Pastoral Notes for Sunday, March 17, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Grace, mercy, and peace to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you’re a visitor with us today, we want to thank you for taking time to worship with us. We sincerely hope you are warmly welcomed by those around you, and that your time in worship today will be a great blessing.

If this is your first time with us, you might notice it’s pretty tight in here. We want you to know we see that. As a partial answer to the good problem of growth at Cornerstone, we’re in the process of finishing a complete renovation of the bottom floor of our educational space. Once that space is finished, we’ll have a brand-new fellowship space and a greatly expanded overflow. We trust this expansion will give us a bit more elbow room in the Chapel.

By the way, renovation is moving along. Sheetrock is hung and painted. Sinks and toilets are in the bathrooms. It’s getting close! I’m not a prophet or a son of a prophet, but IF the renovation stays on schedule, we’ll be in the new space by April. Exciting!

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. The latter half of March will be chock full of opportunities to worship, reflect, and celebrate together. As hard as it is to believe, we’re one week away from Palm Sunday and the start of Holy Week. In order to help you be fully engaged with Cornerstone during Holy Week, I want to take a few moments to talk about upcoming services.

The Maundy Thursday communion service will be at 6:30 p.m. this year. The word “maundy” is an abbreviated form of the word mandate. It refers to the powerful display of Christ’s love as he washes his disciples feet and charges them, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:35). This beautiful communion service lays important historical and theological foundations for all that will follow on Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

Speaking of Good Friday, we will gather for two services this year—at 5:00 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. This service is a powerful reflection on the Passion of Jesus Christ. Complete with choir and chamber orchestra, this service leads the worshiper into Christ’s darkest hour as together we survey the wondrous cross. Given the significant turnout for this service the last few years, we are asking you to register for either the 5:00 or the 7:00 service. Once we reach critical mass in a service, registration for that service will close. Please don’t delay!

Then, on Easter morn, we’ll gather three times—7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., and 10:45 a.m.—and rejoice in Christ’s victory over the grave. With three services, we will have plenty of space for family, friends, and neighbors to join us. If you haven’t done so yet, please take time this week to consider who you might invite to join us for Easter. I am already looking forward to preaching about our victorious Christ!

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, March 10, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Greetings and blessings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Earlier this week I was thinking about the years I’ve shared with Christy in marriage. Recounting the ups and downs, twists and turns, I found myself tearing up at the unspeakably precious gift Christy has been to me over the years. I can honestly say that one of the most grounding and comforting realities of my life is knowing that she loves me.

Reflecting on the sweetness and sturdiness of her love for me produces grateful peace in my heart. For regardless of how inadequate I feel or what anyone else thinks or says about me, I know she loves me. I’m her person no matter what.

This is all the more astonishing when I consider who I am. Shocker, I’m not an easy person to live with. But my scattered, running-thin, and embarrassingly selfish self doesn’t rattle her. She takes it in stride and accepts me warts and all while her example continually nudges me toward being a better man—the man I know God has called me to be.

Even after all the foolish things I’ve said and done, after all the ways I’ve fallen short, her love hasn’t budged. Her affection remains. Her patience is steady. Even after I do “that thing” for the umpteenth time, she forgives me. She forgives me.

Despite how it sounds, Christy is not perfect. Far from it! She’s a sinner like the rest of us. But I can honestly say the Lord has been pleased to use her example of love as a vision of grace in my life.

What do I mean by a vision of grace?

Well, take this in. If you have trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, then you are a child of God. And if you are a child of God, you are loved with perfect patience by your Heavenly Father. Though you have fallen short countless times (it’s far worse than you know), his love for you hasn’t wavered once. The Father is not in heaven wishing he had the “good kid next door” and not you as his child. No, as hard as it may be to wrap your head around this, he delights in loving you.

Sure, you disappoint him. There’s no way around that. But know this—his grief over your sin is the evidence of his love for you. In the way that a loving parent grieves over a child who wanders away from the Lord, the Father grieves when you leave the comfort of his love and commands. He grieves when you forsake him and bow down to the idols of the world and the flesh.

But don’t despair. You’re in the house of God. Today, the Father gathers up his robe and runs toward you in love. In the finished work of Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit, the Father takes you into his arms and rejoices to welcome you, “My prodigal child is home again!”

As we worship today, let’s remain in his love (John 15:9)

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, March 3, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Greetings and blessings to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

What a sweet and meaningful time we’ve shared together on Wednesday evenings during Lent. The table fellowship, Kid’s Club, Vespers, Youth Group, children and adult Choirs—it’s all been so rich.

I’ve particularly enjoyed seeing new faces on Wednesday nights. The midweek gathering is a great way to get know folks at Cornerstone, and, if you have kids, for them to begin to build relationships with other children or youth in the church. It’s not too late to join! Jump in this week with us. We’d love to have you.

During our evening Vespers service, we’re working our way through a sampling of the “One Another Commands.” We started with “Have this Mind with One Another” leaning on Philippians 2. The next week we discussed “Welcome One Another” focusing on Romans 15. This last week we considered, “Speak the Word with One Another” from 1 Thessalonians 5 and Hebrews 3:13. Over the next three weeks, we’ll consider fellowshipping with one another, serving one another, and giving grace to one another.

If you are unable to participate in Vespers, please consider listening to the talks by going to our website. Hover your mouse over the Media tab and then click on “audio resources.” The first three talks are uploaded and available for your listening pleasure.

Now, as hard as it is to believe, three weeks from today we’ll be celebrating Palm Sunday and beginning our annual walk through the final week of Jesus Christ’s life. As in previous years, we will gather on Maundy Thursday at 6:30 p.m. for a special communion service. The very next evening we will ponder the significance of the crucifixion during our Good Friday service at 6:30 p.m. Two days later, on Easter morning, we will gather three times—7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., and 10:45 a.m.— to rejoice in Christ’s victory over sin and death in the resurrection.

Please make plans to fully participate on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday this year. By committing to partake in all three services during Holy Week—Thursday, Friday, and Sunday—you have a special opportunity to be immersed into power of the redemptive drama. Coursing through the narratives of the Last Supper and the crucifixion on the way to the empty tomb provides a soul-enriching opportunity to be renewed in the power of the gospel. Take time now to clear your calendar and make the commitment to share in this special season with your brothers and sisters at Cornerstone.

Finally, let me ask you—who will you invite to join you for Easter this year at Cornerstone? Easter is a perfect time to invite unbelieving neighbors, friends, coworkers, and family to church. I am preparing to preach a simple gospel message in prayerful hope that the Spirit of God might use it to draw lost men and women, boys and girls, into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. Please join me in that prayer and do your part by extending to them an invitation to worship with you at Cornerstone this Easter.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 25, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

I can’t begin to express what a joy it was last Sunday in our Cornerstone Family Meeting to announce the payoff of the chapel. Through your generous giving over the last three months, in response to our earnest call to reduce our debt load as a congregation, the final $655,000 dollars on the chapel was eliminated. No need to renegotiate the balloon note in March! Praise the Lord for his provision.

In addition to the good news of the chapel pay off, we heard an encouraging renovation report from Mr. Jim Smith. The Corner House updates and renovations continue and remain in budget, and the first-floor renovation of the chapel is making good headway. Sheetrock started going up this week! Barring any more significant setbacks, we will be in the new room sometime after Easter in April.

As we noted back in November, we are on the very front end of a search for another Assistant Pastor. With the job description now in place, and the Personnel Committee leading the search, we are beginning to make initial contacts with a few candidates. Please be praying for the search, for patience and wisdom, and for the Lord to lead us to the right man.

Finally, in September of last year, we opened up a nominating, training, and election cycle for new officers. After a record-setting number of nominations were received, twelve men accepted the call to begin training. As the end of phase two of training nears, we have ten men remaining in training. Please remember these brothers and their families in prayer: Mr. Jeff Alldredge, Mr. Kerry Hart, Mr. Sean Kelley, Mr. Mike Kretsinger, Mr. Tim McCoy, Mr. Matt Michaud, Mr. Matthew O’Roark, Mr. Taylor Thompson, Mr. William Tice, and Mr. Carl Ware.

As always, if you have any questions about any of these matters, do not hesitate to reach out to the church office. We will do our best to answer your questions or serve you in any way we can.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 18, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Of all the Old Testament prophets, it’s likely the prophet you know best is Isaiah. For every Christmas, we return to prophesies like...

“Therefore, the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and his name shall be called Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called, Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” (Isaiah 9:6)

Then, a few months later on Good Friday, we return to Isaiah and read...

“Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Though ministering roughly 700 years before the incarnation, Isaiah writes with tremendous clarity and specificity about Jesus Christ. So much so, that some of the early church fathers refer to his prophesy as the fifth gospel. Meaning, if we did not have Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we would know a fair amount about Jesus Christ simply by reading the prophecy of Isaiah.

It’s true—just ask the Ethiopian eunuch. In Acts 8, Philip is instructed by an angel to go to Gaza. When he arrives, he meets an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians. Having worshipped in Jerusalem, the eunuch is making his way home. But as Philip finds him, he’s stopped on the side of the road seated in his chariot reading the Scriptures. Led by the Spirit, Philip approached him, “Do you understand what you’re reading?” Humbly, the Eunuch responded, “How can I, unless someone guides me.” At the invitation of the eunuch, Philip climbed into the chariot and looked over the text he was reading...

“Like a sheep he was led to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he opens not his mouth...” (Isaiah 53:7-8)

Puzzled, the Eunuch asked, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Taking a page out of Jesus’s own approach to interpreting the Scripture (see Luke 24:27), Philip unfolded the Scripture and explained from Isaiah 53 the good news about Jesus Christ.

As we begin a five-week series in Isaiah’s prophecy, focusing our attention of the four servant songs (Isaiah 42:1-9, 49:1-7, 50:4-9, 52:13-53:12), join me in praying that together we might be struck afresh with the good news about Jesus Christ and worship him accordingly.

Your servant,