Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 23, 2025

Dear Cornerstone family, 

One of the many joys of being a minister at Cornerstone Presbyterian Church is having the chance to work with young men and women who have interest in pursuing ministry vocationally. Though everyone’s call to ministry is different, it’s often true that interest in vocational ministry grows over time as one begins to exercise spiritual gifts and serves in the church.

To help assess a call to and aptitude for ministry, Cornerstone developed an internship program that is designed as a training ground for the work of ministry. Internship training includes but is not limited to theological, ecclesiological, and practical on-the-job ministry training. The intern will read, write, discuss, and be involved in practical ministry in order to test their head (intellectual), heart (spiritual), and hands (practical) in the work of ministry.

Over the 13 years of Cornerstone’s existence, the Lord has blessed Cornerstone with eleven interns. Currently, we have former interns serving as either pastors, counselors, or lay church workers in Oregon, California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee.

We’ve recently added a new intern to our staff who is no stranger to Cornerstone. Mr. James Goddard joined the Cornerstone staff as a Pastoral Counseling Intern in January. James is a long-time member at Cornerstone and is actively involved in young adults and men’s ministry.

James holds a Master of Arts and Counseling from Covenant Theological Seminary and a bachelor’s degree from New College Franklin in the Liberal Arts. James is a therapist who has interest in working in the context of a church. For the next year, he is spending ten hours a week on staff to explore his sense of call and gain valuable experience in working for a church. We are looking forward to seeing how James grows this year and to benefit from his training and gifts in Christian counseling.

Before I conclude, I want to remind you that last year the Finance Committee established The Seminary Student Support Fund to help provide additional support to former interns of Cornerstone who have answered the call of vocational ministry and enrolled in seminary education. As a church, we partner financially with interns pursuing vocational ministry for a portion of the costs associated with seminary education. Over the years, we’ve noticed interns often hit difficult patches financially (a medical procedure, vehicle repair, etc.) incurring significant costs beyond what they or we can provide.

To help meet this need, The Seminary Student Support Fund was created. It’s a way for you, the congregation, to give in a designated way to meet these additional needs of students. The application process, approval, and disbursements from The Seminary Student Support Fund is 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.

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

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 16, 2025

Dear Cornerstone family, 

On March the 5th (Ash Wednesday), Midweek at Cornerstone kicks off. Like in the past, we’ll gather on Wednesday evenings for food, fellowship, worship, study, and choir. There will be opportunities for discipleship from the youngest to the oldest. Please go ahead now and mark your calendar.

For our evening service during Midweek, we will be in a series entitled Confronting the Sins We Tolerate. As much as we hate to admit it, there are certain sins in our lives we’ve ceased fighting. Sins with which we’ve brokered an uneasy truce. Sins that have moved into our lives and made themselves at home.

Which sins is it for you? Is it gossip? What about worry? Could it be anger, or maybe discontent? These sins are easy to pass off as no big deal, which is exactly what the Evil One wants you to do. You aren’t committing the “big sins” like murder or adultery. Compared with other people, you’re not all that bad, are you?

The writer of Ecclesiastes says, “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Eccl. 5:11-12). In other words, sin is sin no matter if it’s big or small. Every sin is significant because it’s an affront to a holy God and is deserving of God’s wrath and punishment.

This is why James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it,” and why Paul says in Galatians 3:10, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law and do them.”  

Thankfully, we have a Savior greater than our sin, who, as the hymn writer put it, “nailed [our sin] to the cross, and we bear it no more.” Hallelujah! But just because we’ve been saved from sin doesn’t mean sin isn’t an issue anymore. Every day each of us deal with the reality of remaining sin. The penalty of sin is paid. The power of sin is broken. And yet, the presence of sin remains. Therefore, each day until we die or until Jesus returns, we must be putting sin to death and living unto the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

In the six weeks leading up to Easter, we will consider what Jerry Bridges once called “Respectable Sins”––sins we don’t think are all that sinful. The sins we let slide. In this series, we will define each sin, consider the root of each sin, and explore strategies for putting them to death. If you’re serious about “laying aside…the sins which cling so closely” (Hebrews 12:1), don’t miss this important study.

Confronting the Sins We Tolerate 

·      3/5 – Pride and Selfishness 

·      3/12 – Discontent and Restlessness

·      3/19 – Anger and Frustration

·      3/26 – Anxiety and Worry 

·      4/2 – Envy and Jealousy 

·      4/9 – Gossip and Slander 

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 9, 2025

Dear Cornerstone family, 

In Greek history and thought, a hero was someone who descended from the gods possessing superhuman abilities. Homer defined a hero as “an intermediary.” That is, someone who bridges divinity and humanity born with a nature that touches upon heaven and earth.  

Achilles, the lead character in Homer’s Iliad, embodies heroism. He is the fruit of the union of Peleus, a Greek king, and the sea nymph, Thetis, a Greek goddess. He possesses superhuman strength, performing tremendous feats on the battlefield. Most notably, his slaying of Troy’s most decorated warrior, Hector.  

Defying even death itself, Achilles was diligent, dependable, and disciplined. No matter the objective, he would not be deterred. In the end, his military exploits would enshrine his name in the annals of history, securing his chief end—the glory of immortality.

Believing himself to be a descendent of the gods, Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) received the Illiad as the Bible. He commited large sections to memory and, if legend is to be believed, slept with a copy under his pillow every night. It was his only rule for faith and practice.

If the Illiad was Alexander’s Bible, then Achilles was his muse and mimesis. If Achilles was a fictional character in Homer’s epic poem, Alexander would be the historical incarnation living an epic life.  

To temper Alexander’s ambition, Aristotle, his tutor, labored to distinguish the difference between history and myth. Sadly, the megalomania was already firmly in place. Imagining himself the son of Zeus, Alexander took to himself divine honors and titles and set himself on a course toward world dominion. Aristobolus, Greek historian and contemporary of Alexander, wrote, “…he was never content with his conquests, and he wanted to rule everybody.”  

These ancient hero stories reflect and distort in different ways the reality of Christian heroism. As men and women made in the image of God, we are descended from God. Our natures touch upon heaven and earth. Designed as God’s heroes, our chief aim was to live for God’s glory and spread his rule over all the earth (Genesis 1:26-28).

But at the beginning of time, our enemy exploited our Achilles heel. With compelling lies, the Serpent defeated us. “You aren’t here to serve God; you are here to be God,” he said. Despite the hiss, it sounded good. And we bit.  

Hiding behind trees, God finds us and says, a seed of the woman—a hero—will come and undo all the bad we did. He will be a better Adam with no Achilles heel. He will be God’s hero. He will rescue us crushing the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15).

As we turn the pages, we learn it’s not Noah, Abraham, Moses, or David. These patriarchs are only shadows of the hero to come. When the New Testament opens, we learn the true hero—with God as Father and Mary as mother, touching heaven and earth—has come to crush the head of the Serpent, freeing us from the bondage of sin and death through the cross and the resurrection.

In worship today, we come to celebrate our hero, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are here to pay him homage, to hymn to him praise, to express our undivided devotion. For in him and him alone we find our glory and immortality.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, February 2, 2025

Dear Cornerstone family, 

The Scripture teaches us that the Father sent His Son into the world to save for himself a people for his own possession (Luke 4:18; 1 Peter 2:9). Empowered by the Holy Spirit, the apostles were sent by the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, to share the gospel to every nation under heaven (John 20:21; Matt.28:19-20). 

At Cornerstone, we believe the church is a sent people on mission for Christ in the world. That in different ways depending on the Lord’s call, every member of Christ’s church is committed to doing their part in advancing the good news of Jesus Christ—proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to all people everywhere. From Franklin to the uttermost parts of the world, we exist—the church exists—to make disciples of Jesus Christ through the preaching the gospel (Col.1:19-20). 

One of the many ways Cornerstone is involved in missions is through regular monthly support of missionaries, church planters, mercy ministries, and campus ministers. To learn more about who we support, please visit the mission page on the church website.

Today, we get the privilege of sitting under the ministry of Rev. Andrew Terrell, one of our new campus minister supports. Rev. Terrell works with our denomination’s campus ministry, Reformed University Fellowship International, at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Andrew grew up not too far from Nashville in Georgia, but he spent most of his adult life in Spain and New York City. Before serving as the Campus Minister for international students at Vanderbilt, Andrew had the same role at Columbia University in New York City for eight years. Two of Andrew’s passions are cross-cultural friendships and deep conversations about faith and spirituality. He loves getting to combine the two in his work with RUF-I.

Andrew holds a B.S. in Psychology and a M.A. in Biblical Studies and is ordained as a minister in the Presbyterian Church in America. When he’s not on campus with international students, you can find Andrew reading a book, walking in the woods, or alongside his wife Olivia chasing their three young boys around the backyard.

Please give attention to the message the Lord has laid on Rev. Terrell’s heart as he comes today to minister the gospel in our midst.

Your servant,

 

Pastoral Notes for Sunday, January 26, 2025

For the Pastoral Notes today, I’ve asked Pastor Tony Giles to update us on his work with the international missions organization Serge. –Nate

Dear Cornerstone Family,

It was around seven years ago now that I was asked to step into the unknown. A ministry which had a significant impact in my own life many years prior was hoping to launch a new initiative to come alongside church pastors and ministry leaders. There were no blueprints, nor was there a strategic plan—just a growing awareness of the need and a blank sheet of paper. The more I thought about it, the more willing I became to rearrange my life in order to move toward that need.

I approached Cornerstone leadership with a question: “What about dropping a few hours here in order to give a few hours each week to a ministry that seems central to my sense of calling?” And then I heard words in reply that still stagger me every time I tell the story: “If you are doing what is central to your sense of calling, we think we get a better you. 

A better you. And that is what I am after each coaching opportunity: a better leader, better equipped and prepared by the gospel for the challenges that every ministry leader faces, and often alone.

The work I do is through Serge, a Reformed missions organization whose work today consists of sending and caring for missionaries, mentoring and equipping ministry leaders, and developing resources for ongoing spiritual renewal.

Serge’s work of Mission occurs with over 325 missionaries in 26 countries scattered throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Serge’s work of Renewal is the engine that drives mission throughout the world and in our own lives. Spiritual renewal is the ongoing daily experience of the Father’s love for us that motivates and sustains us as we lay down our lives in mission. 

My role with Serge has two facets. Through Church Leader Development I provide individualized coaching of ministry leaders and pastors. Currently, I am coaching five pastors individually. Through Leadership Lab I facilitate an 8-month development program designed to give leaders the tools and the mindset to become Christ-centered, gospel-saturated, and mission-focused leaders. This takes place in monthly online roundtable discussions with men and women in the U.S. and as far away as England, Ireland, Japan, India, Malawi, and Senegal. Currently, four cohorts are meeting with a total of 25 participants.  

So why Serge? What is it that keeps me chugging along with that crowd? That’s simple. It’s the stated and lived-out values which have marked their work for over 40 years now: the centrality of the gospel, ministry from weakness, love for people, and kingdom-centered prayer. The Sprit is working those values slowly deeper into my own heart and life as I ever so slowly learn more of what it means to abide in Jesus.

Your servant,

Tony