Pastoral Notes for Sunday, August 24, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family,  

It was a great joy to look out last week from the pulpit and see so many of our New College Franklin students back with us. I even got the chance to meet a few brand-new college freshmen. Welcome, students!

For those of you who may be unaware, New College Franklin (NCF) is a four-year classical Christian liberal arts college dedicated to excellent academics and discipling relationships among students and faculty. Cornerstone has long had the privilege of hosting NCF in our building during the week. Moreover, several NCF professors are members at Cornerstone, and over the years we’ve been blessed to be the church home for scores of NCF students. 

If you are a freshman at NCF, we are so grateful you’re here! Going to college is an exciting (and nerve-wracking) time. On the church side of things, please know Cornerstone is here to help ease the transition in any way we can. We sincerely hope you find Cornerstone to be a warm and welcoming place in which to worship, grow, and experience life-giving fellowship. If you have specific needs or questions about the church, please reach out to us. You’re in our prayers!  

In other news, the start of Midweek at Cornerstone is a little over three weeks away! On September 17, our fall programming on Wednesday nights will begin with a catered fellowship meal followed by a full slate of children’s, youth, and adult activities. It’s going to be a blast, and I know you’ll want to be a part of it.

For our Midweek Vespers series, we are going to explore the lives of ten influential missionaries. Spanning over four hundred years, these valiant men and women faced unspeakable trials and difficulties for the cause of the gospel. In this series, you will be inspired by the lives of these choice servants while learning mission-critical lessons for bearing witness for Christ in your everyday lives. Please join us!  

Attempt Great Things: Ten Missionaries Who Changed the World  

September 17 – John Eliot (1604-1690): Bearing Witness to the Culture Next Door 
September 24 – David Brainerd (1718-1747): The Importance of New Life  
October 1 – William Carey (1761-1834): The Duty to Evangelize the World  
October 8 – Henry Martyn (1781-1812): Engaging Other Religions with the Gospel
October 15 – Adoniram Judson (1788-1850): Enduring in Ministry Despite Little Fruit
October 22 – David Livingstone (1813-1873): The Whole Gospel for the Whole Man
October 29 – William Charles Burns (1815-1868): Bold Preaching for Conversion  
November 5 – John G. Paton (1824-1907): Courage in Reaching the Unreached  
November 12 – Mary Slessor (1848-1915): Compassion for the Least of These  
November 19 – Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015): Surrendering to God’s Will

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, August 17, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family,  

During the Sunday School hour today, we will gather for a Cornerstone Family Meeting. We have plenty of good news to rejoice in together and much to consider and pray about as we receive important updates on the life, health, and direction of Cornerstone Presbyterian Church.

One item we will discuss is the financial report below. Helpfully, the Finance Team has pulled together a 2024-2025 year-end report as well as a summary of our 2025-2026 budget. Please join us as we rejoice over God’s kind provision this last fiscal year, and please pray with us for the Lord’s continued provision into this next fiscal year. We have so much to be thankful for.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, August 10, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family,  

After such a great start in Genesis and Exodus, many Bible readers lose steam in Leviticus. A few chapters in and they find themselves commiserating with J.L. Mays who said, “Leviticus is as barren and unknown as the dry, trackless wilderness of its setting.” Ouch!

For those who dare to keep reading, confusion and disgust usually follow. Graphic depictions of ritual sacrifices, arcane laws about skin rashes and bodily discharges, detailed instructions about feasts and fasts, frightening stories of God’s judgment. Let me guess, not exactly what you’re looking for?

And yet, the best biblical scholars throughout history agree—Leviticus is essential to our grasp of the Bible’s story. Through its many strange laws and statutes, Leviticus invites us into the center of the drama of redemption, providing the theological basis for understanding the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In our study of this rarely read, often misunderstood book, we will explore the rich complexity of the religious system of Israel and the enduring truths that inform it. Most surprisingly, we will witness the law of God given to Moses lead us into a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ, our Sacrificial Lamb and Great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14-16, 1 John 2:2).

Take time each week to click through the Preparation for Worship email that goes out Saturday evening. Listen to the hymns we’ll be singing, read the Worship Notes, and ponder the specific text on which the sermon will be based. Ask God to open your eyes and the eyes of your brothers and sisters to the marvelous mysteries of God’s grace in the book of Leviticus.

One final thing before I close. Several of you have told me you missed listening to the Life at the Corner podcast over the summer. Well, take heart, the wait is almost over! On Monday, August 18, the first episode of the new season will drop. I’m looking forward to addressing a host of biblical, theological, and cultural issues in this third season, often sharing the mic with esteemed guests. I’m having fun preparing for it, and I believe you’ll be blessed by listening to it.

If you did not know the church had a podcast, now you do! The goal of the podcast is simple: to address important matters at the intersection of life and faith with biblical wisdom. Season one and two are available now! Check it out wherever you get your podcasts and share it with friends, family, and neighbors.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, August 3, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family,  

It was a tremendous blessing to sit under the spiritual leadership of Rev. Tony Giles, Rev. Sebastian Bjernegård, and Rev. Drew Abercrombie each week as they led us through the last half of our summer sermon series, “We Believe: The Apostles Creed.” What a gift to have able servants preach “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) and “rightly handle the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15), so that we might be nourished on “the pure milk of the Word” (1 Peter 2:2). I thank God for the labors of these dear brothers over the course of the summer.

And what a summer it’s been! From record breaking numbers at VBS to a rich women’s Bible study in the minor prophets with Nancy Guthrie, from youth camp in Panama City to stimulating book discussions from the Arts ministry, from max capacity Standing Firm in the Faith men’s gatherings to evangelism training with Christianity Explored—we’ve had a lot happening. That’s to say nothing of the Welcome, Hospitality, Meals, and Expansion teams pouring themselves out for the growing needs of the body. I’m filled with gratitude watching Christ’s people serve Christ’s church with eager joy!

Speaking of gratitude, I’m thankful to be leading once again in worship and to welcome back my dear friend, Dr. Guy Richard, President of Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta, to the Cornerstone pulpit today. Through Dr. Richard’s visionary leadership, RTS Atlanta began hosting classes in Nashville a few years ago. Since that time, Cornerstone has helped lead the way for RTS’s presence in Nashville to grow by generously supporting RTS Nashville through our missions giving and student enrollment.

This summer RTS Nashville was named an official extension site, which is great news. Being an official extension site means more RTS classes offered in Nashville and increased capacity to train men and women for ministry locally. But what really gets me excited is the positive effect RTS Nashville’s presence has on the health of local churches. In fact, RTS’s mission doesn’t stop at training men and women for vocational ministry. RTS desires and their classes are designed to equip the church—to help ordinary Christians further their understanding of the Bible, theology, and ministry.

To that end, if you are new to the reformed faith or Presbyterianism, let me strongly encourage you to invest three weekends this fall (Sept. 12-13, Oct. 10-11, and Nov. 7-8) to study Covenant Theology with my friend, Dr. Gabriel Fluhrer. Dr. Fluhrer is a first-rate theologian and an engaging lecturer. Your mind will be sharpened and your heart warmed as you explore the structure of the Bible’s redemptive plotline. Please don’t miss this tremendous opportunity! To learn more, visit rts.edu/extensionsites.  

Finally, I’ve been peppered with a single question this week, “What will we be studying this fall as a church?” I’ve managed to shock everyone with the answer: “Leviticus!” Yep, the book that’s single handedly killed thousands of read-through-the-Bible plans is the very book I’ll be preaching this fall. I know what you’re thinking, “Did he lose his mind during his July study leave?” Well, I may have lost my mind, but choosing Leviticus is not evidence for it. I’m convinced that your love for and commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ will grow immensely through our time in Leviticus. Please start praying the Lord would pour out His Spirit on the ministry of the Word this fall as we study Leviticus together!

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 27, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family,  

If our family of four ever had a theme song it surely would have been Steven Curtis Chapman’s “The Great Adventure.”

When the song was released, our girls were about 7 and 9 years of age. Day after day those sounds bounced off the walls of our home and into the corners of our hearts as melody and lyrics found a place to live on. The cassette recording seemed to go with us every road trip for the next few years. We listened more than once with the windows down.  

It’s a toe-tapping, knee-slapping kind of tune, but it was the lyrics that first grabbed my attention and then my heart.

Started out this morning in the usual way,
Chasing thoughts inside my head I thought I had to do today.
Another time around the circle; try to make it better than the last.

I opened up the Bible and I read about me,
Said I’d been a prisoner and God’s Grace had set me free;
And somewhere between the pages, it hit me like a lightning bolt;
I saw a big frontier in front of me, and I heard somebody say ‘Let’s go!’


       CHORUS:       Saddle up your horses, we’ve got a trail to blaze;
Through the wild blue yonder of God’s Amazing grace.
Let’s follow our leader into the Glorious unknown.
This is the life like no other. This is The Great Adventure.

 We’ll travel on, over mountains so high; we’ll go through valleys below.
Still through it all we’ll find that this is the greatest journey that the human heart will ever see.
The love of God will take us far beyond our wildest dreams.

Beyond our wildest dreams. It’s been true so far. A life like no other. The love of God taking us further into Himself and into His purposes for the world. 

And the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting that awaits us—that “Glorious unknown”—promises us that the wildest is yet to come.  

If that song is new to you, take a listen sometime. Don’t bother looking for the cassette or a Walkman (some of you may need to ask parents or grandparents about that). That song still lives on YouTube or Spotify.  

Then saddle up for the adventure that awaits. Let’s follow our Leader into the glorious unknown of tomorrow and the rest of our days in this world.

Your servant,
Tony