Song Preparation, 4/4/2010
Song Preparation: I encourage you listen to these songs each week so that you are familiar with them by the time we sing on Sunday. I always find that becoming more familiar with the lyrics to a song gives me more freedom to be led by the Holy Spirit as I worship. We won’t play these song exactly as they sound below but this is a good start! I would encourage you to go to itunes or any other music download site and purchase these songs for your music library. That way you can spend more time listening to them and learning the lyrics!
Here is some scripture that goes well with the songs we will sing this Sunday. Christ is Risen: Luke 24:5-7; Happy Day: Philippians 4:4-5; How Great Thou Art: Psalm 145:3-4; Greater than we can Imagine: Psalm 145:2-3.
Songs:
We will also celebrate the risen Lord by saying this reading together.
This is the good news –
The grave is empty;
Christ is Risen.
Hallelujah!
This is the good news –
The light shines in the darkness,
And the darkness can never put it out.
Hallelujah!
This is the good news –
Once we were no people;
Now we are God’s people.
Hallelujah!
Christ is our peace,
The indestructible peace
We now share with each other.
Hallelujah!
The Lord is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
I look forward to worshipping with you on this Resurrection Sunday!
Ben
Serve the City Update!
Dear Sent Ones,
John quotes Jesus saying something amazing to His disciples at the end of His gospel account, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (John 20:21). This is just another version of the call Jesus places on His disciples to “go and make disciples.” This account, though, is amazing once you start thinking about where you and I live. Jesus has saved us and sent us to our city, job, school, and neighborhood; to give every man, woman, and child an opportunity to see and hear the Gospel of His grace. So as you are going about your life, remember, Jesus has sent you (yes YOU) here and now to be His representative.
We have an amazing opportunity to be His representative on Saturday, April 10th. That day we are having a church-wide event called “SERVE THE CITY.” If you don’t know anything about this, go here and after you have read that, come back to this.
I want to encourage you to sign up for this event. Why? Well, because if you are like me then you need reminders to be whom the Bible says that I am. I forget I am a child of God, so I need worship services and daily time with God where I am immersing myself in the Gospel. I forget that life isn’t about me, so I need to be in spiritually encouraging relationships like we try to facilitate in our Community Groups. I also forget I am a sent one! I have been sent here to be on the mission of God for His glory and others’ joy. So I need some help reorienting my life back to my identity as a Sent One!
That’s what “SERVE THE CITY” is – an opportunity to have an experience to help you remember that you are a sent one.
Will you join us for a day that will bless people in our city and help you grow in who the Bible says you are?
I love being sent with you guys!
Chuck
EXTRA INFO ABOUT “SERVE THE CITY”
New Serving Opportunity – Serve the Kiddos! (Childcare)
- Serve the City by caring for and loving on others’ children, allowing them the chance to get out and work in the community! Childcare in itself is a service project, when many young parents so often are unable to participate in things like this without it.
- We need 8 more people to volunteer to help watch kids. There are two shifts, you can serve either 8 – noon, or noon to 4 pm, right here at the church! This is a great way to serve others if you are unable to do the labor of the other projects, or if you just plain love children. E-mail info@crossbridge.cc.
NEW TIMES! Bethel Ministries, Morning Shift: 9am – 1pm, Afternoon Shift: 1pm-4pm
- Right now we have no one signed up for this important project!
- Needed: 40-50 people, ages 14 & up. Pick the shift that works best for your schedule!
- Project: We will be helping to sort and distribute food to people in need.
- Contact for questions: Rusty Lacy, celacy@aol.com
- Go here to sign up!
Things You Need to Bring!
- You need to bring a sack lunch for you and your family if you think you will need it!
- You need to bring sun block and bottled water if you will be outside.
- Check with your project leader if you need to bring any tools or supplies with you!
Preparation for Sunday, 3/28/2010
Song Preparation: I encourage you listen to these songs each week so that you are familiar with them by the time we sing on Sunday. I always find that becoming more familiar with the lyrics to a song gives me more freedom to be led by the Holy Spirit as I worship. We won’t play these song exactly as they sound below but this is a good start! I would encourage you to go to itunes or any other music download site and purchase these songs for your music library. That way you can spend more time listening to them and learning the lyrics!
Here is some scripture that goes well with the songs we will sing this Sunday. Our Glorious God: Exodus 15:11; Only Your Blood: Hebrews 10:4, 9:14; In the Shadow of the Glorious Cross: 1 Corinthians 1:18.
Songs:
We will also have the sacrament of baptism in service this week. What a beautiful picture of transformation as believers are physically emersed in the water and are lifted out a new creation in Christ Jesus. Please join us to celebrate with these that will be baptized. I look forward to worshipping with you this week!
Ben
Preparation for Sunday, 3/21/2010
Song Preparation: I encourage you listen to these songs each week so that you are familiar with them by the time we sing on Sunday. I always find that becoming more familiar with the lyrics to a song gives me more freedom to be led by the Holy Spirit as I worship. We won’t play these song exactly as they sound below but this is a good start! I would encourage you to go to itunes or any other music download site and purchase these songs for your music library. That way you can spend more time listening to them and learning the lyrics!
Here is some scripture that goes well with the songs we will sing this Sunday. Awesome is the Lord most High: Psalm 47:1-2; Refuge: Psalm 57:1; The Solid Rock: Psalm 18:2; Jesus Paid it All: Isaiah 1:18; How Deep the FAther’s Love: Romans 8:37-39.
Songs:
I look forward to worshipping with you this Sunday!
Ben
Serve The City
“…seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” Jeremiah 29:7
God called His people to live in an unbelieving city and love it in the Old Testament. They were to work for its health and prosperity even as they kept their own distinctive beliefs and practices. Jesus calls us to go and make disciples of all nations. The word “nations” means people groups, and when Jesus says “go,” the actual state of the word means “as you are going.” The implication is that as you are going along in your life, point people to Jesus, and help them grow in their relationship with Him.
Obviously we can “go” across the sea and be on mission and make disciples, but we can also “go” across the street in our own city and point people to Jesus with our words and deeds.
“Serve the City” is a one-day event for Crossbridge Church to seek the peace of our city and point it to Jesus through loving words and deeds. We believe that the church should help make Sugar Land/Southwest Houston a better city. We believe that the church is a missionary community created by the Spirit to be on the mission of Christ. Crossbridge is a church in the city and for the city.
We will be meeting at Crossbridge on Saturday, April 10th, at 8:15am for the morning projects and 12:15pm for the afternoon project to pray, and then head out as groups to our assigned locations. Please sign up by April 4th for the project of your choice! Childcare is available by rsvp for children ages 5 and under.
Bethel Ministries, 9am – 4pm
Needed: 30-40 people, ages 14 & up
Project: We will be helping to sort and distribute food to people in need.
Contact for questions: Rusty Lacy, celacy@aol.com
Serving Our Neighbors, 9am – 1pm
Needed: 10-20 people of all ages
Project: We will be washing windows and cleaning bathrooms
for businesses in our area.
Materials to bring: buckets, bathroom cleaning supplies, window squeegees, newspaper, mops
Contact for questions: Mat Yelvington, matyelvington@gmail.com
Sugar Mill Elementary, 9am – 1pm
Needed: 20-30 people of all ages
Project: We will be spreading mulch and planting flowers for a local elementary school.
Materials to bring: shovels, garden rakes, rakes, gloves, wheel barrows
Contact for questions: Mat Yelvington, matyelvington@gmail.com
Second Mile Ministries, 1pm – 4pm
Needed: 12-20 people, ages 14 & up
Project: We will be helping to sort and organize Second Mile’s warehouse.
Contact for questions: Rusty Lacy, celacy@aol.com
Baby Boom – Changes in Crossbridge Kids
Wonderful Parents,
You may have heard that our church is expecting upwards of 22 babies this Spring/Summer (I say “upwards” because we suspect there are others who are pregnant but just not sharing on Facebook yet….lol). Our church has experienced baby booms like this in the past, although, we’ve had a lull for a few years. And, even though we know what to expect when we have this many babies, it is different this time around because we can’t just move portable walls to make a bigger room like we did before in the school.
My wonderful husband Scott spent the first day of his spring break working hard in our church nursery helping me change this classroom so that we can have more space for our little bitties. Let me share with you what changes have been made, or are going to be made, to accommodate all these new little followers of Jesus:
- The room has been restructured to accommodate more infants. Two cribs and one changing table have been removed. But, we still have 2 changing areas.
- There are now more swings to hold more infants, and a larger center area for tummy time.
- There will be 4 rockers for nursing moms.
- A baby monitor in the room allows for nursing moms to listen to the service.
- A gated corner will allow for early crawlers to play with toys, without pulling or toppling over onto newborns during tummy time.
- As babies become stronger crawlers, they will promote to the Toddler Class. This will allow for more room in the nursery for non-crawling infants.
- Soon, new mom’s will receive a special baby-bag for church, this bag will have the baby’s name clearly stated on it, it will be small and allow for more space in our nursery. (Eliminating the bulky nursery bags that are usually brought)
- Nursery help is coming. We have a short, but existent, waiting list of people who are willing to rock babies as they start to show up in the nursery. As the population grows in there, we will continue to add on more nursery volunteers to love on babies. (If you would like to help here when the time comes, I am still adding names!)
We are always looking ahead to ensure the safety of our childrens ministry. These plans for the nursery have been in the works since last year….we keep close watch on the numbers in each classroom and have plans for other classes as they reach capacities. We will keep you informed as changes are made to help your kids have the very best care and fun at church they can have. God continues to bless us with incredible tools and people to lead children to Christ, what a blessing it is to be part of it all.
Thank you for bringing your child to church on Sundays and investing in their walk and yours! See you for more fun on Sunday!
Tisha
Preparation for Sunday, 3/14/2010
Song Preparation: I encourage you listen to these songs each week so that you are familiar with them by the time we sing on Sunday. I always find that becoming more familiar with the lyrics to a song gives me more freedom to be led by the Holy Spirit as I worship. We won’t play these song exactly as they sound below but this is a good start! I would encourage you to go to itunes or any other music download site and purchase these songs for your music library. That way you can spend more time listening to them and learning the lyrics!
Here is some scripture that goes well with the songs we will sing this Sunday. Our Glorious God: Exodus 15:11; Sing Alleluia: Psalm 135:1-2; At the Cross: Galatians 6:14; Be Thou my Vision: Philippians 3:13-14.
Songs:
We will also read from the book of 1 Timothy 1:15-17 in service this week. Please meditate on the words of this scripture before we meet on Sunday.
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.17 To the King of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
I look forward to worshipping with you this week!
Ben
Notes from Chuck
Dear Crossbridge Family,
What a weekend! Forty-five men went to our Men’s Advance Weekend this past weekend. There was a lot of laughter, good conversation, artillery fired, games played, red meat consumed, and Bible read. Thank you for praying for this weekend. God really met with and inspired the men that went. It was a wonderful time. And then to dive into the meat of Mark’s Gospel on Sunday with you was again a privilege for me, not just a responsibility.
I hope you will read all the announcements below because there is a lot going on and about to go on for our faith community. We are just a few weeks from Easter, and I want you to be praying about someone you could invite to our Easter Services. Studies show that people respond best to personal invitations to church rather than a mail-out or some ad. So we’re not going to have a mail-out or billboard this year but commission you to be the mail-out! You be the billboard! Pray for God to open a door for you to point someone to Jesus this year by inviting them to our Easter services.
Will you please mark Saturday, April 10, on your calendar? We will be having an event called “SERVE THE CITY” on that day. Many of you remember our Show the Love events from a couple of years ago. SERVE THE CITY is a similar event designed to be a catalyst for Crossbridgers to advance the gospel through acts of service for our city. We will have various projects around the city. Hopefully more information will be up on our website, and a brochure will be out soon with more details for all you detail hogs out there!
Also we will be having our 1st baptism coming up on March 28th. If you are interested in being baptized please e-mail jennifer@crossbridge.cc ASAP, so we can begin to take you through the Baptism process.
See-ya Sunday
Being a friend with you,
Chuck
Financial Update – February 2010
God is blessing Crossbridge in many ways. There is a tremendously sweet spirit in our fellowship. Our weekly attendance is up 22% over last year at this time. Three-fourths of our adult attendance is in small groups. Our leadership team is growing and the number of attenders who support the church financially has increased as well. However, due to the economic times that we are in, our total giving is down about 25%, which is very significant to our operations. Our building fund gifts have decreased as well.
Please be in prayer for the families of our church as many have lost jobs and incomes have dropped. Also, please pray for the staff and the Pastoral Advisory Team/Elders as we seek to adjust our operations to enable us to live within our means. We trust God for His provision within our families and for our church as a whole. Let’s continue to pray and seek the Lord for His provision and guidance.
Preparation for Sunday, 3/7/2010
Song Preparation: I encourage you listen to these songs each week so that you are familiar with them by the time we sing on Sunday. I always find that becoming more familiar with the lyrics to a song gives me more freedom to be led by the Holy Spirit as I worship. We won’t play these song exactly as they sound below but this is a good start! I would encourage you to go to itunes or any other music download site and purchase these songs for your music library. That way you can spend more time listening to them and learning the lyrics!
Here is some scripture that goes well with the songs we will sing this Sunday. Greater than we can Imagine: Psalm 145:2-3, Revelation 15:3-4; Our Glorious God: ; How Great is Our God: Psalm 48:1, Acts 4:12.
Songs:
We will also say this prayer together.
O Lord of Grace,
The world is before us today,
and we are weak and fearful,
but we look to you for strength;
If we venture forth alone we stumble and fall,
but on the Beloved’s arms we are held firm.
If we were left to our own treacherous hearts,
we would bring shame to your name,
But if guided and upheld by your Spirit,
We will bring you glory.
Lord of Mercy, be the arm that supports us,
our strength to stand,
our light to see,
our shield to protect,
and our sword to repel the enemy.
We know that all lovingkindness is in your Son,
and we plead his blood to pay our debts.
By the power of your holy spirit,
accept his worthiness for our unworthiness,
his sinlessness for my sin,
his purity for my uncleanness,
his humility for my pride,
his obedience for my rebellion,
his glory for my shame,
his death for my life. Amen.
I look forward to worshipping Christ with you this week.
Ben
