Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 21, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Over the years, the Lord has graciously supplied Cornerstone with a steady stream of young men and women interested in pursuing ministry vocationally. To help identify calling to ministry and assess aptitude for ministry, we started an intern program nearly ten years ago. Our interns are provided opportunities to study with pastors and ministry leaders, observe the work of the church from the inside, and gain practical ministry experience through serving in the church.

As the Lord would have it, most of our interns move on to pursue additional seminary level education in view to becoming pastors, missionaries, educators, and counselors. As a support to our interns, the church partners with interns financially by helping alleviate a portion (typically one-third) of the seminary tuition and book costs each year.

However, we have noticed over the years that students often need additional support while in seminary. There are number of reasons why additional support may be needed. A student may have an emergency (medical procedure, vehicle repair, etc.) incurring significant costs beyond what they are able to provide. A student may lose a job while in seminary and be without pay for a few weeks or months. A student may be from another country and limited by their visa as to where and how much they can work. In situations like these, which are real life situations former Cornerstone interns have faced, students are often left with one of two options: accumulate significant debt or consider taking a break from seminary to help replenish resources.

Recognizing this challenge, the Finance Committee has established a new Seminary Student Support Fund to help further support former interns of Cornerstone who are answering a call to vocational ministry and enrolled in seminary education. This fund is designed to be a support fund for former Cornerstone interns who are pursuing vocational ministry and are enrolled in seminary. The application process, approval, and disbursements from the Seminary Student Support Fund will be overseen by the Missions Committee. Only students who were interns of Cornerstone and are pursuing vocational ministry are eligible to receive help from the Seminary Student Support Fund.

Over and above your normal regular giving to Cornerstone, please consider a gift to this special fund. When you give, simply designate your gift for the Seminary Student Support Fund. If you have any questions about the fund, please contact our Mission’s Committee chairman, Mr. John Millard, at johnfrancmillard@gmail.com.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 14, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Three weeks ago, we announced exciting news. The elders extended a call to Mr. Sebastian Bjernegård to be an Assistant Pastor at Cornerstone. If you missed that announcement, please go back and read the pastoral note from Sunday, June 23 on the website or app.  

Since that announcement, Sebastian and his wife, Ainsley, as well as their two children, Felicity and Theo, have been busy making preparations to move from Edinburgh, Scotland to Franklin, TN. Just this last week, the Bjernegårds made their way across the pond. They are wayfaring in North Carolina right now with family. If all goes according to plan, they will transition to Franklin later this month. I can’t wait for you to meet them!

On that note, we will officially introduce the Bjernegårds on Sunday, August 4. During the Sunday School hour that day, I will conduct a Q&A with Sebastian so you can get to know him and learn firsthand about his call to ministry and why he and Ainsley are excited about serving at Cornerstone. Please mark your calendars!

Speaking of marking your calendars, we will have a chock-full August with exciting opportunities for ministry. Because of all that’s going on, our Sunday services and Sunday School hours will be a little different in August. Please take note of the schedule below so you can be fully involved in the life of ministry in August. 

July 21 & 28 – Sunday School Break 

August 4 – Q&A with Sebastian Bjernegård during the Sunday School Hour

August 11 – Start of Youth and Children’s Sunday School; Officer Election

August 18 – Dr. Derek Thomas preaching and Q&A during the Sunday School Hour

August 25 – Officer Ordination/Installation Service; Cornerstone Family Meeting during the Sunday School Hour

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, July 7, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

Due to the in-and-out nature of the summer schedule, we’ve often chosen to take a break from book length sermon series to focus on singular texts and stand-alone sermons. For that reason, we’re breaking from 1 Corinthians till the fall and are starting a slow meditative walk through Psalm 37 in a series titled, A Faith to Live By.

Why Psalm 37? Well, as the moral foundations continue to collapse and as enemies align themselves against the church, it’s critical that Christian’s are steeped in the tried-and-true never changing truth of the gospel. Speaking to the heart and full of wise instruction, Psalm 37 gives us reason for hope when all around us evil appears to be winning the day. Please pray this summer series equips us to trust, delight, and commit our way to the Lord.

Last week on the behalf of the session we announced the unanimous recommendation of Mr. Sean Kelley and Mr. William Tice for election as ruling elders and Mr. Matt Michaud and Mr. Carl Ware as deacons at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church. The election will be held during the Sunday School hour on Sunday, August 11. All communing members of Cornerstone are eligible and encouraged to participate.

In order to help you get to know these brothers and vote your conscience on August 11, I’ve asked each man to provide some basic biographical information for your review. Please take a moment to read the information below. Moreover, pray for these brothers as they pursue the confirmation of the Lord’s call to officership through the election on August 11.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, June 30, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

As a baseline of involvement at Cornerstone, we recommend every member follow a fairly straightforward three-point formula: attend worship weekly, find a place to grow, find a place to serve. 

There are lots of other good things we could add to that list, so it’s fair to ask the question, “Why do we recommend these three commitments in particular?” The reason is simple: those who make these commitments tend to demonstrate measurable signs of spiritual growth over time.

When you think about it, this is hardly surprising. Over and over the Bible emphasizes the priority of Lord’s Day worship, discipleship, and service as essential to what it means to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 28:18-20; Hebrews 10:23-25).

As we continue to scale for health and growth as a congregation, there are areas of ministry—especially service—that need your help. Toward that end, we are taking time today in worship to hear the Lord say to us, “Bear each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2).

Then, each Sunday in July, we will highlight a particular ministry area in need. Specifically, we will give attention to the prayer ministry team, the nursery team, the communion preparation team, and the watchman team. You will hear reports and testimonies from ministry leaders and team members as well as specific ways you can serve. Begin praying now about how the Lord is calling you to respond to the needs within the body of Christ.

Finally, on the behalf of the elders, it is my distinct privilege to announce the unanimous recommendation of Mr. Sean Kelley and Mr. William Tice for election as ruling elders and Mr. Matt Michaud and Mr. Carl Ware as deacons at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church. These brothers have faithfully completed officer training and been sustained in examination in the areas of Christian character, Bible knowledge, the Westminster Confession of Faith, the PCA Book of Church Order, and qualification for church office (1 Timothy 3:1-13).

The election will be held on Sunday, August 11 during the Sunday School hour. Only communing members of Cornerstone are eligible to vote in the upcoming election. If you are a communing member of Cornerstone, we strongly urge you to participate in the upcoming officer election!

Next week we will publish short bios and pictures of the officer candidates, so that you can begin to get know them better. Between now and August 11, please feel free to reach out to them directly. Their contact information is in the church directory. Ask about their testimony, their walk with Jesus Christ, and their sense of call to the office of elder or deacon. They would be delighted to hear from you.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, June 23, 2024

Dear Cornerstone Family,

I have big news! But let’s review a little history first.

At the beginning of this year, following the recommendation of our Personnel Committee, the elders of Cornerstone voted unanimously to begin a search for another Assistant Pastor. At our last Cornerstone Family Meeting in early March, I gave an update on the search process mentioning that a job description for the position had been written and approved, and that the Personnel Committee, which was serving as the search committee, was collecting applications, resumes/CV’s, and ministerial data forms from qualified ministerial candidates. 

Over the last three to four months, we conducted interviews, listened to sermons, called references, conducted more interviews, and prayed, prayed, prayed. We saw doors open and close. We saw candidates enter and depart from the process. But with each step, we sensed the Lord’s guiding hand leading us to his man.

Three weeks ago, one of our lead candidates and his wife were invited for an on-site visit. Over the course of three days, in a variety of formal and informal contexts, the search committee, the staff, and the elders met with the candidate and his wife. With each meeting, we felt more and more confirmed that this was God’s man for us.

After their departure, we took time to collect feedback, deliberate, and—you guessed it—pray, pray, pray. At the end of that process, the session voted unanimously to extend a call to Mr. Sebastian Bjernegård to be an Assistant Pastor at Cornerstone. In very short order, Sebastian and his wife, Ainsley, responded to our offer and accepted the call.

As you probably surmised from the last name, Sebastian ain’t from around these parts. Sebastian grew up in Sweden. While in high school, he was an exchange student and lived for a year in Fort Payne, AL. In God’s kind providence, he lived with a PCA pastor’s family, and over the course of that year, he came to know the Lord. Soon thereafter, he enrolled at Belhaven University in Jackson, MS, which is where he met his future wife, Ainsley, a Miami native. After graduation, sensing a call to ministry, Sebastian enrolled at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson and worked at First Presbyterian Church. After completing his MDiv, he crossed the pond again to begin work on a Ph.D. that he’s nearly finished with at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Sebastian and Ainsley have two young children, Felicity and Theo, and one on the way (due in September). They are eager to get to know the Cornerstone family! Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to meet them. If all goes according to plan, the Bjernegård’s will be on middle TN soil mid to late July! Needless to say, they have a big move ahead of them, and a lot to figure out in a short period of time. As timelines and needs become clear, we will share more with you. In the meantime, please pray for the Bjernegård family as they transition to Franklin and prepare to partner with us in the work of ministry.

Your servant,