Each year, the end of summer marks the beginning of a busy time in the life of Cornerstone Church. Our members and attenders settle back in to a regular routine, and we see many new people coming through our doors each Sunday morning. To prepare for this time, we have made a few changes:

• Volunteer Gathering Room- We now have a dedicated room for ALL Sunday morning volunteers to call their own. This room will be available every Sunday morning beginning this week just before 8 am until the end of the last service. It will be a place for volunteers to grab a snack, a cup of coffee and just spend some good time with each other. We will also spend a few moments preparing for each service through announcements and prayer. We encourage you to bring your children but ask that you are together as a family in this room. The room is called Sampson’s Barber Shop, and you can find it next to the barber pole down the Cornerstone Kids hallway.

• Name change for the First Impressions Team- While creating positive first impressions is what we are challenged to do each Sunday morning, the name “First Impressions Team” can be confusing to new people. To better describe this team and make it more consistent with the experiences people have every day, we are now called the “Guest Services Team”.

• Three Things to Commit To Doing- We are asking all of our Sunday morning volunteers to commit to no less than these three things.

Volunteering on Sunday morning or, to be more precise, serving on Sunday morning, is ministry. It is an integral part of the worship experience each and every Sunday. What you do has the potential to change the heart of someone coming to Cornerstone. Be focused and alert, live out our mission of “Leading People to Know and Serve Jesus” and know that you truly make a difference.

This past Monday night we kicked off our Frontline Feedback series with our first session. A great mix of current volunteers and volunteer team leaders showed up to offer their thoughts on taking our volunteer programs to the next level.

We prayed, ate, discussed and had fun for a little over an hour. It was a positive group that offered some solid thoughts on why they volunteer. We also talked about how we can move forward to serve God by better serving the people who walk through our doors.

Here are a few things we talked about:

• Communicating the need for volunteers throughout the church needs to be ramped up. How we do this without appearing desperate (which we aren’t) is the concern.
• Because people don’t see the “glitches” they don’t feel they are needed.
• How can we change the culture so people realize that serving in the church is something we are called to do once we accept Christ?
• How can we encourage families and spouses to volunteer together? Once they are volunteering how can we coordinate schedules so it doesn’t become a burden every Sunday?
• Use video testimonials to encourage people to volunteer/serve. There are a lot of great stories about how volunteering has helped grow people in the faith.
• Volunteers need to understand that eating, drinking and talking to friends while volunteering on Sunday morning is a distraction. It keeps them from focusing on our guests.
• Shoulder tapping is the best form of recruiting volunteers. While we need to continue using the regular communication venues of the church, volunteers inviting others to volunteer has been proven to work the best.

There are three more Frontline Feedback opportunities over the next several months: May 16, June 10 and July 18. We want to hear from those of you who are serving on the front line week after week, you are the experts on what is happening. You can go here for more information and to let us know you are coming.

Have you noticed the lights on the Cornerstone sign as you drive by the church? How about the new display for our bookstore as you walk in the lobby? What about how green the grass is during the summer?

Randy and Brett Stephens are brothers and members of Cornerstone. They are also responsible for the sign having lights, the display on the wall and the grass being green. They also do so much more that no one will ever know.

They are involved in Cornerstone with their families and their parents. You might see any one of them greeting, cleaning the worship area or taking up the offering on Sunday morning. They are true servants for Christ and I am proud to have them as friends.

Ephesians 4: 11-13

It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

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Cornerstone will be hosting the event for the Auburn/Opelika and surrounding communities. Come by yourself or with your team. The cost is very affordable and you don’t have to worry about travel or hotel expenses.

All the details are just one click away.

The Lego Lowdown | King David from Granger Community on Vimeo.

The story of King David is powerful. It is a story I have read and heard taught many times. King David is the famous David who slew Goliath. It wasn’t until I saw The Lego Lowdown about King David that his story really stuck. David was a sinner, he did some really bad things and still God forgave him.

Two things to point out

David was a sinner. Even though he sinned, God referred to David as a man after His own heart. He made mistakes, but his heart was always pointed towards God. David asked for forgiveness and God forgave him. We sin too, but like David we can “hit our knees and beg God for forgiveness and get back on track.”

We all learn differently. It took a three minute Lego video to bring David’s story together for me. It might not have the same impact for you. That is why at Cornerstone we are committed to being relevant. We know it takes different ways of communicating the story of Christ to impact the variety of people we touch every week. We might never tell a Bible story using Legos, but we want to find our best way of communicating. We are committed to “not using elements that appear outdated or irrelevant to how people live today.”

So, I hope you enjoyed the video about King David. If you liked it you might want to pass it on to a friend. Speaking of being relevant, try using Twitter to pass it on. That’s how I discovered the video, someone Twittered about it and I happened to read their Tweet.

Repost from Jack Fisher’s Blog

Tomorrow Cornerstone Church will take up a special offering for the people of Haiti at our three services. The staff leadership met this past Wednesday and talked about how we can most effectively help. While our hearts were tugged and we wanted to go immediately to Haiti, we realized it wasn’t the right time. That time will come but for now the reality is cash donations are the best help.

The donations collected will go directly to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR). From there they will be used as UMCOR determines best to help the people of Haiti. There are many relief agencies pouring time, resources and money in to Haiti but we landed on UMCOR because of their history of results and our connection with the United Methodist Church.

Established in 1940 by the General Conference of the Methodist Church, UMCOR works with and through partner agencies. Their focus is to coordinate with local groups who know the people and their needs. When the earthquake hit Haiti, there were already members of UMCOR in the country doing relief work unrelated to the current tragedy.

Know that your donations will be used effectively and properly.

United Methodists have had a long-standing relationship with Haiti through the Methodist Church of Haiti. The strong ties between the Methodist Church of Haiti and The United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) helped in facilitating the opening of the UMCOR Haiti field office in 2005. 100 percent of Advance gifts made will go to support relief and development efforts due to emergencies in Haiti. -from the UMCOR Web Site

We haven’t figured out what our long term commitment to Haiti will be. I do know it will not be done without a lot of prayer, research and discussion. For now though our biggest impact will be felt through our prayers and our donations of cash.

This is a repost from www.jackfisher.net.

Well, actually I can’t help but I can refer you to a great resource. YouVersion.com has a tag-line of being “A Revolutionary Online Bible Reader”. I would agree.

Here is a short list of some of the features YouVersion offers:

• It’s free!
• 41 different translations, in 22 languages
• Collaborative, builds community
• Parallel reading
• iPhone, Android & Blackberry apps
• Mobile web version
• Personal online journal

YouVersion.com is a ministry of LifeChurch.tv. They have just added more than 20 new reading plans, everything from 30-day to two year plans.

I have been using YouVersion.com for almost two years. The way God’s word is presented has helped me grow as a Christian. The easy access and depth in content has been good for me. There is a small learning curve with all the different features, but it is worth it.

Let me know what you think.

(This is a repost from www.jackfisher.net)

Christmas Carol of the Bells from Granger Community on Vimeo.

This past January I took on a temporary challenge, our children’s ministries needed new leaders and I agreed to coordinate the process. What this meant was I would be hands on with our children’s areas ages birth to 5th grade until we hired three new leaders. The whole process ended up taking about six months.

It was one of the biggest challenges I have ever faced, but one that I don’t regret. I learned a lot and certainly grew in many ways. In no particular order, here are some things I learned or beliefs that were strengthened:

• Trust God
• Children’s ministry is not just about the children, it is about the families too.
• Not every parent is meant to be a volunteer in children’s ministry.
• Having children of your own is not a requirement for being a successful volunteer in children’s ministry.
• Talk to the children. It sounds simple but too many children’s leaders get so wrapped up in the mechanics and the parents that they forget to talk to the children.
• Never do any ministry in a silo. Surround yourself with a team and listen to the wisdom they offer.
• Don’t hire leadership because you are simply trying to fill a position. Take your time, do your homework and pray. As the saying goes, “Long hello, short goodbye.”
• Chemistry is crucial. If the new leaders don’t fit with your team it doesn’t matter what experience or education they bring to the table, they won’t last.
• Value your volunteers. It is impossible to be successful in ministry without volunteers who have the right heart and motivation.
• Don’t be afraid to ask the right people to volunteer and serve for the right reasons.
• Be OK with the word “no”.
• Communicate, communicate, communicate.

Now I admit, I learned several of these things because I didn’t practice what I am preaching. Yes, it was a long six months not only for me, but I am sure for the volunteers and parents who hung in there with me.

It was worth it. I am proud of the team that is leading our children’s ministries. God clearly had his hand on bringing Jill, Michael and Deanna to Cornerstone and their new roles for the Kingdom.

With a pretty quick pace I was headed down the road until I realized a horsefly was buzzing around my head. A few casual flicks turned in to an all out assault on this pesky insect. My pace slowed and my focus on the One Prayer message was almost non-existent.

I continued on with the horsefly circling me and my arms swinging wildly around my head. I am sure anyone driving by had a good laugh. My level of distraction was high and all I could think about was keeping that stupid horsefly from biting me.

After about 10 minutes I slowly settled back in to a good pace, got back on track with my iPod and felt focused again. By the end of my run I realized the horsefly was gone and not once had I been bitten.

Sometimes our lives can be like my run. We start out with a plan and good focus but can easily be distracted by “horseflies”. We let distractions dictate what we do and before we know it our focus is gone.

I am learning to stop and take inventory of what I am doing. Is my life filled with Christ centered activity or am I distracted with a bunch of horseflies? More often than not I find the horseflies win, that’s not good.

I need to ignore the distractions and let God handle them. That will free me up to do what I need to do, what pleases God, Kingdom work.

1 Kings 11:38 If you listen to what I tell you and live the way I show you and do what pleases me, following directions and obeying orders as my servant David did, I’ll stick with you no matter what. I’ll build you a kingdom as solid as the one I built for David. Israel will be yours! (The Message)