Bernie Michaud preached this sermon on who Satan is and what he does. You can listen to this sermon on audio, watch it on video, or download and read his sermon notes and slides below.

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Next week I’m going to our denomination’s (4Cs) annual conference in Pittsburgh, so I asked Bernie to preach. I gave him two options. Option A. The Holy Spirit. Option B. Satan. Bernie chose Satan. I was hoping he would choose the Holy Spirit because I’m more afraid to preach on the Spirit than on Satan.

Because of this I’ve done more reading than I usually do. I read a whole book, Forgotten God by Francis Chan, I read a chapter of Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves, I read several articles from Preaching Today about preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit, and I listened to a chapter on the Holy Spirit in Know What You Believe by Paul Little, not once, but twice. I studied all these resources because I wanted to sit at the feet of others who seem to understand the Holy Spirit better than me. So I’ll be drawing on them as I preach, and I encourage you to check them out if you’re a little afraid of the Spirit too.

Francis Chan’s second chapter in Forgotten God is, “What are you afraid of?” As I thought about that, I realized I’m afraid to get the Holy Spirit wrong. I want to know the Holy Spirit, but I don’t want to make up what he’s telling me to do. I didn’t grow up in a church that emphasized the role of the Holy Spirit. We talked a lot about Jesus and the Bible, and the Holy Spirit was important, but we seemed wary of the gifts of the Spirit, the charismatic movement, speaking in tongues, miracles, etc. That’s a different church. Who are we going to be? Are we going to be a place that is wary of the Holy Spirit, or will we embrace him?

We don’t want to get the Holy Spirit wrong, but we also desperately need him. Without him, we won’t succeed as a new church or as Christians. Because the Holy Spirit can be difficult, I want to make it real simple. Let’s talk about his person (who he is), his work (what he does), and our response (what we do).

Person: Who is the Holy Spirit?

According to Paul Little, “Both the Hebrew and Greek words translated ‘spirit’ mean basically ‘breath’ or wind’…”, which signifies his life-giving power to all living creatures. Elsewhere he’s compared to “oil, fire and water” and in Genesis 1:2 and Matthew 3:16 he’s likened to a bird. So what is the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is God.

Our Article of Faith on the Holy Spirit begins, “We believe in the Holy Spirit who comes forth from the Father and the Son…” The Holy Spirit is just as much God as the Father and the Son. The clearest example we see of this teaching appears in the story of Ananias and Sapphira at the beginning of the New Testament church. Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of land, kept some of the money, and gave the rest to the early church, but lied that it was all of the money. Notice two parallel sentences where they are accused of lying to the Holy Spirit, who is then called God.

Acts 5:3-4 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” (NIV®)

When Ananias and Sapphira sinned against the Holy Spirit, they sinned against God. The Holy Spirit is God. 

Just by being called “the Holy Spirit,” I think it’s easy to confuse who the Holy Spirit is.  LifeWay just published a recent survey that asked if the respondents agreed with this statement, “The Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being.” Let’s take a little survey. Let’s all close our eyes. If you think the Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being, raise your hand. Okay, if you think the Holy Spirit is a personal being, raise your hand. Great! Everyone but Bernie got the right answer. 51% of those that answered the study, said they thought the Holy Spirit is a force, not a personal being. 7% weren’t sure, maybe that’s you if you raised your ha

Paul Little, in Know What You Believe, starts his chapter on Jesus Christ by pointing out how important Christ is to Christianity. You can lose Buddha, and still have Buddhism. You can lose Muhammad and still have Islam. You can lose Confucius and still have Confucianism. You can lose millions of Hinduism’s 330 million gods, and still have Hinduism. But you can’t lose Christ, and still have Christianity. Jesus is:

the hero of the Bible’s story (John 3:16)

the founder of our faith and belief (Heb 12:2)

the bridegroom of the church (Rev 22:17)

the fulfillment of God the Father’s promises (2 Cor 1:20)

essential to who the Triune God is, one God in three persons (Matt 3:16-17)

So only those who believe in Christ can truly call themselves Christians. Just like Jesus is the central focus of the Bible, the thread that holds everything together, I was reminded this week that Jesus is the central focus of our Articles of Faith. Without him, everything falls apart. Without Jesus, we’re lost and confused.

But I want to take how important Jesus is one step further. Jesus isn’t just essential to the Bible or our religion, he is essential to you. Without Jesus, I believe that your life isn’t as it should be. Without Jesus, you’re lost and confused. Without Jesus, you aren’t who you were created to be.

Did you know that too little salt can kill you? Hyponatremia is a condition of low sodium in the blood, and it can lead to all sorts of problems, even death. The message we usually hear is “eat less salt” or “salt is bad for you,” but sometimes that’s not true. In seminary I lived with an elderly woman whose husband eventually died because one of his medicines stripped him of sodium. Our culture tells us Jesus is bad, to cut him from our diets, from our religion, from our life. But what if the very ingredient we need is him?

I believe you need to understand who Jesus is, and how to follow him, to flourish as God intends. We’re going to look at three aspects of who Jesus is. Jesus is God, Savior, and King. I want to give you my big idea upfront so you can follow along with me as we look at who Jesus is. My idea is… Jesus is God, Savior, King, so worship, trust, and obey him. I didn’t come up with the outline God, Savior, King. It comes to me from Dr. Charles Quarles, who was one of Terry’s NT Professors. He attributes it even further back to the early church.

Are any of you familiar with the fish symbol? We usually see it as a bumper sticker but it originated in the early years of the church after the New Testament. The Greek word for “fish” is “icthys.” The Icthys (ΙΧΘΥΣ) forms an acrostic, “Iesous Christos Theou Yios Soter, i.e. Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.” In other words Jesus is the Christ, which is the Messianic title for King, the Son of God, and the Savior. The early Church declared Jesus to be God, Savior, and King because this is what it meant to be a Christian.

Today, we’re going to trace this theme back even further to the Bible. Paul, an Apostle and author of much of the New Testament, writes a hymn in Philippians chapter two. It’s a song full of poetry. We don’t know if this hymn comes from Paul, or some other Christian tradition, but we do know he uses it to inspire the early believers to live lives of humility like Jesus. Today we’re actually not going to focus on Paul’s main point in the text, the call to humility, but the theology in the text—what it tells us about Jesus. First, it tells us…

Jesus is God

Before we look at our passage, I want to read our Article of Faith on Jesus because it reflects what we find in Scripture. It says, “We believe in Jesus Christ, the eternal and only Son of God…” At Cornerstone, we believe Jesus is divine, that he is God, not partly, or on some days, but all the way.

Jesus is fully God. (Phil 2:6, 11)

We find this same truth in Paul’s hymn. He writes in Philippians 2:6, Jesus “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;”. T

I lead a small group study this last winter called Life Explored. The second session opens with a quote by the pastor and author A. W. Tozer. He said, “What comes to mind when you think of God is the most important thing about you.” Barry Cooper, the teacher leading this session, says this:

What we think about God, positive or negative, determines if we want to know him. So when someone says, “I don’t believe in God” I say, “Which God don’t you believe in?” What if the God we don’t believe in or don’t trust isn’t actually the real God, the God of the Bible. And if you knew the real God could make you happier than anyone or anything else, wouldn’t you want to meet him?

When you think of God, who do you think of? Do you think of a wrinkly old man sitting on a throne with a big white beard and balding head? When you think of his eyes, are the angry eyes of a cantankerous old neighbor, or the eyes of a doting grandpa whose just here to please.

If you believe in Jesus, maybe when I say “God” you think of him. But what if I were to say, “God the Father.” Who would you think of then? Would your mind go back to the old man on the throne? Or maybe you think of an invisible spirit that no one can see and live.

As part of our What We Believe sermon series, I want to introduce you to God the Father. I believe that what comes to mind when you think of the Father, is one of the most important things about you. For me, the initial picture of God the Father I get in the Bible is a distant, far away God we can’t know very well.

God the Father is the distant God.

Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the Bible describes who God is. God the Father is a good place to begin when explaining God because what is true of the Father is also true of the Son and the Holy Spirit. So when I talk about the attributes of God the Father (an attribute is a characteristic or trait), these attributes also apply to the Son and Holy Spirit. Let me read the first half of Article #3, which lists these attributes.

The Father (3a): We believe in God the Father, almighty Creator of heaven and earth, eternal in His being, perfect in holiness, sovereign over all creation, all-knowing (omniscient), all-present (omnipresent), and all-powerful (omnipotent)…

Last week we learned there is one God (one finger), but three distinct persons (three fingers), who are each fully God. But just like members of a family are responsible for various tasks, dad mows the lawn, mom does the laundry, and kids vacuum, so when we think about creation, we think of the Father, and when we think of redemption, we think of Jesus, and of sanctification we think of the Holy Spirit.

When we think about God the Father this way, it pushes the Father back into the distant past. He becomes not like a father, or even a grandfather, but a great-great grandfather you’ve never met. He was here at creation, but now he’s gone. What really matters is Jesus and the Holy Spirit, because I think about Jesus and experience the Holy Spirit today, but not the Father. In reality, every person of the Trinity is active in each role, just like mom sometimes mows the lawn and kids sometime fold the laundry, maybe not very well, but they try. Dad of course does laundry and cleans the floor perfectly. If we look at the rest of the attributes in this article of faith, they can push the Father’s relate-ability further and further away. He is…

Eternal – We believe the Father is “eternal in his being.” Isaiah 40:28a says, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.” God has been here since before the beginning and will be here long after the end. I can hardly imagine tomorrow, how can I begin to fathom someone who has existed for longer than time itself?

Holy – We believe the Father is “perfect in holiness.” One of God’s character qualities is his absolute goodness and perfection. Leviticus 19:2b says, “Be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.” There’s no

May we strive to understand and experience the Triune God as a church.

Terry Iles wrote and preached this message for the people of Cornerstone Congregational Church. Click here to listen to more sermons or click here to read our story.

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Everyone has a view on Scripture. This sermon attempts to explain the view of Cornerstone Congregation Church as expressed in our Articles of Faith. In addition to explaining and encouraging a right view of Scripture, the sermon seeks to explain why Scripture is important and implore the listener to read, study, and memorize Scripture.

Andy Bradshaw wrote and preached this message for the people of Cornerstone Congregational Church. Click here to listen to more sermons or click here to read our story.

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“What matters is not what you believe, but that you believe. It’s great that you believe. We should all believe in something. Belief is what is really important.” Have you ever heard those words? I’ve had strangers and friends tell me words just like that several times. I’ve heard them when I’ve shared that I go to church or that I’m a pastor. And honestly, I struggle because I do not believe them.

Today we’re starting a new sermon series that will take us through the summer, entitled What We Believe. In this series there’s a starting presupposition that it’s not just that we believe that matters, but what we believe matters too. So if you’re someone who thinks what really matters is just belief, then I want to challenge you to lower your defenses, and for the duration of this sermon series, open yourself to the idea that what you believe might be just as important as belief itself.

Week by week we’re going to work through what we believe as a church. The beliefs we hold to are contained in our Articles of Faith (aka. Statement of Faith). Section by section it defines what we want every person in this church to believe. As we go through topics like God, the Bible, Sin, Salvation, and Mankind, I think you’ll find that these beliefs matter. What counts is not just that I have faith, but that I believe the faith.

What’s the difference between my faith and the faith? (Jude 3)

Jesus had several brothers, a man named James and a man named Judas, or Jude (Mark 6:3). Jude wrote one of the shortest books in the New Testament. It’s only 25 verses long, the book of Jude. In it he writes to a group of Christians, but not all is well. People have come into the church who want to tear them and their beliefs apart. So Jude writes them a letter instructing them to guard their beliefs, to keep the faith.

Jude 3  Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. (NIV®)

Do you notice what Jude says? He says content for “the faith.” The faith is different than “my faith.”

My Faith – Your act of belief.

We find a personal faith in Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—” (NIV®). The first type of faith is what you and I think of when we say, “Do you have faith?” Yes. I believe in Jesus, I trust him. I believe and trust the Bible too. This type of faith is good. God uses “our faith, my faith” in Jesus to save us. But this isn’t the type of faith Jude means.

The Faith – Our body of belief.

This is the system of beliefs (doctrine) we hold as Christians that Jesus entrusted to his disciples. The NIV Zondervan Study Bible defines “the faith” as “The content of Christian belief as handed down from Christ and his apostles.” Those things Jesus and the authors of the New Testament taught us. For example:

We believe the Bible is true and it’s God’s word.

We believe in one God eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinity.

We believe Jesus died for our sins but rose again in victory over sin and death. (1 Cor 15:3-8)

We believe in the Holy Spirit’s work in us to convict us of sin and comfort us.

We believe Satan is real, that sin is real, and that humans are in trouble because of it.

We believe salvation is available to any who repent and put their faith in Jesus Christ.

We believe Christians should gather together to worship and serve God as the church.

We believe there are certain things, like baptism and the Lord’s supper, that distinguish the church.

And we believe that one day Jesus will come again to vanquish sin and restore all of creation.

That’s nine statements, and I didn’t cover everything. Notice how these beliefs make Christianity what it is. If you take any of them away, Christianity starts to look like other faiths. If you lose Satan, then there’s no reason to turn to Jesus.

Last week we talked about “The Gift of God’s Presence.” I spoke on why God’s presence matters for our lives and church, and how we can have God’s presence because of Jesus and grace. This week we’re looking at “The Way of God’s Presence”—the way God’s presence has come from Old to New Testament to today, and the way we long to know God’s presence now. Looking at the story of God’s presence from Genesis to Revelation helps us realize how valuable God’s presence is, and why we long for him.

Have you ever been on a road trip? How does that compare to a business trip? On a road trip, you want to get to your destination, but you also want to enjoy the journey, the highway, its sights, foods, and sounds. On a business trip, it’s all about getting to your project, getting the job done, and going home. Today, I want us to take a road trip through the Bible to taste the sights, foods, and sounds of God’s presence with his people. We will get to the destination, but a little more slowly, and with a greater appreciation for it.

The story of God’s presence starts in Genesis. God creates a world where he lives with people. He speaks and walks with the first two people, Adam and Eve, in the Garden of Eden. But Adam and Eve choose to not trust God, and because of this, they and everyone after them are put out of God’s presence.

But just a few chapters later, God introduces us to his rescue plan through the family of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. God promises to bless Abraham and his descendants (Gen 12:2-3). Through them he is going to bring a rescuer who will make it possible for God to dwell with people once more. In the second book of the Bible, Exodus, something really special happens. God begins to dwell with his people once more.

The presence of God comes.

God introduces himself to the descendants of Jacob, the Israelites, by delivering them from captivity in Egypt. When he leads them out of the land towards the Red Sea,  he guides them as a pillar of cloud by day and as a pillar of fire by night (Ex 13:21). For the first time since Eden, people can once more hear and see God’s presence near them. But God is only a travel guide here. He hasn’t set up home yet, which is why he tells Moses to make a tabernacle, which literally means “dwelling-place.” In the tabernacle tent, God will be with his people. It’s at the tabernacle that we see the pillar of cloud, the presence, descend.

Tabernacle | 1444 B.C.

In 1444 B.C., between 1-2 years after they leave Egypt, the Israelites finish building the tabernacle. Moses inspects it, consecrates Aaron and his sons as priests, places the ten commandments—the covenant law the people have sworn to obey—in the most holy place in the tabernacle and finishes his work. As soon Moses finishes (v. 33), the pillar of cloud that led them out of Egypt and spoke with Moses on Sinai descends.

Exodus 40:34-35 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. (NIV®)

Notice how it says “the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” two times (2x). This is really significant. God’s presence in the cloud is descending on this tent. Glory means a visible manifestation of God’s presence. God is showing himself to his people because he is their new neighbor. The Triune God, Yahweh, is somehow, mysteriously, calling this tent belonging to the poorest of peoples, ex-slaves, home.

God continues to call the tabernacle his home as the story continues. God goes with Israel to the promised lands, stays with them through 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, and continues to do so as they take over the promised land. After Moses dies, Joshua leads the Israelites, but after him the people begin to forget God and disobey again. So God sends foreign nations to punish the Israelites, who then cry out to God for mercy, and God sends Judges to rescue them. Eventually

If you could have anything you wanted, would you take it? Imagine for a moment that God is offering to give you whatever you want. You can have the husband or wife or kids you always wanted, and you can have the house, business, and career too. This blessing doesn’t stop with you, but everyone else in here get’s it too. We as a church can all have whatever we want. We are guaranteed a successful children’s ministry, a beautiful worship band, booming attendance (we’ll be well over a thousand in no time), and everyone around us will love us. Wouldn’t you want God to give you this?

But there’s a catch. Each and every one of us and this church can have exactly what we want but without God. In this scenario, God is offering us two options—everything (but him), or him alone. Which one would you take? Would you take everything from God or nothing but God?

Today and next week we’re going back to the book of Exodus to finish up our sermon series, God’s Exodus People. Last time we were in the book of Exodus, the Israelites had just cheated on their brand new covenant relationship with God by creating and worshipping a golden calf. Now God is angry with them, and is about to deliver the worst news in the world. They can have whatever they want, but without God himself, without God’s special presence with them as a people.

Without God’s presence, we’re lost. (33:1-6)

Do you remember what the opening chapters of Exodus are about? God introduced himself to Moses at the burning bush as “I am who I am” or “I will be what I will be” (Ex 4:14). Then God introduced himself to the Israelites and all the nations, starting with Egypt, through the plagues and the crossing at the Red Sea (Ex 9:16). At Sinai, God explains how God can be with the Israelites through a covenant relationship. If they obey God’s law (i.e., the Ten Commandments), he will be with them, but if they disobey, he won’t.

The whole purpose of Exodus is a rescue story. God is rescuing his people so God can be with and among them. This is what God’s presence is. God plans to dwell among his people through a tabernacle, a special tent where he will be among the nation of Israel. He will be their God and they will be his people (Ex 6:7). This is why Exodus 33-34, today’s chapters, are placed right between two very important sections. In Exodus 25-31, God gives instructions for the tabernacle, and in Exodus 35-40, the people build the tabernacle. The units are very similar, and our text is sandwiched between them. It’s arranged this way to tell us that everything hinges on God’s presence dwelling with his people at the tabernacle, but now that’s at risk.

God is still willing to give the Israelites the promised land, and even send “an angel” with them (33:2, c.f., 23:23), but he isn’t willing to go with them. Why not? They’re a sinful “stiff-necked people” and he may destroy them if he goes with them (v. 3). But without God’s presence, the Israelites are lost. This is why they mourn and take off all their jewelry. God gave silver and gold to the Israelites as the left Egypt (3:22), and they in turn used that wedding gift to make a golden calf (32:2-4). When a couple breaks up, the girl takes the ring off. Israel is taking her wedding ring off. They broke their relationship with God through disobedience, and the consequence is not experiencing God’s presence.

Apply: Like Israel, our church is at the start of a great journey. We’re, Lord willing, going autonomous soon. That means we’ll be our own independent church, not under the authority of our parent Immanuel any more. I want to ask us one question. Which is more important to us, working for God or God himself? Are we more excited about the wedding or the marriage? Do we want a successful ministry with the best children’s program, worship ministry, preaching and teaching and small groups? Or do we want Jesus? My prayer is that each of us would want Jesus first. Without God’s presence, we’re lost.

God’s presence separates religion from

Money is a serious topic. ABBA is serious about Money, Money, Money. After all, money can buy a white toga covered in rhinestones, or if you have money, you’ve got lots of shiny coins, or even better, if you meet a rich man, you can ride in his red convertible and throw back your head and just laugh and laugh. With money, life is better, or as the singer puts it, “Always sunny in the rich man’s world.”

At some level, we all believe in the power of money to make our lives better. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t go to work. Jesus taught a lot on money, so today we’re talking about it too. We’re learning not how much to have, but how much God calls us to give away. When you hear we’re talking about money, I imagine two questions pop into your mind: 1) Why are we doing a sermon on giving? aka. What’s the real reason? 2) What does the Bible have to say about giving? Let me answer the first question. Why? I’m preaching this sermon for several reasons:

First, I haven’t fully taught what the Bible calls us to give, and you should know.

Second, the book Ten Most Common Mistakes Made by New Church Starts lists #7 as, “Fear of Talking about Money until It Is Too Late.” Now it’s not too late, but I apologize, we’re a year and half in and I should have talked about this sooner.

Third, Lord willing, in the next couple months we’re going to become an autonomous church. Although we’ve been paying for most of our bills up to this point, our parent church has been helping us out. That means the responsibility falls to us. We need to know what God expects of us because we can trust that his expectations for giving will meet our needs for ministry.

Now the second question. What does the Bible have to say about giving, specifically what does it have to say about giving tithes and offerings? There are generally two positions:

Position 1. Offerings: God says to give generously, but sets no specific amount. The first position says the Bible just teaches us to give a “grace offering” or “free-will offering”—but doesn’t say how much.

Position 2. Tithes: God says to start by giving 10%, but grow from there. The second position says God gives us the tithe (10%) as a starting point for greater giving.

Before we begin, let’s pray.

Position 1. Offerings: God says to give generously, but sets no specific amount.

I want to begin by noting that both positions agree that God loves a cheerful and generous giver. In 2nd Corinthians, we see Paul encouraging people to give joyfully.

2 Corinthians 9:6-7  Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (NIV®)

God cares about the state of our hearts as we give. He doesn’t want a sad giver, but a joyful one excited to join in his work. However, this verse is not about regular church offerings, but a special offering (v. 5). So should we tithe? One reporter who investigated tithing concluded, “If a pastor or church leader has ever told you that the Bible commands Christians to tithe or give 10% of their income… asked you to donate to a mysterious ‘building fund’ or give a ‘first-fruit’ offering… You are getting played.” His message is clear—the tithe is a myth.

Irenaeus, an early church father who lived in the second century, (130-202 AD) and is thought to be a disciple of the Apostle John, writes, “The Jews were constrained to a regular payment of tithes; Christians, who have liberty, assign all of their possessions to the Lord, bestowing freely not the lesser portions of their property, since they have the hope of greater things.” In other words, the Jews of the Old Testament may be commanded to give 10%, but Christians are able to give more because they’ve been given everything in Christ Jesus. We see this in the early church.

The early church practiced needs-based giving.

In the beginning of the book of Acts,