WELCOME Merry Christmas! Thank you for joining us today at The Crossing Church. We are one church with two locations (Tampa and Celebration, FL). Whether this is your first time here or you’ve been a long time member, we are so thankful that you would consider The Crossing a place for you and your family during the Christmas season. We are looking forward to an amazing year, and we pray that you will be a big part of what the future holds. Your Pastor, Greg and Tamara Dumas Pastor Greg & Tamara Dumas Lead Pastor
UPCOMING EVENTS Sunday Service Time Beginning Sunday, Dec. 26 service times will permanently change to 9am, 11am, and 1pm. Sign language interpretation will be during the 9am service.
Christmas Office Hours and End of Year FInancial Gifts The church offices will be closed the week after Christmas: December 27-31. They will reopen Saturday, Jan. 1 with church services at 5pm and 7pm and Sunday at 9am, 11am, and 1pm permanently. End of year financial gifts may be mailed to the church but must be postmarked no later than midnight Dec. 31.
LifeGroups We believe life change is most effective when done within community. The purpose of LifeGroup is to study God’s Word together with a group of people who are in similar walks of life. It’s also a time for prayer, care, and when you miss…you are missed! For more information please contact Pastor Joey Adkins at jadkins@crossingonline.org.
On Campus LifeGroups Saturday night On Campus LifeGroups make it convenient for you to attend a LifeGroup during one of our main services. If you have children, no problem! Our children and preschool ministries are fully designed to provide care while you attend both a worship service and a LifeGroup on Saturday Night. For more information please contact Pastor Joey Adkins at jadkins@crossingonline.org.
Instruments of Change If you have any type of instrument sitting in your closet, there are children across the Bay Area who need it. Children who learn to play a musical instrument are more likely to graduate high school, attend college, avoid drugs and alcohol abuse, and score better on math and language tests. Show the Love of Christ in a practical way by donating a musical instrument. Go to www.instrumentsofchange.com and let us hear from you.
Spanish Campus Launch The Crossing Church is starting a new spanish campus for the Latin and Hispanic community beginning on Sunday, February 13 at 5pm meeting at the Tampa campus.
Care Ministries Care Ministries’ new season of Care Classes and Care Groups begin in January. For a list of care classes/groups, details and to register for classes, please see the website www.crossingonline.org/care-ministries for. Register before 1/5/2010 in order to get your books for the first class.
On Campus LifeGroups are an 18-week discipleship process that will help you discover and apply Biblical truths in your everyday life. Join us January 22 in The Life Center as we learn how God has designed each of us to connect, grow, and go. Register at: www.crossingonline.org/news. •
Warm Up: January 9
For more announcement details: www.crossingonline.org/announcements
Saturday, December 23 Sunday, December 24
WELCOME TO THE
CROSSING CHURCH
LOVE IS STILL ALIVE In our Faith and in our Feet Romans 10:1-17
Lead Pastor: Greg Dumas
SCRIPTURE Romans 10:1-17 (MSG)
OBSERVATION • • •
Religion is man trying desperately to find their way to God. Salvation in Christ Jesus is God making His way to human beings. We don’t have to do anything to receive Christ except believe and receive. Every religion in the world propounds its story and states its standards for living, but no other religion in the world claims the veracity and historicity of Christianity. Faith in Christ Jesus as Lord is the line of demarcation that uniquely sets Christianity apart from other world religions.
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
APPLICATION What does it mean to “trust” Jesus? Q: “All of this sounds really great but I have never understood what it means to ‘trust Jesus.’” A: First, trusting in Christ means that you’re not relying upon yourself, but on Christ to get you into heaven. We cannot get to heaven by doing good deeds, or things that we think will make us acceptable to God. Rather, we need to be forgiven of our sins, realizing that Jesus died for our sins. And what He did for us on the cross is the only way to have our sins forgiven. The Bible says ... • “All the [Old Testament] prophets testify about him [Jesus] that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” (Acts 10:43) • “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” (Ephesians 1:7) After someone trusts in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, a new life begins -- “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2Cor. 5:17) The person becomes a follower of Christ. As a follower of Christ, a person relies upon Jesus in other areas of their life, not just for forgiveness of sin.
APPLICATION Continued... For example, Jesus said that He is the Teacher (John 13:13-14). He told his disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to them, and that the Holy Spirit would teach them all things (John 14:26) and guides them into all truth (John 16:13). God teaches a person his ways and his truth. In terms of our values and our behavior, He cleans out stuff in our thinking that’s not right and shows us from His perspective what is correct. This is another way in which God loves us. He is the One who knows all truth, and he wants us to build our lives on his truth. Jesus said ... • “Everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7:24-25) • “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) • “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29) The most important part of following Christ is to learn from Him. By relying on Christ as our Teacher, he guides us into living a new life that is according to his will and is according to truth. He shows us how to live, and will even guide us in how to pray. When we learn what he wants from us, then we rely on his strength and power (the Holy Spirit) to do those things. Following Christ is all about relying upon him. He told his disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Above taken from © EveryStudent.com
________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
PRAYER Lord, thank you for making salvation possible! Thank you for coming to the earth and showing us what love looks like. You are Jesus, The Son of God. You are The Promised Christ! You were born of a virgin, you lived a sinless life, you died in my place and you have risen from the dead. One day soon, you are coming back to judge the living and the dead. Thank you for coming and humbling yourself as a man. Thank you for living a life that was perfectly free from the contamination of sin. Thank you for dying for my sin on the cross at Calvary. Thank you for that fact that your resurrection has given me new life.