Pastor’s Column

Happy March!

May the Lord Bless you as we journey through this season of Lent together. This is a time for personal reflection on our walk with Christ and to consider how we are walking with Christ as a congregation. In worship we are reflecting on Jesus’ teaching and seeing how we can practically apply them to our lives. I hope that as we do that Christ will speak to our hearts and help us to see how He wants to help us experience life more abundantly; and that we will say yes and follow His lead.

As we move towards Easter, it is customary for people to give up something in favor of adding more time with God during this Lenten Season and doing more righteous things that Jesus calls us to as demonstrations of our new life with Him. I invite you to join with me in this age old tradition of giving up something (fatty foods, sugary foods, tv or internet time, etc.) to make more room for God, time with Him, seeking His guidance and living more intentionally as He puts on your heart to do. Each year I hear wonderful testimonies about how making God first made a difference in the lives of those who participated in Lenten fasting, so I invite you to grow during this season. Give up something you usually rely on and rely more on God in its place. Stop doing something you used to do that you know is not the best, and start a Jesus-practice in its place so that it becomes a new good habit for God’s glory and your good. Serve others more for Jesus’ sake and allow Him to make a difference through you. We can do it.

Let me know how your Lenten journey with Christ is going over the next 35 days as we journey through Lent. I would love to pray for you, hear your stories and be an encouragement for you.

Now let me share with you a bit about our Church’s Leadership Team and what we have begun during this season of Lenten reflection. The Church’s Leadership Team has begun reading a book together that is helping us to reflect on our life as a congregation. Through this time, we are believing that God will help us to see what we need to see and give us insights on how He is calling us forward.  We look forward to using key components of vital congregations to engage in strategic planning for the future. We will keep you up to date on our progress.

God is at work. May this be a time of allowing Him to speak to you, reveal things to you, challenge you, and help you to experience Him more deeply and live more fully. I am here to help. Let me know how I can support you on your Christian journey, and I invite you to join me in observing a holy and transformational Lent.
Yours In Christ,

Pastor Comer

Greetings and blessings to you through Jesus Christ Our Lord.

Well December is here, and the snow has made its majestic entrance alerting us that we are a new Season. It’s amazing how each Season brings with it real change. Sometimes the changes are great, and sometimes not so much. One thing I have noticed is that there is something beautiful to behold in every new Season. While each season of life has its challenges, they all have reasons for thanksgiving too. The freshly fallen snow we’ve been getting has made me smile with gratitude for the beauty of God’s creation. I count it as an incredible blessing that makes me smile and that brings me a comforting sense of God’s love, hope, joy, and peace. Amidst health issues in my family right now, and whatever might be going on in your life and the lives of those around us, the beauty of the freshly fallen snow can remind us of God’s continual goodness and love falling fresh upon us no matter our current circumstance.

Let us not forget to celebrate the beauty and blessings that God brings to us each day and in each Season of our lives, for while the Seasons change, God’s love and faithfulness towards us remains constant—only changing in form to meet our current need. Can you see the beauty and blessings that God is providing all around you in this Season?  Think about those things and hold them in your heart and allow them to be a sense of hope, joy, and strength; and maybe just maybe, we can add to the beauty that this Season bring in the lives of others Jesus’ name.

Philippians 4:8
New American Standard Bible

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is ^[a]lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Hi Everyone and Happy November!

Well time is really passing by. Before you know it, we will be welcoming in the Advent Season once more—anticipating the coming of our good news from God that will bring us tiding of great joy for our lives.

After going through so much with the pandemic, and all the other things we have been going through in life, we can all use some good news, tidings of great joy, the announcement of God’s favor upon us and blessings for everyone.

Well hear the good news: God is with us and will not leave us and will not let us fail.

What could we do to begin embracing the excitement of God’s salvation to us right now?

• Do we need to let go of the past hurts and fears and ask God to give us healing, trust in Him, and peace instead?

What service projects could we participate in that would reveal our love for God and God’s love for others in a tangible way?

• How about getting a tag off the tree for mission work in India and including a note of encouragement for the child you will bless.

What relationships could we work on to prove that God is at work in us?

• Is there some relationship that you could work on to make better during this season?  Could you make a call that you wouldn’t normally make to check on someone? How about choosing to forgive someone’s past offenses through the Cross of Christ after acknowledging the real hurt and what you feel you deserved instead. What about inviting a member of the church who you don’t know very well out for coffee or over for dinner and including a time of prayer before the time of fellowship is over and allow God room to bless you. Or even inviting someone to meet you at church for worship and a time of fellowship after?

God is doing a new thing in our midst. Can you perceive it?

As the seasons change, leaves fall to the ground, and what once was alive becomes fertilizer for the new life that will spring forth, let us remember that change is okay. Some things are ready to pass away, and the experiences can enrich us for what is to come. 

A new season is upon us. There are rumblings of new life just beneath the surface that God is working within us. God is doing a new thing. Can you perceive it?

Here is the season that we are in—it is a season of spending more time with God in private, so that it may burst forth in blessings that we can feel and see in our own lives. It is in choosing to serve others as God guides, as a result of that private time with Him, so that he can bring you fulfillment while blessing others. This is the season of gratitude—remembering God’s past faithfulness and knowing that the best is yet to come.

Join me in embracing the new season that we are in.

God is with us!

Happy July,

I hope this newsletter article finds you well and feeling blessed because of God’s great love for you that will never end. I pray His blessings upon you and your family and all of those who are in your hearts.

As I mentioned last Sunday, during our Annual Conference at the end of June, the Bishop for the Greater Northwest Area of The United Methodist Church, Bishop Elaine Stanovsky, set our appointment together as Pastor and People for another year (2022-2023) as of July 1, 2022. I am excited about being your Pastor and am looking forward to all the wonderful things that God has in store for us. If I could use one word to describe how I am feeling as we end our first appointment year together and begin the next, I would have to say that it would be “grateful.” Okay, I think I need two words: “grateful, and blessed.” I feel blessed because of how good God has been to us, and I’ll share with you some of the things for which I am grateful.

I am grateful to have been appointed to love you, serve you with Christs love and guidance, and grow with you in Christ Jesus. I am grateful that Cornerstone is made up of such wonderful people. I am grateful that our congregation was built upon a belief in God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—and His Word, and building our lives together upon Jesus Christ. I am grateful that amidst all the changes we have gone through over the last year, in addition to being in the midst of Covid, that we have stayed together, and have adapted to offering online and in person ministry, and are welcoming in new members, all by God’s grace. I am grateful that we are figuring out a new way of life together, and because I have heard people say that they can feel God’s Spirit comforting us, teaching us, guiding us along, and truly present. I am also grateful for the ways I have seen your faith in action. I am grateful for the ways that I’ve seen you love one another. I am grateful for the ways I have seen you serve in the community and extend Christ’s ministry to those we do not know Him yet because God put it on your heart to do. These are some of the things for which I am grateful. What are you grateful for today?

As we begin our new year together, let me encourage you by saying that we have nothing to fear. God is our God and our guide; and like King David said, the Lord is our Shepherd, and He will make sure that we all have everything that we need. All of us. I believe this and I hope you do too.

If you ever get a little down, remember that God is on the case. He sees you and He cares. God carries us when we need it so that we can continue our race in His grace. This past year has proven to me, and hopefully to all of us that God is not limited even when we are—like in the case of the accident that I had; and that no weapon will prosper against us as God’s children. God can, did, and can do such wonderful things through us if we are willing to partner with Him and rely on His grace.  So, whether caring for elderly parents, or kids, working a demanding job or managing your activities in retirement, going to school, serving through the church, or in some other way, let’s look forward to partnering with God this year by walking by faith with Him and one another and relying on His grace.

Jeremiah 29:11 says, “I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans for a bright hope and a future.”

This promise is for us and for our children, and for our children’s children, for Cornerstone, and for all people who love Him.

Grateful and blessed, because we are in God’s hands,

Pastor Comer

Happy June!

What a wonderful time it is to be a part of God’s Church! The bright sunshine reminds us of the hope that is available to us in Jesus; and I pray that we all remember to hope in the Lord because hoping in Him will always lead to good things as our hope persists.

In the praise category, at the end of last month we were able to celebrate the sacrament of baptism with three people being baptized and five people total becoming the newest members of the Cornerstone family. Welcome again to John and Modeline Jules as well as Brenda Scott, and Sawyer Scott and Baby Noah.

We are also looking forward to more new members joining in June, as well as, supporting our newest Youth Confirmands as they profess their faith and join the family of God and Cornerstone as members in June and July as well. God is moving. There are signs of life and grace that can’t be ignored.

This month is also the time when our Annual Conference meets to talk about the past year as the United Methodist Church in Washington, Northern Idaho and the Missionary Conference of Alaska. We will meet online. We have two delegates who will represent us, Brian Heineman and J.C. Jules, as well as myself. We will hear reports, hear petitions before the body, vote on business items, worship together, and bring information back to Cornerstone to help us strengthen our connection and in our visioning process for the future.

Let’s look forward to connecting to one another this summer and as our focus for this coming appointment year. Happy June to you, and may God bless you each and every day. 

“Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” Psalm 37:4

Enjoy your June Blessings,
Pastor Comer

Happy May Everyone!

It is my joy to greet you during this month of May as we experience Spring even more! What a wonderful testament to the fact that things are always going to become beautiful and lifegiving again. Every year, God brings forth the season of spring, the season of new life—the season where new growth springs forth.  What a wonderful reminder that we too are poised to experience new beauty and new life.  Let’s enjoy it together, right now as we see the flowers, as we experience the beautiful sunlight, as we gather together again, with potlucks and in worship and doing service projects, and more. God is doing a beautiful new thing in our midst. Can you perceive it?

As the seasons change, it makes me aware that we should anticipate seasons in our lives. Seasons are meant to come and go. We can’t hold on to one season once it is gone, even if we want to. If we try, it simply makes us miserable that we cannot recreate what has already passed. The key is to appreciate what has happened, and then be present in the present so that you and I can experience the presence of God with us right now. The Good News is that God IS with us. Let’s not miss it. Trying to hold on to the past will distract us from our “right now” experience of God. God is with us and wants to lead us into a beautiful new season with bright hope. Yes, we have a good future ahead of us. God says so. Jer. 29:11.

Bumps along our journey should not make us want to turn back like the Israelites wanted to do when they were in the wilderness on their way to the promised land. The past always looks rosy when we are being challenged to step out in faith, to go to a place where God will show us; but yesterday’s bread was for yesterday. To get to today’s bread that God has for us, we must be willing to allow our faith to be greater than our fear and allow ourselves to look forward to the new thing that God has for us today.

God has hot fresh bread for us today. Today’s bready is made to satisfy today’s hunger and meet today’s needs. God knows the kind that each of us needs and only He can supply it perfectly for His People. Our job is to trust Him for our daily bread and look to Him for it together, as His faithful People who look to Him for all that we need. God has always provided for His People. He always has. He always will.

I know that we have experienced a lot over the last 2 years with Covid, and even before that with other things in the life of the church and in our own personal lives, but there is a Word from the Lord for us. God has never failed us, and He never will. God is with us in our present moment as a church, and He has great plans for our future. He is ready for us to let go of our yesterdays, so that we can embrace our today with Him. God wants to cast a new vision for us that we can hold on to and pursue. Are you ready? Are you willing to perceive it? God is calling us.

Let us rejoice in this new season of life that God is giving us. It is a season that overcomes death and springs forth with new life. It is a season brimming over with bright hope, as we let go of yesterday and allow it to fertilize our tomorrows. This is a season for hearing and standing on God’s words to us with faith following Him forward. Are you ready?

“I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans for a bright hope and a future.” This is what we can look forward to. This is the promise that is to propel us forward. Let’s enjoy the new life that this season brings together.

God bless you and may we delight in coming together to discover, enjoy and participate in what God has in store for us in this season!

With Christian Love and Blessing,

Pastor Comer

Happy Easter

I greet you with the Joy that comes to us in this season of Spring. What a joy it is to have the sun shining more and to see the beautiful flowers. I pray that as the seasons change, that we too will experience beautiful and wonderful change that blesses our lives.

Change does require some things to pass away and other things to take their place. What things do you need to let go of, so that new life can take its place?

Each Spring there is a tradition of doing a deep cleaning–spring cleaning. I want to invite each of us to consider allowing God to help us do some internal spring cleaning of our lives too. What might we want to get rid of as we walk through the rooms of our lives and take inventory? What is cluttering things and keeping us from enjoying the room, what things are dangerous or broken that need to be discarded or fixed? Are there thoughts that need to go, habits that need to be replaced with better ones? It is the season of new life. Let’s embrace what God wants to do for us, in us and through us for a wonderful new season of life together.

May this be a wonderful Season of Beautiful Blooming.

Pastor Comer

Happy March!

May the Lord bless you in a special way during this Lenten Season!

Today is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the Lenten Season. I hope this is a wonderful 40-day season for you with God. Traditionally this season has been and is a time for Christians to intentionally draw closer to Jesus. People often do this by spending more intentional time with Jesus through devotional readings and reflection, service to others, listening to music that enhances faith, fasting, prayer and more. I invite you to do whatever you think will help you get closer to God during the next 40 day.

The leadership Team has been challenged by our Coach, who will lead us in a Leadership Team Retreat the weekend of March 19-20, to do 4 specific disciplines for 7 minutes for 7 days straight. (These are from his book that I will tell you more about in the future.)

1. Intentional listening-putting yourself in a position for the holy spirit to speak to you directly. This is the quieting of your mind and listening with your hearts. John 14–The holy spirit is in you.
2. Intentional prayer–taking everything that you are carrying and give it to God and be present in that intimate space with God.
3. Intentional worship—doing something physically and giving God thanks for the ability to be and do so physically, and
4. Intentional reading—reading and reflecting on scripture, lyrics to songs, anything that feeds your spirit.

If you’d like to join us in this, the challenge is to do all four of them separately, for 7 minutes each, for a total of 28 minutes of personal worship each day, for seven consecutive days. Keep trying until you can do all four for seven minutes for seven days. We have been told that it really makes a wonderful impact, and we look forward to being able to share our stories. I’d love to hear about your experience with it if you choose to join us in this challenge during this Lenten Season.

Whatever you choose to do to experience a meaningful Lenten Season with Jesus, I pray that the Lord bless and richly reward your time with Him.

Lenten Devotional
We will have a Lenten Devotional for everyone beginning Ash Wednesday. Please be sure to pick one up from the church or if you need it to be sent to you, please call Kimberley in the church office. It is entitled, “The Sanctuary for Lent 2022,” by Danielle Buwon Kim. Enjoy it with a friend or as a family, with a pet or alone. We hope it is a blessing to you.

4^th Sunday Worship
I also want to celebrate our children and youth for their awesome participation during the month of February in worship; and announce that we are kicking off 4^th Sundays as our Children and Youth Sundays where they will help with leading us in worship. Thanks to Ms. Karen and Ms. Felicia for helping our youth to worship and lead. A big thank you to all of the parents too, because without your support they would not be able to enrich worship for all of us, and be enriched by participating; so thank you and we look forward to more awesome participation and leadership from our children and youth in worship.

Finally, I just want to say thank you again for all the love, support and welcome that I have received since coming to Cornerstone. I have particularly appreciated the visits I have had with some of you, conversations, text exchanges, emails and phone calls that have allowed me to get to you know and you to get to know me. I welcome more and more conversations so that I can get to know people better and continue to learn what is important to you. I want to honor those things that are meaningful to you and that help you to grow in Christ Jesus, and that help us all to grow as a congregation together. My “door” (email, phone, text) is open. Let’s keep talking and sharing and caring.

With Love and Care for you,
Pastor Comer

Greetings to you, and Blessings of Grace, Peace and Love to you from Jesus Christ! I bless you too, and pray for every good thing for you from God.

I am so excited to greet you this month. We have been singing, “There’s A Miracle” at church whose lyrics include “…there’s a miracle in the works, I can feel it. There’s revival in the Church, I believe it.” I want to encourage you to say this aloud. Declare it with conviction and allow your words to begin to help shape your experience and participation in God’s preferred future for you. I believe that God is just waiting for you and me to agree that He has miracles in the works for us, for our lives, for our families, for the church…. As we say it aloud, and choose to believe what we are hearing, and are open to receive it we will begin to feel hope rise in us and see God moving in wonderful ways in the near and or distant future. Plant good seeds of faith and let them grow.

Personally, I have begun to ask God for a miracle for my children, and a miracle for my husband, and a miracle for my parents, and for my siblings, myself, and a miracle for you. As I ask for these miracles, I start to feel hope rising within me. The bible says that we have not because we ask not. I think we need to start asking for the good things in our lives, leaving it open-ended—God bless me with a miracle that reveals your love for me. God bless the homeless with a miracle that reveals your love for them. God bless the abused children and women and men with a miracle that reveals your love for them. And as we ask and pray, I believe that those prayer requests touch God’s heart and activate the release of miracles. Asking for miracles is in line with what Jesus teaches and did; so let’s ask in Jesus’ name for His glory.

As we think about revival, I have heard some great things about our installation service Sunday, January 30^th. People really enjoyed being together! We had the most people in worship since Christmas Eve Service and I just want to echo how nice it was to see so many people in person. The chairs were all socially distanced, and there were still places for more people to come and sit with several chairs between households and be safe. I want to ask you to check in and let me know how it felt to you, if you came in person, or if that service felt special for you?

There have been some conversations about doing something special for Lent to help us to develop our togetherness and regain our strength as a congregation. We have been talking about and considering having ONE service at 10am for Lent and at 9am having our regular time for children’s Sunday school as usual with maybe a Sunday school option for adults in the main sanctuary or other rooms, or a time to enjoy Praise, Prayer and Devotions for 50 minutes before the Main Worship Service begins at 10am. This way we can all be together for worship (including our Sunday school teachers), the kids can maintain their Sunday school time as normal, and we have a time of refreshing with the Lord before worship to give us that extra umph that so many of us need.

No decisions have been made. WE are just praying about what God has in store for us for Lent and we want to hear from you. You can email the church office or email me directly at cornerstonepastor21@gmail.com; or call me at the church. I know that the Pandemic has brought on schedule changes and new life patterns and fatigue, new fears and frustrations. Having an additional time for us to pray together and enjoy music and be open to God’s leading could be just what we need. Let me know what you need and what you think so that it can all be taken into consideration as we make plans for Lent and the future. Would you attend one service at 10am? Would you show up for a Devotional Time or Sunday School time at 9am on Sunday Mornings during Lent? What are you willing to show up for whether online or in person so that you can be blessed?

God wants to connect with you, and with us. I want to be connected with you and so do others in whatever ways work best—be it in an Online-Cornerstone Community Gathering or a part of the In-Person-Cornerstone Community Gatherings.

You matter. You are Cornerstone with me and with us, and us with you. Let’s be a part of the revival that God is bringing to His Church.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Because of Christ,

Pastor Comer

Greetings in the Name of Jesus, our Savior!

It is my joy to greet you in this new year of 2022! What a wonderful blessing it is to be able to welcome another new year. It is my prayer that it will be filled with time with family, meaningful work that brings God’s glory.

I want to encourage us to make it a priority to start new faith-developing habits in our lives and with family and friends this year. Spiritual/faith developing relationships are not automatic. We must plant seeds and nurture them and they will grow.

If you are like me, since Covid-19, we have all had to become really intentional about doing things to keep our faith strong and keep up our participation in the body of Christ. It has taken intentionality to continue participating as a part of our faith community, being able to draw on available resources for support and to give support to others. I hope that you have found things that nourish you. If you have, are you continuing to avail yourself of those things that encouraged you in Christ and made your life better? If not, 2022 is a wonderful time to start it up again. If you haven’t yet found those life-giving practices alone and with others, this year we encourage you to set out in faith to start something new, join something new, do things as a part of your commitment to living a Christian life that allow you to draw on Christian fellowship and be a blessing to others who want to do the same.

We will be starting new small groups. We continue to have Bible Studies on site. We have ways for you to serve. We are open to hearing how you would like to serve or ways that you could use support.

In 2022, let’s look for ways that we can live our lives bigger, bolder, and better as Cornerstone Christians, by drawing closer to God personally, with family, and with friends we know and those we are yet to develop.

With love,

Pastor Comer