Pastoral Notes for Sunday, August 4, 2019

In case you missed the announcement last Sunday and the church wide e-mail this week, the elders extended a call to Rev. Ben Griffith to be an Assistant Pastor at Cornerstone. We are thrilled to have Ben and his wife, Rebekah, and their three children—Margaret (10), Owen (8), and Elizabeth “Libby” (5)—join us at Cornerstone. We look forward, Lord willing, to many years of serving together in fruitful ministry.

As we’ve noted in Cornerstone Family Meetings and pastoral notes over the last six months or so, our brother, Rev. Tony Giles, isn’t going anywhere. Praise the Lord! He is, however, scaling back his ministry a bit. Staring July 1, Tony went half time (20hrs. a week) at Cornerstone. The other half of his time is spent working as a gospel coach with Serge, an international missions agency.

As you would expect, Ben will help fill the gap left by the scaling back of Tony’s ministry. Toward that end, Ben will be ministering to the congregation pastorally, preaching and teaching widely, and leading in worship weekly. In addition, Ben will be spending a portion of his time providing leadership and vision to our Youth Ministry.

 The Griffith’s are eager to arrive in Franklin. After this week, they are several steps closer to that reality! For starters, their home in Hattiesburg has a contract, and they made an offer on a home in the Sullivan Farms neighborhood in Franklin. Both of these steps are big answers to prayer! On that note, please continue praying for the Griffith’s, and we’ll continue to keep you posted on their progress in our direction.  

 

Speaking of progress, we’re closing our series in the beatitudes today, and we’ll reenter the book of Genesis next week together. In this final section of Genesis, we will course through the life of Joseph, exploring themes of faith, suffering, providence, wisdom, reconciliation, and redemption. Below is a week-by-week breakdown of the series.

New Beginnings: A Study of Genesis

·      August 11 – Joseph’s Dream (Genesis 37:1-11)

·      August 18 – Joseph Sold into Slavery (Genesis 37:12-36)

·      August 25 – Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38:1-30)

·      September 1 – Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (Genesis 39:1-23)

·      September 8 – Joseph Interprets Dreams (Genesis 40:1-23)

·      September 15 – Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream (Genesis 41:1-40)

·      September 22 – Joseph Rises to Power (Genesis 41:41-57)

·      September 29 – Joseph Brothers Go to Egypt for Help (Genesis 42:1-38)

·      October 6 – Joseph Brothers Return to Egypt (Genesis 43:1-34)

·      October 13 – Joseph Tests His Brothers (Genesis 44:1-34)

·      October 20 – Joseph Provides for His Family (Genesis 45:1-28)

·      October 27 – Joseph Invites His Family to Egypt (Genesis 46:1-34)

·      November 3 – Jacob Settles in Goshen (Genesis 47:1-31)

·      November 10 – Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:1-22)

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 28, 2019

On the behalf of the elders, it is my distinct privilege to announce that we have extended a call to Rev. Ben Griffith to be our new Assistant Pastor. Ben hails from Hattiesburg, MS. He is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg (Go Eagles!) and Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, MS. Ben is married to Rebekah, and they have three children—Margaret (10), Owen (8), and Elizabeth “Libby” (5).

Over the last twelve years, Ben has served in a variety of ministry roles at The First Presbyterian Church (FPC) in Hattiesburg. From 2007-2014, he was the Director of Student Ministries. In that role, he led large and small group gatherings for youth, equipped and trained youth interns, and worked collaboratively with the presbytery for youth trainings and retreats. In 2014, Ben was called as an Assistant Pastor at FPC, and in 2017 he was called as an Associate Pastor. In both of these roles, he exercised gifts in preaching, teaching, discipleship, and pastoral care congregation wide with particular emphasis in the young adult ministry. 

Ben will be ministering broadly to the congregation, assisting weekly in worship, teaching weekly, and preaching on a regular interval. In addition to these broad pastoral duties, he will give vision and direction to our youth ministry, equip and train youth volunteers, and be the lead teaching voice for our youth on Wednesday nights. 

Ben and Rebekah can’t wait to meet you! In fact, they wanted to send along a brief greeting to all of you: “Greetings from the Griffith’s! We are thrilled to be joining the Cornerstone family, and can’t wait to begin life and ministry with you. We are excited about making Franklin our home and are looking forward what the Lord has in store for us together.”

Before Ben can join us officially, the Nashville Presbytery must approve his transfer. Lord willing, the presbytery will examine him on Tuesday, Aug. 13th. Once the presbytery approves him, he can officially join our pastoral staff at Cornerstone.

If you would, please begin praying for the Griffith’s. This is a bittersweet time. Though excited to throw their lot in with us at Cornerstone, they’re saying many tearful goodbyes over the next few weeks to family and friends in Hattiesburg. Let’s also ask the Lord to go before us and knit our hearts together in love with theirs as soon as they arrive in Franklin.

Finally, I want to thank you for the trust and support you showed to us through the search process. God used your prayers and encouragements to get us to this point, and for that we are thankful. Now, let’s rejoice together! Our God is once again showing His faithfulness to our church! 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 21, 2019

Let me take a brief moment to update you on a few recent transitions in our leadership at Cornerstone. First, our dear brother Mr. Marty Smith recently stepped down from the diaconate. Marty has served faithfully for three years as a deacon. Some of his chief contributions during that time were regular maintenance of the churchyard and serving as chairman of the Welcome Team. After a season of transition in life, Marty decided to move home to Bowling Green, KY, to be close to his family. But don’t worry! Marty is not going to disappear. He will be in Nashville regularly for work, and so expect to see him worshipping fairly regularly at Cornerstone. For that, we are very thankful.

Secondly, we’re thrilled to welcome Mr. Gene King back to active duty on the diaconate! Very wisely, Gene requested a sabbatical this past year in order to better meet the increased needs at work and home. Thankfully, Gene and his wife, Damaris, both believe now is the time for him to ease back into the work of the diaconate. In consultation with our deacon chairman, Mr. Larry Thompson, the elders agreed and unanimously voted last week to reinstate Gene King to active service. We are glad to have him back on the team! 

Finally, the elders also voted to reinstate Terry Cheney to active service on the eldership. Hearing that might confuse some of you. “Terry Cheney was on a sabbatical?” Well, yes. Sort-of. But not really! What do I mean? At Cornerstone, there is a regular sabbatical rotation (or rest cycle) for all officers. Ordinarily, after four years of active service, an officer is eligible for a sabbatical. As the word indicates, the purpose of the sabbatical is to allow officers the opportunity to rest spiritually and recharge and hopefully return refreshed to active service on the officer core.

This past year was Terry’s regular sabbatical, and though he stepped away from a few things, he maintained a very active presence among the elders. He did this, in large part, because we needed him! Some of you will recall that we lost two elders unexpectedly this past year. Mr. Brian Phillips was called away to be an Assistant Pastor at our mother church, Parish Presbyterian, and Mr. Steve Green moved away to Atlanta, GA. Being shorthanded, Terry sacrificed his sabbatical to serve the church in its time of need. I’d like to publicly thank Terry for the way he stepped up this year, for how he took up the interests of the church ahead of his own interests. It’s a beautiful picture of what true love for Jesus Christ and the church looks like.

It is true that I could say what I just said about Terry about each of our elders and deacons. True, these men are not perfect. Far from it! They have faults and flaws like the rest of us. They are only men after all. But, they love God and the church. They really do. It brings joy to my heart to witness it. Even more, it brings joy to our God. And that’s most important, isn’t it? Yes, but I do hope it brings more than a little joy to you, too. Let us pause now and thank God for faithful shepherds.

Before I go, it’s appropriate for me to briefly update you on our search for an Assistant Pastor. We believe we’re nearing the finish line! God has brought us some really excellent candidates, and in the deliberate process we’ve undergone to find the right man, God seems to be rewarding with his grace. Please continue to pray for us. We hope to be able to share more with you very soon!

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 7, 2019

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) met in Dallas, TX, on June 25-28. It was, in my opinion, one of the more encouraging assemblies in recent years. In saying that, I’m not suggesting that all is well in the PCA. Like any branch of the visible church, we have our issues. Taken as a whole, however, I see many reasons to be encouraged. In the space below, let me highlight two reasons.

First, the assembly took a strong stand for truth. This could be illustrated in a number of ways, but one of the clearest evidences was the assembly’s decision to commend the Nashville Statement (https://cbmw.org/nashville-statement/) as a biblically faithful declaration on human sexuality. As expected, this action didn’t please everyone. Some expressed concerns about the statements lack of pastoral care. Others questioned the way sexual identity is conceptualized in article VII. Still others suggested it was unnecessary and redundant, since the PCA already has strong confessional standards in support of the Bible’s teaching on gender and sexuality. At the end of the day, a strong majority of the assembly were unconvinced by these lines of thought and voted instead to commend the Nashville Statement, believing that reaffirming what we believe in this way is needed in a time where biblical distinctions of gender and sexuality are being jettisoned and the church is increasingly confused on such matters.

Further, the assembly also commended the Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America’s statement on sexual orientation http://www.pcahistory.org/topicalresources/sexuality/RPCNA_Study.pdf. Still further, the assembly erected it’s own study committee on the issue of sexuality in order to bring together our best minds and create our own statement. So, more on this topic is coming in the year(s) ahead. 

Second, the assembly took a stand for grace. Again, I could point to three or four assembly actions, but one case in point would be the overwhelming support to erect a study committee on domestic abuse, oppression, and sexual assault. With the rise of the #metoo movement and growing prevalence of these sins in society and, sadly, even in the church, the PCA committed itself to study the issue and supply the assembly with a report that will include best practices and guidelines for protecting against these sins and responding to them biblically and pastorally.

If you have specific questions about these issues or other business at the General Assembly level, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. If enough of you have questions, we can organize a GA debrief. Seriously, I’d be happy to reserve a room at the church and talk through any particulars over coffee.

Before I sign off, it’s worth noting that whenever pastors and elders from all over the world gather in one place to debate and decide matters of business on controversial topics, there’s bound to be disagreements. That was certainly true this year. But the spirit in which the disagreements were discussed were, on the whole, temperate and gracious and focused on what will glorify God and best serve the mission of the church. That makes me proud (in a good way!) to be a part of the PCA.

But don’t just take my word for it; take Rev. Andy Young’s word on it. Andy is a church planter from Oxford, England. Andy is not ordained in the PCA, and this was his first General Assembly to attend. At the end of his time, he wrote a short piece entitled, “An Outsiders Take on the PCA GA 2019.” In that piece, he made several helpful observations, but none more helpful than his comments on disagreement and debate. He wrote, “…I simply give thanks to God that both on the floor of GA, in discussions afterwards, and in the various online postings since, PCA men are expressing their views, engaging with the issues, and debating the truth. This is encouraging and long may it continue. In addition, the tone of debate has been congenial and compassionate. Of course it is easy to find exceptions to this, but let’s not overly focus on the negatives. The vast majority of interactions I personally heard and have read online have exuded a tone befitting men of God. Let us pray for our brothers that they will know humility, discernment and courage as they debate together, and that through their debates they may stand for the truth and maintain the peace and unity of the PCA.”

I couldn’t agree more. Let me urge us to take up Andy’s prayer for our denomination—that we would stand on the truth of God’s Word, striving by every means of grace to maintain the peace, purity, and unity of the church. That, I pray, is a prayer that God would be pleased to answer.