Dear Cornerstone family,
We have the joy this morning to celebrate God’s work through Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), the Presbyterian Church in America’s campus ministry. On more than 178 college campuses globally, RUF strives to engage students with the hope of the gospel and equip them to live as servant leaders in every area of life.
Today we welcome Rev. Will Cote, Campus Minister at Austin Peay University, to the Cornerstone pulpit. Will grew up in Chattanooga, TN, and is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Will lived and worked in South Korea for eight years following college where he met his wife, JungMi. Will has a Master of Divinity degree from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Will and JungMi have three children: John, Mia, and Louise.
We also welcome Ryan Angel, RUF Campus Associate at Tennessee Tech University, to Cornerstone this morning to report and teach youth Sunday School. Ryan and his wife, Charlie, are both native Tennesseans and both attended Tennessee Tech for their undergraduate studies. Ryan is currently a student at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA, pursuing a Master of Divinity degree. They have two young daughters: Scarlett and Kinsley.
As we take time to highlight the work of RUF, it’s only right that we would also take time to hear from our dear brother and pastor, Rev. Ben Griffith, about his call to be the next Campus Minister at Samford University in Birmingham, AL. During the Sunday school hour today, Ben will share with us about how the Lord has given him and Rebecca a heart for the ministry of RUF, and the process they went through to say yes to the work at Samford. Don’t miss it!
Finally, I can’t wait to begin a new sermon series next week, The Family of God: A Study of Ephesians. When scholars talk about Ephesians, they reach for the superlatives, and rightfully so. Nowhere will you find a more compelling presentation of the doctrines of grace and the importance of the church than in this marvelous letter. It is, as one commentator put it, “the crown of St. Paul’s writings.”
Take time this week to read the whole book of Ephesians. Reading slowly—it will only take you 20 minutes. If you don’t have time to sit down and read it, maybe you can listen to it as you exercise or during your commute on the way to work. Then, starting on Ash Wednesday (Feb. 22), pick up the Cornerstone Lenten Devotional and follow along as we slowly, meditatively work our way through this masterpiece. Reading only a few verses a day and asking questions of the text and our hearts every step of the way, we’re asking the Lord to weave the transformative truths of this letter into the very fabric of our life together.
Your servant,
