TMG

Hello, Crossroads Family!

“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am,” the Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Christians in Philippi (chapter 4, verse 11).  This coming Sunday we’ll consider this “mystery of contentment.”  It’s a concept that intrigues and excites me.  What a change in our lives, homes, and families if we, too, could learn this secret, this mystery.  I believe it’s entirely attainable through Christ, and we’ll talk Sunday about how that can happen.  10:00 at the Community Center.  I’ll have a recording of the sermon posted on the Crossroads Facebook page, and on my Facebook page, sometime this weekend if you’re not able to be with us in person.

More Crossroads News…

Reception for our 2022 Graduates following worship this Sunday.

Plan to stick around following worship this Sunday so we can honor and pray for those who are graduating this year.  We’ll share some refreshments, pictures, and love for these special young people:

• Sam Rea, College of the Ozarks
• Kyle Dahmer, Lamar High School
• Vicky Parker, Nevada High School
• Evan Rea, Nevada High School
• Chosen Reichard, Nevada High School
• Kylee Vestal, Nevada High School
• Asa Wilson, Nevada High School
• Cody Jenkins, Nevada High School

Prayers and Praise

We praise God for the arrival of a baby granddaughter to Cris and Donna.  Maria Ann Hinds was born to Emma and Garrett on May 3.  Congratulations!  At the same time, our hearts go out to Kim Reedy and the entire Reedy family at the passing of Kim’s dad, Bobby Murphy, this week.  Please be in prayer for the Reedys and for Kim’s mom, Linda.  A visitation will be held at Nelson Funeral Home in Berryville, Arkansas, this Friday, 5 – 7 pm.  A graveside service will be held Saturday morning at 10:00 at Gobbler Cemetery.

More…

• Crossroads is one of the sponsors of Gospel Night, Thursday, June 9, during Bushwhacker Days.  The scheduled singer this year is Jason Crabb who in the past has sung with Gaither Vocal Band and has a new song out on his own.  It will be a night of refreshing music and fellowship.  If you’d like to serve in the concession stand that evening which helps fund next year’s festival, please contact Julie Kemper.  Julie is looking for help from either 5:30-7:30, or 7:30-9:30.
• I’ll be preaching the Senior Sermon this Sunday evening, May 15, at Nevada High School at 6 pm.  I would appreciate your prayers for me and for that special evening.  Plan to come if you’d like, as a way of supporting our NHS graduates.  The high school choirs have also prepared an outstanding musical piece called “Rejoice and Sing Out His Praises.”  The entire service should last about 45 minutes.

I look forward to seeing you this Sunday morning at 10:00 !

— Tom

TMG

Hello, Crossroads Family!

Just a few notes as we head toward the weekend ….

Garage Sale

Don’t forget the garage sale at Mark and Michelle’s tomorrow and Saturday benefiting the Crossroads building fund.  *contact us for the location*  Thanks to Mark and Michelle, and to all who have contributed items!

Worship This Sunday

I hope to see you this Sunday for worship at 10:00 at the Community Center.  Our sermon will take a look at some Old Testament passages that speak to us of God’s special love for women.

Reception for our Grads

We’ll have a short reception following worship on Sunday, May 15, in order to honor, and pray for, graduates from Crossroads.  I hope you’ll join us then!

Congratulations

Congratulations to Donna and Cris who have been blessed this week with a new granddaughter, Maria Hinds.  We praise God for this new life and family member!

Missions

A reminder from last Sunday’s bulletin to pray for ReachGlobal.

Thank you for praying!  

Please pray for members of the Crossroads family as their faces or names come to your mind.  This time of year brings with it many transitions, and there are some definite needs in lives, along with the joys and cares that are part of all our lives.  Some small word of encouragement may do more for someone than you realize.  I love Psalm 78:65 which says, “Then the Lord awoke as if from sleep ….”  Although it’s in the context of God awaking in order to judge wrongdoers, it’s a reminder to me that many times in life we are waiting on God, almost as if He’s sleeping.  He will awaken and, I believe, will surprise us with what He will do … just as He has done so often in the past!

I look forward to seeing you, Lord willing, this Sunday morning!

— Tom

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

TMG

Hello, Crossroads Family!

I hope you’ve had a good week and have experienced the Lord’s care and strength in your life.  I hope, too, that you’ve been attentive to his call to repentance from sin and to new areas of spiritual growth.  At Crossroads, we desire to be brought into an ever-deepening relationship with God and with each other.

I’ve been reminded this week that Jesus said, “Without me, you can do nothing” (John 15:5).  That’s a humbling thought, isn’t it?  But also a liberating one that drives us back to him!

Here are some reminders about what’s coming up at Crossroads:

Worship Sunday morning at 10:00.

I look forward to being back together at the Community Center this Sunday!  What a good Easter Sunday we had last week!  Thanks to everyone who prayed, invited, cooked, prepared, set up, and led worship!  This Sunday will be more “ordinary,” but I expect God to show up and minister to us in fresh ways!  Would you pray in advance of Sunday, and let’s continue to keep our eyes and hearts open to those who could benefit by being with us!  Thanks for reaching out so well to newcomers last Sunday!

Fellowship evening Sunday night, 5 pm.

The purpose of our fellowship evening this Sunday at Nevada Assembly of God is to get to know some other brothers and sisters in Christ in a relaxed, fun atmosphere.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know Pastors Mickey and Robin this school year and consider them to be friends of mine.  They pray for us, and their desire is to build relationships in the community.  The plan for Sunday evening looks like this:  Some from our Crossroads worship team will start the evening off by leading some music ; then there will be a time of table games and getting to know each other.  Bring a snack to share if you can.  5:00 at 2247 N. Osage Blvd.

Garage Sale, May 6-7

Mark and Michelle are having a church garage sale May 6-7 at their home.  Items can either be donated to support Crossroad’s building fund, or you can let Michelle know and she will track your items so you can make some extra money.  Please price items you’re bringing to the sale.  Items can be brought to their home or put in the back of their truck on Sundays.  Anything leftover will be donated to the Moss House.  *Contact us for their information*  Thank you!

Sermon-Crafting Group

We’ll meet Sunday, May 1, at 7 pm, at my house, 628 W. Arch Street, to share some of the work we’ve been doing — text selection; main idea; Fallen Condition Focus; bombarding the text with questions; key words.  Anyone is welcome to join us, even if you missed the first session.

Notes From My Pastors Retreat This Week

I enjoyed spending Tuesday this week with Evangelical Free Church pastors from southwest Missouri and northern Arkansas at our annual spring retreat in Springfield.  I’ve known some of these pastors for many years, so it’s always good to reconnect.  I was grateful for breakfast Tuesday morning with Diana’s hospice chaplain who now lives in Springfield and who continues to care for me and our family all these years later.

The theme of the retreat was “Living Well: Growing in the Practice of Self-Leadership.”  A part of the shepherding that a pastor or other spiritual leader must do is the shepherding of self.  We can’t develop in others what we don’t possess ourselves.

I’ve jotted down some of my notes below.  They may are somewhat random and out of context, but I hope there will be something for you, too, that causes you to think about how we shepherd ourselves and each other at Crossroads Church.

• A proverb:  “If you want to run fast, run alone.  If you want to run far, run together.”  Makes me wonder, are we interested in running fast or far?
• “If a pastor falls (due to discouragement, fatigue, moral failure, etc), many people — even generations of people — will go down with him.”  Are we caring for pastors?
• Questions about elders and other leaders in the church:
  • The congregation needs elders who care more about unity than about their own vote on any particular decision.
  • Is the leadership of the church about control or about empowerment (i.e., empowering the members of the church to do ministry)?
  • At any meeting, 10% of what’s on people’s minds is left unsaid.  Get into the habit of asking:  “What’s the 10% you left unsaid?”
  • The work of leaders is (1) vision; (2) alignment (aligning people and roles; teamwork); (3) execution of the vision or plan.  Most church leadership fails at point # 3.
• A lot of progress is made in a church at great personal cost.  If we’re going to make it in ministry, we have to learn to live better (i.e., shepherd ourselves better; practice Sabbath; care for our families; etc.).
• There is a difference between “productivity” and “fruitfulness.”  What a shame to look back and say, “I got a lot done, but I’m not sure how much spiritual fruit there was in the midst of it.”  Fruitfulness comes onlythrough abiding in Christ:  “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,” said Jesus (John 15:5).

Personal

There are some opportunities to hear good music at Cottey College this weekend and next week.  The Chamber Singers will give their spring concert this Friday evening at 7:30 pm.  The theme is “Indigenous Peoples,” and the concert will include unique music ranging from the Brazilian rain forest to the Sioux and Huron tribes of North America.  In the Missouri Recital Hall at the Center for the Performing Arts on the Cottey campus.  Masks are now optional on campus.

This Sunday at 3 pm, and next Monday at 7 pm, the vocal and instrumental music students will give their spring recitals, a different group of students each day.  The vocal selections will include jazz, pop, and classical.  You’ll enjoy the evening (each recital should last about an hour), and I’d love for you to meet some of the students I’ve been working with this spring at Cottey College.

I look forward to seeing you this weekend, especially Sunday!  Let’s come praying and prepared!  Powerful preaching presupposes prepared people!  See you then!

– Tom

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:29-32).

 

TMG

Hello, Crossroads Family!

A reminder concerning this Sunday, April 17, at the Community Center:

Easter Breakfast starting at 9:00.  Contact Michaela if you have any last-minute questions.

Worship starting at 10:00.

We’re looking forward to being together, and with others, to celebrate the Lord’s resurrection and life among us!  Come early and enjoy the fellowship.  We’ll start worship promptly at 10:00.

“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures …” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).

Other Announcements

Fellowship Night, April 24

Mark your calendar for an evening of fellowship, music, and games at Nevada Assembly of God on Sunday, April 24, starting at 5 pm.  The church address is 2247 N. Osage.  Please plan to bring a snack to share.  Water will be provided.

Garage Sale May 6^th and 7^th

Mark and Michelle are having a church garage sale May 6th and 7th at their home. Items brought can either be donated to support the church’s building fund, or you can let Michelle know and she will track your items so you can make some extra money. Please price any items you are bringing to the sale. Items can either be brought to their home or put in the back of their truck on Sundays. Items leftover will be donated to the Moss House. Contact us for their information. Thank you!

The Difficult Job of Making Decisions

We often find ourselves in a position of having to make an important decision, either individually, as a family, or as a church.  As Christians, we sometimes put added pressure on ourselves by thinking we need to “get it right,” i.e. hit the bull’s eye of God’s will.

Since most of us don’t like making decisions (we would rather remain passive and let others decide), and since we also feel as Christians that there’s this added element of making the choice that’s God’s will, we tend to look for “signs,” or we hope to hear a voice, or we seek some special feeling or unusual guidance, somewhat like Gideon who laid out a fleece twice and sought special signs from God.

While God certainly can direct you, in special or miraculous ways, to reach a decision about something, I believe He also wants to train us to become good decision-makers ourselves.

Take a look at Acts 15-16 where the new Christians in and around Jerusalem are having to make very important decisions concerning their churches.  There’s the question of what to do with Gentiles who are coming in larger and larger numbers into this Jewish Church … and there’s also the question of what to do with some new leaders in the Church, specifically Paul who seems to have a special ministry of reaching out to Gentiles.

As these Christians sought to make wise and right decisions, I’ve noticed three things:

1. Four times in the story, those involved in decision-making said, “It seemed good to us …” (Acts 15:22,25,28,34).  After much discussion and debate involving many people, the Church leaders had to simply do what seemed right (good) to them.  Nothing wrong with that, if that’s where you’re at in a decision-making process.

2. Three times in the story, it’s written that the Holy Spirit of God directed:

• in 15:28, where the church leadership writes, “It seemed good to us and to the Holy Spirit …”
• in 16:7, where it says that Paul was seeking to travel into a certain part of Asia Minor, but “the Spirit of Jesus did not permit him.”
• in 16:14, where Paul and his team were trying to reach people, and the Lord (Holy Spirit) “opened the heart” of a woman named Lydia.

It’s amazing that, with respect to decisions we have to make, God is working in mysterious ways behind the scenes.  He is involved in leading us.  We don’t know exactly how the Holy Spirit prevented Paul from traveling where he wanted to go, or just how the Holy Spirit opened Lydia’s heart; we’re simply told that He did.

3. Three times in the story, we read “Paul chose.”

• Paul chose not to take Mark on the journey he was about to set out on (15:38).  In fact, he insisted Mark not go.
• Paul chose to take Silas with him instead.  Paul chose Silas and left, with the approval of the church members, according to 15:40.
• Paul chose to take on a new team member, Timothy, when he got to Lystra (16:3), a town where Paul had previously been attacked.

Isn’t decision-making interesting?  We should not lose heart or grow weary through the process.  In my own experience, I’ve found several things to be important:

• Prayer, including prayers of confession in order to keep my heart and motives pure.  I’ve found that God does, indeed, end up giving us, in some fashion, the things our hearts desire or have been wired for.  (Psalm 37 is a key psalm, as is Psalm 20, I’ve found.)
• Getting input from mature men and womenwho demonstrate a close walk with the Lord.  Listen to them!  Don’t cast off their advice just because it seems contrary to your own thoughts.    
• Patience.  As we pray, as we contemplate, God is at work.  Most of the time in my life, by the time I’ve reached a point of decision, I find God has gone ahead of me.  Patience is key, and sometimes much We’re in such a hurry!
• Don’t discount feelings. Some of us Christians think our feelings are always untrustworthy.  We shouldn’t be afraid to take the temperature of our feelings as a part of decision-making.  If we’re keeping a clean heart with God, our feelings can be helpful too.
• Make a decision. Passivity doesn’t seem to be an outstanding quality of the people God has used in history.  As a friend of mine said to me recently, when you’re at a point of decision where it seems either direction could be the right thing to do, go ahead and decide with faith.  God has many ways of re-routing you back to the right course if you miscalculate.

How Not to Lose Heart

Dr. Terry Powell, of Columbia International University, recently shared these Bible verses in his blog, penetratingthedarkness.com, for help in times where you feel like you might lose heart.  I hope you’ll read some of these passages if any of these particular situations pertain to you.

I look forward to being with you this Sunday!  Please be praying in advance for our special morning this Sunday, that lives (including yours and mine) would be impacted!

— Tom

• when you don’t feel God’s presence  —  Isaiah 41:10 ; Matthew 28:20 ; John 14:16 ; Hebrews 13:5
• when you don’t believe you can keep overcoming a particular temptation — 1 John 4:4 ; 1 Corinthians 10:13 ; 2 Thessalonians 3:3
• when you’re experiencing uncertainty or delay — Psalm 27:13-14 ; Psalm 62:5-8
• when you’re in a dark, depressive episode — Micah 7:8 ; Psalm 54:4
• when you tell yourself things are hopeless —  Lamentations 3:22-25 ; Romans 15:13
• when you’re fearful or threatened by things like terrorism or pandemics — Psalm 46:1-2,10 ; Psalm 56:3-4
• when Satan whispers that God is angry at you over past sins — Romans 5:1-2 ; Romans 8:1 ; 1 John 2:1-2
• when the burden you’re bearing is about to break you — Psalm 55:22 ; Psalm 68:19 ; Matthew 11:28-30
• when you’re browbeating yourself over weakness or mistakes — Psalm 73:25-26 ; 1 Corinthians 1:26-29 ; 2 Corinthians 4:7
• when you’re heart is broken and you’re not sure God cares — Psalm 30:5 ; Psalm 34:18-19 ; Psalm 147:3 ; Zephaniah 3:17
• when you tell yourself you can’t succeed in a task or ministry to which God has called you — 1 Corinthians 15:58 ; 2 Corinthians 3:5-6
• when you look at the frightening world situation and start to doubt God is actually in control — Ephesians 1:11 ; Psalm 103:19
• when you’re tired, unsettled, or even scared of what the future may hold — Psalm 71:9,17-21