sanctuarycg

The Genesis of Christmas

There are two stories from which people will live this Christmas:

1) I AM MY OWN STORY: This story's main idea can be summed up in the following: I am a cosmic accident. My living has no purpose other than the purpose I give it or the purpose society gives it or both. Eat, drink, shop, and be merry for tomorrow we are food for worms.

2) I AM PART OF GOD'S STORY: This story's main idea can be summed up in the following: I am made in the image of God. My living has divinely ordained purpose. I have been made to love God and love others in the manner of Jesus.

For the next three weeks at Sanctuary we will explore The Genesis of Christmas:
Week 1: God has a Story
Week 2: I have a Story
Week 3: We have a Story

You are not an accident. Your life has purpose. When we find our place in God's story, we find out who we are and how to live.

Remember...

Nicholas D. Kristof is in Chad reporting on the atrocities in Darfur. I found this story this morning in the New York Times.

When the janjaweed militia attacked Fareeda, a village here in southeastern Chad near Darfur, an elderly man named Simih Yahya didn’t run because that would have meant leaving his frail wife behind. So the janjaweed grabbed Mr. Simih and, shouting insults against blacks, threw him to the ground and piled grass on his back.

Then they started a bonfire on top of him.

But his wife, Halima, normally fragile and submissive, furiously tried to tug the laughing militia members from her husband. She pleaded with them to spare his life. Finally, she threw herself on top of the fire, burning herself but eventually extinguishing it with her own body.

The janjaweed may have been shamed by her courage, for Mr. Simih recalls them then walking away and saying, “Oh, he will die anyway.” He told me the story as he was treated at a hospital where doctors peeled burned flesh from his back.

To lend your voice to the suffering in Darfur, Sudan go to savedarfur.org.

Where would you be without Jesus?

Does Jesus make any difference whatsoever? I have always said without Jesus I would be a millionaire-alcoholic on his third wife. In short, I'd be a wreck. What about you? This Sunday night I would like to read some examples of the difference Jesus makes in a life. Would you be willing to share a bit of your story?

Practical help for the homeless

For the last year and a half, as a part of Sanctuary's Praxis ministry, we have been collecting clothes and personal items for the homeless and people in transitional housing. With the weather turning cold, our friends now need coats, hats, gloves and blankets, in addition to personal and hygiene items. At Sanctuary last week we distributed lists of items the homeless have asked for. If you didn't get a list, please come to our table in the cafe after Sanctuary this week.

If you are looking for a meal group, small group or family service project, please consider helping out some people that are on the street. You can put together kits (hygiene, first aid, personal, snacks), and bring them in. Also, if you are interested in going downtown and handing out these items to the homeless we will be having a "training meeting" after Thanksgiving weekend. Keep an eye open for an announcement here on the blog.

Blessings all!

PS Many thanks to the groups that made fleece blankets last year. This year we've been asked for some children-sized blankets as well. If your group is considering making blankets again this year, please consider helping the children who are in tough situations.

PPS If you aren't familiar with Praxis, check out http://thepraxispath.blogspot.com

The Unforgivable Sin?

Matthew 12.31-32: Every sin and blasphemy can be forgiven - except blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which will never be forgiven.  Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven, either in this world or in the world to come.

WOW!!!  Pretty harsh words!  In this passage, the Scriptures make reference to what has become known as "The Unforgivable Sin."  There has been much heated debate about what exactly that sin is...after all, I don't know about you, but I sure don't want to commit it.

QUESTION:  WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE UNFORGIVABLE SIN?

The 411 from Pastor Phil

Hey Crazy Church!  We had quite a weekend focusing on the Crazy Campaign and celebrating what God has done and will do.  The event on the field was fun and meaningful.  Thanks to all who braved the 38 degreesand thanks to all those who helped with the event. 

AFRICA TRIP:  The dates are set for our return to SwazilandMay 3-9, 2007.  This is an opportunity to see how our partnership with World Vision works AND an opportunity to visit your sponsored child.  The trip is both costly and arduous.  We're currently taking names of those interested.  Call the Office or show interest on your Communication Card.  Also, note there will be an informational meeting on Tuesday, November 28, at 7:00 pm in the sanctuary at church.

SCHOOL BOARD DECISION:  We're hoping that the board selects the site on Dale Road and County Road 19 (near our property).  That would mean that the city would bring water down to our area.  Please pray for the board as they make their decision this Thursday night.  If the other site is selected we'll find another way to get water to the future home of Crossroads, but this site would speed things up.

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES:  We'll be having a total of 6 services! One on Saturday night, December 23 at 5:00 pm, and 5 services on Sunday at 9 am, 11 am, 4 pm and 6 pm, and a midnight service, led by Sanctuary.  Since we had some spacing problems last Christmas, we need to go to a free ticket system.  We'll have you pick up as many free tickets as you'd like for any of the services, but when the services fill up we'll encourage you to pick a different service.  Tickets will be available startin g on the weekend of December 9-10.  We're really hoping that we can fill up Saturday night at 5 pm fi rst!  Thanks for your understanding. 

2 SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND

YOUTH FUNDRAISER: Come to the Holiday Open House this Saturday, November 18, 9 am  1 pm in the church lobby.  You can get some early Christmas shopping done and help support our youth at the same time!  Representatives will be available from Tupperware, Tastefully Simple, Creative Memories, Mary Kay, Pampered Chef, Premiere Jewelry, Do-Re-Me & You, Stampin' Up and Arbonne International. A percentage of all sales will help support our junior and senior high students going on mission trips thi s summer! 

MINISTRY OPPORTUNITY FAIR: Check out the display boards in the lobby at all services this weekend and next.  Our Connections Team has posted many ways you can get involved in serving at Crossroads.  Many of the opportunities are one-time only!

Why we do the things we do...

We had a question last night I promised I'd blog on today:

Question: Someone asked why CrossRoads is always so directed at getting more people to come, rather than preaching to the people who do attend already and giving them what they need to go out and preach to others. They felt that CrossRoads didn't preach enough to old believers. What do you have to say about that? What would you say to them?

Answer: To provide a little more context, this question was posed by a young person whose church experience is predominantly at CrossRoads. She was asked this question by a co-worker. My responses are as follows:

• I would challenge the curious to listen to the last four weeks of messages from Sanctuary and the CrossRoads Sunday morning services. The Sanctuary messages can be listened to by clicking on the sidebar to your left. The Sunday morning services are here. Then I would ask the curious to point out where the pastors were not edifying to seasoned believers, new Christians, and spiritual seekers. And I would then ask the curious to go on-line and see how many on-line sermons they can find on the texts we spoke on. There aren't many.
• I would then challenge the curious toward a more thorough reading of the New Testament. Jesus came and brought 12 disciples alongside him for the very purpose of sending them out to minister to those who were not yet a part of their group. They did so, challenging those new churches to go out and minister to those who were not yet a part of their group. The most prolific writer in the New Testament was a man named Paul whose very purpose in life was sharing the good news of the Kingdom of God with people who did not know it yet. The church does not exist as a social club, nor is it just a Bible study. It is a group of people on a mission. God has come to this war-torn world and defeated Satan, sin, and death. That news deserves to be shared. That is the purpose of CrossRoads Church--to connect people to God and His purpose for their lives. (And for anyone wanting to throw the "milk v. meat" argument,again I challenge you to listen to the last 4 weeks of messages here. Ah, heck, listen to the last eight weeks it doesn't matter.)
• I would then ask the curious to attend either our Alpha or Foundations classes where every Monday night we teach people what the Bible says about Jesus, the need for forgiveness of sins, how to pray, read their Bibles, how to use the gifts of the Holy Spirit, the purpose of the church, and how to tell others about this amazing King we serve.
• I would then challenge the curious to be a part of Pastor Steve's Hardball class that meets every Tuesday nights where they wrestle with the toughest questions concerning the Bible and its teachings.
• I would then challenge the curious to be a part of a Meal Group/LifeGroup at CrossRoads. These small groups of people come together (many on a weekly basis) to grow closer to God and each other by wrestling with the fundamentals of the faith, AND these groups come together to minister to people who don't even come to CrossRoads in monthly or bi-monthly service projects at homeless shelters, AIDS ministries, prison ministries, etc. See, serving the "least of these" is actually serving Jesus. We believe Christians don't only grow by hearing a message, they grow by loving and serving the people around them.
• I would then remind the curious we live in the most biblically illiterate time in our nation's history. Therefore, whether he or she comes to CrossRoads or not, he/she should desperately care about whether his/her church leadership is communicating the truths of the Scripture in a way unchurched people can understand and apply.

There is a title of a book by Euguene Peterson relevant to this question: A Long Obedience in the Same Direction--Discipleship in an Instant Society. Is CrossRoads Church perfect? No way! We drop the ball just like any team. Often we literally strike-out. However, I'm here six days a week watching a staff and volunteers pour itself out week in/week out in a long obedience in the same direction. We do so, because we believe Jesus is the hope of the world, not just a small group of people. We have our critics, and that's a good sign. If we weren't making some enemies, we wouldn't be doing our job.

Is torture wrong?

Posted part of an interesting article on my personal blog: Intimate Gnosis. I would be interested in your feedback.

Crazy Bonfire

This coming Sunday afternoon, you are all invited to join us on the new property for a Crazy Campaign Anniversary celebration. The event starts at 3:45. Because there is no parking at the new property, we will bus people from the Grey Cloud Elementary School parking lot starting at 2:45. After the bonfire, Pastor Phil Print (Sr. Pastor at CrossRoads) will be at Sanctuary for a sit-down interview during Sanctuary. Should be great fun.

Also, Pastor Phil has posted on his blog thoughts on the Pastor Ted Haggard issue.

Q and A from Sanctuary, Nov. 4

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We had a ton of questions on Sunday night regarding issues of justice. For those of you unable to attend, you can listen to the message. It'll be posted in the next day or two. In review, we explored worldly justice vs. biblical justice. I defined them as follows:

Worldly Justice--we get what we deserve.
Biblical Justice--God gives what we need.

Here's my two cents on a couple questions:

Question: How do you discern between "deserve" and "need" biblically?

Answer: It all comes down to love. Because God is love He did not leave us stuck in our sins, but took the penalty of sin upon Himself so we could  be made right with Him.  Colossians  1:19-22 puts it this way:
For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, ²⁰ and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross. ²¹ This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions, ²² yet now he has brought you back as his friends. He has done this through his death on the cross in his own human body. As a result, he has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

God loved us so much He provided us what we needed, rather than giving us what we deserve. This is tied to the whole concept of shalom. God desires we find peace with Him and each other. Because God has loved us, we then must love in the same manner. Our first goal should another's shalom.

Question: Is there a verse that ties together justice and grace?

Answer: There is not one specific verse that ties the two words together, but I believe it is because biblical justice is the very definition of grace. If grace is God doing for us what we could never do for ourselves, then biblical justice is grace defined. God, in Christ, saved us when He didn't have to save us. He provided us freedom from Satan, sin, and death. We could never have done so on our own.

I'll post some more Q and A tomorrow. One final thing...

IMPORTANT: This coming Sunday afternoon, you are all invited to join us on the new property for a Crazy Campain Anniversary celebration. The event starts at 3:45. Because there is no parking at the new property, we will bus people from the Grey Cloud Elementary School parking lot starting at 2:45. After the bonfire, Pastor Phil Print (Sr. Pastor at CrossRoads) will be at Sanctuary for a sit-down interview with me and you during the service. Should be great fun.