Christmas Eve and “Facebragging”

Dear Friends,

Leanna and I, on behalf of our entire church and school staff, wish you a blessed Christmas celebration and a wonderful New Year filled with the promise of God’s power, protection, and presence!

You are warmly invited to our special Christmas Eve Candlelight Service, which will last from 5:00-6:00 p.m. this Thursday evening.  There will be nursery care available, and wonderful Christmas music led by Lori Devey and her team.  Our devotional message is “The Majesty of Christmas” and I hope you will plan on joining in the celebration!  This service is usually packed, so you might want to come a bit early!

In November, President Obama and his administration held their first state dinner in honor of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.  It was a veritable extravaganza of an evening, with guests ranging from high-ranking politicians to Hollywood celebrities and VIPS.  But as we all know, two uninvited party crashers successfully made it into the party.   Tareq and Michaele Salahi made it past security and entered the White House.  Once at the party, they met and shook hands with President Obama, hugged Vice President Joe Biden, and mingled with other famous people.  They then published their photos on the social networking site, Facebook, and attracted quite a bit of notoriety, which of course, was their purpose.   It turns out that this kind of behavior has a name:  “Facebragging.”  And the Salahis are masters of this new art form.   Investigators later revealed that Tareq and Machaele were also working to achieve a role in the reality television series Real Housewives of D.C., and even had a camera crew documenting their arrival at the White House!

Tareq and Michaele’s story captures America’s dangerous obsession with celebrity and our desire to achieve the “fifteen minutes of fame” we feel we deserve.

Let me tell you something as we close out the year together.  It may be possible to slip past security and crash a lavish White House party uninvited.  It is even possible to come face to face with the most powerful man on earth.  But the Bible speaks of another party, one that will take place in heaven and last for all eternity.  In Revelation 19:9 it says, “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!”  No one will ever be able to crash this party!  You must have an invitation, and you must accept the invitation.  The only way to do this is to give your life to Jesus Christ.  Then and only then can you appear face to face with the Lord God Almighty!  This is the purpose of Crosswalk Community Church:  To help people get connected to Jesus so they can participate in this heavenly banquet.   That connection is always only a prayer of faith away.  May the Lord grant us that connection now and always!

Thank you for your continued partnership with Crosswalk Church in helping people get connected to Jesus!

With Christmas joy,

Pastor John

The Decade From Hell?

So proclaimed the cover story of Time magazine!  We’re at the end of the first decade of the 2000s.  So the press and social pendants are reflecting on the past decade.  Well, TIME Magazine has called the first decade of the 2000s, from 2000-2009, the decade from Hell.  We have just lived through the decade from Hell!  Here’s what they say:

Bookended by 9/11 at the start and a financial wipeout at the end, the first 10 years of this century will very likely go down as the most dispiriting and disillusioning decade Americans have lived through in the post–World War II era. We’re still weeks away from the end of ’09, but it’s not too early to pass judgment. Call it the Decade from Hell, or the Reckoning, or the Decade of Broken Dreams, or the Lost Decade. Call it whatever you want — just give thanks that it is nearly over.

In a related story, Billboard magazine named Daniel Powter’s hit song from 2006, “Bad Day,” as the decade’s top one-hit wonder!

Of course, there have been other suggestions:  “Era of Misplaced Anxiety,”  “Decade of Disruptions,” and the “Decade of the Unthinkable.”  I just want to share what I like and don’t like about Time’s designation, “The Decade from Hell.”

On the one hand there is something to be said for it.  There certainly are a host of hellish memories:  Of course there was the definitive event, 9/11; the Enron Scandal, which proved to be simply a tip of the iceberg in a decade of financial corruption; two fronts on the war against terrorism; and then there was Abu Ghraib, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood, Bernie Madoff, the financial collapse and ensuing recession, and many other tragedies.  While these are certainly hellish, of course they are nothing in comparison with what the book of Revelation outlines for us.  Yet I remember so well how President Reagan was mocked by the press for calling the atheistic Soviet Union, which had murdered millions of its own citizens, “an evil empire.”  And more lately President Bush was snickered at for referring to three murderous regimes as “an axis of evil.”  Now the press has decided that there really is a moral base from which we can determine what is good and what is evil, what is heavenly and what is hellish.  In that sense I rejoice with the designation, “The Decade from Hell.”

But the Bible teaches a wonderful doctrine called Providence.  This biblical value says that God is with us always, providing for us and caring for us.  The Bible’s teaching about the future is complicated and deeply nuanced to be sure, but ultimately the message is that the victory over evil has been secured by the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross.  That means that trouble will never have the last word in this world.  Evil will rear its ugly head, but it will never ultimately triumph.  As we saw last Sunday, the Christmas message is this:  “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”  (John 1:5).  We may go through some hellish realities and some very dark valleys.  But for those who love the Lord, on the other side all is light, all is joy.

Greetings from the Mission Field

Dear Crosswalkers,

This is your fearless pastor reporting once again from his temporary outpost in hot and humid San Antonio , Paraguay . I’m pleased to report that this past week has been filled with blessed ministry opportunities. On Tuesday and Wednesday I was privileged to engage in 4 hours of teaching at the Tacumbu Prison in Ascuncion. Our missionary on the scene, Angel Hernandez, has a fantastic ministry to the inmates there with an organization called Remar International (Remar stands for “Rehabilitation to the Marginalized”). In two overcrowded cellblocks, there are 330 men who have accepted Christ and want to be trained in ministry to the rest of the prison population and to the world if or when they are released from the penitentiary. Angel’s strategy is to intensively train and mentor 20 of the top leaders so they can in turn train others. This biblical strategy has proven effective for many generations (see 2 Timothy 2:2). We had powerful teaching sessions, with the men making new commitments to serve Christ and share Christ. Some of them shared their testimonies. What a joy to see for myself the work God is doing in the hearts and minds of these incarcerated men, and how they want to be God’s instruments even in a very difficult environment. It is appropriate for me to THANK YOU for participating in our Faith Promise missions giving which supports the gospel boldly moving forward to the least, the last, and the lost!

Lord willing, Leanna and I will return home on Friday! I’m very much looking forward to our Christmas sermon series that will begin this Sunday. It is an exciting study from Gospel of John’s version of the Christmas story entitled, “From Eternity to Here!” In addition, we will have missionary Marty Hooper visiting us, fresh from his evangelistic ministry in India . Marty will sing and share, the “Mystery of Christmas” will be revealed, and God’s grace will fill our worship time! This would be a perfect day to invite friends and family to come and experience for themselves the deepest meaning of Christmas!!

Amor en JesuCristo,

Pastor Juan

Christmas Season

Dear Crosswalkers,

Well, it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas! This Sunday the worship center is decorated, we are featuring an outreach event we’re calling the Christmas Boutique, we will receive nine new members, and we’ll conclude the sermon series “Three Powerful Blessings” by looking at the power of the gift! It will be a great weekend at Crosswalk!

Of course, I am writing from our mission station in the heart of South America, Paraguay, and so I will be preaching at Quatro Mojones. Later this week, I will join our missionary Angel Hernandez and teach at the prison. This will be my first time in the Big House preaching, and will appreciate you remembering our ministry in prayer. Last week, Angel was at the prison ministering when there was an “incident” and several prisoners were beaten with billy clubs in front of him!

This trip is reminding me of the precious importance of family, and also of the great need in the world for the message of Christmas. Can we agree together to leverage the Christmas season for the Kingdom of God? By this I mean that Christmas is a wonderful time to intentionally share our faith and focus on our spiritual values. Perhaps you’ve heard the story of a meeting in hell where three demons bring to Satan a plan for deceiving the human race. The devil carefully pondered the suggestions. The first demon said, “Let’s convince the humans there is no heaven.” But Satan said, “No, God has written eternity in every human heart, they will never believe it.” The second demon came up with a brilliant plan, “Let’s convince the humans there is no hell.” The devil, thinking carefully, said, “No, there is so much pain and suffering on earth, that some people are already expereincing the pangs of hell.” And the second suggestion was therefore rejected. The third demon said, “Let’s convince the humans there is no hurry.” A wry smile came over the devil’s face. “Ahh yes, that will work! That is the strategy we will use.”

The Bible says, “Now is the acceptable time, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 10:2). Now is always the best time to share good news with family and friends. Why not invite someone to come to church with you this Sunday?

May the Lord richly bless all your endeavors to shine with the light of Jesus!

Affectionately in Christ,

Pastor John

The Attitude of Gratitude

Dear Crosswalkers,

This Sunday we begin a new series of three messages entitled, “Three Powerful Blessings”. In these messages, we will look at three blessings God has given us that will enable us to live with his power and purpose in the face of life’s challenges. We begin this Sunday with “The Power of Thanksgiving.” It is more than just a national holiday featuring Turkey and football. In the Bible, thanksgiving is a lifestyle. The attitude of gratitude is a hallmark of those who follow Jesus. And this Sunday, we’ll discover its power in our lives!

The Bible says,

Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them. Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and sing joyfully about his glorious acts. – Psalm 107:21-22 (NLT) What were the “sacrifices of thanksgiving” that were offered because of the great and glorious things God had done? Interestingly, they were offerings, usually of animals (but it could be a monetary offering); and a portion of the animal was dedicated to God and the rest was used as a meal of thanksgiving! I wonder if this isn’t an appropriate model for us to follow as well. So I invite you to give an offering of thanksgiving for the way God has blessed your life in 2009, and then celebrate with a wonderful dinner next Thursday.

As I look at our church finances, I am extremely grateful to God for the generosity of our church family. Through the month of October, we were only $610.00 in the red for our General Fund. In times of economic recession and high unemployment, this is a wonderful testimony about the dedication our church family. However, as we look to our end of year expenses, if you could bless your church family with a thanksgiving offering it would be greatly appreciated. In fact, we would return tremendous thanks to God! Simply designate your special offering with the word “Thanksgiving” so we can join you in praising God about his glorious acts. Has God blessed your life? Have you experienced his grace and truth during our 40 Days of Love spiritual growth journey? Then please consider a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and join us Sunday as we sing joyfully about his glorious acts.

On Monday, Leanna and I travel to Paraguay for family time and some wonderful ministry opportunities with the Hernandez family. Please pray for us. I plan to send you this memo from the field, so we will keep in touch.

Affectionately in the Lord,

Pastor John

Message in a Bottle

Dear Crosswalkers,

Here is a fascinating true story: During a 1979 cruise to Hawaii, Dorothy and John Peckham wrote some notes and threw them overboard inside empty champagne bottles. They asked anyone who found one of their bottles to write them back, and even went so far as to include a $1 bill to cover the postage!

 Remarkably, on March 4, 1983, the couple received a letter from Hoa Van Nguyen. Nguyen, a former soldier in the Vietnamese Army, said he and his younger brother had found one of the Peckhams’ bottles as the two men were floating 15 kilometers from the shore of Songkhla Province in Thailand. They were braving the waters of the Pacific in a small, shallow riverboat in order to escape the Communist regime in Vietnam. When they saw the bottle, they felt as though a prayer had been answered, giving them the strength to carry on. After reading the letter, the Peckhams looked for Songkhla on a map and were shocked to find that the bottle had traveled 9,000 miles from Hawaii!

The Peckhams corresponded with Hoa for years, sharing in his joy when they received a photo from his wedding, then again nine months later when they saw his newborn son. But most of all, they empathized with Hoa’s desire to give his family the best life he could. So when Hoa asked if the Peckhams could help his family move to the U.S., they didn’t hesitate. After months of working with U.S. Immigration, the two families finally did meet in 1985, when a plane from Thailand landed in Los Angeles — the Nguyens’ new home.

Many of us have been floating through life, perhaps trying to escape hurts and rejection and loneliness. And then, by the amazing grace of God, we found a message, not it a bottle, but in a Bible; the message of God’s love for us through Jesus Christ. As a result of receiving that message and accepting it, we have a new purpose for living and a new home in the family of God!

For the past six weeks, we’ve been on journey together called 40 DAYS OF LOVE. We’ve learned, and hopefully experienced, the love of God and the joys of living a life of love for God and for others.

This Sunday we will celebrate our journey together. After our worship services we will share in a catered lunch in our Gym. Please plan to join us as we celebrate together (and please bring a dessert to share)!

Brief reminder: We are serving at Las Palmas Park this Saturday from 9:30 – 11:30 a.m.; and we are collecting food for City Team’s Thanksgiving Food Drive beginning this Sunday!

Love in Jesus,
Pastor John Christie

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

When Depression Hurts a Friend!

Dear Crosswalkers,

 

Psalm 143:7 says, Come quickly, Lord, and answer me, for my depression deepens. Don’t turn away from me, or I will die.

 

This Sunday we will look at “When Depression Hurts a Friend.”  We have all been there.  Depression is a very dark place to be.  It is called a "pit of despair" in the Bible, and it is said to be filled with "mud and mire".  IT IS CRUCIAL that we learn God's way to help us out of depression.  If you know someone who is struggling with depression, this is a good Sunday to come to church!  And it would be very good to invite your friend or family member to come. There are dark valleys in life, but the light of God's grace is greater than any human darkness. 

 

This Sunday we will continue our sign ups for small groups.  PLEASE DON'T MISS THIS GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO CONNECT WITH OTHERS AND GROW YOUR FAITH!  There is no substitute for meeting together and learning from God and each other how we can best fulfill God's greatest commands:  To love him with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves.  This is only a 6 week commitment, and I beg you to sign up this Sunday and be a part of it!  You will be glad you did!

 

This week we have been blessed with a great number of answered prayers!  I thank the dozens of you who trust us with your prayer needs each week though the CONNECTION CARDS.  When we see healing and transformation in response to our prayers, we are filled with great praise to God!!

 

Someone said, "We'll never run out of math teachers, because they always multiply!"  Please help us multiply our effectiveness by forwarding this email to others who may be interested in Crosswalk Church.

 

Blessings, 

Pastor John