Dear Cornerstone Family,
During our Cornerstone Family Meeting last Sunday, the Finance Committee gave a report on the fiscal health of the congregation. The report was very encouraging! The Lord continues to provide abundantly for our needs through your weekly offerings, and for that we rejoice.
At the nearly halfway mark in our fiscal year, giving is ahead of projection and expenses are slightly under projection. As the year progresses, we expect expenses to increase as several significant ministry initiatives will catalyze in early 2024. That said, we are encouraged at our current position and are supremely grateful for your sacrificial giving and steady support of the church’s ministry.
Beyond ministry expenses, we will continue to incur costs associated with our renovation. These costs are being paid out over time from our surplus. As the project moves along, we continue to see our surplus diminish as expected. We are, however, committed not to let the surplus dip below $300,000 in order to maintain enough cash on hand for emergency purposes.
Finally, in March 2024 the balloon note on the chapel will come due. We owe roughly $600,000 on the chapel currently. It would be our earnest hope to pay off the chapel by March, so that we have no need to renegotiate the balloon note at a significantly higher interest rate. If each Cornerstone member committed to increase their giving by 25% to even 50% for the next three months—from December through February—we would be poised to pay off the chapel by March of 2024. But as I say that, it might be that the Lord has blessed you with the financial wherewithal to alleviate a large portion of this debt today with just one check. I do not know what the Lord will do, but I am convinced of this––with the Lord’s help, we can meet this need. I am convinced of it for this reason: the power of the gospel.
The churches in Macedonia were dirt poor. But when they heard the gospel, their hearts swelled with joy and their lives overflowed in a wealth of generosity for the work of ministry. People gave far beyond their means to support the advance of the gospel and to meet the needs of the church (2 Corinthians 8:1-3). Surely, with all the Lord has given us, we can loosen our grip on the earthly treasure that won’t last (Matthew 6:19-21) and give sacrificially and cheerfully toward the eternal treasure that will never end (Revelation 21:9-27).
May the Lord do a mighty work in our hearts and make it so!
On the Behalf of the Finance Committee,
