Today marks the 11th anniversary of our church. I am genuinely happy and thrilled to share this moment with each and every one of you. First, I would like to express my gratitude to our church members who have dedicated their lives to our community. I am beyond grateful for everything you all have done to get us to this point. I want to thank all the leaders who are here. Also, the members of our church who have been with us from the very beginning. We are also blessed to have devoted members who have served God and His people for many years. Through every struggle and success, you all are the reason we’re here today. No matter how long you have joined this church, I want everyone in here to know that we are all part of God’s family. And those who haven’t joined us yet, we want to welcome you. Our hearts are delighted to see you and we are looking forward to spending more time with you.
Cornerstone Church has been consistently delivering the same message for the past 11 years. As we celebrate the 11th anniversary of the birth of our church, I want to share that same core message with you. We are here today because we believe that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. Our church is built on this truth. The name ‘Cornerstone’ represents the idea that Jesus is the keystone of what we believe and all we do at our church. It is all about Jesus. Without him, our sweat and tears will be meaningless. To this day, Jesus is the rock and the root of our church. So, I would like to make this precious moment to share who Jesus is with you all and especially with the next generation of our church. In today’s passage, Jesus introduced himself as the way, the truth, and the life. We are going to take a closer look at the deeper meaning of his introduction.
- Jesus is the way
First, Jesus is the way to Heaven. In today’s passage, Jesus said, “I am the way, no one comes to the Father except through me.” When it comes to the problem of entering Heaven, Jesus clearly said there is no other way. Only Jesus can save us from our sins.
If you plan to travel from Chicago to Miami Florida by car, there is many routes you can drive. You can take the fastest way. Or you can take the roads that take more time but have more beautiful sites to enjoy. You can even take a detour and visit other cities along the way. If you don’t want to spend too much time on the road, you can also take a flight to Miami. When it comes to travel, there is no such thing as one way.
However, it’s not the same in the matter of salvation. There is only one way to Heaven. Jesus said he is “the way.” It means he is the only way that will lead us to Heaven. There is no other way. No one can come to the Father except through him. Therefore, the only way you can go to Heaven is by having faith in Jesus. If you believe that he died on the cross to forgive you and to save you from your sins, and if you accept him as your personal Savior and Lord, the bible says that you are being saved by the grace of God.
About a month ago, a newspaper was delivered to my office. A picture on the first page caught my attention. There was a picture of four men running on a track. Inside the picture, one man was blindfolded, another man was wearing sunglasses. “Well, that’s strange.” I thought to myself. Who in the world wears blindfold or Sunglasses in Olympics? I picked up the newspaper to look at it closely and found the title of the article where it says, “2020 Paralympics in Tokyo. Men’s 100m final.” It was the picture of the Paralympics. Paralympics is the Olympics game for the disabled. Can you imagine a blind man running toward the finish line? How can a man who cannot see run on a track? It is only possible for blind athletes to participate in track games because they have so-called, guide-runners besides them.
[Please, show us the picture on the screen.] If you look at the picture, you can find the man who is blindfolded, and the man who is wearing sunglasses. Next to them, you can see their guile runners wearing orange uniforms. A blind athlete and his guide runner hold a tether in their hands which connects them together. In that way, blind athletes can run on a track toward the finish line without getting sidetracked.
To us, Jesus is the guide runner for Heaven. Just like blind athletes need their guild runners to lead them to the finish line, we need Jesus to show us the way to enter the kingdom of God. There is no substitute for Jesus. No one can replace him. Only he can lead us to Heaven. The Bible clearly says about this. Please, join me as I read Acts 4:12. “(Acts 4:12) And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” Just as only the official guide runners, who are approved by the Paralympics committee, can run next to the athletes, only Jesus, the one and only Savior approved by God, is eligible to be our guide runner to Heaven. There is no one else who can save us from our sins, but Jesus. Jesus is not one of the many ways to reach Heaven. He is the one and only way to Heaven. This is the core message that we’ve been teaching and learning at Cornerstone. Jesus is the only way to Heaven
- Jesus is the truth
Second, Jesus is the truth who can lead us to Heaven. He said “I am the truth. No one comes to the Father except through me.” We try to understand the world where we are living in. We study the world, and we expose ourselves to the world to experience it. Books, schools, classes, lessons, and experience help us to understand it better. Nonetheless, we still don’t understand fully the mysteries in our lives. Sometimes we ask big questions which we ourselves cannot answer. What is the origin of our universe? What are the rules? Who sets the rules? Or are there even rules to keep? Who decides what is good or bad and what is right or wrong? What is the purpose of human life? What happens after we die? How does the world end? We are just overwhelmed by these questions. Our minds can be bombarded with endless questions. Yet, we know deep inside that we ourselves cannot give answers to these kinds of questions. It’s too big and too deep. To our surprise, the Bible can give us the answers to the questions that I just mentioned.
Please, allow me to share a story. It all started on July 30th, 1967 at the very beginning of hot Summer. A girl named [Joni Eareckson Tada] lived in Baltimore Maryland. She was 17 years old. She lived a very active life. She enjoyed riding horses, hiking, tennis, and swimming. Joni and her friends went to Chesapeake Bay for swimming. Not knowing the water wasn’t deep enough, after diving into the shallow water, her spine was broken. The incident took an irreversible toll on her. She became paralyzed. She couldn’t move her body below her neck. She tried everything she could to recover from the damage, but it was no use. Her broken body forced her to spend the remainder of her days in a wheelchair, without any feeling in her hands or legs. She was totally devastated. Did I tell you that she was only 17 years old when this misfortune happened? While her friends were busy spending their time chasing after their dreams of going to college, Joni was hospitalized for years. One moment, she was so mad, and the next moment she felt so sad. She felt as if she was riding an endless roller-coaster which made her angry or depressed. There was no way to get out of it. Day after day, she cried until she felt like there were no tears left inside of her. “Why did happen to me? Why?” She kept asking this question thousands of times, yet she couldn’t find the answer. For several times, she tried to commit suicide. But her story wasn’t doomed to be finished yet. (Please show the picture on the screen.)
One day, a visitor came to the hospital. The visitor shared the Bible verse with her. It was from John 10:10. The word from Jesus himself. “(10:10) I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” Joni was skeptical and cynical about the words she had just heard. “What? This isn’t living. My life is useless. There is no way this is the life abundant!” She was furious and she hated God. But as to her surprise, that passage kept linger on in her heart.
After three years of rehabilitation, she was getting used to living a new life being quadriplegic: unable to use her hand and feet. During occupational therapy, she learned to paint with a brush between her teeth. Even in that darkest season in her life, a glimmer of hope was still shining. Joni knew who Jesus is. She knew Jesus Christ as her personal Savior. Little by little the promises of God’s word spoke to her suffering heart. As her faith grew, her life was transformed, and she began to embrace her life again. During the rehabilitation, Joni didn’t just learn how to function. In those quiet times, she realized that her life was meaningful because her life was still valuable to God. (Please show the next pictures)
Joni’s earnest struggle to find hope has resonated with millions of people around the world. The hard-earned truths she shared revealed the power of God’s love to transform, as well as the triumph of faith over pain and suffering. Joni found the true meaning of life in Jesus. Jesus is the truth. He is the only one who can provide you with the answers to your life. Are you looking for the ultimate purpose or meaning in your life? Seek Jesus and you will find the true treasure that you have been searching for. Jesus is the truth. He is the only one who can give us the true meaning of our lives.
- Jesus is the Life
Thirdly, Jesus is the life. He said, “I am the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” In one of the scriptures of Buddhism, there is a story about a widow who lived with her son. One day her son died. She rushed to Buddha immediately. “Buddha, my son died. What can I do to bring him back to life? If I could make my son come alive again, I am willing to forsake my own life.” said the widow. “Go down the village and seek for a house owner who has never seen death. If you find one, ask for the water and pour that water into your son’s mouth. Then your son will come back to life again.” Buddha answered calmly. The widow ran around the whole village, she knocked on every door that she could find. “Hello, I am looking for a house owner who has never seen death.” “Oh, I am sorry. My father passed away last year.” She went to another house. “My grandmother died two months ago.” She spent the whole day searching and searching. But she couldn’t find one. The widow went back to Buddha. “Buddha, I asked the whole village, yet I couldn’t find a house or a person that has never seen death.” The tears were dropping from her chin. Buddha opened his mouth and said, “Life is like a circle. Pray that he may reincarnate in a better life.” That was it! That was the end of the story! Buddha couldn’t do anything! When it comes to the matter of life and death Buddha kept silent. Because he had no power to control it.
There is a similar story in the Bible. There was a city named [Nain]. There was a widow living with his son. Her son died, and the funeral began. The mother and people were moaning in distress. While they were on their way to the graveyard, the funeral procession ran into Jesus. Jesus saw the widow’s only son was being carried out for burial. When Jesus saw her, he had compassion for her. Jesus said to her “Don’t cry.” Then he went over and touched the coffin. The pallbearers stopped. Then Jesus said to the dead son, “Young man, I say to you, arise. The Bible says that the dead son sat up and began talking. Jesus presented him to his mother. People realized they were in a place of holy mystery, that God was at work among them. They were quietly worshipful and then noisily grateful, calling out among themselves, “God is back, looking to the needs of his people!”
Do you see the difference between Buddha and Jesus? Jesus is full of life. To tell you the truth, Jesus is the life itself! Jesus said in the Bible, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all.” There is no one like Jesus!
Cornerstone Church, as we celebrate our church’s 11th anniversary, I want all of us to accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through him: we can find the way to heaven through Jesus; we can find the answers to our lives through Jesus; we can find the true hope of the world through Jesus. Jesus died on the cross to save us. Jesus has risen from the dead. Jesus is going to come back to save the world! Cornerstone, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author, and perfecter of our faith.