Halloween, Hell Houses, and Hope!

Dear Crosswalkers,

This Sunday is “All Hallows Eve”, aka Halloween.  Halloween’s origins date back to the Celts, who lived 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom, and northern France.  The Celts celebrated their new year on November 1, because to them it marked the end of sun and summer and the beginning of the cold, dark winter.  It was a time they associated with death.  Celts believed that on October 31, the night before their “new year,” the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On that night they celebrated the festival of Samhain, when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.  Then Christianity began to have a greater influence in Celtic lands. In the seventh century, Pope Boniface IV designated November 1 “All Saints Day,” a time to honor the men and women of God who had been martyred or who had died.  The celebration was called All-hallows, and the night before it, the night of Samhain, began to be called All-hallows Eve and, eventually, Halloween.

Over the years, attitudes towards Halloween have been quite diverse among followers of Jesus.  Today, many Christians ascribe no negative significance to Halloween, treating it as a purely secular holiday devoted to harmless costumes and handing out candy.  These followers of Jesus are not in any way superstitious and to them Halloween holds no threat to the spiritual lives of children.  In fact, many use it as an opportunity to serve their community and potentially reach out to their community by providing a “safe and sane” way to celebrate.  They wish to model the hope we have in Christ by engaging the culture rather than doing battle with it.  Others take a more aggressive evangelistic approach and host “Hell Houses” that are meant to literally “scare the hell” out of people.  Evangelistic tracts are given to those leaving the “Hell Houses,” and opportunities given to make a commitment to follow Jesus.  Other believers have an understandable concern about Halloween, and may even choose to reject the holiday altogether because they feel it celebrates the occult.  Jesus is the author of life, and some feel it is not wise to participate in something that has its beginning as a pagan “festival of the dead.”

The attitude believers should have about Halloween is certainly something that is not taught in the Bible.  That makes it a “disputable matter” (Romans 14:1) in which we should “think and let think,” and understand that the faith we have, we have as our own conviction before God.  Therefore we exercise great love and forbearance toward differences in this regard.  At Crosswalk, we have chosen the first option presented above.  While we certainly agree that there are negative spiritual forces in the world that we battle every day, and that more aggressive evangelistic efforts are sometimes effective, we have basically chosen to allow our kids to have fun on this holiday and provide a Community Trick or Treat event for people to safely enjoy this cultural reality.  While candy isn’t healthy food, kids love candy and once a year to let kids dress up and get candy isn’t the worst thing in the world.  At our Community event we shun superstition and provide Bible themed carnival games and a good time.  It is also a chance for us to talk with others and share the hope we have in Christ.  Many thanks to all Crosswalkers who are helping with this event by bringing candy and volunteering to serve!

This Sunday morning is FAMILY DAY, which means our elementary kids will be in worship with us!  We will provide activity packs for the kids, and the message on the faith of David in overcoming the Giant Goliath (something of a ‘monster’ that fits in with Halloween!) will be kid friendly.  This will be a fun day at church, and I hope you will be there!

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie

The Most Precious Treasure!

Dear Crosswalkers,

This past week I had the opportunity to congratulate one of our members on becoming an American citizen.  Over the years, a number of Crosswalkers have been granted citizenship.  It is a time of great joy!  At the same time, I came across a wonderful story written by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair in his 2010 memoir, A Journey: My Political Life:

A friend of mine whose parents were immigrants, Jews from Europe who came to America in search of safety, told me this story. His parents lived and worked in New York. They were not well off. His father died when he was young. His mother lived on, and in time my friend succeeded and became wealthy. He often used to offer his mother the chance to travel outside America. She never did. When eventually she died, they went back to recover the safety box where she kept her jewelry. They found there another box. There was no key. So they had to drill it open. They wondered what precious jewel must be in it. They lifted the lid. There was wrapping and more wrapping and finally an envelope. Intrigued, they opened it. In the envelope were her U.S. citizenship papers. Nothing more. That was the jewel, more precious to her than any other possession. That was what she treasured most.

That is quite a story!  This is what the Bible says:

But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.  And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior! – Philippians 3:20

So this is our most precious possession:  Citizenship in heaven!  Every Sunday we get to celebrate our new home, our new reality!  This Sunday we will look at “Surprising Stories of Faith.”  It never ceases to amaze me that God delights in using deeply flawed and unlikely people to accomplish his purposes.  So often we want to disqualify ourselves when God delights to use people like us!  See you Sunday, and please remember to help  with our upcoming Community Trick or Treat event by bringing a bag of Halloween candy!

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie

NEW CLASSES NEXT WEDNESDAY!

We resume our wonderful Wednesday evening dinners (from 5:30 – 6:20 p.m.) next week!  The children are rehearsing for their Christmas program entitled “Christmas Around the World!”  Adults have two classes to choose from:

1.  Building Bridges into Your Community: This class is led by Angel Hernandez and will help us practically to be known as people who care about those around us.  Jesus was a bridge builder, and so was the early church.  We can be too.  I personally want Crosswalk to be known as the church in Sunnyvale that connects with the needs of our community.

2.  A Deeper Look into the Trustworthiness of the Bible:  For those who are interested in the evidence for the reliablility of the Bible, this class is for you.

PARKING LOT FUND GOAL HAS BEEN REACHED!!

Many thanks to those who so generously contributed to this project.  Upon completion, this will make Crosswalk a safer and more beautiful environment for our guests, friends, school, and members!  YOUR GIVING IS APPRECIATED!

The Miracle of the Mine

Dear Crosswalkers,
It was compelling to watch the so called “Miracle of the Mine” rescue on the news this week!  On August 5th, a copper and gold mine in Chile caved in.  Thirty-three miners had miraculously survived the disaster and were trapped in a rescue chamber 2,300 feet beneath the surface.  The president of Chile, Sebastian Pinera, made it his government’s top priority to rescue the trapped miners, and technical help poured in from across the globe.  There was a “Paloma”, a small hole through which food and water could be sent to the miners (paloma is Spanish for “pigeon” or “dove”).  Meanwhile, work began to drill a 28-inch hole down to the rescue chamber to extract the survivors.

Here is some backstory:  The miners asked for a crucifix and other items associated with their Catholic faith to be sent down to them while they waited for rescue.  They told officials that they wanted to set up a shrine in the rescue chamber.  José Henríquez, one of the miners, is an evangelical Christian.  When José requested an evangelical pastor to aid the miners and their families at the site, Pastor Marcelo Leiva of Vallenar Baptist Church was contacted. The pastor arrived at Camp Esperanza (Hope) about two weeks ago, and began to minister to José and the other miners.  José believed God wanted him to encourage his co-workers as they struggled to stay positive during their confinement.  He held daily Bible studies for the miners as rescue efforts developed on the surface.

Using the Paloma, Pastor Marcelo and José exchanged letters.  Here’s what José wrote:  “Dear Pastor Marcelo …I thank you for each and every one of your words of encouragement directed to the 33. Tomorrow I will be reading your letter, which will certainly be a blessing. Thank you for writing in hopes that the Lord fulfills His purpose in us — as well as in you on the outside. … Well, pastor, may God continue to bless you.  We will be seeing each other soon.  Until soon, please excuse my handwriting, Jose Henríquez.”

Here’s another backstory:  As the tunnel was completed, and the rescue capule was made ready, the Chilean Health Minister, Jaime Manalich, told the AP that the miners “were fighting with [authorities] yesterday because everyone wanted to be at the end of the line, not the beginning.”  Isn’t that remarkable!  In a “me first” world, the miners were putting others first!  This is what being in connection with God does: It frees us to me like Jesus and put others first!

When the miners were delivered in the cool looking rescue capsule from their dark, 69 day confinement in the bowels of the earth, there was great joy!  TV stations interrupted regular programing to show the world the joy!  In describing what God has done for us in Jesus, the Bible says this:

For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins. – Colossians 1:13-14
I hope you have been inspired by the Miracle at the Mine to recommit yourself to the task of shining with the light of Jesus, sharing your faith story, and inviting people to worship with you so that the joy of leaving darkness and entering the light may be experienced by others!

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie

THIS SUNDAY:  How to Overcome Feelings of Inadequacy!
Our series entitled “Heroes by Faith” takes us on a visit with Gideon this Sunday!  The lessons Gideon learned about overcoming his weaknesses and feelings of inadequacy are spot on for today’s world.  Has anyone ever asked you, “Why doesn’t God do any great miracles today like he did in Bible times?” If so, invite that person to worship this Sunday!

PARKING LOT FUND NOW AT $29,472.98!!

Thanks to recent gifts plus a discovery of some seed money in our parking lot fund, we are now just $527.02 away from our goal of $30,000!  For the many who have given generously to this need, thank you!!  This week will be the last opportunity to give to this fund.  Any last gifts that would help put us over the top will be appreciated!  Thanks again for your generous response to this opportunity!

The Social Network

Dear Crosswalkers,
All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer… And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. – Acts 2:42,47


Greetings to you in the name of Jesus our Lord!  Earlier this week, Leanna and I had the opportunity to see the new movie, The Social Network.  This is a compelling film based on the true story of the founding of Facebook, with some self admitted “dramatic license” by the film-makers.  Since for 2,000 years the church has been, and continues to be, a social network, this film was intriguing.  Now of course the church is more than a social network. Note God’s vision for his family, in the verses quoted above:

A CHURCH DEVOTED TO LEARNING (“devoted to the apostles’ teaching”)

A CHURCH DEVOTED TO CARING FRIENDSHIPS (“and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals”)

A CHURCH DEVOTED TO WORSHIP (“(including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer”)

A CHURCH DEVOTED TO MISSION (“the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved”)

Because the church is to be devoted to fellowship, the church is a social network!  Now there are a number of things we can discuss about the film and how social networking on the internet applies to our culture and our church.  Because many of you have not seen the film, but may want to, I will hold back on some comments that would be “spoilers” for the film and reserve those for another time.  Points of interest and lessons:

The writer of the script for The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin, is highly critical of Facebook!  He said this:  “It’s a device that’s meant to connect us, to bring us closer together. I think, and I know I’m in the minority, at minimum there are 500 million people who disagree with me, I think it’s pushing us further apart. I think socializing on the Internet is to socializing what reality TV is to reality.“  How can Facebook push us further apart?  If it takes the place of real face to face table-fellowship that includes learning together, worshiping together, and serving in mission together!
The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, is portrayed in the film as a person with some very anti-social and unfriendly tendencies!  The irony is stark!  He is portrayed as being duplicitous and even treacherous.  Some of this portrayal seems to be well documented in real life.  However, he is also protrayed as a bit of a loner who wants to be accepted, and has very human strengths and weaknesses.  Interestingly, as the movie was released, the real Zuckerberg went on Oprah and donated $100 million to the failing New Jersey pubilic school system!  Whether a PR move or a genuine care for schools, it is certainly a good thing to help our troubled schools!
All of Zuckerberg’s actions in the film were arguably legal.  Chuck Colson writes:  Similarly, virtually all of the practices that nearly wrecked the global economy back in 2008 were legal–all of which goes to prove that just because something is legal doesn’t make it ethical or right…  So the question isn’t “why?” but “why not?” If the only thing standing between you and millions, even billions, is other people’s disapproval, why not do what you want to do? Especially since you can subsequently buy their approval with a check and an appearance on Oprah?  Of course, if this becomes normative, then the kind of trust that makes free markets possible would dry up… My take is this:  Yes, being legal doesn’t make it right!  The ethical crisis in America is to be expected with the increasing secularization of our country!  As people get away from God, they get away from living a life accountable to God.  Ultimately the answer is the Good News of Jesus and a commitment to the social networking of Acts 2:42-47!
Obviously, Facebook is a great tool to get connected with people we haven’t seen in a long time, to stay connected when geography seperates us, and to communicate quickly and easily with family and friends.  For me, the film about Facebook’s founding is a much needed reminder of God’s plan for social networking based on doing the right thing with each other as exemplified in Acts chapter two!

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie


THIS SUNDAY:  DOES RAHAB NEED REHAB?
Our series entitled “Heroes by Faith” takes us on a visit with Rahab the prostitute this Sunday!  She was living and working in the city of Jericho prior to it’s destruction.  In the New Testament, she is celebrated as a woman of great faith!  Come and see how her faith served her well in a time of great crisis.

Also, please begin bringing bags of Halloween candy for our October Outreach Community Trick or Treat Event!  Simply place them on the table in back of the worship center!  Thanks in advance for helping us bless our community!

Overcoming Fears and Obstacles

Dear Crosswalkers,
We praise God for last week’s wonderful celebration of what God has done through Crosswalk Church in the past 10 ½ years!  I extend a great thanks to all who made it such an awesome day of praise and worship and celebrating!

This Sunday we jump back into our “Heroes by Faith” series, a study through the famous faith chapter of the Bible, Hebrews 11.  We will be looking at how BY FAITH, the walls of Jericho came tumbling down.  In this passage we will see some practical lessons for overcoming fears and obstacles in our lives.

Joshua was the leader of God’s people at this time.  He was a wonderful military champion because by God’s grace he overcame his fears and saw obstacles as inconsequential to those who live by faith.   This is what God says to Joshua:

“This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the

Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

Years back, there was a survey taken of what pests we fear most – #1 for men was wasps and bees.  The #1 fear for women was rats and mice.  What unites us is our fear of snakes.  Ophiophobia is the irrational fear of snakes.  David Shepherd, a professor at Southeastern University, did an experiment regarding people’s fear of snakes.  On a highway in Louisiana, he took rubber lifelike turtles and placed them on the highway.  All the motorists would swerve to miss the turtles.  Then he placed rubber snakes in the road, and found that not only would people not hesitate to run over the snakes, but they would even swerve out of their way to run over the snakes!  When the snake was placed off the road on the shoulder, some motorists even drove off the road to run over the snake!  One driver ran over the snake, stopped his car, backed up over the snake again, opened the car door and made sure his rear tire was on the snake, and then peeled out.  But even more interesting was a police officer.  He ran over the snake, backed up, ran over the snake two more times, then got out of his car, drew his service revolver and shot the rubber snake.  We all have fears.

The only way to overcome fears and obstacles is to face them BY FAITH!  This Sunday, I pray that God will help us overcome our fears and the obstacles that are always between us and God’s best for our lives.  As always, this is a great day to invite others to come and worship the Lord with you.  Good things are happening at Crosswalk!  Invite others to share in what God is doing!

Please pray that the Lord would propel us into the future and that all real and perceived obstacles will become irrelevant by virtue of our strong faith!

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie

P.S. Thanks for everyone who brought rice and pasta in September for our partnership with Sunnyvale Community Services in feeding struggling familes in our area.  In October, we will collect Halloween candy for our Community Trick or Treat Outreach Event!


UPDATE ON PARKING LOT FUND!
Thanks to some additional gifts, including a generous gift from Sunnyvale Christian School, we have now received a grand total of $20,009.25 to our efforts to remove trip hazards and improve our parking lot!  For this we heartily praise God!  We actually have enough to do the minimal repairs needed to take out the hazards, but of course we would like to do the complete job, which would require between $8-10 thousand more.  We are over two thirds of the way there!!!