TMG
Tom’s Midweek Greeting
Crossroads Community Church
Nevada MO
May 2, 2019
Hello Crossroads Family!
These have been good days of prayer and worship and fellowship at Crossroads. It’s great to see our family growing and to enjoy some spring worship together. I look forward this Sunday to our worship and to the final message in our series from
1 Corinthians 16. We’ll complete the snapshot of the church which we began last Sunday:
- The church is a place of special service.
- The church is a place of special people.
- The church is a place for learning to grow strong.
- The church is a place of special ??? . (Come complete the picture this Sunday morning!)
There will be Bible study for young people (High School & Middle School) this Sunday morning at 9:00. Worship at 10:00.
Walk the Walls this Sunday
We’re building the walls and hanging the gates of ministry at Crossroads, just like Nehemiah and the residents of Jerusalem did 2500 years ago. Please plan to come for the next step in building, this Sunday right after the worship service. Your participation is so important and helpful! Joe Chenoweth will be with us, leading us through the process of solidifying ministry teams and identifying areas of ministry.
I’ve been reading in the Old Testament book of Joshua this week, and I’ve come to the part of the story where the Israelites have conquered most of the land and are dividing it up among their twelve tribes. The story consists of several chapters in the middle of the book that contain lots of details about boundary lines and geographical markers! Slow reading! Maybe you’ve had trouble getting through it yourself!
There are, however, some similarities between the Joshua story of settling the land and the Nehemiah story of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Here are three lessons from those Joshua chapters (Joshua 11-17) which I felt like were good ones for us at Crossroads:
- The boundaries of the land were clearly defined.
God defined clearly for Joshua and the Israelites the boundary lines of the land and of the tribes within the land. Similarly, it’s important that we define ministry at Crossroads. We should not assume that we all understand the goal of being a church together ; rather, we should define (or, better, allow God to define) what our mission is and how we hope to fulfill that mission. As your remember from our studies in 1 Corinthians on Sunday mornings, God is a God of order: “Let all things be done properly and in an orderly manner” (1 Cor 14:40). Let’s continue to define ministry.
- Certain individuals rose up to lead / serve.
The Joshua passages seem quite dry. If you have a hard time with maps, it doesn’t seem like a very interesting several chapters. However, if you notice closely, from time to time certain individuals are named who step forward for a special work. That happens too in Nehemiah. And it’s what we hope to happen at Crossroads as we walk the walls. Thanks to all who are engaging; thanks to those who make themselves willing to lead. We need everyone who loves Crossroads to be a special “someone” who steps forward in some way. From last Sunday’s sermon: “What is the best way I can serve in my church right now?”
- Some of the work was left undone!
Throughout the Joshua passages, you’ll notice that parts of the land here and there were left unconquered and unsettled. This inability (failure) to complete the work would come back to haunt the Israelites. Let’s not leave work unfinished at Crossroads! We’re laying a foundation we hope will be for a church that will impact Nevada for many years to come, beyond our own involvement. That’s hard work! It will pay off, however, to be thorough. A friend of mine uses these three words to describe his walk with, and service to, the Lord: Committed. Yielded. Determined.
Please pray with me that this Sunday after our worship service God will find us committed, yielded, and determined!
Young Life
Please be committed to praying for the Young Life outreach event, this coming May 14th, at 6:03 pm, at Marmaduke Park. “Marmaduke Madness” is an initial outreach to high school students in Nevada. Please pray for Donna, Erlinda, Heather, Natalie, and others who are helping plan for this. I praise God that Crossroads has been able to play a small part in a new outreach to young people in Nevada!
Personal
I received good health news this week! My iron levels are in the normal range and holding steady. I won’t need another iron infusion for at least a while and, if all continues to go well, I won’t have to see the stomach doctor again until November. I’ll have blood checked again in a couple months, but for the time being no infusions or scopes. Just lots of spinach and other iron-rich foods! Thank you for your prayers for me! It has been two years since all of this started.
Thank you for the many kind words of appreciation and affection on my birthday last Sunday. We have a bunch of birthdays at Crossroads in May: Dave Reedy (today), Donna Rodriguez, Lindsey Reedy, Kyle Dahmer, Julie Kemper, and Judy Austin! Wow! Happy birthday to all of you!
It was great to have Pastor Jerry Carlin and Donna Carlin worshiping with us last Sunday. Jerry just recently retired from 25 years of serving as the lead pastor at The Springs, our sister E-Free Church in Springfield. He and Donna have been a tremendous support to Diana and my family over the years. They pray for God’s work at Crossroads and are willing to help us in any way we need.
The music students at Nevada High School have had a successful year. Of the five vocal soloists I accompanied at State Music Contest in Columbia last week, two received gold medals, and three received silver medals. The Show Choirs earned 50 trophies this year, a record number! Over the course of the past two years, the choirs have earned 99 trophies!
May will be a busy month for me, so I would be grateful for your prayers.
- Spring choir concert at the high school next week.
- I’m scheduled to deliver the Senior Sermon (and the choirs will sing) on May 12.
- Choirs sing again at graduationon May 19.
- I’ll accompany Joe Chenoweth to a meeting of St Louis area E-Free pastors May 16 where Joe will share his Walk the Walls materials. Looking forward to being with Joe and his pastor, Mark McCune, from Cornerstone E-Free in Harrisonville.
- On May 18, I’ll participate in the Celebration of Life service for Bob Scheibe in Marysville, Kansas.
- On May 22, the kids and I will leave for South Carolina and the wedding of my oldest son Andrew.
In my family:
- Andrew and Molly are planning their wedding and also a move from Columbia, South Carolina, to Portland, Oregon.
- Annie is teaching piano and also playing the organ at her church (the second of the kids to learn to play the organ). She and her husband Mark are raising a beautiful little girl, Fiona.
- Betsy is working hard at her job in South Carolina and helping preparations for Andrew’s wedding.
- Billy ran a marathon last weekend in Arkansas. He and his wife Hannah are waiting for the Lord’s leading concerning medical school and a move.
- Emma and Jason are expecting baby boy # 4 this summer to go along with Hudson, Elliot, and William.
- Samuel was part of a powerful and beautiful choir concert at College of the Ozarks last Sunday. He’ll be back home in Nevada for about six weeks at the start of this summer.
- Esther continues her hard work at school and at Woods Supermarket. She needed a warm blanket when she got home the other night after doing carry-out in the terrible storms we had!
- Evan was named to the First Team All-Conference tennis team yesterday, as he won first place in his division at the Conference Tournament in Springfield.
I’m grateful for God’s faithfulness in our lives. I’m certain he has been faithful in yours as well. Life is full of ups and downs, but we have a solid rock who helps us through!
Some Helps from God’s Word
Here are some random Scripture passages that have been helpful to me this week:
— The phrase “put on” is used in several places in the New Testament:
- Put on the new self. Eph 4:24
- Put on the full armor of God. Eph 6:11
- Put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Col 3:12
- Put on love. Col 3:14
— “Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it.” Col 4:17
— “Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad.” Psalm 105:3
— “Nevertheless, He looked upon their distress; … He made them objects of compassion.” Psalm 106:44,46
I look forward to being with you on Sunday!
— Tom
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