TMG
Tom’s Midweek Greeting
Crossroads Community Church
Nevada MO
July 5, 2019
Crossroads Family,
I hope you’ve had a good week, and I look forward to seeing you this Sunday. I’ve enjoyed some good fellowship with many of you this week. Let’s continue to be blessed by the friendships we have through Christ in our gathering this coming Sunday morning.
Our sermon will be on the subject of God’s joy, and our main Bible text for the morning will be Psalm 87.
- Is God a God of joy? I think many people are convinced of God’s love, but is he a God of joy? Or does he seem to you like a grumbling, joyless God?
- If God is a God of joy, what’s his joy like?
- Where (how) do we find joy?
- What things steal our joy?
Someone has said that joy is the enjoyment of God. If that’s true, then God must be a God of joy. Let’s find out what that looks like. R.A. Torrey, who was an American pastor, author, and educator, once said, “There is more joy in Jesus in twenty-four hours than there is in the world in 365 days. I have tried them both.”
I think you’ll be encouraged to find what Psalm 87 says is at the heart of God’s joy!
Some Reminders
Children’s Church Teachers Meeting this Sunday immediately after worship.
Thank you to our Children’s Church teachers and helpers who are serving so faithfully. We will meet this Sunday to catch up on how everyone’s doing and to discuss ways we can help each other and improve our ministry.
Worship Team Meeting this coming Wednesday, July 10, 6:00 pm, at Tom’s house.
If you are currently involved in preparing and/or leading worship on Sundays, we’ll get together this coming Wednesday night for discussion, planning, and prayer. Should be a great time of strengthening our team!
Men’s Discipleship & Fellowship, July 15, 6:30-8:00, at Precision Coffee.
Guys, I hope you’ll join us for our monthly evening of encouragement and study! It’s always a good pick-me-up in the middle of the month!
Kansas City Baseball, August 14th, 7:15 pm.
We’re going to Kauffman Stadium to see the Royals play the Cardinals. Sign up for tickets on the back table at church. We need sign-ups and payment by July 28th.
Purpose
I’ve had the following in the bulletin the past two Sundays. I hope you’ll take time to read it. As we look forward to a new school year coming around, to new students at Cottey College, to our ministry teams functioning joyfully, these are worthy observations from Rick Warren’s Purpose-Driven Church to fuel our conversations and our prayers:
- Growing churches usually have long-term pastors.
2. Growing churches know what kind of church they want to be … but aren’t afraid of growing pains.
- All churches are “driven” by something.
- Churches driven by tradition are bound together by rules, regulations, and rituals. Stagnation is interpreted as “stability.”
- Churches driven by personality ask themselves, “What does the leader want?” and often come to a standstill when its driving personality leaves.
- In churches driven by finances, “How much does it cost?” is the question in the forefront of everyone’s mind.
- Churches driven by programs focus much energy on maintaining and sustaining programs, and filling positions.
- In churches driven by buildings, prayer and energy is focused on paying for and maintaining the building.
- In churches driven by events, the goal of the church is to keep people busy.
- Churches driven by seekers ask, “What do the unchurched want?”
- Growing churches do things “on purpose.”
- They program around their purposes.
- They educate people purposefully.
- They start small groups on purpose.
- They assimilate new members on purpose.
- They preach on purpose.
- They calendar on purpose.
- They evaluate on purpose.
What drives Crossroads Church? What do we do “on purpose,” or what should we do “on purpose”?
Thanks for praying for all aspects of the ministry of our church! God listens to our hearts and voices!
“When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy!” Matthew 2:10
See you Sunday!
—Tom
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