What We believe

At Cornerstone Bible Church, we believe that God has spoken in His Word, and that the timeless truths it contains describe both how to be made right with Him and to live in a manner that pleases Him.


The Nature of God

We believe that God is one in essence, but that He subsists in three distinct and equal persons - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - and that these three have precisely the same nature, attributes, and perfections (Matt. 28:18-19; Mark 12:29; John 1:1, 14; Acts 5:3-4; 2 Cor. 3:18, 12:14; Heb. 1:1-3; Rev. 1:4-6).


The Scriptures

We believe in the Bible as God's unique authoritative revelation to mankind. We believe that the Scriptures are inspired and that both inspiration and inerrancy extend to every part of the writing as they came from God. We believe that the Bible is to be interpreted according to the normal laws of human language, and that the Scriptures are the sole necessary standard for faith and life (Mark 12:26, 36,13:11; Luke 24:27,44; John 5:39; Acts 1:16,17:2-3; 18:28, 26:22-23; Rom. 15:4; 1 Cor. 2:13, 10:11; 2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet 1:21, 3:16).


Creation

We believe in God as absolute and sole Creator of the universe and that creation was by divine fiat, not by evolutionary process (Gen 1:1-2:3; Psa. 104; Heb 11:1-3).


Man’s Dignity and Need

We believe that man was created by God in His image to enjoy His fellowship; that by man's own choice, he decided to rebel against his Creator; that every man since that time has been born with a propensity to sin; that man's personal sins cause him to have need of justification and redemption; and that sin is universal and without excuse (Gen. 1:26,2:17, 6:5; Psa. 14:13, 51:5; Jer. 17:9; John 3:6, 5:40 6:53; Rom. 1:18-23, 3:10-19; 8:6-7; Eph. 2:1-3; 1 Tim. 5:6; 1 John 3:8).


Salvation

We believe that God, by His sovereign choice and out of love for mankind, sent Christ into the world to save sinners. We believe that man is justified before God simply by placing his personal trust in Christ, and that he is eternally secure in grace from that moment on. However, sin may interrupt the joy of His fellowship with God and may bring the loving discipline of his heavenly Father. We believe that there is no way of salvation other than through Christ (Lev. 17:11; Isa. 64:6; Matt. 26:28; John 1:12, 3:17-18, 36, 5:24, 6:29; Acts 3:19, 13:39, 16:31; Rom. 1:16-17, 3:22, 26, 4:5, 5:6-9, 10:4; 2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:18, 22,6:15; Eph. 1:7, 2:8-9; Phil.3: 4-9; Tit. 3:5; Heb 12:2; Jas. 1:18; I Pet. 1:18-19, 23).


Jesus Christ

We believe that Jesus Christ is both God and man; that His death paid a sufficient price to redeem any man who would believe in Him as personal Savior; that He rose from the dead bodily; that He ascended to the right hand of God the Father; and that He will return to the earth bodily and visibly to set up His eternal kingdom (John 1:29, 20:28; Rom. 3:25-26; 2 Cor. 5:14; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 10:5-14; 1 Pet. 3:18). This kingdom will be inaugurated on the present earth for a thousand years and will continue eternally on a new earth after the judgment of the great white throne (Isa. 11:1-16; Matt. 19:28; Rev. 2:26-27; 5:10; 11:15; 20:1-21:3).


Rewards

We believe that Christians will be judged by Christ for the purpose of distributing rewards, which are gained or lost by the believer's conduct subsequent to his conversion. We believe that God supplies not only forgiveness of sins, but power to live the Christian life as well as by giving to us the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer (Rom. 6:11-13, 8:2, 4, 12-13, 12:6; 1 Cor. 3:9-15, 9:18-27, 2 Cor. 5:10; Gal. 5:16-23; Eph. 4:11, 22-24; Col. 2:1-10; 1 Pet. 1:14-16; 1 John 1:4-7, 3:5-9).


Marriage and the Family

Cornerstone Bible Church is committed to proclaiming and exhibiting the glory of God as it is set forth in the teaching of the Holy Scriptures regarding marriage and the family. The church will neither promote nor permit practices as part of its corporate life that violate biblical standards. When these standards are violated, penitent believers will find ready forgiveness with us, but we are committed to avoiding anything that can be regarded as a contradiction of biblical teaching. The Board of Elders bears responsibility for determining what constitutes such teaching. (Gen 1:26-27, 2:18, 2:24; Matt 19:4-6; Mark 10:1-12; Rom 1:24-27; 1 Cor 7:2-5; Eph 5:22-6:4; Col 3:18-21; Heb 13:4, 1 Pet. 3:1-7)

What Makes us different

I. ORGANIZATIONAL


A.  Non-denominational – CBC includes people from many Christian and non-Christian backgrounds. The church operates independently of any denominational affiliation, but is not anti-denominational and welcomes all followers of Christ into fellowship regardless of denominational background, race, or ethnic origin.


B.  Multiple elders – Several men serve as elders. Their roles include pastoring and equipping the congregation for service, and corporately deciding ministry and personnel policy issues. Paid staff who are qualified according to biblical precepts join lay leaders to form the board of elders in guiding and governing the church. Staff members do not vote when matters come before the board that touch on issues of salary or benefits.


II. LEADERSHIP


A.  Unanimity of elder decision-making – Elders work together to oversee the church. While each elder is involved personally in certain ministries, they are responsible as a group to guide the entire church. In this they work together in unanimity. The church does not move forward over the objection of one of our elders. Since the elders as a group lead the church, the church body is protected from the domination of any one person in leadership. 


B.  Lifetime service for elders and deacons – There are no terms of service for our elders or our deacons. Officers are appointed to serve for as long as they remain willing and qualified. We believe this promotes the stability of our church and its leadership. Experienced leaders, working as a team, bring much needed depth to a local church.


C. Deacons and their roles – Deacons serve the church under the direction of the elders. They each oversee at least one official ministry area of our church and are given a large degree of freedom to lead the ministry in the way they see best. Also, deacons serve in an advisory capacity to the elders. The elders seek the counsel and support of the deacons on many church issues.


III. FINANCIAL


A.  No offering taken – Since the beginnings of our church in 1971, we have chosen not to pass an offering plate. Boxes are attached to the walls in the rear of the auditorium and in the foyer to receive the gifts and offerings of our church family. This method has served well over the course of our history. Believers are encouraged to give generously, and to give as to the Lord, but we attempt to give church finances an emphasis that is proportionate to that received in the New Testament. 


B.  All ministries supported through our Operating Fund – The reason that all ministries are supported through our general fund is because we do not want our ministries or missionaries to compete against each other for funding. Also, the practice fosters unity within the church, since we do what we do together.


C.  Conservative budgetary practices – Our church budget is set according to the projected costs of ministry to which we have committed ourselves. Our budget is funded according to church income to the general fund over the previous four quarters. This protects us from spending more money than we are given and this also provides a spending plan for Operating Fund giving.


IV. MINISTRY


A.  Lay Ministry – Congregational members are delegated a variety of ministry leadership positions. Every believer is recognized as gifted to serve. 


B. Christian Education – The home is recognized as the center for child training. The church supplements this training with a variety of programs and electives. 


C.  Evangelism – The Christian’s lifestyle and the proclamation of hope in Christ from the pulpit are expected to draw people to Christ. Inquirers are always welcome; still, Sunday services are designed, as in the New Testament, primarily for building the Christian rather than focusing on the salvation of the lost. 


D.  Ordinances – The church practices believer's baptism by immersion, but recognizes as valid various modes of baptism if administered to believers. The Lord's Supper, as a symbol of Christ's death, is open to all believers and is celebrated once a month, usually on the second Sunday of the month. 


E.  Weddings – For couples to be married at CBC, at least one must be a member in good standing. A minimum of four months of premarital counseling is expected.


Our History

Cornerstone Bible Church was founded in the summer of 1971 when two graduates from Dallas Theological Seminary, Tim Crater and Doug McIntosh, came to Atlanta to begin a ministry together. Their efforts began by team-teaching a home Bible study in northwest Atlanta. Later that summer, they added another Bible study. Out of the two studies, CBC was born.  


The congregation originally planned to establish itself in the north central section of metro Atlanta. God had other ideas, however, as the congregation grew mostly out of the Tucker and Decatur areas. The basement of Mr. and Mrs. Joel Dorsey of Tucker served as the first regular meeting place. After these facilities were quickly outgrown, the church moved to Midvale Elementary School in Tucker, the location it was to occupy for five years.  During 1973, the first official board was formed and the church became incorporated. As the congregation grew, it attracted a sizeable group of people from the Dunwoody area, who eventually expressed a desire to have a church in their vicinity. Hence, our first daughter congregation began meeting together as Dunwoody Community Church on March 17, 1974, with Tim Crater as pastor. 


CBC has since had a hand in establishing five additional churches in the Southeast.  The church moved to Dekalb College in the fall of 1977, then in 1983 to Juliette Road in Stone Mountain, a location it was to occupy for almost 17 years (see picture). In the fall of 1999, the church sold its Juliette Road property and began holding services in temporary quarters at Parkview High School in Lilburn. On July 1, 2000, we changed our name from Stone Mountain Community Church to Cornerstone Bible Church. In November 2002, we moved into our current facility after purchasing and renovating the property. 


Peter O'Neill came on staff in March 2014 to start transitioning Peter into the position of Senior Pastor that Doug held for over 43 years. At the end of December, 2017, Pastor Doug McIntosh officially retired and passed" the baton" off to Pastor Peter. It was a successful transition and celebration on January 2018. Peter continues the passion of our church to teach the truth of God's Word and make mature Disciples of Jesus Christ. 


We hope that God can use you to be a part of our history here at Cornerstone Bible Church. We look forward to see what God does in the next chapter.

Celebrating 50 Years of History

Watch this video to get an idea of where we came from and what we are passionate about. From the beginning, our focus has been on making disciples of Jesus Christ both home and abroad

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