THE CROSSING BLOG
Worship Gathering, Nov. 9th
Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday Gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:
1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.
2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.
3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!
Worship through the Word: Acts 18:1-17
Worship through Singing: All Creatures of our God and King King Forevermore It is Finished Our Great God The Solid Rock
Last Weeks Sermon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gHMuMtu1cg&list=UUOcXw3M2AEot6bZFSsR0S9A
Acts 17:16-34, Sermon Recap
Acts 17:16-34“Get the Message Out”
Many of us went to the voting polls this past week to cast our votes for the politicians who’s message we resonated the most with. Over the course of the last couple of months they used every mode of communication they could to get their message out to the people. The Apostle Paul was not in a political race but had a message he needed to get out to the people in Athens, the Gospel.
In Acts 17:16-34, Paul shows us 4 steps to effectively get out the greatest message, the Gospel. These steps the Spirit used back then and still uses today to bring people into His Kingdom.
The 4 steps are:
1. Observing culture that leads to a provoked spirit
2. Engaging everyone/everywhere
3. Finding common ground when engaging people
4. Contextualizing the Gospel
Here are some questions to think through this week as you recap the sermon and engage with Acts 17:16-34.
—What are the idols in your city and in your heart? How is the Holy Spirit provoking you to respond to these idols?
—Who and where did Paul engage people with the Gospel? Who and where are those people and places in your life your called to engage?
—How did Paul find common ground with those he was engaging? Why is finding common ground so important when engaging people, especially in conversations about the Gospel.
—Why did Paul begin with God as Creator with the Greeks rather then starting with Abraham, Moses and David as was his custom with the Jews?
—Who do I need to share this message with this week?
—What specifically is the Lord calling me to obey from Acts 17:16-34?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gHMuMtu1cg&list=UUOcXw3M2AEot6bZFSsR0S9A
Worship Gathering, November 2nd
Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday gathering to engage and prepare our hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:
1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.
2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.
3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!
Worship through the Word: Acts 17:16-34
Worship through Singing: Grace Alone Holy, Holy, Holy (God With Us) I Will Glory In My Redeemer There Is A Fountain Grace Unmeasured
Last Weeks Sermon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAOFGziUGus&list=UUOcXw3M2AEot6bZFSsR0S9A
Sunday Gathering, October 26th
Here is our weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday gathering to engage and prepare out hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:
1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.
2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.
3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!
Worship through the Word: Acts 17:1-15
Worship through Singing: Lord I Need You (Matt Maher) All I Have is Christ Savior Like a Shepherd Lead Us (Blessed Jesus) Before the Throne of God – (Shane & Shane) Rejoice
Last Weeks Sermon:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLwwpeFZJHs&list=UUOcXw3M2AEot6bZFSsR0S9A
New Pastor @ The Crossing!
It is with great joy that on October 5th 2014, The Crossing Church added our 4th Pastor/Elder, Daniel Smith! Daniel has been with the Crossing since the beginning and has shown to be a man who loves Jesus and His Church.
Please pray for Daniel and His wife Michele as they start a new calling in life.
Here are a couple pictures from that Sunday.
View more pics: https://www.facebook.com/thecrossingfc
Sunday's Gathering, October 19th
We like to start a weekly blog that we post in hopes of helping those coming to The Crossing’s Sunday gathering to engage and prepare out hearts to worship King Jesus. We will highlight the Scripture that we will preach on as well as the songs we will be singing.
Here are a three simple ways to prepare your heart:
1) Read through and meditate on the text that will be preached that Sunday with your family or friends.
2) Sing, listen or read through some of the song lyrics that we will sing together and ask God to grow and strengthen our faith and understanding of Him through them.
3) Pray for God to reveal Himself to you and the The Crossing in powerful ways!
Worship through the Word: Acts 16:16-40 “The Christian Type Pt.2”
Worship through Singing: Come Thou Fount 10,000 Reasons Not What My Hands Have Done The First Place O God
Last Weeks Sermon: Acts 16:1-15 “The Christian Type Pt. 1” http://thecrossingfc.org/sermons/the-christian-type-part-1/
Testimonies of Grace
We recently celebrated Christ’s saving grace in the life of Andrew Willard. Praise God for what He is doing in Fort Collins, and celebrate with us this testimony of His love. Listen how the Lord got Andrews attention in South America and changed his life forever!
Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the Glory of God and the Joy of His people. We believe that baptism is to be observed by the church, and that water baptism is an outward expression and a celebration of a person’s new life in Christ.
http://youtu.be/Ud0qsOF7MYI?list=UUOcXw3M2AEot6bZFSsR0S9A
Testimonies of Grace
Our mission is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the Glory of God and the Joy of His people. We believe that baptism is to be observed by the church, and that water baptism is an outward expression and a celebration of a person’s new life in Christ.
We recently celebrated Christ’s saving grace in the life of four people. Praise God for what He is doing in Fort Collins, and celebrate with us these testimonies of His love.
Crossway Chapel Men's Retreat Videos
As many of you know, The Crossing is part of a larger network of churches known as the Crossway Chapel Network. This spring, the men of the network had the opportunity to spend a week in Estes Park to learn about what it means to be a Christian in today’s workplace. Our guest speaker, Jeremy Houlton, gave three sermons on this topic – “Working East of Eden”, “Scattered for Neighbor and Glory”, and “Discipleship in the Workplace”.
If you didn’t have the opportunity to attend, or if you would like to watch any of the session again, the videos are now live on The Crossing’s YouTube page.
The End of Endings
Last Sunday, Gary announced to the church body that he and his family will be moving to Denver to join with Park Church. Although their absence will be significantly felt, we want to rejoice in what God is doing with and through the McQuinns. For those who don’t know, the McQuinn family originally moved to Colorado with the heart to plant a church in the Denver area. As often happens, God’s plans were quite different from what Gary and Jamie imagined. Through their partnership with Aaron and Rita Santini, the McQuinns helped to plant The Crossing. The way in which this team of elders, now including Joey and Rich, has created a community which is centered on the gospel of Jesus Christ is nothing short of God’s divine providence in all our lives. Speaking for myself, I don’t believe that I would have the same level of understanding and love for the gospel if God had not put Gary into my life.
As the McQuinns prepare to make the transition to Denver, many of us are feeling a profound sense of loss. For what it’s worth, I am convinced that this transition is the will of God. The way in which He has orchestrated the McQuinns’ situation shows me His sovereignty in all things, and I desire that we as a church respond in faith to God, and with encouragement and excitement for the McQuinn family.
Additionally, I am convinced that God has many things to teach us through this transition. I would like to pose the question to you: Why is it, during times like these, that we experience sorrow and hurt? It’s been stated many times by the leadership that we believe this is the will of God, and that Gary leaving to partner with Park Church is a good thing. Why then do we have these mixed emotions – this bittersweetness? Why are we not happy that God is moving, and excited that He is using people whom we love to spread the gospel?
I propose to you that the reason behind, and the remedy for our pain is found in the story of the gospel. In the first chapters of Genesis we see that God created everything, and all that He created was good. In Adam and Eve’s original state they were with God in the garden, worshiping their Creator for His glory and their joy. In this state, mankind could have remained forever, in intimate relationship with our Creator God. Of course, we know the story all too well. Because of disbelief, sin entered the world, and man’s communion with God was severed. The perfect relationship of love and obedience with our Heavenly Father was broken. Additionally, not only was our relationship with God forever marred (until we see Him again), but the relationships we share with each other have also been irreparably damaged.
I want to submit to you the idea that the loss of intimate relationship, either with God or with fellow man, is something that we were not originally meant to experience. The reason that we experience pain and sorrow when something ends is because in God’s original good creation, we were not meant to experience endings.
As we continue to grow and mature as a church body, we will continue to experience the closing of more chapters. Life groups will change and multiply, friends will move away, and we will all eventually taste the pain of death within our own congregation. So, as these endings continue to torment us, will we shake our fists in anger and rebellion at God, or will we recognize that the reason we feel this ache in our hearts is because we were made for something more; something future; something permanent? Is this what is meant in Ecclesiastes 3:11, which says that God has “set eternity in [our] heart”?
How shall we respond? My prayer is that we respond with the gospel – the word of God which tells us that He is redeeming a people for Himself for all eternity. While we are yet on this Earth we will continue to feel the sharp sting of endings. But one day, Christ will return. The earth will be made new, and sin, death and pain will be no more. In that new creation, I believe we will cease to experience the grief of endings. Rather, we will experience perfect, unending communion with God and with man.
There is only one caveat to experiencing this unending joy. If you’d like to know what it is to live in eternal glory with God, you must receive Christ as your supreme treasure in life. If you will put your faith in Him who came and paid the penalty for your sin, you will be joined with Him for eternity in Heaven.
As the McQuinns’ chapter at The Crossing is coming to an end, we celebrate what God has done through them for His glory, and for our joy. Now we look forward to a time when we will know no more endings.
Influencers
We all look at ourselves, others, the world, God, Scripture, etc. from a perspective that has been shaped by various factors throughout our lives. The way we view everything is affected by this lens through which we’re always looking and from which we can never fully escape. Fortunately, that lens can and should be adjusted (and focused and corrected) as we renew our minds according to God’s Word. Often, even the way that we read the Bible and think about the Christian life needs to be challenged. In the course of my journey, God has used three men in particular to challenge my perspective and to strengthen my desire to be used by God in His mission for His glory:
John Piper – God used this man to give me a hunger for the supremacy of Christ and to teach me that a pursuit of God’s glory is simultaneously a pursuit of all satisfying joy! (Desiring God)
C.J. Mahaney – God drastically changed my life through C.J’s book, The Cross-Centered Life. Here I learned that the cross is not merely something to be believed on for salvation, but the cross stands at the center of my daily battle against sin and my fight for joy in God.
Greg Beale – God used Dr. Beale to help me learn how to read the whole Bible as a majestic, inspired story about the Sovereign God who is on a mission to redeem the world for His glory and the eternal joy of His people. (See The Temple and the Church’s Mission)
None of these men would want any attention drawn to themselves, but God has given each of them gifts that He has used to awaken my love for Christ and for His Glory, and for this, I am thankful.
soli Deo gloria!