Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 11, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

As we wrap up our series in Titus today, we turn next week to the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. For the five Sundays leading up to Palm Sunday and Holy Week, we will spend time in the four servant songs of Isaiah. These four songs provide a vivid glimpse into the ministry, character, and exaltation of the Messiah, the Servant of the Lord. By God’s grace, this brief series will prepare us for the heart-rending and mending climax of the Christian year—the crucifixion and resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Servant Songs of Isaiah

February 18 – The Gospel According to Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-13)

February 25 – The Servant of the Lord: Chosen by God and Filled with the Spirit (Isaiah 42:1-9)

March 3 – The Servant of the Lord: Redeemer and the Hope of the Nations (Isa 49:1-7)

March 10 – The Servant of the Lord: Obedient and Faithful to the End (Isa 50:4-11)

March 17 – The Servant of the Lord: Atoning Sacrifice and Peace Maker (Isaiah 52:13-53:12)

March 24 – The Servant of the Lord: The Humble King Fulfilling His Mission (Matthew 21:1-11)

March 31 – Easter Sunday

Speaking of the Christian year, the church refers to the forty days leading up to Easter as Lent. The word “lent” comes from the Anglo-Saxon term for length. Traditionally, the term denoted springtime—the time of year when the days begin to lengthen. At the beginning of the Lenten season (Ash Wednesday, February 14th), the days are shorter and colder. But by the end of Lent, the days are longer and warmer. At the beginning of Lent, everything is brown and dead. But by the end of Lent, the daffodils are poking through the ground and the bright greens of early spring are everywhere.

The change from winter to spring is the whole story of Lent. For Lent is the story of the world’s long winter giving way to the springtime of a new world. Lent points to the fundamental change that the gospel brings—away from a world where death reigns into a new world where life never ends.

There’s a curious story Luke tells about Jesus that starts like this, “When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to Jerusalem...” (Luke 9:51). You can hear the resolution: Jesus set his face. Jesus knows that if he goes to Jerusalem, he won’t get out alive. Well, at least not without dying first. But in setting his face toward Jerusalem, Jesus focuses his attention on the purpose for which he was sent—to atone for sin and defeat the final enemy, death. In a word, Jesus set his gaze toward the dark winter of the cross because he knew the bright spring of the empty tomb was on the other side (see Hebrews 12:1-2).

In this Isaiah series, it’s my prayer that we will set our face toward Jerusalem. That by entering afresh into the fulfillment of Christ’s mission, we might be readied for participating in Christ’s sufferings, and, in so doing, might attain the resurrection of the dead (Philippians 3:10-11).

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 4, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

If you’ve been with us for a bit, you’ve seen the ministry of Cornerstone grow significantly. In the past three years, we’ve almost doubled in size. Though this sharp increase in growth was unexpected, we rejoice at the tremendous opportunity to serve more of God’s people with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

At the same time, with increasing growth comes increasing ministry needs––more staff, leaders, volunteers, ministries, and space. And with increasing ministry needs comes increases in need for financial resources. Praise the Lord, the needs of Cornerstone through this season of growth have been met through your commitment to give generously to the work of ministry. In fact, every year of our twelve-year history we’ve seen an increase in giving, which means every year we’ve been able to invest more resources in kingdom work. Praise the Lord!

Knowing the legacy of generosity at Cornerstone, I asked you in December to please remember the church in your end of the year giving. I mentioned our great desire to continue to maintain a healthy financial position as a church through the purchase and update of The Corner House and the complete renovation of the bottom floor of the Chapel—two significant expenditures. I further mentioned our earnest desire to pay off, or, at the very least, greatly reduce the $600,000 we owe on the Chapel before our balloon note comes due (or is renegotiated) in March of 2024.

For those of you who are able, I asked you to prayerfully consider increasing your giving to Cornerstone by 25- 50% from December to March. Many of you heard that challenge and responded. Through your cheerful and sacrificial giving, we see the Lord answering our prayers!

Our next Cornerstone Family Meeting will be during Sunday School on February 18th. At that meeting, we will give several updates on the life and ministry of the church—including an important financial report regarding year-end-giving, renovations, and debt retirement. This meeting will be an opportunity for our church family to remember God’s goodness, rejoice in God’s provision, and renew our commitment to God’s call in and through the church.

As we prepare for the February 18th meeting, please continue to support the ministry of Cornerstone to the best of your ability as together we deploy our earthly treasure for eternal investment (Revelation 21:9-27).

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, January 28, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

I ran across an old peanuts cartoon strip the other day. Some of you will know it. Lucy says to Linus, “You could never be a doctor. You know why?” Linus doesn’t respond, but that doesn’t slow Lucy down. She continues, “Because you don’t love mankind. That’s why!” As Lucy walks away, Linus yells after her, “I love mankind! It’s people I can’t stand!”

It’s funny, and so we laugh—rightfully so. But don’t miss the important and very uncomfortable truth Linus tells. People are so much easier to love in theory. For instance, I have no problems with my hypothetical neighbor. I have no conflicts with my hypothetical boss. I’m at perfect peace with my hypothetical spouse. But my real-life, living, breathing neighbor, coworker, and spouse? Well, that’s an entirely different story.

Reflecting on this uncomfortable truth this week, I confessed to the Lord how holy I sometimes feel sipping my coffee, reading my Bible, and praying alone. “Ah, this is what living the Christian life is all about.” Now, I don’t believe that, and I’d never say that. But it’s easy—especially for some of us—to fall into the trap of thinking the Christian life is about a set of spiritual disciplines or building theological castles in the sky. But spiritual disciplines and theology are for living and loving like Christ. Believe it or not, your Bible reading plan and “flawless” theology aren’t the point. They are the means God is using to prepare you to live and love like him.

Beginning February 14, we will spend the six Wednesday nights leading up to Holy Week looking at a variety of “one another”commands in the New Testament. We will come to terms with the (humbling) fact that our grasp of Christ-like love is best seen in relationship to our whiny two-year-old, overbearing boss, and impossible mother-in-law. Then, we will consider, as Titus 2:11-14 teaches, how the grace of God trains us to put God’s love to work in relationship with one another.

The One Another Commands: Learning to Love Like Christ

- Feb. 14, Have this Mind with One Another

- Feb. 21, Welcome One Another

- Feb. 28, Speak the Word with One Another

- March 6, Have Fellowship with One Another

- March 13, Serve One Another

- March 20, Give Grace to One Another

I can’t wait to take this journey with you.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, January 21, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Congratulations! You survived the great Middle Tennessee snow dump of 2024. Well, truth be told, I bet you loved it.

I’m a sucker for snow. As a boy growing up in south Mississippi, I only remember one good snow. It was, interestingly, on March 12th—the first day of spring break and my sister’s birthday. We received 6” overnight, which was record-breaking in our neck of the woods.

I remember waking up early and looking out the window at a winter wonderland. I’d never seen anything like it. I quickly bundled up and walked out underneath the pine trees, mesmerized by the holy hush of a gentle falling snow. Was this Narnia? Absolutely magical.

Still today, a good snow pulls out my inner child. As soon as it starts falling, I want to grab the sleds and make snow cream. As soon as the news casters tell me to get off the road and stay home, I want to jump in my car and drive and see the places I know and love—downtown, the church—blanketed in pristine white.

I told several of my friends from the north this week that you need to know three things about Southerners and snow days. First, snow days are southern holidays. Contrary to popular opinion, we do not close things down for safety reasons. I realize that’s our stated reason, but it’s not the real reason. The real reason we close everything down is to celebrate the arrival of snow. Let’s face it—snow is as rare as Christmas and arguably more fun. A business or school in the south that stays open on a snow day is simply out of touch. Don’t they know that snow is a sacred gift from heaven and should be treated with appropriate weather reverence?

Second, as beautiful and as wonderful as snow is, snow is scary to a southerner. When snow is forecasted, we go into apocalypse mode. We worry about freezing to death. We wonder if we’ll be able to leave our house. “Will I be snowed in forever?” This is why we immediately run to the grocery store and purchase all the bread and milk. For all we know, this may be the last bread and milk we ever taste.

This leads to my third and final point. If you’re a true southerner, you’re glad to see the snow go. It’s true. Snow is like out of town guests. It’s good for a day or two; after that, it overstays its welcome. As much as I love the snow, it does my southern heart good to see the drops falling from my roof and the grass reappear. Like closing the attic door after putting the last box of Christmas decorations up, it feels good for things to be back to normal.

On that note, is it spring yet?

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, January 14, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Last week we wrapped up our Advent through Epiphany sermon series in Matthew, and today we begin a five-week series in the smallest of the pastoral epistles, Titus. 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus are lumped together in a category called the pastoral epistles. They receive the name “pastoral epistles” because their author, the Apostle Paul, is writing to two pastors, Timothy and Titus, respectively, about how to lead and serve the church.

Now, you might wonder, “Why is Nate preaching to the whole church from a letter that is intended for pastors?” Said another way, “What good can I expect to receive from a pastoral epistle since I’m not a pastor?” That’s a fair question. For starters, always remember that Scripture’s original audience is never you or me. For instance, since we just wrapped up a short series in Matthew 1-2, take Matthew. His original audience was Jewish Christians in the 1st century. He wasn’t writing specifically to you and me, 21st century Americans. And yet, didn’t you find the teaching of Matthew to be edifying, beneficial, even transformative?

The reason for that is that Matthew, along with every one of the Bible’s authors, are writing God’s Word. Notice how I said that. Every one of the Bible’s authors are writing God’s Word. God’s Word doesn’t drop from the sky with no human involvement, nor are the Bible’s authors simply writing human oracles with no divine superintending. The human author under the inspiration of the divine author pens the Word of God (see 2 Peter 1:21). As Paul says in one of the pastoral epistles, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

Since this is the case, each Bible book has a historical setting and an original audience that figure significantly into the book’s message. Simultaneously, the Bible is a universally true and applicable book addressing all people at all times. Therefore, you can read Titus and receive sermons from Titus, and, even though you’re not a pastor, you can fully expect to receive tremendous benefit from it. As you overhear, so to speak, Paul instruct young Titus, you will gain profound insight into the call of church leadership, the threat of false teaching, the civic responsibilities of the church, and so much more.

Providentially, we’re beginning this series on the same day we install two new elders, Mr. Terry Cheney and Mr. Preston Brooks, into the leadership of Cornerstone. We will focus specifically on that theme today as we consider the role of godly leadership in the church.

Titus: Growing the Church in Godliness

  • January 14, Titus 1:1-16, “The Necessity of Godly Leadership”

  • January 21, Titus 2:1-10, “Commands for Godly Living”

  • January 28, Titus 2:11-15, “Grace for Godly Living”

  • February 4, Titus 3:1-8, “Devote Yourself to Every Godly Work”

  • February 11, Titus 3:9-15, “Discipline unto Godliness in the Church”

Your servant,