Pastoral Notes for Sunday, October 6, 2024

Dear Cornerstone family, 

I’m sitting at table 14 at Chick-fil-A on Hwy 96. This corner booth is serving the dual purpose of lunch spot and makeshift office. My grand plan is to get a little study done in between bites.

What are we eating today, you ask? A spicy chicken sandwich, a kale crunch salad, and a Sunjoy. Just enough flavor to please my taste buds and just enough good-for-you to please my conscience. Lord, bless Chick-fil-A.  

Well, look-a-there! It’s my old friend, Joey Smith. Great to get an update on his life, family, and work. Glad I could steal a little advice from him about the current housing market and learn he’s benefitting from the Life at the Corner podcast. Grateful. Lord, bless Joey.

You know what—this kale crunch salad is much better than you’d expect.

Bill from New Jersey just stopped by my table. He saw my Bible and journal open and surmised I was a pastor. Is it really that obvious? He and his wife, Carol, flew down for the Dove Awards. They’ve decided to extend their trip for a few days and volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse for the relief efforts in east TN and west NC. The Lord has his people everywhere. Lord, bless Bill and Carol.  

Man, a strawberry milkshake would hit the spot…better stick with the kale crunch.  

A grandmother, Michelle, sits down cattycorner to me with her 10-month-old grandson, Cane. Cute kid. She’s “daycare” for him while his mom is at work. Michelle’s husband died nearly two years ago. She misses him. It saddens her to think that Cane will never know his grandfather. “He’s going to need a father figure in his life,” speaking of Cane. Indeed, he is. Everyone is bearing a burden. Lord, bless Michelle and Cane. 

“Sir, do you need a refill?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Sunjoy—half unsweet tea, half diet lemonade, please. 

Checked my phone. Good grief, where has the time gone? I close my Bible and journal. I pack up my things and toss my trash. I walk out expressing my appreciation to the friendly staff, “My pleasure!”

As I make my way to the car, I recall a line from Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together where he says something like, “We must hold our plans loosely and be ready to be interrupted by God.” That’s a good word. The unplanned interruptions of life, especially the ones that include interactions with people, aren’t obstacles to ministry but divine opportunities for ministry.

Table 14 at Chick-fil-A on Hwy 96 proved to be more than a lunch shot and makeshift office. It’s a place where God interrupted me with ministry. And I couldn’t be more thankful.

Your servant,

 


Pastoral Notes for Sunday, September 29, 2024

Dear Cornerstone family, 

For the last several weeks in our study of 1 Corinthians, we have addressed a number of difficult matters. Over the next several weeks, we will address several more difficult matters including sexuality, marriage, and singleness.

As we faithfully submit ourselves to the Lord’s teaching on difficult matters, it’s wise for us to remember that there will be times when something written in the Scripture or spoken from the pulpit will strike a tender place in our heart. Our hearts may be tender because the subject raises difficult memories or experiences, or revisits old wounds, or draws to mind unfulfilled hopes and dreams. Whenever that happens, please don’t avoid God’s teaching on the subject. Instead, strengthen your faith by praying through the difficulty remembering these three truths:

  1. Everything your Heavenly Father speaks to you, he speaks in love (Romans 8:35, 37-39). As hard as the Lord’s instruction may be at times, imagine how much harder it would be if God was silent. Consider how discouraging it would be if the Lord was quiet on the matters that cause you the most pain. One of the evidences of Lord’s profound love for you is he addresses controversial, difficult, or sensitive subjects. He loves you enough to speak the truth in love to you.

  2. God’s Word is designed for your profit (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Every single word of the Scripture is written for your benefit. The words that lift you up and of which you return to often as well as the words that bring conviction and of which you’re tempted to shy away from––both are custom crafted from the hand of God for your edification (Heb. 4:12).

  3. Any pain you experience in the process of receiving God’s Word is designed for your healing, growth, and future glory. God is single minded in his mission: “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen” (1 Peter 5:10-11). Receiving God’s Word with this mission in mind will help you gain from the Word all the benefits he intends for you.

With these words in mind, let’s prepare to worship the Lord.

Your servant,

 


Pastoral Notes for Sunday, September 22, 2024

I’ve asked our Women’s Ministry Director, Mrs. Martha Brooks, to share more about the upcoming Women’s Retreat in October. Please take time to read her note below.

Dear Cornerstone family, 

Once every two years (is that biennial? biannual? let’s just say once every two years) Cornerstone Women host a retreat. It’s actually been almost three years since our last retreat, as the last time we attempted a retreat we experienced an honest-to-goodness blizzard. On that snow-covered night in January 2022, I issued a decree: we would never again plan a winter retreat. We just get too much snow around here (ok, maybe we don’t get much snow and maybe it was more of a dusting than a blizzard, but we Southerners have no business being on the roads at even the slightest flurry, and I have a snow day routine that includes Settlers of Catan and “While You Were Sleeping” and in no way involves me leaving my house). So, all that to say, our biennial/biannual/once-every-two-years-retreat is quickly approaching in its new permanent home: fall.

We are calling this retreat Scenes by the Sea. Over the course of the weekend, we will hear from Courtney Doctor and Nancy Guthrie about three events in the life of Jesus that took place by the Sea of Galilee. Our own dear Nancy needs no introduction, and some of you may remember Courtney. She spoke at a women’s event three years ago and declared Cornerstone Women “my kind of people!” She jumped at the opportunity to be with us again. Courtney received an MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary in 2013, is an author and Bible teacher, and currently serves as the Director of Women’s Initiatives for The Gospel Coalition. God has blessed Courtney and her husband, Craig, with four wonderful children, three great kids-in-law, five sweet grandchildren, and their much loved, goofy dog, Walter.

In addition to the large group teaching sessions, we will play a game (Trivia Night 2.0, anyone?), worship together in song, enjoy delicious food, and hear from a panel of diverse Cornerstone women. We will also have a time where gifted women from our body will lead mini-workshops varying from beginning knitting to a nature walk to discussing your latest literary loves and more. 

Scenes by the Sea will take place three miles from here at Christ Community Church’s Harpeth House on Friday, October 25, 5:30 - 9:00 p.m., and Saturday, October 26, 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. As per usual with our “good problem,” space is limited. Registration will close October 4, so please don’t delay reserving your spot through the church website. The cost is $40, or $25 for students, and scholarships are available. Young ladies in the Youth Group are encouraged to attend as well!

The retreat team has been faithfully planning and praying for this weekend for well over a year now. I sincerely hope you’ll make this a priority on your fall calendar and join us for what will surely be a fun-filled, joy-filled, friend-filled, Spirit-filled weekend. 

Unless it snows. 

Grace,

Martha Brooks


Pastoral Notes for Sunday, September 15, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Greetings and blessings to you.

Last week in this space I addressed the importance of children being in corporate worship. If you missed that communication, take a moment later today to read it. You will a find it halfway down the home page of the Cornerstone website (see Pastoral Note, September 8, 2024).

Today, I want to provide a few more reasons for bringing children into worship and close this subject by helping parents know when to remove their children from the service for the sake of worship and as an act of love to their fellow worshippers.

With these two threads in mind, let’s consider three reasons for bringing children into worship:  

  • Worship shapes a child’s sense of being a part of the church. Just by being present in worship, a child is learning at a young age, “I am a part of the church.” This early sense of belonging is an expression of the position God gives and the promises God makes to children in Scripture (Deut. 7:9-16, Psalm 34:9-11, Mark 10:14, 1 Cor. 7:14).

  • Worship trains a child to be a worshipper. In a precognitive sense, the weekly rhythm of the gospel expressed in the liturgy has a formative influence on the child. In a more conscious way, they are learning the vocabulary of worship through listening, singing, praying, and even memorizing the more repetitive elements of the worship service like the Lord’s Prayer and the Apostles Creed (Psalm 127:5, Prov. 22:6, 2 Tim. 3:15).

  • Worship draws a child into communion with God. Through worship, God meets with his people. Through the means of grace, God works in the lives of his people bringing salvation and sanctification. Worship, then, prepares for and is a foretaste of what we pray will be the eternal reality for our children—loving communion with the Lord (1 Peter 1:23, John 1:3, 1 Thess. 2:13).

With that said, there are times to remove children from the worship service. Consider these points:

  • If a child is repeatedly drawing attention to themselves, and the effect of their behavior is drawing others’ attention away from the Lord and worship, then the child should be removed from worship.

  • The goal of removing a child from worship is to preserve worship for others and to instruct, train, and, if warranted, discipline the child in order that they might reenter worship. Remember, kids are smart and sinners! If the child is not trained/disciplined when removed from worship, they will learn they can “act out” in church and be removed without any consequence. Parental wisdom and consistency are key. 

  • When you remove a child, attempt, if possible, to exit discretely through the nearest door—preferably the back of the chapel. Then, make use of the “Cry Corner” on the second floor past the kitchen at the end of the hallway. You will be able to hear the audio of the worship service while you’re absent from the gathered assembly.

  • How long will it take to train my child for worship? Every child is different. When a child enters worship, the need to exit may happen frequently and should not be a cause for shame or embarrassment. It’s a natural part of church life. As a child matures and learns what’s expected of them in worship, it will get easier. Follow the three P’s: be persistent, patient, and prayerful.

Well, more could be said, but I’m way over my limit! Let’s all be vigilant to pray for our covenant children and the parents who are training them. May the Lord be pleased to form a joyful band of worshippers among the covenant children of Cornerstone!

Your servant,

 


Pastoral Notes for Sunday, September 8, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Several years ago, our boys spent the night with friends one Saturday night while Christy accompanied me as I preached a conference in another city. For convenience’s sake, our boys went to church with their friends that Sunday—a generally sound, broadly evangelical congregation in the area.

Much to the surprise of my boys, they showed up at church but never worshipped. Instead, they were whisked off to a brightly colored recreational room where a team of smiling volunteers were armed with coloring sheets, games, and snacks. Apart from a five-minute Bible lesson, their experience at church that morning more closely approximated daycare than worship.

I found out later that children in that congregation don’t attend “big church” until they are eighteen. Eighteen! Doing the math, that means children are born, grow up, and graduate from high school and never once attend worship in that congregation.

Now, I get it. Worship can be a stretch for children––especially young children. When Cornerstone children age out of the nursery at three years of age, they do not suddenly metamorphosize into serene, reverent worshippers. Hardly! The inroad into public worship is filled with squirming and sighing, complaining and crying.

No one knows this better than my wife. Christy has managed to get up, feed, dress, transport, and then sit in church with four of our five children over the course of twenty-one years with zero help from her pastor husband. Someone should give that dear woman a medal. But wait, she’s not done! She now has the challenge of a 3 ½ year old spitfire, Lila, who is a long way from appreciating her daddy’s lengthy sermons.

As parents bringing young children to worship, it can often feel like, “What’s the use?” They aren’t even old enough to profess faith and join us at the Lord’s Table. Do they have any idea what’s going on? Is any of this making a difference? 

If you feel that way (and what parent hasn’t felt that way at some point), know this: children belong in worship. As members of the covenant community, God delights in children being present with him and his people in worship. On long trips to Jerusalem for Passover or during long-winded worship gatherings, children were counted and present (see Deut. 31:12, Ezra 10:1, Neh. 12:43). Whether we feel it to be the case or not, we should trust the Lord Jesus Christ and take him at his word when he says, “Let the little children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (Mark 10:13-16).

Now, believing that children belong in worship doesn’t take away the challenges of bringing children into worship. Truth is, parents need compelling reasons for believing Jesus’s words when the temper tantrum hits hard in the pew. Moreover, parents need wisdom in knowing when to remove their children from worship for the sake of worship and as an act of love to their fellow worshippers.

But alas, I am out of room for today. Let’s pick this thread up next week in the Pastoral Notes.

Your servant,