Tom’s Midweek Greeting – July 9, 2025

Hello, Crossroads Family!

I’m excited to continue our sermon series this Sunday on “Being People Who Make a Difference.”  I felt like we had a good time with that last Sunday and that the Lord spoke to us.  Would you please pray with me, however, that this would not just be a matter of tossing around “good ideas,” but that some or all of us would be moved by God to take practical steps toward building bridges to our community.  Here’s one possibility available this week:  Diane Ray is asking for help in the diner at the fairgrounds tomorrow (Thursday) from 9-11 am.  What an easy and fun way to serve our community and build a bridge of love to people there.

Here are other thoughts that bounce around in my mind:

• I continue to set water bottles out at the corner of my property!    One was taken yesterday.  What a joy to bless someone in this little way and to know that they experienced love.
• As I mentioned Sunday, I’m working with Barbara Long at Community Outreach in fielding emergency requests for help through the Vernon County Ministerial Alliance Emergency Fund.  I wonder how we could be more of a support Community Outreach — some of us or all of us?  Barb and her team really do a lot of the hard work that would normally come to the churches.
• I look forward to our Crossroads hot dog party!  Julie tells me this will probably happen in September.  Before then, however, we have a chance to bless and build bridges to high school students by serving them dinner at Kamp Keirsey on Sunday evening, July 20.  (More information below.)
• I’m curious as to how we could be good neighbors to “On My Own” and/or the Nathan Jones assisted living facility right across the street from where we meet for worship.
• I’ve often wondered if Crossroads would, or should, have a Vacation Bible School.  However, the idea of doing a one-time craft class for kids could be effective in terms of building bridges to people around us.  What would that look like, practically speaking?
• I’m thinking about our Advent and Christmas season — wondering who would like to help me envision some sort of outreach during that season beyond Christmas Eve.

Thanks for thinking and dreaming and praying!  Please pray for God to provide additional space for Crossroads!  This is a time of growth for us, both in spiritual depth and in numbers.  However, our physical location, as much as we like it, doesn’t allow for much more numerical growth.  What should be our next steps?  What is God leading us to do?

In addition to preaching on Sunday mornings about people in the book of Acts who made a difference (Stephen, Philip, Dorcas, and Ananias), a person in the Old Testament we can learn a lot from in this area is Nehemiah.  The book of Nehemiah is easy to read if you divide it into two parts:

• Chapters 1-7 :  The reconstruction of the walls (of Jerusalem).
• Chapters 8-13 :  The re-instruction of the people.

Some things we see Nehemiah doing that allowed him to be a person who made a difference are these:

1. Eleven times in this short book, Nehemiah is said to be engaged in prayer.
2. After he arrived in Jerusalem, he studied the situation.  In other words, he did his homework, keeping his vision and ideas to himself for awhile as he studied and developed a plan.
3. He combined prayer and action.  “We prayed and we set up a guard.” (Neh 4:9).
4. He personally made financial sacrifices to bless the rebuilding of Jerusalem.  (See 5:14-17).

In chapter 4 of Nehemiah, we read that God gave the people of Jerusalem “a mind to work” (4:6).  Let’s make that a prayer for ourselves.  We’re doing the heavy lifting of re-planting a church.  May God give us a mind to work!  Not easy, but we can do it!  

A church calendar is below.  

• Kourtnee Vestal will be home this weekend and will update us on her ministry with CentriKid this summer.  I’m looking forward to that!
• Jesse and Erica McCallister arrive back to the U.S. July 14.  Please keep them in your prayers.
• Colin Welch, our ReachGlobal missionary in Paris, has a recent newsletter out which we’ll post at the church.  He thanks God for new members that have been added to the Paris Team; for his recent engagement to Angie; for bridges being built with classmates in his French language class; and he asks prayer for his grandmother whose cancer has returned in an aggressive way.  This grandmother doesn’t give evidence of knowing Christ as her Savior.

Coming Up …

• This Sunday:  
• Worship at 10:00.  Children’s Church for ages 0-7 during the sermon.  
• Sign-ups will be available if you can help prepare food and/or serve dinner at Kamp Keirsey the following Sunday, July 20, at 6 pm.  Specifically, we need help in two areas:  (1) We need servers at the camp, and (2) we need a team to make Rice Krispie treats for about 75 high schoolers.  Sign up this Sunday, or let Julie Kemper know you’re interested in helping!  Thank you!
• Women’s Designs & Devotionals, 3 pm, at Jenny Rives’ home.

• Next week :
• Thursday, July 17:  Men’s Recharge at the church, 6:30-8:00 pm.  Come on out, men!  This is good fellowship and encouragement!
• Saturday, July 19:  Women’s breakfast & fellowship at 54 Cafe, 8 am, for all women interested.
• Sunday, July 20:
  • Worship at 10:00.  
  • 8-13 year-old Bible Class and Children’s Church during the sermon.
  • Elders meeting following worship.
  • Dinner at Kamp Keirsey, 6 pm, Amsterdam, MO.

• August:
• Sunday, August 10:  We’ve scheduled a meeting for Ministry Team Leaders for this Sunday, following the worship service, to discuss plans and expectations for the fall.  We would like anyone leading a team to plan to be at the meeting.  Bring some of your ministry team with you if you would like.  Thank you!
• Sunday, August 17:  I will lead a membership meeting on Sunday, August 17, following the worship service, for anyone interested in church membership.  Let me know if you’re interested in attending!
• Sunday, August 24:  We’ll have a carry-in dinner at the church following worship.  The McCallister family will be with us — a chance to get to know them and the bridges they’re building to people in Berlin.

I appreciate all of you !  The prayer vigil is over, but there’s no reason not to spend an hour in prayer this week or every week.  Many of the helps I gave two Sundays ago for spending an hour in prayer can be found here.  

Tom