Pastoral Notes - Sunday, September 17th

“I am the Lord, and there is no other; besides me there is no God.”—Isaiah 45:5             

There was a new psychological study conducted earlier this year that suggested Americans are more stressed, depressed, and anxiety-ridden than they’ve ever been. According to the study, the last 30 years have been tough on Americans as anxiety related disorders have risen by more than 1,200 percent. The study went on to suggest that the fast-paced, high demand culture we live in is the primary cause—while noting that other studies point to increases of technology use coinciding with the weakening of social bonds as other leading factors. There’s certainly much to be said for the cumulative effect of these realities on the health of our psyche.

If I’m honest with myself, I can see how these realities shape my own felt experience of life. When I’m discouraged, I often find it’s because I’ve shredded the normal God-created boundaries for healthy life. I’ve filled my schedule with far more than I can ever do, stretching the margins of my energies and capacities. Day after day, getting up hours before dawn and then not shutting down until hours after dusk. Often as a consequence, I don’t make good food decisions or get enough sleep. I neglect the gym and fail to make time for rest and recreation.       

Now, like most people, I can get away with living this way for a while, and let’s face it—sometimes life requires such sacrifices. Eventually, however, if I keep this up, it begins to catch up with me. The backaches and headaches show up. Lethargy begins to take over. Pervasive feelings of emptiness and numbness present themselves. Spiritually, nagging doubts creep in and intense temptations show up out of nowhere. If I see any mix of these things, I’ve learned (or am learning), it’s time to press pause and perform a self-audit.

A few years ago I went on a Jim Collins reading kick—starting with his mega bestseller, Good To Great, and finishing that run with How the Mighty Fall. One little phrase in that latter book, How the Mighty Fall, really stuck out to me. He said that companies often fail because of, “…the undisciplined pursuit of more.” That word undisciplined caught me. I started to reflect on it. For me, undisciplined looked like saying, “yes” to things that I really ought to say, “no” to.

David Murray in his excellent little book, Reset, cites the minimalist expert Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism where he says, “We need to learn the slow ‘yes’ and the quick ‘no.’” The slow yes is a yes that stops and ponders priorities, purpose, and capacities. The slow yes asks questions like: “Is this within my calling?” “Is this worthwhile?” “Do I have the time, energy, and resource to give this the attention it deserves?” I’m learning how to do this better than I’ve done before, and I can see, and even feel, the difference.

One of my biggest, besetting sin-tendencies is to think I’m God. It’s subconscious, of course, and I’d never say it that way in so many words. But, if you had an inside track on my life, you’d spot me all the time trying to live like I’m infinite, boundary-less, and self-sufficient. What a joke! By God’s grace, I’m continuing to learn (and re-learn) that first, fundamental, and always relevant principle of theology: “There is a God, and I am not him.” And that’s a very good thing.

 

Pastoral Notes - Sunday, September 10th, 2017

I don’t have to tell you that the American landscape is shifting. This is particularly true when it comes to religion, Christianity especially. More and more these days, North American Christians find themselves on the losing side of public opinion. From issues of human dignity to sexuality to religious liberty, traditional Christian belief and practice is perceived by much of popular culture as out of touch, at best, and dangerous, at worst.

Many debate the reasons for why this shift has happened. Was it the negligence of previous generations? Was it the moral laxity of the church? Was it when prayer was taken out of school? Was it Roe v. Wade? Was it the infiltration of postmodern philosophy in the academy? Was it the growing influence of liberal theology? Was it the encroachment and now ubiquity of technology? The list goes on and on.

Many others debate on what we should do in response to this shift. Over the last several decades, many have tried to stem the tide of secularism and return to some golden age of American Christianity. From church rallies to moral majorities, think tanks to social action groups, the most earnest attempts haven’t gained the kind of traction needed to shift the culture or turn back time.

Maybe you’re one of the millions of Christians wondering, “What do we do now?”

Russell Moore in his book Onward suggests that the increasing marginalization of Christianity in present day America is an opportunity, not an obstacle. We don’t have to clench our fists or wring our hands, for it’s possible that the eroding of American culture is God’s way of “…rescuing American Christianity from itself” (p.7).

God’s mercy to Israel often came in the form of exile. Whether slaves in Egypt, refugees in Babylon or first century Christians in Rome, it has been typical for Christians to live as “strangers and exiles on earth” (Hebrews 11:13). We are citizens of heaven after all (Philippians 3:20), so it shouldn’t be strange that we don’t always feel at home on earth. In fact, if you feel out of place because of your faith in Jesus Christ, that’s quite possibly a good sign. Truth is, we’ve been made for another world, and this otherworldly citizenship is the means through which the disciple-making mission of Jesus is to be carried out in the world (Matthew 28:16-20).

Believing that it’s mission-critical for Christians to be regularly discipled in how to be and make disciples, I started a sermon series in the spring of this year entitled, “Portraits of Discipleship.” In that series, we took a three-week look at the lively discussion between Jesus and the woman at the well in John 4. We worked slowly through the passage, pausing long at key moments in the text in hopes to glean important principles and practices for discipleship.

At the end of those three weeks, I mentioned that I wanted to return to this series off and on over the next several years in order to keep our hearts set toward the priority of discipleship. Starting with Lee Leadbetter’s fine message on Acts 17 last week, we’re reentering that series for a few week, looking at the portrait of discipleship that Paul gives us on Mars Hill in Athens. My hope is that today’s message will make important cultural, spiritual, and communicative observations from Acts 17:16-34 in order that we might gain the necessary wisdom and skill to be faithful disciple-makers in our time.   

Pastoral Notes - Sunday, September 3, 2017

Last week in the Pastoral Notes I mentioned three big repairs/upgrades needed on the church property—a church sprinkler system as required by the Franklin Fire Marshall, a landscape redesign, and the restoration of the stained-glass windows.

As you can tell this morning, the restoration of the stained-glass windows has officially begun! Emmanuel Studios of Nashville removed the windows early last week and then sealed the window openings with plywood and covered it with a full-size color rendering of the windows that you see today. If all goes according to plan, the windows will be restored and reinstalled in roughly three months.  

The other two significant upgrades on the horizon are a church sprinkler system and a landscape redesign. First, the sprinkler system is a safety requirement from the Fire Marshall to protect the safety of persons in case of a fire. The sprinkler system will run throughout the building except for the chapel proper. The reason for not putting a sprinkler system in the chapel is cost and likely source of fire. The most likely place for a fire to begin is in the basement underneath the chapel. Because of that, we’re going to sprinkler the basement instead, which is much cheaper and will preserve the beauty of the chapel itself.

As you’d suspect, this is an expensive project. Some of our initial estimates were over a $100,000 dollars. Based on negotiations with the Fire Marshall and slight adjustments in the initial plans, we’re now estimating the cost of the whole project will be in the $75,000 range. 

It’s possible that number could come down even more. As some of you read in the paper several months back, the owners of the popular restaurant “Biscuit Love” in Nashville recently bought Lillie Bells, the antebellum home to the right of the chapel. We found out that the Fire Marshall is requiring Biscuit Love to put in a sprinkler system, too. We reached out to the owners to find ways we could share costs related to tying into the city water main. If these plans come together and are given final approval by the city, we may be able to save some more money on this project. Please pray to that end!

Finally, we’ve had an active Landscape Team exploring ways we can upgrade the appearance and usability of our landscape. This team has been working with the Franklin Historic Society on landscape designs and materials. I’m pleased to announce that just last week our proposal received final approval from the city of Franklin! There’s still much work to be done to price out the project, but we’re in the clear to begin work on the project as soon as we’re ready. A huge thanks to the Landscape Team for their many hours of work! We couldn’t have made it this far without them.

Like the stained-glass restoration, the upgrade on the landscape is an unbudgeted expense. It will require designated gifts from the congregation to make it happen! In the days to come, we’ll share more with you about this project and how you can contribute. In addition to financial gifts, there will also be ways for us to band together in “sweat equity” in order to beautify the church property, as well as increase outside gathering spaces and fellowship areas. We’ll keep you posted as these matters progress!

Pastoral Notes - August 27th, 2017

When we purchased the chapel in 2012, we did so with a strong sense of call to downtown Franklin. We believed then, as we do today that the corner of Church & 3rd St. was an ideal location for bearing gospel witness to the heart of Franklin. By God’s grace, that has proven to be true!

At the same time, we knew the chapel would bring with it certain challenges. For one, it’s not a new building. Many repairs and updates are needed on an ongoing basis to keep the building in good condition. Just this week we had a crew of workers doing plasterwork in the sanctuary and inside the side entrance to repair damage from a recent leak. This was not our first leak. It’s safe to say that it won’t be our last. 

In addition to regular maintenance and repair needs, the building also needed a facelift when we bought it. Over the last several years we’ve made quite a few upgrades including new paint and carpet throughout the building, updating all the bathrooms, replacing some of the external and internal trim, and making minor structural changes for improved usability.

The time has come, however, for three big repairs and upgrades—a church sprinkler system as required by the Franklin Fire Marshall, a full landscaping redesign and overhaul, and the restoration of the beautiful stain glass windows.

For today, I’m going to focus on the stain glass windows, since repair is slated to begin as early as tomorrow (Monday, August 26th). Between services and Sunday School today, take time to examine the windows. It won’t take you long to spot that the steel support reinforcement bars that hold up the windows are broken on most of the exterior windows. You’ll also notice that the lead holding the panes in place is giving way. In some of the windows, you’ll even find loose, missing, and chipped glass. To maintain the integrity and beauty of the windows, it’s important that we do not put off this repair any longer.

The Finance Committee decided we would fund this project through special gifts above and beyond normal tithes and offerings. When Ruling Elder Joe Haworth mentioned this need several months back, quite of few of you answered the call by giving generously to this work. Through your gifts, we now have enough money in hand to do a total restoration of four of the stain glass windows! Since the windows facing Church Street are in the greatest need of repair, we’re going to start with those and trust the Lord to provide the resources needed to do the rest.

To do a full restoration, the windows have to be removed from the sanctuary. After removal of the windows, the openings will be sealed with plywood and a full size color rendering of the missing stained glass window will be provided on the inside in order to lessen the psychological effect of the missing windows. The restoration of the four windows will take approximately three months.

We’ve contracted with the highly recommended and reputable company, Emmanuel Stained Glass Windows in Nashville. If you want to can learn about the history, mission, and process of Emmanuel Studios, as well as see examples of completed projects, visit their website at www.emmanuelstudios.com. Next week in the Pastoral Notes, we’ll talk about the soon-in-coming church sprinkler system and landscaping plan. Stay tuned!

 

Pastoral Notes - August 20, 2017

Last week we began a three-week sermon series entitled, “From Generation to Generation.” The aim of this series is simple—to awaken or reawaken us to the biblical priority of passing on the truth of the gospel to the next generation.

This priority—passing on the truth of the gospel to the next generation—has been a central value of Cornerstone from the very beginning. And it’s one of the reasons we’ve joyfully hosted and closely partnered with New College Franklin (NCF).

Beginning ten years ago in 2007, NCF exists to train up the next generation in the Lord. As noted on the NCF website, true education doesn’t merely train for the marketplace, though that’s critical. Instead, the focus is “… cultivating the physical, spiritual, and mental aspects of man into the image of Christ.”

For centuries, the curriculum for such holistic training has been the liberal arts or the freeing disciplines. NCF walks in this classical tradition, immersing students in the drama of history—that is, God’s story—by engaging deeply the great classics of literature, theology, philosophy, poetics, mathematics, science, art, architecture, music, and language.

What I love about NCF is that the academics, though important, are not the point. At NCF, it’s not just about being smart; it’s about being sanctified and ready to serve. As the mission statement makes plain, the study of the liberal arts is simply a means of pursuing “…godly wisdom in order to form students to be missionally equipped for lives of humble service wherever God may direct them.” 

And the Lord sure has called and directed New College Franklin graduates in many different directions over the years. There are graduates in seminary, business, ministry, finance, education, graphic design, medicine, politics, marketing, and more.

As an adjunct faculty member, I’ve worked closely with faculty and administration at NCF. I’ve also had the privilege teaching students of NCF theology and other electives. From top to bottom, I’ve seen first-hand the commitment to growing in knowledge, understanding, and wisdom for the purpose of living ordinary lives of Christian loving service.

Further, as the Pastor of Cornerstone, I’ve had the double privilege of watching a number of NCF faculty and students become active members of our fellowship, attending and serving in so many ways within our body. Truth is, one of the big blessings behind, underneath, and running through the community of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church is the presence of NCF in our midst. 

We want you to get to know New College Franklin better. To that end, you’ll hear reports this morning about the ministry of NCF, including ways that you can get to know, befriend, pray for, and support this important ministry. To learn still more about the college, take time to visit their website at www.newcollegefranklin.org and like them on Facebook.