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

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 20, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family,  

I remember when I was a new believer. I knew a few things: I was a sinner who deserved judgment, but because of God’s grace, he sent Jesus to live and die for me that I might be saved. As I began reading more of the Bible, I learned about God’s mighty works and his love. But in my mind, the Bible was just 66 books that were perhaps loosely connected. 

Everything changed in college when I discovered God’s redemptive plan—what we call in Sweden a “röd tråd” (red thread/unifying theme)—running through all 66 books. This unifying theme of God’s redemptive plan transformed how I read Scripture. 

Then in seminary, I encountered another crucial teaching: the significance of the Old Testament for the New Testament. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus showed the disciples that all of the Old Testament ultimately points to him. Throughout the New Testament, we see authors quoting and alluding to the Old to reveal Jesus’ divinity, show fulfilled prophecy, and demonstrate how God’s Word remains true and applicatory today.

We just wrapped up our summer Sunday school series on this very topic: “The New Testament use of the Old Testament.” My hopes for the class were simple:

·       To show why knowing the Old Testament helps us understand the New.

·       To share practical tools for seeing these connections ourselves.

·       To spark wonder at God’s Word that leads to worship. 

If this has piqued your interest, there’s a wonderful book coming this fall: the CSB Connecting Scripture New Testament. It highlights NT quotes and allusions to the OT and explains why the New Testament authors chose those specific passages—an excellent resource to aid you in your study of Scripture.

May the Lord use your study of his word to help you “comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:18-19).

Yours in Christ,
Sebastian

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 13, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family, 

At Cornerstone, our vision for missions is rooted in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with people from every nation—so that all may hear, believe, and receive the forgiveness found only in Him. It is our joyful privilege to support and walk alongside those who are faithfully carrying the gospel to the ends of the earth. And we believe the “ends of the earth” begins in Franklin and extends around the globe.

Last Sunday, those in attendance heard and read about two practical expressions of our mission philosophy—one local, and one global.

Locally, we were invited to engage with GraceWorks through a variety of service opportunities. Whether it’s donating to their food pantry, participating in the annual golf scramble, or volunteering with their mobile food pantry team, there are tangible ways for our church body to love our neighbors in need. GraceWorks serves as an example of our local missions mindset.

Globally, we were introduced (or, perhaps, re-introduced) to Brett and Valerie McAlpin. Serving through Mission to the World, Brett and Valerie have been assisting Christ Church Central, a church plant in Leeds, England, where less than 1% of Yorkshire County’s 1.1 million people attend church. Brett and Valerie are currently searching for a new building for their church and have recently welcomed a new staff member to their ministry team. They continue to pray that lives might be transformed by the gospel and new communities of believers formed—gathering to worship God to the praise of His glorious grace. The McAlpins serve as an example of our global missions mindset. 

Today, we have the privilege during our worship service of commissioning two of our newest mission partners, Geoff and Molly Banks. In just a few days, they will leave for Kosovo to serve in a local high school in Prishtina through the Network of International Christian Schools. 

These are just a few of the many people we walk with as they carry the Good News—whether across the street or across the world. Visit our church website’s “Missions” page to explore a full list of supported mission partners. 

What does it mean to “walk with” those doing this good work?

  • We pray for them. You’ll often see a mission spotlight in our bulletin. These spotlights create wonderful opportunities for you, your family, your HFG to pray for specific people in missions.

  • We financially support them. Missions makes up 7% of Cornerstone’s annual budget. Your faithful giving enables us to seek out, encourage, and sustain those pursuing the Great Commission.

  • We connect with them. While those who serve in this capacity do so from a place of calling and a place of joy, it can also come with seasons of isolation or discouragement; we want to seek ways to connect well. In the coming weeks, we’ll introduce opportunities for you to engage more directly with our mission partners through Home Fellowship Groups, Sunday School classes, and other settings.

As a church, we are not simply supporters of missions—we are participants in God’s mission. Whether through prayer, giving, serving locally, or connecting with those laboring abroad, each of us has the privilege to help advance the gospel. My hope is that Cornerstone will continue to grow in our desire to make Christ known, both near and far, and that our church family will continue to be marked by this faithful commitment to the Great Commission.

Your servant,
John Millard

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 6, 2025

Dear Cornerstone Family, 

Last Sunday was the 2025 Day of the Christian Martyr. According to tradition, June 29 marked the martyrdom of the Apostle Paul. It’s only tradition, but this month Christians around the world remember the faithful witness of those who, like Paul, have given their lives for the advancement of the gospel.

I can never hear the word ‘martyr’ without thinking of Jim Elliot, among others. As a child growing up in Portland, Oregon, he was captured by the truth of the gospel. As a student at Wheaton College, he grew ready to give his life to a cause grand enough to demand his whole-hearted allegiance.  

Jim Elliot and good friend Pete Fleming sensed a clear call to go into all the world. As they prayed their hearts were drawn to the Huaorani people, an unreached people group in Ecuador known for their violence toward outsiders. Three more would join them and together they would arrive in Quito, Ecuador in February of 1952 before moving to the jungle where they took up residence at a mission station.

Elliot and his group of four friends and their pilot made contact from their Piper PA-14 airplane with the Huaorani using a loudspeaker and a basket to pass down gifts to the natives who reciprocated by sending gifts back to the plane. That was enough to for Elliot and his group to build a base a short distance from their village along the Curaray River. There they were approached four days later by a small group of Huaorani and even gave an airplane ride to one curious Huaorani whom they called “George.” Further encouraged by these friendly encounters, in January 1956, they began plans to visit the Huaorani. 

Those plans, though, were preempted by the arrival of a larger group of about ten Huaorani warriors. Jim (age 28) was martyred on the riverbank along with his friends by those he had come to evangelize. Family members would later find penned in his diary words which had propeled him forward in the face of danger, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

That was then. What about today? Open Doors maintains a World Watch List with an annual ranking of the 50 countries where Christians face the most extreme persecution. From the top 50 alone, 310 million Christians face very high or extreme levels of persecution. That’s one in seven Christians worldwide. Last year 4,476 were killed for faith related reasons. Currently, the nations presenting the highest levels of hostility in order of severity are North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Libya, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, India, and Saudi Arabia. 

Would you join me in praying faithfully for those who are persecuted for their faith?

Your servant,
Tony