LIVING the LEGACY

Praise for the past,

update

What We Leave BehindIf we’re totally honest with ourselves, we all long to make an impact in this world. When it’s all said and done, we want to know that in some small way, our existence made a difference. What will people say about us? Did we leave a mark? These are the questions of legacy. The same is true for us as Christ’s church. What is going to be our eternal legacy? What will we leave behind? Cornerstone Fellowship has a rich heritage of life-giving ministry—this is our legacy from the past. For the past ten years this church has been proclaiming the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. As a result, people have come to Christ,

grown in their faith, and have been equipped to serve Him. The personal stories of life-change now serve as living monuments of a lasting legacy. But this is just the beginning. We have a divine mission to “develop dedicated followers of Christ” and a vision to be a church that passionately shares the good news of Jesus Christ, an assembly of authentic worshipers, a place where people experience loving community, a place where people pursue spiritual growth and seek to serve God. I believe that we have the opportunity to cement this legacy in history through the Living the Legacy capital campaign. This campaign will help us take one step closer to seeing the dream of building a new facility become a reality. Our facility will be a new tool for more effective ministry in the future. Living the Legacy is about more than bricks and mortar; it’s about our ministry mission and vision. It’s about more than building a building; it’s about leaving a legacy for God’s glory. I’m excited about taking this spiritual journey together! [Pastor Jeff]

faith for the future

is a three-year campaign to raise the financial resources needed for Cornerstone Fellowship to build a new facility to more fully live out our vision for ministry. The campaign will be conducted in three phases: Phase I, which runs through September, is designed to sharpen our congregation’s understanding and focus on our church’s ministry mission and vision. Phase II, running in October and November, is designed to further inform our members through personal home visits and to secure advance commitments to the campaign. Phase III begins with an all-church banquet to celebrate the progress made thus far and to offer another opportunity for every member of the Cornerstone family to join the campaign. This phase continues over the next three years. The building fund grows as members fulfill their faith commitments with donations.

Living the Legacy...

We’re All PArt of the legAcyIt may surprise you to realize we are already entering the third month of our Living the Legacy capital campaign. The first two months involved assembling and organizing our campaign team. After that behind-the-scenes work Jeff publicly announced the campaign on July 20. You have no doubt heard several times by now about the different teams and team leaders who are working in different areas of our campaign. These folks are very important to our success, but everyone in our Cornerstone Family has at least four tasks to do in order for us to reach our goal and fulfill our mission. Prayer is vital. The campaign must be done in His power, not ours, and must rely on His provision, not our abilities. I urge you to take part in our prayer emphasis, special prayer events, and to pray regularly for the ministry vision. We must continue our campaign in faith. Heb. 11: 6 says “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” Our Lord requires that we obey Him and that we be “found faithful.” Another way we can all be involved is through participation. As we progress through the next phases of our campaign, you will be asked by various teams to participate in different ways, and to pray about how God will want you to give of your talents and resources to increase our ministry.

All of us are also going to be called on to sacrifice. I hope you are all participating in our 40-Day Journey Bible study, which we started about two weeks ago. As God has given each of us gifts and blesses us daily with abilities and resources, our responsibility is to share them sacrificially to advance the Kingdom of God in our communities. When God saves us, He expects us to grow. One way we can grow in our faith is to share the Good News of Jesus with those in our communities who do not yet know Him. I invite you to share your faith in Christ by participating in the ministries of your Cornerstone family. [Marvin]

The campaign must be done in His power, not ours,

and must rely on His provision, not

our abilities.

Our Cornerstone family is embarking on a spiritual adventure as we are Living the Legacy—a journey to a More Generous Life. This six-week devotional course involves daily Scripture readings, application projects, and discussion questions presented in the booklet 40 Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life. The Stewardship Education Team—Tammy Walk, Elizabeth Lundstedt, Tom Walk, and Wayne Oxley—encourages you to discover God’s teaching for your finances by studying at home and learning with your Cornerstone family. You can start your journey anytime. If you don’t have a book, they are available on the church information table. And you can join a discussion group during Christian Living Class anytime during the next five weeks. Already more than 50 people are participating in CLC small groups. Let God’s Word impact your heart to live a more generous life.[Tammy]

Discover a More Generous LifeGenerous Life

Meet the Legacy campaign team Our Living the Legacy campaign is designed to progress through a number of phases or steps. A major part of the first step is sharpening the mission and vision of Cornerstone Fellowship Church. Pastor Jeff did an excellent job at this in his message on July 20. (A copy of that message is available from the church office.) He spoke about our history and how God has blessed us, and about our vision of enhanced opportunities for ministry in the future. Tammy Walk and the Stewardship Education Team are leading us through a six-week series of lessons entitled 40 Day Journey to a more Generous Life. Ken Sidey and the Communications Team are working on getting information out through this newsletter and many other forms of media. You will be seeing and hearing much more as the campaign progresses. Phase Two of the campaign will begin in October as the Home Visits Family Connecting team led by Paul and Jina Nelson shares the message on a more personal level with families

in their homes. Throughout the entire process Shawn Raasch and the Prayer Team will be asking us to pray for all facets of our ministries at Cornerstone. As we move forward in Phase Two we will focus our vision on our future and how our ministries can be enhanced with a new facility. Denise Herrick is leading our Special Events team, which will plan and organize a celebration banquet (save the date—Nov. 22), when we will praise God for what He is doing through all of us to accomplish his purpose for Cornerstone. The third and final phase is follow-up and will involve more home visits with new families and continuing to fulfill our commitments over the next three years. Other leaders on our Living the Legacy team include John Clark, our elder board representative, and Dave Viland, our consultant from Ministry Campaign Services, a ministry of the Evangelical Free Church national office in Minneapolis. [Marvin Lundstedt, campaign chairman]

Is prayer needed to move the heart of God? The author of Intercessory Prayer, Dutch Sheets, asks us to consider the story of Elijah and how the land was in drought conditions for three years. Elijah interceded for rain and the ground was nourished once again. Granted, God could have sent rain anytime He wanted, but He chose to use Elijah as a vessel for His purposes. James 5:16 tells us, “The prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” When we are striving to walk right with God, He hears our prayers and will answer them according to His good and perfect will. August 17 – 23 will be a week set aside for fasting by the Cornerstone family. We are not asking you to fast the full week, only for 24 hours during that time period, and to be in a time of prayer. We are asking you to offer a sacrifice in some form to the Lord. You may decide to give up food (if you are medically able), or to abstain from a beloved iPod, cell phone, computer, or TV. No matter what you choose, use this time to actively and intentionally seek the heart of God. Since fasting is a private matter between you and God we will not need to know when or how you choose to fast. If you have never fasted or have questions, please feel free to ask. Here are some other resources for further details:

http://www.freedomyou.com/fasting_book/FastingTips.htm; http://www.billbright.com/howtofast/; http://www.livingwd.org/ministries/prayers/fastingandprayer.asp

Another important prayer event will take place August 30 at 8:30 am. We will meet at Cornerstone for a prayer breakfast to pray specifically for the Living the Legacy campaign. A list of prayer ideas will be provided for you to pray as you feel most comfortable, in groups, individually, and on your own. As our Living the Legacy campaign moves forward, will you be a vessel God can use? Fasting can bring clarity to your heart and mind. The Prayer Team hopes you will see the importance of prayer and become excited at seeing God at work and join Him in that work.[Shawn]

A Foundation of Prayer

THESaturday Evening

November 22nd

cornerstone fellowship invites you to a banquet to praise god for our past and look forward in faith

toward reaching our next milestone.

2211

We see … the exciting message of Jesus Christ being spread throughout the area and to the world through the ministry of Cornerstone Fellowship. We envision the church sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with people in Greenfield, the surrounding area, and the world. We reach out to the unchurched of all ages with the powerful message of God’s love and grace through caring, personal evangelism and creative outreach events. We see the gospel transforming the lives of people as they become dedicated followers of Jesus Christ.We see … people of God engaged in authentic worship through the ministry of CornerstoneFellowship. We envision believers living lives that glorify God every day and participating in corporate worship every Sunday morning and whenever they gather together. We inspire one another through the Holy Spirit to center our worship on God through the dynamic communication of the Bible, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, traditional and contemporary music, drama, and other media. We see people inspired to worship God with reverence and honor in a welcoming environment free from distraction and congestion. We see … a church where people experience loving community through the ministry of

Cornerstone Fellowship. We envision an inviting atmosphere where people experience the friendliness and support of a loving church family. We overcome isolation and loneliness by helping people build healthy relationships and connect to a caring and compassionate community of faith through a variety of groups and events. We see … followers of Christ passionately pursuing spiritual growth through the ministry of Cornerstone Fellowship.We envision believers becoming dedicated followers of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. We build up and strengthen believers to be more like Jesus through creative and practical communication of God’s Word, prayer, weekly small groups for all ages, retreats, and short-term mission trips. We see marriages, families, and friendships strengthened because people are growing deeper in their walks with God.We see … a community of believers committed to serving God and others through the ministry of Cornerstone Fellowship.We envision Christians joyfully engaged in ministry to others within and outside the church. We help people discover and utilize their spiritual gifts and God-given passions for building up and expanding the body of Christ. We see every believer engaged in ministry and involved in making dedicated followers to pass on a legacy of faith to others.

Cornerstone FellowshipChurch Vision 2008