Pastor Post: July 23, 2026

Dear church family,

 

A construction crew member cuts steel siding as I speak. Others use power drivers to screw the siding into the building. It’s a beautiful sound; it’s becoming a sharp-looking building. As this building remodel gets closer to finish, I’m thinking a lot about the ministry book entitled, The Trellis and the Vine. The book argues that church ministry is one-part trellis work and one-part vine work. The “trellis” of church includes things like your building, the worship service elements, staff and volunteer teams, and discipleship programs. You want a wisely constructed trellis. But you don’t get wine or grape juice from a trellis; hence, the importance of vine work. Everything ultimately valuable related to church work is about organic, spiritual, life-transformation. We want spiritual dead men and women to be made alive by the Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ. We desire repentance unto life and growing holiness among believers. The aim of a wise church trellis is to encourage every person to abide in Christ…Forget not, Jesus instruction in John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

 

What does that mean for Cornerstone Church? Know this: we must remain fiercely committed to disciple-making and church-planting. We desire spiritual, organic, long-lasting fruit for God’s glory!!

 

But that means, we will need to be diligent in trellis development. So, yes, we will have to make decisions in future months on numerical growth. We will develop a plan for building expansion. So pray for our church family and especially the church leaders who will guide the way.

 

But even more important, pray for the Spirit of God to enable His servants to speak the gospel boldly. Pray that God prepares hearts to hear the gospel with faith. Pray for believers to be humble and contrite as they sit under God’s Word. Pray for parents to disciple kids and for kids to be open to the gospel. Pray that we see a harvest of souls and spiritual transformation. Father, bring revival. Start with us. Start with me. “Sow for yourselves righteousness; reap steadfast love; break up your fallow ground, for it is the time to seek the LORD, that he may come and rain righteousness upon you” (Hosea 10:12, ESV).

 

#1: You’re a generous church; I’m thankful to serve a church that cares for its pastors and leaders. I’m thankful for your weekly offerings. I’m thankful for the larger financial sacrifices to fund missions trips, church plants, and building campaigns.

#2: We have great servant leaders. Pastor Gary is the ultimate wingman! Abbi Lackey and her team pulled off a great Vacation Bible School. The elders, deacons, and various staff and volunteer teams navigated ministry so well these past several weeks.

#3: There’s a lot of ways we can grow as a church in the next year. We can grow in love and compassion for the poor. We can grow in boldness in gospel evangelism. We can grow in humble, dependent, prayer-soaked faith.

#4: Christ’s church will advance, and no hellish gate will stop the gospel from spreading like a mustard seed. Our future is as bright as the promises of God.

#5: We’re blessed. God has been so kind to us individually and Cornerstone corporately. Mark Sunday September 13–you won’t want to miss our 25 Year Anniversary Service and Celebration. We have a number of people who have been a part of our church over the years coming back. We’ll look back and proclaim, “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” And we’ll cry out to God to use us in the years and decades to come. God commands us to open our mouths wide in expectation, and He will fill them (Psalm 81:10).

 

I’ve missed you; it will be sweet to worship with you this Lord’s Day.

 

Under grace,

Pastor Matt