WELCOME Dear friends and guests, Thank you for joining us at The Crossing Church – Celebration campus. Today marks the beginning of a great future together. Several months ago, Celebrate Church and The Crossing Church began a relationship that has grown and transformed into what you will experience today. God has made it clear to us that He is up to something great in the Orlando area, and we are so excited to become part of this movement. For the next few weeks, Pastor Tim Ingram will be delivering a series of messages on the core values of The Crossing Church. It is our prayer that through this time God would truly join our hearts together. If you have any questions, please be sure to talk with one of our staff members before you leave today. Pastor Greg & Tamara Dumas Lead Pastor
Looking forward to what God has in store! Your Pastor, Greg and Tamara Dumas, Lead Pastor – The Crossing Church
UPCOMING EVENTS Celebration Campus Welcome Booklet Online Are you interested to hear more about The Crossing Church – Celebration Campus? We now have the welcome booklet online at www.crossingonline.org/celebration-campus.
Lifegroups LifeGroups are underway, and if if you haven’t signed up yet, it’s never too late! Please e-mail your interest and information to celebrate@celebratechurch.org and we will make sure to get you connected!
Next Gen Ministries Weekend Conference If you serve in the nursery, CK, or youth ministries, please join us at The Hub on October 8 from 7-9pm and October 9 from 9am-1:30pm. There will be training specifically for each ministry, so it is very important for all who serve in the Next Gen Ministries to attend.
Student Ministries (6th - 12th grade) The Youth Fall retreat will be on November 12-14 at The Crossing Church-Tampa campus. Cost is $75 per person, or $65 for the first 20 people who give a $35 deposit. Bus transportation will be provided. Please watch your mail for more information.
The Fraternity: Calling All Men! All men are invited to join us on Monday nights at The Hub at 7pm as we journey through the Robert Lewis series, “The Quest for Authentic Manhood.” This series will change your life and help you to become the man God intends for you to be. Join us from 7-8pm, and then hang out and watch some Monday Night Football afterwards.
Fit Body Boot Camp At The Hub Want to lose weight, tone up FAST, and get in the best shape of your life – all while having a blast doing it? Finally you can with JC & Stephanie Cuilty’s “Fit Body Boot Camp!” Guaranteed to build lean muscle and melt the fat off permanently. Take the Fat Loss Challenge every Saturday at 7am and 8am for FREE at The Hub (65 Riley Rd., Celebration.)
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 813.626.0783
For more announcement details: www.crossingonline.org/announcements-celebration-campus
Saturday, October 2 Sunday, October 3
WELCOME TO THE
CROSSING CHURCH
Is It In You? The Crossing Core Values: Excellence Ephesians 4
Campus Pastor: Tim Ingram
SCRIPTURE Ephesians 4:1 (NIV) As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 1
OBSERVATION • • •
The calling on the people of God is this: The glory of the Lord is to be made manifest by the Bride of Christ – the Church. (Ephesians 3:10 and 21.) The calling on the people of God is not to come, but is already known and necessary. The calling on the people of God should be accomplished with a lifestyle of excellence - repeatedly.
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APPLICATION 1. Be Excellent in Attitude. Philippians 2:5-11 a. An Attitude of Faith 1 John 5:4 (NASB) 2. Be Excellent in Action. Matthew 5:16, 1 Peter 2:12 a. Wordlessness Romans 10:17; Luke 6:45 b. Prayerlessness 2 Chronicles 7:14; Luke 11:5-13 3. Give Everything You’ve Got Matthew 10:39, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, John 12:25 Excellence – If every person would give everything he or she has with both their attitudes and actions, we will (you will) kill every giant in the land.
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PRAYER Raise the dead, Lord! Do what you did in Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones. We have been so defeated for so long, help us to wake up, help us to truly love one another, help us to see that we have to return to you. Help us to listen to our leadership and to learn the way of the church, help us to grow into a formidable force in our homes and in our city and in our country. We repent, we call and we will pray and fast because we know that without you we will continue to live in a cycle of defeat and decay. We need you to step in and change the game! Lord, thank you for giving us the ability to win over the enemy. Thank you that you transferred us out of the slave trade and the dominion of darkness. Thank you that you have delivered us from the power of the evil one through the Word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb. We do have an identity in you, and we are proud to be called Christians. We also have the strength and love and life-giving presence of our local body, the church of Jesus Christ. We have unity and authority to stand together, to fight together and to win together.
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: Does excellence matter to God? Does God care about quality? Is He concerned with how well things are done? Share with your group about excellence in your life. Think about a certain something that makes you think, “Wow I’m pretty good at that.” It could be sports, games, cleaning … or just simply being a parent. Also, share with your group what it took for you to become excellent in that area. This is a great opportunity to brag on yourself! Digging Deeper : Have you ever given your best to someone whom you later found out didn’t deserve it? (Employer, friend, husband or wife, pastor, kids)? That will never happen with God. He is worthy of our love and devotion, worthy of our worship, worthy of our labor. He is worthy of late nights and early mornings. Do you believe that He is worthy of making sacrifices for? If so, why? Why should we give God our best? How did God give His best to and for us? Pastor Greg talked this past weekend about two giants that will either be our greatest assets or destroyers in our lives. Attitude (Phil 4:8) and Actions (II Cor. 9:6-8). Let’s look together at them in more detail. Application: Attitude is the major difference between success and failure. Our attitude determines our altitude. So the question we ask is, “What robs you of your peace?” It is largely determined by the way you think. Share with your group one way you can change the way you think? We also looked at our actions. I believe that most of us here share a deep desire to be more intimate, more devoted to God. But something gets in the way of that devotion. The desire we all have to give our hearts to Him is shared with a desire for things. In other words, we are so full on food & entertainment, that we have no appetite left for God. The challenge this weekend was to join in the Fast. What does that look like in your life? What would it look like to replace a “thing” for God for 30 days? It’s been said Jesus is either ‘Lord of all OR not Lord at all!” So as we walk this life together ask yourself what in your life needs to become excellent. What are you holding onto and not allowing God to be the Lord of? Make a commitment this week that you will release and give it to God.