TMG
Thoughts About This Sunday’s Sermon
I hope you’ll plan to join us for worship this Sunday, June 27. I believe the sermon will be an important one for all of us who call Crossroads Church “home.”
As we finish Genesis 11 and move to Genesis 12, we come to what some people have called the “Continental Divide” of the Old Testament. If all the genealogies at the beginning of Genesis are complete, the time covered from the Creation and the Fall through the division of people and languages after the Tower of Babel covers about 2000 years of history. As hard as it may seem to believe, the entire rest of the Old Testament covers only about 2000 years again. So, chronologically, Genesis 12 is a major divide in the Old Testament. In addition, it could be said that the rest of the entire Bible is the unfolding of the promises God makes to Abraham at the beginning of Genesis 12.
In Genesis 12, God says to Abraham, “Go to the land I will give you.” This Sunday we’re going to consider what it means (not just to Abraham, but to us) when God says, “Go!”
As I said, this will be an important message for us. I hope you’ll be in attendance and ready to receive God’s message. We’ll enjoy good fellowship as well, and good worship led by our Worship Team.
Dr. Terry Powell, in his blog “Penetrating the Darkness,” lists five ways to listen to a sermon. You can read the entire blog at 5 Ways to Listen to a Sermon , but I especially like his last two points:
— Ask yourself some application questions in regard to the sermon.
What am I hearing that challenges me? Why?
What am I hearing that encourages me? Why?
How should these truths affect my choices this week?
How would my schedule change if I applied this point?
What attitude or action logically springs from the truth of this text?
— Within twenty-four hours, tell someone else about something you gleaned from the sermon you heard.
Thank you for praying for me as I prepare this week! If God’s Spirit is at work in you (preparing you for worship and to receive the message), and at work in me (preparing me during the week, and helping me as I give the sermon on Sunday), it should really be God’s message we hear on Sunday morning, not Tom’s message.
Looking Ahead
Here’s my tentative preaching schedule for the second half of 2021. If you have a topic or a Scripture passage you would like to suggest for the “You asked for it!” series in October, let me know any time! I’d love to start putting together ideas for that series of sermons!
June 27 “When God Says ‘Go!'” (Genesis 12)
July 4 “Can you lose your salvation?”
July 11 Tom gone; Shane McCasslin preaching
July 18 “How to lead a small-group Bible Study”
July 25 – end Sept. “What do we believe?” — a series using the Statement of Faith of the Evangelical Free Church of America
Oct 3 Emphasis on Prayer — teaching on prayer, and time to pray together as a church
Oct 10-31 “You Asked For It” — topics or passages you’ve always wanted to hear preached
November “God So Loved the World” — a series on evangelism & world missions
December Advent
January 2022 Genesis 12, and onward through this great book of Beginnings!
What is Discipleship?
The Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful people who will be able to teach others also” (2 Timothy 2:2).
That’s a good summary of what discipleship is. A spiritual chain is being built. At least four links in the chain are seen in this verse:
Paul –> Timothy –> other faithful people –> others still.
Every person in a church should be involved, not just in friendships, but in discipleship — a regular, systematic spiritual growth plan with another person or small group of people. We build each other up spiritually through discipleship. The Lord Jesus called us to be disciples and to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20).
Don’t Forget!
Youth Group Pool Party next Wednesday, June 30
6:30 pm at the Vestals – *contact us for location*
Bring a friend!
Monday Night Bible Study this coming Monday, June 28, 7 pm
Our theme, under the heading of “Spiritual Urban Legends,” will be “God has a blueprint for my life.” Is that true? If it is true, what exactly does it mean? Join us live on Facebook Monday at 7 pm, … or gather with a few others at my house, 628 W. Arch St.
Time Running Out for Women of Joy Sign-Ups
If you think you’d like to go with a few others from Crossroads to the Women of Joy conference, July 7 is the deadline for discounted tickets. Please sign up Sunday, or let Heather Hall know you’d like to go! The conference is October 1-3 in Branson. Thank you!
I hope to see you this Sunday! 10:00 at the Y! Let’s celebrate our great God, and learn more about what it means when He says, “Go!”
Sunday’s sermon should be posted on the Crossroads Facebook page, and on my YouTube channel, some time by Saturday evening.
— Tom
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