Life in the Church

Every day we drive by dozens of “churches” and…

Well, that’s not actually true. Every day we drive by dozens of church buildings, or buildings where churches meet. But these structures of steel, drywall, glass, and paint could just as easily be gyms or schools or hair salons. They happen to be church buildings, but really they’re just buildings.

It’s good every once in a while to check ourselves in how we use certain words. “Church” is one of those words. If we’re not careful our shorthand can affect how think and feel about certain things. With “church,” we can…

By my reckoning we are somewhere around Day 335 of our COVID Exile (or is it a seige?). It was basically March 12, 2020, when the whole world began to cancel and shutdown. On the Sunday after that shutdown began I preached from the book of Hebrews. Being 335 days into this season it feels like a word of encouragement is fitting, and this "time capsule" seemed worth revisiting. I hope it encourages you. 

In case you weren't able to join us yesterday morning, we wanted you to know the new name of the church: Cornerstone Fellowship Church. We're excited about this new chapter in the history of our church.

Here is the 7-day prayer guide we distributed last Sunday as part of Sanctity of Life Sunday. Contact Daniel Baker if you would be willing to (1) help organize or (2) participate in pro-life activities that our church does.

Last Sunday, while our young adults were away at a retreat in Virginia, I made a pastoral appeal to our older adult members to consider how they might get involved to serve their younger adult peers. Part of what I shared included ideas for how to get involved. Here are some highlights:

In a 2002 Dilbert cartoon, Wally hands a piece of paper to the "pointy-haired boss." The oblivious boss says, "Wally, your status report is just a bunch of buzzwords strung together." Wally responds in the next panel, "I've been giving you that same status report every week for eleven years." And in the third panel he adds, "Five years ago you adopted it as our mission statement."

That's the risk with a mission statement—that it would become a trite, trendy, and lifeless set of words that mean something at one time but die out after a few weeks of use.

Recently, one of our home group leaders sent an email to his group. It gives a good snapshot of why home groups are such an important priority for us at SGC. You'll notice the mention of various people serving one another, the logistics they took care of, and the intentionality of the leader to make God a greater part of their lives. At one level an email like this can feel routine and forgettable, but on another it reflects a web of relationships channeled for the glory of God.

Last Sunday, Phil publicly announced the elders’ final decision to appoint Daniel Baker to the role of Senior Pastor. Here is the explanation of that decision. As we have emphasized over the last few months, we are grateful to have a plurality of elders, and it bears repeating that Phil isn’t going anywhere. He will still be one of your pastors. He will still have his office at SGC. He will continue to preach, though perhaps not quite as often. We invite you to pray for Daniel and all of the elders during this transition, and we invite you to continue working with us for the building up of the church to the glory of God.