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
Preparation for Sunday, 2/28/2010
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. Here is Our King: Luke 19:37-38 ; Only Your Blood is Enough: Hebrews 10:4, 9:14; At the Cross: Galatians 6:14; In My Place: 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, Romans 5:8-9; Jesus You are Worthy: Revelation 5:11-12.
Songs:
Chuck will also be interviewing one of the church planters that Crossbridge is sponsoring. His name is Joseph Turner and he is the pastor at Sojourn Community Church in Houston, TX. You can go to www.sojourncommunitychurch.net to find out more about Joseph and the church.
I look forward as always to worshipping Christ with you this Sunday!
Ben
Preparation for Sunday, 2/21/2010
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. Happy Day: Phillippians 4:4-5; Refuge: Psalm 34:8, 36:7, 62:8; At the Cross: Galations 6:14; Wholly Yours: Matthew 16:24-25; Nothing but the Blood: Ephesians 2:13-14
Songs:
Notes from Chuck
Hi Everybody,
I hope you are seeking to live in the Dance of the Eternal One today. As we dove into the sweet depths of Mark 1:9-13 this past Sunday, we saw the wonder of the Dance. God in His holiness, justice, mercy, and grace has moved toward us by going to the cross in the person of Jesus in our place for our sins; we move toward Him in response with faith and repentance. Then He moves toward us as He applies all the work of His wondrous grace toward us, and we move toward Him in continual worship. Are you living in the dance today or just trying to be a good Christian? Stop right now and just tell Him how much you desire to delight in Him alone.
Anywho, we have 41 guys signed up for our Men’s Advance! If you signed up, you should be getting an e-mail from me next week with some final details and instructions for the weekend. Very excited to hang with you, men, as we build strong relationships and take the next steps spiritually.
We continually want to create environments to encourage and equip people in biblical relationships where they can apply and embody the gospel. One environment to do this will be the Singles’ Lunch on Sunday, February 28. Mat Yelvington, our available leader of Teen Ministry, is inviting all Crossbridge singles to Berryhill (13703 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land, TX) at 1:00 p.m. I recommend the #9 fish tacos with 1 chimichanga and black beans. Try that, and with every bite remember God loves me!
Continue to be praying for our people during this financial hard time. I met with a man this morning who was telling me of the financial pressure he is under. Seems like this is hitting us all right now, so let us pray to our great, glorious, good, and gracious God; ask Him to help us and to live like He is control.
I’m praying for you, Crossbridge. May God renew us in our love for Him and others so that He might be glorified and we might be satisfied.
See-ya Sunday as we continue our series, “Mark’s Gospel: Discovering the Real Jesus.”
Chuck
Notes from Chuck
Dear Crossbridge Family,
2010 is, so far, a rollercoaster ride for us at Crossbridge. We are seeing more and more new people at Sunday Services; Community Groups are getting filled up; new Partners are joining the church. While all this is going on, our giving has really taken a hit. As of now, we are $9000.00 behind last year’s giving at this time! Crossbridge needs $13,100 per week to meet our operating expenses from our budgets. We are committed to being very conservative in our spending, so all deferrable spending (extra projects, programming, etc.) has been put on hold during this time.
You have shown over and over that you are committed to doing whatever it takes to “make growing followers of Jesus Christ” through serving and giving. I know that we will face this challenge with the same sacrifice, humility, and prayer that we have faced others with in the past.
If you are new to Crossbridge and have not begun to regularly worship through financial giving, let me encourage you to begin. If you would like to learn more about financial giving, let me encourage you to listen to the last message in our Philippians series, “Joy in the City,” you can find it here. It’s called “The Joy of Generosity.”
You can give to Crossbridge through…
- Sunday Services. Feel free to give during the offering part of our service or drop your offering off in one of the two offering boxes located in the lobby.
- Online Giving. You can go here and give online. When you go to the giving page, you will see three places to give.
- General Tithe – That money goes toward our general operating expenses, which is what I wrote about above.
- Building Fund – These funds are used toward our three-year Giving Campaign, which began in 2007, to pay for the build-out of our current facility
- Men’s Advance – This is where you can pay online for the upcoming Men’s Retreat.
I know that many of us are going through personal financial hardship right now. I want you to know you are cared for and prayed for by me and our staff.
You are such a sweet church, Crossbridge. I’m so thankful for you and how you are seeking to live lives of Gospel intentionality. God is faithful.
Men, remember Sunday is the last day to sign-up for the Men’s Advance. We are going to have a blast. Sign-up online, or grab a brochure Sunday and go old school – use a pen!
Also, if you need a few laughs, go watch this marriage video. It lightened my day.
See-ya Sunday as we continue “Mark’s Gospel: Discovering the Real Jesus.”
Chuck
Preparation for Sunday, 2/14/2010
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. Greater than we can Imagine: Psalm 145:2-3; Revelation 15:3-4, Only Your Blood is Enough: Hebrews 10:4; Hebrews 9:14, In Christ Alone: Acts 4:11-12, The Wonderful Cross: Colossians 2:13b-14.
Songs:
We will say this reading together that comes from Colossians 2:
And even though you were dead in your sins
God made you alive in Christ.
He forgave us all our sins
by canceling the record of debt
that stood against us with its legal demands;
He took it away, nailing it to the cross.
Though our sins overwhelm us
the mercy of God far surpasses them.
In Christ alone we are forgiven.
I hope you will meditate on these words before we meet together on Sunday. I look forward to worshipping our living Savior with you!
Ben
Notes from Chuck
Dear Prized Possessions,
I pray you are and will continue living in the reality that “you were bought with a price” and that you are “belonging to God.” We, church, are His prized possession. That should humble you and fill you with confidence at the same time!
I need to make a confession to you. I love meat. I know I should eat fruits and vegetables more and watch my red meat intake, but meat is amazing! I love red meat, chicken, ribs, steaks, fajitas, meat lover’s pizza, and hamburgers with Swiss cheese and mushrooms! There are few things like the first bite of a well-marinated, tender steak. The flavor explodes on your tongue as you begin to chew and savor the deliciousness of it.
I believe our souls explode with flavor as we cut up and chew on the morsels of the Word of God. This Sunday we will begin to work on a lovely piece of meat called “The Gospel of Mark.” It will be my honor and joy to serve up to you a platter of the best meat on the planet. And this meat doesn’t fill the stomach but the heart. Come hungry this Sunday, and let us glut ourselves on the Glorious Eternal One—Jesus.
Men, our Men’s Advance Weekend is coming up. The deadline to sign up is February 14! Don’t drag your feet! We are going to have some fun, hangout together, and learn how to be the best wounded, Holy Spirit-empowered fighters we can be. This will be the start of some good things to come for men at Crossbridge.
See-ya Sunday.
You are my blessing and privilege, and I love being your pastor.
Chuck
