at the center of our lives, the one that we see when we wake, the one that we see as we move and we live and we breathe, that is where we were created to be.

God, we thank you for the way that we can put our trust in you because you're faithful. That we can surrender all to you because you're good. That you have been and you always will be. We thank you for your word today that is a reminder of that. We just declare that you are our cornerstone. We love you, Jesus. We give you all the glory. In your name we pray, Amen.