The great poet, Alfred Lord Tennyson, said of Archbishop Cranmer: "To do him a hurt was to beget a kindness from him. His heart was made of such fine soil that if you planted in it the seeds of hate they blossomed love." Wow! What an amazing testimony of a man who truly followed Jesus. I want that to be true of me, and of all of us.
This Sunday we begin a new series entitled "Building Bridges with your Life." After having spent the first two months of the year looking at the wonderful ways God wants to bless us, we now see that God blesses us to be a blessing to others! Isaac Newton, assessing the problems of his generation, said "We build too many walls and not enough bridges." God is in the bridge building business. When there was an impassable chasm separating humanity from God, God took the initiative to bridge that chasm by sending his son. And whenever there is a separation between us and others, God wants us to bridge that gap with the love of and forgiveness of Jesus.
March historically has been missions month at Crosswalk. This year our focus will be on building bridges with our lives; bridges into our community and into the world that God loves. The theme verse for our missions emphasis is John 14:12 (NIV) - I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. We are praying for God's help in doing these "greater things!"
Here's how you can help:
1. Pray! Every good work for God begins and ends with prayer. Would you pause in your reading of these words to pray for our Men's Retreat this weekend? We have 70 men who will get together to make themselves available to receive God's blessings in a deeper way so they can be a blessing to others. Pray also for our efforts at Crosswalk to be a church in mission! I praise God that we are having a greater impact than ever before into our community. Pray that God would show us new ways to have an irresistible influence in our neighborhoods, schools, and places of employment. And then lastly pray for our Faith Promise Missions outreach to the world! Our missionaries need our financial support but more importantly, our prayers!
2. Participate! Please plan to participate fully in this next series. This will be a very practical study from God's word on how we can be more like Jesus to our world. We are in this together. We are better together! We need you to study along with us and make the appropriate spiritual commitments to build bridges! Think of the bridges you can build with others in your life, and then commit it to God!
3. Provide! You will hear more about our Faith Promise Missions program during the next few weeks. Faith Promise is a promise we make to God by faith to give to local, national, and international missions. The basic premise is this: God wants to use us as a conduit to bless a needy world. It all starts by saying, "God, I'm willing to let you use me to bless the world in the name of Jesus." Please read the following article below about an exciting opportunity God has given us to impact the world for his kingdom!
I hope to see you in church!
Blessings,
Pastor John
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