Dear Cornerstone Family,
When God speaks of Israel in the Old Testament, He often employs the language of treasure (see Exodus 19:5, Psalm 135:4). Similarly, in the New Testament, the church is referred to as God’s “holy people” and His “treasured possession” (I Peter 2:9; Titus 2:14). Astonishingly, when God considers you, His church, the word that comes to His mind is treasure.
That said, I’m in regular conversation with Christians that struggle to believe God treasures them. They are so deeply aware of the ugliness of their sin and deficiency of their character that they find it almost impossible to believe God treasures them. “It sounds too good to be true,” they say.
To help them believe it’s true, I’ll often ask, “How do you know how much something is worth?” They respond, “By how much I’m willing to pay for it.” Exactly! We reveal how much we treasure something by how much treasure we’re willing to give up to acquire it! The same is true when it comes to God treasuring us.
The Scripture tells us that God loved us so much that He bought us (1 Corinthians 7:23). And get this: we weren’t cheap! He paid an incredibly high price to make us His own. He gave His only son for us (John 3:16). He purchased us with His blood (Galatians 3:13-15). We are to Him a treasure!
When the reality of this life-laying-down-love truly breaks in upon the heart of the Christian, we can’t help but respond by treasuring God in return. One of the main ways this is expressed is by pursuing heavenly treasure over earthly treasure (Luke 12:21). That is, we’re less tempted to waste our time, energy, and resources on the fleeting matters of temporal life, and we’re more and more inclined to investing in what lasts–eternal matters. We know this is happening in our life when we learn to lovingly release our earthly treasure for eternal gain. When God is truly our one, true, and lasting treasure, we will easily trade our earthly wealth for heavenly dividends.
As we closed out the first quarter of our 2021-2022 budget year, it is clear to me that you, the faithful givers of Cornerstone, are investing in eternity. Through your generous giving, Cornerstone’s fiscal health continues to strengthen while our ministry expands. Let’s rejoice over God’s provision for Cornerstone as together we continue to pursue heavenly treasure!
Cornerstone Presbyterian Church 1st Quarter Financial Report 2021-22
1st Quarter 2021/2022 2021-22 Full Year Budget
Actual Budget Difference Budget
Giving $313,992 $242,350 $71,642 $1,053,000
Expense $228,287 $249,300 -$21,013 $1,053,000
Deficit/Surplus. $85,705 -$6950 $92,655 $0
Your servant,
