Pastor's Corner - Upcoming Events
Dear Friends,
Below are some updates on events and activities of Cornerstone PCA.
This Sunday marks the 10th Sunday that we have had the joy and privilege of being in our new facility. A huge thanks goes out to our deacons who have worked tirelessly to get the building ready for ministry use and cleaned! Our humble beginnings as a church include a big debt of gratitude to First Cumberland Presbyterian Church of Huntsville, Alabama. For two years they were gracious to host our congregation and allow us to worship and meet as a church family. As a small token of our thanks, myself, Gary Abernathy and John Hinson will attend the FCPC worship service and present to them a Resolution of Thanks that has been adopted by the Session. You can read the resolution by clicking here.
This Sunday night is Leader Night for our children and youth volunteers. Please be in prayer for these men and women as they disciple our children this new school year. The meeting will begin at 5pm and dinner will be provided.
As we grow and mature as a church, it is important that we prepare our children to take communion and learn what it means to be active members of a local church. Very soon we will begin a Communicants Class for our children. Please read the details below and you are welcome to seek me out personally if you have any questions.
Our Men's Ministry will kick off this Fall with a Steak Dinner. I'm looking forward to hearing from Ruling Elder John Hinson speaking on "One Man's Journey." Join us on Sunday, August 23rd at 6pm.
Our Women's Ministry will kick of their Fall Bible study with some excellent material by Nancy Guthrie. I'm very excited for this learning opportunity for our women.
Youth Ministry at Cornerstone has some exciting things taking place this Fall. Make sure you check the announcements to learn about ways for our youth to grow in their faith and fellowship with one another.
This Sunday we will make a change in the order of our worship service as well as add something to our service that we will do from time to time. As I mentioned to you before, announcements will now take place before the service begins. At 8:55am, our music team will lead us in a prelude/gathering song and then immediately following this time, there will be a welcome and announcements. Please make plans with your family to arrive in time to take your seats at 8:55am. Also this Sunday we will introduce a Missions Moment. During this time we will hear from different missionaries or mission agencies that we support as a church. This will be a great time to learn more about missions and ways you can be involved in outreach.
See you Sunday!
Your friend and pastor,
Wilson
Worship Notes: August 2nd, 2015
Please note, that beginning this Sunday, August 2nd, announcements will be given at the beginning of the service. Please plan to arrive each week by 8:55am for the Prelude and announcements.
A hymn to sing and to know this week as we prepare for this wonderful passage: The Solid Rock.
Kingdom Living is all about having the right foundation - this will be the focus of our sermon this week. Matthew 7:24-27.
In preparation for the sermon: "Humanly speaking, we could understand and interpret the Sermon on the Mount in a thousand different ways. Jesus knows only one possibility: simple surrender and obedience, not interpreting it or applying it, but doing and obeying it. That is the only way to hear his word. But again he does not mean that it is to be discussed as an ideal; he really means us to get on with it." ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship .
Click here for this week's bulletin.
Would you like to catch up on on our sermon series? Click here:http://www.buzzsprout.com/26762
Wilson's Weekly
Local church membership matters! Read this excellent article in By Faith called Re-Membering the Body: Why Local Church Membership Matters by Walter Henegar. Interesting thought from that article about a laissez-faire view of church membership:"The underlying message is: You’re here because of what you do for us, not because of what God has done for you. We have thus unwittingly fostered a culture of spiritual cohabitation, leading many to shack up with a local church without ever saying “I do.” As every dating couple knows, love is perilously fragile until the knot is tied."
I don't know much about Ross Douthat but I like his writing. In his recent Op-Ed piece in the New York Times, Looking Away from Abortion, he muses on the great and just outcry against Planned Parenthood. This article and the whole debacle with Planned Parenthood is disturbing and evil, but as Douthat encourages, we can't just turn away from this demonic activity. We must face it and pray for God's righteous judgment in this matter.
Finally, my great friend and colleague Lee Hutchings wrote an excellent piece for Mississippi Christian Living. He takes great pastoral care to encourage us in the times: The State of the Nation: Opportunity or Resignation?