Cornerstone Blog

Take-Home Gospel (Rev. Eddie Pyun)
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 6:1-9
Week of December 14, 2025

Sermon Summary:
This sermon reflects on God’s design for families, focusing on the mutual responsibilities of children and parents under Christ (Ephesians 6:1–4). Children are called to obey and honor their parents “in the Lord,” not because parents are always right, but because obedience glorifies God and is part of His wise design for life. While there are rare exceptions when obedience would require sin, most disobedience flows from pride rather than necessity. Parents, in turn, are warned not to provoke their children to anger, but to raise them with discipline and instruction shaped by the gospel. Christian parenting rejects anger-driven control and instead models humility, repentance, and submission to Christ. The sermon emphasizes that the most influential factor in children persevering in faith is seeing genuine, practiced faith at home. Ultimately, both parents and children are pointed to Jesus, whose grace covers failure and empowers faithful, loving family life.

Sermon Discussion Questions
Getting Started:

1. What is one encouragement, challenge, or truth that spoke to you as you listened to the sermon?

Digging Deeper:

2. What makes it difficult to obey or honor our parents, especially when we think they are wrong, and how does obedience “in the Lord” reshape the way we think about submission?
3. In what ways can parental authority unintentionally provoke children to anger, and how does the gospel call parents to exercise authority differently?
4. What does it practically look like for parents to model repentance, humility, and dependence on Christ in everyday family life?
5. How does Ephesians 5:22-6:9 shape the way we relate to authority, care for others, and live out our faith within the family of God?

Prayer:

6. Pray for one another.

Put on the New Self (Rev. Isaac Lee)
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 4:17-5:2
Week of November 16, 2025

Sermon Summary:
In Ephesians 4:17-5:2, Paul explains that believers must no longer walk as the Gentiles do but instead put off the old self, be renewed in their minds, and put on the new self. This renewed life shows itself in speaking truthfully, practicing righteous anger without sin, working honestly to give to those in need, using words that build up rather than tear down, and putting away bitterness, wrath, slander, and all malice. These commands promote unity within the body of Christ. Though challenging, we obey by remembering what Christ has done for us – His kindness, compassion, and forgiveness – and by imitating His sacrificial love. As God’s beloved children, we walk in love toward God and one another.

Sermon Discussion Questions
Getting Started:

1. As you read this passage through, what stands out to you in this passage?
2. What was most challenging, helpful, or troubling in the sermon?

Digging Deeper:

3. Which of Paul’s commands – truthful speech, righteous anger, generosity, wholesome words, or putting away malice – felt most convicting to you and why?
4. How have you seen dishonest or “rotten” talk harm unity in relationships or in the church?
5. What helps you recognize when righteous anger is beginning to turn into sinful anger?
6. How does Paul’s instruction about honest work reshaping thieves into givers challenge your understanding of work and generosity?

Prayer:

7. Pray for one another.

The Limitless Love of God (Rev. Eddie Pyun)
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21
Week of November 2, 2025

Sermon Summary:
Ephesians 3:14–21 explores how Christians live in the “gap” between God’s promises and our present reality—the tension between the already and the not yet. Paul’s prayer shows how God equips us to live in this in-between time. First, we are strengthened by the Spirit, as Christ dwells in our hearts and renews us from within. Second, we are to know the limitless love of Christ, a love so vast it surpasses knowledge yet anchors and satisfies our deepest needs. Third, we are to be filled with all the fullness of God, as Christ fills every emptiness and meets every longing in us. Paul concludes with a doxology, reminding us that God can do far more abundantly than we ask or imagine. Living in the gap, we hold fast to His love and power, trusting that His promises are not too good to be true.

Sermon Discussion Questions
Getting Started:

1. What stands out to you about the way Paul begins his prayer in verse 14 (“For this reason I bow my knees before the Father”)? What does this reveal about his posture toward God?
2. What are the three things that Paul prays for?

Digging Deeper:

3. The sermon said that when Christ dwells in our hearts, He “settles down” and begins to renovate the mess inside us. What areas of your life or heart still feel like a “fixer-upper”? What might it mean for you to invite Christ to dwell and work there, rather than simply visit?
4. When you think about the phrase “to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,” how have you experienced that love in your life?
5. The sermon described God filling our “gaps” — our emptiness, sin, or unmet desires — with Himself. What gaps do you sense in your life right now? How might being “filled with all the fullness of God” reshape how you understand satisfaction, purpose, or healing?

Prayer:

6. Pray for one another.

How Jesus Breaks Down to Build Up (Rev. Eddie Pyun)
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:11-22
Week of October 19, 2025

Sermon Summary:
Sin separates us—from God and from one another. C.S. Lewis’s The Great Divorce pictures hell as endless isolation, and Scripture shows that life apart from Christ feels much the same. In Ephesians 2:11–22, Paul reminds us that before Christ, we were far from God and his people. But through Jesus’s blood, those who were far off have been brought near. Jesus breaks down the dividing wall of hostility between Jews and Gentiles, creating one new people—his church. He is not only the wall-breaker but also the builder, uniting believers as members of God’s household, built on Christ the cornerstone. Because Jesus has made peace, we are called to live as peacemakers, to bridge differences, and to welcome others as Christ has welcomed us. The church is a diverse yet unified family, a living temple where God dwells by his Spirit.

Sermon Discussion Questions
Getting Started:

1. What does Paul mean when he says we were “far off” before knowing Christ?
2. How does Jesus “break down the dividing wall of hostility”?
3. In what ways does this passage show that the gospel is not just about our relationship with God, but also our relationships with others?

Digging Deeper:

4. In what ways do you see people today still defining themselves—or others—by worldly distinctions (ethnicity, culture, background, politics)? How does this mirror the Jew–Gentile divide?
5. The gospel not only reconciles us to God but also through Christ to one another. How does understanding this dual reconciliation deepen your grasp of what salvation means?
6. Where might God be calling you to pursue reconciliation this week?

Prayer:

7. Pray for unity in the church.
8. Pray for one another.

Saved by Grace Alone (Rev. Isaac Lee)
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 2:1-10
Week of October 5, 2025

Sermon Summary:
Paul describes our condition apart from Christ—we were spiritually dead, enslaved to the world, Satan, and our sinful desires, and deserving of God’s wrath. But then comes the turning point: “But God.” Out of His rich mercy and great love, He made us alive with Christ, raised us up, and seated us with Him. Salvation is completely by grace through faith, not by our works. Through Christ, we are given new life, victory over sin, and adoption as God’s children. As His workmanship, we are created for good works—to display and share the immeasurable riches of His grace and kindness with others.

Sermon Discussion Questions
Getting Started:

1. What was most challenging, helpful, or troubling in the sermon?

Digging Deeper:

2. Why do you think so many people today believe that we are “born innocent” or “mostly good by nature”?
3. The sermon quoted David Wells: “You can recognize the ways of this world whenever sin seems acceptable and righteousness seems strange.” How do you see that playing out in your own heart?
4. How do we sometimes fall into thinking we have to earn God’s approval? How does understanding grace free you from guilt or pressure in your relationship with God?
5. The sermon said, “God’s love is not for the innocent, but for the guilty.” How does that truth comfort or challenge you?

Prayer:

6. Who in your life might God be calling you to share His grace and kindness with this week? Let’s pray for them.

Praise God for His Blessing (Rev. Isaac Lee)
Scripture Reading: Ephesians 1:1-14
Week of September 21, 2025

Sermon Summary:
Paul begins Ephesians with a long sentence of praise, reminding believers of every spiritual blessing in Christ. These blessings reveal our identity and call us to remember who we are. First, God chose us before creation and adopted us as His children—not because of our merit but by His grace. Second, Christ redeemed us through His blood, forgiving our sins and freeing us from guilt. Third, the Holy Spirit seals us, marking us as God’s own and guaranteeing our inheritance. All of this flows from God’s sovereign will, giving us comfort and reason to praise Him in every season.

Sermon Discussion Questions
Getting Started:

1. What was most challenging, helpful, or troubling in the sermon?

Digging Deeper:

2. Verses 4–6 talk about God choosing us before the foundation of the world and adopting us as his children. How does the picture of adoption deepen your understanding of God’s grace?
3. The sermon defined redemption as being freed from slavery through a costly payment. How does that image help you grasp what Christ has done for you?
4. In what ways do you struggle to live as someone fully forgiven? What difference would it make to believe that God is completely pleased with you in Christ?
5. Bryan Chapell says, “Belief itself indicates the presence of the seal of the Spirit of God that guarantees we are God’s children because without the Spirit we could not and would not believe.” How does that give you confidence in your faith?

Prayer:

6. Praise God for his blessings.
7. Pray for one another.