Why Church? God's Purpose — Francis Chan

I'm excited. We got it. We got a great morning today. There's just some great news. First thing I want to do is bring up my cook and and he's got some friends with him and He will introduce them as they're coming up.

Another announcement real quick is if you haven't signed up yet. We have our golf tournament For eternity Bible College for our students. It's kind of a fundraiser. We do every year for the college. So I invite you to do that and so on.

Cinco de Mayo, which fits. Because we have our friends from Mexico and I. Good transition, okay.

My name is Mike. This is a pastor Guillermo his wife Alma and his son Hector and they have a daughter of Vanessa who I just stayed back. She had to do some schooling on Friday, but they came up to visit.

We've been going down there since I think October of last year pretty much every month. Sometimes a couple of times twice a month to visit them. Just to do what we can. Sometimes we go down there and just hang out stay with them.

Christian Community in Everyday Life

Sometimes we do some work. My wife and I my wife Misty and all of our kids. We go down there and just do what we can. But what I wanted to talk about was we've been talking about Community and Their church lives community every day.

I mean people are constantly they their house is adjacent to the church. They're constantly coming in coming by grabbing a warm meal a conversation. I just it's the the young men of the church are teaching the youth of the church music every every once a week there.

There's Young women in there they're going to school Psychology school to come back to be able to help the children that are there that are damaged by you know All of the social issues down there. So they're living Community.

It's so neat to see it down there. So and he has a few things he wants to share with you guys just the stuff that we've been doing down there for them.

Okay, I'm gonna have Ed stand back here. Just in case I don't know what he's saying.

There is a big a mouse Hermanos. God bless you brothers and sisters. It's not been this young. It's not in Cornerstone. It's a blessing to be here at Cornerstone.

Carlos and to know you.

Saber que es una iglesia con mucho amor.

You guys have a we know you as a church that has a lot of love.

El tiempo que tenido de conocer la iglesia algunos como Miguel a como es pastor Steve Jose Luis algunos creo que conocer aquí. Este ha sido de de grande bendición.

Si no in the in the time that he's gotten to know us in time. He's got to know my pastor Steve Doucette. Then what? Jose Luis. Yeah, that one translates easy. It's it's been a it's been a real blessing to get to know all these guys.

He could have said a superstar is a grand nombre and I'm the greatest. De veras. Mi corazón rebosa de alegría de gozo en el señor. My heart is full of joy it rejoices. Dios nos ha permitido estar en Loma Linda en Ensenada.

He he lives in a city called Loma Linda an area Loma Linda Ensenada.

Donde tenemos un ministerio que Dios nos ha ayudado a salir adelante. Where there's a ministry.

Where God has helped us move forward.

Donde estamos apoyando a niños de la calle and they're helping the the kids that live on the streets. Donde damos alimento a esos niños que a veces no tienen que comer There are people who have nothing to eat. Yeah, the children especially.

A pesar que nuestra iglesia es una iglesia. Cien miembros posible It's only a hundred member church. Dios nos ayuda a salir adelante. Oh, yeah. Okay. God's helped them move forward and grow. Like listen cornerstone and our church cornerstone a CEO Una polio para nosotros has done a great work for them.

Sus horas. Sion is your prayers. Unos meses atrás A few months ago. Creo que algunos supieron que mi esposa estuvo muy enferma. His wife got very sick si y se que la iglesia in cornerstone estuvo orando por ella and.

It was cool to know that you guys were praying for her.

Si y hoy. Gloria Dios por que esos tumores que me esposa tenía.

Yeah, those tumors that she had he gives glory to God. De la sanada because God has healed her. Si gracias a Dios.

Solamente les pedo sus horas. Sion is.

All because of the of your prayers. Oh I'm gonna ask for your prayers right now.

Para seguir adelante con este ministerio. So I can move forward. The ministry say you're a you don't know. It's a genius cannot DNA.

Continue to help the kids that that are in need and don't have anything.

It gives you pancita say you know, I don't say I necessary.

The building. Oh. Their belly. Okay, the children just just hoping that that their bellies get bigger or full. Yeah. We're the opposite.

Se que Dios a sido la bendición que la iglesia. In cornerstone. No, si esta visita.

Okay, it's it's been a blessing that our church gets to continue. We'll just give you a microphone that service. That continues to to bless them.

Muchos gracias. Amados hermanos. Thank you very much. My brothers and sisters. Hey, I you don't know sorara. Help us to pray poor. Oh, thank you. Vamos a Mandara, Oaxaca for our youth who are.

The missionary youth that are going to Oaxaca. Okay, this this this one of their kids one of a couple of their kids are going to Oaxaca with no money. But they just believe that God has placed them on a mission there.

So they need our prayers.

El quiere ir de misionero a ese lugar. He wants to be a missionary in that place. No tenemos como ayudarle.

We don't they don't have money to help them. But he said, you know what I'm gonna go anyways. And he knows that God's gonna provide for him.

Ellos un joven como Deci nueve años. He's the nineteen-year-old kid. El quiere ir a servir ese lugar and he wants to go to this place. Y les pido su oración por el se llama Alfredo.

His name is Alfredo and if you guys would pray the Spirit of God would just fall on him and he would do a great.

Work there. Dios. Dios provea para que el tenga todas Las necesidades que el tenga and that God would would give him everything that he needs to have. Y Dios nos ha estado Poniendo una carga muy fuerte por las misiones.

Oh, God's been challenging their church to do more missions. Vez en lo teníamos los fondos pero se que Dios es grande a.

Lot of times they don't have the funds or the money para llevar adelante el evangelio.

But oh.

They don't have the funds to move the gospel forward.

Y yo se que cornerstone. But I know that cornerstone. Tiene un corazón misionero has a heart for missions as well. Y tiene un pastor que les invita a trabajar and That yeah that has a pastor that encourages you to work a salida las naciones.

To go do a mission. Yo les invito a amados hermanos. I'm sorry. I invite you brothers and sister. Poder seguir con ese deseo de su corazón to move forward that desire in your heart. Gracias. Dios les bendiga.

Thank you and may God bless.

Gracias, well, I'd like us to just pray for for pastor and his wife. Why don't you pray in Spanish so he knows what we're praying. Yeah, no, I won't translate. He knows what we're saying. God knows he knows.

And these guys don't matter, okay.

Don't say let's get. Mucha gracias por teneros aquí todos juntos, señor en esta iglesia, señor. Gracias que Quitas todas las barreras para urinos. No importa que de que país somos o de donde somos en your todos somos una iglesia, señor.

Te damos gracias, señor por Oaxaca, señor, donde hay cincuenta y dos cincuenta y ocho dialectos indígenas, señor donde mucha gente no conoce al señor. Oramos mucho por el hermano y Alfredo que va a ir a Oaxaca ahorita, señor.

Deseamos, señor con todo tu corazón y con el nombre de tu hijo Jesús que nos ayude, señor. En tu nombre, Jesús. Amén.

Partnerships as the Body of Christ

You know what's cool is we're bringing up one of these partnerships but you know like Mike and Misty in there in their little community in their neighborhood a few families go down and help that church.

And what's cool is this is one of several churches that different communities like different neighborhoods have kind of adopted. And it's just kind of cool that there are all these different little partnerships going on and we want to give you one example of that but we know many of you guys go down regularly to Mexico with some of your friends and bring supplies to some of our churches.

Over there and and it's cool because it's just something we do together. It's not one individual doing all of this. It's just like this neighborhood from Simi Valley is going to this neighborhood in Ensenada and then another neighborhoods going to this neighborhood here in Tijuana and this one's over in Ducati and and and really.

No one gets the glory for this except for the body of Christ. And all they know is there's some body of Christ that you guys will never meet them. They'll never meet you, you know these people but they just know you know what God is providing for us and We are gonna support them.

They got missions going on there. They're a very missions minded church and and and sometimes we we want to be tempted to just say, you know what? I'm gonna go up to him individually and give him a check and there's nothing wrong with that.

But there's something cool about the anonymity to you know, like last service people just saying I'm just put a little extra in the offering. Can you guys give them more? And so it's just kind of body of Christ is Blessing them rather than me as an individual you as an individual and and that's kind of what we've been doing this year.

Children's Hunger Fund and Mercy Networks

I had some good news Children's Hunger Fund if you remember about nine months ago as we changed our whole philosophy on giving and money and we said we're gonna give away half of everything that comes in and let's give an extra million Dollars to Children's Hunger Fund over this year and nine months ago.

We made a commitment to give Children's Hunger Fund a million dollars over the next year and now it's nine months later. And we just wrote the last check and a quarter million dollars. So it's a million dollars that we gave them.

It's just good to stop and not say, okay, what are we doing next week, but just go you know what Lord? Thank you. We were able to give a million dollars in nine months, you know. And I'm gonna tell you some of the things that we were able to do with that money with that million dollars that we gave the Children's Hunger Fund.

But I had to tell you some other good news about this because it's been crazy I don't know if you remember the journey on this. But every time we had to write a check for a quarter million dollars, it was amazing how God provided, you know first time.

You know, we had the funds there and we gave it a second time. We were really low on money. No one knew but Coincidentally, you know the offering that Sunday before we were gonna write our check was $251 ,000, you know on that one Sunday and none of you knew about it.

It just happened to be like the craziest You know week ever, you know. And then our next check was due around December and we think on with the recession and everything in Christmas. But that became our biggest month of giving in the history of cornerstone and you guys gave a million dollars that month again.

Not knowing it's like what in the world. So this week we write our last check, right? We write our last check and go we did it we were able to do the whole million dollars in nine months and I sat down with the The Finance Committee and I and I wanted to give you a report of where we were in our debt.

Because for like the last ten years we've been trying to pay off this debt last ten years. We've had about a million dollars that we've owed. You know up and down and every year. It's like, okay, we're gonna pay it off.

We're gonna pay it off we're gonna pay it off and I want to tell you guys where we were because we got to do the building thing in a couple months and So we added up the the total debt was 1 .4 six million dollars that we owed and After writing the check to children's hunger fund.

I said, okay. So what do we have in the bank right now? 1 .48 million dollars. Is that crazy? You guys that is so insane. Every year we're thinking we're gonna pay him. We're gonna pay that over and pay the debt.

I'm like man, why is this thing still lingering? Then the one year where we don't think about the one year where we go Let's just go nuts and let's just give away as much as we can. Let's give away at least half of everything that comes in.

Let's just give a million dollars at children's hunger fund that year when we don't think about it and we have 1 .46 million dollars of debt that on the week that we make our last check. It just it just randomly happens to be 1 .48 left in the bank and when they when we added up those numbers in that room I just started crying.

I literally I just couldn't you know, I don't like crying in front of you. Well, but I just started bawling because I go god that is that's insane. That is just that is just so far beyond what we would have thought.

I mean that doesn't make any sense. How can a healthy church have this debt for ten years and try to pay it off and not be able to pull it off? And the one year we're not even thinking about it. We're just giving like crazy that we happen to have that exact amount, you know.

Plus another 20 grand left over once we pay off our debt. That's that's only God and if you can sit here and listen to this story of How God's blessed this church over the year through the giving and you can listen to that and go.

I think it's coincidence I just have to look at you and say shut up, you know, there is no way, you know, there's just no way man. It has been such a great year and and I you know, a lot of us have experienced that personally, right?

You know those years when you just say, you know, I'm just gonna give to this I'm gonna give this and then at the end of the year you go. This doesn't make sense. How did everything work out? How was I able to pay for everything?

But there's nothing like Collectively now with these huge numbers saying we all got to experience this together and with Children's Hunger Fund. Let me just give you a snapshot of what we're able to do and understand one of the one of the things that Children's Hunger Fund does and what I love about it is they've set up these mercy networks and How this happens is we here in America, you know, we as Cornerstone Church, we pack up boxes, you know.

Sometimes we say hey fill these boxes with supplies for people. And so that we could send them over to the churches over there and go. Hey supplies, you know, here's a here's a stupid okay, and Here's here's a bunch of boxes and then the churches they said this is called a mercy network where they get the churches in Cambodia or Peru in Africa.

They receive these boxes and then they go to the poorest of the poor and hand deliver these boxes and let them know this is coming from the body of Christ in America and they begin relationships with them and and and and I love that because Overseas they never hear the name of Cornerstone.

They don't hear any of your names. All they hear is the body of Christ over there in America. And so who do they have to thank? They just thank God they don't have it in of it. They don't write your you know letters to Cornerstone.

They don't ever hear of us and there's something so cool about that anonymity anyways is so they set up these networks and They they were able to expand even in America understand. This isn't just about overseas and caring about the poor.

Jones hunger fund does a huge work here in America right now. They're based in Pacoima and that's their headquarters and we're hoping to move that on to our new property. So they can expand but they also started another distribution center in Chicago.

Because the money that we've been given now they can help the states in that area in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio. And this year just in the US programs more than four hundred thousand children have been fed and served through these ministries.

Cornerstone funds were used to purchase a hundred and sixty thousand pounds of food 160 thousand pounds of food that's a lot of food and. And then then turn those into food packs and they deliver it to the poor and through that just in America.

There were eight thousand people who gave their lives to the Lord through their these relationships. Because they're not just sharing the food. They're sharing them hope of a new life a better life through Jesus Christ and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Then overseas the international programs and again I am just giving you little highlights because we would be here all day if we just named every little thing. So I'm breezing through this in Peru. They have this again a mercy network and we're able to to feed thousands of families, but just in Peru there were 1500 decisions for Christ and 300 home Bible studies started because of this food pack program and these mercy networks.

We help supply 17 million dollars of antibiotics and medicine that'll go to these Christian medical clinics out there because a lot of a lot of the pharmaceutical companies here have left over here in America in the year and what we do is.

We put them in in these containers and we're able to ship it over with the money that you guys gave. And so it really expands to where these 17 million dollars of antibiotics and everything else are Distributed amongst these clinics and you can understand this medicine saves lives.

It's not here where it helps you get your cold over, you know a little quicker. I don't have to be down with the flu, you know as long I mean people die from preventable diseases. That's that's that's the crazy thing in these other places be so easy.

It's a pill it's a shot, but they don't have access to it and and we send these meals over CHF these this container has 240 ,000 individual meals and there are these little rice packets that they they boil with water and we we put Vitamins inside of this rice meal that they eat so that it's not just rice.

But it's actual nutrients and in Guatemala Costa Rica El Salvador Ghana, West Africa Uganda Rwanda we We also are sending over not sending over but we we use the money. They said they've been able to purchase oxen agricultural tools and seeds.

So that they're actually planting themselves and they've got these oxen now that are actually helping plow the fields for them. In Sudan, we sent two containers of that rice meal. So 480 ,000 meals were distributed in Sudan in conjunction with a Jesus film project in Cambodia.

We supply like 5 ,000 orphan children with these supplemental food shipments and Recently another container of 240 ,000 meals over there to Cambodia with the current food crisis that's going on over there.

But again, all of these things I love it because there's anonymity. It's just we it's just these people over there going I don't know who gave it to us. They they just say the body of Christ over there in America and and let's face it there's something selfishly fun.

To do it yourself. Okay. I mean it's kind of fun to just say wow, I Built an orphanage over there and they named it after me or even even I mean wouldn't it be cool if you knew like in Uganda there was this family and you bought an ox for them and You and they said wow, we're so grateful that you bought us this ox that we we named it after you.

So I got this ox named Morgan, you know, and you're thinking wow, that's pretty cool. Like I'm I got this ox named after me because I paid for it. I bought it. You know, it's my ox and you know, they have a picture of me in their house, you know.

He bought ox, you know, and and and and there is something selfish to go man. It'd be cool if I had my own, you know high school I can go there. No, I did it and or a city and I'd be cool your own city.

I'm gonna go visit Francis. You know, it's it's a that's a town because I gave so much, you know and and that's so American of us, you know to want the glory and want it to be about me and yet it's so Biblical for us to go.

Giving Glory to God Rather Than Ourselves

You know what? I'm just gonna write a check. No one knew I wrote a check. It's just going in this big pot. And so when they're getting ready to thank someone they don't thank me. They thank God and say God you richly blessed a group of people in America and then they blessed us.

So, thank you God and he gets the glory that people would see our good works and glorify our father in heaven. Rather than glorifying us. That's just something we're so focused on is this whole idea of we we did something together we did something because.

The Church as a People for God's Glory

This whole month as we're talking about community and I just need to personally confess and it's it's a little bit embarrassing almost that. The last few months I've really been convicted and embarrassed that I've missed out on such a big theme in Scripture.

You see the Bible is all about God. Creating this people group this group of people that will bring glory to him. But America is all about individuals Isolated bringing glory to themselves. I'm gonna take care of my family.

I'm gonna take my stuff. It's about me. And so when we marry the two together and we marry, you know The Bible and America then it's then it's I come to church. I come to Christ for me. You know, and what did the church do for me?

Did I like the service today? I don't know if they took care of me well enough and it's not this mentality of us and yet. And I gotta confess that I have taken certain passages, you know, obviously not purposefully.

But I've taken certain passages and made them about individuals individual passages like to say that you you as an Individual you are a light unto the world. You as a you you you Jason you be a light unto the world.

Well, that's not what the passage says that the pastor didn't say hi to you be a light unto the world. It says you plural y 'all. You know what y 'all didn't where I was. I was in Atlanta yesterday, Georgia.

And I was in Texas last week y 'all doesn't work because y 'all is they say that if it's just you y 'all fixing to eat, you know, it's like it's just one of me, you know, but it it but it's the idea of a Like all y 'all okay that works because then it's a so so those verses the verses don't say Bob be a light unto the world it says all of y 'all all of you together form one light that that the world would see your collective good deeds plural and glorify your father who's in heaven.

The Church as the Temple of the Holy Spirit

The passage in 1st Corinthians 3 says that not not just that you as an Individual are the temple of God, but he says you. You all all of you all you plurally make one temple together. You make one Temple of the Holy Spirit and God resides in you as a group.

That God dwells in this temple and you think about it you think about last week. Remember the passage. We read about how no one has seen God. No one has seen God, but if we love one another. Okay, if we collectively we as the church get together and we actually love each other collectively that somehow there's a physical manifestation of God on our earth.

I mean think about this is so. So in line with in the Old Testament in the if you lived in Old Testament times and let's say you wanted to actually physically see God. Okay, Old Testament times you wanted to see God some sort of physical manifestation of God Almighty on the earth.

Where would you go? You can say it out loud. The temple good the temple you would go to the temple, right? Cuz in that Holy of Holies remember the Ark of the Covenant and everything else. But that that's a one place you could go to see God was the temple.

Well, what does the Bible teach you in the New Testament you collectively are the temple of the Holy Spirit and if you Collective we loved one another no one's ever seen God. People out there can't see God.

But if we actually love one another then we actually will become like the temple of God. And if people want to see God they ought to be able to walk into a church and see the way we interact and love One another and there'll be some sort of physical manifestation of God on the earth.

But it's about we. And I don't know if you've ever thought about this because honestly until this week I have never thanked God. And that's embarrassing. I've never thanked God. That I was a part of a larger body and a larger temple.

That's been called To declare his praises and his excellencies. I've thanked God for my individual salvation. I've thanked him God. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for forgiving me for this this this and all these things.

I've messed up. Thanks for using me as an individual but have I ever really just said God. Thank you that I get I get to be part of this group that you've called out. See and I was studying 1st Peter 2 this week and in 1st Peter 2 I want you to look at this verse.

I'm gonna put it on the screen. It says but you again plural all of y 'all all of you have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. You plurally are a chosen race a royal priesthood a holy nation a people group.

For his own possession that you Collectively may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. See I never you know until I was reading this because God God says this is a privilege.

And that next verse he talks about it's not up there. But in the next verse he says, you know, you once weren't a people. But now you're the people of God. So you were on your own you were just you as an individual wandering off by yourself.

But now you get to be a part of something. This is God saying this as this Incredible privilege that now he looks that chosen. We are a chosen. It's it's it's that's literally what it says. He chose he picked you and said I want you to be a part of this thing that I'm doing.

I want you to be a part of this people group that I am Creating on the planet you get to be a part of this group and you guys together are a royal Priesthood you're like a bunch of priests coming together to form one priesthood.

You're that conduit between me God Almighty and the earth those who don't know me. You are the ones I'm gonna use you collectively as this priesthood. You are a holy nation. We're like our own nation when God looks down on the earth and he sees his believers together.

We're like forming one spiritual nation a holy nation a nation that's different we we've been sanctified by Jesus Christ. We've been purified by him and we live by different standards. We're a holy nation.

See this is plural stuff. No one walks around goes look. I'm a nation. No, it doesn't work that way. You can't take some of these passages. They don't work Individually, they don't work in isolation like we want them to here where it's all about me.

God does not about you. Singular he goes. I want a people group. I want a nation. I want a priesthood. I want a people for my own possession. So when it says all done I'm gathering this group this nation this people group this priesthood and I'm bringing them up to me this family.

They're gonna be my family be my nation and they're gonna worship me forever and ever and ever. God's involved in something so much bigger than you as an individual. It's about us and I've been thanking God this week going wow God I'm a part of something.

So much bigger. I.

Teach a class over at our Bible College. I teach a preaching class where these 20 year old kids get up. I mean, I call them kids, but that's young adults. Every year like you can call older people kids, right?

You know some of you guys think I'm a kid and you should just be happy to be breathing but um, it's it's I Get called a kid. I'm like, wow, I'm a kid. Wow. What does that make you Bob? It's just this whole idea of but but I got these 20 year old kids young adults and they get up and they preach in Class, you know, and I've been teaching this class for a few years and it's great because some of them are so Gifted, you know, they preach and then I kind of critique and say this didn't make any sense.

Wow, that was ridiculous, you know, we go on and on. I'm like Simon Cowell of preaching class, you know, and and we do this and. But one of the one of the students was preaching this week about this very issue.

And I was so blown away by his message and he had so much to say in fact I didn't even understand all of it because some of it was over my head and I said hey. Can you come in my office and tutor me for an hour?

And he did, you know came in my class and explained well teacher here's what I meant, you know, and. But he was talking about this idea the same thing. We've been preaching about about being isolated.

And he used a couple of illustrations that I'm gonna steal because he says, you know so often in America we teach you can be saved from your sin and Absolutely, you can be forgiven you as an individual can go to heaven.

Absolutely, but he's explained the Bible is so much bigger than that. It's not about an individual. It's not about one person drawing attention to himself or herself. It's about we as a body. Working together collectively for something he gave this illustration first.

Salvation as Belonging to a Team

He said it's it's almost like in the church. It's almost like when we're playing blackjack and I know none of you have ever played blackjack. But um, if you see it in the movies what happens is you're at a table, right?

But you really don't care about anyone else at the table. It's just between you and the dealer. Right, you got your own game going. It doesn't matter that she got blackjack. Oh, I'm so happy for you. You know, it's just I gotta beat this guy and he was saying how that's so much like us in our relationships with God.

It's like we're not really focused on the other people at the table. It's just okay with I'm dealing with the dealer. It's he and I we got our own game going on. You got your own game going on. So you ask him Hey, how's your relationship with the dealer?

How's your relationship with the dealer? How's your relate and it's all about this and that's not the way it is and then he goes further and he goes he goes it's like if I gave you a present I come over one day and I Go look here.

Here's a present for you and you open it up and you go No way ice skates and you get so excited. You got these ice skates. Someone just gave you ice skates. And so you go, you know to ice skating rink or you know.

You're frozen pond or whatever and you're flying around on these skates go. Whoo, Sao Cao, you know, and I Don't know what that looks like, but it's out cow, you know, and you're doing this and then you know sometimes you'll even go to Friday night all skate, you know.

And it's like you're skating with a bunch of people and you're twirling in the middle going man. These skates are great. What a great gift and then suddenly I come back to you and go Oh, you know what?

Actually, I didn't give you those skates just to go skate around. I'm starting a hockey team and I wanted you on my team and We're actually gonna join the NHL and we go up against the Kings against those mighty Ducks and we're gonna we're gonna kill them.

You know, we're gonna beat them. We're gonna we're gonna dominate and suddenly go. Oh, I Didn't know that. I thought you just gave me this so that I could skate around by myself. He says so often in church, that's the way we view it.

It's like oh, I thought I could just enjoy forgiveness so I could spend eternity in heaven with God. I thought it was just for me and now suddenly you're telling me that I'm a part of a team. That we work together as a body and together that we are a team.

We are a royal priesthood. We're a holy nation and there's purpose to why I have this and it's not just for me, but collectively we declare The the praises of him who pulled us out of darkness and brought us into his marvelous light that together as a people group.

See the thing is when it says that we declare We put on display our job as priests is to show God to the world and God says the way you do that is together. You can't show me By yourself, you can't display God by yourself because all you can do is talk about God on your own.