A Note from Chris- November 9, 2023

saiah was a prophet of God in Judah who delivered a hard message to God’s people: Turn from your ways, or else. God’s blessings in your life are many, and his umbrella of grace is powerful. But if you continually choose to step out from under it, the consequences will be severe. But Isaiah’s message was also filled with hope. He knew God’s faithfulness was real, and he foresaw a day where God redeemed the remnant of Israel to bless the world once again through them. In a moment of foreshadowing what one day could once again be Judah on path to honoring God and living the life he prepared for them, Isaiah said:
 
Isaiah 26:3 You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
 
Notice the connection to the perfect peace that God will bring in Judah and the thought processes of the people. They go together! We are of course always moving in the direction of our most powerful thoughts. We are not the nation of Judah, but we are the people of God. And the warning for God’s people then is a warning for God’s people today: Mind your mind! What you think is who you become. Don’t let rogue thoughts live rent free in your heads. Capture them and make them subject to Jesus (2 Corinthians 10).
 
This weekend, we wrap up our series, “Winning the War In Your Mind”. But the battle will not be over when the series is complete. It’s only the beginning, really. My hope and prayer is that we take some of the tools and lessons learned to continue to take captive our thoughts and truly win the war in our minds. Take a moment and read Philippians 4:4-7 in prep for our time together Sunday. There are hardly more relevant, practical, and meaningful words than these for the world we live in today. I hope you’ll plan to join me for worship and invite a One with you!
 
Also Sunday, we have a team of 6 leaving town for an overseas trip to Sri Lanka. This is the first time we’ve been back to Sri Lanka since COVID and some bombings at multiple churches on Easter a few years ago. Our team will partner with Josh Howard and Ignite to do some evangelism training for local leaders and run an evangelistic Good News outreach event to several thousand people in northern Sri Lanka. Please be praying for them.
 
Next weekend, we’ve set aside an entire Sunday to focus on, talk about, and pray for our Global Missions Partners. There is so much Cornerstone is part of overseas, and I can’t wait to share together on November 19th. We will also talk about the upcoming future trips, each of which are going to be a fantastic opportunity to grow in faith. I hope you’ll be prayerful about possibly attending one of those trips.
 
See you Sunday!