Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 6, 2020

At Cornerstone, we’re convinced that reading quality literature together is a vital spiritual practice that encourages personal growth in faith and community. In preparation for the February Literature Discussion as well as Carolyn Weber’s visit to Franklin in March, I asked Greg Wilbur if he would introduce you to Surprised by Oxford and to Carolyn.

 Sometimes books find you. I’m not sure what prompted me to buy Surprised by Oxford, but it sat on the shelf unread for a while. This book started coming up in conversation again and again until finally Sophia read the book first. It wasn’t long before she told me that I needed to buy another copy because she had formed an attachment to her copy—the one she was reading. In fact, her reaction is not unique. Carolyn writes with such beauty and directness that you cannot help but feel like you are sharing a cup of tea and listening to an old friend talk about what is going on in their life.

As you read, you experience the joys, frustrations, embarrassments, and awakening of someone honestly wrestling with the truth of Christianity—and doing so in the beautiful environment of the University of Oxford surrounded by a host of friends, mentors, and patient, grace-filled believers. Because of her background growing up in Canada, everything about Christianity is new to Carolyn and you get to look at the things you take for granted about the Faith through the eye of one who encounters them for the first time.

In this memoir, Carolyn leads the reader through the ups and downs of life and what happens when you take the claims of Christ in Scripture with intellectual honesty and engage the Bible seriously. With the wit of an intellectual mind and the self-deprecation and honesty of one who understands the love of Christ, she tells the story of the people that God used in her life to care for her and lead her to Christ.

You will love this book and you will be encouraged in your faith as well as challenged—challenged by the able defense of the rationale of the Faith and challenged by the depiction of what it looks like to serve and love our neighbor. Don’t let the size of the book scare you—it reads very quickly and you will be captivated by the story and the work of the Spirit in her life.

Part of the joy of sharing this book together in February is also the opportunity to share Carolyn with you. In March, Carolyn, her husband, and three children are coming from Canada to spend their spring break in Franklin in order to engage our community and speak one evening. Over the past couple of years that I have gotten to know her, Carolyn has been delightful, generous, and sincere, and I am excited to walk through this book together and then learn from her together.

“...just who is your master? For we all have one. No individual, by the very state of existence, can avoid life as a form of servitude; it only remains for us to decide, deny, or remain oblivious to, whom or what we serve.”—Carolyn Weber, Surprised by Oxford

Copies of Surprised by Oxford are available on the bookshelf at church for $10.

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, January 26, 2020

Last week we wrapped up our 2020 vision series, For Freedom Set Free. I’m grateful for the variety of testimonies that many of you shared with me about how the Lord was at work in your life through that series. I am praying actively that the truths and instructions we received through that series lingers long in our hearts. May the Lord grant to us the joy to worship and follow Jesus Christ in greater freedom in 2020!

If you missed any installment in that series, or desire to go back and re-hear any message, let me encourage you to catch up online. You can find the Cornerstone sermons on our church website at cornerstonepresfranklin.org. Just click on resources at the top of the page, and you’ll find the sermon tab.

Today we begin a new series that will carry us through the winter and spring. It is a series on one of my favorite books in the whole of the Scriptures. Now, if you’ve been around Cornerstone for a while, you’re thinking, “I think you say that about every book in the Bible!” Well, guilty as charged. My favorite book in the Bible is very often the one I’m reading at the moment! But when I say that this book is one my favorite books, I am saying something more. This particular book has been one of the two or three books in the Bible that the Lord has used most in my life personally to grow my love and commitment to Jesus Christ. So, this book holds a particularly special place in my heart.

So, what book am I talking about? I am talking about the book of Philippians. As a means of helping you prepare for worship, I’ve posted the working titles and passage breakdowns below. If I may encourage you in a proven practice, please consider taking time to both review the order of worship on Saturday night, which you can find on our website. And then take time to read slowly through the passage that we’ll be considering together. I think you’ll find that taking those few minutes the night before worship to prepare will enrich your worship each Lord’s Day.  

Press on Toward the Goal: A Study of Philippians

·  January 26, “Thanking God for the Gospel” (Philippians 1:1-5)

·  February 2, “A Pastor’s Petition” (Philippians 1:3-11)

·  February 9, “The Gospel That’s Never Behind Bars” (Philippians 1:12-18)

·  February 16, “To Live is Christ” (Philippians 1:19-26)

·  February 23, “Walking Worthy of the Gospel” (Philippians 1:27-30)

·  March 1, “The Key to Unity” (Philippians 2:1-11)

·  March 8, “The Mind of Christ” (Philippians 2:5-11)

·  March 15, “Work Out Your Salvation” (Philippians 2:12-13)

·  March 22, “Standfast” (Philippians 2:14-18)

·  March 29, “Sending Gospel Partners” (Philippians 2:19-30)

·  April 5, “Loss in Gain” Philippians 3:1-7

·  April 12, “The Power of the Resurrection” (Philippians 3:1-11)

·  April 19, “Press On” (Philippians 3:12-16)

·  April 26, “Heavenly Citizenship” (Philippians 3:17-4:1)

·  May 3, “Sweet Communion” (Philippians 4:1-7)

·  May 10, “Pursuing the God of Peace” Philippians 4:8-9)

·  May 17, “The Secret of Contentment” (Philippians 4:10-13)

·  May 24, “God Will Meet the Need” (Philippians 4:14-23)

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, January 19, 2020

For the Pastoral Notes today, I asked Rev. Ben Griffith to tell us about the new Sunday School class he’ll be starting in the chapel in a couple of weeks!

Beginning on January 26th, I hope you’ll join me in the Chapel Class for a five-week journey through a topic that one writer says “may be the most important aspect of the Christian life you’ve never heard about.” Now, he may be overreaching in saying that you have “never heard about” this subject before, but he is putting his finger on the fact that this topic is just as important for us as it is neglected by us. He’s referring to something we find all over the pages of Scripture, a reality that is the very heart of the good news of the Gospel. He’s referring to “Union with Christ.”

                                                         In our five-week series, we’re going to use Rankin Wilbourne’s engaging and accessible book, Union with Christ, to explore how this beautiful gospel reality can close the gap that often exists between our heads and our hearts; between what we believe and what we experience. Often, if we’re honest with ourselves, we find it difficult to connect what Jesus did in the past and what he’s promised to do in the future, to the life that I’m living in the present. Sometimes we feel this disconnect acutely, as we live in this gap between the grand promises of God and the nitty-gritty details of our everyday lives. Does this gap sound familiar to you?

            If it does, then I hope we will discover together, in new and fresh ways, how union with Christ is what Wilbourne calls “the way to know and enjoy God.” Coming to see your union with Christ is like putting on a pair of glasses that finally allows you to see yourself, your story, and your savior with the clarity that God intends. Union with Christ is not a new spin on the Gospel—it’s what the Bible has been saying all along. And it’s not an abstract idea—it’s a powerful reality that actually changes us and opens up new pathways of joy, obedience, and faithfulness in our walks with Christ.

      Please join us! There is no need to buy or read the book, but there are copies on the book table available for purchase.

We are also very pleased to introduce to you our new female youth intern, Eva Lewis! Eva is a member of Cornerstone and has been actively volunteering in our youth ministry for the last year. In this new role, Eva will play a supportive role in the youth ministry, spending quality time discipling our junior and senior high girls. If you have not met Eva yet, please take time to introduce yourself and welcome her to the Cornerstone staff! 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, January 12, 2020

I had several encouraging phone calls and meetings this week with folks. The encouragement wasn’t so much my particular enjoyment of their company and fellowship, though that’s a given. It was in the spiritual joy of the encounters.

Two of the meetings centered on what it means to seek God for direction in life. In both cases, the persons were on the cusp of significant life decisions that would have a bearing on the direction of their life. In both instances, they sought counsel from godly advisors. In both cases, they explored various scenarios and outcomes. In both cases, they sought the Lord earnestly in the Word and praying frequently and perseveringly. And in both cases the Lord kindly supplied them with the wisdom and resolve they needed to make the decision.

In other words, these meetings were not a cry for help but an offer of thanksgiving. They wanted, of course, to inform me of their decision, which I appreciated. But, more importantly, they wanted to share with me what God had done and to invite me to rejoice with them.

It’s no wonder they were so full of peace! Not the kind of peace that comes from being sure that you made the right decision. Since the decisions were matters of liberty not morality, that kind of peace wasn’t possible. For no matter how sure we are, we never know how something is going to turn out. We are, after all, not in control of the outcome. And that was the point for these dear folks. Their peace wasn’t in the decision, but in God. Their peace came from knowing that God was Lord over the decision, was with them in the decision, and that He can be trusted with their future no matter what (Phil. 4:6-7).

Now, that’s a truth to hang on to as we start 2020. Who knows what this year holds for you? What joys will you know? What sorrows will you face? God knows. In fact, He’s already written the story of this year (Isaiah 46:10), and if you know and love Him, rest assured—He’s working all of it together for good (Romans 8:28).