Following up on what I said Sunday…..

7 REASONS TO READ THE BIBLE EVERY DAY

Bible reading is more than a pleasant pastime. It can become a daily habit that will change your life and accelerate your relationship with God and your spiritual growth. God’s Word holds out the promise of rich benefits for those who spend time reading it and taking its truths to heart. Here are just seven of the many ways your life can be better as you make the bible your daily reading companion. All seven come from Psalm 119 – a magnificent song of praise for God’s word.

1. THE BIBLE WILL HELP KEEP YOU FROM SIN. “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you” (v. 11)
2. THE BIBLE WILL LIFT YOUR BURDENS. “My soul is weary with sorrow; strengthen me according to your word”(v. 28)
3. THE BIBLE WILL GUIDE YOUR STEPS. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (v. 105)
4. THE BIBLE WILL BRING YOU JOY. “Your statutes are my heritage forever; they are the joy of my heart”. (v. 14)
5. THE BIBLE WILL LEAD YOU TO WISDOM. “The unfolding of your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple”. (v. 130)
6. THE BIBLE WILL GIVE YOU PEACE. “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.” (v. 165)
7. THE BIBLE WILL BRING YOU BACK TO GOD. “I have strayed like a lost sheep. Seek your servant, for I have not forgotten your commands” (v. 176)

Remember, don’t be discouraged when some days you can only read a few verses. The key is not to quit. Some days will be slower than others, but do not quit!! Gal. 6:9 says If you do not quit you will reap big rewards. So let us committ together to read God’s Word every day. There are some reading plans on crosswalk.com and/or biblegateway.com.

You’re in my prayers.

Keep the SON in your eyes,

Pastor Greg

P.S. Keep your life constantly in touch with God so that His power can break through at any piont. Live in a constant state of expectancy, and leave room for God to move as He decides.

Most of you know that as of January, 2012, Crosspoint has implemented the biblical ministry of deacons.  The office of Deacon was established to help free up the Apostles (who functioned as the first pastors/elders) to focus more on prayer, minstry of God’s Word and other pastoral duties.  The ministry will assist the pastors in helping conduct the caring/benevolence minstry of the church to promote unity and help facilitate the sprad of the gospel.  Please read Acts 6:1-7.

The deacon ministry will be organized through the Deacon Family Ministry Plan.  This plan calls for all active members and non-members of the church to be divided up into deacon families.  This way the deacon will focus the minstries of the church on this group of  ten or so families.  The Deacon Family Ministry sheet shows how our families are listed under a deacon (see below).  Again, this is to assist the pastors and staff to make sure minstry is provided to the whole church.  If by accident we missed a name, please let me or Cynthia in the church office know.  The deacons’ telephone numbers and e-mail are listed if you need to get in touch with them.  This list will be continually updated as new families join and others move away.

In Acts 6:7 it says that after the ministry was established in the early churches the gospel spread and the number of disciples increased.  I know that this ministry will be a blessing to our church and our community.  Please be in prayer for these deacons and the new ministry.

Thank you so much for your suport and I pray we at Crosspoint will continue to keep the main thing the main thing.  That is to worship our Lord and spread the love of Jesus down the street, across the country, and around the world.

You’re in my prayers.  Please keep the needs below in your prayers.

In HIS MARVELOUS GRACE,

Pastor Greg

P.S.  Congratulations to Lyle and Bethany Camp as they are expecting a baby.

I read this little poem the other day by Dennis DeHaan.

Look not back on yesterday
So full of failure and regret;
Look ahead and seek God’s way-
All sin confessed you must forget
-Dennis DeHaan

It reminds me of these encouraging verses.

Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV):  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Psalm 103:12 (NIV):  as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Sometimes starting a new year we often look back with regret thngs we did not accomplish, resolutions we did not keep, or even sin that caused us to stumble.

If we have confessed our sins (Confession involves at least 3 factors: (1) AGREE with God that I sinned, (2)ASK His forgiveness and thank Him for forgiving you, (3) TURN away from your sin (repentance).  We need to keep a forward focus toward the goal of pleasing JESUS.  Once we settle our past (confessions) we must , according to Philippians 3, forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead.”  Remember God is for you and He is always more interested in our future than our past.  This new year let us put the past behind and focus on what God wants to do through us and in us as we faithfully follow Him.  John 15:1-17.

You’re in my prayers

Pastor Greg

P.S. How has your Quiet Time been with God so far this year?

Also, Congratulations to Emily Davis and Craig Carroll on their engagement.

I love the sense of anticipation and hope that accompanies the turning of the calendar page to a new year.  Each January, we have a special opportunity to set aside old habits, choices, and routines, choosing instead to press forward in grace and pursue Christ with fresh fervor.

Here at the start of this new year, I want to challenge you to make a different kind of New Year’s resolution – not just a resolution to lose something, like a few pounds or a bad habit, but a resolution to gain everything truly worth having, by committing to read the Bible every day in 2012.  Start today!!  It doesn’t matter if it is the second week in January.  The success is in staring and continuing no matter what!!

If you already have a daily quiet time in God’s Word, you know how much your walk with the Lord is nourished by that simple but vital habit.  But if not, I urge you to start today – because I am convinced that no other personal discipline will do more to help you know God, walk in His ways, and experience the reality of His grace in your life.

In fact, just recently, reading through Psalm 119, I made a long list of blessings and benefits that God’s Word will bring to your life.  For example, are you facing a difficult decision?  The psalmist writes: “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding” (verse 130).  Are you facing trials of sorrow?  ”This is my comfort in my afflication, that your promise gives me life” (verse 50).

Let’s start today!  Instead of 2012 being a so-called year of distruction, it can be a year of victory.  We are in this together.

You’re in my prayers,

Pastor Greg

Psalm 121:1-2 says: “I raise my eyes toward the mountains.  Where will my help come from?  My help comes fromt the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”

Two thousand years ago, God fulfilled His promise by sending His Son into this world so that those who open their hearts to Him might have eternal life.  God has made His promise clear: When we accept God’s Son and accept Gpd’s grace, then we will receive life abundant and eternal.  And that, of course, is God’s ultimate Christmas gift to the world, a gift of love that is infinite, unshakable, unchanging, and eternal.

It is by God’s gradce that we have been saved, through faith.  It is a gift from God.  We are saved not because of our good deeds but because of our faith in Christ.  May we, who have been given so much, praise our Savior for the figt of salvation, and may we share the jouyoous neews of our Master’s love and His grace.

You’re in my prayers and in HIS Grace,

Pastor Greg

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever (1 Chronicles 16:34)

In the early 1600s, a rag-tag group of “pilgrims” migrated to a new country in search of religious freedom.  The wilderness was unforgiving, and many people, young and old, died in those first years from disease and malnutrition.

But strong faith in God, prayer, and persistence paid off, and in the fall of 1621, the Plymouth colonists gathered their first harvest.  It was cause for celebration, and Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer.

Two hundred years later, in 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving Day is now celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

THANKSGIVING, NOT THANKSKEEPING

Thanksgiving, by the very nature of the word, means “it must be given.”  It’s not enough to simply be thankful in your heart.  Your thanks must be expressed.  If not, it’s called “thankskeeping”.  Take a little time right now and thank God for:

* Your family and friends.
* Your job (regardless of income or position).
* The food that you’ll eat today (billions will never have a feast like that).
* Your heatlh (even if you’re sick).
* This country (even with its flaws, it’s the best country in the world).
* Your salvation.

BE THE ONE

One day Jesus entered a village, and in the distance 10 men stood calling, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”  Jesus knew who they were.  Everyone did.  They were lepers, people whose skin was covered with open sores and whose fingers and noses had been eaten away by their disease (Luke 17:11-19).

When Jesus saw them, He told them to go show themselves to the priests.  The Bible says, “And as they went, they were cleansed”.  Their faces were restored, and their skin grew smooth and healthy.  They must have screamed and shouted in excitement, but then a curious thing happened.  Of the 10 men who were healed, only one returned to Jesus to express his thanks.  Determine today that you’ll be like that man, everyday.

Express your gratitude to God today for the ways He has blessed you and your family this year.

You are in my prayers and I thank God daily for you, C3.

Pastor Greg

Just a note to say thank you for your prayers and support for your church as we sought the Lord’s will for our new youth minister.  God has blessed us with bringing a young man our way from within our church.  This younG man has proven himself faithful to God and His church for many years.  He has worked under Keith with our youth ever since we have been a church.  He is a young man of high character, integrity and a strong work ethic.  It is a blessing to me personally and to our church to have Brian Wetmiller as our new youth minister.  I have known Brian and his wife Lorey (who I can say also has all the godly character that her husband has) for at least 15 years and during that time from teenagers to young adults, they have grwon and matured in their faith.  I am looking forward to Brian coming on the C3 staff at the first of the year.  Until that time, Keith will continue to help lead the day in day out details of the ministry.  We will be meeting with Brian
and making plans for this new year.  Your continued prayers and support for our youth  ministry and for Brian and Lorey are very important.  If you would like to be involved in hands on help in the youth ministry, please contact Brian, Pastor Keith or Pastor Greg.  More details on this soon.

Several people made comments on how well ouir transition from one staff member to another went.  That happened because of your prayers, all of us seeking God’s will, not our own.  Also because two godly men, Brian and Keith, who love God and each other, both sought God’s will and wanted what was best for HIS church.  Thank you church, Brian and Keith for your godly example of how change should be handled.  I love you all and I am excited about what God is doing in our church’s (that’s you) life.

You’re in my prayers.

In His Grace,

Pastor Greg

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