Lead Pastor Blog III.II

I recently decided I want my own lane of traffic in Saskatoon. I don’t mean all to myself I mean my own lane for guys like me. You know, middle aged male drivers who actually know how to drive in any and all conditions! I don’t want teen-age drivers or senior citizen drivers or female drivers in my lane. I don’t want moms with 3 car seats and a sign that says, “Baby on board” in my lane. I don’t want young businessmen with a cell phone illegally stuck in their ear in my lane. I don’t want the out of town you know who in a pick up truck making his once a month run into the city in my lane either. I just want guys like me.

Guys who know what to do when the weather is spectacular. Guys who can read slippery conditions and aren’t distracted by six other things, people or issues happening in their vehicle. Guys who can drive in the snow when conditions demand it. Guys who know when to pass and when to follow. Guys who aren’t too old and who definitely are not too young. Guys who aren’t on the road trying to impress anyone. They are not in some life and death hurry to get to where they are going. These are the guys I want to share my lane of traffic with around the city of Saskatoon. I think I’ll approach city council with the idea. I suspect there would be protests if that idea actually passed. There would be a plethora of special interest groups trying to get their own lane of traffic. It would be madness and chaos all because I just want a lane for guys like me.

The more I thought about that the more I saw the church. How many of us attend church with the idea that our church would be better if there were more people like us? If there were more people like us we could agree on things like music or time of service or length of service. We could agree on what to wear or what not to wear (no ties at my church!) We could agree on what translation of the Bible is the right translation. We could agree on what programs we would offer or not offer. We could agree on what kind of coffee to serve of if coffee should be served at all. We could agree on who should go and help the poor and who can stay home. We could agree on drums or no drums, on acoustic or electirc guitar, piano or organ. We could agree on how loud the music should be.   We could agree on who should share their faith and who doesn’t have to.  We could agree on how much money to give and how much to keep.

But church is not made up of people who are all like me. Now it is possible that some of you reading this are saying to yourself, “Thank goodness there aren’t more people like you at our church.” The church is designed by God so that there would be different personalities in attendance. Just check out the disciples. This group was diverse. Who wants a church full of Peters? A bunch of people all trying to talk at the same time is what you would get with that. What about a church full of Thomas type personalities. Doubting everything and believing very little about anything if there wasn’t absolute tangible proof. What would get accomplished in that church?

Today we, at Cornerstone, have a variety of personalities making this church their home. That is not bad. In fact it is good. It teaches us to get along with each other. It teaches us that none of us are always right all the time. It teaches us that we have to learn how to work with people who do not think, act or behave like us but still call Jesus their saviour. It teaches us that God has this incredible ability to take a diverse group of people and make them into a cohesive unit that works together to bring Him glory. We have people here who have no church background but now Cornerstone is their church. Some of you were almost born here and you have attended ever since your mom brought you in as a newborn. Some come from a liberal background. Some come from an ultra-conservative background. Some were Baptists or Alliance or MB or even Pentecostal but now you are with us, here at Cornerstone, learning to walk with God.  The call of God is for us to do this together.  There is no place in scripture where it says we can be a follower of God all by ourselves.  Nope, God calls us to do this in a community called the church.

That is the challenge before us on a continual basis.  We must walk toether.  We must show the world that although we are very different we have the same Lord.  We must model a love for each other that attracts the world.  We must avoid division on the basis of personal wants or opinions.  We must surrender to our Lord fully understanding that the work He is doing in the lives of others may not look exactly like the work He is doing in my life.  There is no church where everyone thinks, acts and behaves like me.  Thank the good Lord for that but now go walk with those you are called to walk with in this journey called faith.  It is what God has designed.

Me?  I’m going to work on my proposal to city council for a lane of traffic for middle-aged guys who know how to drive!

A Word from a Volunteer…

I wanted to “make available to the masses” a letter that one of our student ministry volunteers sent out just before Christmas.  The opportunity to hear from Hands On Ministries caught a lot of people of guard, and left many deeply troubled about the hurting kids and teenagers in Saskatoon.

The reality though, is that those same hurts exist within the community of kids and students who come through our doors each week, whether it be Sunday morning, or midweek.  In response, the volunteer wanted to champion and encourage those who were already engaged in making a difference in the lives of students, while at the same time celebrating what’s going on at Hands On, and encouraging people, on some level, to engage in investing in the lives of students.  That regardless of where they are, the hurts are the same, even if they look a little different sometimes.

The letter was well-thought out, and well written, and so we wanted to share  it with the broader congregation, as both an encouragement and challenge to you as well.

On December 12 Rick from Hands On Ministries shared a message that opened many of our eyes to the desperate situation that is happening in our own city. His message identified the outstanding need that exists in our own downtown. The number of kids that he told us about that are abused and taken advantage of in our city is devastating. Hands On is ministering to a demographic that often flies under that radar and is forgotten. As the church, we must partner with ministries such as this and support them both fiscally and spiritually.

I write this to you today to identify yet another demographic that is in desperate need to hear the message Rick gave us. The groups of kids that I am talking about come from broken homes, are abused (physically, verbally and sexually) and are so desperate to feel something that they sometimes resort to habitually harming themselves. These kids range from 11 to 18. I believe that we as a youth ministry can be effective in showing the love of Christ to these kids. I can say this with confidence because I have already witnessed it first hand. The kids I am talking about are the 80 – 100 kids that walk through our doors every Thursday evening and Sunday morning. The same kids that you are already building relationships with and to whom you are already showing the love of Christ. For that I thank and commend you. …

The number of abused and hurting kids within our youth group is staggering. About 70 % of our students come from unchurched backgrounds and may be hearing about the love of Christ for the very first time. Nearly 50% of them are from families that have been split up, whether through divorce or the loss of a parent, and desperately need the comfort and hope that comes through knowing that God will never be lost or leave.  We know of some who have experienced abuse of some form, and can safely assume that there are others that are too scared or embarrassed to open up about their pain. Also, we know of  students that have taken to cutting or some other form of self harm as an attempt to dull their emotional turmoil with physical pain.

These are our kids! They need to know Jesus loves them! They need to know we love them!

We often think that because a majority of our students have homes, money and stuff that they also have life easy and figured out. I would venture to say that these things merely cloud their understanding of what is important and where they should establish their life’s core values. We need to recognize the needs of the people we are presently ministering to. Throughout the past couple of years we have hosted a number of activities that asked our students to reflect on life and give us an honest account of how life is going for them. Some of the responses reveal the pain and need that I am talking about. These are some of those responses:

While being taught about their identities in Christ our senior high students were asked to answer the question, what do I say about who I am?

-       Sometimes I am lost, and sometimes I am afraid … I am invisible and don’t live up to anyone’s expectations, especially God’s … I am guilty and impure, but I am saved. I am indecisive and confused. I don’t believe in myself.

-       I am who God made me to be. I live my life as God has intended. I am indecisive, arrogant and egotistical. I cannot readily call myself a Christian and it still confuses me how I can live my life as one.

-       Lost.

-       I know God and I know that he has plans for good and not evil. I am also a young man that has problems with thought, language and actions. I feel that I am in a pit that I am unable to escape from for I keep falling in. I want to change but it feels like I can’t at times.

When asked to pray honestly to God.

-       Dear God, Please help me to get through this journey of life.

-       Dear God, I pray to you today because I need help with my life. My family is always mean and I want them to stop. Dear Lord, I just want to be happy. Amen

The message that we heard on December 12 was a message of honesty, revealing a truth that many people did not know or chose to ignore. There is a great need in our city’s young people to know the love of Christ. Rick’s call does not allow the church to be ignorant of the issues he talked about any longer. But I write this letter to you as CSM youth leaders to tell you that you have already answered Rick’s call to serve. You are already ministering to the abused and the neglected. You are already communicating God’s love. If you felt Christ’s call to go downtown and work with those kids then I encourage you to do so; if you simply felt the need to build into young people that need to hear that Christ loves them, then I encourage you to stay the course. Continue to build relationships with your small group kids. Continue to cheer on your students at their events. Continue doing what you are doing. Continue loving kids.

Rick said, “We don’t need to tell the children that Jesus loves them. We need to tell them that we love them and let them see Jesus through us.” Let’s take what Rick talked to us about and come back to our group of students renewed with open eyes to the vast needs that are right in front of us, and then let’s live our lives in such a way that we reveal the character love of Jesus to those needy kids.

Enough said.

IMPACT 2011

I wanted to make sure that everyone out there hears about the upcoming Children’s ministry Conference here in Saskatoon at Ebenezer church February 12, 2011.  Fantastic storyteller and speaker Steven James is going to be there.  There are also many other awesome workshop choices!  Cornerstone volunteers  if you work in Children’s ministry or Junior Youth this is something you should consider.  Come talk to me if you are interested!  You can go to the website at http://www.cnetsaskatoon.ca/ for more information and to download a registration form.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity -  It only comes around once a year!

Jessica Braun

jessica@cornerstone-church.ca

Introducing Michele, Music & Arts Intern

Michele Irving has just joined us as a Music & Arts Intern here at Cornerstone Church.  We’re excited to enjoy her passion and gifts for this ministry and look forward to seeing God grow her ministry skills as she gets involved serving in worship here.  Here’s just a quick introduction to Michele, who she is and what makes here tick.

So what’s your family like?

My husband’s name is Martin.  Many of the men know my husband through the Men’s Breakfast time on Friday mornings and through Promise Keepers.  Our boys’ names are Justin and Andrew, Justin is in Grade 6 and Andrew is in Grade 2.  Our family enjoys doing activities together, board games, reading, swimming, etc.  We are continually amazed with God’s character and the on-going journey of knowing Him more.

Favourite thing in the whole world.

God’s beauty; His beauty in my husband and boys, in people, in His creation and to sing praises to the Lord and join in with others in lifting up His name.

Things you really try to avoid.

I look rather to the things that are good, pressing on to the goal (Phil. 3:12-16).

How did God bring you here?

We know that God has brought our family too Cornerstone for my Internship through answered prayer, revelation of His word and relationships for such a time as this.  Our family is excited to be here and get to know you and to serve our Lord.

What are you excited about as you get involved?

I am grateful and excited how God shapes things and about learning, growing and serving in the ministry of praise to our Lord with Christ’s body.

So do your best as a church welcome Michele and her family, and encourage Michele as she grows in leadership while here at Cornerstone Church.

Lead Pastor’s Blog III.I

His name is Rene and he is another Marc Honorat. Marc was a child slave from age 5 to 12. Stop for a moment and say those words, “Child Slave” out loud. Marc and his wife Lisa met Rene within the past few months. Rene is a child slave today in Grand Goave, the same city where Marc was a child slave. Rene just turned 13 and he began school this past year with Marc’s help. Marc started school at the age of 12 and finished grade 12 when he was 25. Rene possibly has the same path in front of him.  It would be good for us to pray that this young man walks the same path as Marc.

Today, 2011, child slavery is alive and well in Haiti. This is the story that stands out for me on this trip. So many things do not change in this poor country. The devastation is still prevalent everywhere you look but like much in the spiritual realm if you have eyes to see you can see God’s grace at work in this country as well. I am hoping to meet Rene tonight as Marc thinks he may be at the church service. Rene’s slave parents allow him to go to church and they consented to him starting school as long as Marc and Lisa pay for it.

A few other things that I will bring home with me are the following…they still worship God with such unashamed joy. Last Saturday as I sat on the raised platform waiting for my cue to speak I looked out at the sea of faces. Remember why I am here. These people have been through a year from hell. Many of them have lost loved ones, homes and any sense of security but when the worship starts they light up. I sat there thinking they have no reason to smile but a 100 reasons to be angry, disappointed, frustrated or desperate as well as a host of other negative emotions. But the truth is they smile as they worship God. They smile, they dance, they laugh and they sing. Perhaps this more than any other thing is what I long for our North American church to grasp. I want us to rediscover the true honest joy that can happen when we worship God. I want our faces to reflect a joy that comes deep from within knowing that the best thing we have is Jesus.

The other experience I take from this is the hunger of their leaders to know more. As I taught my seminars on leadership they scribbled down notes like there was no tomorrow. They are hungry to learn. They are hungry to grow. They know change is necessary and they are looking to be equipped to lead that change. It is humbling to be asked to equip leaders and humbling to see their appreciation in being equipped. I need a fresh touch from God in regards to that kind of hunger.

Staying at Haiti Arise really is like staying at an oasis in the midst of a sea of desperation. If I never left the compound I would soon forget how desperate the need is outside these walls. A brief walk through the community quickly puts things in perspective. We walk past a home where three women of various ages sit around an open fire with blank looks on their faces. One of them holds a baby but there is no sense of motherly joy in her face. Her eyes are sunken and her shoulders slumped in a defeated kind of way. This is the Haiti all around these walls. At the next stop a little kid of about 3 or 4 comes up with a shirt on and nothing else. He wants to touch the white man. Soon 5 or 6 of his friends or brothers, who knows, join us for a few steps. They ask for money which Marc has already told us not to give. We keep going but you wonder what is on the table for those kids tonight. A little further and some kids are tormenting an older women and she picks up a rock to throw at them but then drops the rock when she sees us. I was kind of hoping she would chuck it at the little trouble makers.

Place after place along our walk you see people sitting around open fires talking, some laughing but a whole lot of nothing going on. They have no jobs and precious little hope. I think to myself as we walk I am walking beside the man who is trying to give them hope. We tour the property where Marc hopes to put a school, large church and children’s village. It is a dream right now but I want to dream with him that we as a church can help make a difference in this land. There is something powerful about dreams. There is something that draws you to a man who has a dream.  In a country with so little is it not the least we can do to help their dreams become reality?

I encourage you to start praying now for our team that is coming here in February. I would love to come back with them but that is not going to happen. For now I look forward to chatting with them before they leave and then hearing all about it when they get back.

God is at work in Haiti if you have eyes to see. God is at work in Saskatoon if you have eyes to see. Ask God to open all our eyes to see what He is doing and then be part of the dream of changing our world.

Donations for Hands On Ministries

Donations of dry goods will be collected for Hands On Ministries on the second Sunday of every month of 2012.

Ideas:

• pasta
• peanut butter
• peanut butter
• jam
• cheez whiz
• ketchup
• cheese slices
• juice crystals
• granola bars
• cans that can be opened without a can opener
• fruit cups
• feminine hygiene products
• cleaning solutions
• hats and mitts