Crossing family. So glad you guys made it today.
Happy New Year. I know it's some of our
locations. We probably should have had a
little hair of the dog out in the lobby for some of you.
But we are glad you're here and whatever condition you arrived
in. Before we get into the sermon, I
want to take just a little bit of time and I just want to pray
for you. I know that right now.
There's some of you you are in the middle of a pretty
challenging season. Some of you are coming.
In out of a pretty challenging season.
But I also know that there are some of you all across this
region. Who 20:23 is going to have a lot
of situations and a lot of challenges for you to navigate.
and, Those challenges could be all across the spectrum, they
could be Financial, they could be occupational.
Some of them are going to be relational.
It's going to be Issues going on in your marriage or struggles
inside of your parenting. Some of you you're going to have
to navigate the painful loss of loved ones, or the loss of jobs,
or maybe even the loss of dreams.
And in all of those moments, I want to remind you of what I
said. During our Christmas Eve
services, this is something that is Christians.
Not only do we get to cling to you, and we must cling to, but
it's also a truth that we can distribute one of the names of
Jesus is Emmanuel God With Us. If that means is no matter what
you're in the middle of right now, no matter what you're
coming out of or going into in fact, no matter what 2023 throws
your way. I want you to have this promise
to cling to God is with you. He's not going to abandon you.
He is there to guide you to direct you.
If you have the courage to follow him, And so even though
we don't know what lies ahead we know who's going to be with us,
no matter what we face and I just want to pray that over all
of you before we jump into the sermon, would you guys pray with
me? Heavenly father, thank you so
much for hearing us. I am amazed at your ability to
simultaneously. Be with all of us who are
struggling and hurting and sorrowful and how you are able
to mourn with us as we mourn. And at the same time, you are
able to Rejoice with those of us who are rejoicing and
celebrating and in a period of Thanksgiving.
And God I I know that there are thousands of stories and
complicated situations represented inside of the sound
of my voice. I know that this upcoming year
is going to have mountaintops and it's going to have values.
And God I pray that you would help us to remember that you are
always with us that you would give us the wisdom to seek you
out and the courage to follow your direction.
And God, that we would take the sense of comfort that we have
from you. And that we would Point other
people to it and your name, I pray.
Amen. I want to welcome those of you
joining here in Quincy, at our 48th Street, and 929 campuses,
those of you in Macomb, and Kirksville, and Pike County and
Hannibal, and Lima Mount Sterling Keokuk, mom, at
Jacksonville online. And inside this, I began last
year with a sermon He's called there has to be a place and I
received a lot of encouraging emails and I got a lot of
comments and messages. I even had someone designed,
there has to be a place hoodie and they sent it to a bunch of
us and I was going to wear it this weekend, but when I was
doing laundry which I do all the time, I may have shrunk it and I
didn't want to be the hairy belly button, mid-drift pastor.
And so I just I decided to Leave that at home, but there were so
many things inside of that sermon series that I didn't get
to say things that I wanted to. We just didn't have time for and
so many things that we didn't get it.
That I want to chance for us, just to kind of review that we
decided that we're going to just start off this year.
With there, has to be a place 2.0.
And for years, our church has been governed and committed to a
series of statements that are very specialist.
We call them our core values. They dictate the sermon series,
we do what we preach, how we preach, what our worship
Services look like how we deploy our resources and engage and
initiatives and how we staff are different environments.
And for some of you, this is going to be brand new
information and this is important because it'll give you
a chance to peek Into the Heart of this church.
For some of you you've been here for a really long time, this is
going to be a great opportunity for you to kind of review
reflect and maybe re-engage. And so I want to spend just a
little bit of time with you today.
Kind of talking about the heartbeat of the crossing, one
of our core values. In fact, our first core value is
outward, we will do whatever it takes to reach people who are
far from Jesus. We unapologetically prioritize.
Those we are trying to reach over those.
We are trying to keep that is a hard statement to say, because
it comes with real pain, casual trip to the grocery store, by
many of our staff and aisle after aisle, you're going to
interact with somebody who used to be a part of our church.
And we could have made changes at our church to keep them.
But we unapologetically prioritize.
Those we are trying to reach over those.
We are trying to keep hear me. That does not mean we don't love
you. Oh we love you.
We just love your unsaved friends and family more and
there has to be a place. That is committed to the mission
of Jesus. Jesus said, I have come to seek
and save that which was lost It's not the healthy who need a
doctor, but the sick there has to be a church.
And you're going to be thankful, were this kind of church when
your girlfriend wants to start going to church somewhere or
your grandkids, want to come to church somewhere or your boss is
looking for a place to go to church.
You're going to be excited when it's your friend, your family
member sitting next to you. That this place is dedicated to
helping people find that relationship with Jesus Christ.
And a place to point them when they start asking spiritual
questions, second one is downward.
We will gladly give up the things we love for a future
generation. We of even more.
In fact, we're so committed to this last year.
We revamped our 02:18 Ministries, we rebranded under
this gin. This Jenn is now not next.
We don't want them to get serious about their faith and
start participating in the mission of Jesus.
When they're 40, we want them to start when they're four and 14
and 24. And so we are going to
strategically aim our church towards Younger people.
Now old people. And you you identify okay, you
know, you're old when you start saying, I'm young at heart,
that's when you know your old. Okay, well I'm young at heart.
Hear me. Listen, I got gray in my beard,
okay, we're fam, okay? This does not mean we don't love
you. We love you, deeply.
But let me ask you this question, is there anything more
important to you than your kids? Is there anything more important
to you than your grandkids? What I'm saying when our church
is downward is we want to come alongside of you to help you
reach. The people that are the most
important to you to help them develop the skills and the faith
for them to be able to navigate the mission of Christ and life
with Christ earlier rather than later how many of you you took
an awful lot of stupid pills between 16 and 36.
We would like to reduce the amount of good pill intake in
your family tree, and I think you'd want to partner with us in
that Journey It was Jesus. Who said let the little children
come unto me? And do not hinder them and
sometimes you're going to get frustrated because the way we do
Church in the way it manifests itself isn't necessarily always
to your liking And you're going to go why can't we, you know,
one of the places where people like to pick at is worship.
Now, let me be clear. I love all of our worship people
at all of our worship, he locations, but I have I have
music preferences, too. and, sometimes we lose people out the
back door of our church because of the worship that we do in our
auditoriums and I get it. But there has to be somebody.
Who's willing to try and make sure that there's a worship
service that younger people can engage in.
One of my biggest regrets growing up was my parents didn't
go to a church that had what I would call a staff compliment.
And so, I grew up without a Christian Social Network.
I didn't have any, what I would call Christian social peer
pressure. I had more of a drink.
This smoke, this crowd, then a read this, pray, this crew, I
think your life and my life would have both been better.
We had some of these people in our lives.
I wish I had somebody. My parents are good godly
people. I wish I had somebody other than
my parents to talk to. Because do you remember that
period in your life? When you didn't want to talk to
your parents about what was going on in your head and heart?
Yeah, some of your like actually I feel like that's where we're
living right now. Yeah, and sometimes it's nice to
have somebody come alongside of you as a parent and help you
navigate what's going on in your kids and someone to come
alongside of your kids. When maybe you're not the voice
that they're wanting to lean into, we need to be a church
that creates an opportunity for that to take place in every
single one of us has a part to play whether that's contributing
at a high level on Super Bowl weekend when we open up camp
signups or when we give you guys an opportunity to give
generously to create a scholarship, so that no kid is
turned away. Or whether you come alongside of
our next gen team and you try to become a part of the Pastoral
team to the over, 1,500 kids who walk inside the crossing every
single week. Another one of our core values
is relevant. We will do fresh things in fresh
ways, to reach people. No one else is reaching.
There are going to be times. When we start things up, change,
things up, and shut things down. We will do this for the express
purpose of making sure that our church doors.
Do not become a time machine where it is 2023 outside and
1983 on the inside. I was talking about worship
earlier and, you know, there's some of you have you have your
opinions on worship. I remember when Andre Harper
who's my my brother-in-law, we met Andre on the mission field
and then my sister just kind of put him in her carry-on, and
brought him, brought him back with us.
And so he's sitting up in Macomb front row right next to me and
he's worshiping the music and I mean, he's, you know, he's from
Jamaica. So he was clapping on beat which
was like, a new thing for me. Macomb and and and we're singing
our, you know, white Christian music.
And he's just up there. Getting down with it.
And I turned to him and I'm like, Andre, you don't know a
single one of these songs. How do you guys have heard me
tell the story before? How are you able to worship?
And this was back? When he was way cooler than he
is now because he had like this thick Jamaican accent.
Plankton mun. Okay.
He said, he said I'm a Christian I can worship anywhere.
Okay, then that's interesting. Doesn't that make sense that the
more mature you are in Christ? The less it has to be about you
to be able to worship Him. And maybe our deep affections
for our spiritual preferences is actually giving away our lack of
spiritual maturity away. Look, I'm a old school person at
heart. My first church, I preached.
The sermon I did the communion. I led the worship and I did the
Sunday school class. There's a little old lady with a
humpback. You played the piano and I would
ask her to change the key to put it in my range.
She didn't do it or know how to, I don't know.
And we just sang what she played.
And I love, I do, I there are certain hymns that mean a great
deal. To me there's times when I am
writing a sermon and I write my sermon with the Gaithers on
repeating. Those of you who don't know, the
Gators are, I'm glad you love The Crossing, okay?
That's why we do what we do. Because if we were running my
play, listen to me. We would not create an
environment where I would want to bring my own friends.
Right? I want when you get in your car
or your listening to music on your phone that what you are
hearing in your car and what you're hearing on your phone is
what you are participating with on o on a weekend.
This year, we're going to be doing some things with sermons
and technology and create a greater sense of Engagement and
learning and our time together. And some of these times, we're
going to get it right. And sometimes we're going to get
it wrong. And if we screw it up, I'm going
to apologize to you. Sometimes we're going to take it
too far. And I just need you to hear me
say this. That way, you're not surprised.
I've pre decided I would rather be a church.
That takes it too far. Then a church.
That doesn't take it far enough. That's like in my heart.
I got an incredible rebuke email about 3 weeks ago.
I'm going to do a sermon on confrontation, at some point it
was the best confrontation ever. And she's like, this is what you
did, that was wrong. And you know what I said?
You're exactly right, I'm incredibly sorry.
When we screwed up will admit it, but I just want you to know
that we are predisposed to try and do everything we can to make
a difference for Jesus innovate, we will take big faithful to
rest and never insult god with small thinking and safe living.
We've taken some big faithful risk here at the Crossing And
we've had unbelievably major wins, like miracles in our
midst. And we've also had devastating
losses. I talked about this last year.
I remember when we shut our Paducah campus down those of you
who maybe haven't been here for a while.
We used to have a Crossing location in Paducah Kentucky and
it just wasn't just wasn't working.
We were trying everything we knew how to try and people just
weren't coming and so we shut it down and I remember being
catalyzed in my heart that day that I would rather be a church
that launches a campus to try and reach people and later has
to shut it down. Then be a church that never
tries never take risks and has a perfect track record.
When we get to heaven, I'm going to be the first one in line
going God. Why didn't this work out?
And there's many times was frustrating because we spent
time and talents, and, and money to make something happen.
And I just need you to hear me say when we do something.
My time and my talents and my money will be some of the very
first invested in whatever it is, we're doing.
And if we miss it, when I get to heaven, I'm going to ask him,
why? Just like you didn't, but I
would rather take what I have and try and make his big of a
difference for God, as I possibly can think avoid I just
don't know, because not all seed, that is planted takes
root, God has called you. And I to sow seed and to water
seed, but we know this. God is the one who supplies the
growth. This year, we were able to
partner make it have a strategic partnership with connect.
You've heard me talk about this ministry before.
Maybe some of you have bought the sweatshirt, I hope in the
coming years to expand their Ministry offering and become the
go-to, place for people who need help and people who are hurting.
I remember being scared about the sermon series Weeds in my
garden and going we going to preach this church 20 with a 12
weeks on mental health or we can have to shut it down halfway
through. It was a big faithful to risk
for us to step. Up into those Waters.
And on the back side you just see how God moved, in fact, this
weekend across the country. Multiple churches are actually
doing the very same sermon series and blessing their
people. We must refuse to have a
scarcity mindset that we should believe that God is worthy of
big, beautiful risks. And if we screw it up, I'm going
to tell you. I'm sorry.
If we make, if we miss it I'm going to go.
Yep, we could have done that one better.
But I also promised that we will continue to try and take risks
for Jesus. Next one, make leaders, we will
develop leaders who honor God and inspire people and they will
change the world. There's so much I want to say
about this. I want to exponentially increase
this in the future. I want to do more than just
double down, triple down or quadruple down, but that's going
to take a lot of time. But in the meantime, we need to
give people a place to play and to learn and grow and develop As
Leaders. You guys have done this for me.
I mean, I used to be super cool with long hair, and my ears
pierced. Then, I got a speeding ticket.
And well, I lost my hair and now my wife won't let me grow back.
You're stuck. Okay, we're neither one of us
are happy with how I look this year.
I'm going to be coaching a group of 20 guys on helping them
become even more, strategic leaders and pastors.
We're going to continue to give young people a place to lead and
take ground for God. What that means is, sometimes
you're going to be in an environment and you are going to
wish that there was somebody older.
Wiser more, put together and someone with more with different
fashion sense than the person that is in front of you.
And I'm right there with you. I wish you guys had that too,
but Where else would you want young people to lead and deploy
their talents? Then in the church?
And on behalf of God, Timothy if you're was a young man who was
the pastor in Ephesus and for those of you who are Bible
nerds, you're like yeah that's sketchy for those of you who
don't know, let me put it in different terms.
If you like you sending your high school kid to go, be a
pastor on, the Las Vegas Strip. And God used Timothy and blessed
Timothy and a beautiful Church grew out of that place.
David was just a boy when he killed Goliath we believe that
young people can do great things for God, we believe that people
have a part to play in that you can participate in.
It means you don't have to go to Bible college for four years to
be a pastor at our church and that you can learn on the go if
you have a heart, that's willing to be surrendered to the Lord.
And so maybe instead of Thinking we could be a church that is a
really good job of coaching and cheering them on.
Because they might be the people that reach the people that are
your people. Next one, grow, we will never
stop measuring changing and moving for growth because
nothing matters. More to God than people.
We want to have a laser focus on leveraging, everything in our
power to join God in his saving work.
There has to be a place that is committed to reaching growing
baptizing and discipling. The Very people that Jesus died
for. This is why we started a
marriage Retreat Center. Gave away money at our Super
Bowl last year to school activities.
He's expanded our uncommon offering to multiple States for
the last 18 months. We've been working on how to
provide a staff compliment at all of our locations.
To increase our ability, to effectively Pastor our
communities. And that's why we've started to
launch our in your corner initiatives which you're going
to hear way or more about that in the coming weeks.
Last one We Are One The church is the hope of the world, and we
can accomplish infinitely more together than apart.
Our locations are where we gather That's where we hang out
but that is not the church. You're the church.
And you're the church and your the church and I'm a part of the
church and when you and I take what we have been given and
collectively put them in the hands of God.
There is no telling what he will do.
We do all of these things because here at the Crossing we
are consumed with this mission statement to help people find an
intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
This might be the secret sauce of the crossing, this might be
the one thing we do, so, right? That God.
Blesses. All the other things that we do
wrong. That's why in almost every
single sermon you should hear us, talk about it.
That's why when we land the plane which is what we call.
The after we say we're moving to a time of decision, your campus
pastors talking to you or I'm talking to you during that plane
landing moment. Every single week, you should
hear a campus Pastor or somebody talked about it and if you don't
call us on it, If you don't hear it, I want you ticked.
I don't want this to be a standard that we as a staff or
we as Elders carry, I want it to be a standard that we as a
church, collectively commit ourselves to that.
We will be a place that talk about the life-saving
life-changing gospel work that Jesus did on our behalf.
I don't want you to be going. I'm kind of glad we took a
weekend off. Because I know I get it.
Some of you, you've heard it so many times, you tune it out.
And some of you you've heard it so many times you like do we
have to do it every single week? I had a person come up to me
Macomb when I was the campus Pastor there and Sammy, do we
have to talk about it every week?
And I'll be good answer and I was, you know, I wasn't as wise
as I am now and how I handled it but let me I get it.
You've heard it before. And you might have heard it a
hundred times. But what you need to understand
is we've looked at the numbers every single weekend at almost
every single service at almost every single location.
Somebody is hearing it for the first time.
And for you it's old hat but for them it is water in the desert.
It is good news to their situation.
Furthermore. While you might get tired of a
saying it, you'll be sitting on the edge of your seat, waiting
for us to say it, when you bring your friend and your family
member, and maybe the reason you're getting tired of that
three-minute pitch in the sermon is because you haven't brought
someone who needed to hear it in a really long time.
So and I mean you can be a spiritual as you want to be.
I'm gonna love you anyway. Can I encourage you that maybe
instead of being ticked during that part of the sermon and
going, oh my goodness, not the gospel message about Jesus
coming on my behalf again. That's okay that you would maybe
do just pray. God, I remember when I first
heard it and I know what it changed and in my life.
God if there's somebody in this room that has never heard it,
would you give them ears to hear and a heart.
That's ready to receive it. That would be a really good like
super mature response. but you do you and you might be going to
Clayton. I mean, this is where we live,
you know, how do people, you know, not know Jesus.
But in all of our communities, there are people on this
spiritual continuum. - fives all the way to plus 5 S.
Like if zeros where you meet Jesus, there's people that we
need to help find Jesus. People who hate God hate Church
hate you. They're all on here and then
there's you and your grandma over here on the plus 5 is your
like four star Christians. You're getting ready to be, you
know, made a general and we as a church you and and me we have a
responsibility to everybody on the spiritual continuum. we have
this responsibility and you might be going but Clayton,
there's like, nobody over here in our area and you think that,
you know, Jerry's talked about this before like churches of our
size exist in big cities When you go to hang out with these
other pastors, you're talking to them.
Like, where you from, like I'm from Nashville.
And where you from, I'm from Chicago, where you from?
I'm from Miami where you from? I'm from Jacksonville, where you
from? I'm from Dallas.
Where you from? I'm from Louisville.
Then they go. Where you from Like Quincy.
Kirksville Hannibal become kit gun mount.
So where's that in between Chicago and st.
Louis. Next to the corn and the Chevy
trucks. That's where we're at.
And you would think you would think.
That everybody around us knows, Jesus.
You think when there's a McDonald's in every town and you
can get fed through your drive-through window and as long
as we've had the gospel message that everybody around us knows
Jesus. But I did some digging in the
most recent statistics that I could find is to make it super
clear. Think of it as a, there's a
there's nuns and there's non nuns when I say nuns.
I don't mean little old ladies who work at the Catholic Church.
I mean people who have no religious affiliation at all,
none and then there's not nuns people like you.
And when they were identified in our Region's, these are people
who go to the Baptist Church, the Catholic Church, the
Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church, the
Christian Church, the Assembly of God Church.
These are all the non nuns. And who knows how many people
who go? Yeah, I'm one of those actually
have an intimate personal relationship with Jesus.
I'm not judging. I'm just saying.
Whatever. But then there's a whole group
of people that call themselves nuns, there, none of those.
And in Adams County, that's 14,000 people.
Twenty-two percent. That means if you live in Adams
County, and you go to Walmart and you get out of your car,
that's one that's you. And then the person who's
pushing the carts that's to and the person checking you out is
3. The next person you run into
does not know Jesus and that happens on every single aisle as
you shop If you're McDonough County, 20,000 people 62 percent
of the population that means that when you're in the
Drive-Thru at Wendy's, every other car does not have a
relationship with Jesus. There, a nun in Adair County,
it's 14,000 people. 57% of the population, Pike County 9,000,
people are 58 percent of the population Marion County.
Missouri Fort are 11,000 or 40% of the population.
Brown County 4,000 people or 56% of the population, Lee County
Iowa, where I grew up, 17,000, people or 50% of the population.
Warren County is 10,000 people or 43% of the population.
And Morgan County is eighteen thousand or fifty-one percent of
the population. And those are just the
communities where we have a Crossing location.
That is not a comprehensive list of all of the counties from
where people come to attend, one of our locations. you heard me
say this last year, my prayer is to make this all ten thousand,
seven hundred, ninety five square miles, the hardest place
on planet Earth to get to Hell from And on the average, fifty
percent of the people, in all of our communities, have no hope
for tomorrow. No help for today.
And there needs to be a place that says not on our watch that.
There would be kids that would grow up and there's testimony
would be there was this group of people who are a part of this
church that were committed to reaching my parents and
committed to help me grow in my relationship with the Lord and
my family is all the better for it.
And in order to do that there has to be a place that makes
Jesus last words their first priority.
They take the last words of Jesus and they make them their
first priority Matthew chapter 28, then Jesus came to them and
said all authority in heaven and on Earth has been given to me,
therefore, go and make disciples of all Nations, baptizing them
in the name of the father, and of the son and of the Holy
Spirit and teaching them to obey everything.
I have commanded you and surely. I Am With You Always to the very
end of the age. this has to be a place where not just the elders,
not just the pastor's, not just the staff, but all of us make
our highest priority Jesus last words that I exist my time, my
talents, my resources, exist, to help people begin and live out
an intimate personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Well, what does it look like when there's a place dedicated
to those core values? Well, let me tell you what can
happen. Hello.
I was an inmate in Vandalia Missouri.
I was released from the Missouri Department of Corrections modok
on July 21st 2022. I want to take a little bit of
your time to tell you. Thank you, thank you to the
amazing people who came to Vandalia every Monday night and
a lot of us to hear God's word and guidance to the voices of
the pastor's, you all saved my heart mind and soul, you helped
me. So very Much by helping me to
reach out to God for help. I was an extremely broken
shattered person from The Life Choices I had made and from the
cards that were dealt to me, I still remember the first time I
went to service in 2019, I like the service so much but was only
able to attend to Services because I was transferred to
another facility. But when I came back, the fourth
time to Vandalia covid-19. Ian and you are not allowed on
the campus but in November of twenty Twenty-One they allowed
you back. And when I was asked, By another
offender about the service, I was like, why not nothing better
to do on a Monday night? The first service was and of
course, amazing with the music, the sermon and the communion.
I liked it enough. I decided that I was going to
keep going to the service on Mondays, because I was always
told, don't give up on the Miracle because you never know
when it will occur. I've had a very rollercoaster
relationship with Jesus ever since my mother was murdered in
1999 when I was 17 years old at 41 years old.
I made a decision to continue to attend your church.
I have no idea. Exactly when it happened but the
band played Battle Belongs and I knew something was happening
because I got cold chills in my eyes, filled up with tears.
Let me explain why that's important.
I have not cried tears of any type since 1999.
I was hard and when my mother passed away in 99 and 20 years
later in 2019, I was completely Frozen my heart and soul ceased
to exist when what? The one person in my life who
had raised me and believed in me, my grandmother passed away.
Six days after I was released from the first time from modok,
then in July of 2019, six months after my grandmother.
My best friend. Brittany passed away from an
overdose. That was the final straw.
I froze. Everything in me.
So, I would never in my life, have to feel the pain of a truly
broken heart. Obviously, I don't deal well
with emotions. So, what tricks does the devil,
give us to stop the feelings of a broken heart.
Well, he gave his crystal meth cocaine.
Heroin and now, fentanyl, I fell for those tricks.
And when my heart broke back in 1999, the devil's tricks
actually worked for the physical pain because I was numb, So my
choice every time I was hurting, would be to turn to drugs over
and over. I was definitely living a life
of insanity this past year. When I was locked up, I decided
I was done with the drugs and I was finally ready to remove all
the negativity inside my heart and soul.
I turned to the crossing sermons on Monday nights, as a stepping
stone. At first, I thought nobody could
possibly understand and relate to the extreme pain and hurt.
That was frozen inside of me screaming to be released but I
had Frozen it. Then all of a sudden, I felt
him. I felt God, run through my veins
and my heart started to beat with Hope and Faith and then
came the tears. When I realized I had never been
alone, he has always been with me the Footprints Prayer that
people talk about it describes me.
He has carried me all these years because I didn't, because
I couldn't walk on my own because I was so broken and
shattered. Now, at 41 years old, for the
first time I picked up a Bible and I read it, I've always heard
of the story of Jesus birth and death, but to actually sit there
and read Matthew and Mark, and Luke and John.
On open my eyes and heart to what Jesus really did for me,
for all of us, I even watch the History Channel show Easter
weekend called The Bible and I cried, I cried real tears as I
watched what he was put through so that my sins could be
forgiven, everything that happened.
Since I got locked up in 2021. I don't believe would have
happened if I had not decided to go to the sermons in November as
I stated before you and your sermons kicked off my Kicked
started. My intimate are.
They kick-started my intimate personal relationship with God?
I now not only no, but believe 100% that God Is Bigger, that
nothing is bigger than God, and that I am never alone, he is
always there. I just have to make the choice
to listen, to open up my heart and soul, and listen for his
guidance and love to embrace me. So, again, thank you.
Hopefully, with my openness and acceptance of Jesus as my Lord
and Savior. I will never have to go back
through the doors of modok. All I want in life is true,
happiness and peace, and serenity between my ears.
When I close my eyelids, I have faith that we'll all occur and
definitely plan to continue watching your services online.
I now live in st. Charles Missouri.
So it's a long drive for me to come to Quincy.
But one day when I have her driver's license and a legal
vehicle, I love that. There's nothing more.
Crossing that line right there. I will be there at the Crossing
and I'll be baptized declaring my surrender.
Love hope faith and belief that Jesus Is My Savior and died.
So I could live in heaven with him, I can almost promise that
if it not been for the Crossing in Vandalia, I would have gone
back to my old life of drugs misery hopelessness praying that
when my eyelids or my eyes shut that they would never open
again. Now, I smile, I'm happy.
I I love life again. I laugh and everything is
genuine not fake and it's all because they were brought into
my life. I pray that you receive this and
it puts a smile on your face because you have helped save a
soul that was lost and dying in Misery all alone.
Everyone. I talked to, since I got out,
say they love how happy and full of faith.
I am, which would not have been happened.
If you had not guided me back to Jesus and to God, sending you
love and prayers to each of you Crossing.
Family, there has to be a place that takes this seriously.
And I say it's here. I say it's with us and I say
it's now we're moving to a time that decision.
So if you're here and you've never started an intimate
personal relationship with Jesus Christ, you're going to hear me,
say something like this every single week when you come in
about every six weeks, I'm going to give you the same pitch.
I'm going to give you right now because it's just true for me.
The greatest decision I ever made was making Jesus Christ.
The lord and savior, my life. And my biggest regret is I
didn't do it sooner and that's not just my testimony.
That is the testimony of hundreds of people in this room.
And I know you might be going to Clayton.
I'm pretty jacked up. I'm pretty messed up.
I just want you to know we get it. so, the people that are
sitting in the same row with you, If you knew their story,
you might not want to sit by them. but it's amazing what God
can do to a heart into a soul and to a life I know that
there's times when you look at yourself in the mirror and
you're like me, and why am I still like this?
I still have so far to go. But there are other times when
I, you find yourself and you're going, where did this come from?
This is this is not who I used to be.
It's because not only does he give you a new heart.
But he he introduces things that only God can introduce into your
life and some things happen immediately and other things
take time. But we serve a God who
specializes in transforming. People might talk all about that
next week. But I believe that there is
nobody who's too far gone. And I don't know what situation
you find yourself in today. I just know that God can redeem
it. I know that God can redeem you.
That's why he came And maybe today's the day, where you're
finally like. Yep.
I'm going to start my intimate. Personal relationship with
Jesus. I'm going to be obedient in the
area baptism. Or maybe today's the day where
you're just going to be honest and go I got some questions and
would somebody please answer them.
And you can talk to me, you can talk to the person has to be
right over by the baptistry. If you don't want to take my
word for it, to talk to somebody in this room that you see that,
you know, and say tell me how do I handle this or I've questions
about It's just silly to me that you would have those questions
and not feel comfortable to at least ask him.
Because I'll just tell you. It was the best decision for me.
To the rest of you in the room. The Jesus followers.
I just want to love with you on a couple things and this year
who are some people that you want to take a spiritual
responsibility for Spiritual ownership of People that you're
going to pray for on a regular basis.
People, you're going to invite people that you hope to have one
day sitting next to you. Could we use this first service
to the year to commit ourselves to being diligent?
In those matters to seeking and saving those who are lost?
Some of you might be going, I don't even have any people who
in my life that don't know Jesus.
Then maybe that's where you start is.
You need to start praying for some lost people.
Maybe you start praying for your boss Clayton.
I don't like my boss. Yeah, maybe you should start
praying for your boss because Jesus liked him so much.
He sent his son to die for it. What about my mother-in-law?
Yeah. Even even her.
What about my ex-wife even her That we would be a people that
would pray and invite. But Clayton, they're gonna have
questions. I don't have answers to read
your Bible Google and give me a call, let's not be people that
come up with excuses. Let's be people that come up
with life-changing Solutions which is just pointing people to
Jesus. Maybe you go over to the
baptistry, put your hands in the water.
Maybe you go somewhere around one of the walls.
Maybe you want to just get down on your knees where you're at or
maybe you want to come up here to the front, but could we just
Be people who commit to praying and reaching people who are far
from Jesus, that we would, as individuals, hold the banner
high. But this will be a place where
people can find an intimate personal relationship with Jesus
Christ. Our communities need it, our
families deserve it. Would you stand with me?
Got this year. We want to commit ourselves to
you, to your purposes, to your glory, to your mission.
There's going to be times when we're afraid scared, worried,
frustrated, ticked, mad confused.
And in those moments, God help us to continue to push into your
will, and your purposes, and your grace, and your mercy on
our lives. God, give us the courage and the
ability to make decisions today that will reap spiritual fruit
in the future. God hardened our resolve and our
commitment to you. Soften our frustration and our
fears. With others, God, use us in a
mighty and magnificent way. God do something in this church
in all of its different expressions.
In all of its different communities do such a work in us
and around us. And through us that only you can
get the glory. Your name I pray.
Amen. Your name I pray.
Amen.