Pastoral Notes for Sunday, January 13, 2019

At the Cornerstone Family Meeting last Sunday, we gave several mission critical church updates. There is at least one update that I want to make sure you’re all up to speed on as we enter 2019. It concerns a staff change in our elementary education ministry area.

Eighteen months ago, we hired Mrs. Martha Brooks as our Elementary Education Director. In the past year and a half, Martha has taken our children’s ministry to a whole new level. From a full curriculum review and new curriculum implementation, to researching and writing a new child protection policy, Martha has done more than anyone to ensure that we disciple and care for the children of Cornerstone in a way that pleases our Lord.

As some of you know, in addition to her work at the church, Martha became the librarian at New Hope Academy this past year. Originally, she hoped to manage both the workload of both positions, but as the fall weighed in, she realized it was too much and decided to step down from her position as Elementary Education Director. We’re so sad to see Martha leave this post, but we’re consoled by the fact that the Brooks aren’t going anywhere. They will still be in their normal pew on Sunday morning in the early service and will be actively involved in the life of Cornerstone. We love you, Martha, and we thank God for all you’ve done to advance our children’s ministry and make Cornerstone a better place!

As we say goodbye to Martha, we say hello to our new Elementary Education Director, Meredith Suits. Many of you know and love Meredith already, but for those of you that don’t know her, I asked Meredith to tell us a little bit about herself. Here’s what she wrote:

My husband Matt and I moved to Middle Tennessee shortly after college over 8 years ago so that I could pursue a graduate degree in education. After living in Nashville for several years, we moved to Franklin and became members at Cornerstone two years ago. We have two (mostly) sweet children, Sam (3) and Charlotte (7 months), and in addition to learning how to be a parent, I’ve spent the last five years teaching English to high school students. Teaching is my calling, and while I’ve taken a break from the classroom for now, God has given me the opportunity at Cornerstone to use some of my gifts to serve the church as the Elementary Education Director. With two little ones of my own, I have a more ardent interest in the ministries that equip children to serve the Lord than I ever have before. I’m looking forward to continuing the fabulous work Martha Brooks has done and working with parents and the leaders of our church to teach our children the wondrous love of Christ.

If you’re a parent with elementary age students, please take time to get to know Meredith personally in the weeks ahead. Drop her a line or catch her at the information desk on Sunday morning. She would love to see and hear from you!

Finally, please pray for her. She is tasked with overseeing the care and discipleship of our covenant children. That’s a big job! She needs our prayers and support as she learns the ropes and leads us into the next season of children’s ministry at Cornerstone.

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, January 6, 2019

With the start of the new Sunday School term, we have new adult classes starting on January 13. One of these options is a short overview of Church Music History with Greg Wilbur. I asked Greg to give us a preview of the class as well as why this is a relevant topic.

Part of the beauty of tradition is the opportunity to connect with the past and our history, to benefit from the wisdom of others, and to celebrate with the “great clouds of witnesses” that have gone before. However, tradition can also be a hinderance, or too easily cast aside, if we do not continually remind ourselves of why we do what we do. This fact is especially true with regards to worship and music.

Over the past few decades, we have walked through what has been called “the worship wars” in which various people advocated either hymns or “contemporary” music for use in worship. However, both sides in this discussion were arguing about music in a way that, for the most part, ignored what has commonly been considered the purpose and power of music for thousands of years. How has thinking about music changed over time?

The purpose of this upcoming Sunday School class is to provide context and understanding about music in the Church—how the Church has used music and how the Church has thought about music. Why do we sing in worship? Where did hymns come from? Where did contemporary Christian music come from? Does musical style matter? What does it mean to be reverent, joyful, and relevant?

I believe that if we take the time to increase our understanding of where our traditions and practices come from, we can more readily appreciate them and respect them. I also believe that we can more easily separate the principles of why certain practices originated or developed from the actual practices themselves. In other words, the goal is not to duplicate the past but to understand the biblical principles that formed the foundations for decisions in the past and to apply those same principles in the time and place that God has placed us.

As such, the study of the role, development, and practice of music in Church history is a fascinating and lively exploration that has particular application to what we do in worship on a weekly basis. The topics will be:

1.    January 13—From Synagogue to Early Church

The Role of Music in Early Worship, pt 1

2.    January 20—Codification of Church Music: Gregory the Great

The Role of Music in Early Worship, pt 2

3.    January 27—The Advent of Harmony and Polyphony: The Music of the Spheres

4.    February 3—Reformation and Worship in Leipzig under Bach

5.    February 10—Rise of Hymnody

6.    February 17—Untune that String

Come join us in the Chapel for this quick overview and discussion of Church music. And, yes—we may even sing a bit.

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, December 23, 2018

 

“The whole life of Christ was a continual passion; others die martyrs, but Christ was born a martyr. He found a Golgotha even in Bethlehem, where he was born; for, to his tenderness then, the straws were almost as sharp as the thorns after; and the manger as uneasy at first, as his cross at last. His birth and his death were but one continual act, and his Christmas Day and his Good Friday are but the evening and morning of one and the same day.”—John Donne  

 

“How shall I fitly meet Thee, And give Thee welcome due?

The nations long to greet Thee, And I would greet Thee too.

O Fount of Light, shine brightly Upon my darkened heart,

That I may serve Thee rightly, And know Thee as Thou art.”

—Johann Sebastian Bach

 

“So, basic to ‘the true meaning of Christmas’ is this: God has kept his promises.”—Sinclair Ferguson

 

“On the first Christmas night—and this is the heart of the Christmas story, and the heart of the Christian faith—God took on flesh. The voice that made the cosmos could be heard crying in the cradle. The hands that placed each star in his place grabbed Mary’s fingers. Her son was fully human, and fully God. In this man, divinity met humanity.”—Alistair Begg

 

“Now,

I in him surrender

to the crush and cry of birth.

Because eternity

was closeted in time

He is my open door to forever.”—Luci Shaw

“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.”—Charles Dickens

“For the great and powerful of this world, there are only two places in which their courage fails them, of which they are afraid deep down in their souls, from which they shy away. These are the manger and the cross of Jesus Christ. No powerful person dares to approach the manger, and this even includes King Herod. For this is where thrones shake, the mighty fall, the prominent perish, because God is with the lowly. Here the rich come to nothing, because God is with the poor and hungry, but the rich and satisfied he sends away empty. Before Mary, the maid, before the manger of Christ, before God in lowliness, the powerful come to naught; they have no right, no hope; they are judged.”—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, December 16, 2018

Cornerstone Retreats

“Beginning the Year in the Presence of the Lord”

Saturday, January 5, 2019

 Life is not a walk in the park. It’s more akin to a battle. And truth be told, sometimes we’re on the losing side. When we’re hemmed in on every side and have exhausted our resources, instead of throwing up the white flag and retreating to fight another day, we too often just soldier on. Bruised and bleeding, we persist in entering the fray and fighting a losing battle.

Soon enough, however, the fight catches up with us, and the signs of spiritual PTSD begin to show up. Our joy dissipates and cynicism grows. We quit dreaming about the future and just try to survive today. Little conflicts send us through the roof with anger. Simple decisions become paralyzingly difficult. The deep loneliness sets in. We think to ourselves, “No one understands,” and as resentment swells, we tell ourselves, “No one really cares.”

Sadly, God’s included in the “no one cares” comment. You’d never say it, of course, but you feel it to be true. Or, maybe it’s gotten to that point where you actually do say it. The felt distance between you and God has grown so wide and the path back to Him has grown so thick that you’re beginning to wonder if there is a path back…

If any of this sounds familiar, then you’re past time for what Emilie Griffin calls, “strategic withdrawal” and what generations of Christians have called retreat. Contrary to popular opinion, retreat is not a spiritual luxury but a soul surviving necessity. If Christ be formed in us (Gal. 4:19), we must learn to pull away for an extended period time to take inventory of life and our relationship with God and others—to gain spiritual rest and replenishment. Instead of shredding the rhythms of work and rest woven into the created order, we must cultivate the priority and practice of Sabbath rest as one of God’s prescribed means for spiritual health, growth, and maturity (Exodus 20:8).

If Sabbath rest and retreat are this important, the church should make it a priority to train God’s people in how to rest well. To that end, I’m inviting you to come away with me for a morning of quiet reflection, guided fellowship, and prayer. At a beautiful retreat center on the edge of town, we’ll spend the first Saturday morning of 2019 seeking the face of God for the rest of God. I’ve entitled the retreat, “Beginning the Year in the Presence of the Lord.” Space is limited to 12 participants. The cost is only $15! For more information or to register for the retreat, contact Susan Bumpus at office@cstonepres.org.

Isn’t it time for you to take Jesus up on his standing invitation, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while” (Mark 6:31)? I look forward to seeing you on January 5th.