Hello, Crossroads Family !
We have so much to be thankful for as a church. It’s been an exciting year at Crossroads. I love watching you interact during times of fellowship and service and worship and outreach. It’s wonderful to see the love God is building among us, especially considering we’re a congregation made up of people from many different places, backgrounds, and experiences in life. It has been fun to watch our new rented location on Highland Avenue become a “home” to us over the course of the past year. (Of course, we want to keep praying for, and preparing for, a more permanent home too !)
The Parking Lot Party last Sunday showed me the heart for outreach God has given us. Thanks to everyone who helped make that party an excellent event ! And even though none of our neighbors came, we had some important contact with them both before and after the party through invitations given prior to the party, and leftover food shared with them after the party. I thank God for that ! The fellowship we enjoyed among ourselves, the simplicity of the meal, the use of our cooker (which we bought a long time ago, kind of on a whim !), the laughter and games, and the brilliant, beautiful sunshine were all ways that God blessed us last Sunday.
Yesterday evening at Immerse we had a time of meaningful, encouraging discussion around a difficult part of the Bible (the second half of Leviticus). I left feeling like I knew the book better and feeling like I knew my church family better. We tapped into some important themes that come from a book full of do’s and don’ts (mostly don’ts, it seems !). God had a difficult work to do to make the Israelites into a nation that would be a light to the world. He didn’t choose them because of their goodness ; they, like us, were deeply fallen people. God was so patient in the Old Testament in laying out His vision for saving fallen people. Leviticus is an example of that ; He used vivid “picture language” (just like we might do with little children) to try to impress upon them the way to a relationship with Him.
The following passages from the New Testament are some that have helped me better understand the role of the Law, and also the blessing we have to live at a time when the Savior, the One to whom the Law was pointing, has already come :
“No one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow of what is to come ; but the substance belongs to Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17)
“For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near” (Hebrews 10:1).
“For you have not come to a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire (Mt Sinai), … but to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 12:18,24).
Jesus said, “You search the Scriptures (the Law !) because you think that in them you have eternal life ; it is these that testify about Me” (John 5:39).
I hope you’ll join us next week on Wednesday for Immerse when we start a new book, Numbers. There are remarkable stories in Numbers, and I’m sure we’ll have lively, meaningful discussions. The reading assignment is pp 201-225 in the Immerse Bible, or Numbers 1-11 in other Bibles. Everyone is welcome !
Happening at Crossroads …
Worship this Sunday morning at 10:00
The Lord’s Supper will be a part of our worship this Sunday. Following the worship service, there will be an opportunity for those interested to gather for a few minutes of prayer ahead of next week’s elections. We would also like to get the new Nominating Committee together for a few minutes after the service to help you begin your work. Thank you ! Don’t forget that our time changes Saturday night ; we’ll no longer be on Daylight Savings when Sunday morning arrives ! Fall back one hour !
Nominating Committee
The proposed Nominating Committee includes the following people : Emily Lewis, Catherine Moss, Tommie Ray, Dave Reedy, and Heather Vestal. Our church by-laws require that this team of people be approved by a majority vote of the church membership. If you are a voting member at Crossroads, we’ll have a yes/no ballot available this Sunday morning for you to mark and turn in to one of the elders so we can help the Nominating Committee get started on its work. Thank you !
Hymn Study Small Group, Sunday evening at 6:30
Everyone is invited ! Fellowship, encouragement, and growth through the study of two great hymns of faith. Meet at the home of Marvin and Diane Knoche, 1605 W. Maple Street. Always a good time !
Crossroads Women’s Fellowship, November 10
Come join a time of snacks and fellowship while painting a nativity ornament with Jeanette Hawkins from I Heart Art ! Cost is $20, and this Sunday (11/3) is the last opportunity to sign up. Contact Erin Townsend (417-684-7067 or ektownsend12@gmail.com) for more information.
Thanksgiving Fellowship Dinner, November 24
We’ll share a Thanksgiving dinner together following the worship service on Sunday, the 24th. Mark your calendar and invite a friend ! More information coming soon.
Congregational Meeting, December 15
Don’t forget about the congregational meeting on Sunday, December 15, following worship. It will be an important meeting at which we hope to approve a church budget for 2025 and elect a new elder to replace Dave Reedy who is finishing his term of service. Thank you for praying in advance for the meeting and for the work to be done prior to the meeting !
They wandered in the wilderness in a desert region ; they did not find a way to an inhabited city.
They were hungry and thirsty ; their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble ; He delivered them out of their distresses.
He led them by a straight way to go to an inhabited city.
Let them give thanks to the Lord for His lovingkindness.
— Psalm 108:4-8
See you this Sunday, Lord willing !
— Tom
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