Blessings to Consider

Good morning all!  Merry Christmas!

We were blessed here (at Crossroads) on Christmas Eve.  Thank you to everyone who helped make our time of worship into a fitting celebration for the Lord.  We have no photos but we do have a recording that you can access at sermon.net/crossroadsdc/sermonid/1200158098.  Thank you to our A/V crew for uploading this and other recordings.

Since then I've been blessed with family time.  Toni hosted 14 people for Christmas Eve at our home, then we went to my brother's home and to Toni's parents'.  We returned home last night.

Now I'm looking forward to what's coming up.  On Sunday morning we'll come together for Bible study at 9 (no children's Sunday school this week) and worship at 10:15.  And, for those who desire, we'll meet on Saturday, 7:30-9:00 AM for our church study group.

I'm going to use the rest of this blog post to share two emails (below) that have been sent out yesterday and today.

• The first was sent to all who are on the current Crossroads email list.  If you want to have your name added, please let me know.  
• The second was sent out to a couple people who were at our first "Church Study Group" meeting but who missed the second.

The invitations given below are extended to all who read this blog.  Consider these blessings.  Praise God and pray with us at Crossroads Community Church, that God's Will is Done on Earth as in heaven.

Sincerely, Pastor Steve

--- EMAIL SENT YESTERDAY AFTERNOON ---

Crossroads Friends -

Good afternoon all!

Thank you to all of you who were able to be with us at Crossroads for Christmas Eve.  Let's continue to pray and act for the good of all who need evidence of heaven on earth.

Two "in house" matters to be praying about:

• Crossroads Spiritual Direction: God is blessing us with a "church study group" focusing on Crossroads' spiritual life.  If you are committed to this church and are a man or woman of prayer and Bible study, we invite you to participate with us on Saturday morning, Dec. 28, 7:30-9:00 a.m.  We're looking at patterns and examples of church life that we find in scripture.  Some materials we're looking at are near the church's front entrance, or let Pastor Steve know and he'll make them available by email or will bring them to you personally.
   
• Crossroads Partnership for 2014 - If you trust Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, accept the Bible as your authority for faith and life, and believe God is calling you to join with Crossroads Community Church for the coming year, we invite you to read and sign the 2014 partnership agreement.  You'll find it on the bookshelf outside the worship area at church.  More information is at http://bit.ly/CrossroadsPartner.

Check http://bit.ly/CrossrAnnounce for other announcements and opportunities.  We'll be doing more updating tomorrow when the office is open (9-11 AM).

Call or text or email Pastor Steve Thorson any time.

--- EMAIL SENT TODAY ---

Hi _______!  Hi ______! - I hope you had a great Christmas!

Looking forward to seeing you and the others Saturday morning at 7:30!  We missed the two of you last time and would truly benefit from your presence this week.  We're keeping the group open to others too but I value both of your contributions very much.  No one person can substitute for another (the hand can't say to the foot, we have no need of you) so we are much stronger when we're together.

As we gather God will lead us into a clearer discernment and vision of what He is calling Crossroads to be and to do in this season.

This week, to open up our conversation, we'll spend a few moments sharing scripture and prayer (and even perhaps a song!) and we'll ask the Holy Spirit to lead us.  Unless the Lord leads us to something different, we'll look at some of the questions at the end of chapter 2 this week.

Why are we looking at the Reimagining Church book?

• It serves as a sort of backboard (as in basketball) against which we can bounce the patterns of our church life (past and present) in pursuit of God's will (the goal).
• It is helpful in that process because it's one attempt to bring the life of the early church into a 21st century reality.
• It will not be a blueprint for us but it will help us to compare our church's life to that which the Holy Spirit brought into existence "at the beginning."
• In that comparison we (together) will prayerfully and carefully discern a "vision" of what God is calling us to be and to do.  Once we have that vision we'll be in a better position to make decisions going forward.

Let me know if I can be of any assistance in any way.

Thanks.
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