WELCOME Thank you for joining us today! At The Crossing we like to say: “We are large enough to serve you and small enough to know you.” People ask how we are able to accomplish both. The answer is LifeGroups. A LifeGroup consists of a small group of people who meet at their homes. The purpose of LifeGroup is pretty simple – to do life together. In LifeGroups you will find a place where you can share, grow, and relate with people in your walk of life. If you are new to the church, we encourage you to stop by the Information Table in the Lobby and learn more about LifeGroups. Your Pastor, Greg and Tamara Dumas Pastor Greg & Tamara Dumas Lead Pastor
UPCOMING EVENTS Pastor Greg & Tamara Dumas to Preach LIVE in Reunion! At 1pm on February 6, Pastor Greg and Tamara Dumas will be joining the Celebration Campus to kick off the brand new series, “Textual Relationships.” This is a special service time which requires an equally special event - as a result, we are hosting a SUPER SUNDAY Tailgating Party before service at 11:30am right here in Reunion. Cookout lunch is free - just show up ready to connect as a community and welcome our Lead Pastor and his family!
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 Are you looking for a way to get to know more people and feel connected? The best way to do so is to join one of our LifeGroups. We are launching five more LifeGroups this month, and our current LifeGroups have been growing as they really get into the Word and LifeJournals. This is a great time to grow in your walk with the Lord and get to know people with whom you can share your life. Look for more information at the info table on Sunday mornings, or email Pastor Ed at earnold@crossingonline.org.
Emerge & Emerge JV Events Believe is an incredible, high-energy, mini-camp/conference for middle school students (6th - 8th grade). Students will experience dramas, live bands, powerful speakers, fun games, and much more. Believe will be held March 11 - 12 in Kissimmee. Cost is $125 and the cut-off date for registration is on February 5. All forms and money are due February 26. Donations are welcomed. For more information and forms, please go to: http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1410647093 Forward is an intense weekend where high school students (9th - 12th grade) encounter God through amazing messages and worship from internationally-known speakers and bands. Students will never be the same after this weekend. Forward will be held on June 22 - 26 in Duluth, GA. The cost is $300. Cut-off date for registration is March 1. You must have all forms and money turned in by June 1 to attend the conference. Donations are welcomed. For more information and forms, please see: http://www.mynewsletterbuilder.com/email/newsletter/1410647093
January Family Movie Night Have you been wondering how you can better connect as a family but just don’t know how? Crossing Kids is here to help! At 5pm on Sunday, Jan. 30, we are having our first Family Movie Night at the Hub where we’ll be watching the Prince of Egypt. This goes along with our Virtue of Determination, which the kids have been studying all month long. We look forward to seeing your family there!
For more announcement details: www.crossingonline.org/announcements-celebration-campus
Saturday, January 29 Sunday, January 30
WELCOME TO THE
CROSSING CHURCH
AWAKENING Faith, Fasting and Spiritual Freedom Matthew 9:14-17
Lead Pastor: Greg Dumas
SCRIPTURE Matthew 9:14-17 (NIV) Then John’s disciples came and asked him, “How is it that we and the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” 15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. 16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” 14
OBSERVATION • • • • •
New school fasting is about going to God to rejoice and celebrate His finished work in Jesus Christ, it’s not for mourning, or repentance, or to get God to change something. You must realize that you are totally forgiven and set free under the New Covenant of grace and that you can approach God will full assurance of his love for you. Fasting isn’t just for serious Christians in times of crisis! Fasting is like pressing the “reset” button for our souls (mind, will and emotions), and it works like a thorough house cleaning. Fasting clears away the debris of being worldly focused and allows us to return to our first love in Christ. Our emotions have time to rest, and reset and we regain the knowledge that the Lord is good and gracious to us at all times.
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APPLICATION 1. New School Fasting /New Covenant Fasting (Matt 9:14-17; Galatians 5:1; Romans 8:9,11; 1 Cor 3:16; Heb 13:5)
2. Pressing the RESET button (2 Cor 4:16; Rom 6:4; 2 Cor 3:18)
3. Power for your Willpower (Rev 2:4-5; Matt 11:29-30; Psalm 46:10; Isa 30:15; Psalm 131:2)
4. The God Experience (1 Cor 10:13; Psalm 34:8; Rom 5:20 KJV) ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________
PRAYER Lord, thank you that you took all of my sin and punishment and dealt with them at the cross. I am going to fast in order to draw closer to you. I now know that I don’t have to come asking for your forgiveness and feeling like a failure. You have already given me the power to live victoriously in your finished work. I am excited to fast and I look forward to getting the “gunk” out of my spiritual house. I know that you will freely accept my offering and fast, and my soul is ready to receive some much needed power to help propel my willpower. My spirit is willing and I want to follow you and know you more than ever before. I am willing to taste of this new spiritual food and see that you are indeed good.