Discipleship at Cornerstone
What is Jesus inviting us into?
Following Jesus isn’t about spending Sunday mornings at church, knowing where we’ll go when we die, or having all the proper knowledge about God. Following Jesus is about learning to know and love God, and letting God’s love transform us… every single day… with each decision we make, the words we speak, the people we interact with, and with the actions we take.
What does this really mean for my life?
If we let ourselves be transformed by the love of Christ, nothing should stay the same! The good news about Jesus should look like good news lived out in us and through us. We encourage you to prayerfully consider where God would have you grow and then take one practical step towards growing in that area. It is an abundant life lived with God and in God that starts not after we die, but right now.
If you have questions
We have two booklets in PDF form, one titled “Have you started your journey with Jesus yet?” and the other “Spiritual formation at Cornerstone.” These booklets go into even more detail to help you get started.
If you'd like to talk to someone about your faith journey, please fill out this form and someone from the church will contact you!
Head
Learning About God and From God
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Mark 12:30
God gave us wonderfully complex brains, and we don’t believe that faith requires you to check them at the door! God wants us to ask questions, wrestle with tough issues, and think deeply about things. Learning more about the character and works of God helps us to grow in our knowledge of God, which in time helps build our trust in God. But loving God with our heads isn’t only about stuffing more knowledge into our brains. It’s about sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning from him, so we can live our lives like he would.
- Participate regularly in weekend worship at Cornerstone
- Go to a class or study
- Practice sitting at the feet of Jesus by making reading the Bible a part of your daily life
- Get a study Bible in a translation you can easily read (i.e. NIV or NLT). We have some good ones at the 84th Resource Center!
Heart
Loving God, Loving Neighbor, and Loving Self
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Matthew 22:37-39
Thankfully, we aren’t just brains. We have emotions and passions as well! God wants to transform our hearts as well as our minds, and that happens over time and in all different ways, including spending more time with Jesus, through the healing of our emotional wounds, and through the work of the Holy Spirit.
Only God can do the work of turning our hard hearts into soft hearts that can actively love God, love others, and love ourselves. This may require taking intentional steps towards healing and wholeness so that we can love others well. And just as we make our muscles stronger by exercising them, so we want to exercise the muscles of our hearts by practicing loving God and loving others.
- Practice praying or being still with God every day
- Join or lead a Life Group
- Take a step toward healing with a therapist and/or a Care Group
- Practice being more attentive to the people you interact with. How can you show them God’s love today?
Hands
Giving Generously of Time, Talent and Finances
“Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.”
1 Peter 4:10
How did Jesus use his hands? To heal, to offer a comforting touch, to wash the feet of his disciples, and to eat meals with others. As people who follow Jesus, we believe that part of being transformed by God means serving those around us. That could look like making coffee on a Sunday, playing drums in the worship band, greeting people at the door, teaching kids about the Bible, leading a student life group, or one of the dozens of other opportunities we have to serve in the church.
It also means using the unique gifts God has given us, as well as the financial resources God has given us, to support the church’s ministries and to serve our neighbors. Speaker Danielle Strickland describes this as living an “open-handed life in closed-fist culture.”
- Take a spiritual gifts assessment to learn what your spiritual gifts are
- Serve on a team at Cornerstone
- Serve with one of our local partners such as Hand2Hand or Circles
- Become a member of Cornerstone
- Practice being generous by giving back to God
Feet
Living Out the Good News of Christ in the World
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
Matthew 28:19-20
Jesus tells us to go out into the world and make disciples, so we shouldn’t be waiting inside of our churches for people to come to us; we are called to go out! We go out to serve those in need, we go out to love all people, and we go out to tell people about the good news of Jesus. We are other people’s experience of the love of God. Whether people know we follow Jesus or not, we have the choice each day to help others feel like they have stepped foot into the Kingdom of God by the way we treat them. We aren’t saved just for our own benefit; we are saved for the sake of the world.
- Practice being able to tell your story of what Jesus has done in your life
- Talk to friends or family members who need to hear about God’s love for them
- Practice living out the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control – where you work, in school, with friends, etc.
- Prayerfully consider going on a mission trip
Not Sure Where to Start?
Our short reflection guide will help.
Questions?
Contact Mandy Fowler.
