What I love about this testimony is that it reminds us of our purpose here at Cornerstone to help people journey from brokenness to wholeness through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I also like that it highlights various ministries here at Cornerstone. Phillip's first exposure to Cornerstone was through Milton's online sermons, and from there, Phillip contacted the church hoping to receive counseling. It did not take long before Philip was making the one hour drive from La Mirada, where he lives to the 6 a.m.
Tuesday morning man forum. And eventually Phillip and Carmen began coming together for council, and I remember encouraging them with the idea that they should be able to find a church that was closer to home. They spurned my council and decided to come and visit Cornerstone instead. First impressions are very important and as you can tell from the video, Carmen will never forget the warm greeting that she received from Mario Lemmon and Jonathan Jones and others who were happy to meet her and Philip on that day.
It did not take long for them to connect to a care group. Carmen refers to her care group as family. Phillip describes how the Aquino family embraced him and Carmen in their brokenness, and you saw how such an embrace has left its mark. As a care group leader, it is an absolute joy to observe God's work in and through people like Philip.
And Carmen. And since today represents the start of a new care group ministry year, it makes sense to preach a message focusing on Cornerstone's Care Group ministry. For those of you who are newer to Cornerstone, we started the Care Group ministry about 11 years ago as a way of maintaining a sense of fellowship and intimacy that is often lost as churches grow larger. The elders also saw the Care Group ministry as a necessary and more effective means of providing pastoral oversight for the members of Cornerstone....
