What does Cornerstone believe?

As a congregation of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC), Cornerstone has testified to the Gospel of Jesus Christ in Rochester since the founding of this biblical, evangelical, and Reformed denomination in 1936.

Our beliefs come from the Bible, the source of God's unfailing, inspired, and authoritative truth in matters of faith and life. The Bible's teaching is summarized in the historic Westminster Confession of Faith, our doctrinal standard. We use the Bible from beginning to end in our worship. We proclaim the Bible's timeless message through expository preaching and careful teaching. We seek the Bible’s guidance in every part of life.

In the Bible, God is revealed as everlasting, boundless, unchanging, powerful, righteous, wise, and good. Though one God, He exists eternally in three persons of the same substance, equal in power and glory: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. God created all things out of nothing by His word of power. Lastly, He made humanity in His likeness to worship and enjoy Him. However, mankind sinned, and that wonderful relationship was destroyed, leaving us all in a state of misery and well-deserved death.

The Good News is that God, out of His limitless goodness, has reached out to save and restore us to Himself. God accomplished His saving purposes through the life, death, and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ. Salvation is given to us as a free gift received by faith, not earned by good works.

The Holy Spirit enables a person to turn away from sin and to trust in Jesus alone for salvation. The Spirit also equips believers for service to God and to His people.

This service takes place in and through the church, God's family of faith. The local church is organized under the leadership of elders and deacons who oversee the life of the congregation. The church is not only for those who profess Christ, but also for the children of believers. As a church, we worship God with reverence and joy, build-up one another in faith, show mercy to the hurt and downcast, and reach out to share Christ with others by word and deed.