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The Promise Gospel Vision of Cornerstone Church
This is the story we are living in and living out together.

Our story is found in the Bible where we learn both the true story of the whole world & our place in that story. This is our vision for life, church, and all creation as those who follow Jesus.

At the beginning and center of our story is God: the Maker, Designer, and Definer of all of creation and every creature. He is not hidden in or by creation but reveals Himself to all people, who are made for relationship with Himself. People, all people, possess inherent worth and identity independent of their ethnicity, status, beliefs, capacities, and actions because all were created male or female, to bear God’s image in family, work, and culture. All of this God calls good! (Genesis 1-2)

The Problem in our lives and world is that, like Adam and Eve, all people insist on choosing right and wrong, good and evil, for themselves instead of trusting God’s Words, designs, and plans. This problem, called sin in God’s story, is both personal and corporate, displayed in every relationship and community humanity forms. (Genesis 3-11)

God Himself initiated the restoration from sin that all humanity is trapped in by His Promise to Abraham. Restoration would come through a son of Abraham. Repentant faith, trust that returns to taking God at His Word, would be humanity’s handle on the Promise and their way out of the maze of their self- centered definitions and designs. (Genesis 12-22)

This Promise to Abraham is the agenda of the Bible and history! The seed of the Promise produced both an event of salvation and a “people” through the Exodus. In Leviticus God provides a way of grace for His people of Promise to draw near to Himself, reconciled and restored by the blood, to live lives that are “holy” to God. In Numbers God continues to unpack His Promise (and the problem) by Israel’s inheritance of the land. In Deuteronomy Israel’s identity is renewed and restored once again by God Himself in the gracious renewal of the Promise. (Genesis 23-Deuteronomy)

Our story, the Bible, continues to display the problem of humanity through the downward spiral of Joshua, Judges, Kings, and Chronicles. Shining in these dark times is a glimpse of God’s good and gracious Kingdom in the kingdom of David. The son promised to Abraham will also be a son promised to David, God’s Messiah, who will graciously reign as King forever. The prophets continue to hold forth the light of all God has Promised: mercy and restoration for those of repentant faith in the LORD and a Day of final judgement for all who insist on the maze of their own designs. (Joshua – Malachi)

Finally, all of God’s promises were kept to humanity in the birth of a son of Abraham, son of David, the son of the virgin Mary, Who is the Son of God: Jesus. The Gospels show us that by His life, death, and resurrection God has come to us in Jesus, keeping His Promise to restore all people from captivity to sin, and back to His story. Every people, person, relationship, and issue finds restoration or salvation by repentant trust in Jesus. Jesus is the person and historical event that defines all things, not merely our personal spiritual experience. (Matthew, Mark, Luke, John)

Jesus comes personally to indwell all who repentantly trust in Him; individually and corporately. The Holy Spirit is the presence of Messiah to transform hearts and lives and to empower men and women to be witnesses of His Promise/Gospel to all humanity. One day, Jesus will return in complete fulfillment of all God’s promises. This is the Gospel of His kingdom.

When God restores humanity to His story in Jesus, He restores us from the maze of our broken communities to “new community” with Himself (Father, Son, and Spirit) and one another: the Church. A Church is not a place to go to, but a people who gather and go, with the Spirit of Jesus. The “new community” is not a perfect community but a recovering, discipleship community that is learning to live in and live out the gracious reign of King Jesus in order to fill every relationship, issue, and endeavor with His Gospel reign.

Ministry is the “new community’s” proactive work showing and telling God’s story for the restoration of all things. Ministry cannot be defined as what “happens at a church building.” Jesus has kept His Promise. Now He is bringing this promised restoration to all people and creation through His Gospel, through His church, in every relationship, issue, and endeavor… until He returns. (Acts – Revelation)

How will we cultivate this Promise/Gospel in and through Cornerstone?
We will cultivate our Gospel identity in three specific ways. We are…

Worshippers:
(The Lord) A people saved from their idolatry, whose identity and worship now center on
the Living God and tell the Gospel story. Matt 28; Jn 4; Acts 2; Rom. 1; 1 Cor. 12-14; 1 Pet 2; Hebrews

The New Community:
(The Body) A people who are being reconciled and restored
in relationship with God and each other by mutual discipleship in the Promise/Gospel.
Matt 28:16-20; Jn 13; Acts 2; Eph. 4; 1 Pet 2

Witnesses:
(The World) A people being restored and empowered for God’s mission
to reconcile all people and all things in creation to Himself, by His Gospel.
Matt 28:16-20; Lk 24; Jn 17; Acts 1; Phil 1; Col 1; 1 Pet 2

May we live fully three dimensional lives
in relationship with the Lord, His people, and the world.
May we seek, serve, and share all we have with the LORD, each other, and the world.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9

Cornerstone Statement of Faith

Our Statement of Faith is the result of our relationship with The Evangelical Free Church of America. (See the link on the home page.)

God
We believe in one God, Creator of all things, holy, infinitely perfect, and eternally existing in a loving unity of three equally divine Persons: the
Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Having limitless knowledge and sovereign power, God has graciously purposed from eternity to redeem a people for Himself and to make all things new for His own glory.

The Bible
We believe that God has spoken in the Scriptures, both Old and New Testaments, through the words of human authors. As the verbally inspired Word of
God, the Bible is without error in the original writings, the complete revelation of His will for salvation, and the ultimate authority by which every realm of human knowledge and endeavor should be judged. Therefore, it is to be believed in all that it teaches, obeyed in all that it requires, and trusted in all that it promises.

The Human Condition
We believe that God created Adam and Eve in His image, but they sinned when tempted by Satan. Inunion with Adam, human beings are sinners by nature and by choice, alienated from God, and under His wrath. Only through God’s saving work in Jesus Christ can we be rescued, reconciled and renewed.

Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, fully God and fully man, one Person in two natures. Jesus—Israel's promised Messiah—was conceived
through the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He lived a sinless life, was crucified under Pontius Pilate, arose bodily from the dead, ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father as our High Priest and Advocate.

The Work of Christ
We believe that Jesus Christ, as our representative and substitute, shed His blood on the cross as the perfect, all-sufficient sacrifice for our sins. His
atoning death and victorious resurrection constitute the only ground for salvation.

The Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit, in all that He does, glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. He convicts the world of its guilt. He regenerates sinners, and
in Him they are baptized into union with Christ and adopted as heirs in the family of God. He also indwells, illuminates, guides, equips and empowers believers for Christ-like living and service.

The Church
We believe that the true church comprises all who have been justified by God's grace through faith alone in Christ alone. They are united by the Holy
Spirit in the body of Christ, of which He is the Head. The true church is manifest in local churches, whose membership should be composed only of believers. The Lord Jesus mandated two ordinances, baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which visibly and tangibly express the gospel. Though they
are not the means of salvation, when celebrated by the church in genuine faith, these ordinances confirm and nourish the believer.

Christian Living
We believe that God's justifying grace must not be separated from His sanctifying power and purpose. God commands us to love Him supremely and others
sacrificially, and to live out our faith with care for one another, compassion toward the poor and justice for the oppressed. With God’s Word, the Spirit’s power, and fervent prayer in Christ’s name, we are to combat the spiritual forces of evil. In obedience to Christ’s commission, we are to make disciples among all people, always bearing witness to the gospel in word and deed.

Christ’s Return
We believe in the personal, bodily and return of Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ, at a time known only to God, demands constant expectancy and, as our
blessed hope, motivates the believer to godly living, sacrificial service and energetic mission.

Response and Eternal Destiny
We believe that God commands everyone everywhere to believe the gospel by turning to Him in repentance and receiving the Lord Jesus Christ. We
believe that God will raise the dead bodily and judge the world, assigning the unbeliever to condemnation and eternal conscious punishment and the believer to eternal blessedness and joy with the Lord in the new heaven and the new earth, to the praise of His glorious grace. Amen.