Lead Pastor Blog I.VI

As I type this it is Thursday June 18th and we are hosting a major outdoor event on Sunday June 21st. I am stoked about this event but I have been keeping an eye on the weather forecast for about a week now knowing that the weather greatly affects the event. A week ago things looked great. Two days ago things looked great. I had a staff meeting where we discussed the event and we were all feeling pretty comfortable with the planning that we had invested so far into this event.

However as I logged on this morning and checked the weather forecast the weatherman has changed his mind. We went from a mid-twenties sunny forecast to a very low twenties and 80% chance of rain forecast. The weather forecast is not something you want to completely depend upon. The elements that decide the actual weather we receive fluctuate greatly and so what was forecast one day can quickly change the next day.

Some of us as Christians are a little bit like the weather forecast. You see us today and all is well. We have bright sunny faces and we are a joy to encounter. However you may bump into us the next day when an obvious storm cloud has moved in and you find us dark and unapproachable. It is true that life can throw some nasty curveballs at us but we do have a lot of assets to assist us through the difficult challenges of life. We have the enduring presence of the Holy Spirit to draw upon. With that said it is clear that God never leaves us….never. No matter what problems you are encountering or how up and down your life circumstances are there is this great constant in your life called God.

God is the opposite of the weather forecast. He does not promise one thing one day and then change His mind on a whim the next day. One of the great truths of scripture that has assisted a multitude of believers is that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. When everything around us seems so unreliable we need a rock. We need someone who is dependable. We need an unchanging God in a constantly changing world.

Our outdoor event is a Father’s Day Show and Shine or a car show. We would love bright sunny weather as our service is planned to be totally outside with a live band, great cars, a bar-b-que fundraiser and a brief message about a God we can count on. We want to have a morning where dads can feel very comfortable as we honor them and their unchurched car buddies who join them.

I am going to go and do two things. I am going to log on to the weather site to see what the forecast is now. After that I am going to spend some time in prayer with my unchanging and totally reliable heavenly Father.

Be blessed.

Summer Church

We will be meeting at 10:30 Sunday mornings for the summer.  Starts June 7th until September 13th.

Lead Pastor Blog I.V

Attended a conference recently which challenged me to think once again about the purpose and reason for our worship. There is no doubt that God is worthy of our worship but let’s take it a step further if we can.

Essentially when we worship God properly we are simply telling him by our actions that He is “worth” our worship. We submit to Him and in that action we worship Him by what we know in our hearts to be true. Our speaker talked a lot about the glory of God. As we worship God we are in tune with this great activity of God’s glory being affirmed.  From time to time I encounter people who choose not to participate in church life because they love God but they can’t stand the church. In their actions they are not submitting to God but rather choosing what they want to do…worship God apart from His bride the church.  In other words they are placing their wants above God’s glory.

God designed the activity of worship to be one we can do alone but it is also to be done within the company of the church body. When I complain about the music or the time of the service or the length of the service or the seating arrangements or any of a host of things I hear complaints about we tread on thin ice.

We have forgotten that the activity of worship is not about our likes or dislikes or or comforts. It is about submitting our hearts to God and affirming His glory. It is about God not about me. When I choose not to sing a song of worship because I don’t like that song am I making the worship about me or God?

When I choose to sleep in and not attend church am I making that activity about me or God?  Worshipping God is not about me….it is all about God.  It is about His glory being magnified in my life and in my world.

The speaker shared that when God is glorified there is a result. God pours out his blessing upon the people who engage in this activity. It is like we are aligning ourselves with God’s purpose and he blesses that choice. It makes sense when we explore it that way. We have experienced that sense of blessing when we have surrendered our hearts to God and then engaged in worship and left the experience knowing all was right in our relationship with the Father.  We also know what it is like to walk away from a worship opportunity when we have been there in body but not in mind and felt like there was nothing to show for the activity.

As I sat and listened to Word I was excited as I thought about our vision for Cornerstone. I want to change the world not in some world domination kind of way for Christians but rather in a God-honouring way where the love of God flows through us to touch our world.

I want to change the world by seeing men be examples of worshippers in spirit and truth leading their families to glorify God. I want prodigals to return to the place where they once again encounter this great good of giving God glory. I want to change the world but surprising seekers with the great news of God’s offer of grace to them. I want to change the world by glorifying God through meeting practical needs within our world.

At Cornerstone we are on this exciting adventure of literally changing our world for the very glory of God. Come on there’s lots of work to be done. Join us!