About
Our Mission: “Building Community by Following Jesus”
Core Values: Community – Following Jesus – Mission and Outreach
These operational values help us to understand how we can live into our mission of “Building
Community by Following Jesus.” These values keep us on target and keep our hearts on Christ.
As we move towards our mission, we are dependent upon the power and presence of the Holy
Spirit within our hearts.
Community
“Come to Him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight” - 1 Peter 2:4
Community at Cornerstone UMC begins with individuals responding within their hearts to the love and grace that Jesus offers every living person. People are made in the image of God, and as such, Christ views them as precious and beloved. Christ loves us as the Father has loved Him and invites us to live within the radiance of His love (John 15:9).
Our community starts with you knowing that Jesus loves each person and calls them “precious.” We form a loving community by receiving God’s love for us, growing in grace, and loving one another in the same way God loves us.
This type of Christ-like community is different from what we experience in the world. We are called to “have genuine mutual love, (to) love one another deeply from the heart” - 1 Peter 1:22. Christ’s love for us and the Holy Spirit within our hearts compels us to strive for this transformational community.
Following Jesus
“Like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5) “He who called you (Jesus), is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct; for it is written, “you shall be holy, for I am holy.” - 1 Peter 1:15-16
Christ’s love for us compels us to allow the Holy Spirit to refine our souls, shining light into the darkness of our hearts, offering forgiveness for our sins, and bringing spiritual and emotional
freedom. Following Jesus is a life-long process which transforms our hearts and character into Christlikeness, so that we may reflect the goodness of God in the world.
We follow Jesus through being open to the Holy Spirit while engaging in: - small groups, worship, service (outside church and within), spiritual disciplines (scripture reading, prayer, etc…), and living in loving community with one another and
our neighbors.
Mission
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous
light.” - 1 Peter 2:9
As a community of people who are growing in grace, supporting one another in genuine love, and being transformed through following Jesus, we are called to share the Good News of Christ
with others. We “proclaim the mighty acts” that Jesus has done in our lives, our church, and community. We proclaim the mighty acts of God by allowing people to see the transformation we are experiencing because of Christ. Our acts of kindness, service (local and beyond), willingness to build relationships with others, all provide opportunities to share the “Good News” of the impact of Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. The love that we reflect to others
becomes the doorway for building relationships with them, built on curiosity about them and mutual respect. Trust and relationships with others, experienced through mission/outreach, become the opportunity for people to discover that they too are “precious” in God’s eyes, and can be part of our transformational community which is rooted in Christ’s love.
Simple ways we are already engaging in mission include:
- Getting to know our neighbors one on one, hosting dinners, block parties.
- Serving the community and school through various fundraising and resource generating events
- food drives, coat drives for Wellcome Manor (Women’s rehab facility), and fundraisers
for Backpack Food Program (Serves Lake Crystal and other communities), making meals
for Reach youth center (Mankato)
- We are continuing to actively turn our eyes, hearts and ears to the community around us. Our
belief is that we have been “blessed to be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2) to the people and
communities around us.
Community
1 Peter 2:1-9
Rid yourselves, therefore, of all malice, and all guile, insincerity, envy, and all slander. 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. 4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones, let yourselves be built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 For it stands in scripture:
“See, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious;
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.” 7 To you then who believe, he is precious; but for those who do not believe, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the very head of the corner,” 8 and “A stone that makes them stumble, and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light.