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Leadership, Cornerstone, & Serious Prayer

February 11, 2011 in Church with 0 Comments

Our leadership retreat last Saturday was great as usual. We talked about vision, strategy, leadership and how to better lead people to know and serve Jesus. Our church is blessed to have such amazing lay people and staff serving on the Executive Team (I’m just honored to be around this group!).

Please pray for this team! They love Cornerstone and the stories of people whose lives have been changed for eternity. They feel the burden of guiding this ship we call the church. They know the seriousness of plotting a course toward our future.

Please pray for our ministries. Pray specifically for our strategy to reach more people. Our leaders are working to simplify and streamline our processes. Pray for wisdom regarding the possibility of building a new facility to handle our growth. This will not be an easy decision and we want to be squarely in God’s will on this issue. Pray for our Sunday mornings that people would give their whole life to Christ. Pray for our small groups that people in our church would find relational connections and grow spiritually. Pray that more people would find a place to serve and partner with us in our mission. Pray for marriages to be strong. Pray for college students to maintain purity and be a light on their campus. Pray, pray, pray!!

FYI, Here are the members of our 2011 Executive Team…

Robbie Taylor – ET chair
Michael Moore – Lay Leader
Ken Lott – Personnel Team chair
Jason Belcher – Trustees Chair
Nic Cofiled – Finance Chair
Bruce Shelton
John Atkinson
Rebecca Gaston
Elizabeth Yost
Paul Hansell
Jennifer Stephens
Christopher Slagley
Lynn Blount – Secretary
Jack Fisher
Brian Johnson
Josh Agerton
Lee Cadden
Allen Whittaker
April Olive
Jill Harris
Julia Farrow

Time Series Recap, Creating Margin in Your Life

February 8, 2011 in Church with 0 Comments

We just finished a series at Cornerstone a couple of weeks ago called “TIME”. We basically tried to recapture the value of this precious and fleeting gift. One of sermons was about something very few of us understand it’s called – “margin” (week 4 podcast available here).

This is an article that has a lot to say about building “margin” into our lives, Margin: Space Between Ourselves and Our Limits, and I would highly recommend reading it when you get a chance.

I’m convinced that margin is something that could add so much to our connection with God. Because of our mostly unhealthy schedules we are people who live jammed lives. There is no margin or down time where we just relax and listen to God. There is no space for God to do His renewing work in our souls. It’s like we’re outpacing God’s desire to catch up with us. Here’s a reality check for you – margin is NOT simple. It requires us to be intentional about how we spend resources like time and money. It means adjusting our priorities and possibly doing away with some things. Man, that’s the tough part. Saying “no” to the good, so we can say “yes” to the best.

We cannot create more time, but we can create margin. So, I dare you to do it! Here’s a truth: even when you think you can’t, life goes on.

A Mouse in the House!

March 2, 2010 in Church with 3 Comments

Wow, if you were at the 10am service Sunday you got a little something extra in worship! Right in the middle of my message the front row of people started screaming and some even jumped up on their chair. I’m thinking, “Alright! now we’re getting somewhere. They’re lovin’ this sermon.” Then I realized they were screaming and jumping because there was a mouse running along the bottom of the stage right below me! So, I decide to just go with it and bring the mouse excitement into the sermon for a minute, but in the process of doing that I totally forgot where I was going with the message. I was distracted, the crowd was distracted and it took us a minute to get our ourselves focused again.

I’m reminded how easily we are distracted from important things in our life. How quickly we can forget to spend time with our kids, to give special attention to our spouse or to connect with God in the midst of busy-ness, hobbies, work, tight-schedules and on and on. In fact, I think distraction is one of the TOP reasons for a lack of spiritual growth in a person’s life. So, this is our focus verse – Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…”

PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE LITTLE MOUSE RUNNING ALONG THE STAGE!

Big “Thanks!” For Support of Haitian Relief

January 19, 2010 in Church with 0 Comments

Just a big “thanks!” to everyone who gave to Haitian relief this past Sunday at Cornerstone. We raised $12,000! That money will go directly to relief efforts for those most devastated by the earthquake. I want to echo Josh’s words from the services Sunday morning and say how proud I am to be a part of a church that will rally to share the compassionate love of Jesus with others. Way to go church!! Good job!

Perhaps in the future we will be able to do more than just send a check. Brian is waiting for the right opportunity to get to Haiti and see first-hand the needs and how we as a church might be able to help more tangibly in the months to come. Stay tuned.

Anyway, please continue to pray for the people there and our continued response.

Recap of “TEN” and Cornerstone’s Anniversary

January 12, 2010 in Church with 0 Comments

Our tenth anniversary celebration this past Sunday was amazing! It was so good to take a minute as a church and just appreciate what God has done in the life of Cornerstone. I still connect with that passage from 1 Peter 2:4-6 as much today as I did ten years ago…

“As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him–5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”
When you do church in a skate center, this verse is very important! It is a reminder that church is not about a building, it’s about people. The building is just a tool for evangelism. In light of this I remain forever grateful to every person who along the way has been a “living stone” placed here by God to do His work. It has been a crazy, exciting, scary, incredible, exhausting, unbelievable journey!

I am equally excited about what’s in store for us in the years ahead. Like the prophet proclaimed in Isaiah 42:9,

“See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”
New things are on the way for Cornerstone. I am praying for us as a church and asking God to do greater things. I hope you will pray this with me!

Well, that’s it. See you under the ball!

It is Our 10th Anniversary at Cornerstone!

January 6, 2010 in Church, Faith, Me with 1 Comment

WOW, just WOW! I cannot believe our church’s 10th anniversary is this Sunday! As I think about my message for this special occasion I thought I would just give you a little preview of what you will hear.

Skate center, disco ball, smells, noises, uncertainty, faithfulness, commitment, free skate nights, packed trailers, “Cletus” videos, worship, loving people, difficulties, perseverance, salvation, baby pool baptisms, free bottled water, free movie nights, Ecuador missions, Vacation Sunday, Trunk R Treat, groundbreaking, 20 acres, $1.2 million, sacrifice, new building, sausage biscuits, vision, believing, creativity, KidzTown, Seaside, Youth, College, Pay it Forward, community, giving, grace, Cindy Wall, Buloba, Uganda, Hiram pulls a bus, the playground, the Well, the children, Patrick, Sarah, Eva, Isaac, Zariah, Jesus, love, hope, partners, Gospel, Leading people, knowing, serving, 10, church, Cornerstone, one, you, us.

Today as we celebrate 10 years of ministry here is East Alabama and around the world, I am reminded and humbled in the presence of the God who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, who holds the keys to life itself, who is the keeper of gates and doors through which we have passed, are passing and will pass. He is the God who decided this church should exist. He gave us the power and focus to stay true to our mission and vision. He is the reason we can celebrate the last ten years, he is the reason we celebrate the right now, and the incredible future He has in store for the people and ministry of Cornerstone Church. Personally I am so grateful on this special day to be a part of this movement.

I could never have imagined the night before our first worship service, nervously sitting at my desk, so much would happen in ten years. I couldn’t get beyond the next morning. I couldn’t get out of the bathroom! I remember my prayer went something like this, “Oh God, if you don’t make this happen it will never work.”

God has certainly done more than I could have asked or imagined through Cornerstone. I am deeply thankful for every person who gave, served, sacrificed, loved, worked, prayed and were faithful to helping us move forward. It has been an amazing decade. But, we will only look back for a moment. We have always been a church that kept our vision forward. I am more excited about the Kingdom work that has yet to be done!

So, come join us this Sunday as we celebrate ministry past, present and future.

Want To Go to the Holy Land??

December 1, 2009 in Church with 0 Comments

How awesome would it be to go to the places you read about in the Bible?? Places like the Sea of Galilee, Jordan River, Jerusalem and Bethlehem. How about to walk on ground that Jesus walked on? Well, just thought I’d let you know that Becky and I will be helping lead a trip to the land next year and we really want you to come.

The dates are December 26 (2010)-January 3 (2011). I have been to this part of the world 3 times and toured all of the sites. It is amazing! Once you have gone, reading the Bible becomes a whole new deal because you’ve been to that mountain, or city or river they are talking about. So, go ahead and put it on the calender. We will be having an informational meeting about the trip some time in January.

If you want to go just call Lynn Blount (887-1152) in the church office and let her know you’re interested. She’ll put you on a list so you can be updated about the meeting in January and the details of the trip. It’s going to be great, so come on!!
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