Looking forward to Sunday - Already

I ran across some cute marquee quips a few months ago. I probably ought to put one out there this week. It said, "Good week to visit - pastor on vacation." The second week it read, "Shhhh - he's back!!"

Well, you good folks are in for a real treat this weekend. I will be out of town on vacation, and my good friend Mike Bumgarner will be preaching for us. He is thrilled at the opportunity, and expressed great thanksgiving for our invitation. He agreed to preach from the lectionary texts, and has already called me with his sermon title - are you ready for this - "The Hazards of a Rented Faith." Don't you love it? I will be torn on Sunday morning - good to be away, but wishing I were there to hear this message.

BTW - if it seems that I'm away a lot in the fall, that's only because that is actually the case. I rarely take any vacation in the spring or summer, and reserved it for the fall - time to harvest deer, hogs, and turkey. I certainly enjoy and appreciate the time away.

Pray for the services for Sunday, and pray for Mike Bumgarner. You'll love him.

I need your help

I'm not afraid to ask for help when I do not understand something. And since you guys are best thinkers I know I'm sure you can help.

Question: What is perseverance?

Romans 5:3-5 NIV says "Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us."

When I looked the word up in the dictionary it said: The steady persistence in adhering to a course of action, a belief, or a purpose; steadfastness.

When I subistitute this diffination in the sentence the words make sense, but the meaning still doesn't quite. "...because we know that suffering produces a stead persistence in adhearing to a purpose(or belief)..."

So help me out, what does this mean?!?!?

Talking about the Two Sons...

The sermon hit me between the eyes...again. Which of the two sons did the fathers will...Matthew 21 has a series of lessons that one could spend months trying to understand the personal application, but the two sons hits really close to home for me.

Saying one thing and doing another is not the problem. Having an attitude of questioning and challenging authority is not really the problem. When Christ "peels this onion" for us, the issue is obedience.

I get it now.

Pastor, thanks for a thoughtful sermon...it hit me where I needed to be hit.

Pont

Looking ahead to Sunday

Hey, this is something I can do for us all each week - sermon preview. This is not to be construed as opportunity to decide if folks actually want to attend, or not. Rather, this is opportunity to start taking a look at the text, and formulating questions in your mind that the sermon may or may not speak to.

So, this week. Texts for the morning are Matthew 21:23-32 and Philippians 2:1-13. The Matthew text is the story of the father who asked both sons to go work in the vineyard, and one said "yes" but didn't go, and the other said "no" but relented and went anyway. Jesus had been asked about authority, and He responded with a statement on obedience. Hmmmm. The Philippians text is that wonderful hymn of the early church about the ministry of Christ to our salvation, and God's subsequent elevation of Him in every way.

Invite a friend, bring a neighbor. Let's have a full house.

This thing called Grace

Over the last few weeks we have been studing Phillipians 1 on Wednesday nights. One thing that was pointed out to us that Paul's greeting is almost always "Grace and peace..." Roman 1:7, 1 Corinthians 1:3, 2 Corinthians 1:2, Galatians 1:3, Ephesians 1:2, Phillippians 1:2, Colossians 1:2, 1 Thessalonians 1:1, 2 Thessalonians 1:2, in 1 and 2 Timothy he adds mercy, but is back to just Grace and Peace in Titus and Philemon. Even Peter gets in on the grace and peace movement in 1 & 2 Peter. There are probably more, but I think I've made a point.

So, what is this thing called Grace and why does it always does it always come before peace?

Ok, don't tell anyone, but I cheat sometimes. When other people are looking for a big heavy book to look up words I go to the online Dictionary. I looked up grace and was shocked to see 9 entries! The one that caught my eye was number 8 though.

a. Divine love and protection bestowed freely on people.

So, does that mean when Paul says "Grace and peace" we can subsitute grace for "Divine love and protection"? I like that.

Grace and peace to you today!

What a great idea . . .

Mike Kear stopped by my office to suggest this blog, and I think it's a great idea. Frankly, it was Mike that first gave me impetus to my own blog, but I like the idea that we are creating a place in cyberspace for a community conversation flowing out of Cornerstone.

I am the pastor - well, at least the paid pastor. We kind of pastor one another. We've been in existence as a church for seven years now, and I have been privileged to be with this group from day one. Many years ago, when I was doing associate work in other churches, I asked God to give me a church to pastor. I consider Cornerstone God's gift to me. I've had opportunity to go elsewhere, but it never seemed right. This is home, and these people are the people of God.

So, another avenue for ministry and conversation. May God be honored.

Richard Dunn (Sojourning Pilgrim)

In the Beginning

Laughing Out Loud! I love it! A blog for my church. How fun is this going to be! Ok, I've been asked to say a few things about myself and church.

Hmm... what do I want John Q. Pubic to know... tough question.

Ok, I'll be honest. I'm insane. Not the "I'm wearing a pretty white jacket backwards" kind of insane. No, the "I'm always smiling because I'm so happy" kind of insane. Humor is my middle name. I've been going to Cornerstone for right at 6 years now. Being a part of Cornerstone has been a great impact on my life. The people have always been understanding and they don't carry rocks around looking for someone to stone. My favorite things about Cornerstone are of course the preaching (thanks Richard), and my Sunday School class rocks! We get to ask those questions that everyone silently wonders but never has the nerve to ask for fear of how it will be responded to (did I mention NO one carries rocks?). Wednesday is my favorite day of the work week because I get to go to choir practice. There's a baker's dozen (that's 13 if you didn't know) voices and an angel visiting Earth playing the piano. We have so much fun during the short hour we're together. We even manage to practice a few songs (thanks again Richard). Well, I could go on and on but will let the others intoduce themselves and tell why they attend Cornerstone.