TMG
Hello, Crossroads Family!
What a powerful time of worship and celebration we experienced last Sunday ! It was exciting to have our room and parking lot filled ; to be able to welcome our landlord, Jane McKinney ; and to celebrate the three baptisms. For me personally, it was a thrill to have my daughter Esther there, as well as family members Tanner, Kacee, Ryan, Victoria, and Rider. It was the first time I had been able to meet Ryan’s wife Victoria and their little boy Rider. Thanks to the Vestals for welcoming all of us to their home for the baptisms.
Dinner at Kamp Keirsey last Sunday evening was a success, thanks to the hard work of many of you who both prepared food and showed up to serve campers ! It was great to see our Crossroads family serving together in this way ! Kamp Keirsey is finishing up right now as I’m drafting this email. I was able to speak at the camp chapel five times this week and enjoyed ministering to the students and staff.
Our ministry teams continue to gel and provide leadership for our church. Diane Knoche is taking over the management and updating of our church website. (Thanks to Heather Hall who has been attentive to this need over the past several years — pretty much as long as she has been at Crossroads !). We have a Decorating Team made up of Donna Rodriguez, Emily Lewis, Erin Reedy, and Jenny Rives who have a plan in place for making our worship area an attractive, welcoming space for everyone. Part of their plan fell into place last week with the arrival of a new buffet table for coffee needs on Sundays. Other pieces of their plan will be added little by little, including the hanging of a cross on the east wall. We are growing our Missions Team too — if you’re interested in world and local missions and would like to be on the team, let me know.
If you’re able to help with some yardwork at the church this Saturday morning (weed trimming and spraying), please let Donna Rodriguez know — or just show up at the church at 8:00. Donna will be there with instructions and equipment (or you can bring your own equipment if you’d like). A big thank you to our Yard Team which regularly includes Konner and Kris Sisseck, and Donna. Keeping the yard trimmed is part of the rent we pay for our space in the building. Thanks to everyone who cleans the inside of our worship area, too, and to Heather Vestal who keeps that chore organized for us !
Have you noticed that Crossroads has a new space on the Church Schedule page on Saturdays in the Nevada Daily mail ? Thanks to Heather V who has also helped us set that up !
Below are a few reminders of important dates and things going on at Crossroads :
Giving at Crossroads via new Venmo Account – Crossroads has a Venmo account which you can now use to provide gifts to the church. Thanks to Stacey Wilson who has done the hard work of getting this account set up for us. Contrary to what we previously thought, there is no charge to the church for transactions made through this account. Here’s the link to give through Venmo.
Yardwork Help Needed This Saturday – Come at 8:00 if you can help trim and/or spray weeds this Saturday. Contact Donna Rodriguez if you have any questions : 417-684-7327. Thank you !
Vacation For the Ol’ Pastor – I will be on vacation as of this coming Sunday afternoon. Our elders will be leading the service and preaching in my place on Sunday, August 4. Thanks for your prayers for me as I rest. (No TMG next week !)
Congregational Meeting & Workday, August 11 – We’ll meet following the worship service on Sunday, August 11. Everyone is welcome. On the agenda for the meeting are a financial report, plans for the fall semester, and prayer. After the meeting, there are a few work projects we want to attend to (hanging the nursery door, etc.) If there are some people who can stay a little longer to get this work done, that would be very much appreciated ! Please mark the date on your calendar !
Newcomers Meeting, August 18 – I’ll lead a make-up meeting on August 18, following the worship service, for anyone new to the church or interested in church membership.
Immerse begins August 28 – Sign-up information is coming soon ! We would love as many as possible to be a part of Immerse this fall on Wednesday evenings, 7:00 – 8:15. We’ll be reading and discussing the first five books of the Bible. Connect with God. Build community. Grow your faith
A Beautiful Opportunity – Jenny Rives will lead a discussion on “Cultivating Beauty : A Way of Life” at Precision Coffee next Tuesday, July 30, from 6:00 – 7:30 pm. The discussion will be based on the book This Beautiful Truth by Sarah Clarkson. Those attending will discover ways in which God reveals Himself through beauty and brokenness. Each person will go home with a bouquet of flowers that you will assemble yourself. Cost is $20 per person. Please register by July 27. More information on Jenny’s FB page.
Prayer Needs
There are many prayer needs at Crossroads at this time. Please keep in mind those shared at Sunday’s service. We can also give thanks that some in our church family who have been under the weather are feeling better now ! On the spiritual side, please pray for senior high students who were at Kamp Keirsey this week. Pray for the missionaries Crossroads supports regularly through prayer and financial giving.
Final Thoughts
I share these thoughts from a friend and long-time ReachGlobal missionary, now retired, who served for many years in the Democratic Republic of the Congo :
The gospel is “GOOD NEWS” because it contains the exceedingly wonderful message of God’s redemption of sinful humanity through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ, available through grace by faith. The gospel is the heart, the central core, of Christian teaching. The English word gospel comes from the Anglo-Saxon term godspell, meaning glad tidings. It is the English translation of the Greek evangelion, which means good message.
John Piper puts it well when he says that the greatest good of the gospel is not forgiveness, justification, or eternal life, as good as these are. The highest, fullest, deepest, sweetest good of the gospel is God himself, enjoyed by redeemed people. The gospel is the good news that God bought for us the everlasting enjoyment of God.
Reasons Christians should preach the gospel to themselves (according to Derek Thomas) :
- To heal a guilty conscience.
- To prevent the ever-present threat of legalism.
- To deflate the scourge of pride.
- To enable a joy-filled life.
I hope to see you Sunday morning at 10:00 for joy-filled worship !
— Tom
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