Crossing Family, At one point each of us must face difficult situations and seasons in our lives that force us to make seemingly impossible choices. This weekend we will be looking at Daniel and how in the face of life’s most difficult situations, he chose to honor God and no matter what the cost might have been. We hope that this weekend you are encouraged to honor God in every difficult situation and season you face. Praying for you, Greg & Tamara Dumas
MARCH’S KP3 FOCUS: PEOPLE Week 2 Big Idea: Loving others means never giving up. Scripture: Galatians 6:9-10 Mom & Dad… Sometimes it gets a little hard to always do good. But the bible says that we should not grow weary of doing good. Help your child to learn that when we help others, God can give us the strength to keep on doing it! DO YOU LOVE KIDS? We need volunteers to help with our 1st Wednesday services each month with our elementary aged children (kindergarten through 5th grade). If you love kids and want to be a part of Crossing Kids’ exciting 1st Wednesday service, please contact Kim Gore at kgore@crossingonline.org. INSTRUMENTS OF CHANGE AT CLAIR MEL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL Volunteers who have some expertise in playing band instruments are needed to work with beginning band students at Clair Mel Elementary School on Thursdays from 3:30 PM to 4:30 PM. High School students can get service hour credit for this activity. Donations of musical instruments are also greatly appreciated. Please contact Donna Ready at: 863-688-1243 or dready_18@hotmail.com
CONNECT AND GROW FIRST IMPRESSIONS Do you have a smile? Would you like to share it? Are you new and want to meet really awesome people? Join the First Impressions family as a Parker, Ambassador, Usher, First Responder or Café volunteer. We serve every other week and bless others with a smile, handshake, donut or BIG FOAM FINGER! LEOs and Medical personnel are also needed for our First Responders team. For more information, contact Pete Wheeler at pwheeler@crossingonline.org or visit our webpage at www.crossingonline.org/firstimpressions. We look forward to serving with you! PASSOVER SEDER DINNER Come, participate and Ccelebrate as Yeshua and his disciples did before his death on the cross. A traditional Passover Seder dinner, March 31st or April 2nd at 6:30pm. Tickets $20.00. Will be held at our For Zion’s Sake Ministries (our local Jewish partner), 1010 John Moore Rd. 33511 Call 813-413-4776 and RESERVE NOW.
The 26.2 Spiritual Race is intricately designed with you in mind! Through the different 26.2 Experiences, you can learn more about The Crossing and its leadership, become involved in a LifeGroup, and understand more about your spiritual gifts. We encourage everyone to join in the race! Register for all the 26.2 Experiences at www.crossingonline.org. The next experience dates are: • Warm-Up: March 28, registration closes March 21 • Starting Line: May 22 and 23, registration closes May 15 • Mile One: June 27, registration closes June 20 • Pushing Through: March 20, registration closes March 14 • Momentum: April 24, registration closes April 18 • Pass it On: March 20, registration closes March 14 WWW.TWITTER.COM/CROSSINGONLINE
FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT WWW.CROSSINGONLINE.ORG/ANNOUNCEMENTS
PRE-MARITAL Before You Say Your Vows... Before you pick out the wedding dress or order the invitations, make sure you and your partner understand the role God plays in your marriage. Whether you’re engaged or dating, we want to help you establish a foundation for an enduring union. This two-day premarriage class will provide practical tools to help you maintain a strong, successful marriage. Each two-day class consists of a Friday night session, 7:00-9:00 p.m. and a Saturday session, 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. Spring PreMarital meets on Friday, April 30, and Saturday, (Need a space here)May 1, 2010. The cost to participate is $60 per couple. The Crossing Church is a Hillsborough County approved provider; a Certificate of Completion will be provided at the end of the class. Childcare is NOT available for this class. Please register online at http://www.crossingonline.org/pre-marital-class
Saturday, March 13 Sunday, March 14 Epic Journey: Through the Bible The Book of Daniel
WELCOME TO THE CROSSING CHURCH
Daniel 1:8; 4:17
Lead Pastor: Greg Dumas
SCRIPTURE Daniel 1:8 (NIV) But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way.
OBSERVATION Daniel resolved (decided-purposed) in his heart to obey (serve-honor) God Daniel’s actions were couched in wisdom, respect and tact Daniel achieved excellence in his work Daniel used his influence, intelligence, and position to serve people (His leaders-foreign people-Hebrews) Daniel studied the culture but wasn’t absorbed by it, he maintained his integrity
APPLICATION Conviction over Conformity (Daniel chapter 1) Business Trips Neighbors Work atmosphere/School Environment Spring Break/Vacations/Weekends Social Networking/Internet/ Television/Movies
Revelation over Religion (Daniel chapter 2)
Salvation of God over the Salvation of an Administration (Daniel chapter 3)
The Fiery Furnace: Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego
Approval of God over the Acceptance of Man (Daniel chapter 4) Eternal reward over Earthly Riches (Daniel chapter 5) Courage over Compromise (Daniel chapter 6) Wisdom and Tact (James 3:13-18; Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
PRAYER Lord, you are sovereign over every situation and every season in heaven and on earth. You are sovereign over my coming in and my going out. You see every situation, every opportunity, every crossroads, every obstacle to my faith and choice for you. You know every season, those I’ve come through, those I will face today and those that will arise in the future. I can trust you with my life. I will trust you and serve you. I won’t give my worship to anyone but you. I won’t give my worship to anything but you, for you alone are worthy to receive all of the honor and glory that is due to your name. You are God alone.
LIFEGROUPS Use the following as a resource for your LifeGroup to go deeper with this week’s message. We hope this helps you as you “do life together”. Opener: What’s the last great movie you recently saw? In what ways did the movie you shared about change your life? If you answered that it didn’t change your life, how can you be sure? If the movie did indeed affect you – how does that happen? How does a night of entertainment reach into our souls and affect our thinking and living? Don’t get too psychological, but do have some discussion. Digging Deeper: This week, Pastor Greg unpacked the history and prophecy of the Book of Daniel. This account records the faithfulness of an amazing man in the midst of an immoral nation. There just might be a correlation to our present day! Read again the pivotal passage in Daniel: Chapter 1, verse 8. Also look in your notes in your Bible as well as the introduction to Daniel. What did you discover as to why Daniel might have considered it defilement to partake of the King’s food and wine? How do you even understand the word defile in this context? Is Daniel worried about calories and saturated fat? What’s so important to Daniel about not being defiled by the Babylonian world in which he found himself? Do more research: Check out verses 15 and 20 in Chapter 1. What are the very plain results of Daniel’s choices not to dilute himself with the surrounding culture? Are there any clear conclusions we can make between Daniel’s resolve and the outcomes we read in these two verses? Application: Let’s get extremely practical. What does resolve look like today? What things in our own “Babylon” do we need to refrain from partaking in so as not to defile ourselves? Does it even really matter anymore? (This is NOT an attempt to have you boycott anything – just a platform to consider what we ingest into our souls.) How can you be successful at being resolved in something? What does accountability look like in your life? Does anyone in your LifeGroup know you’ve made a decision in your heart to keep from defiling yourself? Let it be known – tonight!