Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 6, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family, 

Last Sunday was the 2025 Day of the Christian Martyr. According to tradition, June 29 marked the martyrdom of the Apostle Paul. It’s only tradition, but this month Christians around the world remember the faithful witness of those who, like Paul, have given their lives for the advancement of the gospel.

I can never hear the word ‘martyr’ without thinking of Jim Elliot, among others. As a child growing up in Portland, Oregon, he was captured by the truth of the gospel. As a student at Wheaton College, he grew ready to give his life to a cause grand enough to demand his whole-hearted allegiance.  

Jim Elliot and good friend Pete Fleming sensed a clear call to go into all the world. As they prayed their hearts were drawn to the Huaorani people, an unreached people group in Ecuador known for their violence toward outsiders. Three more would join them and together they would arrive in Quito, Ecuador in February of 1952 before moving to the jungle where they took up residence at a mission station.

Elliot and his group of four friends and their pilot made contact from their Piper PA-14 airplane with the Huaorani using a loudspeaker and a basket to pass down gifts to the natives who reciprocated by sending gifts back to the plane. That was enough to for Elliot and his group to build a base a short distance from their village along the Curaray River. There they were approached four days later by a small group of Huaorani and even gave an airplane ride to one curious Huaorani whom they called “George.” Further encouraged by these friendly encounters, in January 1956, they began plans to visit the Huaorani. 

Those plans, though, were preempted by the arrival of a larger group of about ten Huaorani warriors. Jim (age 28) was martyred on the riverbank along with his friends by those he had come to evangelize. Family members would later find penned in his diary words which had propeled him forward in the face of danger, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

That was then. What about today? Open Doors maintains a World Watch List with an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. From the top 50 alone, 310 million Christians face very high or extreme levels of persecution. That’s one in seven Christians worldwide. Last year 4,476 were killed for faith related reasons. Currently, the nations presenting the highest levels of hostility in order of severity are North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Saudi Arabia. 

Would you join me in praying faithfully for those who are persecuted for their faith?

Your servant,
Tony

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, June 29, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family, 

Greetings and blessings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you for praying this past week for the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America in Chattanooga, TN. It was a joy connecting with pastors and elders from all over our denomination and witnessing first-hand the clear indication of gospel advance through the churches, committees, and agencies of the PCA.

In addition to our pastoral staff, I am deeply grateful for our ruling elder commissioners, William Tice, John Millard, and Jim Payne. They were up early and stayed up late deliberating over a wide variety of important matters related to the work of the church. As you have opportunity, please take time to extend appreciation to these brothers for their care and diligence in serving the church.  

At some point early in August, I will take time during the Sunday School hour to explore with you some of the most pertinent actions coming out of this year’s General Assembly. If you have any specific questions or concerns about this year’s assembly before that presentation, please reach out to one of your pastors or ruling elder commissioners. We would be glad to speak with you.

Now, it’s a joy to welcome Rev. Josh Reiger to the Cornerstone pulpit today. Josh is the Pastor for Riverside Church (PCA). He is married to Gina and they have three children: Jackson, Riley, and Rutherford. Josh is a graduate of Reformed Theological Seminary (Jackson, MS). Before coming to Riverside, Josh served with Mission to the World, the missions agency of the PCA, as a church planter in Hexham, England. Cornerstone was a supporting church of the Reigers during their years in England.   

Finally, on a personal note, Josh has been a dear friend for many years, and I am grateful for the many ways he’s been a support to me in ministry. Josh is a kind, energetic, and wise soul. He loves Jesus Christ and the church and is a model of what it means to be a pastor. I know you will be blessed sitting under his ministry of the Word today.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, June 22, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family, 

This week is the Presbyterian Church in America’s General Assembly, the annual gathering of teaching and ruling elders from across the denomination. This gathering is June 23-27 just down I-24 at the Chattanooga Convention Center.  

Cornerstone Presbyterian Church will be well represented by seven commissioners: pastors Nate, Sebastian, Drew, and Tony, and elders John Millard, William Tice, and Jim Payne. Randy Allen and Joe Haworth will join the group midweek as observers. 

The PCA is a connectional church. That is to say—we are not autonomous. We are connected organically and organizationally to other churches throughout the U.S. working together to support one another as we carry out our mission and ministry.

The week at General Assembly is devoted to worship, fellowship, and the business of the church, including reports from the agencies of the PCA and responses to various overtures from presbyteries. An overture is a proposal from a lower church body (a presbytery) to a higher body (the General Assembly) requesting the higher body to take some particular action. There are fifty such proposals this year. To give you a snapshot: 

  • Some are as simple as redrawing presbytery boundaries to accommodate growth.

  • Some are as important as how to transfer ministers from other denominations.

  • Some are as weighty as addressing matters of racial affinity worship or how the church is to address immigration laws.

  • Some are proposing study commissions to deal with various matters.

  • Some are proposing amendments that seek to clarify, strengthen, or otherwise alter the Book of Church Order.

As the Assembly goes about its business, how we go about it is crucial. In preparation, I ran across these words written in 1898 (long before there was a PCA) from Rev, F. P. Ramsay, Presbyterian pastor, and for a time, president of King College in Bristol, Tennessee:

“In considering an Overture before the General Assembly, the Elders of the Church have a high privilege and responsibility, before our Lord, before the Lord’s people, and before a watching world. The calling to uphold the will of the Lord of the Church as revealed in Scripture, to love for the brethren, to reasonable engagement in a collegial spirit, and to seek not the good of a party, but the good of the church, would be hopelessly burdensome but for the promise of our Lord to work in and through our efforts at faithfulness.”  

Please pray that the Spirit of Christ would be among us, leading, guiding, and controlling our speech, actions, and decisions—and that the Head of the Church would be honored by this part of his Bride.

Your servant,

Tony

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, June 15, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family, 

Last week we heard from Pastor Sebastian about the first section of the Apostle’s Creed, concerning God the Father. Today we move into the second section of the creed to consider the life and death of Jesus Christ.

One line from this section —“He descended into hell”— merits special comment. In modern times this clause has been subject to challenge and debate, with some—even some Reformed theologians—arguing that it is unbiblical and should be removed from the creed. Indeed, a surface reading of this clause can cause confusion; perhaps you have wondered about it yourself. 

Historically, Christians have understood it differently. Some believe Christ literally descended to hell to rescue Old Testament saints, to suffer further for sins, to offer the dead a second chance to believe the gospel and be saved. Others believe that Christ literally descended to hell to break the power of hell and Satan.  

But these views lack biblical basis. Scripture does not teach a literal descent of Christ to hell. Jesus said to the thief on the cross, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). Christ’s body was in the tomb, yes, but his spirit was in heaven. Likewise, Scripture does not lead us to expect a second chance of salvation after death. (Hebrews 9:27). And Christ suffered once for sins on the cross, after which he said, “It is finished” (John 19:30).  

The Reformed churches have viewed Christ’s descent in two ways. The Westminster Larger Catechism teaches that “Christ’s humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried; and continuing in the state of the dead and under the power of death till the third day, which hath been otherwise expressed in these words, He descended into hell” (Q. 50). The descent here serves as a metaphor meaning that Christ really died, was buried, and remained for a time in the place of the dead, Sheol in the Old Testament idiom (Psalm 16:10), Hades in New Testament language (Acts 2:27).  

The other major Reformed view was taught by John Calvin and expressed in the Heidelberg Catechism. Calvin writes that the creed “speaks of that invisible and incomprehensible judgment which he underwent in the sight of God.” Jesus suffered “in his soul the terrible torments of a condemned and forsaken man.” In both body and soul, Christ suffered in our place, receiving the just punishment due to us for sin. He was forsaken (Matthew 27:46), smitten by God, because the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:4, 6). 

These two views are not mutually exclusive, but together express the Scripture’s teaching. They encourage and assure believers that Christ has fully atoned for sin. He has saved us to the uttermost. In the words of the Heidelberg Catechism, the creed “assures me during attacks of deepest dread and temptation that Christ my Lord, by suffering unspeakable anguish, pain, and terror of soul, on the cross but also earlier, has delivered me from hellish anguish and torment” (Q. 44).

Your Servant,
Drew Abercrombie

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, June 8, 2025

Our sister Suzanne Farris has been leading the way with our Good News Club Ministry. We asked her to describe that work and ways you might serve our community and love our neighbors alongside her and others.

Dear brothers and sisters,

It's my great privilege to update you on our Good News Club (GNC). Good News Clubs are gospel focused Bible clubs for elementary school children. Cornerstone has partnered with Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) to run one at Liberty Elementary School (LES), the first in the Franklin Special School District.

All GNC volunteers are “missionaries” of Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), an international, Bible-centered organization composed of born-again believers whose purpose is to evangelize boys and girls with the Gospel of Christ and to disciple them in the Word of God for Christian living. Each lesson taught has an evangelistic message for the unbelieving child as well as discipleship truth for the believing child. Churches partner with CEF to provide volunteers and financial support. While most of our LES Team are Cornerstone members, two joined us through contact with CEF. Here’s the wonderful team God put together to serve in this ministry over this past school year: 

Andrea, Aravis and Nahum Roberts (along with little Zion)
Vicky and Luke Wiley
Bonnie Snyder
Shari Roberts
Denise Richardson 

I’m filled with joy when I think of how we started the year and how well we ended. We all learned how to effectively weave the gospel into all that we did, not just in the Bible stories but also in the songs, the weekly memory verse, the object lessons, and even the games. It was a joy to share biblical truth with our Kindergarten to 4th graders at LES, to hear their God-inspired answers, and to answer their deep questions. And what a treasure it was to see all the kids join the song leaders up front singing their hearts out on our last day! Of course, the greatest joy was that three children professed faith in Jesus for the first time, two of whom were baptized in their home church soon after.

In case you missed it, my takeaway from the year was joy. What a privilege it is to see God’s work both in us and the children! If you loved being a part of VBS, GNC is very much like it, except you get to do it once a week throughout the school year. If you're 14 years old or older and think God is calling you to bring the good news of Jesus to children, we’d love for you to join our team for the 2025-26 school year. Team members have various roles according to their gifts and desires and will receive training from CEF. Perhaps this is one of the good works which God prepared beforehand that you should walk in (Ephesians 2:10). 

We also covet your prayers for this ministry. One of the children that prayed to receive Christ answered many of our Bible questions for a couple of months before she felt lead to make a profession of faith. That’s the work of the Holy Spirit and His praying people—not our often-fumbling efforts! 

Your fellow servant of Jesus,
Suzanne Farris