WELCOME Welcome to The Crossing Church! Can you believe it’s December? In many parts of the country the seasons change as December draws near, but we are blessed to live in sunny Florida! Speaking of being blessed, sometimes it’s easy to forget how God has blessed our lives. We are in a time of year where it is better to “give than receive.” I pray that during this upcoming Christmas season, God would show each of us how truly blessed we are and that we have opportunities to share with others through a heart of giving.
Pastor Greg & Tamara Dumas Lead Pastor
Your Pastor, Greg and Tamara Dumas
UPCOMING EVENTS Pastor Greg has been walking us through the story of Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the protective wall that surrounded Jerusalem. Through this series we have learned that we have a good work to be a part of, and that by putting our hands to this work, we can accomplish the impossible. On the weekend of December 11-12 we will be taking a special offering that will give us the chance to invest in what God is doing through the ministries of The Crossing Church. Something to consider as you give: There are some companies who will match their employee’s charitable giving. Please be in prayer as to how God would lead you to give.
Giving Online If you would like to give securely online, simply go to https://members.crossingonline.org/ and follow the links located on the left side of the page. For further information, call our church offices at 888.977.9910.
Celebration Campus Welcome Booklet Online Are you interested in hearing more about The Crossing Church – Celebration Campus? We now have the welcome booklet online at celebration.crossingonline.org.
Lifegroups LifeGroups are underway, and if you haven’t signed up yet, it’s never too late! Please e-mail your interest and information to Shayla Yancey at: syancey@crossingonline.org and we will make sure to get you connected!
Christmas Eve Shoes This Christmas we are reaching out to our community and giving out of the abundance God has blessed us with to help others in need. On Christmas Eve, at the end of each of the services, we will be asking everyone to leave their shoes behind. Our goal is to collect 500 pairs of shoes to donate to a local charity that will give these shoes away to people in need right here in Central Florida! These shoes will be a blessing not only to those here, but any surplus will go to Haiti to help the people there. So wear a pair of shoes and go home without, or bring a pair to give and leave them at the end of the night. Be a part of the blessing that The Crossing Church will be to our community this Christmas Eve.
For more announcement details: www.crossingonline.org/announcements-celebration-campus
Saturday, December 11 Sunday, December 12
WELCOME TO THE
CROSSING CHURCH
NEHEMIAH PROJECT Celebration and Offering Nehemiah 12:43
Lead Pastor: Greg Dumas
SCRIPTURE Nehemiah 12:43 (NIV) And on that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced. The sound of rejoicing in Jerusalem could be heard far away. 43
OBSERVATION • • •
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Jesus sets us free from a dead-end life of sin, which enslaves us. Jesus bought our freedom with His blood, and the price He paid set us free. The Lord has made us glad with His mighty works. The wicked will perish, but the righteous will stand forever. When we declare that we want NOTHING more than Christ, we are asking Him to turn up the heat of the refiner’s fire. The Lord promises to bless us abundantly if we follow His commands and precepts.
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Christ is the fullness of all things and God’s indescribable gift to us.
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APPLICATION 1. FREEDOM - DECLARED BY GOD (Exodus chapter 5) Romans 6:6-8 (TLB); John 8:33-36 (MSG) 2. REDEMPTION - BLOOD BOUGHT (Exodus chapter 12) John 1:29 (NIV); Colossians 1:13 (TLB) 3. DELIVERANCE - PARTING OF THE RED SEA (Exodus chapter 14) Psalms 92:4,11-15 (NIV) 4. GOD’S PROVING - WANDERING IN THE DESERT (Exodus chapters 15-17) Psalms 110:4 (NKJV) 5. GOD’S PROMISE - CROSSING OVER (Joshua chapter 1-6) Deuteronomy 11:8-9 (NIV)
APPLICATION Continued... •
NEHEMIAH OFFERING (Nehemiah 12:43)
Prayer: 2 Chronicles 7:13-16 (NIV) 13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 6. GOD’S GIFT - CHRIST JESUS Romans 4:16 (MSG) 16 …God’s promise arrives as pure gift. That’s the only way everyone can be sure to get in on it, those who keep the religious traditions and those who have never heard of them. For Abraham is father of us all. He is not our racial father—that’s reading the story backwards. He is our faith father. John 11:25-26 (NIV) 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
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PRAYER Father God, thank you for giving us salvation in Christ Jesus. His sacrifice is a gift that is indescribable. It’s beyond human comprehension and utterly unsearchable. Lord Jesus, you made the way because you ARE the way, and you are the truth, and you are the life. You are our resurrection, and you are our eternal portion. Thank you for hanging on the cross of death and dying for my sin and me. You took the pain and shame and the penalty that would have judged me throughout all of eternity. Lord, sometimes I find myself asking why? Why did you do such a thing? Why did you humble yourself and come to earth in the likeness of a man to suffer so greatly for me? I know, Lord, your answer is always the same. I can hear you speaking even now, “I did it because I’ve always loved you.”