TMG
Hello, Crossroads Family!
I thought I’d jot down a few things this morning while they were on my mind and before the week gets too busy. I hope you have electricity this morning! Wow, is that ever something we take for granted! Take a minute this morning to thank God for the creature comforts we live with. How can we share some of what we have with those in need of help?
I’ll be out of town most of Thursday this week, and all day Friday. I’ll be making a short trip to Iowa to see Emma and Jason and the gang in their new home in Northwest Iowa. I look forward to seeing you at other times this week and next Sunday morning at 10:00 at the Community Center for worship!
Home Group Tonight
I hope you’ll consider joining several others for Bible study and fellowship tonight at Cris and Donna’s house, *contact us for location*. We’ll start with a salad dinner at 6:00, then move into the final study in the Psalms of Ascents. We’ll cover Psalm 130 on the subject of Hope, and Psalm 132 on the subject of Faith. We’ll have a good time and be encouraged! Everyone is invited!
Congregational Meeting
Remember to mark your calendar for the Congregational Meeting on Sunday, August 20, following the worship service. We’ll also have a taco bar lunch together following the meeting! We’re looking for people who could bring desserts and drinks for the meal. Let Jamie or Kris Sisseck know if you’re one of those people! Thank you!
At the August 20 meeting, we’ll have further discussion on the rental possibility on Highland Avenue (the old Nevada Job Center). The owner of the building is interested in us having that space and has proposed a few ways that we could be involved in the care of the property that could help lower our rent. Please pray for an upcoming conversation with her on August 8, then we’ll have more discussion as a family on August 20. Your prayers at this time are very important. Take time to think about all the things we might need or could ask for regarding this decision; then share those needs, thoughts, and requests with the Lord. It will make a difference! That’s a big part of our work at this point.
I appreciate the work and thought the Crossroads elders are putting into this decision. We had a good elders meeting yesterday, and we’ll share a short report from our meeting at the conclusion of worship this coming Sunday.
Yesterday
I enjoyed our worship service yesterday and taking an initial look at the life and ministry of Elisha. I hope you felt blessed to be there. We always have good fellowship, and I appreciate your desire to learn and follow the Lord.
Did you know that most of the miracles we read about in the Bible occurred in three relatively short spaces of time, each one probably less than 100 years long? Those three periods are the days of Moses and Joshua; the days of Elijah and Elisha; and the days of Jesus and the Apostles. That knowledge is helpful to me because sometimes we wonder why we don’t see those kinds of miracles (seas parting, etc) more regularly in our day. It seems that at the beginning of some new season in history (the issuing of the Law; the ministry of the prophets; and the beginning of the Church age), God marked it — drew attention to it — by these great miracles.
God does still do great works today, even things we would call miracles. All things are in His control and under His direction, including world and personal events that will unfold in our lives this coming week. Yet, in many respects, the Christian life is a steady, regular moving forward in faith and in the knowledge and love of the Lord. We’ll see that in Elisha’s story this coming Sunday from 2 Kings 2. Elisha was a man of many miracles, but his life also required a steady progress through times of challenge and some opposition. We can learn and be encouraged by his life!
A blessing of the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 13:14 may be a help to us: “Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” May this be our prayer this week, and may it be a reality in our lives!
— Tom
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