Healing

Have you ever asked for one thing and been given something even better? That's what happened in our text for Sunday. A man in need of healing asked instead for money. We don't know if he had lost faith in God's ability to heal or if he was hopeless that healing would ever come to him. We just know that he could be found outside the Temple begging for money daily.

And then along come Peter and John. They saw beyond his immediate need for money and offered him healing so he would have to beg no more. No matter what you think you need today, God knows what you really need most, and God longs to meet your need.

The first century church was a healing church and Cornerstone MCC is too. Sometimes healing occurs while sitting in the pew, sometimes at Communion, and other times when you go to a Prayer Partner for prayer. Sometimes it's happens instantaneously, sometimes it is a process, and often healing comes through medicine and doctors. And then sometimes it seems to never come. There’s one thing I know for sure, it happens in God's way and time.

Do you need healing in your body, mind, and/or spirit? I invite you to come to church Sunday open to receive God's best for you, whatever that may be. Invite someone to join you as we celebrate our healing God.

Rev Sandy, Interim Pastoral Leader

Acting Out

When I hear someone reference "acting out" it usually has a negative connotation relative to unacceptable behavior. While I would like to say it's something that only children do, we all know adults that do it too. When we don't get our way, we act out.  When our feelings are hurt, we act out. When someone does something we don't like, we act out.

Now let's shift gears and think of acting out as a positive behavior. As a people of faith, we are called to act out that which we believe. That's what we'll be focusing on during the weeks of Pentecost. By our actions, we show our faith for all to see. We give witness or testimony to the Christ within us.

How exciting that on Sunday, as we begin this series we will have a baptismal service and new members joining the church! How exciting that the training for our new small group ministry, Circles of Life, has begun! How exciting that attendance and giving continue to increase! How exciting to be the church of Jesus Christ at such a time as this!

Please join us as we look at the early church and learn how we can become the church God desires us to be. Be sure to invite someone to church this week...that is part of acting out your faith.

From Jesus Calling, June 19th, "I am the firm foundation on which you can dance, and sing, and celebrate My Presence. This is my high and holy calling for you; receive it as a precious gift. Glorifying and enjoying Me is a higher priority than maintaining a tidy, structured life. Give up your striving to keep everything under control--an impossible task and a waste of precious energy."

Rev Sandy, Interim Pastoral Leader
 

Big Birthday Party

Cornerstone MCC, be glad I'm still new here. I was remembering Pentecost last year. I asked someone to make a big sheet cake and we cut it into bite-sized pieces and served it for communion. Of course we had traditional communion available too, but most partook of cake as we celebrated the birthday of the church. 

    

Worry not, I will not be doing that Sunday, but we will be celebrating Pentecost, the Holy Spirit and the birthday of the Christian church. If possible, wear red, yellow or orange to symbolize the fire of the Spirit. But before we get to Sunday, let me invite you to a time of preparation.

Before Jesus ascended, he gave the disciples some final instructions. He told them to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. They did just that. But they weren't idle as they waited. The scripture says they prayed and acknowledged God's praiseworthy acts. It also says they were of one mind and accord. Those things preceded Pentecost.

What would happen if we spent time in prayer this week, acknowledging God's praiseworthy acts? Perhaps it would bring us to a place of one mind and accord, and usher in a new moving of the Holy Spirit among us. I invite you to join me in doing just that. Let us prepare for Pentecost and then join together Sunday morning and see what the Holy Spirit will do.

We will also celebrate Father's Day so invite your dad, and dads invite your children to come to church with you this week. They just might do it.

Rev Sandy, Interim Pastoral Leader

Crossing the Finish Line

This week we finish our 50 Days of Love series and what an incredible journey it has been. The focus Sunday will be Love Speaks the Truth. Many of us have spent years hiding who we are and have become very good at speaking anything but the truth. We know how to divert a conversation to another direction, talk in generalities about the people we love, and in the name of politeness, avoid telling people things they need to know for fear of offending them.

Of course not all follow that path. Some of us are brutally honest. We speak before we think and we tell it like it is. Much like the skunk we talked about a few weeks ago, we spray people verbally as we let it rip. We may feel better but we stink to those who hear us and wound people in that process.

As followers of Jesus, we are called to speak the truth....in love. That requires us to move from either extreme to a place more in the middle. Like the other subjects we have examined during this series, speaking the truth in love is something we decide to do. And then we practice doing it until it becomes second nature to us.

Join us Sunday for some specific steps you can take to make this change in your life. I promise to have a short sermon so we can enjoy the music of our special guest, Shawn Thomas. Invite someone to join you, and offer to stop by and pick them up or meet them somewhere before church. I know God has incredible blessings prepared for us and I hope you come and get your blessing!

Rev Sandy, Interim Pastoral Leader