Cornerstone Boulder Weekly Podcast

One of the biggest factors of Crazyland isn't anything new, but something that seems to be increasing more and more every day: selfishness. Selfishness lies at the root of so many of our problems and steals joy and peace from us all the time, but Gene shows that there is an antidote to all this selfishness. Taking a tour through scripture Gene shows us how we were made to "pre-serve" and the attitude that helps us return to this calling.

Craziness happens all around us and the church is not immune: many of us have wounds from bad church experiences. Brian acknowledges this, but also gives a different view of the church as a bride: a group of people who are deeply loved by God. While this means that many of the problems still happen, it also gives us a path to healing, a choice to make, and hope for our future together.

Continuing our series on "Surviving Crazyland", Brian digs into the reality that we all live by some kind of faith: something that gives us meaning and identity in life. Yet, we have to be careful what we choose to put that faith in. If we put it in something temporary it will let us down, but when we put our faith in something strong and unchanging, like Jesus, we have a faith that keeps us as we navigate Crazyland.

We're taking a lighthearted look at some really challenging realities facing us and we're calling the series "Surviving Crazyland". No matter where you look you're probably seeing it: things are going crazy. Yet, as Gene points out in this message, we don't have to be surprised or overwhelmed. We know that Jesus said things would keep getting crazy, but He also promised that there was a hope that would take us through the craziness. This hope centers around having the big-picture view – an eternal perspective – and as Gene shows us, it gives us the courage and perspective we need for surviving Crazyland.

Words have power. Whether this power gives us hope and empowers us or lingers in our mind wearing us down, words stick with us and shape our view of ourselves and our reality. In this message Brian acknowledges the damaging power of words but continues to share how words can also bring healing and about the incredible power of blessing.

Rabbi Gene jumps into the Legacy series with a message centering around the type of perspective necessary for us to live out a legacy of faith. Gene calls it the Longview and it's a perspective where we look at our lives in the recognition that we are participating in a marathon, not a sprint. Because of this, we remember our past and learn from success and failure. We live in the present and engage in life as it's happening. We evolve for the future, maintaining the attitude of a life-long learner, "not that I have attained it yet, but I press on towards the goal..."

Youth Sunday was a perfect time to kick off our new series, Legacy, with Gabe speaking about the importance of unity. Through stories, scripture and several living examples, Gabe illustrated the importance of making a commitment to one another. At the very core of it, Legacy involves this commitment to stay united as we go through life and remain together through challenge and celebration.

Brian continues the message on real masculinity during a special Men's Breakfast at Cornerstone. During this message, Brian takes time to dive a little deeper into how we encourage and develop authentic masculinity in our community and explains how a man engages his field, finds his brothers, learns from his fathers, and leaves a legacy.

After spending several weeks celebrating the women of our community, we spent a Sunday looking at the masculine side of things. Unfortunately, there is a crisis in our culture right now; a lack of real masculinity. Many men are trapped in addictions, passive in their relationships, and complacent in their culture. Yet, as Brian shows through his message, there is still plenty of hope. Though masculinity is confused in our culture, we see a very clear picture in scripture of what it means to be authentically masculine. Brian encourages all of us to be a part of restoring this view of real masculinity, inviting men to resist passivity, to face their shadow, and to be men who remember what is true, who move towards health, and who impact their arenas of influence for good.

In this sermon, Brian continues the Beautiful Strength series with a look at Mary of Bethany. Jesus said that wherever the gospel is preached, her story would be told. As Brian looks at her extravagant love towards Jesus, we see that Mary is an incredible example of someone who took everything she had and literally laid it at the feet of Jesus. Though some looking on called it a waste, Jesus makes it clear that her extravagant love is an example to us all. After all, as Brian shares, the message of Jesus is much like Mary of Bethany; He is the savior who gives everything He is out of the love He has for us.