Hello, Crossroads Family,
Yesterday afternoon I enjoyed working on the lesson I’ll be teaching at the first men’s Recharge meeting for the year. The lesson will be on spiritual gifts and, from a broader perspective, how spiritual gifts equip us for ministry. (Men, I hope you’ll join us — February 19, 6:30-8:00 pm, at the church). I’m re-working a lesson we did several years ago from Rick Warren’s Purpose-Driven Church. I like these ten statements which are good reminders for all of us (men and women) concerning ministry :
1. I’ve been created for ministry.
2. I’ve been saved for ministry.
3. I’ve been called to ministry. My primary identity : I am a minister / servant of Jesus Christ !
4. I’ve been gifted for ministry.
5. I’ve been authorized for ministry.
6. I’m commanded to minister.
7. I’m being equipped for ministry.
8. The Church needs my ministry.
9. I’m accountable for my ministry.
10. I will be rewarded for my ministry.
All those statements are supported by Scripture which we’ll look at more closely on the 19th.
“Ministry” is another way of saying “service.” To minister is to serve. God has equipped us to serve in different ways. He has also given each of us a unique personality that affects the type of service / ministry we enjoy doing and do well.
I think some of the best ministry in a church isn’t part of a church “program” but is organic service we initiate ourselves, either individually or with others. You don’t have to wait to be asked to serve ; God is already calling you and giving you ideas !
Recently, I was ministered to by someone shoveling the snow off my driveway (without my knowing it until it was done). Three people from the church brought dinner to my house last Sunday evening, and we enjoyed a special time of fellowship.
One of the New Testament spiritual gifts is the gift of “exhortation” — what we might call “encouragement.” It’s an important gift : we all need and enjoy encouragement ! Even if encouragement isn’t your gift, it’s easy to learn the habit of encouraging others. After all, spiritual gifts are special abilities God gives some people to do especially well what all followers of Jesus should be doing anyway. So even if encouragement isn’t your gift, it’s still something you can do as God prompts and helps you !
I hope our worship service this Sunday morning will be an encouragement to you ! Mark Tice will preach in my place, as I will be arriving home late Saturday night or early Sunday morning from a show choir trip to Troy, Missouri. Thanks for your prayers for Mark and for me.
Calendar(Don’t forget that you can access an up-to-date church calendar on the Crossroads website, http://www.nevadacrossroadschurch.org.)
Sunday, February 8
Worship at 10:00
Elders meeting following worship
Wednesday, February 11
Our first session of Immerse. Everyone is welcome ! 7:00-8:15 at the church. Books and a reading schedule will be available at the church this Sunday.
Saturday, February 14
Breakfast & a Bible Study for all women ! There is a sign-up sheet at the church, or you may contact Erin Townsend to let her know you’re coming. Saturday, the 14th, 8:00-9:15 am, at the church.
Sunday, February 15
Our first Easter cantata practice, 12:30-1:30 pm. Grab a bite to eat, then join us for the start to this fun preparation for Easter ! Everyone is welcome who loves the Lord and loves to sing ! Contact Jessica if you have questions. Practices will be 12:30-1:30 on Sunday afternoons through February and March.
Thursday, February 19
Men’s Recharge : 6:30-8:00 pm, at the church. Come on out, men ! Always good fellowship, food, and spiritual nourishment ! Contact Cris Rodriguez if you have questions. Thank you !
Sunday, February 22
Fellowship Meal following the worship service. There is a sign-up sheet at the church for food to bring. See Bryan Townsend for questions. Thank you !
Sunday, February 22
Baby bottles with support money for Nevada Birthright are due back to Kim Reedy on the 22nd. Thank you !
Don’t forget our Bible Quiz night on Saturday, March 28. If you would like to sign up to be part of a team, there is a sign-up sheet at the church. Or if you just want to know more, please contact Clayson !
Prayer & Praise
- Thank you for your prayers for Alex & Emily Lewis. Continue to pray for healing for Alex and for God’s provision for job needs for the Lewises. Thank you !
- Thank you for praying for Jaci Servos and Konner Sisseck as they prepare their wedding May 2.
- Please continue to pray for God’s healing and guidance for Austin Forkner, Julie’s son, who has recently been injured in motocross competitions.
- A friend of Diane Ray’s is asking us to pray for Jerry Janes and Jerry’s wife. Jerry is in the hospital with Covid, pneumonia, and heart issues. Though you may not know Jerry and his wife, thank you for praying !
- We give thanks to God for the news that Erica and Jesse McCallister are expecting a baby in May. Also, their daughter Aubrey recently followed the Lord in water baptism.
- Let’s be in prayer for those at Crossroads who are expecting babies : two due in May !
- Thank you for praying for the beginning of our Spring semester activities. May God cause them to bless and grow people in a deeper relationship with Him and with each other. Please continue to pray for a permanent home for our church. Thank you !
I like this prayer of the missionary Jim Elliot, written in his journal in the late 1940s : “God, I pray Thee, light these idle sicks of my life and may I burn up for Thee. Consume my life, my God, for it is Thine. I seek not a long life but a full one, like you, Lord Jesus.” May this be true of us at Crossroads Church !
Also this from Daniel Partner’s book All Things Are Possible : “The Christian faith is the faith of sinners, of those who have sinned and in whom sin still dwells. That is why Jesus said, ‘I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance’ (Luke 5:32). This is why the Christian life is a life of continued repentance of sin. Not only so, it is a life of continual faith in Christ, thankfulness for His redemptive death, love to God who sent Him, and joyful expectation of the glorious day of redemption, when believers will be fully acquitted and sin abolished forever.”
Have a great rest of the week, and I hope to see you this Sunday morning !
— Tom
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