TMG
Hello, Crossroads Family!
First, some reminders about what’s coming up:
Immerse
Some of you will be heading to Immerse this evening. 7:00 start. Childcare available. There will be no Immerse next Wednesday, March 13. We’ll resume on March 20. Check the church website or the Sunday morning bulletin for the Immerse reading schedule.
This weekend
Don’t forget that our clocks spring forward one hour Saturday night! Worship this Sunday morning will be at 10:00 Central Daylight time.
Easter Breakfast
We’re planning an Easter breakfast prior to worship on Easter Sunday, March 31. Breakfast will start at 9:00; worship at 10:00. This is a great chance to invite someone you know! We always have a good time! (The church’s physical address is 621 E. Highland Avenue, if someone you know needs the address!)
Good Friday Service
The Nevada Ministerial Alliance is sponsoring a Good Friday service at 7 pm on March 29th at the United Methodist Church in Nevada. I’ll be playing the keyboard for the song portion of the service. The speaker will be Eric England, former Lamar football coach, and currently serving Fellowship of Christian Athletes in the Southwest Missouri area.
Ministry Teams Meeting
I thought we had a really good meeting last Sunday afternoon of representatives from the various ministry teams at Crossroads. Here are a few notes so you can know what was discussed.
Finance Team: Our Finance Team (made up of Stacey, Church Treasurer, and Donna who is assisting her) is looking for a file cabinet to keep at the church where records and checkbooks can be kept and locked up.
Children’s Church: The Children’s Church ministry, under leadership from Michaela, has a good rotation going and is ministering to children up to 7 years old on Sundays during the sermon time.
Older Children’s Sunday School Class: This class, led by Cris, Forrest, and Emily, is going to use one of the small rooms that are currently vacant as space for their class. They’re looking for some furniture and curriculum for their class.
Youth: Our Crossroads youth group has taken a brief hiatus since Christmas due to busy schedules. We’ve had some changes in the make-up of our group and have some new young people attending Crossroads. Discussion took place on how best to minister to these members of our church family.
Worship: The Worship Team met recently to discuss goals and expectations of those on the team. There are a couple of new people who will be filling in from time to time as substitutes when someone from the team is missing on a Sunday.
Missions : The Missions Team has adopted the following goals: to broaden Crossroads’ mission by (a) adding new members to the team ; (b) by exploring possibilities for short-term or other missions the church can engage in; and (c) by connecting more closely to mission efforts sponsored by the Evangelical Free Church, both the national office and the Central District. This led to some discussion of practical possibilities:
- KC Challenge, sponsored by the EFCA
- sending someone from Crossroads to the Global Boldness conference (EFCA Central District) at the end of April in West Des Moines
- sponsoring a cookout and/or serving as volunteers at Kamp Keirsey this summer in Amsterdam, Missouri
- seeking ways of investing locally as well as maintaining good contact with the three missionary units we already support.
This led to further discussion about the need for an Information Station/Table in the new building so people can regularly have access to things going on at Crossroads. Discussion of hanging a couple of bulletin boards also took place (for church, community, and missions information).
Tyrell and Rachel Shoemaker, whom we support through Legacy Disciple ministries, will be at Crossroads to speak on Sunday, April 21.
Immerse: Immerse is off to a good start. Relationships are developing through the reading of God’s Word and the discussion that happens each week. Immerse will not meet March 13 due to Spring Break. Tom is in need of a substitute for childcare on Wednesday, March 27.
Greeters: The Greeter Team has a new leader, Erin Reedy, and a good new rotation of people serving as greeters on Sunday mornings.
Facebook: Michaela has been updating the church and children’s church Facebook pages. She has been passing messages on to Tom so he can supply a response when needed.
Website: Heather Hall has been updating information on the church website (especially by adding information for Immerse). She would be interested in learning how to update pictures on the site which have been there for about eight years running! Heather will prepare a newspaper ad for the Nevada Daily Mail for our Easter breakfast and worship service.
Cleaning: Heather Vestal is coordinating the volunteers who clean the building each week.
Elders: The elders have several projects on their plate, some still related to needs at our new location:
- currently looking over quotes for a church sign
- exploring options for having the mail delivered to the building rather than to the P.O. box
- planning to clean more chairs before Easter
- recently purchased eight large round tables
- exploring the possibility of having glass put in the door to the Children’s Church room
- discussing whether to discontinue the church’s storage unit
- coordinating ideas for decor in the building
A decision was made by the elders to sponsor the Gospel Night at Bushwhacker Days as we’ve done in the past. Gospel Night is scheduled for Thursday, June 13, on the square.
The elders also have on their schedule a half-day of planning and prayer, Sunday afternoon, April 14.
Our Missions Connections
Although we’re not part of The A family’s financial support team, you probably remember when The A Family came to Crossroads last year to share about their upcoming ministry in Western Asia, with ReachGlobal. The A Family are now settled into their new home and serving God in Western Asia. We have video from Jesse and Erica McCallister we hope to show soon on a Sunday morning.
That’s a lot of information! But I hope it brings you up to speed on ideas and planning happening in the church. It’s good to frequently discuss the vision and mission of our church. We want to exist, not just to “do church,” but to bring people into an ever-deepening relationship with God and with each other.
Would you please pray for steady progress as we follow God together? Thanks to all of you for contributing and serving. Loving each other well is also one of the best ways to serve and to radiate Jesus to the world around us!
Personal
Some things that are going on in my life include the following:
- I went with seven of our Nevada High School vocal music students to District Contest in Stockton this Monday. Three of the seven soloists won gold medals and will sing at State Contest in Columbia in April!
- I had an opportunity to discuss church membership with two people yesterday evening, and afterwards I gave the opening prayer at the Nevada City Council meeting. How thankful we should be for the city allowing us use of the Community Center when we needed it!
- I’ll be taking time off next week for Spring Break, although I will preach both Sundays coming up. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday, and I appreciate your prayers for some rest and recuperation. I’ll be gone three days to see my new grandbaby in Iowa for the first time. Also looking forward to my own baby, Evan, being home for a couple of days while Esther travels on school-related trips to Kansas City and Chicago. If you have an emergency need next week, please reach out to Ryan.
I look forward to seeing you at worship this Sunday with our clocks turned forward one hour!
— Tom
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