Follow Jesus Nick Esch, 12/16/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church John 21:18-25 I want to start today by first drawing your attention to the last two verses of John’s Gospel. In verse 24, John points out that he is the one referred to as the disciple whom Jesus loves throughout the Gospel, and that he’s the one […]
Repentance, Restoration, And True Love For Jesus Nick Esch, 12/9/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Context Remember the context of our passage; Jesus has already lived a perfect life, died a wrath absorbing death, and rose from the grave in glory… And our passage today picks up in the midst of His third resurrection appearance to His […]
The Mission and Our True Home Nick Esch, 12/2/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction As most of you know I grew up in Atlanta Georgia. And if I’m honest, I still get homesick from time to time. I miss my family and my friends; I even miss all the pine trees out there. But every time […]
The Revival of a Doubter’s Heart Nick Esch, 11/25/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction As you know, Martyn Lloyd-Jones is one of my favorite preachers from the past. And as I was preparing for this sermon I found myself thinking a lot about what he once said about revival and some things connected to it. He […]
Communion and Commission Nick Esch, 11/18/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction For a little over three years I have given myself to doing four things here: preaching, praying, loving, and staying… I’ve devoted myself to preaching—seeking to preach Christ-centered expositions of God’s Word; I’ve given myself to praying desperately for faithfulness, fruitfulness, for each of you […]
Mary And The Risen Lord Nick Esch, 11/11/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction On October 28th, 69 years ago, Jim Elliot wrote those memorable words in his journal: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose…” He believed that with all of his heart, and his life proved […]
The Empty Tomb Nick Esch, 11/4/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction In John 20:31 John says that the things he’s written in this Gospel, “are written so that [we] may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing [we] may have life in his name.” So he wants us to […]
The King Who Takes Away Our Fear Nick Esch, 10/21/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction I love church history… One of the reasons I love it so much is because I love seeing the effects of God’s grace on His people… How He enables saints to boldly live for Him… Think of Peter being transformed from […]
Rock Of Ages Cleft For Me Nick Esch, 10/14/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction This morning as we continue working our way through the narrative of the cross, my desire is for us to bask in the radiance of the glory of Christ; I want you to see Jesus for who He is and what He […]
The Cross Nick Esch, 10/7/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction My hope and prayer for us this morning is simple, yet incredibly important… This morning we’re going to look at the cross, and as we do my prayer is that God would so work in us that our hearts would cry out, “Hallelujah! What a Savior!” […]
Behold Your King Nick Esch, 9/30/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction Unless you’ve been living under a rock you’ve likely heard about the hearing in Washing D. C. regarding Judge Kavanaugh… Now I don’t want to get into the details regarding that hearing; but one thing has become abundantly clear as this has been going down… […]
The Truth of Jesus Transforms Sinners Into Sons Nick Esch, 9/23/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Context Remember the context of our passage; our passage takes place during the weeklong Jewish celebration of Passover, where the Jews remembered and thanked God for how He passed over them in the 10thplague, and delivered them from slavery. They celebrated […]
The Faithlessness of Man and the Faithfulness of Jesus Nick Esch, 9/16/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Intro Do you know anyone who has made shipwreck of their lives? Do you know anyone who has sinned so bad that it traumatically effected their lives? No doubt, we’ve all seen people who we thought were Christians fall away […]
Dark Days and Sovereign Grace Nick Esch, 9/9/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction This Tuesday marks the 17th anniversary of the September 11thterrorist’s attacks… This is, by far, one of the darkest days in recent history… We all have dark days, but something like 9-11 really shakes us… It reminds us how much evil is really in […]
The Love of God In And Through Us Nick Esch, 9/2/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church John 17:25-26 Here we see Jesus closing out His High Priestly prayer for His people… For us… And He does it by summarizing His whole prayer thus far… So far He’s prayed for glory, for holiness, for unity, for knowledge, for […]
Unity Driven By Love Nick Esch, 8/19/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church John 17:20-23 Jesus is just a few hours away from the cross, and in preparation He has been praying to the Father. He began His prayer by praying for His glory, and then for His apostles, and now He shifts to praying for all believers […]
Sanctification and Mission Nick Esch, 8/12/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church John 17:14-19 Our passage begins in verse 14, with Jesus saying, “I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.” Now, this idea of Christians being hated by […]
Glory and Joy Nick Esch, 8/5/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church John 17:9-13 Remember the context of our passage: Jesus has just finished encouraging and equipping His disciples, and now the cross is at hand; in just a few hours He will die for the sins of His people… But before He goes to the cross He […]
God’s Name and God’s People Nick Esch, 7/29/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church John 17:6-8 Remember our context: Jesus is praying to the Father just a few hours before He will go to the cross. He began His prayer praying for glory; that He would be glorified in and through His death, resurrection, and ascension… And now […]
John 17:4-5 (ESV) I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.
The Glory of Christ and Knowing God Nick Esch, 7/15/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction An old Scottish preacher once noted, “The best sermon that was ever preached was followed by the best prayer ever offered up…” He was speaking of Jesus’ High Priestly Prayer in John 17… John Knox, the Scottish reformer, would have his […]
John 16:25-33 ESV “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that […]
John 16:23-24 ESV In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. https://www.cornerstonebaptistchurch.org/hp_wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Prayer-and-Joy.mp3Podcast: Play […]
Cross-Centered Joy Nick Esch, 6/17/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction I love our passage today because it gets at the heart of the gospel, the heart of Christianity, and at my own heart for you… In our passage Jesus is seeking to prepare His disciples for His death and resurrection, and for their own sorrow and […]
Spirit-Filled Means Jesus-Centered Nick Esch, 5/20/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction When I say Spirit-filled life, what comes to your mind? Perhaps you think primarily of charismatics or miraculous spiritual gifts… Perhaps you get a little nervous… We Baptists tend to think of the Trinity more as the Father, Son, and Holy Bible than we do […]
Witnesses for the Sake of the Name Nick Esch, 5/13/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction In 1839 John Williams and James Harris, from the London Mission Society, went to the New Hebrides (islands about two-thirds of the way between Australia and Hawaii) with the intent to take the gospel to the people there… But, within […]
The Great Gospel Love Of Christ And Our Call To Love Nick Esch, 4/22/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Context For the last few chapters of John, in what is known as the Upper Room Discourse, Jesus has been addressing His disciples, and seeking to prepare them to live in the world as His disciples after He […]
Abiding In Christ For The Glory Of Christ Nick Esch, 4/8/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction John Wesley was an instrument of God used to bring about the Great Awakening in the 1700s; a great revival, that’s still impacting us today… He boldly preached the gospel and the necessity of being born again. You may recall […]
Apart From Jesus We Can Do Nothing Nick Esch, 3/25/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church John 15:5 Last week we began working our way through John 15:1-11. We made it through the first four verses, and today we’re really just going to focus on one verse—verse 5. There’s so much here that I want us to take […]
John 15:1-4 (ESV) “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. […]
Jesus’ Peace, Our Purpose Nick Esch, 3/11/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction If I say the words holiness, sanctification, righteousness, or Christ-likeness what comes to your mind? One thing that comes to my mind is my brother; not because he is any of these, but because he’s referred to me before as a holy roller… And […]
Loving Jesus—Living For Jesus Nick Esch, 3/4/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Context Our text is a part of the Upper Room Discourse, where Jesus addresses His disciples the night before His crucifixion. Jesus has finished His public earthly ministry, they just had the last supper, Judas has left to betray Jesus, Jesus has just told His […]
John 14:15-24 (ESV) “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with […]
True Love Obeys Nick Esch, 2/18/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction Augustine taught that we are most fundamentally shaped not as much by what we believe, or think, or do, but by what we love… And I think he’s on point in his assessment… We spend most of our time and effort on our family or […]
The Greater Works of Love Nick Esch, 2/11/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Remember our context: Jesus and His disciples are in the upper room on the last night of His life. Judas has just left to betray Him, and He’s been telling His disciples in one way or another that He is about to leave them […]
John 14:1-11 (ESV) “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come […]
Loved By Jesus To Love Like Jesus Nick Esch, 1/28/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction Just recently I went to Washington DC for the Evangelicals for Life conference and the March for Life. The point of the conference was to equip Christians, and especially leaders in the church to be pro life holistically—from the womb to […]
John 13:17-30 (ESV) If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. I am not speaking of all of you; I know whom I have chosen. But the Scripture will be fulfilled, He who ate my bread has lifted his heel against me.’ I am telling you this now, before it takes […]
The Self-Giving Love of Jesus Nick Esch, 1/14/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction The famous Swiss Reformed theologian Karl Barth lived from 1886-1968. He was a learned man who took the Bible very seriously. He wrote numerous books on deep theological truths… But in 1962, just 6 years before he died, upon being asked how he […]
The Power of Last Words Nick Esch, 1/7/2018 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction Last words are powerful, because last words leave a lasting impression. Last words often display a person’s hopes and a person’s heart. Some of my favorite last words come from John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace, who just before he died said, […]
Consumed With Glory Nick Esch, 12/31/2017 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction Here we are on the eve of the New Year. It’s a time of new beginnings and fresh starts… No doubt many of you have been thinking about resolutions… You’ve been thinking about ways to improve yourself or your life in the upcoming year… And […]
John 11:45-57 (ESV) Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For […]
John 11:17-44 (ESV) Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and […]
The Death of Lazarus and the Love of Christ Nick Esch, 11/19/2017 Cornerstone Baptist Church Introduction We just finished our series on the gospel and life; and throughout that series God’s Word kept pointing us back to God’s love for us in Christ, and the love that we should have in response to His love: […]