Pastor Post: April 4, 2013

Dear Church Family,

Hope this Pastor Post finds you well post-Easter. As the wise hymn writer wrote, “Because He lives, we can face tomorrow, because He lives all fear is gone.” Jesus’ resurrection is God’s stamp of approval on the sacrifice for sins Jesus paid for on the cross. The resurrection tells us sin can be forgiven, death is not the end, and one day we too will have an invincible body that has no remnants of sin, death, or decay. We can face tomorrow indeed.

Because of all the press the “marriage equality” debate has caused, I want to say a few things here and if you are interested I can email you a one page document with 4 more reflections.

First, I pray we are marked by love whenever we engage in this debate (Matthew 22:34-40).

Second, I pray we allow God’s Word to be the final authority on what is right and fair. Our task is not to make the Bible work for our lives; rather, our task is to make our lives fall in line with the Bible.

Third, as Christians, we must first take the log out of our own eye. Admittedly, we have failed in our own marriages. We have failed in God’s call for purity and intimacy. Let us confess our failures and sins, and receive God’s forgiveness and power to live the righteous life. God does not leave us in slavery to sin, but changes us into new people who can live a new life with power to say no to sin and yes to righteousness (1 Cor. 6:9-11; 2 Cor. 5:17; Romans 6:1-23).

And now, what’s coming up in the life and times of Cornerstone Church?

Spring Spiritual Life Retreat: Friday night & Saturday April 26th and 27th, there will be another opportunity for you to participate in a spiritual life retreat.  We’ll be studying and practicing Sabbath – a time of resting before God and in community with each other.  Festivities will begin at 6 Friday evening at the Stuelke residence (Center Point, IA) for dinner and an opening session.  Then we’ll spend 8am to 5pm on Saturday at the new Faith Bible Church building.  Download this signup sheet for more information and to register for the retreat: https://cornerstone-marion.org/wordpress/docs/Retreat_Sabbath_Rest.pdf

New Sermon-Series Christ’s Community on Christ’s Mission, Part 2–”The Church is Born”: This Sunday, we launch a journey into the book the Acts, starting with chapter 1, verse 1. This is a great opportunity to start attending church regularly so bring a new friend. It’s also a great time to join a small group if you haven’t already (see next announcement).

Sermon-based Small groups (April-May): We have small groups meeting all throughout the metro area on Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday evenings, and a few ladies studies during the day. If you want to join a group for the final 8 weeks of the school year, contact Pastor Matt this week.

Church Planting Sunday, April 14: During the Sunday morning worship service on Sunday April 14, we will look at the history of how Cornerstone Church was planted, what our denomination is doing in the area of church planting, and what church planting may look like for the future of Cornerstone Church.

Kent & Jan McKinnon will be in town this coming weekend  (April 12-14) and they’ve set aside some special time of fellowship–exact time & place will be announced soon…watch your email!

Thank you for your love and prayers,

Pastor Matt