I've Got Something To Say

There's something to be said when the body of Christ comes together to do something greater than themselves.  Yesterday the Crossroads Church of Fredericksburg family spent the day with the Common Ground church family and worshiped together in the morning and then we spent our afternoon serving the community right in our back yard!  The only way that this would work is if we had plenty of volunteers.  We had hotdogs, hamburgers, and plenty of caring people that reached out to share a meal with our community in downtown Fredericksburg.

We had Volleyball games, corn hole, horseshoes and face painting for the kids.  People stopped by and were blessed with free food and a chance to hang out with our churches.  

Our purpose as believers should be to share the love of Jesus with those who are truly in need of hearing about the hope that is in each one of us.  Our mission is to see Jesus' name proclaimed in the Fredericksburg area and beyond.  Thanks to all those who made this afternoon possible.

Luke 19:10 (NLT)

"For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”  

The Battle for Our Broken Lives

Stories about redemption get me.  And I don't mean like it just gives me the warm fuzzies.  It gets me and I weep and cry and rejoice when I see a story of redemption.  Especially when all odds are against a situation and then at the 11th hour the tide changes and the good guy ends up winning.  Why do redemption stories tug at our hearts?  Because the very one that created us also created a way for us to be redeemed. 

I was watching a tv show the other day and really started to question my watching it until I got to the end.  Like many network tv dramas there are four or five plot lines and everyone of them are riddled with people making wrong choices and hurting one another and making their lives miserable.  But the cool thing about this show is that even though mistakes are made they are trying and striving to do the right thing.  Unfortunately they don't acknowledge that Jesus is one thing they need to redeem their lives but this particular episode had some real redemptive threads.  One of the main characters in the story is kinda a happy go lucky guy that tries to please everyone.  He and his fiance' broke off their engagement because the guy messed up and made some seriously bad decisons.  And then after that his fiance wanted nothing to do with him even though they have a son together.  But today this story took a turn for the best.

In spite of their differences they decided to get married and make it work because they truly loved each other.  It was a powerful moment.  It was a moment that had implications not only for their own lives but the life of their son.  The look on the little boys face when the mom and dad called him over to tell them that they were going to try and work things out was priceless.  It got me.

Wow, why do I get so crazy emotional when I hear redemption stories?  Because, it's my heart's desire  to see people give Jesus permission to come in and change their lives, to give Him permission to repair them, take away their sins and make them into the creation that they were meant to be.  Have you given the creator permission to come in and redeem your life?  If you do, it not only will impact your life but it will impact the lives of others around you!

One of my all time favorite stories in the New Testament is in Mark chapter 2. Four guys went to great lengths for this man to meet Jesus. How many of us are willing to partner today with other believers so that the one who needs a healing touch can meet Jesus? Verse five says that seeing their faith he forgave him of his sins and then in verse 11 he healed him! Your relationship with God not only has a dramatic effect in your own life but your relationship and faith in God has an amazing effect on the lives of those around you!!!

Last night as I was brainstorming for a message my daughter Maggie walked in the door from a Young Life meeting.  She was telling me about someone that came to the meeting who was totally fired up about Jesus.  It got Maggie fired up hanging out with this person.  The fire was catching! 

After Maggie ran off to the kitchen and grabbed some leftovers from dinner, I began thinking about my message I asked God, "Can you give me a pill that would make me fired up about you like that?"  God showed me that we are either in the race or not. If anyone has ever done cross country or ran long distance you know that the race is long and there are amazing times in a race where you are euphoric and excited and there are times where you are just trying to push through.  What can we do to get fired up?

1.  Engage!  Get in the race! 

2.  Be in fellowship with other believers that are encouraging you in your daily walk with God.  (Think of how    Maggie was fired up because she came in contact with someone who was fired up at the meeting!)

3.  Spend time with God.  (The kid that was fired up just came back from a retreat.)

4.  Share with others what God is revealing to you!

This weekend at Crossroads we are beginning a series called "Thrive Not Just Survive".  Come Sunday morning and get in the game!


-Pastor Andy

God did some miraculous things in our midst during the Christmas season here at Crossroads.  We were so blessed to be able to share the Good News with many people that needed to know that there is Hope, and that God has not forgotten them and neither has the church.  

I can hardly believe that 2012 is here!  It seems like just yesterday our launch team was praying and fasting in my basement in North Stafford seeking God to see if it was His will to launch a new ministry.  I look back and marvel at how God put together a team that has stood by in good times and bad to see this church become a reality. God has blessed this ministry and we have seen God provide to get us to where we are.  My encouragement to you today is to pray that God will continue to provide resources so that we can make a big deal about Jesus this year.

We've had ten services and already we have seen God's hand in touching people's lives.  We answered the call to start a church and He provided for us a place to meet right in downtown Fredericksburg.  Thank you Jesus!  God was looking for a place that His Spirit can reside and His impact is already being felt in our neighborhood, the surrounding area and beyond!  Since October we have identified local and global missions to seed into financially.  I am most excited however for all those that have started attending Crossroads on a regular basis.  God is growing the church in a lot of different ways but mostly through the common bond we all share through Jesus Christ.  It is my heart that we continue to reach out to those who are in need so that they can see the salvation of the Lord.  Micah 6:8 says:

"...The LORD has told you what is good,and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God." What is our mission at Crossroads?  To be an authentic community of Christ Followers.  We are sinners saved by God's grace and we are desiring to show people that the church can be real, relavant and relational.  Our desire is to provide a place for God's presence to reside and that we go for God with everything we have and bring as many people alongside us as possibile.  

Keep us in your prayers as we continue to answer the call that God has on our lives!  

Twitter Insight

This morning I had my cup of coffee and read through my devotions.  I read a couple of meaningful verses so I decided to share them on Twitter and put #comforting at the end of both tweets.  It got me thinking so I did a search on #comforting.  Here's some of the responses I found.

"Mrs. Smith is the best counselor ever." #comforting
"Sometimes a hug is all you need." #comforting
"Can somebody vox me I want to hear a familiar voice." #comforting
"I really miss what I used to have with my dad, but it was nice talking to him today when I was stressed out." #comforting  
And the picture above was a photo that was tagged, you guessed it, #comforting
And I especially loved this one, "Just checking in real quick" http://tinyurl.com/bltdg3j  ...okay good." #comforting

People are looking to be comforted.  And people will go to great lengths to feel comforted.  They want to know that there is something constant in their life and even when things do change they long for the constant to return.

There is only one constant in this world.  "The Lord your God goes with you; he will NEVER leave you nor FORSAKE you" (Deuteronomy 31:5 NIV).  #comforting

Some of us look to counselors, a physical touch, a phone call, a reuniting of what was a good relationship with your father, and even checking in to see that the blog that boasts the same picture day after day is still up and running.  It's good to feel comfort in the midst of struggle.  My prayer for you this morning is that you will turn to God in your time of need and receive from Him the love that you are craving today.  He's truly a comfort in our time of need.

"The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life" (Psalm 121:7 NLT). #comforting

Thankful? Yes, Yes I Am

"Let us genuinely give thanks to the one continues to give and bless." -Derrel Emmerson


Pastor Derrel was and is a major influence in my life.  I grew up listening to his sermons, sometimes more attentively than others!  He is a faithful man of God and is always reminding me of God's blessings in our lives.  


This is Thanksgiving week and many of us are rushing around trying to get last minute items for the big feast!  I saved the day for our big feast.  We were so busy with things that we almost forgot to take the bird out to thaw!  I can't take complete credit for that because my sister in law, Maria put a Facebook update that she took her bird out yesterday!  Thanks, Maria!  


This morning I thought of all the amazing things that God has done to show me his faithfulness in my family and the Crossroads church family.  Crossroads has now been holding Sunday services for four weeks. We have an amazing volunteer staff that has been doing an incredible job getting to the church at 8:30am and setting up.  God has truly blessed us and I am truly thankful for each person on the team!


There is a moment right before the service starts.  We all get together to pray for those coming to the service that day.  It's a short prayer usually.  But what that prayer does for me is amazing.  We all have been running around setting up and making sure that things are ready. The prayer is that pause before the start of the service, nursery, and children's church.  That moment is a constant reminder why we are here every Sunday morning.  It's that time that I invite Him to come.  It's the point when I recognize we are here to worship Him!  It's the time that I let everything else go and pray that our human preparation plus the presence of the Holy Spirit will come together and we will see God's salvation that morning!  


"He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer" (Psalm 102:17 KJV).


Be Thankful!

Thankful Heart

Last week was a beautiful weekend in spite of the rain, sleet and snow!  Our fall festival was a success, not because we got our name out in our little neighborhood, but because we were faithful in the little things.  God says in his word that if we are faithful in the little things he will give us bigger things. (my paraphrase)  I've been around churches all my life and I love the stage that Crossroads Church of Fredericksburg is at.  After our fall festival was over and we had washed the last pan and cleaned up the last crumb on the floor, we all got together in a circle and prayed. We prayed that the seeds that were sown and we prayed for people to come to Jesus in our generation.  Afterward, we looked at each other and realized that we'd never forget this day! What happened on Saturday spilled over into Sunday morning at our first service and here it is Friday and I'm still marveling!

Have you lost that joy?  Do you wish you could be a part of what God is up to where he's planted you?  Look around!  Be thankful and ask God to use you right where you are at.  Join in where God is at work!  And if you want to join a church where God is at work, come visit us at CCF this Sunday morning @ 1915 Charles Street  @ 10AM in Old Town Fredericksburg!  

-Pastor Andy

Conversation

"Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone"(Colossians 4:6 NLT).

Have you ever been around someone who seems to say just the right thing at just the right time?  And when they do talk they attract people when they start talking?

Knowing God has been so gracious in our lives we should show grace in our conversations with others.  If our conversations are sprinkled with grace it's hard to be critical.  It's hard to be unpleasant.  And what does it mean to be attractive?  Do I use a lot of big words with people to make my conversation attractive?  I looked up attractive in the Greek and in this case it means, "seasoned with salt". We should choose to work grace into all of our conversations and we should choose our words carefully asking God for wisdom so that we can respond in a Godly way to every situation.  

Prayer:  Lord let us be led by your spirit, speaking the truth in such a way that is going to promote life change in us and the people around us. 

Amazing Grace

October 18, 2011

16 This is what the LORD says:
“Stop at the crossroads and look around.
Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.
Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.
But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’

During my devotional time this afternoon,  God reminded me not to forget that assurance I received so many years ago.  My relationship with Christ began at a tender age of 7.  Yes, 7.  I learned about the work of the cross when an evangelist was speaking at our little Baptist Church one Sunday night.  He shared the story of the cross and he said, "And he did all this for you!"  As a 7 year old I immediately understood the sacrifice that was made for me and I was compelled by that.  I went home and couldn't stop thinking about it and I asked Christ into my life in my room that night.  I remember the feeling of complete peace that surrounded me.  

Fast forward a few years later when I entered High School.  I was trying to walk down a path that didn't include Christ.  I was the one that was saying, "No, that's not the road I want!"  I won't lie to you.  I had some great times when I wasn't following Christ.  But there was always this constant battle that was going on in my life.  I was riding the fence so to speak and definitely was being torn in two directions, until that moment I stopped and took stock of what I was doing and decided I was going to jump in with both feet.  No more riding the fence, I was going to follow the path that God had laid out for me.  

40 years later I still need to be reminded not to forget His amazing power to save.  I need to take a moment and remember the peace that flooded my room that night so long ago.  

Take a moment today and thank God for His Amazing Grace.

-Pastor Andy

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Good Monday Morning!

It's week three of our 30 day challenge at Crossroads.  We have challenged and encouraged each other to read the Bible for 30 minutes, pray for 30 minutes, write down God's revelation, AND share Christ with one person that week.  Fortunately, in order to make this happen we have accountability partners who are calling each other on a daily basis to encourage each other.  The testimonies have been awesome and we are seeing God at work in our lives and the lives of others around us.

All of us have a story.  Facebook, Tweet, Blog, and get on the City and share what God is up to!!!  I'm looking forward to seeing what God will do when we read His love letter to us, talk with Him and share what God is doing in our lives with someone this week!  It's amazing what can happen when God joins together a community of believers and works in and through them to bring God's light to a neighborhood, community, city, a nation and the world.  The light that shines the farthest shines the brightest at home.

Prayer:  Lord let your word come alive in our lives and the lives of those around us.


"And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47 NLT)

-Pastor Andy

 11 Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die;save them as they stagger to their death.12 Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.”For God understands all hearts, and he sees you.  He who guards your soul knows you knew (Proverbs 24:11,12 NLT).  


I love to read novels by John Grisham.  Recently I read "The Confession" which is about a man who walks into the office of a pastor and confesses to a grisly murder and tells the pastor that another man is about to be wrongly executed for the crime that he committed.  The pastor has a choice.  He either gets involved and tries to stop the execution or he looks the other way and does nothing.  It is a very compelling story and there are many twists and turns but the Big Picture is what this pastor does.  He violates the murderers parole and goes on a journey that will change his life forever.


As I read Proverbs this morning that novel came to my mind.  I thought about what would have happened if the Pastor walked away from the situation and didn't act.  In verse 12 of Chapter 24 in Proverbs it says that the people say, "we didn't know".  But the Lord who guards your soul knows you knew.  


As I searched my heart this morning I thought of a young man that came to me for help.  He needed something.  I was busy getting ready for a meeting and almost said, please come back later but God prompted me to listen to his story.  As I did my heart was compeled to act.  After the service I shared with him from what we had.  I listened to God's prompting.  As you go about your day today ask God to open your eyes.  Each of us are leaving a legacy.  What is the legacy that you are leaving?


“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ (Matthew 25:40).

Good Tuesday Morning to You!

This is day 9 for me in the 30 day challenge and I am amazed at how God is using the Holy Spirit to bring understanding as I read.  It does come alive!  I am finding that the Words on the page that I am reading really are applying to the situations I have encountered in the past few days.  

Today I read in Isaiah that God's arm is not too short and his hearing is good so when we cry out to him he will hear us.  Then I turned to Philippians and it says,  "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns" (Phil. 1:6 NLT).

This pursuit of God is a daily routine, but don't let it become routine!  Ask God to bring the Word that you read alive today!   Embrace it, Obey it, and let it change you into the person God has designed you to be.

"The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet; it runs after me; it has hands; it lays hold of me." 

-Martin Luther

It's the end of the first week of the 30 day challenge and already I am seeing how it has revolutionized my prayer time and time in the Word.  My outlook towards those around me have changed dramatically.

True story:  So, I am getting towards the end of my week and I am really praying to ask God to show me who to share my faith with this week.  If anyone knew what was going on in my brain while going about my day they probably would have thought I was a bit crazy.  I would look at people and literally ask God is this the one I am supposed to share with!  I got home from a particularly crazy day of substitute teaching and God was speaking to me to pray specifically.  So I prayed a quick prayer that God would lead me to someone to help along their discipleship journey with Christ.  As I did that I found myself in a conversation with an old friend that had moved out of the area and moved back recently.  My friend told me that reconnecting with God was hard and that he was fearful because he had walked away from God.  I shared with him that God's arms are always open and that He always welcomes us back.  We started talking and in that process God gave me some things for him to do to reconnect.

As I finished that conversation I walked away with such an amazing feeling of joy!  There is nothing like asking God to use you and then having the Holy Spirit present the situation in such a simple amazing way.

Prayer:  Thanks God for using this 30 day challenge to help me to think of others before myself.  Help me to be led by your Spirit every day and lead people into relationship with you. 

This morning God showed me during my prayer time that I need to pray specifically.  I need to let him know exactly what my needs are and ask others to pray along with me.  Yesterday, I shared this with accountability partner and he prayed for something that I shared with him.  This morning without going into detail, God answered that prayer!  It's amazing to see how God wants to interact with our everyday lives.  He cares about even the smallest details of our lives. 

http://bible.us/Ps17.7.NIV

“I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you what is good for you
and leads you along the paths you should follow. (Isaiah 48:17 NLT). 

I read this scripture in Isaiah and believe it is for you.  This morning I am believing that God is the one that teaches us what is good and that He will lead us where we should go.  Simple, but true.  He is a faithful God, and He shows us His faithfulness to us over and over in His word.  

Prayer:  Father I pray that you would show us your path and make it clear to us.  I pray that you would reveal yourself through scripture and that through your Holy Spirit you would reveal to us your perfect plan for our lives.

• Read in the Word 30 minutes a day.
• Pray 30 minutes a day
• Journal: Write down what God shows you in your prayer and reading time
• Share Christ with one person each week
• Hold another person accountable to these things on a daily basis.

My blog for the next thirty days is to chronicle this challenge.  I want to share with you the effects of this discipline and hopefully you will be encouraged to go deeper in your relationship with God.

October 3

This morning I woke up and walked across the hallway to the office and opened my laptop and turned to http://www.youversion.com  (The Bible).  I turned to the one year Bible devotional and read Isaiah 44:3 http://bible.us/Isa44.3.NLT which says, 3 For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields.  And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children.  Now when I woke up this morning I was thinking and praying because one of the comments that someone in our church made to me was that he was feeling dry spiritually.  I immediately emailed him this scripture and thought how cool it was that in less than two minutes of devotional and prayer time that God opened my eyes to see how this scripture could speak life to someone who was asking God to quench their spiritual thirst.  


Prayer: Father I pray that you would quench our thirst every time we sit down and pray and read your Word.  Thank you that it's life to those who listen and most importantly, help us to apply it to our daily lives.

Wisdom: Get some

I was reading my devos this morning and was reading from two amazing books written by Solomon, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs.  Now we know that Solomon was a man.  A powerful man because of his position of King.  His father was King David, man after God's own heart and mom was Bathsheba.  So, Solomon was probably a good looking guy who hopefully loved God as much as his dad.  He was smart too.  He asked for wisdom and he got it. 

The great thing for us living in the 21st century is the fact that he didn't just keep all this wisdom to himself or his people.  God used Solomon to share wisdom with people throughout the ages.  Recommendation?  Ask for wisdom and read a Proverb a day.  There are 31 chapters in Proverbs so you can read the whole book in a month if you read one chapter a day. 

"Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse."  http://bible.us/Phil4.8.MSG

Who Will Be The Chosen Ones

Well, football season is upon us.  The NFL lock out has ended and we are all putting our hopes and dreams in our favorite teams. Wouldn't it be awesome if your team took a ride to the play-offs and maybe even the super bowl?

Sports stories are always moving to me.  I watched the NFL channel's biography on the Sharp brothers and saw the rags to riches story.  The drive that was in Shannon Sharpe enabled him to be one of the chosen few to enter into the Hall of Fame this past weekend.  But if someone hadn't looked his way, if someone hadn't given him a chance at a small school, we might never had seen that amazing tight end that wowed us with his amazing presence on the gridiron.  Someone gave him a chance. 

One of my favorite football movies is The Blind Side which is the story about Michael Oher.  Here is a boy full of promise in the gifting department, but he had so much against him.  Until one day, when someone took him into their family and called him their own.  It reminds me how all of us that have believed are adopted into the family of God.  We all have been created by God.  We all have gifts and talents that He's given us.  But we were born into a sinful world and that isn't something you can just shake off.  Thank God we had a loving Father who sacrificed His son on a cross so that we might have eternal life and be able to enter into a relationship with God.

Yes, I'm a sucker for a good football story of the one kid that made it to the big leagues.  And I'm also eternally grateful for the chance that God gives all of us if we accept the gospel and turn our lives over to the Father.  It gives me peace knowing that He is the God above all other gods and has the power over life and death.  That same God that created the universe invites us to be a part of His family.  Won't you join Him?  Won't you step into the blessings that God has for you today?  

-Pastor Andy

Community, we need it...

Four years ago, I went to Indonesia with Sean Feucht and shared an amazing trip of ministering to churches, and worshiping God and igniting a movement that is still going on today.  I had never met the majority of the team members until I arrived there.  We were on the island of Bali.

One afternoon after I ate lunch with Sean,  and the guys got together and surfed (I tried to!) the waves of Bali. That evening I sat on the beach that evening and watched the sun set.  I remember a profound feeling of enjoyment of God's creation but there was something missing.  I missed sharing this experience with my wife Missy.  I promised myself if I ever got back to Southeast Asia I would bring Missy with me to share the experience.  As amazing as the experience of that trip was, it's nothing if you aren't able to share the experience with someone that you love and care about.  We need community with others.

God created us.  And when he did he said it was good.  In fact after he spent a week creating all this cool stuff he looked at it and said that it was very good!  Until he saw Adam and said, "It is not good for man to be alone, I will provide a helper that is just right for him (Gen. 2:20NLT).

Adam had everything.  He had a perfect relationship with God, the task of caring for the garden of Eden.  If that was me?  I would do my job, enjoy the presence of the Lord and that would have been a great life!  But God saw that something was missing.  A relationship with someone he can share life with.

Church should be like this.  We need each other.  We need to share the amazing experience of our relationship with God with others.   God understood that we needed this community from the very beginning.  Share life with others today.  Join in where God is at work and grab a friend to come alongside and join in the mission.