
CONNECT
EVENTS
![]() STARTING FEBRUARY 2020 (CLICK HERE TO WATCH A VIDEO THAT EXPLAINS THE APPRENTICE GROUP MORE) The Apprentice Group is an intensive group experience designed for those who are hungry for a personal interaction with God. They want to know him in a subjective way and not just more information about him. It's is for those that want to see long term patterns and habits in their lives change and be transformed. This can only be done in the context of deep community and transparent relationships. If this sounds like what you're hungry for, we'd love for you to consider being part of this apprentice group in 2021. It is a 30-32 week commitment and should only be considered by those who are able to make it a priority. If you think you will miss any more than 3 sessions please consider not applying at this time. To make sure that there is enough time and opportunity for those participating to get the most out of the experience, we are limiting the group to 15 people. They will be chosen based on the judgement of the leader as well as the answers to the following application. There will be a cost of $60 associated with the materials that the group will be going through together. The group will meet on Monday evenings from 6:30 - 8:30 PM at Cornerstone in our worship center. ![]() CHRISTMAS OF 2020 Every year the school systems partners with us to identify High School students in need. We partner with them to provide new winter clothing as well as additional presents for those who would go without. Normally we would have a list of items that could be purchased for the students and dropped off at the church. However, since we are not meeting in person, our missions team will be purchasing the items. We would like to offer our church to be partners in generosity so if you would like to help financially by giving we have provided a link to make that possible. Additionally, you can mail a check to 231 W. VanBuren and designate the check for "making christmas better" ![]() MADISON KROHE: MISSIONS PARTNER Madison will be serving in the horn of Africa for one year. If you would like to get more information on the organization she is serving with, or to find out about how to support her financially or through prayer. Please fill out the form below and she'll contact you. |
TEACHING
JOY IS BOTH VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL
: Good morning everyone! Hope you’ve had a good week and even if you haven’t, we’re still glad you’re here. This is a place for the happy and the hurting, the thriving and the struggling and everything in between. If you’re a new with us today, my name is Nic Cook. As we get ready to jump back into week 2 of our SERIES: Choosing Joy. Last week we talked about how joy in our hearts starts with our minds. Change your thoughts, change your emotions, change your behavior. And today we’re talking about how experiencing joy is not just vertical with focusing our thoughts on God. It’s also horizontal. This morning we’re going to see how the…[2] Bible ties our joy to relationships with others. If we hope to experience joy, we will have to look for it in community. So, I’d like to encourage you to open up your bibles to [3][Philippians chapter 1:3-11] For the rest of this series I’m not going to be putting up the scriptures on the screen because we want to be a church that opens our bibles. We want to be comfortable using this tool together so that when we’re apart, we are capable of opening it and hearing from God throughout the week as well. Let’s pray and then we’ll dig into God’s word to see what he has to say about joy and community. Let’s pray! I’m gonna start out with an incredibly cheesy acronym. However, I know that it works because it’s been stuck in my head. You know how you have joy? [4]It comes from putting JESUS first, then OTHERS, then YOURSELF. See? I told you it was cheesy, but it’s helpful. I think that too often we lack joy in our lives because we focus on ourselves, our dreams, our desires first. Like we said last week, we have to take our focus off ourselves and put it on Jesus, on his love for us and who he says we are, and on his plans instead of our own. Changing our thoughts from self to Jesus was the first step. But step two is to focus on others. Paul sets the example for us in his own thoughts. He starts with prayer to God, focusing on God, and then in his thoughts he turns towards others and the church. He says in verses 3-5 [5]“3 Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.4 Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy,5 for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.” Paul calls the Christians in Philippi “partners in spreading the good news about Christ”. That word partners in the original language is “Koinonia.” It’s sometimes translated as fellowship. The best meaning of it is “sharing of lives, resources, and purpose.” It means sharing who we are, good and bad, with people who love and accept us anyway. It means sharing what I have with those who need it. It means sharing suffering and joy together. [6] FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING: You guys know I’m a huge Lord of the rings fan. I love it like I love chipotle. So, in the book there is something called the fellowship of the ring. It’s a group of people who are brought together from every kind of background. Furry footed gentle hobbits, a gruff axe-weilding dwarf, a bow wielding elf with hair that I’m jealous of, a wizard, and a couple of men, one of which is a king. They decide to band together for the purpose of saving the world. They go through hardships, they fight together, and they end up with a deep and abiding love for one another. This is a perfect example of fellowship. They are brought together, they commit to each other and their purpose, and they end up loving and being willing to sacrifice for each other. You see this a lot also in military movies like Band of Brothers. [7]Every great movie is an echo of this theme because it’s God’s intention for humanity to find their place in his family and for them to do life together and live together as part of his mission. Fellowship, Partnership, sharing of lives, resources, and purpose. Paul says, I have joy because you have shared your lives with me! We’re sharing in suffering together. We’re part of God’s mission to save the world together! Here’s my main point this morning.. [8] (APP) FOCUS ON THE GOSPEL, FOCUS ON OTHERS: MENTALLY, EMOTIONALLY, AND PRAYERFULLY THE GOSPEL & JESUS CHRIST: [12]In chapter 1 alone, Paul mentions the gospel 6 times. He mentions Jesus or Jesus Christ 13 times. That means out of 30 verses, every 5 sentences he says good news, and almost every other verse he says Jesus Christ. Paul is obsessed with getting the church to focus on the news of who Jesus is and what he came to do. We never get past the good news! No matter how long you have followed Jesus, you never get past the basics. Each day we have to wake up and remind ourselves of the Gospel. God created and designed this beautiful world and made it good and perfect and gave it to us as a gift. We are loved and bear his image. He created us to be his friends and companions and fellow workers to make this world even more abundant. He gave us a choice to choose him, trust him, and love him in return. We chose to rebel. We want to be our own God’s; we want to be in control. We want him to serve us instead of the other way around. That’s why this world is as it is today. That’s why my next-door neighbor who works for homeland security had to go to Portland to deal with rioting. That’s why the news is full of rioting. Because sinful broken human beings are fighting for power and control. We can’t fix this world on our own power or create joyful loving human community on our own. That’s why we need Jesus. Our hearts are bent towards evil and we deserved punishment. Instead, Jesus took our punishment on the cross. So, when we give our lives to Jesus we allow him to kill the old selfish us and give us new hearts that want to follow instead of lead. We are given hearts that are able to learn to serve instead of being served. [13]If we want Joyful Christian Community, we have to start with joy in the Christ who saves us even though we didn’t deserve it. Then we can focus on loving others the way that Christ has loved us. But love isn’t easy, it has to be PRACTICED. We see from both Paul and the Philippian Christians that we need to…[14] (NEXT) HOW TO CONNECT & EXPERIENCE JOY (US) FIRST STEPS: First of all, if you’re exploring Christianity, you need to know that the joy you are looking for is hardwired inside you. God wants you to seek joy! But he has made this world so that true joy is only found by being in a relationship with him. It’s the joy of knowing you are loved. It’s the joy of knowing you are forgiven no matter how far you’ve run or how broken you feel. It’s the joy of knowing that God will be with you in the hardest of circumstances. It’s the joy of knowing that God will complete what he has started and that he’s coming back to make this world right again. If you’d like to know more about how to give your life to Jesus we’d love to talk to you more… NEXT STEPS: For those who have given their lives to Jesus, let me encourage you to take Christian community seriously this year. If you want 2021 to be a year of Joy, God has designed us so that we need to be connected to Christian brothers and sisters to do that. I know that this is difficult because of the pandemic. I think that what we’ve seen today gives us insight though. Even when we’re separated physically, we don’t have to be separated completely. We can be thinking about each other, looking for needs and meeting them, and praying for each other, not just for physical needs, but that our brothers and sisters would be growing in Christ like maturity in this season. That they would experience the love of Jesus. That as we cultivate these habits in the middle of a pandemic, then when we get actually get to be with each other more freely and physically, that bond of love is even stronger and our joy will be even more deeply experienced.
If you would like to listen to sermons from previous weeks or other sermon series, you may do that at auburncornerstone.org/teaching
GIVING
INVESTING IN THE KINGDOM!
Thanks so much for being part of what God is doing at Cornerstone.
Your generosity allows us to help MAKE and MULTIPLY DISCIPLES that KNOW, REFLECT, SERVE and POINT others to Jesus.
Our online giving is secure so you can give with full confidence knowing that your information is safe.
In addition, you may also text to give. Text 217-210-0317 and “GIVE”. Then enter the amount you would like to give.
GROUPS

DOING LIFE TOGETHER.
We believe that significant life change best takes place in the context of intentional relationships. Groups are the places where real life and real issues are discussed. This is the environment to celebrate the successes and good times of life, as well as comfort one another in the tough and disappointing times. It’s a place to be encouraged, equipped, and challenged to grow in our relationships with Jesus Christ.
Nic Cook Home Group
Lori Minks Home Group
This group meets in the home of Shawn and Lori Minks. They meet on Monday nights @ 6:30 – 8:00 PM. There is childcare available. Home group discussions are based around the topics and scriptures that are discussed in the previous Sunday sermon.
Jeff Millsap Home Group
This group meets in the home of Jeff and Jennifer Millsap. They meet on Wednesday nights @ 6:30 – 8:00 PM. There is childcare available. Home group discussions are based around the topics and scriptures that are discussed in the previous Sunday sermon.
Jennifer Millsap Sunday Group
This group meets in the kitchen at Cornerstone. They meet on Sunday mornings @ 9:00 – 10:00 AM (during 1st service). There is childcare available. Home group discussions are based around the topics and scriptures that are discussed n the previous Sunday sermon.
Ed Gerken & Ken Allen Sunday Group
This group meets in the High School room at Cornerstone. They meet on Sunday mornings @ 10:30 – 11:30 AM (during 2st service). There is children’s programming available. Sunday group discussions are based around the topics and books of the bible of the teachers choosing.
Ed Gerken Men's Group
This group meets in the kitchen at Cornerstone. They meet on Monday evenings @ 7:00 – 8:30 PM There is no childcare provided. The Men’s group discussions are based around the topics and books of the bible of the teachers choosing.
KIDS

WE NEED THE NEXT GENERATION NOW!
WEEKLY
NURSERY l SUNDAYS from 9-11:30 AM
On Sunday mornings from 9-11:30 AM, infants and toddlers are cared for in our nursery area. The children are being cared for during our adult worship and Sunday group gatherings.
KIDS GROUPS l SUNDAYS at 9:00 AM
On Sunday mornings our kids, Pre-K – 5TH grade, will enjoy age appropriate creative and interactive bible teaching, fun activities and crafts. It’s a great chance to make friends as they learn more about Jesus.
KIDS WORSHIP l SUNDAYS at 10:30 AM
On Sunday mornings our kids, Pre-K – 5TH grade, will worship together by singing and dancing to songs with biblical truth. Each week, kids will participate in large and small group activities to discover who Jesus was and continue to build their faith.
MONTHLY
C-KIDS l MONTHLY
Once a month during the school year, kid’s K – 5th grade will participate in a fun activity or service project. We encourage kids to participate with their parents in Showing Jesus to the community around us through serving him and his mission.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Children's Ministry Mobile Check-in
Every child that enters into our kid's ministry must be checked into our system. We have provided a volunteer to assist you in the check in process. If you forgot to check them in before service do not fear. Below is a link to check them in on your mobile device.
Every week we have a video that summarizes our Sermon for our kids and our kids at heart. Check out our video with our family Pastor Joe as he has some wild and crazy adventures and lessons for us!
Story Bible Videos (Use the arrows to change video) (Pre-k > K-2 > 3-5)
Parent Cue App
Check out the video below to explain how to use it. Create an account its free and founded in God's Word!
STUDENTS

WE NEED THE NEXT GENERATION NOW
JR. HIGH GROUP | SUNDAYS AT 9:00 AM
On Sunday mornings, our Jr. High students gather to learn, and build friendships with each other during our Sunday groups. There also might be doughnuts involved.
CSM (CORNERSTONE STUDENT MINISTRY) | SUNDAYS EVENINGS
Our Cornerstone Student Ministry meets on Sunday evenings for games, worship, shenanigans, teaching, small groups, food, and more shenanigans.
Jr. High students meet from 4:00-6:00pm.
High School students meet from 5:30-7:30pm.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Follow Cornerstone Student Ministry on social media for more updates!
CIY: Move July 24th through 26th CIY Move is a 3-day retreat for our High School students, where they get to learn about their faith and experience it in a real way. They experience amazing worship and speakers while signing up for workshops to develop knowledge and discipleship, all while growing in relationship to their peers who are walking in the same journey of developing their faith. The cost for this retreat is $75.00 with a minimum deposit of $50.00. Registration deadline is JULY 10TH COVID-19 Update: Where we are not going to Anderson, IN as we had planned in June, we are going to have our retreat, in a differently. As a way of keeping ourselves safe CIY organization has released all of their media as a digital content. We are going to be hosting the retreat at Cornerstone over the course of 3-days. We will be watching the sessions, having small group activites and conversations just like we are at CIY but we are going to stay local.
Questions? Talk to Joe Shepherd (Joe@auburncornerstone.org)
During this time stay safe and at home. Just because we are at home does not mean we cannot still engage in community and in God's word with our students. Every Sunday night we will be live streaming our youth nights for your student to learn and engage with God's word as well as experience a community of their peers online. Throughout this time in-person meetings are well.....not happening so we still want to see your lovely face! Sign up for Zoom, its FREE! Students can meet up with small group leaders and student pastor to maintain relationships, hang out, play games and open the communication for discipleship!
Youtube Live Stream
Zoom Meet-ups
Download Zoom
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