Become Now, Who You Needed Then | Cornerstone Church | Noah Woodling

And so I wanna start off today by just asking you guys just to think back to who you were in middle school and in high school. So I just want you to think back to to who you were. What what were you doing? What what kind of clothes did you wear? What kind of things did you do to fit in? What kind of person were you?

Were you the the athlete that everyone wanted to to be like? Were you the kid who's super focused on their grades? Or were you the kid that everyone wanted to be friends with? Were were you the kid who maybe kept to themselves a little more? Who were you throughout your time in middle school, in high school?

Well, I actually wanna give you guys a little glimpse into who I was. This is actually a picture of me in high school, I believe. Let me fill that picture up. That is me. Yep. Believe it or not, I was 16 years old in that picture. So that kid could operate a car, which is kinda scary.

But that was me on my sixteenth birthday. But that's who I was. I was five foot nothing. I weighed like ninety pounds.

I I really really loved football and I was also really really annoying. So that's that's a little bit into who I was. I just got out of my axe body spray phase. So learning how to wear actual cologne. So it was great. But that's who I was.

And so now that you guys got just a glimpse into who you are in middle school and high school, I want us to take a step deeper. And I want you to think about what you were going through in that time of your life. What things were you navigating? Maybe during that time of life, you were trying to figure out how to fit in.

You just wanted people to recognize you. You just wanted certain people to see you. You thought if I can just get these people approval, people can just recognize me, then maybe maybe this hole I feel inside my heart will be filled.

Maybe some of you guys were navigating a difficult home life. You had a mom or a dad that didn't show up the way you wanted them to, or maybe you watched your parents split up in a divorce and the divorce got really messy and it really hurt you throughout that time in your life. Or maybe throughout high school and in middle school, you were navigating a tough breakup where there were rumors that were spread about you that still haunts that haunt you to this day. Whatever it is and whatever you were going through, the truth is during that time of your life, you needed someone to show up for you.

You needed someone to show up for you and to point you towards Jesus.

And so here's why I bring that up. Because the reality is there is a student here at Cornerstone Church who's just like you were,

who is walking through the same things that you walked through, who is navigating the same hard situations that you navigated, and the reality is they need someone like you to show up for someone like them. So today, Cornerstone,

as we spend our time together, I want to talk to you guys about how important I believe it is to show up for the next generation. So if you're taking notes, write this down. The big idea for today, Cornerstone, is if we want to make an impact on the next generation, then we have to be willing to become now

who we needed then. Become now who we needed then. There was this girl that I actually knew throughout my time in high school, and her name will go, she'll go unnamed,

but she was really popular. She was really cool. She was the girl that every girl looked at, and she They wanted to be her. Like she could dance. She was on the dance team. She could sing. She was super, super talented.

Everybody knew her name, she had all the guys that wanted to like that liked her, she had a big friend group, she had everything around her and if you were to look at this girl's life, be like everything is perfect, she has nothing going on. But if you actually looked a little deeper into her life,

you would actually find that everything is not okay. This girl battled heavily with severe anxiety and depression. And because of that anxiety and depression, she developed a habit of self harm.

And she had these panic attacks that she she couldn't handle herself anymore and and she had all these things going on in her life to eventually where she found herself at the point where she made the decision that she didn't wanna be here anymore.

And so I started there because this girl, she was searching for something more. She had a void and she had something going on in her life that she couldn't seem to fill and the reality is is she needed a savior and she didn't even know it.

And so today, as we actually hop into our story that we're gonna be walking through in scripture, we're gonna actually find ourselves looking at a woman in the bible who's navigating a very similar situation.

Now she wasn't navigating anxiety and depression, but she was trying to fill a void and she was searching for something more and she was in need of a savior, but she could not find it. And so if you guys wanna go ahead and join with me in John chapter four, we're be starting in verse 13 here today,

we actually see that scripture gives us context clues to what she's been going through. So it tells us that she's had five husbands and the man that she is with now is not her own.

And scripture also tells us that she actively was avoiding the people in this town that she was with and that she was a clear outcast in her society. She felt like she had nothing and she felt like she needed a savior, but she couldn't seem to find him until one day, one day, she meets a man at this well

who claims to have the answers to everything she's been going through. Everything she's going through. So you guys can join me in John chapter four. We're gonna be starting in verses 13 through 14. We see the man that this woman encounters says this. He says, everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again.

But whoever drinks the water that I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water that I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

And so what this man is doing here is he's not offering her actual water. He's not saying, hey, I have this water that if you drink it, you'll never have to come back to this well again. That's not what he's saying. What this man is saying to her is he's saying, I have the answers to everything that you've been going through.

Everything you've been searching for, everything you've been longing for is sitting right in front of you. And so Cornerstone, I wonder how many students at our church are like this woman today. I wonder how many of them are searching for a savior and they don't even know that he's right in front of them.

And so the first thing that we actually have to begin to understand about the next generation before we can show up for the next generation is we gotta understand Cornerstone, that the next generation is searching for something more.

The next generation is searching for something more. What I have found is I work with teenagers and as I was actually a former teenager myself, that

most teenagers right now in this time of life are looking to fill a God shaped hole in their heart with the wrong things. They're looking to fill this God shaped hole in their heart with the wrong things. For some of them, it's a dating relationship. They think this other person completes them, but

at the end of the day, that relationship doesn't work out or something goes wrong, and then they're back in the same spot that they're there, that they found themselves in before. Others of them, they're they're trying to fill this God shaped hole in their heart with distractions.

They think whatever they can do on the weekend to kinda silence this or maybe the substances and the things that they can consume can actually numb this pain and they'll be able to fill this void inside of their heart or others of them are looking to fill this God shaped hole inside of their heart with achievements. They think if I can just achieve enough, if I can just be good enough, if I can just get my parents to actually recognize me for being good at what I do, then maybe

maybe this void inside that I feel will be fulfilled. They're searching for something more. About eight months ago, I actually had the honor and privilege of getting married to my wife now. Her name is Cassie. She's awesome. Thank you.

She's great. One thing I know about my wife is she's way cooler than me. So if you get the chance to meet her, like, go give her a high five. She actually led us in worship up here today. She did a great job. She brought her heart and soul to this weekend.

But one thing that I've learned about marriage in my eight months of experience is that, you know, a lot of experience there, is that

men are just not good at looking for stuff. I don't know how else to say it. We're just not good at looking for stuff. Maybe you are and if you guys are in the room, husbands, please give me tips, but I don't know what's wrong. So like the other day, I'll just give you an example. The other day, our We came home and our dog left us a little surprise on our front our front door, so that was nice. So we're coming home, we're kinda freaking out, and so Cassie's like, Noah, go grab

the nature's miracle. We need that right now. And so I'm running over, said it's underneath the sink, go look in the cabinet, it's gotta be there. So I'm like digging through our sink cabinet, I can't find it. I'm like, babe, it's not here. She's like, I promise you, it's there.

So I gotta sigh and I just keep like looking. I'm like looking, okay, it's gotta be here, gotta be here. I'm like tearing apart our kitchen. It it maybe it's not here. I don't know where it is.

Okay. We'll go check the bathroom. So I go check the bathroom. I'm like tear Our whole house is getting torn apart at this moment. I'm looking through the cabinets. I'm looking through everything. Babe, it's not here. I don't know what to tell you. Noah, I know we have it. Find it. So it's getting a little stirring here. Okay? And our dog's like bolting around the house, tearing more stuff up. We don't know what to do. And so I'm like tearing apart our whole house, looking around, and then all of a sudden I go, Cassie, it is not here. I don't know what you want me to do.

In that moment, I heard the footsteps coming over to where I was and I was scared. I was scared. Those The footsteps are scary.

And so she came over and I'm like like frantically just trying to like find something like to make it look like the nature's miracle and she steps over and I kid you not, ten seconds into looking, she finds it. She found it. I don't know how she found it. I don't know if like women just are like more anointed by the holy spirit or it's like a spiritual gift that they have,

but she just like was way better looking for things than I am. And she's like, Noah, the thing you're looking for, this this this bottle was right in front of you the entire time and you didn't even know it. The thing I was looking for the entire time was sitting right in front of my face, and I didn't even know it.

This woman at the well, the thing that she was searching for the entire time was sitting right on the other side of that well and she didn't even know it. And so we jump down to verses 25 through 26. They keep having this long conversation,

and eventually we see this man that she's talking to say this to her. The woman said to Jesus, I know that Messiah called Christ is coming, and when he comes, he'll explain everything to us.

This thing I've been searching for, this man that I heard about, he's coming and he's gonna explain everything that's been going on in my life. He may be the answer to the thing that I'm looking for. And then Jesus, he looks at this woman and he declares, that thing that you've been searching for,

that person that you've been looking for, I the one speaking to you, I am he. For 26 verses, this woman didn't realize that the savior that she was searching for has been right in front of her this entire time. The savior she's been searching for has been right in front of her this entire time.

And so I know there's students at this church, there's people in the next generation that attend this church that don't know that what they've been looking for this entire time has been right in front of them. Cornerstone, they're searching for Jesus. The thing that they are searching for is Jesus.

We just need to be the ones to point them towards him. The savior that they are searching for is Jesus and we need to be the ones to point them towards him. And so I know when some of you guys hear that, you go, Noah, how do you expect me to point someone like them towards him? Like, Noah, I I'm not qualified

enough, or I don't know the bible well enough like pastor Linda's, or I can't preach like pastor TJ can preach. Like, do you expect someone like me to show up for someone like them to point them to someone like him? Like, I I don't know if I can do that. I do not feel qualified to do that. But here's the thing,

right after this woman finds out what who Jesus is, finds out who this man is, her life is transformed and changed. Literally, not even a second later, she darts into her town and tells everybody about him. Darts into town and tells everybody about him.

And so we actually see this in verses 39 through 41. It says, many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony. Not because of how smart she is, not because of the amount of things she knows, but because of her testimony. She said this, he told me everything that I ever

did. And so when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them and he stayed two days and because of his words, many more became believers. Her life was changed ten minutes ago. Like she just found out who this man was

and she went into this town and told everybody about who he is and everybody about what he can do and what he did in their did in her life and suddenly, they came to know Jesus.

You don't need to have a bible degree to point someone towards Jesus. You don't need to be the smartest Christian in the room to point someone towards Jesus, and you don't need to even be the most experienced Christian to point someone towards Jesus. I'll tell you what your job is. You just need to show up.

You just need to be there for that student when they just lost their parent. You just need to be there for that student when they had a tough day at school. You just need to be there for that student when they don't know what to do anymore. And you just need to be able to say, I was once where you were, but there was a man

who showed up for me, stepped into my life, and made me new. That's all they need to know.

Because this woman became now who she needed then, the people of Samaria, that town was changed.

So here's the thing, Cornerstone. You and I sit in this room with the same opportunity this woman had

Because just like I said at the beginning, there is a student who is just like you were, walking through the same things that you walked through, struggling through the same things that you struggled with, navigating the same things that you navigated. And what they need more than anything in this time of their life is they need someone like you to show up for someone like them and point them towards Jesus. They

need you to step into their story, to be there for them when they need when they need you most, and they need you to show them that there is a man sitting on the other side of this well who's offering them live this living water, and if they just accept this living water, then everything will be changed. Everything they've been searching for, everything they've been longing after is found in this man.

And so you see Cornerstone. I believe that when we show up for the next generation, that we'll start to see students' lives change.

I believe that when we show up for the next generation, that they'll begin to understand that there is a God out there who loves them, that there is a God out there who died for them before they're even known. There's a God out there who actually called them out by name and is calling them to come towards them today. Cornerstone,

I believe when we show up for the next generation that the news of Jesus will begin to spread like a wildfire all throughout Chandler, Arizona, and our communities will start to look different. Our schools

will start to look different, and our families will start to look different. And Cornerstone, I believe that all of this is possible and that all of this can happen if we all just decide to show up and become now who we needed then.

We just have to become now who we needed then.

That girl that I told you guys about at the beginning, her story actually did not end there. Her best friend's family actually took notice of what was going on. And so what they ended up doing is they said, hey, you should come to church with us.

And at first like any 16 year old girl, she's hesitating, don't know, I've been there before, church is kinda weird, I don't really know what to do. But eventually after months and months of begging, her best friend finally got her to go to church.

You know what's crazy about all of it though? What that family couldn't have known in that moment is what was gonna happen next. What that family couldn't have known in that moment is because they invited her to church that day, it actually led her to want to go to a Christian university.

And you know what's crazy? What that family couldn't have known is that because she went to a Christian university, she ended up getting plugged into a young adult ministry out by that Christian university, and one night at that young adult ministry, the Holy Spirit moved and she gave her heart to Jesus.

And even better, what that family couldn't have known is that this

this girl that they invited to church would actually fly back that summer, would get baptized at back of that community in front of every single one that she knew, every single person that she knew there. What that family couldn't have known is that right after that summer, she would get offered an internship

at a church out where she was by that Christian university. And when she was asked, why ministry?

Why do you wanna go into ministry? She responded with saying, I just want to be the person that I wish I had to someone else. I just want to become now who I needed then. And what the family couldn't have known is that three and a half years later, she would still be on staff at this church called Cornerstone Church in Chandler, Arizona. And now, me and her get to do ministry alongside one another as husband and wife.

See, Cornerstone, because someone showed up for Cassie, because someone stepped into her story and pointed her towards that man that was offering her living water, everything changed.

And so I wanna ask you is this,

how different do you think our church would look today? How different do you think our church would look today if we just showed up for the next generation and became now who we needed then, how different would it look? Let me give you guys a glimpse into just that from our high school ministry.

Hi. My name is Noah Ramos. And when I was in Illinois, Grant was my small group leader. Having Grant as my small group leader was very influential to me when I was younger just to have an adult figure that was older than me to be able to speak wisdom into my life. Being Noah Small Group leader was so much fun. He was a leader amongst his peers, and he would ask some exceptional questions that I, as like a 16 year old who had just signed up to start serving, was often stumped by how thoughtful what he was. Many years later, I was working at a church camp and I randomly bumped into Grant. I felt like I gave him like the worst job offer ever. What if you came and you were my intern, I didn't pay you, and you could like live in this really small room with my wife and I in a home that's not big enough for any of us. And I said yes. It was great. Yeah. I took a step of faith and I moved across country and I went and started interning with Grant in the high school ministry.

During my internship, I met my now wife, Maren,

and I actually found out that I have more of a calling and gifts in production, and now I work full time at Cornerstone in the production ministry. But just seeing the relationship and seeing how much it's blossomed over the last few years and just how it, like, started is just a small group leader thing, and usually you don't think that that's a big deal, but it really is. Sometimes you won't feel equipped to be a small group leader,

but in the reality of it, Jesus is the one who will give you the gifts, talents, and abilities to do so. There is definitely something about it, and Jesus will change your life forever with it. When I was in high school, our youth group was having conversations about serving and getting more involved in our church. And one of the areas that they said would maybe make sense is could you step up and be a small group leader for our, third through fifth grade ministries? I said yes to that, and I had no idea what I was saying yes to. And I don't know if without taking that step of faith that I couldn't even have seen myself being in vocational ministry, which then somehow fast forward means I'm on staff here looking for a camp for our middle school students, which means I'm running into him at that camp that he is serving at, which then brings him here to end up being on staff and getting to be a part of our church, but also getting to meet his wife. And it's been really crazy to see how God does everything in hindsight, you're just obedient, and you say yes because you don't know what God's gonna do with that yes. Your job is just to say yes. Because someone like Grant invested in me when I was a student, my life will never be the same.

You see Cornerstone, because that family showed up for Cassie and because Grant showed up for Noah and from Heron,

we now stand here impacted by the gospel, deeply moved by what God did through them. And now we're showing up for the next generation.

And so here's what I believe in this room here today, Cornerstone. I believe that God is calling some of you guys to show up for the next generation. I believe he's calling you guys to get plugged in, to help become now who you needed then. But the problem is, some of us have been running from that calling.

We've been too afraid to get involved, we haven't fully committed. And so here's what I want to encourage you all with here today. Don't leave without getting connected. Don't leave without getting connected.

We have a team of people in the lobby that would love to help you get plugged in to serving here in our youth ministries, or you can simply text the word serve to 21999 and just check off the youth boxes. But here's why I bring that up, Cornerstone. Our next generation needs it. Our church needs it.

And if we just show up, I just wonder and I imagine what this place could look like in twenty, thirty years. And so I'll ask you that question again, Cornerstone. How different do you think our church would look today if we just became now who we needed then to the next generation? How different would it look?

Let me pray for us. Dear God, Lord, I'm just so humbled and I'm so grateful that I could stand up here on this stage, Lord, with our friends and with my wife.

God, I just thank you for the people that you placed in their life to show up for them when they needed you most, Lord, and that you used to help point them towards you. And so God, I just pray

that Lord, those in this room today that feel the call upon their life, Lord, that they they that feel you telling me the Lord to show up for them, to become now who they needed then, God. I pray Lord that you would give them the courage

and the strength to do so, God. I pray, Lord, that you would give them the courage, Lord, to not walk out of here today, Lord, and not say and stay unplugged, Lord. But I pray, Lord, that you would give them the courage to get connected, to show up for that student, to be there for them when they need you most, God. Lord, I pray Holy Spirit that you'd just use them as a vessel, that Lord you would speak into the lives and the hearts of these students through them, God. And Lord, I pray that what you've done in our lives through the people that you placed in our lives, Lord, that you would continue to do the same thing through them.

So Cornerstone, Lord, lift up Cornerstone. I lift up all the people here. And God, I pray Lord that you would just light a fire inside of us to become now who we needed then. And so Lord, in your precious and holy name we pray this song. All of God's children said, amen. Thank

you guys so much for joining us here today. Really appreciate you guys. If you guys need prayer, we have a team of people up front that love to pray with you. Or you can go ahead and text the word prayer to 21999. Thank you all for joining us for Student Takeover Weekend. We love you guys. We'll see you all next week.