crossroads

"Taste the rainbow."   Genesis 9:12-13 The promises of God The rainbow is the symbol of God's promise to us. They remind us of the second chance we all have because of God's grace through his son.   Matthew 10:2-4 The people of the church The disciples are a rainbow in and of themselves - a motley crew of different individuals with diverse backgrounds and with different faults.   Matthew 16:13-18...

Numbers 11:4-9; 18-23   "You're not you when you're hungry."   You're not " you " when you're hungry When we're not satiating that hunger for God's word, we can't become the person that God has called us to be.   You're not you when you're " hungry ." When we become dissatisfied with what God has given us, we can't live up to God's calling. Even in our dissatisfaction, God hears us and he'll meet...

Matthew 14:22-25   "Make it last a little longer"   When we read about the feeding of the 5,000 and then how Jesus walked in water, sometimes we miss how Jesus met with God in between. Jesus takes that moment with God and makes it last… he stretches it out as long as he can. When we meet with God, maybe we don't always let it last like we should. Big Red teaches us three things we can do to make o...

James 1:19-22   "Melts in your mouth, not in your hand."   M&Ms are meant to be consumed. They're meant to be inside us. In a similar way, the word is meant to be inside us. Our faith is not meant to be simply held, it's meant to be internalized and consumed. Jesus said his food was to do the will of he one who sent him. Do we believe that for ourselves. The longer we keep our faith at arm's lengt...

Psalm 27:14   "Waiting time is not wasted time." - Andy Stanley   Times of waiting are inevitable and crucial to our growth in faith. It's a bit like sleep for the body, where it might not be what you want to do, but it is what you need. It can be very hard to wait, but God will work through our times of waiting in unique ways if we know how to wait well. In order to get the most out of our waitin...

Luke 5:17-26   Jesus rewarded the faith of all the friends… it wasn't just the faith of the paralyzed man. This demonstrates what it means to be a church. We are a family. Like a family, he church has a few roles in order to fulfill God's design for it: To care for each other To carry each other To get each other in front of Jesus To chat about what God has done   Crossroads – about heaven, earth,...

Even atheists and agnostics would benefit from reading the Bible more. It is essential for understanding western culture. We wouldn't have arrived here as a society without it.   But besides that, the Bible is useful for us as Christians because it teaches us and informs us and shapes our actions toward the world around us: Isaiah 55:8-9 Romans 5:6-8 Genesis 1:27 Psalm 119:105 James 1:25-27 Romans...

1 Kings 19:1-5   God had used Elijah extensively, and he reached a point where he thought he couldn't do it anymore. If he were a pencil, he would be dull. Over the course of God writing his story through us, we will get dull. So we have to sharpen ourselves to be prepared for his work. Here are some questions that we can answer to help determine how to sharpen ourselves: What sharpens you? Who sh...

Hebrews 12:1-3   Understanding that our lives are like a pencil that God is using to write his story can help us grasp the answers to some key questions. What is my purpose? What is God doing in my life? How do I align my life with God's will?   God is writing YOUR STORY. Psalm 139:16   God is writing THEIR STORY. Acts 17:26-37   God is writing HIS STORY 2 Corinthians 5:20   Crossroads – about hea...

As we get ready for going back to school, we can be praying for the students that will be starting a new school year. To aid us, we can think of these prayers in terms of the five "W's" of writing.   Who: God Genesis 1:1, 27, 31 Psalm 103:8-18 John 3:16 Deuteronomy 6:5-9   What: For needs For your worries For strength in temptation For direction and wisdom Matthew 6:32-33 1 Peter 5:7 1 John 5:14 M...

Palm 34:1-8   Many of us have already surrendered the easy things, but now God is calling us to surrender everything else… the really hard parts. When we experience God and his goodness, it's hard to to praise him. God works for our righteousness more than we do.   When we come to church, it's like a spiritual buffet: Sample everything   Just like when you take leftovers home after a large meal at...

John 15:1-17   We are like branches of a grapevine, and we can only bear fruit if we're connected to the vine, which is Jesus. Bearing this fruit equates to spiritual maturity. Spiritual maturity is summed up by Jesus' command to love, and to do that, we are called to lay down our lives for one another. Here are three ways we can gauge and improve our love: Love quicker Love broader Love deeper  ...

Matthew 26:26-30 1 Corinthians 11:23-29   Jesus instituted the sacrament of Communion at the last supper during the Passover, and the church has carried on the tradition ever since.   Why do we receive Communion? It's hopeful For now. For future. Blessing and crying out. It's communal Sons and daughters. All equal. It's hospitable Given. Give. It's covenantal With Jesus. With the body It's confess...

5/31/26   John 1:35-51   Most people are not really interested in just being invited to church because they're not interested in just adopting our morality or our religion. We do a lot of things just based on instinct. We are taught to bring people to church with us, and that becomes our default response, but there's something deeper going on that we should be inviting people to. Instead of inviti...

1 Corinthians 9:19-23   For some, when we invite people to church, they hear: "believe what we believe, give up the things we gave up, spend time with only the people we spend time with, and even vote the way we vote." That's not what most people want. And yes, we do want to invite people to church, but there's some groundwork we should think about laying before the invitation. So instead of just...

Proverbs 1:8-9   We all have mothers, and there are a number of traits that some of the best mothers have which also reflect the traits of God. Like God the best mothers are masters of: Encouragement Truth Discipline Grace   Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between. Connect with us Crossroads Linktree:  https://linktr.ee/CrossroadsFairOaks?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsi...

Living the Gospel, neighbor to neighbor   Matthew 28:18-20 Matthew 4:19 Romans 10:14-15   None of this matters if you don't have a burden for the lost. We talk about the things we love. Maybe we need to reconnect with our love for Jesus. We are becoming people who BOLDY GO: B e present O utside the box L ove intentionally (Mark 12:30-31) D epend on the Spirit (John 15:4-6) L isten & learn Y ou   M...

Luke 24:1-11 John 14:27 John 16:33 John 20:24-27   The peace Jesus is trying to bring us give us at least three things: Peace with God Peace with yourself Peace in a broken world   Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between. Connect with us Crossroads Linktree:  https://linktr.ee/CrossroadsFairOaks?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=29f93fab-45f2-4463-9a37-f4ad802326f8

Zechariah 9:9 1 Kings 1:32-33 Mark 11:1-3 Matthew 21:4-5 Luke 19:31-34 Matthew 21:7-8 John 12:13 Matthew 21:9b Luke 19:39-40     Riding a donkey instead of a war horse short circuits the idea of Jesus coming to Jerusalem as a conquerer and instead leads to the idea of Jesus' kingdom coming to bring peace. By laying down their cloaks and palms, the people were recognizing Jesus' authority and kings...

John 18:28-19:16   There are several things we see in this passage that provide a foundation for what we need as we journey forward in our faith. Pilate's story in particular teaches us that when we lack some of these tools, we might fall short of doing what we know is right. Some of the tools we need as we walk with Jesus are: Community Integrity Perseverance Courage   Crossroads – about heaven,...

Matthew 26:36-56   Jesus' struggle in Gethsemane demonstrates to us some things we should be aware of as we go through our own trials while following God. It teaches us what to do when we experience difficulties we believe God should remove, but he doesn't. We need to be aware of: His presence His sovereignty His love   Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between. Connect with us...

How to Walk Numbers 26:8-10 Numbers 16:1-3   The Korahites and their heir followers didn't agree with God's way of ordering Israel's hierarchy of leadership, and they paid for their rebellion. It can be hard to walk with God because a lot of times he does things differently than how we would do them. His plans and goals don't always match up to our expectations, which is even harder when we can't...

Matthew 5:38-48   The undergirding principle of Christianity is love. Jesus modeled the idea of turning the other cheek by giving himself up on the cross. If Christ says "I am love," and we are supposed to imitate Christ, then our lives should reflect that same type of love. What dose God's love look like? God's love is sacrificial God's love is for everyone God's love is different   Crossroads –...

The story of God's relentless pursuit of us.   Genesis 2:15-22 He gave us each other so we could experience love that could touch us. We are God's "I love you!"   John 1:14 "I am with you."   Hebrews 12:2b Whatever it takes; everything it takes   John 15:26 "…and I will try… to fix you."   1 Corinthians 2:9 Heaven   Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between. Connect with us Cros...

Revelation 7:9-10   God wants all people to be with him, and he has called all of us to that mission. Who are we trying to reach: The unbelievers The unchurched The world with love   Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between. Connect with us Crossroads Linktree:  https://linktr.ee/CrossroadsFairOaks?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=29f93fab-45f2-4463-9a37-f4ad802326f8