Archive for January, 2010

On Monday January 25th, we are offering a CONNECT Class. We will be talking about who CrossPoint is, what we believe, and we will give you the opportunity to make this church your church through membership.

WHO SHOULD TAKE CONNECT CLASS?
The answer is everyone. It’s not for new members, new believers, or even the spiritually mature. CONNECT Class is designed for everyone no matter where you are on your spiritual journey!

Dinner will be provided by Hog Wild Pit Bar-b-q at 6:30pm, so bring your appetite!

There are 2 ways to sign-up for the CONNECT Class:

• comment on this blog post (please include name and number of people attending)
• there will be a sign-up sheet on Saturday nights

Oh yeah…one more thing…Andy Addis will be here to teach it.

Grow Group Question 1-9-10

Ice Breaker: Why do we make New Year’s Resolutions? What is yours?

Read 1 Corinthians 1:18 and as a group discuss your thoughts on this passage. Read the rest of chapter 1 for discussion. How might this relate to our new name? Or does it?

Sermon Questions

What major Cross Points have you had in your life that required you to take a leap of faith?

What actions did you decide to take? Any regrets?

Are there any Cross Points you see for 2010?

What goals do you have for your spiritual life in 2010?

Looking back did you reach (or have) goals in 2009?

What impact do you think Cross Point Salina can have in 2010? (In regards to the community) Brainstorm ideas.

Take Prayer Requests and Pray

If you are the average person your mind has already considered the answer to the above question. And if you were to share your answer with another adult it would not be exactly the same! Each of you could defend your thinking with great enthusiasm and probably both would have merit, but your efforts would not clearly answer the question!!

Unfortunately we have done a poor job at making the transition from childhood to adulthood clear in our culture. In some strange way we communicate that at 13 you are a teenager. You will now be confused, hormone driven and probably rebellious and irresponsible. You will also take on terrific pressures from others just like you to make some bad decisions. You may experience a need to figure out what you are going to do with the rest of your life, and at the same time you can’t decide what to wear tomorrow. At times you may feel like an adult but the symptoms may not last as long as you would desire. In most cases the confusion is expected to subside at age 18 but may continue into your 20s or for some poor souls possibly into your 30s. Call your counselor immediately if you are confused, frustrated or unsure. Sounds like the side effects from a TV commercial on the latest new medication!

Several years ago I was privileged to sit under the teaching of Chuck Stecker as we prepared for the Rites of Passage ceremony at Westbrook in Hutchinson .He addressed the question and why it is important to give our students a solid answer. Chuck presented the truth, the Bible backed it up and experience has confirmed it in my life.

Adolescence is a word only known to those of us in the United States. In short, it came from the Darwinism thinking in that we evolve from being a child to becoming an adult. It was introduced in the secular world in the 1950’s and managed to be adopted into the thinking of Christians. There really is no biblical backing for the idea.

Being an adult is something you are, not the results of something you do. At the age that a person can reproduce, around 13-14, they become an adult. Obviously each will be at different stages of learning as an adult, but they are adults. Paul talks in 1 Corinthians about putting away childish ways, in thoughts, thinking and actions. When his frantic parents found Jesus in the temple he would have been considered an adult or he would not have been allowed in the temple with the teachers. Children were not allowed in the temple. Teenage individuals are addressed as young men and young women in many references in scripture.

What does that mean for our students at CrossPoint? It gives us great responsibility to acknowledge them for who they are and support them in the training. We will actively train our students to know and discern right from wrong according to Gods standards. They will also be responsible for the consequences of their decisions whether positive or negative. At the passage into adulthood they will be challenged to make their faith, church, and pastor their own, no longer living through their parent’s faith. We will also support them in serving in the church and discovering their gifts and ministry where they live. We will be an intergenerational faith community, working and growing together in our relationship with Jesus and ministry.

In March we will be having a ceremony for our students called the Rites of Passage. There will be teaching for parents, the church and the students leading up to the services. In the service our students will get the chance for us to acknowledge them as adults and we will commit to training and supporting them. It is an exciting time of celebration!!

I am looking forward to the Rites of Passage. In my experience in working with students explaining to them they are adults opens up a whole new world in relating to them. They feel respected and gain a sense of direction. It makes a way for new opportunities for walking with them, encouraging and supporting in life and their walk with Jesus. It is amazing!

So when do you become an adult? Well, if you are over 13 welcome to adulthood! Now that is an easy answer that speaks clarity and truth! Keep watching for more information!

With the new year upon us, we often take time to look back. It’s always good to look at where you have been and what we have learned from it. The new year is also a time to look forward, a time to think about where you are going. To be honest, I have struggled with that this week.

I have struggled with balancing what I want and what I need. Should I dream big or be realistic?  Do I set goals?  Do I make resolutions?  Is any of this even necessary? All of these questions are good ones and all of them serve a purpose. Goals and resolutions can help you stay focused. Weighing wants and needs is always healthy and we should probably dream big AND realistically! These are all things that I should probably access all the time instead of every January.

God says there is a better way, a way that eliminates the worry and disappointment of failure. Here is what the Bible says about plans:

11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.13 You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:11

Trust me when I say God’s plans are far better than your own. His plans are pure of motive and when the guy who knows everything makes them I would bet that its gonna work out. God gives us a “future and a hope”, one we could not make up if we wanted to and the other, a purpose.

So if God has a plan for me, where is it? Is it downloadable? Is it hidden away in some secret archive or in some ancient manuscript that we haven’t discovered yet? Is it inside of me, waiting for some sort of self-discovery. The answer isn’t in any of these and can’t be found by you. In fact the plan for YOU has nothing to do with YOU!

4 “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.

John 15:4-5

To Abide means “to live within”. Far more than a relationship, Jesus desires for you to live within Him and for Him to live within you. If we do this, we will live out the plans that give us a “future and a hope” and we wont be limited by our own ideas. Jesus wants us to live for the moment within him, ready to do.

John 1 says that Jesus is the “Word” in skin. Therefore to abide in Jesus we have to read Him constantly. It’s more than a history book, more than a rule book, and more than church-going accessory. It is the story of Jesus from beginning to end. To know the Bible is to know Jesus.

I want you to read through the Bible with me. There are many ways to do it. There are methods and reading plans that can guide you through the Bible in many different ways.

God Bless you and Happy New Year

EF