FINISH WELL

Ever been watching a highly publicized race where there is a clear favored to win individual and that person falters just near the finish line and loses the race? I have, it’s sad.

Did you know that we’ve all been running a race ourselves?  It’s called 2016. Some of us have run well and others have struggled to stay on the designated course. But either way we are all nearing the end of that race. We each have about 11 days in which to finish well.

May we capitalize on every opportunity that 2016 (and the Lord) affords us to finish well.

May we:

Love deeply without regard if it will be returned.

Forgive completely even though it costs us profoundly.

Serve wholeheartedly where there is no hope of reciprocation.

Bless those who have wounded or disappointed us.

Lavish grace and mercy on those who (like us) don’t deserve it.

Give generously and sacrificially to all that cross our paths.

Warmly embrace those who don’t look, act or think like we do.

Choose once again to think the best of our fellow man.

Pray fervently that the greatest changes will begin in us instead of assuming that others need the modification more.

Reconnect fully with those who been distanced by virtue of miles, care or opportunity.

Dare to trust that the Father we love and the God we serve is GREATER than any and every thing that is behind and of all that lies ahead. Indeed, He is the capable keeper and powerful redeemer of every burden and disappointment of 2016 and He is the singularly trustworthy One who can protect and multiply every blessing that has been gifted to us this year.

Yes, our race in 2016 is drawing to a close; only eleven short days remain, but don’t be fooled for they will be brimming with chances and choices!  May we intentionally choose to fully utilize every chance to be His good children, to bring Him honor for we have born of the One who is worthy of every moment that has passed through our hands, those remaining in 2016 and of those that lie ahead into the unknown of 2017.

I’m intending to invest the remaining days of 2016 to honor the One who has gifted me with life. I’m purposing to finish well with His help and for His glory…I hope you are too! God speed dear runners!

Rich Blessings,

Sandy Anderson

A Warrior’s Love

A recent song by Jesus Culture; “Your Love Is Fierce” made me think about God’s extreme love this morning. Some of the lyrics include “Like a tidal wave crashing over me…Rushing in to meet me here…Your love is fierce!”

I love that! Think about how a tidal wave doesn’t wait for anything to come to it, it just sweeps in crashing over everything in its path. His love for us is like that, it overwhelms all that we are and lifts us and “up-ends” us by its depth and power and carries not only us, but every situation and circumstance facing us.

If you’ve only experienced the tender facet of God’s love that Matthew 11:29 talks about, where Jesus promises “… I am gentle and humble in heart…” then you are missing out on a bold and powerful side of who God really is. Don’t get me wrong He IS gentle and loves us with incredible tenderness, but there is also an aspect of God’s nature and love that comes in like a tidal wave crashing over us, rushing to meet us wherever we find ourselves today.

I think we get comfort from the tender quality of Jesus; along with our mistaken idea about the “predictable” side of Jesus, but don’t miss the fact that He is also a mighty warrior! I don’t know about you, but if I am facing a formidable enemy I‘m not hoping for tenderness, I’m scanning the horizon for a mighty warrior to come to my aid!  And when need be Jesus is fully that; He is a warrior that possesses no weakness, has no equal and never holds back any of the unimaginable passion He has for those He fiercely loves!

He is unpredictable and awe inspiring and honestly a little (a lot) scary. This is the Creator of the universe, the Holy One, the righteous King and the Almighty God. He has no equivalent, no rival and no peer. And if you don’t enter His holy presence with a little trepidation then you just don’t understand who you are dealing with.  He is breathtaking, splendid and fearsome all at the same time!

But remember, His warrior nature is fully for us and we are the passion of His heart and the apple of His eye. He can be loved, though not fully understood. He can be worshiped though not entirely comprehended. He can be trusted, though not fully grasped. If you feel weak today and unable to carry the burdens of life or if you are afraid of what lies ahead for you, then throw caution to the wind and step into the path of the Warrior’s love that can lift you up, carry every burden and quiet each fear. His mighty heart is for you…His all-seeing eye perceives you and His matchless love covers you, clothes you and completes you.

Close your eyes and picture standing at the shore as powerful waves crash over you…that’s like the inescapable love the Warrior God has for you.  His love is relentless, persistent and beyond human understanding…but He comes rushing to meet you where you are today!

Oh that we would lean in and let His fierce and passionate love envelop us today!

Sweet Blessings,

Sandy

Cornerstone Church Family,

Before Lee and I transitioned out of Cornerstone, I had hoped to catch each person, to look you in the eye and tell you exactly what it has meant to our lives to be a part of this family, but unfortunately we just couldn’t connect with everyone. If we missed you, please forgive us, it was not our intention!

 Although tears flowed freely that final Sunday, I was clearly reminded in your precious faces of the ultimate reason for being a shepherd: loving amazing people and hopefully equipping them to better love and become more like Jesus. I saw in your countenances the love of Christ week after week and I am so thankful that the Father planted Lee and I to walk out the first two years of my pastoral calling there…it has been our clear joy and outstanding privilege to do so!

Words fail me to fully express the depth of our gratitude for the opportunity to live life together with you - knowing and loving each of you have been some of the most precious treasures we have ever experienced! Thank you for letting us serve with you - it has been a delight and honor and we are so much better for having shared our lives with yours! While we will sorely miss seeing you on a regular basis, we know that you are in good hands with your pastoral team who watches diligently over you.

In the coming months I hope you will remember our time there affectionately, as we certainly will. Please pray for us…we are not sure what the Father has for us in this next season, but we do know that all that lies before us will be built upon the foundation of love and ministry we experienced there at Cornerstone. You will always hold an incredibly special place in our hearts and we will continue to pray for you and hopefully get to hear about some of the amazing things that God will do in and through this wonderful church family!

For any who want to stay in touch, we’d like that. You can reach me at sandy.lee.anderson@gmail.com and Lee at paul.lee.anderson@gmail.com .

I am truly thankful that although we are now separated by distance and ministry location, we all love and labor for the same Lord Jesus Christ - to Him be the glory now and forever! May the Father who passionately loves you, watch over you, guiding you into His perfect plan for each of your precious lives…ultimately bringing Him great glory and an expansion to His glorious kingdom!

This is the pastoral blessing I pray over each of you today.

Father, I come to You in the matchless name of Jesus and I lift up this precious church family to You. Lord, You fully know their every need, You see each place where they are strong and gifted and You also know every area where they need Your power and guidance the most. Bless them by always being their Good Shepherd who will release their gifts for Your glory and bind up their wounds for their restoration. 

 Father God I pray that You would confirm Your great love for them, help them to walk out each day of their life in the shadow of that unconditional love. Bless them Father not to miss a single facet of the amazing plan You have for them. Let every purpose of their lives be fully realized as they yield more and more of who they are into Your capable hands.

Finally Father, please bless them with a passionate desire to share You with those around them, for it is only as we share You with our watching world that we can fully understand our ultimate reason for being…the Great Commission.

Lord please continue to bless their pastors and leaders with wisdom and guidance to abundantly care for this flock who is both a passion for You and a priceless gift from You and remind the flock to faithfully intercede for the shepherds who lovingly watch over them. May all be done in Your time and for Your glory. Amen

Much Love and Prayers,

Pastor Sandy and Lee Anderson

Note: For my readers who are not from my Cornerstone church family, my husband and I recently transitioned out of this amazing church but were not able to catch everyone our last Sunday there, so I am using this space to speak to them and share a final blessing. Thank you for your understanding and for your prayers for this next season of ministry! ~Sandy

Some of you have requested a real time link to my upcoming sermon, so here it is: Go to www.cornerstone.ag  . You will see a link in the upper left corner called "Watch Live" you click there to listen to the entire church service which will begin at 11:05 on THIS Sunday, July 26th. The sermon usually begins by 11:30.
 
If you'd like, you can leave Cornerstone comments through the "First Time Viewer" tab or leave us a prayer request at our "Prayer Request" tab. Both are found in the "Watch Live" area.

May you experience the joy of God's ever abiding presence in your life this week as you explore the new life He has given you! 

“But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:14

New Life

 

Life and it's many experiences have a tendency to dry up our reserves and leave us empty. In John 4 Jesus met the woman at the well while the disciples were off getting take-out.

She had tried to quench the longings of her heart with a string of “gone wrong” relationships. She was parched and yearning for something lasting that she could depend on. Perhaps others had vowed to stay with her-but on that hot afternoon she was alone and empty.

Hope probably seemed far away…and then came Jesus! He offered to quench her thirst with something that would bring satisfaction in this life and for eternity. I imagine that it seemed too good to be true and yet hope springs eternal so she took the cup He offered-a cup overflowing with new eternal life and almost immediately it began to spring up touching those around her.

 That’s how it is for us too! We may be searching for something that is missing in life, we may find ourselves in a dry and lonely place…but Jesus is crossing our path TODAY so everything can change! And if you’ve already had that initial conversation then praise Jesus you’ve begun to experience that new life already!

Thankfully the life that He gives will never fall to the ravages of time…it will remain eternally fresh and new! We will spend all of eternity exploring the limitlessness of our new life and our new Love! Praise God! 

Today, ask Jesus to give you opportunities to let that new life overflow into the lives around you and then watch as Jesus changes everything in you and in them…now and for eternity!

Blessings,

Sandy

 

It’s that time again, where school supply lists reign supreme. But as you fill your child’s backpack with the essentials for a successful year, be sure to include kindness!

 

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind to one another…”

 

Aristotle said; “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” I wholeheartedly agree. While education is an important goal, teaching and training our hearts to be like God’s builds a platform from which education can find its highest use. And God’s heart is intentionally and actively kind.

 

Every single day children and we adults with them are gifted with multiple opportunities to be kind or unkind. Choose kindness.

 

Kindness opens the door to new relationships. People are drawn to kindness and the truly kind are rarely lonely.

 

Kindness conveys value to those shown it. Kindness demonstrates the worth placed on an individual.

 

Kindness brings encouragement to those who are discouraged. Even a small act of kindness is a powerful agent of hope!

 

Kindness is always “other focused”. Kindness momentarily relieves us of ourselves and who doesn’t need more of that?

 

Kindness is always demonstrated. One cannot be passively kind; it always takes action.

 

Kindness is a skill. We get better at kindness when we intentionally do it; practice makes perfect.

 

Kindness when done sits on the surface of another’s life and eventually melts the hardest of hearts.

 

Kindness is contagious. Just try it and see!

 

Kindness is an attribute that we share with God…

 

God is love.  (I John 4:16)

 

Love is kind.  (I Corinthians 13:4)

 

We are God’s.  (Romans 8:16)

 

The world is watching, God is watching…Let us be kind.  (Ephesians 4:32)

 

 

 

 

 

Dying Moments-Where Is God When We Are Hurting?

John 11 tells us the story of Martha, Mary and Lazarus. We learn that Lazarus was very sick, in fact he was dying, so his sisters send Jesus a message to come, but instead of rushing to His friends’ side, the Scripture tells us that Jesus stayed where He was for Two. More. Days! They even boldly reminded Him of the closeness of their relationship. “The one you love is sick.” I wonder if at first they were expecting that Jesus would be coming through their front door at any moment to save the day. I imagine that their initial confidence was eventually replaced with a sense of deep foreboding that He might not arrive in time…or perhaps He wasn’t coming at all.

 

Remember as far as we are told, there was no message or response from Jesus…they are just left to wait and wonder in silence. In the midst of their “dying moments”, many questions must have assaulted their anxious hearts and Jesus may well have seemed far away. It’s funny how we have every confidence in our relationship with Jesus, but when deep troubles hit our life we begin to question where He is! Perhaps you can relate to their experience.

Many of us will have difficult, even “dying moments” in our lives, where we cry out to God for His help but He seems silent, and we may wonder where He is when we are hurting. Most people will experience those moments when our emotions may tell us that we are alone in our pain, but the truth is our emotions can deceive us, because God PROMISED that He will never leave us, period.(Hebrews 13:5) However, the first words out of Martha and Mary’s mouth are “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Most likely considering the closeness of their relationship, these women had seen Jesus heal many people, first hand, BUT He didn’t come and He didn’t heal Lazarus when they sent for Him.

At times, we'll have painful seasons of our lives where we may feel like God is far away or has somehow let us down or failed us, even though we won’t admit that to others, sometimes not even to ourselves and usually not to God (although He already knows our hearts fully : ), but it may be there, like a nagging unanswered question…one that we “stuff” down whenever it comes to our minds…but those places, those lingering questions are the exactly where Christ desires to come and comfort us…AND  to bring new life where death has occurred.

Jesus shares with Martha that He is the Resurrection and the Life, but we may wonder if Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life, then why things have to die in the first place. I think that Jesus, speaking of His imminent death, gives us a clue in John 12:24, saying, “Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone. BUT, if it dies, it will produce many seeds”. It is like the areas of our lives are like single grains of wheat that God entrusts us with.

We can choose to HIDE our seed, being too afraid to sow it in the ground, so it eventually rots, or we can CONSUME the seed, choosing to make our life comfortable and here the seed perishes and along with it, all its potential harvests die, untapped, OR we can choose to willingly lay down that seed, planting in the soil, all the while knowing that it will die, but choosing to place our confidence more in Jesus who is the Resurrection and the Life, to not only give it new life, but to multiply its number and its power! Remember little is MUCH when it is placed in the Master Gardener’s hands, and although sometimes, God may want us to allow certain relationships or dreams (or a host of other things) to die, it is so He can raise them up to a new and better life.

 God desires us to trust in His unconditional love and perfect plan for our lives, especially when everything in our circumstances and hearts are screaming against it. Jesus is the resurrection and He alone is the ultimate giver of life, He alone has the power to bring life where death currently reigns (having created ALL things, see John 1:3), so we can be brave and sow our hopes, our dreams, our relationships in the ground, where they may die, but we can be MORE CONFIDENT in Christ, knowing that through Jesus, we can sow in hope…hope of resurrection…hope of new life and hope of an abundant HARVEST! Death is swallowed up in victory through quality and increase!

So, where is God in those painful times, when it feels like a treasured part of you is dying??? He is as close as your very next breathe. See Psalm 34:18. His love for you is unconditional, His plan, perfect and His ways, are sometimes beyond our complete understanding, so if you have areas or times in your life that you just don’t understand why He didn’t come in on His “white horse and rescue you”, then consider joining with me, as we set aside our questions and hear the voice of Jesus saying “Blessed are they who do not see and yet believe”

For me, I have decided to make the choice that even if it may have looked like it on the outside, even if others around me said so, even if I struggled with it on the inside, God has never failed me or loosened His firm grasp on my life or yours! I know that someday I WILL understand fully God’s plan for me, but until that day, I will keep believing, keep trusting in His unconditional love and the perfection of His plan. I will in time, along with you, recognize that He was right all along and His plan for us was GOOD! Although circumstances may at times, cloud our view of the Lord, He is, never-the-less there, present with us always…so don’t judge the book before it is completely written…the Father has more in store for us, that our hearts have not even begun to dream of…just keep watching, keep waiting, keep trusting, keep believing!

LOST-AND-FOUND

The dictionary defines lost-and-found as “a place where lost items are kept to await reclaiming by their owners.” What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a lost-and-found? For me, it is a place of mostly worthless items that no one cared enough about to go searching for. It is a land of misfits; a single glove, a tattered book or a lone earring. Not much value there right? UNLESS you are searching for that glove because it was a gift by someone dear to you or the tattered book was a Bible handed down through your family’s generations or that earring was one of a set given to you on your wedding day…then these are no longer misfits without meaning. They have suddenly become priceless treasures and the lost-and-found has been transformed from a refuse laden waiting room into a place of infinite worth.

The worth of something is often demonstrated by the efforts of a person to locate, possess or protect it.

If someone were willing to fly around the world to locate a missing portrait wouldn’t that make it valuable?

If someone were willing to sell everything they had to possess a particular document, wouldn’t that make it a treasure?

If someone were willing to donate their kidney to protect another’s life, wouldn’t that mean they were cherished?

I think we’d all agree that this portrait, document and person had incredible value at least to those who were willing to sacrifice whatever was needed to locate, possess or protect them. To others these may be insignificant since up to that point no one cared enough about them to search or sacrifice…but now their worth is unquestionable.

Well I believe this earth…this country…this corner of our world is like a huge lost-and-found; filled with people who might be considered insignificant “misfits”; since thus far, no one cared enough to search for them and bring them home.

But what if someone were to travel from beyond one end of the universe to the other to locate something far removed, would that make it valuable?

What if someone was willing to set aside untold riches and glory to once again hold close something that was cherished, would that make it a treasure? 

What if someone were willing to give up their life to save another life, would that make that life precious?

In all of these cases I believe our hearts would cry a resounding yes. Well, Someone did. Jesus stepped down from heaven to find that which was “lost”. He set aside the glories and riches of heaven to hold close those who had wandered far away. He sacrificed His own life to redeem those that He loves. And by virtue of that great love and that unimaginable sacrifice each human being has been catapulted from the mundane and ordinary into the precious and cherished.  And because of that great worth this earth we live on is transformed from an ordinary holding bin that houses the soon-to-be discarded into a treasure trove of priceless jewels that were purchased at an inestimable cost. Our worth is immeasurable for who can put a value on the very life of God Himself?!

No, this earth is no longer a land of misfits for Someone has deemed us worthy of being pursued! This world has become just what the dictionary describes as “a place where lost items are kept to await reclaiming by their owners.” Think about it precious ones! For all eternity our value will safely rest in that we have been called the Sought; worthy of love, worthy of sacrifice! We ARE the lost and the found! We are those who had wandered far from the Father who loves us…and He sought us and He bought us at an incredible price and WE. ARE. HIS!

So what are we to do with that knowledge? At least two things:

One, we should love Him all the more. That He could take a little girl who was ordinary and broken and that He could bestow on her great value, makes my heart swell with love for Him. That He could see everything about me and somehow despite it all could love me, simply defies my understanding but it increases my love and appreciation! Unconditional love and selfless sacrifice when seen for what they really are cannot help but be reciprocated; for to truly know His love causes us to love Him back. To taste, to experience His great eternal love changes who we are and automatically increases our ability to love Him back, for we cannot give what we’ve never known or possessed; but instead it should be like an everlasting circle of love!

Two, we should recognize our own value and the incredible value of others.  But instead often when we look in the mirror and when see others we see extra-ordinary and we walk right on by. How many people do we misjudge as extra-ordinary when God has deemed them as extraordinary works of art?

 Oh that we would see that His sacrificial love makes each of us valuable! I can’t begin to understand what He could see in me that would give me great value and yet somehow I am a masterpiece because I am a piece of the Master. And YOU are His masterpiece because you too are a piece of the Master. “See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are…” I John 3:1
Created in His image.
Given life to be eternally loved.
Redeemed at a great price.
The once lost have now become the found…rescued by a love so great, it will take all eternity to explore and express it! Glory to God!

Papa God,
We give thanks for an eternal, unconditional love that we cannot fully grasp and for a divine sacrifice that transforms us from mere insignificance to infinite worth. We will gladly spend our lives exploring and expressing your great love. Give us not only eyes to see those in our world as precious…but also give us hearts that are willing to seek out those that have wandered far from the Father who loves them and point the way back to Him. In Jesus Name~Amen