Pastoral Notes for Sunday, March 27, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

It was a blessing to partner with Tent City this winter to help provide coats, hats, and Bibles for our homeless neighbors in Nashville. Below are just a few of the thank-you notes we received from folks who were helped by your gifts.

“Cornerstone church, you are a blessing. Thank you lots!”––Red

“Thank you for blankets coats, hats, etc.”––James Malone

“God Bless you for all you do for us.”––Vietnam Vet, Pops

“At this time of year, those coats were really appreciated. Thank you!”––Jamile Morgan

As always, initiatives like this don’t just happen. They take planning and lots of effort. On that note, I want to thank Sue Gamble for helping organize the coat drive, and I want to thank all of you who emptied closets or purchased items to help serve the needs of our community. I hope you found it true: it’s more blessed to give than to receive.

Did you know that serving the good of the world through acts of mercy is one way the church bears witness to the love of Christ? In the Scripture, there is a symbiotic relationship between word and deed ministries. Take Christ for example. He performed loving acts of mercy––healing, feeding, casting our demons, etc.––but did so right alongside the offer of the gospel. The two went hand in hand.

The same was true in the early church. In Acts 2, the church is sharing their goods and resources with one another in order to care for the needy among them. As they do so, they are taking in the Apostles’ teaching and spreading the good news. New converts are being added to their number day-by-day (Acts 2:42-47).

It is true, of course, that the priority in ministry is on the spiritual. We can feed, heal, and clothe people all day long, but if we never share the life-saving gospel of Jesus Christ, those whom we’ve fed, healed, and clothed will die and live eternally apart from the Lord. We care for all needs, but eternal needs we care for the most.

When we bring word-and-deed together, when mercy and evangelism are side by side, a visible and audible testimony to Jesus Christ is extended. Our actions demonstrate in tangible ways our love for God and others. And our words declare in truthful ways the reality of the gospel.

In a word, we want to be a church that gives daily bread and offers the bread of life (John 6:35). We want to be a church that gives cups of cold water for physical hydration while extending the living water that quenches deep spiritual thirst (John 7:37-39). We want to give coats and hats to those who need them, and we want to offer the beautiful, righteous robes of salvation that are available to anyone who puts their trust in Jesus Christ (Romans 13:14).

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, March 20, 2022

I asked Martha Brooks, our Women’s Ministry Director, to write this week’s Pastoral Notes.

Dear Cornerstone Family,
As I type this, we are zooming down I-40 in the pouring rain, Preston is maneuvering our 55 feet of Suburban-plus-camper around semitrucks and other Spring-Breakers, the girls are watching movies/doing the Wordle, and I am congratulating myself on surviving another vacation in 175 square feet of living space. Well done, Me.

Actually, if you talk to us for more than thirty minutes, the camper will come up. We love it more than our luggage. (Kudos if you get that movie reference.) It isn’t that it’s super nice or spacious (see aforementioned square footage), but it’s what it has allowed us to do that makes us love it so much. For the past six years we have researched and planned trips, mapping out routes to take these people to see the Grand Canyon, hike Cadillac Mountain, climb seaside cliffs, remember the Alamo, cruise along Picture Rocks Lakeshore. We have been all the way down to Key West and just down the road to Henry Horton. And while it is such a gift to be able to show the girls these amazing places in creation, the real gift (and what we hope they will remember most) has been in how our family has grown. Having this camper, this ability to be together, has bonded the five of us in a way that just doesn’t happen when we all retire to our individual activities and separate bedrooms after supper. Instead, we open the tiny game cabinet, fight over which one to play, argue and laugh until it’s time to turn the kitchen table into a bed, and chat as we fall asleep within ten feet of each other. (“Good-night, John-boy.” Double kudos if you get that reference!) The camper forces us to get close, to be patient, and to compromise. All this has led to a deeper appreciation of each other, a deeper understanding of what makes the others tick, and a deeper thankfulness for what God has given us in the gift of one another. The camper is the tool that facilitates this deepening.

I recently finished reading Dane Ortlund’s, Deeper. In the weeks since I’ve finished, I have returned to many passages over and over trying to refine what exactly our vision is for the women of Cornerstone. (I really just wanted to write “Read this book. The End.” for the Pastoral Notes today—this idea was frowned upon.) I especially keep coming back to this quote from the introduction:

“Growing in Christ is not centrally improving or adding or experiencing, but deepening.

Implicit in the notion of deepening is that you already have what you need.”

Our vision for the women of Cornerstone is that we will go deeper. Deeper in our relationships. Deeper in our stories. Deeper in prayer. Deeper in Scripture. Deeper in service. Deeper in evangelism. Deeper in thankfulness. Deeper in Christ. Together.

We don’t have to buy a fleet of Cornerstone Campers to facilitate this (Although that would be so fun! Contact your shepherding elder!). We already have what we need: we have the Word, we have the church body, we have access to the throne of grace, we have the Holy Spirit. Our goal in Women’s Ministry will simply be to facilitate ways to access the tools already at our disposal. We will continue (and deepen!) the things we are already doing, and there will be a few new things coming down the pike. We will aim to put good resources in your hands, to continue to get to know one another and access the gifts each woman has been given, to guide you into a deeper love of Scripture and learning to study it well, to encourage you to engage more deeply in life with your Cornerstone family.

Our first “Deeper Together” event will be Thursday, April 21. We will have desserts and fun and fellowship, as well as talk about going Deeper Together in Prayer as we begin this new season of ministry. Mark your calendars and watch for registration to open in the coming weeks. Please make plans to come and bring your youth-aged daughters.

Let’s all go deeper. Together.
Love and Grace, Martha Brooks

 

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,