The New Testament makes it clear that Christian ministry is to be "incarnational" and "redemptive" in nature. We are to "flesh-out" the gospel through both our individual and our corporate behaviors. When this is done our witness becomes far more credible and compelling. And the reality of redemption becomes far more attractive and profound. Once these essential distinctives are understood and embraced, we are to make sure that they are actively present in every specific expression of ministry we engage in.

There are seven defining categories of church life. We are striving to build the community life of Cornerstone around the following distinctives: worship, confession of faith, proclamation, edification, service, thought and prayer. Each of these uniquely contributes to the strength and spiritual health of the church. We are endeavoring to weave each of these into the fabric of Cornerstone’s ministry in the following ways:

Cornerstone as a worshiping community -- the church's public gatherings for worship should be considered important and unique opportunities for us to come into the presence of God and present ourselves to Him.  He invites us to gather together as His redeemed people, and He promises to be present to encourage, comfort and instruct us in His ways.  Corporate worship is a great privilege that should be approached with joy and expectation, and also with seriousness and care.

Cornerstone as a confessing community -- if the radical and compelling nature of the Christian gospel is going to be fully understood, we must become biblically and theologically informed.  We must understand 'the faith' as a body of truth passed-on through the church's life from one generation to another.  We are in fundamental agreement with the confessional standards embodied in the Reformation documents referred to as the 'Three Forms of Unity'- The Heidelberg Catechism , The Belgic Confession and The Canons of Dort .

Cornerstone as a proclaiming community -- the Christian "good news" is presented with careful attention given to the content of the gospel, confident that the Holy Spirit uses the Truths and understandings of scripture to redeem and bring believers to maturity.

Cornerstone as an edifying community -- we have been called to "make disciples" of all people by nurturing a church environment that is both encouraging and provocative. Our obligation is to build each other up in the faith and contribute to each other’s Christian development.

Cornerstone as a serving community -- by definition ministry means service, and we are all called to serve each other in ways that contribute positively to one an others lives. In order to bring our people into the fullness of Christian experience we provide them with as many opportunities to serve as possible.

Cornerstone as a thinking community -- understanding that Christian transformation is essentially a function of the believer’s mind being renewed, we challenge our people to think carefully and biblically. Attention is given to the life of the mind by way of biblical preaching, teaching and issue oriented lecture offerings.

Cornerstone as a praying community -- developing an awareness of God’s active presence in every aspect of our daily lives forms the foundation of the believer’s prayerfulness. And prayerfulness is a frame of mind that quite naturally gives place to spontaneous expressions of praise and prayer as well as expression through more structured prayer gatherings. We encourage our people to develop an attitude of prayerfulness and embrace the disciplines of prayer and intercession.

Encouraging the formation of these seven defining features of church life form the core objectives at Cornerstone.