TMG
Tom’s Midweek Greeting
Crossroads Community Church
Nevada MO
November 14, 2019
www.nevadacrossroadschurch.org
I hope you’ve had a great week so far! I’m looking forward to Sunday – a chance for us to worship and to catch up with each other at the end of a busy week and at the start of a new one! I hope you’ll join others at 10:00 at the Y this Sunday morning!
On Sunday we’ll finish our sermon series in the Book of Esther. Congratulations on making it through this fascinating Old Testament book that tells about God working “behind the scenes” in the lives of His people. Interestingly, the final portion of the book is not about Esther, but about her cousin/step-father Mordecai! Mordecai becomes a great figure in the court of King Xerxes of Persia. This theme of a person of God who grows in influence is one that we often overlook in the Bible. Joseph, Samuel, David, Esther, Ruth, Daniel, and, of course, Jesus, are all people we see who, in their particular context, gained favor and influence among their peers. What traits did they all have in common? How can you and I be a person of God who gains favor and influence
… in our community? … at our place of work ? … in our family ? Let’s find out this Sunday as we consider the end of the story of Esther.
Thanksgiving Dinner this Sunday
Our Thanksgiving dinner is this Sunday! 1:00 at the Enchanted Prairie Farm, 17557 Stockade Road, just south of Nevada. I hope you’ll join us for a great time of food, sharing, and relaxation in a beautiful setting. Bring a friend or a family member. Everyone is welcome! If you didn’t get a chance to sign up for food, please feel free to call or text Erin Reedy *please see the directory*.
No adult or youth classes this Sunday morning.
Crossroads Connection Time
On Sunday, December 1, we’ll enjoy a meal of soup and bread following the morning worship service at the Y. Our elders are trying to create more regular times for fellowship and for facilitating ministry at Crossroads. In addition to a great meal that day after the service, we plan to … (1) have some interaction with the elders after the meal, and … (2) allow time for ministry teams to meet. I hope you’ll plan to stay after the service and enjoy some important connecting time! Kim Reedy will be preparing soup for us! Thanks, Kim!
January Membership Class
On the first two Sundays in January, I’ll be devoting the sermon time to our “Crossroads 101” course. This will be a refresher for some, and for others it will be a first-time look at what the Bible says about the church and, specifically, what church life and ministry look like at Crossroads. Please plan on being with us on those two Sundays. I anticipate that the messages will be interactive; your input will be valuable!
What Should We Expect in a Church?
In the New Testament, we find churches that are vibrant and others that are not. The church at Jerusalem was made up of people who cared and shared – a strong community of believers. Acts 4 describes it as a church of great grace and power. Wouldn’t you have loved to have been part of it? The church at Thessalonica, in Greece, was known for its faith, for joy in the midst of suffering, and for the Gospel witness that was going out from it into other parts of Greece. (See 1 Thessalonians 1:6-10.) The church at Laodicea, however, in Asia Minor, is described in Revelation 3 as lukewarm. It was a church rich in material possessions but poor in spirit. It seems to be a church that was just going through the motions.
It’s a blessing to be part of a vibrant local church! It’s amazing to me the positive changes that have taken place at Crossroads over the past four years! I hope we will continue, in the coming years, to grow in grace and power and in God’s love! We’ve been blessed over the past year to have had…
- good times of fellowship
- home groups
- Sunday worship service
- baseball games and other activities
- involvement with students from Cottey College
- good times of building and equipping
- Walk the Walls
- youth studies, men’s studies, women’s retreats, personal discipleship
- great times of prayer
- efforts to reach out into the community
- playing a major role in the development of Nevada Young Life
- involvement in The Big Serve
- other Crossroads members ministering on an individual level.
So many people are serving in so many ways! Reaching out and influencing the world begins by being good servants to the church family we’re already a part of! Thank you for serving the Lord and people!
I was asking myself today, “What should a person expect out of the church they belong to?” Here are five answers I came up with:
- We should expect relationship-building. The early Christians were committed to each other! The local church truly is a family of people; and just as your physical family includes people with a variety of personalities, the same will be true of your spiritual family! Learning to love, accept, encourage, and sharpen each other is a major part of what should happen in a church.
- We should expect to be equipped. The church is not to be a place where some give and others receive only. Rather, we’re told that those who lead are to help equip others in the church family to become themselves effective ministers (Ephesians 4:11-13).
- We should expect to use our gifts. The church is like a body; every part of the body is important and must do its part for the whole body to be healthy. 1 Peter 4:10 says, “As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another ….” How has God gifted you personally? We should expect to use those gifts to bless the church family. We are needy people, aren’t we! … and we need the blessing others around us bring to our life.
- We should expect to be involved in some way in the process of making disciples. Jesus commissioned His original disciples to make more disciples in all nations. Since Jesus said He came to give His followers an abundant life, helping someone grow as a disciple is the greatest gift we could give them! In the church we should expect to be involved in that process. It begins by learning to be better disciples ourselves; that’s followed, then, by accepting God’s call to influence and encourage others to grow. Anyone can learn to do that! It involves building relationships and pouring into another person what the Lord has poured into you!
- We should expect to be on a mission. A “Mission Community” is the way our friend Joe Chenoweth has described it in his “Walk the Walls” material. Our mission will involve reaching out to a needy world in word and deed.
What would a town be like that didn’t have a vibrant church? We have a chance to be part of that unique and powerful work of God. Would you pray for Crossroads in the five areas I’ve mentioned above. May God increase our sense of expectation and our involvement in these five areas of the church!
Thank you, and see you Sunday!
— Tom
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