TMG
Hello, Crossroads Family!
A few weeks ago our church elders were working on a pastor search tool and needed to answer some questions regarding issues on which genuine Christians may hold differing points of view. One of those questions had to do with the use miraculous sign gifts (such as healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, and word of knowledge). Our discussion led to interest in a sermon on this subject which I’ve prepared for this Sunday’s worship service. “Should We Expect Miraculous Sign Gifts?” is the title, and I hope you’ll be there! My purpose is not for you to be able to say, “Now I know my pastor’s view on this subject” ; rather, I want to give you some inputs that will help you come to your own understanding of what God says concerning these gifts of the Holy Spirit. It will be a good time and, as always, we’ll be led in good singing by our worship team. We’ll conclude the service with Communion.
You can prep for this Sunday’s service by reading 1 Corinthians 12-14, as well as the three instances in the book of Acts of people speaking in tongues (Acts 2, 10, and 19). If you’re unable to be with us Sunday morning in person, watch for a recording of the sermon on the Crossroads Facebook page this weekend.
Here’s a look ahead at sermon topics for May:
May 1 – Should We Expect Miraculous Sign Gifts?
May 8 – God’s Special Love for Women (Mother’s Day)
May 15 – The Mystery of Contentment : Overcoming Our Tendency to be Discontent (reception for graduates following worship)
May 22 – The Mystery of Marriage (Graduation Sunday at NHS)
May 29 – Emphasis on Prayer
June 5 – A Biblical Look at Divorce and Remarriage (another one of the topics mentioned on the search tool!)
Happenings at Crossroads
Sermon Group, this Sunday evening, 7:00
We’ll meet up at my house this Sunday evening to share work we’ve been doing on crafting a sermon or other teaching from the Bible. Bring a text you’ve selected, questions you’ve formulated, an outline, key words, main idea, or as much as you have to share. We’ll help each other out! I’m looking forward to some mutual encouragement towards becoming better teachers and students of the Bible!
Garage Sale, May 6-7
Don’t forget to be in touch with Mark or Michelle if you have items to contribute. The proceeds from the sale can be yours, or Mark and Michelle will donate them to the Crossroads Building fund. May 6-7 are the dates of the city-wide garage sale, so there will be lots of shoppers out!
Reception for our Graduates, May 15
We’re proud of all those at Crossroads who are graduating this year! We’ll have a short reception and refreshments in their honor Sunday, May 15, immediately following the worship service at the Community Center.
Prayer
There are always many prayer needs at Crossroads, and I know so many of you are faithful to pray for each other! Thank you! Please remember Heather Vestal, Misha, and Misha’s family in Poland this week. Please pray for the family of Judy Moore who attended Crossroads Church some years back. You may know that Judy passed away unexpectedly last week. Others in the church family have health, job, and family needs. I will travel to Columbia today (4/28) and tomorrow (4/29), along with five vocal music students from Nevada High School, for State Music Contest.
Missions
In addition to the missions prayer requests from ReachGlobal that Heather Hall includes in our Sunday bulletins, I want to recommend this two-minute video on the 100th anniversary of the Evangelical Free Church’s ministry in Congo / Zaire. You can watch at
https://vimeo.com/688550808/1007baba73. Did you know it was to Zaire that Diana and I were headed when we first left for the mission field in 1988? We went first to France to study French, since the official language of Zaire was French, and, for various reasons we never made it to Africa but remained instead in Europe.
My friend Hank Griffith, who with his wife and family served many years in Congo, wrote the following in a recent email:
In light of the many changes in the world of missions over the years, perhaps the best thing we American Christians can do now, besides prayer, is to partner with national groups that are taking the gospel to their own people. In particular, we can help them train their leaders, men and women who know their own language, culture, and needs much better than we do.
We “do missions” because Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations (people groups), but there is an even deeper reason for missions: the glory of God! Reflect on the following quotes about missions by John Piper:
- Missions is a cross-cultural movement aimed at helping people stop making much of themselves and start making much of God.
- Missions is the overflow of our delight in God because missions is the overflow of God’s delight in being God.
- Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church; worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn’t.
We have a missions budget in our 2022 Crossroads church budget. We’ve not yet designated how to use those funds but would like to divide it between a local ministry and another ministry/missionary on more of a national or international scale, preferably with ReachGlobal, the EFCA’s missions arm. If you have specific thoughts on possible ministries/missionaries we could partner with, please speak to the elders. Thank you!
Personal
I turn 60 years old today which amazes me in many ways! As others of you can understand, you still feel like a kid, yet there are now so people and memories in your life you realize many, many years have passed. One of my sisters sent me a card this week that said, “Everyone gets to be young once. … Your turn is up!” My life has had many chapters, and the Nevada chapter has been a good one. I’m grateful for the care and love I’ve been shown by you at Crossroads Church. It’s a joy and a privilege to be your pastor. I’m thankful to be surrounded by so many young people at Nevada High School and at Cottey College. The Lord knows how much I enjoy music and especially the piano. I never grow tired of listening to the piano. I wonder if my piano teacher, Mrs. Henry, knew what she gave me during those lessons back in grade-school days. I’m proud to be the father of eight wonderful, talented children and four more who have married into the family. In addition to Gospel ministry, the raising of our family was the one big project God gave Diana and me. A Bible verse that has been a guiding one for me is Colossians 1:28-29 —
“We proclaim Him (Christ), admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose I labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”
See you this Sunday!
10:00 at the Community Center, 200 N. Ash St.
— Tom