Important Announcement

Dear Crosswalkers,

Greetings! Last Sunday Leanna and I enjoyed a wonderful time of worship with our son and his family at a Calvary Chapel in South Florida. It was a great family time, but it is also good to come back to 40 Days of Love where we are always being challenged to “Let love be your highest goal” (1 Cor. 14:1 NLT)!

This week I have a very blessed but bittersweet announcement to share. Our Associate Pastor, Jerry Ingalls, has accepted a call to be the Senior Pastor at the First Baptist Church of New Castle, Indiana. Many of you knew Jerry was planning to be launched from Crosswalk into the Military Chaplaincy this January. That call has shifted and he will now begin his new ministry in Indiana with his last Sunday here being December 20. I am proud of Jerry and pleased at this call on his life. It is a wonderful opportunity for him to continue the journey to which God has called him, and we thank God for his time with us. Jerry and Kimberly have been a part of Crosswalk since August of 2001. During that time, they became involved in many ministries, and on Easter Sunday of 2003, Jerry experienced God’s call to resign from the Army and enter full time vocational ministry. In the next many years, Jerry and Kimberly have served with grace and distinction. After graduating from seminary, Jerry was ordained here at Crosswalk and became our Associate Pastor. Prior to that, he had served in many capacities, most notably as the Principal of Sunnyvale Christian School, leader of our Men’s ministry, and Pastor of Ministry Involvement. We will certainly miss Jerry, Kimberly and Beorn. At the same time, it is a wonderful testimony of Crosswalk Church that we prepared one of our own for pastoral ministry and together we will launch him into this Kingdom work with our prayers and our blessings! On December 20 we will have a farewell celebration! More information will follow in the weeks to come.

Please pray for the transition of the Ingalls’ family to a new ministry in a different part of the country. And pray too for the Lord to give us wisdom as we will soon begin to search for a new person to join our pastoral staff.

This weekend will feature our Community Trick or Treat outreach event on our campus! We are grateful for the many Crosswalkers who will join us this Saturday for a blessed time of serving the kids from our church and from our community! You will be rewarded with an extra hour of sleep, as Daylight Savings Time ends this Sunday in the early morning. Remember to set your clocks back one hour before going to bed Saturday evening! Sunday will be a great day of worship and praise as we enter our “Be the Church” week and continue with 40 days of Love!

Affectionately in Christ,

Pastor John

Kingdom Plunder

Dear Crosswalkers,

 

I praise God for our continued journey together called 40 Days of Love!  This week, Pastor Jerry will be leading us in"The Marks of True Love," a powerful message that you won't want to miss!  

 

Here is a fascinating verse from 2 Samuel 23:21, about a man name Benaiah:  "Once, armed only with a club, he killed a great Egyptian warrior who was armed with a spear. Benaiah wrenched the spear from the Egyptian’s hand and killed him with it."  Here, one of King David's "mighty men" performs a heroic act.  Interestingly, in taking his enemy's weapon and using it against him, he is showing us the principle known as Kingdom Plunder, which is taught in the NT.  Jesus said this:  "But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. For when a strong man like Satan is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe— until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings"(Luke 11:20-22).  Here, Jesus likens himself to one stronger than Satan who can plunder his goods and use them for godly purposes!  We've seen that happen over and over again in the Biblical history and the history of the church. 

 

I know many well meaning believers have trouble with Halloween.  Our goal at Crosswalk is to plunder something worldly and use it to benefit the Kingdom of God.  That's why we are hosting an outreach event called "Community Trick or Treat."  We will provide a safe environment for kids to have fun on Halloween and to reach them with good news about Jesus.  To make this a success, we need two things from you:  Your time and your candy!  We need many volunteers to help with arcade like games and give away candy, and we need candy to give away!  Please, as the Lord leads, bring a bag or two of candy to worship on Sunday or drop it by at the church office.  And please volunteer this Sunday by signing up to help us during this event.

 

Another great opportunity is our Jail ministry.  If you want to be guaranteed a "captive audience", this ministry is for you!  Jesus said, "I was in prison and you visited me."  Please consider this worthy ministry.  This Sunday, we will be presented with many ways to demonstrate our love for our community.  Let's join the Love train and get on board!!

 

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John 

Words of Love!

Dear Crosswalkers,

40 Days of Love boldly moves forward! In the news this morning I read something the government of Malaysia is offering its citizens who are in troubled marriages: Free honeymoons! Yes, for marriages that are troubled by the recession and global turmoil, the government will give a free “second honeymoon” at one of the country’s scenic islands or beach resorts. The only catch is this: The couples also have to go to counseling. This country knows the importance of strong marriages and is investing in them!

I wish we could offer second honeymoons to everyone, but we can offer a great seminar on marriage by some of the top Christian marriage experts. It’s called “The Heart of a Great Marriage,” and it’s tomorrow at Crosswalk church from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. I urge you to invest in your marriage by attending this quality event! Seeya tomorrow!

This Sunday our theme is “Loving with Your Words”. Here’s something interesting: The average American speaks enough words in one week to fill a 500-page book! Yikes! In our lifetimes, we speak enough words to fill 3,000 volumes. That’s 1.5 million pages of verbiage! From experience, we all know how hurtful words can be. But we also know how words have blessed and encouraged us. The Bible has a lot to say about how we can love other people with our words. I hope to see you Sunday!

Have you remembered to do a random act of love today?

Love in Jesus,
Pastor John

The Heart of a Great Marriage!

Dear Crosswalkers,

Here are some thoughts and reminders during Week One of 40 Days of Love:

This week we got off to a great start with our theme, “Let Love be your highest goal” (1 Cor. 14:1). The small group study was fantastic. It is not too late for you to be in a small group! Sign up this Sunday and join the journey!
The old song about love and marriage “go together like a horse and carriage” is altogether true! It’s impossible for us to get through 40 Days of Love without some major attention given to marriages. For those of us who are married we know the challenge of obeying the verse, “Do everything in love” (1 Cor. 16:14) in our own homes! That’s why I want to encourage you to invest one of these 40 Days in our “Heart of a Great Marriage” simulcast. It’s coming up on Saturday, Oct 17, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Tickets are only $10.00 and the event will be held in our worship center! This event is even relevant for those who are not yet married. Please give care to that most important of all human relationships! You can sign up on Sunday or just show up on October 17.
THIS SUNDAY we have the challenge of “Loving like Jesus Loved”. Wow! This will definitely ramp up your lifestyle of love. How does Jesus love me? We will see what the Bible says about that, and then look at the amazing truth that God wants me to love other people in my life the same way that Jesus loves me!! We will also be celebrating the Lord’s Supper again, as we plan to every Sunday during our 40 Day journey together.
Lastly, some great testimonies are being posted on our Crosswalk Community Church 40 Days of Love Facebook site. If you are not yet a “fan”, I encourage you to go to facebook.com and then type our church’s name in the upper right search field. I’m new to this stuff, but it is kind of fun to see what’s happening with others in the church family.
Love in Jesus,
Pastor John

40 Days! Check it Out!

Dear Friends,
This weekend we begin our 40 Days of Love spiritual growth adventure! You may be asking, why 40 Days? It is because the Bible is very clear that God considers “40 days” to be a spiritually significant time period. In fact, in the Bible, any time God wanted to prepare people for life transformation, He took 40 days. For example:
Exodus 34:28 – Moses was up on the mountain with the Lord forty days and forty nights…
Numbers 13:25 – After exploring the land for forty days, the men returned…
1 Samuel 17:16 – For forty days, twice a day, morning and evening, the Philistine giant strutted in front of the Israelite army.
Jonah 3:4 – On the day Jonah entered the city, he shouted to the crowds: “Forty days from now Nineveh will be destroyed!”
Mark 1:13 – He (Jesus) was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan…
Acts 1:3 – During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time and proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. On these occasions he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

During the next 40 Days, Jesus wants to talk with us about the Kingdom of God. The dominant value of that Kingdom is Love. This is what we will learn about and put into practice during the next 40 Days! Please be a part of it!

It all starts this Saturday, Oct 3, from 9:30 – noon in our Gym! We will begin with an excellent brunch, and then be blessed by a presentation by pastor Doug Stevens of the Church Renewal Project. Please plan to be there! It’s going to be a great 40 day adventure!

Love in Jesus, Pastor John