And now, Heeerrree's Pastor Brad.....

Hi, everyone! Pastor Brad here. I just want to say how much we appreciate everyone's interest and discussions on the blog since its inception. Often times we are blessed to have the opinions of our church family shared for everyone to consider. This blog was established and is intended for discussion points regarding our Growing God's Family campaign. We have folks who have posted items of a much more personal nature on the site and I wanted to address that issue.

If you have a special issue or personal item to discuss, please email me at pastorbrad@sbcglobal.net. This is my personal email and no one but me will read the items discussed. It's much more appropriate for personal matters.

Meanwhile we continue our progress toward our relocation and plan to have a ground breaking before the end of the year.

God bless you.

Pastor Brad

In Growing God's Family.....

...Everyone counts, even Anonymous commentators. As has been mentioned before, this blog specifically concerns Crossroad Church's Growing God's Family campaign.

We have resources in place at Crossroad to address most any need that will arise within the church, and if the resource isn't there, we will find a way, through diligence and God's abundant grace, to meet those needs.

Please, Anonymous, contact one of the Crossroad pastors directly. This can be done anonymously if you prefer, but help is available if you want it.

Thanks-

Weed Eaters

I Goofed...

You may recall in this spot were some wonderful photographs -- not taken by yours truly -- from the Big Event. Well, I accidentally deleted them and it may take some time to fish around on my hard drive to get them posted again.

We also want to remind folks this particular blog is about the Growing God's Family, Everyone Counts campaign, so please limit your comments and concerns to this particular subject.

That said, the Cross Road staff is vitally interested in what everyone has to say about any subject; we just have to be sensitive to the nature of individual comments and the platform from which they are delivered. Some issues are better handled in a less public forum than the world wide web. ("He has made everything appropriate in its time...." Ecc. 3:11)

Prayer Walk Up and Running... er, Walking!

The Ball is Rolling Now....

Don't forget to sign up for one of the Small Group Meetings
Scheduled for Feb. 25, 28, March 1, 2 or 8.

Here you'll get specific, up-to-date information of the Growing God's Family campaign and an opportunity to see our very own pastor Brad Cooper's cheerful, big screen debut in a video that lays out details of who Cross Road is, where we are and where we're heading. You'll hear actual church members (Cross Roadies?) talk of their experiences and witness unbridled enthusiasm for being about our Father's business. And you'll see a preview of what we believe God is going to provide in the way of our new church facility. We're in the big leagues, y'all, and He is an awesome God. Contact the church office for information and to sign up.

March 1: Day of Fasting and Prayer
Saturday members of Cross Road Fellowship Bible Church will unite in 24 hours of fasting and prayer. The focus will be on God, His Word, and, not coincidentally, prayer.
The Bible has much to say about fasting, but suffice it to say here that it is not only an Old Testament tenet. Christ did not say "...If you fast..." He said, "...When you fast." It is mentioned in the New Testament 46 times and quite obviously a regular practice of the early church.

Purpose of fasting

• Repentance
• To seek God's guidence and wisdom
• To grow a deeper relationship with God
  
• Deliverance from bondage of physical and spiritual oppression
• To petition for revival and anointing of the Holy Spirit
  

Options:

• No meals that day until breakfast (Get it? Break-fast?)
• Have breakfast Saturday morning, fasting until lunch on Sunday
• Skip one meal each day for the preceding week
• Choose a different day if Saturday is not suitable
• Some are unable to fast for health reasons. Alternatives could be to substitute prayer and Bible time for television time, newspapers or other reading, radio or other music, certain foods or beverages.

For those contemplating multi-day fasting, information is available in the Growing God's Family information centers at Cross Road Church.

And speaking of prayer, beginning February 26 the CRF church will be open on Tuesdays for come-and-go prayer time.

Also on Saturday, March 1, the Prayer Walk at the new church property will be open from 10:am to 5:pm. It is on the east side of the stadium and uses the former horse track. There are 10 prayer topics on posts, reminiscent of the old Burma Shave signs but much nicer looking, to serve as reminders of specific things we're praying for corporately.

Sign up for Growing God's Family Big Event
When? Sunday, March 16. The party starts at 3:00.
Where? Our future home just north of Kellogg on 135th street west.

• Sign up for the Chili Cook-off, where everyone's a judge who wants to be.
  
• Sign up for the Dessert Bake-off, judged by our panel of expert judges
• Sign up for the Talent & Variety Show. Not sure who's judging this one, but you will have the rare opportunity, in front of a live and mostly friendly and well-fed audience, to strutt your stuff, sing a song, do a dance, honk your horn, show off some stupid pet tricks (you'll need a pet for this one), blow your kazoo or recite the book of Leviticus from memory.

There will be food & drink aplenty, and Kay promises an exciting finale.

Speaking of Kay, she's a saint and the hardest working woman in show business, but she's not Wonder Woman. Kay could sure use some volunteers to help set up, decorate, serve and clean up. Contact the church office to sign up, or fill out the form at the GGF informantion center.

Town Hall Meeting: Getting Down to Business

The Cross Road Fellowship Bible Church fellowship hall filled with nearly 200 people recently for a Town Hall meeting. Church building guru Brad Oster of Austin, Texas, talked with church members about how we might like to see the building designed and what kinds of ministry programs we anticipate as we grow God's famly.

While Pastor Brad paced around the rear of the fellowship hall, Brad Oster took the reigns to talk about how, first and foremost, a church facility is a tool for ministry. He then asked the group to begin considering what we would like to see in a new building.

To do that, we broke into groups of ten or so to brainstorm about the features this facility should include. About 20 minutes later, group spokespersons took the stage and delivered each group's top ideas.

As might be expected, there was some overlap, but some of the ideas included:

• Chapel/and or prayer room
• Crown Ministry that is outreach centered with mentor program
• Signing for Hearing impaired
• Monitor or projector system so that choir can see pastors face during service
• Coffee shop ministry
• More space between the rows with larger aisles
• Music/fine arts storage room
  
• A fittness and activities area or perhaps a sports complex with gym to encourage community involvement.
• Volunteer training/recruiting
• Large vestibule with plenty of room to hang up coats
• Latchkey program
  
• A counseling center
• A K-12 Christian School
• Small prayer chapel which can be used for small funerals & weddings
• Easily accessible kid zone with heightened security with lots of space to drop off & pick up kids
• Veterans ministry
• Lots of storage
• Adequate parking, including parking for trucks & RV parking area, considering our location, with signage to encourage truckers and travelers to come for services.
• Plenty of rest rooms in all areas
• Walking path that goes around the property, accessible to neighborhood, with fountains.
• And this from the youth group contingent: a paintball ministry, go cart track, aquatic center (pool), indoor football/soccer field, and, naturally, a horse arena.

And the list goes on..... As you can see, some are dreaming big. It should be noted, these are brainstorming ideas, not confirmed plans.

Next the group munched on cookies and looked at slides of the exteriors of 50 different facilities, most of them churches and one Harley-Davidson dealership, of which Pastor Brad seemed quite impressed. Each person in the group scored the buildings on a scale of one to five. The results will be tallied and we'll take it from there.

After that we broke into small groups again and discussed our top ten fears or concerns. These included:

• Financing
• Starting programs without appropriate funding, leadership and planning
• People will come for activities and not to know Christ better
• Adequate volunteers to take care of grounds & building
• Loss of God focus
• Maintaining connections with one another
• Not losing existing ministries as we add new ministries
• Traffic concerns, parking
• That some long-time, regular members might bolt
• That Brad might bolt
• Enough Sunday school rooms for classes & ministries
• Too much money spent on aesthetics
• Distance; too far away for seniors to drive.

And again, the list goes on....

That about sums it up. If you were at the meeting and noted something we missed, please post a comment below. It's lonely out here-- I'd like to hear from someone.

And a muy grande muchas gracias to my lovely wife, Johanna, for taking notes while I was busy taking pictures and eating cookies. Without her help, all you'd get from me would be a slide show and a rambling treatise about how good the cookies were.

Small Group Meetings Planned

Small group meetings are an ideal way for people to get the details about the Growing God's Family campaign, particularly for those who may be more comfortable asking questions or offering opinions in front of a few people rather than a multitude. And we want to hear from everyone. Why? Because -- all together, now -- Every One Counts.

Soon you will be contacted by a team member to join one of the small groups on a date that will be convenient for you.

Here are the dates:

† Monday, Feb. 25 @ 7:00 pm
† Thursday, Feb. 28 @ 7:00 pm
† Saturday, Mar. 1 @ 9:00 am
† Sunday, Mar. 2 @ 4:00 pm
† Saturday, Mar. 8 @ 9:00 am

So have a look at your appointment book and plan to join in this awesome opportunity for information and fellowship and encouragement to fulfill God's purpose.

We're Even Putting the Kids to Work

Announcing the first ever, Growing God's Family

Kid's Poster Kontest!!

Okay, you young'uns, we need your help. Get out your markers, crayons, paint, Big Chief tablets and posterboard and design a poster for Growing Gods Family, Every One Counts.

Here are the themes:
† Building God's Family
† Building God's Kingdom
† Eph. 2:10 - "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them."

The competition will be divided into four age groups:
† Pre-K and Kindergarten
† 1st and 2nd grade
† 3rd and 4th grade
† 5th grade

RULES:
1: Please make your posters on standard size poster board. Feel free to use any art materials you wish.
2: Contest begins today, Feb. 3, 2007.
3: Each poster need the artist's name, age, grade, and a parent's name and telephone number printed clearly on the back.
4: Your poster must be delivered to the information desk in the Cross Road Church fellowship hall by the end of the second service on Sunday, Feb. 17.

So be creative; consider what the phrase Growing Gods Family, Every One Counts means in the context of the themes listed above.

All posters will be displayed by age group in the Fellowship Hall. Every participant will receive a ribbon and a winner in each age group will be awarded a first place prize.

The four first-place winning posters will be on display at the Campaign Information Centers and featured here on this very blog.

Posters can be retrieved after Celebration Sunday, March 16.

On another note, each child at Cross Road will receive a coin bank on Sunday, Feb. 17, to begin their own personal contributions to the Growing Gods Family campaign. This is a tremendous opportunity for parents to emphasize to their children how important they are in this effort, This will also give our kids the chance to follow our example in sacrificial giving and experience its blessings. On Sunday, March 16, your tykes will return the banks to church.

Speaking of Feb. 17, the kiddos will receive special campaign T-shirts. We hope each child will wear their shirt to church every Sunday beginning Feb. 24 throughout the campaign.

How You Can Support "Growing God's Family"

We know not everyone has opportunities to volunteer for the many projects that go in to the building of our new facilities. We have jobs, families and other responsibilities that demand our time and attention. We are all able, however, to contribute a portion of our financial resources to the job at hand. Here are some ideas to pray about:

Four Ways of Giving:

Give a Cash Gift:
Prayerfully ask God to reveal creative ways to increase your giving potential. Consider:
Savings
Tax Refunds
Stock Dividends
Garage Sales
Extra Part-time Job
Reducing Expenses
Deferring Major Purchases

Make a 36 month Commitment:
You can give much more when the commitment is spread over a period of time.

Give a Gift of Assets:
In addition to cash, you can gift real estate, stocks, bonds, coins, jewelry, etc.

HOW TO GIVE TANGIBLE ASSETS

In addition to cash commitments to Growing God’s Family, many people are giving stocks, bonds, coin collections, real estate, fine jewelry, art, and other items of value that can be converted into cash toward the campaign. If you would like to give a tangible asset, please keep the following in mind.

• The church cannot accept an asset with a debt or lean attached to it.
• The church cannot give you an appraisal.
• It is better to give an appreciating asset to the church instead of selling it yourself and committing that money. By doing this, you avoid capital gains tax.
• It is better to sell a depreciating asset yourself and give the money to the church.
  

Please notify the church before delivering your asset or bringing any large items on Celebration Sunday, March 16th.

Make Cross Road Fellowship a Beneficiary in Your Will:
There are many tools available today that enable you to include your church in estate planning without depriving your heirs of anything.

For more information, please call or email Vivian Rogers at Cross Road Fellowship Bible Church

Note: Your Growing God’s Family commitment should be over & above your regular tithes during the next 36 months. We have many exciting things happening in our church right now that cannot be neglected as we pursue our efforts in "Growing God's Family."