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- [00:00]
A
I'm just thankful for all those who are willing to share tonight. And it's just going to be a time of just giving thanks to the Lord and you'll be hearing from people words of encouragement about God's grace. So that's why this is one of my favorite times, because I get to sit with you and listen and just be encouraged about what the Lord is doing in different people's lives. And so this is how we. We give thanks to, to the Lord here and how we have an opportunity to just rejoice with one another as the Lord is doing different things in the lives of people. I thought it was important for me to open with Scripture. I'm going to read Psalm 100, but I'd also like to read for the moment, the proclamation that President Trump issued yesterday. I think it's always important when we have a national proclamation, particularly here on this Thanksgiving eve, to read the words of the president, as President Trump has made this proclamation. And so let me read it to us. Here we go. In 1789, just years after America's triumph over tyranny and the Revolutionary War, President George Washington established the first National Day of Thanksgiving, declaring, quote, the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor. Decades later, in the midst of the bloody Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln implored the nation to join in unity for, quote, a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens in every generation since, this spirit of reverence, trust and gratitude has preserved our way of life and made America the strongest, greatest, and most resilient nation the world has ever known. From the pilgrims who settled our continent and the patriots who won our independence on the battlefield, to the pioneers who tamed the west and the warriors who have preserved our freedom in distant lands, the spirit of gratitude and grit embodied by those who celebrated the first Thanksgiving more than 400 years ago have stood at the very heart of what it means to be an American this year. God has bestowed abundant blessings all across our land and indeed the entire world, as we give thanks to Him. We continue to advance our nation through strong leadership and common sense policy. As a result, the American economy is roaring back. We are making progress on lowering the cost of living. A new era of peace is sweeping around the world. Our sovereignty is being swiftly restored, and the American spirit is coming back greater and more powerful than ever before. And as we Prepare to celebrate 250 glorious years of American independence. This Thanksgiving, we summon the faith, resolve and and unflinching fortitude of the giants of American history who came before us. We vow to build a future that echoes their sacrifice. Above all, we offer our endless gratitude to Almighty God for his love, grace and infinite blessings. Now, therefore, I, Donald J. Trump, President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim Thursday, November 27, 2025 as a National day of Thanksgiving. I encourage all Americans to gather in homes and places of worship to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings. In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 25th day of November in the year of our Lord 2025, and of the independence of the United States of America, the 250th. Donald J. Trump Amen and amen. Reading now from Psalm 100. I'm going to read all of it, but it's okay. It's only five verses. Relax. Make a joyful shout to the Lord all you lands. Serve the Lord with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who has made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into his gates with thanksgiving and into his courts with praise. Be thankful to him and bless his name. For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and his truth endures to all generations. Amen and amen. Well, I'm going to open up with prayer, and then we're going to hear from our first speaker. Each person is going to share for just about five minutes, and the first speaker you'll hear is Steve Ruff. But let's first have a word of prayer. Lord, we thank you for this evening. We can gather here in your house and we do just begin by giving you thanks and praise for who you are and all that you have done for us. Lord, we stand amazed at your mercy and your love and your grace toward us. And we rejoice with those who are going to be sharing tonight. We ask you, Lord, to just calm their nerves as they share and for you to be glorified in what they share. And we thank you, Lord, for how you are at work in their lives, or they will give testimonies of how you have worked in their lives. But all of it is for your glory and for your praise. We don't touch the glory, Lord. We want you to be glorified in this place. This is your house. And so on this Thanksgiving eve, we just pause to humble ourselves and to show our gratitude towards you and to show you, Lord, and to declare with our mouths how thankful we are for your many blessings. So we are encouraged tonight in your house. Be glorified. We pray in Jesus name. Amen and amen. All right, Steve. Can we welcome Steve Ruff, everybody? You're welcome, brother.
- [06:34]
B
Oh, God bless you, brother.
- [06:36]
A
Thank you for sharing.
- [06:38]
C
Okay, I'm not nervous. Good evening, Cornerstone family. I'm Steve Ruff, and it's been such a blessing to be a part of this church since September 2021, when my faith partner, Antoine Watson, who is a special friend of mine, came here first and told me how great and special this house of worship was. And so I came. And God works through this house of worship and has touched so many lives, including mine. I've been participating in the prayer ministry of Pastor Mike Emerson for a few years and have made many friends at Cornerstone, which I'm honored to say is my church home. In September, I was so blessed to have Pastor Gary pray for me and anoint me for God's healing, for the cancer I'm going through now. Any and be prayed over by the prayer team here. They're great. And the women's ministry and many other wonderful friends here at church. Currently, I have been diagnosed with a very rare form of a cancer called Ewing sarcoma, and it's a form of that which is quite rare. After this. After this diagnosis was changed initially from stage three bladder cancer to this current one in January this year, I've been through two and a half months of chemotherapy from February through April this year, followed by surgery in June to remove my urinary bladder and prostate, where the tumor was found. Three and a half weeks after surgery, I had sepsis, which put me back in the hospital in rehab for several more weeks. After returning home, the pathology report came which indicated no metastatic growth. Pretty strong. So. So it just was a tumor that was removed. And, you know, that's a blessing beyond words. It was only. Sorry. It was only remaining in my bloodstream after that. In September, I started cancer treatment for the Ewing sarcoma and then had a hernia injury, which was repaired several weeks later. Now I'm being treated for a blood infection as a result of the next round of chemo, which I just experienced about a week and a half ago. I just got out of 10 days at Inova Fairfax Hospital on Sunday, and that infection was treated and I finished antibiotics and they put a Drain tube in my left kidney over here to drain the excess fluid that wasn't coming out that got infected and caused the whole thing. Throughout this journey with cancer this year, the Lord has been ministering to me and helping me in ways I never had experienced before. On December 22 last year of my first week at Fair Oaks Hospital, I just finished watching early Sunday morning service from Cornerstone and the sun came through the room and it had been a cloudy week and I was just. The sun was so welcoming and it felt warm. I. It filled me with joy. And in the hospital room in a beautiful light came through the window blinds in the form of two little angel wings that beamed down through the window blinds and I knew God was there. It also was my parents wedding anniversary that day and I was thinking of them since they had been with the Lord and was missing them deeply. Then on May 12, later in the spring, I was nervous and waiting for my first appointment with the surgeon that was going to do the major surgery to remove my bladder and prostate as Sibley Memorial Hospital. While I sat waiting in the coffee shop. And I was really nervous because that was the biggest decision about my body that I could ever make. And I. I didn't know what to do. So there were several choices but I heard, I just closed my eyes and prayed and I was alone. There was only one other person in the coffee shop and my. My brother had taken me there. But I was sitting there alone and I heard a still small voice in my head, almost a whisper saying this is the right place and the right thing to do. Don't worry and it will be fine. I mean that's exactly what I heard after that. And it wasn't coming from me. I. I don't know where it came from. After that I felt an incredible peace and could feel good about the big decision to have the surgery and to have it there with that surgeon and her team and it turned out to be just fine. I'm happy and glad that the voice was there to comfort me and help me. Also. On June 18th I was in Sibley Hospital after surgery in my hospital room starting to having a very bloody experience with stools in the bathroom. And that lasted for a little over two days. And it was pretty scary because turned it black and it was frightening. So the doctor ordered a full endoscopy and colonoscopy for that Friday and before that the night before. I prayed for the bleeding to stop as it. As I had the previous two nights and then about 7:30 at night the night before that. Procedure. I couldn't believe it, but I went to the bathroom and the bleeding was gone. Gone. And everything. Everything looked normal. And then the next morning, they took me down to have the two procedures, endoscopy and colonoscopy. And they couldn't find a source of the bleeding. So I knew God had stopped the bleeding. Praise Jesus. And then I called Pastor Derek. I couldn't reach anybody. I was like, I gotta call somebody. And then I called Antoine, too, and explain. Oops, I'm sorry. Explained the whole thing to Pastor Derek. He said, that's pretty amazing. And I knew God had touched me then. As I go on this journey with the Lord through these chemotherapy treatments, medical opportunities, challenges yet to come. Like Pastor Gary said, I'm in the middle of this battle right now, and I don't know what the future holds, but I know he holds it for me. And other unexpected turns in the road. I've learned to trust him more and more and commit more of my life to him as my Lord and Savior. I have had a much stronger, clearer understanding of just how real God is and how he is with us all the time. He's right next to us. He's right next to you, and he doesn't let you go. He watches over every think. My great hope is that he is with us all the time. And my great hope is that each of us will take the opportunity to invite Jesus into our hearts and accept him as our personal Lord and Savior and understand the gift he really is from God. I hope and pray that my journey with cancer has helped to inspire, encourage you to open your heart and get to know the real God who loves you and gave his son for you. I want to. I want to thank my angel brother Scott, who's watching, and his and his wife, angel Laura, for all their love, prayers, and support of my journey. I can't thank him enough. And my angel brother Eric and his wife Maggie, their son Brendan, his fiance Brittany, for their prayers and love and every step along the way. My sincere thanks to my faith partner, Antoine, for his prayers and support, and to my wonderful Cornerstone Church family. Thank you for your faith and your prayers that are so very, very much appreciated every day. God bless you all. I love you. And the joy of the Lord is my strength. Thank you.
- [15:08]
D
Pray for you.
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C
Thank you.
- [15:11]
A
Thank you, Colonel Yeah, okay, How about. How about we pray for Steve and you remember his name, too, during. During your days when you're healthy, remember to pray for Steve. And by the way, you're being treated at Sibley Memorial Hospital. That's where I was born.
- [15:30]
C
Oh, wow.
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B
I was born there.
- [15:32]
C
I love it there. There's a piece about that.
- [15:34]
A
Yeah, well, it wasn't because I was born there.
- [15:36]
C
Yeah, it might have been.
- [15:37]
A
I think that's the Lord's piece there. But. But, Father, we just pray for Steve right now that you would touch him, Lord. Thank you for his testimony. You're sustaining him, Lord, and you've already shown yourself faithful to him, and we just thank you for that. And we just pray for a full recovery, Lord, that you can do for him what man is limited to do. Nothing is impossible with you, Lord. So touch and heal him is our prayer. And we thank you for his life. In Jesus name, Amen. Amen.
- [16:11]
E
Thank you, brother.
- [16:11]
A
Thank you. Thank you, Steve. All right, Eliana Joy. Oh, you have some fans out here. You're a student at Patrick Henry College, right? All right. Come share, Eliana. Thank you.
- [16:47]
F
All right.
- [16:47]
G
Hello, everyone. My name is Eliana Joy Briceno, and as Pastor Gary said, I'm currently a student at Patrick Henry College. But more importantly, I'm a lover of Jesus and loved by him. In March of 2025, following Hurricane Helene, I joined a team from Cornerstone for a natural disaster relief trip down to Asheville, North Carolina. Upon arriving, we were assigned to a construction project. And I was petrified because, well, see, I have pretty nails. And the last time I hung a painting to my wall, I. I used the back of a hardcover book. By the end of the first day, my hands were filthy and I had learned how to use a nail gun. It was great. But I lied in my sleeping bag and just asked God why he brought me here because I felt like the least qualified person to be there. The following morning, we returned back to the construction sites and. And I felt the Holy Spirit prompt me to go talk to the homeowner. So I happily sat down next to John and I asked how I could be praying for his two twin children. He shared their story. He shared how, at five months old, their mother left them, only to return eight years later with an abusive boyfriend and demand custody. John won the three year custody battle, but the damage had already been done. John walked away from his faith unable to believe in a God that would allow his children to be abused. Now 15, his kids hadn't been in school for years because of perpetual panic attacks. He asked for prayer for two things. Firstly, his twins were dealing with identity issues. His daughter identified as transgender, even going by a different name. Secondly, he said, look, I appreciate the work that you're doing. On our house. But I just want my kids back. I just want to see the light in their eyes restored. Soon, one of his kids came out of the house. She had short, bright red hair, was wearing an oversized graphic T shirt and had her eyes glued to the ground as she mumbled a question to her dad. I asked her, your dad tells me you like art. Can I see some? She looked up at me and said, okay. Her dad told her to go inside and grab some art to show me. He said to me, she doesn't talk to anyone. She talked to you. Please like her art. She came outside carrying two masks and I exclaimed, whoa. I love the color you used for the blood. How did you get the ears to look like that? She brought me inside to show me more of her heart. The house was dark and it smelled of mold. She opened her bedroom door to a room that reeked. The only light came from a computer monitor as the windows were blacked out and that light illuminated walls covered in arts and masks. The demonic oppression in that room was unmistakable. I prayed, lord, please help me and then I stepped inside. She explained to me that the art was inspired by a demonic TV show character that would come to her in her dreams and that the masks represented alternative Personas. I took a wrong step and realized that the stench came from a collection of animal bones. I helped her install these LED lights that I found in her room unopened. And while I installed the lights and also cleaned her room, she shared more of her story and and we discovered we had so much in common. I have also dealt with family brokenness. We both had a physical disability that causes chronic pain and fatigue and we both were dyslexic. She asked me how I managed and to answer her I quoted the words of Joni Ericson Tada, the weaker I am, the harder I must lean into God's grace. The harder I lean into his grace, the stronger I discover him to be and the bolder my testimony. The answer, I told her was Jesus. She told me that she couldn't accept Jesus because so called Christians bullied her online and that her only other friend was encouraging her to worship the Greek and Roman gods practicing paganism. Another similarity that we discovered to have in common was a passion for music. I asked if she played any instruments and she told me that her family was too poor to afford instruments much lessons. As the week wrapped up, I felt God tell me to give John's daughter my guitar that I named Chad. And I told him no. Chad was my most prized possession. But God reminded me of the time that I had spent with him that very morning in the book of Joshua, and how God's promise to never leave or forsake the Israelites and the assurance that they could have to be strong and courageous was prefaced by the command of obedience. So I took Chad, and John's daughter was delighted. But she protested that she didn't know how to play. So I told her, come inside, I'll teach you. In a room now illuminated by newly installed lights and open windows, stench departed. I totter the chords to this worship song. Glorious day, you called my name and I ran out of that grave, out of the darkness, into your glorious day. I wish I could stand before you and tell you that in that room, John's daughter accepted Jesus. I can't one day. But what I can tell you is that strongholds were broken. We went back last June to Asheville, North Carolina, and invited the family to visit the church we were staying at. The twins walked in and said hello to the team members. John spends all of dinner conversing with pastors, and I can tell you that the light in their eyes was restored. John's daughter, where is she today? Well, she now has enrolled in a GED program. She has cut ties from her friend, encouraging her to practice paganism, and she has now included a set of she her female pronouns in her social media bio. Acts 16, 26, 17, and 18 showed me why God sent me to Asheville. I send you now to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. That's why cornerstone missions are so impactful. And I'm abundantly thankful for the guidance that God gave me, his goodness and the gift of that opportunity. Thank you.
- [25:18]
A
Nice job. You went from a nail salon to a nail gun. I love it.
- [25:23]
C
Yeah.
- [25:24]
A
Well, what a great story. Thank you for sharing that. You know, you never know how the Lord will use you like Eliana on a trip like that. So thank you for sharing that. We've got a video testimony. This is going to be Josh Marzano and his mom. Josh came from the west coast and was on staff here for a short period of time. Moved back home because his father has some health issues. But Josh and his mom are going to share by video. So take a look at the screens.
- [25:55]
H
When I was really young, I had friends that introduced me to Jesus. I knew there was a God and a heaven. That's pretty much all I knew. So I didn't get that from my parents, any kind of faith. So as time went on, I didn't think much about Jesus and God and all the faith that other people had. My friend had some medical issues and I went to visit her. She was in so much pain. And I right away realized that there is something that needs to change for myself. Because she says to me, I'm doing this today because I'm praying. And that's all I can do to make myself feel better and get through this with Jesus healing me. That was the exact moment that I thought to myself, I need Jesus in my life. So when I left there, from that point on, I couldn't stop getting Jesus off my mind. I had some surgery right about that time. I had six weeks off at work and I was able to just get into everything I could to find out about Jesus. And one day my son called me and he says to me, mom, I just found my faith with Jesus. And I said, I have too. I came from Washington State to be baptized here because I wanted to be with my son. It was just the most wonderful experience. My heart was absolutely bursting with joy. It was like full circle for me and my son. We started off together in our faith. We experienced so many things from God, the blessings that we got. And it was one of those things that it's once in a lifetime when you have Jesus right beside you. My life has changed so much since I've been saved. I just thank the Lord Almighty. I give him all the glory. I give him the praise. He's blessed me beyond blessings. And I'm just so thankful, so thankful that I've got God in my life now.
- [28:18]
B
Amen.
- [28:24]
A
Conlon, Conlon. Rupp. Come on up here and share. God bless you, brother.
- [28:41]
D
Hello. Some of you may know me, but for those of you who don't, my name is Conlon. And last April. April of 2024, in my second semester of college, I was diagnosed with stage three Burkitt's lymphoma, which is a rare, fast developing cancer that at that point had spread to most areas of my body. In the following year, I went through seven rounds of chemo. And it was difficult. It was a difficult experience. And then two weeks ago, with a final PET scan, I was finally declared in full remission. My struggle with cancer was a really difficult thing to go through. It was a difficult experience that I walked through. And my message to anyone who's going through it right now, or who knows someone who's going through it right now is keep fighting, keep leaning into God. It's only by his grace that I'm standing here before you today. And he has been so good in my life throughout this whole journey. God bringing me through my battle with cancer is a miracle. And I'm blessed to be standing here to tell you all my story. And part of my testimony is the goodness of those around me, the love of Christ through them. I remember the visits. I remember the prayers from people across the country. I remember the nurses who would come to my bedside and pray with me. I remember those practical needs that were met, such as meals coming from many of you even. And then the words of encouragement in times that I needed it when I was having a difficult day, the texts and calls that came just at the right time, and the verses that gave me a little bit more encouragement every day. Just all of the people around me being the hands and feet of God in my life. The love of God was visible and real to me in my time battling cancer. And when I was thinking of what to say today, God placed a pen passage on my heart that I want to read for you all. And it's First John 4, verses 16 through 19. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him. Love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love. But perfect love casts out fear because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love him because he first loved us. The reason why I was able to get through my battle with cancer is because of the perfect love of Christ. It casts out fear and brings that peace that we all know of, that surpasses understanding. We've all heard those stories. That God loves us, that he's our shelter, that he's our strength, that he's our firm foundation, the rock that we can stand upon. But it's hard to truly understand the love of Christ until you experience it firsthand. When you experience that love, that peace, that goodness in your life. And understanding God's full love for you requires a full submission to Him. It's not until you know your need for Christ, when you know how much he loves you and how much he cares for you and how much he has for your life. During treatment, my place and position on earth was never clear. I didn't know what the next day would hold. I didn't know what the next month or the next year would hold. And I didn't know if I'd even be here, still standing here with you all today. But even though my place on earth was never clear, my place and position in heaven was. I knew that I had that future hope to look forward to. And I knew that God had a plan and a purpose for my life, whatever that may look like. I wasn't afraid in my time, in my battle with cancer, because God was there beside me, guiding me every step of the way. I could tell you plenty of verses that talk about the love of Christ. I could quote Romans 5:8, that God demonstrated His own love for us and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. But it's hard to know that if you haven't personally experienced it. My message for you all is Paul's message to the Ephesians. I hope that you're able to comprehend with all the strengths or all the saints, the breadth, the length, the height and the depth of God's love for you. And that comes from a relationship with God. And then once you understand that love that he has for you, I hope that you're able to show that love to those around you. A few verses before that one that I shared earlier, in verse 11, it says, Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. Our love for others is an overflow of God's love for us. I was able to experience that love through the whole body of Christ, through the believers who came alongside me, who guided me through my journey. And I hope that I'm able to share that love with others. Now my battle with cancer is over, but my testimony has just begun. And I hope that I'm able to show that love, be that light in dark places, and help others to understand that height, that breadth, length and depth of God's love for them. And I hope that you all are able to share that as well. If you know Christ, I hope you're able to share your testimonies, to share your stories, and share that love that God has for you in the lives of everyone around you. We've been given an amazing gift in him, and I'm just happy that I was able to stand here today and share with you my story. Thank you.
- [33:40]
A
Thank you for sharing that. You know, the medical community has to always be cautious and use the word remission. And I just want to pray for you that. That the Lord has a different word and removed right instead of just remission. We want to pray the Lord has removed this from your body. And we thank the Lord that God uses medicine to accomplish his wills too, for healing of our bodies. But we just want to pray for you, Conlon, that, Lord, in Jesus name. We understand the medical community has to use a word like remission. But you can use a word, Lord, like removed. Because you can remove this cancer if you haven't already, Lord, completely from his body. And that's what we pray for, for you to make sure, Lord, we pray in Jesus name for this never to return, that you have removed it for your glory, Lord. And we thank you for Conlin's testimony, how gracious you have been to him. Thank you for the encouragement that he has given to us through this testimony. And we just praise you for him in Jesus name. Amen. And amen. Thank you, Kama.
- [34:42]
F
Yeah.
- [34:48]
A
All right. We've got some online testimonies that have been texted in. You got some for us, Austin? Yes, absolutely.
- [34:56]
E
We just want to also celebrate with those who have submitted their praise reports online. And so I have just a few to share share with us tonight. And these are all coming in to us via text message. Someone first says thankful for the entire pastoral and administrative team here at Cornerstone. They have been instrumental in supporting my wife and me during our first few months of leading a K group in Alexandria. Our K group ministry is our small group ministry says the the sermon notes have been so helpful and truly encouraging. Huge thanks to the team praising God for his love and kindness. Someone else texted in, I give thanks to God for saving my husband three months ago and for the new life he has in Christ. Someone said, praising the Lord that my wife and I were able to conceive after being told that it most likely wouldn't happen. We're praising the Lord for a precious baby from Anthony and Bri. Praising God for reconciliation with our oldest son after three and a half years. That's coming from. From Scott from Raleigh, North Carolina. Someone says they've been coming every Wednesday praying and hoping for a baby. And today they had their first ultrasound and heard the baby's heartbeat. So praising the Lord for that as well. Someone else texted in, God is restoring our marriage of 45 years. Praise God. Thankful for finding Cornerstone. Without you, we would have no church. You're teaching us so very much. Someone else says, we would like to praise the Lord because after three years of struggling with multiple miscarriages, we now have a beautiful baby girl. Praise God, someone. Yes, praise the Lord. I don't have my glasses on, so I need to. I need to put this up a little bit higher. Someone says, God's gotten me through two Kidney transplants and many of many other health issues. I'm thankful for that. Someone else says, thank you, Jesus, for reconciliation with my mother and brothers. We also had several people text in just in the last few days saying they've decided to follow Jesus and get saved. And then finally, someone texted in. My brother Spencer has Down syndrome and is a frequent attender of Cornerstone special needs Ministry. Sadly, a CT scan two weeks ago showed a large mass on his lung. But just yesterday, a chest X ray revealed that the mass has miraculously disappeared. And tonight, Praise the Lord. Spencer is upstairs right now in our special needs ministry, worshiping the Lord. So many other praise reports that came in. We just want to say we love you, those who are watching online, who are out of town, out of state. We just consider you a part of our church family, our church home, and we celebrate alongside you of the wonderful ways that God is working in your life. All right, next up is a testimony coming to you by way of video. You're going to hear from Delnica Cox and the amazing way that she came to know the Lord and have a personal relationship with him. Check this out.
- [37:57]
I
My name is Delnica Cox, and I was born and raised in Northern Virginia. I had multiple relationships which came with my children, but the pattern was always the same with them. It was always, you know, drinking, smoking. I had the child, but the man never stayed. My youngest son's aunt and her husband and my cousin, we were all on their back patio. We were talking about heaven and the Bible. And they showed me Romans 10, 9. And it said, clear as day, if you profess with your mouth and believe that Jesus is Lord and that he raised from the dead, you will be saved. And at that very moment, it was a fire lit in my heart and in my whole entire body. And I was like, show me more. And at that point, my youngest son's aunt introduced me to Cornerstone and told me about it. And we started watching online and online, went to watching, going in person. I was sitting on the edge of my seat. I tried to get my youngest son's dad to come join the church, as I did with all the previous relationships. And he looked at me, he walked away, and 20 minutes later, he came back and said, we are breaking the lease. You have to find a new place to live. By February, I had reached out to the US Outreach team, and I gave them my situation, told them what I was going through, and the team just worked behind the scenes as the body of Christ. They got us home and they got us set up. They helped US move. They got us all the things that we needed to start over. And from then on, it was like Jesus was speaking so much love.
- [39:26]
G
I'm sorry.
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I
He was making so much love to me. That that was the man that I was looking for this whole time. I was able to join the children's ministry. I was able to join CCBI to learn more. My daughter, she was able to be equipped into the Word before going out to college, and my boys were able to go to cca. And so. And with that, I give him all the glory and the thanks for redeeming my life.
- [39:54]
F
He.
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I
He has took away all the alcohol, all the smoking. My anxiety was completely gone, my depression completely gone. All medication was thrown out because he said I only needed him and it was only him and through him that I could live. Thank you, Cornerstone Chapel and BeneVolence team, the U.S. outreach team, for everything that you have done. Thank you. You have tremendously changed our lives in the last two years. You are absolutely amazing.
- [40:29]
A
What a great story. Thank you. Delanyka. That's the woman at the well story. Finding Jesus and realizing she had been thirsty all this time, but that Jesus could satisfy the deepest longing of her soul. And so what a great story. And praise God for single moms, that God is a father to the fatherless and that God will sustain them as a family. And so that was a wonderful testimony. Well, we have one more in person, and then we're going to have a closing song. So don't go away. You don't want to miss this last story. This is Chris Garcia and his wife, Ashlyn Garcia. You want to come on up here and Chris, share your story? Let's welcome them.
- [41:27]
B
Good evening, Cornerstone Family. My name is Chris Garcia. I'm 29 years old, and I've been married to my loving wife Ashlynow for five years. We have four beautiful children at five years old, three years old, two and one. Three boys and one girl. I just want to share a little bit about our story and some things that God's done for us within these last few years. He's blessed us in so many ways, but there's no way I could fit everything with the time that I have. But to share a little bit, I'll jump right in. So all throughout my high school years and some years after, I was at a very dark place in my life. I was anti Christian. I mocked God. I wore inverted crosses on my clothes. I was a drug addict. I've sold drugs. I never drug in the book, but I was addicted to Xanax and weed. I've overdosed. I've had a seizure from withdrawal from Xanax. I've woken up on the side of the road, car crashed, have no idea what happened. Multiple times. I should have been dead multiple times. But praise God, I'm here today to be able to share my story. And I pray this may reach somebody who could be going through something similar. I never wanted any kids, never wanted to get married or anything like that. But God had a different plan for me. I met my wife at Giant Food where I was working at the time. And shortly after we started dating, she got pregnant. And shortly after that she got into a very bad car accident on 95. She walked away with some bruises and scratches and that was it. And she was fine, the baby was fine. So praise God for that. When we first started dating, I always hid my drug use from her. I never wanted her to see that side of me. I did slow down a lot at first, but that took a turn at the midpoint of her pregnancy as I got hooked on Fentanyl badly. Things were up and down between us and she was going to leave me one day when I begged her for one more chance and she, she gave me that chance. After that I realized I needed some help and I got the help I needed. And praise God, I've been clean now for over five years. We had our son right at the heart of COVID and so that was scary being first time parents as the doctors and news media were saying so many different things. We were living with their parents at the time and had decided that we needed our own space. We wouldn't have been able to afford a home, but just so happened to be the perfect time to buy one as interest rates were at an all time low in the US So God then blessed us with the home that we live in now in Orange County. So shortly after that, my wife was working from home to be able to take care of our son and was still going to school, but had cut back on her classes. She met a friend there that attended Cornerstone. Her friend then invited her to go to church with her, but my wife said, oh, we live over an hour away, there's no way I could make it. So her friend replied, okay, well that's no excuse not to go to church because you can watch it online. So she started watching every Sunday and tried getting me to watch, but I never wanted any parts of it. So to fast forward a little more, we had our two boys and our baby girl. At this point, things were getting Stressful between the family financials and working six days a week. And it was wearing on me. So me being me, I started smoking weed again. And for me to justify myself, I would argue saying, some people like to drink alcohol and I like to smoke weed. It's just my thing. So that's how I talked her into allowing it for me to be able to afford my bad habit. I started selling weed again. The weight of that was really catching up to me. Financially it was good, but I was very paranoid about going to jail as I wouldn't be able to support my wife or kids from there. So I started researching how to make money legally from investing and real estate and different things like that. I devoted a ton of my time to that. And months went by. I was just spinning in circles, going nowhere. And one day I was in the garage by myself, kind of feeling like a failure of a father and husband as we didn't have a lot of money. As I'm sitting there, I saw two roads, one road going the same path I was on, going nowhere. Or I could go down this road. And for whatever reason, it just popped in my head that I could pursue God. So I said out loud, God, if you're real, show me that you're real. And show me that you're real and I'll follow you. And lo and behold, later that night, I'm up on YouTube just watching videos as my wife and kids are asleep. A Christian video pops up, and so I click on it. I started watching videos for hours. And I'm just blown away at this point. I'm watching people's testimonies, prophecies that have been fulfilled, different teachings, and the Bible was just becoming alive to me. I couldn't believe it. And so three o' clock in the morning, the pastor had said the sinner's prayer, and I gave my life to Christ. That night. I had asked God to fill me with this Holy Spirit. And it was just amazing. I broke down in tears of joy and I had a peace that I've never felt before. I literally felt the darkness flee and just the weights off my shoulders. That was a pivoting moment, not just for myself, but for my family as we put Christ at the center. Now, the coolest part about this, though, was that the next day, my wife had told me that she had been praying for me to get saved for the last two weeks straight. So that was just amazing. Praise the Lord for that. So shortly after getting saved, the Holy Spirit was convicting me, and I knew I needed to Stop selling and smoking weed. I stopped smoking and had no issues with that. But selling weed was a bit harder as we used that money for bills. After many days of denying the Holy Spirit, I went to the bank to deposit a large amount of drug money and was next in line. I saw the person in front of me deposit cash with no issues. When it was my turn, I put the money in and it spit it right back to me. So I tried again with a smaller amount and still the same thing. After multiple failed attempts, I walked away mad that I couldn't deposit the cash at the same ATM I had always used, never having any problems. So as I sat in my car, it hit me that once again I was being told to put an end to this. I rode home thinking, how the heck am I going to tell my wife that we have to stop? As we relied on that money to pay our bills. Well, I finally decided to tell her and she revealed that the Holy Spirit was leading her the exact same way. And so we decided it was time to stop and put our financial struggles in God's hands. The money that I couldn't deposit, we prayed about it and decided to give it to the church here.
- [47:20]
A
We won't spit it out at you, brother. Praise God. We take drug money, brother. I tell you what, we'll take it all. It's been redeemed.
- [47:33]
B
It's been redeemed, man.
- [47:34]
A
That's right.
- [47:35]
B
It's all right. Oh, man. So after a few months of having to dip into our savings to pay bills, sure enough, God came through for us. He blessed me with a new job. And at my new job, I make a lot more money than I did at Giant. I'm able to study my Bible every day while being there. I'm able to listen to Pastor Gary's teachings on the Cornerstone app all while I'm working. My wife is able to be a stay at home mom and now homeschools our oldest son. I'm off weekends now so we're able to come here on Sundays. So praise the Lord for all that. Just. Yeah, yeah. Just some incredible things that God has done for us that we're thankful for as we wouldn't be where we are today without him. Our oldest son recently got baptized by Pastor Gary as he loves Christ so much and our other kids do as well. They pray together, watch Christian kids shows, we read the Bible to them. So just some really, really cool stuff. There's so many other things I could say that God has done for us. From my mom's breast cancer Being healed to my oldest sister getting saved, which like me, nobody would have ever thought would happen. All praise and glory be to God. God can take anyone from their lowest point and bring them life. All these great things happened for my wife's friend, inviting her to church. Even though she didn't go, the seed was still planted and it resulted in many souls getting saved. Don't ever fall into the devil's trap like I did. He's a liar and master deceiver. He wants to pull you away from God by any which way he can. All cause you're made in God's image. Jesus tells us to go and make disciples of all nations. So don't ever be afraid to share the gospel with anyone as you never know what God will do if you feel like you're not able to remember. The Bible tells us the spirit of the Father speaks through you. Like the great Frank Turek says, we want to make heaven crowded to the younger generation, get married and have kids. Don't believe the lies of today. It's a beautiful thing. To all the Cornerstone staff and volunteers, I think I speak for everyone here as we appreciate all that you guys do. We drive over an hour and 20 minutes one way on Sundays because of how well you guys teach us the Bible and how amazing the children's ministry is. So again, thank you guys for all that you do and thank you all for listening. Love you all and God bless you.
- [49:49]
A
Good story, man.
- [49:50]
B
Thank you.
- [49:52]
A
Thank you, Ashton. Bless you guys. What a cool story. And what, what a testimony too, to a praying wife. Right? And so we thank God for the praying people in our lives.
- [50:08]
B
Amen.
- [50:11]
A
Great story. I hadn't met them before tonight. And so Austin told me, you know, about a little bit about Chris's story and I'm like, how long has he been clean? You know, like five weeks. But wow, what a great story. What a great story. What a great encouragement. And I want to thank all those who shared tonight. Can we just give praise to the Lord for everybody who shared tonight? Where's Pastor Ben? We got one last song, right? We're going to close with a worship song to just go out with some praise and thanksgiving to the Lord. So let's all stand together and let's just worship the Lord. One last song before we go. And I won't be back up because after the song, Ben's going to pray and dismiss. So from my family to yours, have a happy Thanksgiving. We love you. We appreciate you. Thank you, Cornerstone family. God bless you guys. Let's worship him.
- [51:17]
F
With the Lord has brought you through the fire Right into the wide and open space and if the Lord has delivered you from darkness when he pulled your heart out of the grave oh, and if Lord is good to you Lift up your song and if he sa you heal you Then give him your all if you seen his faithful hand through all of your days if you've got breath in your lungs oh, then give him your praise and if the Lord I met you with compassion Know you have run after other things and if the Lord I showed you his great mercy and if he overwhelmed you with his grace oh, and if the Lord been good to you Lift up your song and if he sa you he, you Then give him your all if you seen his faithful hand through all of your days if you've got breath in your lungs Then give him your praise Lord, you got breath in your love and give him your praise we'll sing it in the morning Singing in the evening all the Lord been good to me Come on, we'll sing it all. Sing a little louder. All the Lord's been good to me Come on, declare it, sing it. In the morning. Proclaim Sing on the mountain or sing a little louder. For the Lord's been good to me Come on, sing it. We're singing in the morning we're singing the Lord's been good to me we're seeing on the mountain. For the Lord's been good to me oh, and if the Lord came good to you Lift up your song Let it be said to you he then given your all if you seen his faithful hand through all of your days if you've got breath in your lungs Then give him your praise oh, and if the Lord's been good to you Lift up your song and if he said to heal you Then give him your arms if you sing his faithful hand through all of your days if you got breath in your lungs Then give him your praise Lord if you got breath in your lungs Then give him your praise. Oh, give him your praise I just the voices if the Lord point in the the Lord's been good to you Lift up your song and if he saved you Then give him your all if you seen his faithful and through all of your days if you've got breath in your lungs Then give him your praise oh, if you've got breath in your lungs Then give him your praise. Lord, we give you our praise because we've seen your hand move faithfully through all of our days so on the mountaintops Lord, we praise your holy name and in the valley's low. We praise your holy name. For when the sun is shining down on us and the world as all as it should be, we praise your holy name. But when there's pain in the offering, we bless your holy name. We praise your holy name, Lord. Thank you that we get to be together to hear your faithfulness through people's lives. And we know that there's many more. So, Lord, through the struggle, through the pain, through the uncertainty, Lord, let us continue to see your goodness and your faithfulness from no matter where we are, no matter what we're doing. We praise your holy name. We're thankful for your goodness, and it is in your Son's holy name that we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thank you for coming and worshiping with us here tonight. Have a great, great thanksgiving. God bless.