In case you missed the announcement last Sunday and the church wide e-mail this week, the elders extended a call to Rev. Ben Griffith to be an Assistant Pastor at Cornerstone. We are thrilled to have Ben and his wife, Rebekah, and their three children—Margaret (10), Owen (8), and Elizabeth “Libby” (5)—join us at Cornerstone. We look forward, Lord willing, to many years of serving together in fruitful ministry.
As we’ve noted in Cornerstone Family Meetings and pastoral notes over the last six months or so, our brother, Rev. Tony Giles, isn’t going anywhere. Praise the Lord! He is, however, scaling back his ministry a bit. Staring July 1, Tony went half time (20hrs. a week) at Cornerstone. The other half of his time is spent working as a gospel coach with Serge, an international missions agency.
As you would expect, Ben will help fill the gap left by the scaling back of Tony’s ministry. Toward that end, Ben will be ministering to the congregation pastorally, preaching and teaching widely, and leading in worship weekly. In addition, Ben will be spending a portion of his time providing leadership and vision to our Youth Ministry.
The Griffith’s are eager to arrive in Franklin. After this week, they are several steps closer to that reality! For starters, their home in Hattiesburg has a contract, and they made an offer on a home in the Sullivan Farms neighborhood in Franklin. Both of these steps are big answers to prayer! On that note, please continue praying for the Griffith’s, and we’ll continue to keep you posted on their progress in our direction.
Speaking of progress, we’re closing our series in the beatitudes today, and we’ll reenter the book of Genesis next week together. In this final section of Genesis, we will course through the life of Joseph, exploring themes of faith, suffering, providence, wisdom, reconciliation, and redemption. Below is a week-by-week breakdown of the series.
New Beginnings: A Study of Genesis
· August 11 – Joseph’s Dream (Genesis 37:1-11)
· August 18 – Joseph Sold into Slavery (Genesis 37:12-36)
· August 25 – Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38:1-30)
· September 1 – Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife (Genesis 39:1-23)
· September 8 – Joseph Interprets Dreams (Genesis 40:1-23)
· September 15 – Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream (Genesis 41:1-40)
· September 22 – Joseph Rises to Power (Genesis 41:41-57)
· September 29 – Joseph Brothers Go to Egypt for Help (Genesis 42:1-38)
· October 6 – Joseph Brothers Return to Egypt (Genesis 43:1-34)
· October 13 – Joseph Tests His Brothers (Genesis 44:1-34)
· October 20 – Joseph Provides for His Family (Genesis 45:1-28)
· October 27 – Joseph Invites His Family to Egypt (Genesis 46:1-34)
· November 3 – Jacob Settles in Goshen (Genesis 47:1-31)
· November 10 – Jacob Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 48:1-22)