Pastoral Notes for Sunday, May 22, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

In February, the elders voted to begin a new officer nomination, training, and election cycle at Cornerstone. Later that same month, we opened a nomination period for officers that lasted until Sunday, March 13. After all the nominations were collected, contacts were made to the men who were nominated along with information about officer training. After prayerfully considering the nomination and speaking with their wives (if applicable), the men chose to either accept or decline the nomination.

In this election cycle, two men, Preston Brooks and Mark Mitchell, accepted their nomination and entered training. Both of these brothers filled out the Officer Readiness Questionnaire as a first step in the process and are meeting weekly in the first phase of officer training. If you would, please remember Preston and Mark and their families as they take this journey. Ask the Lord to grow them in and through training and provide them light on the path as they seek his call.

 In closing, I want to share some good news with you. At our Leadership Meeting in April, the Finance Committee presented an overview of Cornerstone’s financial health and published our 3rd quarter and fiscal year-to-date numbers. Please find the report below. As you can see, God has abundantly provided! Thanks to your faithful and cheerful giving (2 Corinthians 9:6-7), Cornerstone is in as good health financially as we’ve ever been. To God be the glory!

 As we press toward the end of the fiscal year (June 30), ministry leaders and the finance committee are busy crunching numbers and making projections for next year’s budget. A strong finish to this fiscal year will go a long way in laying foundations for an expanded Cornerstone ministry in the next budget year. So, let’s keep the course, trusting God to provide all we need. 

 

Cornerstone Presbyterian Church

3rd Quarter Financial Report

2021/22

 

                                    3rd Quarter 2021/22                                                     9 Months 2021/22

Actual        Budget         Diff                              Actual               Budget              Diff

Giving         $348,778   $242,350   $106,428                 $1,024,724       $810,650         $214,074        

Expense             $233,140   $256,064    -$22,923                $733,844         $782,814          -$48,969

Difference          $115,637   -$13,714      $129,351                    $290,879        $27,835           $263,043

 

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, May 15, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Many of you know that Tony Giles serves half time with Cornerstone and half time with a missions agency called Serge. With Serge, Tony serves as a coach for church planters, pastors, and ministry leaders all over the nation. I was greatly encouraged by Tony’s recent Serge newsletter, so I’ve republished it below for your encouragement. Please be in prayer for Tony and his daughter, Rebecca, as together they travel to Spain and attend Serge’s Leadership Week and Company Conference.

MENTORING PASTORS
I continue to meet with several pastors as they address issues, make decisions and steward gifts in their roles as leaders – while looking at each of those through a gospel lens. Leadership formed by the gospel has an aroma and an impact unlike any form of leadership we find in the world. It's more about transformation than leadership principles. PRAY that I would ask helpful questions and offer wise insight—but only after seeking the face of God in prayer.

DEVELOPING LEADERS
I continue to meet monthly with leaders from a variety of churches and ministries. We are now one third of the way through nine modules of Serge's Leadership Foundations Curriculum and have talked about developing vision and communicating that vision to others using case studies to make learning practical. Next up: empowering others, hard conversations, and leadership style. PRAY that I would facilitate dialogue in such a way that each participant falls more in love with Christ as they seek to serve his purposes.

UNDERSTADING BEHAVIORS
Thanks for your prayers for me in the new role I've taken on as a Certified RightPath Coach. I'm hoping that this will enable me to offer another level of coaching for those who are interested in understanding themselves better and their hard-wired behavior in particular. Pray that this ministry will enable leaders to become more effective as they come to understand their own strengths and struggles and recognize the natural motivated behaviors as those on their teams.

Serge Leadership Week and Company Conference, Huelva, Spain | May 22-June 4

If you have followed our story, you know that our daughter Rebecca is now on board full-time with Serge. She and I both will travel to Spain for two weeks to join others from all over the world serving with Serge.

Serge LEADERSHIP WEEK | May 22-26
PRAY for renewal and refreshment as leaders gather together in worship, prayer and workshops.

Serge COMPANY CONFERENCE | May 28-June 4
PRAY for divine appointments for me and opportunities to encourage others.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, May 8, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

As we remember and honor our mothers today, I found this beautifully written, recently published piece by our very own Katie Patton particularly meaningful. I trust you will as well.

I’m not the kind of person who always wants a baby. As a child, I didn’t “play house.” As a teen, I didn’t babysit other people’s children, and I didn’t enjoy my mom signing me up for nursery duty at church. The blessedness of bearing and raising children is more a belief that has grown in me with my faith than it is a primal urge I have. Hearing Mary’s Magnificat in a liturgical context has enforced this belief: “you have lifted up the lowly.” This is the trajectory of Christ’s incarnate life and the life of every believer and the life of the world. From death unto life. Beauty from ashes. A mother is one of the lowly ones. The mother of God saw herself this way. A friend pointed out the obvious symbolism of a woman’s forty weeks carrying her child and the forty days and nights of rain to cleanse the earth in the Flood, Israel’s forty years of wandering in the wilderness and Christ’s forty days of temptation in the desert. The forty days of Lent bring us to Easter. These are times of suffering and trial on the way toward redemption.

We are all called to share in Christ’s sufferings—even to “fill up what is lacking” in them. I have no idea what this means. I believe, however, that it will lead to blessing and redemption, following the pattern Christ’s sufferings did. More particularly, Christ suffered in order to welcome the lowly, to welcome sinners as sons and daughters to the joyful presence of God, and to give them a Home. Women, as mothers, follow this pattern as well. Our very first home, for every one of us who has ever lived, was our mother’s womb. We were welcomed there, nourished and cared for from her very body. There is much sweet sentiment (rightly so) surrounding motherhood, but make no mistake, this welcoming, this hospitality, is one of suffering. Whether an easy pregnancy or not, whether a smooth delivery or not, whether healthy, whole children or not, these lowly mothers are required to lay down their lives for the world. They don’t do so because they are brave or saintly or good— often, they are afraid and sad and despairing. But “unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Some women cannot conceive. Some have one, two, or ten children. Some have lost children. Some, like me, find themselves unexpectedly expecting at the very tail-end of their child-bearing years. None of what I say above calls any of those women better or worse than the others. To marvel at what God has done with “woman-as-mother” is not to deny the fruit He will bring from the suffering of childlessness or loss. Woman-as-mother shows us, all of mankind, how to welcome the lowly in many ways, from adopting, to fostering, to working with refugees, to opening our homes to guests, to serving in the church nursery, to ministering to the homeless or those with disabilities, to even offering “a cup of cold water” in His name. The list is endless. The opportunities for suffering seem endless as well, but they are only a gateway to blessing. The suffering is NOT endless, but the joy is. We look “unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” As we lay down our lives for the lowly, we, the lowly, will be lifted up with them.

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, May 1, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Four weeks ago, I wrote about the “good problem” of growth Cornerstone is experiencing. It’s a problem we encounter firsthand each Sunday morning squeezing into overcrowded pews or climbing the stairs to overflow. It’s a good problem in that growth is a good thing! But it’s a good problem in that we’re running out of space to accommodate the ministry.

Several months back, the elders began discussing how to address the issue of growing numbers and tight quarters. We spent an evening exploring a variety of potential options including adding worship services, augmenting/expanding the chapel (if possible), starting an additional Cornerstone location, planting a new church, building (or buying) a larger facility, or even some combination of the above.

As this discussion took place, other discussions and topics surfaced. We revisited aspects of our history as a church. We touched on our vision and core commitments. We dreamed about the future kingdom impact of an expanded ministry. We also addressed a variety of fears and concerns. Fears of losing the sweetness of fellowship we’ve long enjoyed. Fears of failure if we try something that doesn’t work. Fears regarding the sacrifice it will require to honor God’s call and care for his people in this season of growth.

This openhearted dialogue led us to pray, pray, and pray some more. After that initial meeting, I put pen to paper and crafted three prayers for our leaders to commit to praying on a regular basis during this season. These prayers are designed to prepare our hearts for whatever God has in store next for Cornerstone. During this season, I’d like to invite you to join us in praying these prayers as together we seek God’s face for the future of Cornerstone.

  • The prayer of surrender—“Not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). In this prayer, we’re asking God to bring us to a place where we want God’s will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Ask yourself, “What must I release or set aside in order for God’s will to reign supreme in my life?” Name those things before the Lord, laying them at his feet.

  • The prayer for unity— “Holy father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one even as we are one” (John 17:11) In this prayer, we’re asking God for a spirit of unity, both for leaders and the church membership as together we seek God’s face. Search your heart to see if there is any offense, frustration, or dismissiveness against any leader or member of the church. If needed, confess this to your brother or sister and be at peace (2 Corinthians 13:11).

  • The prayer for wisdom—“If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God who gives generously without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5) Ask boldly for wisdom for your leaders and the church. As you pray for wisdom, reflect on God’s unfailing love for the church and consider what would God most want us to see, know, believe, and protect as we seek to answer his call.

    Friends, would you enter into prayer with us in an ongoing way this season? It’s easy to get worked up with excitement or fear over this or that, but it’s prayer that God is pleased to use to strengthen and direct the church. As Oswald Chambers said years ago, “Prayer does not fit us for the greater work; prayer is the greater work.”

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, April 24, 2022

Dear Cornerstone Family,

When asked by friends and family about Holy Week and Easter services, I’ve found myself a bit like Paul when he was taken up to the third heaven and was unable to put the experience into words (see 2 Corinthians 12). Truly, a transported to heaven week of worship for me, and from what I’m hearing, I wasn’t alone in that. Praise the Lord.

As you know, God loves to use his people in the work of ministry. Recognizing this, I’d like to thank a number of folks who served faithfully during Holy Week. First, I’d like to thank Jessica Michaud and the volunteers around her for leading our children’s choir. It was a joy on Palm Sunday to hear the truth out of the mouth of babes! Second, a big “thank you” to the New College Franklin Choir for blessing us on Maundy Thursday, and for the Cornerstone choir and musicians who tirelessly served for Good Friday and all three Easter services. Your labors were not in vain! We were edified, and Christ was exalted. Third, I want to thank our pastors and leaders for stepping toward the efforts of ministry with eagerness and gratitude. It’s a joy to serve with these brothers! Finally, I want to offer a very special thanks to Greg Wilbur for his long faithfulness in leading us in worship. So much of what we do each week in worship, but especially during Holy Week, is due to his service. What a gift he is!

Before we close this week’s pastoral notes, our Children’s Ministry Coordinator, Meredith Suits, wants to get you thinking about the summer. Take a look at what she and her team are cooking up for our kiddos:

Spring is here! And while it’s beautiful to see the flowers blooming and the lovely shades of green appearing, I’ve spent the recent sunny afternoons daydreaming about summer adventures. For the children’s ministry, our biggest summer adventure will be VBS at Jim Warren Park on June 1-3 (I know––technically still spring, but we all know that June in Tennessee feels like summer!)

Our theme is “Rooted,” and we will focus on the truth that God plants seeds in our hearts which grow the deep roots of our faith. These roots later yield the fruit of the Spirit as God sanctifies us and makes us more like him. Our prayer is that the children who attend will see the ways God has planted seeds in their hearts and believe that God will nurture and care for them, yielding good fruit throughout their lives!

We currently have several volunteers signed up to help with VBS, and our team is so grateful for all the interest and enthusiasm. But we still need more help! We need a few more volunteers each night, but even if you can’t attend VBS, there are simple but important ways you can serve. Please click HERE to learn how you can help or HERE to register your child for VBS.

Mark the evenings of June 1-3 on your calendars! (In fact, mark May 31, too, as we will have a VBS kick-off for families to fellowship together and get kids ready for the rest of the week’s activities.) Begin praying for the children of Cornerstone! We want VBS to be a time for our children to reflect on their relationship with God and one another, and a time when they feel deeply loved and cared for by the church. ––Sincerely, Meredith

Your servant,