Pastoral Notes for Sunday, March 13, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

For our profession of faith during Lent, we are utilizing an important ancient creedal statement, The Nicene Creed. The creed was formulated and originally adopted by the church in 325AD at what is historically known as the First Ecumenical Council. It later went through a revision in 381AD at the Second Ecumenical Council in Constantinople.

The Emperor Constantine convened the council for the leading purpose of settling a doctrinal controversy regarding the nature of the person of Jesus Christ in relationship to God the Father. One leading presbyter of the day, Arius of Alexandria, taught that Jesus Christ was subordinate to God the Father since he was begotten of the Father. According to Arius, the Son of God was not coeternal with the Father. There was a time in eternity past when the Son of God didn’t exist. In Arius’s conception, he was, rather, the first and highest created being. In arguing this, the implication is clear––the Son was not divine in the same way that the Father was divine.

On the contrary, another leading presbyter from Alexandria, named Alexander, believed that Jesus Christ was co-eternal with the Father and divine in exactly the same way the Father is divine. In the end, the Ecumenical Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of the teaching of Alexander and deemed Arius a heretic. It was a crucial turning point in doctrinal formulation.

If you look at the Nicene Creed, you’ll find very detailed language regarding the person of Christ and his relationship to the Father. For instance, the language of “very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father” was penned to make clear what we mean when we say Jesus is fully God. We mean he is equal in every way with the Father, and he is thus a perfect representation of the invisible God.

As we enter into worship today, we declare that Savior is both divine like God and human like man. He is, therefore, fit to represent man to God and God to man. In the words of 1 Timothy 2:5, he is the perfect mediator between God and man, and it is that mediation we need today! And praise be to God, it’s that mediation we have! For Jesus, our high priest, lives to make intercession for you and me.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, March 6, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

It is customary during a new season of the church calendar for us to make some slight adjustments to the order of worship. In keeping with that custom, we’ve made a few changes that will stay in place for the next six weeks of the Lenten season. In hearing that, some of you get excited; “I like variety,” you say. For others of you—maybe many of you—you think, “Oh no. Don’t change worship!”

Given the range of responses to any change, even if it’s only a six-week change, it’s right that we ask the question, “Why make a change to the order or worship ever? What do we gain by doing that?” Well, I’m glad you asked. Just two points for today.

First, it’s important that worship doesn’t become rote. At Cornerstone, we believe it’s critical for worship to be a holy habit wherein the Christian is formed by the routine of a biblically faithful order of worship. As critical as that is, we never want worship to be perfunctory. It’s easy to fall into a thoughtless pattern of worship and just go through the motions. When we make slight changes to the order of worship, we’re pushing against that tendency. We’re given a fresh opportunity to consider the elements of worship and the weekly pattern of worship in a new way. These little changes keep us on our toes and cause us to pay closer attention to what we’re saying and doing in worship.

Second, slight changes to the order of worship give us an opportunity to emphasize certain aspects of the worship service or highlight a particular theological/biblical point. Let me illustrate that by noting the changes we’ve made to the order of worship during the Lenten season this year.

•For the next six weeks, the Profession of Faith, which usually comes after the sermon, will come before the sermon in the spot typically occupied by the Old or New Testament reading. By moving the profession of faith to this spot, we’re confronted with the holiness and majesty of our God earlier in the service, which more deeply prepares us for confession of sin. In other words, as we see the glory of God in what we profess to be true, our sin is exposed and the need for repentance is made plain.

•Also, we changed the Profession of Faith from the Apostle’s Creed, which we use 90% of the time, to the longer Nicene Creed. A longer, more detailed creedal statement, especially one that emphasizes the person and work of Jesus Christ, prepares us to think deeply about what Christ accomplished for us in His perfect obedience, his death on the cross, and in the resurrection. (I’ll take time during Lent to unpack parts of the Nicene Creed for us, so stay tuned.)

•Finally, we added the Ten Commandments at the Lord’s Supper. In traditional Reformation liturgies, the Ten Commandments were a regular part of the order of worship. They were often included at the Lord’s Table to emphasize Christ’s fulfillment of the law and the law’s ongoing role of instruction in the life of the believer. Following that tradition, we’ve added in a reading of the law at the Lord’s Supper during this season that we might remember that Christ has freed us from the condemnation of the law and now, by the power of the Spirit, he equips us to love and keep the law as an expression of our gratitude and commitment to God (John 14:15, Matt. 28:20, Gal. 6:2).

As we prepare to pace through a slightly different order of worship together, take a moment now to prayerfully ask the Lord to heighten your awareness of his glory and majesty, to lead you in the grace of repentance, and to stir within you a deeper love for your Savior and his life-giving commands.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 27, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Midweek at Cornerstone is back in action this Wednesday! To help us get ready for it, I’ve asked Meredith Suits and Ben Griffith to tell us about the opportunities for children and youth on Wednesday nights.

Children’s Ministry on Wednesdays

We’re starting some exciting new programs for our preschool and elementary-aged children! Our preschool through 3rd graders will be doing Kids' Quest Catechism Clubs. In these programs, the children will practice 13 questions and answers from the First Catechism,which will help our covenant kids learn several important theological truths. We are grateful to have Casey Taggart, Joanie Pittman, Ronda Laventure, and Jolee Kretsinger join the children’s ministry volunteer team to help lead these classes.

Our 4th-6th graders will continue learning the books of the Bible and practice finding, reading, and discussing passages of Scripture in the Bible Skills and Drills class. This class will be led by Meredith Suits and Danielle Raymond.

Finally, all of our children will have choir each week with Jessica Michaud and Jennifer Westerbeek. All of these groups will participate in a special Palm Sunday performance on Sunday, April 10. Please register your child for Wednesday nights on the website, or app. And please join with us in prayer for the volunteers as they teach, lead, and love our Cornerstone kids on Wednesdays during Lent.

~Meredith Suits

Youth Ministry on Wednesdays

Our junior and senior high youth (7th to 12th grade) will enjoy some great fellowship together while exploring the book of Ecclesiastes! Ecclesiastes offers timely wisdom right where the lives of junior and senior high students need it most. We’re excited to see how the Lord will use this book. After large group teaching time, we end the night in small groups, which allow our students to process both the lesson and their lives in a smaller context with their peers and volunteer leaders. Youth, come and join us!

~Ben Griffith

In addition to children and youth ministries, nursery will be available per usual. So, bring those babies! And finally, so you can plan your night accordingly, the schedule for Wednesday nights is below.

5:15-6:00pm - Fellowship Meal (Catered) on the Patio at Biscuit Love (register online by noon on Mondays)

5:50-7:05pm - Preschool-3rd Grade, Kids Quest Catechism Club (basement—check-in & out in the rear foyer)

5:50-7:10pm - 4th-6th Grade, Bible Skills and Drills Class (Room 301)

6:00-7:15pm - Youth Group (Room 302-303)

6:15-7:00pm - Lenten Vespers Service, “Longing for God” (Chapel)

7:15-8:30pm - Lenten Choir (Chapel)

I look forward to seeing you next week at Midweek at Cornerstone!

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 20, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Before you know it, the Lenten season will be here! We’re less than two weeks away from Ash Wednesday (March 2), the official beginning of the season. For those of you who are new to Cornerstone or at least to the notion of a church calendar, you may be saying to yourself, “Lent? What is that?” If that’s you, you’re among friends.

There are seasons of the church calendar we know like the back of our hand––Christmas and Easter for instance. Protestants and Catholics of all stripes celebrate those high holy days, and even the world at large acknowledges them. But Lent? Not so much. Many of us don’t have a reference point for Lent. Others of us have reference points that have left us confused or even concerned about keeping Lent. So, as we prepare to enter this season together, it’s appropriate to ask the question, “What is Lent?”

The word Lent comes from the Anglo-Saxon term for “length.” It’s a word used with reference to springtime; the time of year when the shorter days of winter “lengthen” toward spring. Lent begins during the cold and dreary days of winter, but by the end of the forty days of Lent, the obvious signs of spring and new life are evident all around us. The dark, empty, deadness of winter giving way to the light, fullness, and life of spring is the story Lent tells. Lent plunges us into the cross-to-empty-tomb gospel. It personally invites us to keep pace with Jesus, walking the wintery path of the cross into the spring of resurrection hope.

Just as Jesus endured the cross for the joy set before him (Hebrews 12:2), the Lenten season calls us to consider in a concentrated way what it means for us to take up the cross daily and follow Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:24-26). In keeping with the pattern of Jesus’s forty days in the wilderness, Lent is a forty-day season marked by fasting, prayer, and spiritual preparation. In other words, Lent provides us an opportunity, liturgically speaking, to do a spiritual spring cleaning. To purge the closets of our heart and reorder our lives according to the gospel.

I’m particularly excited this year about a particular tool towards reordering our lives with a special edition Cornerstone Lenten devotional entitled, Earnestly I Seek You. This beautifully designed devotional offers daily prayer services with unique devotional reflections written by Cornerstone members. I can’t wait to get my hands on one! The devotional is at the printer now. It will be available next week, Lord willing. Be on the lookout for it next Sunday!

Finally, Midweek at Cornerstone is back on March 2! I’m looking forward to our evening fellowship meals, children’s and youth programs, and a brand-new Vespers teaching series. This year’s Vespers series, Longing for God, centers on key spiritual topics from some of church history’s most influential thinkers. Please make plans now to join us all six weeks!

Longing for God

  • March 2—Bernard of Clairvaux: The Desire for God

  • March 9—John Calvin: Knowing God and Yourself

  • March 16—Henry Scougal: The Life of God in the Soul of Man

  • March 23—Thomas a Kempis: The Imitation of Jesus Christ

  • March 30—Martin Luther: The Freedom of the Christian

  • April 6—John Bunyan: The Pilgrim Path

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 13, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory” —I Peter 5:1-4

One of the joys of serving as a pastor at Cornerstone is having a strong group of leaders to work beside in ministry. At Cornerstone we believe the Bible teaches that there are two primary offices for leadership in the church—elders and deacons. Based on the qualifications for the offices found in I Timothy 3 and Titus 1, we regularly nominate, train, and elect men for these two offices, so that spiritual and physical oversight is given to the body of Christ.

Toward this end, I’m very pleased to announce that at our February session meeting the elders once again voted to begin a new officer nomination, training, and election cycle at Cornerstone. Nominations for the office of elder and deacon will open two weeks from today on Sunday, February 26th and close two weeks later on Sunday, March 13th.

Following nomination, the pastors and elders will evaluate nominees for fitness and qualification for office. After initial evaluation, a certain number of nominees will be invited to officer training. Upon accepting the invitation to officer training, the nominee becomes a candidate for officership. Candidates will be trained in the areas of personal character, family management, knowledge of the Bible, the Westminster Confession of Faith, history and constitution of the PCA, and the duties of the office of Elder and Deacon. After successfully completing the training process, candidates will be examined by the elders in the aforementioned areas. Upon successful completion of examination, the elders will recommend candidates to the congregation for election.

Between now and February 26th, we urge all members of Cornerstone to begin prayerfully identifying qualified men in our congregation for the office of either elder or deacon. As you undertake this important responsibility, please remember that only official members of Cornerstone are eligible to nominate for office, and only men who have been official members of Cornerstone for at least one year are eligible to stand for office.

In the next couple of weeks, we will republish and review the unique job descriptions of elders and deacons. In addition, we will explain in detail the process for submitting an official officer nomination. Please pay close attention to any and all communication from the church regarding the upcoming officer nomination season.

Grace & Peace,