Posts by Cornerstone Staff (Page 30)
What is Communion? Sharing – Romans 15:26 & Hebrews 13:16
The last couple times I’ve led communion I’ve been asking the question, “What is Communion?” We’ve been looking at the Greek word itself, “koinonia.” So far we’ve found that koinonia (“communion”) encompasses several key meanings. Communion means: Participation – Spiritual union with Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16-17) Communion begins by participating in a relationship with God himself through Christ Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross. So communion is first about loving God, our vertical relationship. But communion isn’t just about developing…
Christmas Eve Lesson #4: Why do we sing Joy to the World after Silent Night?
Tonight we are singing two songs in closing, Silent Night followed by Joy to the World. It’s pretty typical for churches to sing these one after the other on Christmas Eve, but why do we that? Let’s start with Silent Night. What’s it about? It tells us of the birth of the Savior by recounting three miracles. The first miracle is the birth of a child to a virgin girl. Verse one says, “Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.” “Yon”…
Christmas Eve Lesson #3: Why “I Heard the Bells” rings true today.
Christianity Today recently published an article on the Christmas carol “I Heard the Bells.” As I read it I learned that the great American poet Henry Wadworth Longfellow wrote this song as a poem during the Civil War, “the bloodiest war in American history.” The lyrics reflect this terrible time: “And in despair I bowed my head; ‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said; ‘For hate is strong, And mocks the song Of peace on earth, good will to…
Christmas Eve Lesson #2: What does Emmanuel (or Immanuel) mean?
For the remaining lessons I’m going to introduce the songs we are about to sing. We are about to sing the Christmas Hymn O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. This is a beautiful and powerful hymn with the chorus, “Rejoice! Rejoice! Emman-u-el… shall come to thee, O Isra—el.” Now we’re not telling Emmanuel to rejoice but we’re telling God’s people to rejoice because God has come to them. The chorus itself makes a lot more sense if you know what the…
Christmas Eve Lesson #1: Do we worship baby Jesus?
Welcome to our lessons and carols Christmas Eve service. My name is Jonathan Romig and I am the Pastor of this church. We’ve just opened our time by singing O Come, All Ye Faithful. I think this is a great Christmas carol to open with because it’s invitation to us to come and worship Christ Jesus. But who is the Jesus we’ve come to worship? I once saw a scene in a movie that I thought made a really great…