“Growing Up in Christ” – 2016-2021

Written Fall 2016

15 years ago God gave birth to a baby church in Marion, Iowa. Those who began this church quit traveling 20 minutes to church because they saw deep needs in their own back yard. They saw: broken families; rudderless lives; spiritual apathy; relational isolation; and false expressions of Christianity.

By God’s grace, Cornerstone Church is now a teenager. Like any aging process, Cornerstone has seen great joys, debilitating sorrows, and most importantly, the Triune God faithfully working to see faith and family grow. But there is still more growing up to do. We have to take responsibility, grow in spiritual maturity personally and corporately, and thereby advance God’s mission to make disciples.

Mature and healthy things grow and reproduce. This is the leaders’ vision for Cornerstone Church over the next five years: Growing Up in Christ! We want to reproduce the life of Jesus Christ in the lives of others God has called us to serve in the “Marion + 5” (the city of Marion and 5 miles around). This sort of growth and reproduction is ultimately a work of the LORD, but the Scriptures expect God’s people to participate in His sovereign work:

NIV 1 Corinthians 3:6-8 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.

NIV Hebrews 5:11-14 We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. 12 In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13 Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14 But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.

For the sake of our homes, workplaces, neighbors, and ultimately the nations, there is still more growing up to do. If God’s people act in faith and if the LORD responds in favor, we long to see these sorts of transformations by Summer 2021!

Our Growth Marks:

1) Broadcast: Dozens of conversions to Jesus Christ through the evangelistic work of Cornerstone Church.

2) Mature: A few hundred people who have progressed through a vibrant disciple-making pathway process implemented within Cornerstone Church.

3) Equip: A handful of trained workers sent out from Cornerstone Church to serve locally and globally as vocational pastors, ministers, missionaries, and organizational leaders.

4) Plant: A church planted and another in process through the sacrificial commitment of Cornerstone Church.