Growing God’s Family – Every One Counts

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

2008-10-20T10:04:00.001-05:00

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.....

2008-10-07T14:21:00.002-05:00

...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

2008-08-23T15:55:00.001-05:00

I Goofed...

2008-05-25T07:43:00.002-05:00

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!

2008-03-01T15:12:00.001-06:00

The Ball is Rolling Now....

2008-02-24T09:58:00.008-06:00

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

2008-02-09T06:56:00.002-06:00

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

2008-02-07T10:48:00.000-06:00

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

2008-02-03T13:29:00.000-06:00

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"

2008-02-01T10:58:00.000-06:00

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."

Hear Ye, Hear Ye....

2008-01-29T06:51:00.000-06:00

A Town Hall Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, February 6 at 6:30 PM at Cross Road Fellowship Bible Church.

This will be a brainstorming session where you can share your ideas about our new facility, our ministries, or any particular concerns you would like to see addressed. And you can tell everyone what you love about Cross Road.

Please mark your calendar and jot down your questions and ideas. This will be the first of several opportunities to tell us what you think. We want to hear from you. We are Growing God's Family, and Every One Counts

See you there!

Taking Inventory: Just How Many Earthly Possessions Do We Have, Anway?

2008-01-26T11:42:00.000-06:00

Although the move to our new Cross Road facility is several years out, now is the time to take stock in what we have, what we'll need, what we'll sell, what we'll leave behind and what we may donate to a worthy cause.

Saturday morning the Interiors Team put away their fabric swatches and paint chips and pared off with clip boards and tape measures to count every piece of furniture, every hymnal, every picture, every shelf and chair.... well, everything except paper clips, push-pins and the mess on Pastor Bill's desk.

Jane Freed, the benevolent taskmaster of the Interiors Team, said having the property list in hand will help us decide what stays and what goes, depending on the Programs Team's suggestions and direction. So what, exactly, does the Programs Team do? Stay posted and we'll fill you in.

News Flash: Prayer Team Gets Down and Dirty

2008-01-19T19:08:00.001-06:00

Saturday the Growing God's Family prayer team left the warmth of their respective homes for a few hours to scoop some dirt from the floor of the unheated CRFBC Horse Arena.

As you may have read in an earlier post, the prayer team has followed through on their idea to fill some arena terra firma into 500 itty bitty bottles which will then be distributed to individuals and families. Folks, these are not mere souvenirs, but rather a reminder to pray for God's hand to move mightily in the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ, beginning our little hectare of the world.

It was a sight to behold. If I had walked in without knowing what was going on, I would have thought I had wandered into some sort of underground medical lab, except that it smelled more like cologne. About half a dozen people were wearing rubber gloves and were busy filling small medicine bottles with a brown, powdery substance they would scoop from buckets scattered around on newspapers. The only male in the lot was diligently wiping down the bottles before they went into delivery boxes.

It was suspicious indeed, except they weren't acting particularly guilty of anything and most were more, well, ladylike than the typical pharmaceutical entrepreneur, excepting Dave, who was actually wiping isopropyl alcohol from the containers and tightening the child-proof caps extra tight. This reporter's observation was that Dave didn't seem to mind being the only male on the crew. (C'mon, guys. There has to be a few more out there who wouldn't mind sharing Dave's minority status......)

Prayer warrior Julia Armstrong has volunteered to put labels on the bottles, a mighty task indeed. Particularly if the labels are not self-sticking and she has to lick them all. Fortunately, the bottles have been inspected by Dave and found to be effectively sterilized, so Julia should be okay either way.

We'll keep you posted here, or you can join us at Cross Road Fellowship Bible Church during services next Sunday, Jan. 27, to hear when you might expect your own vial of "holy ground." And I hope to get some pictures of Julia licking those labels, too, so keep checking in.

Important Dates For Your Day Planner

2008-01-16T12:49:00.000-06:00

The Growing God's Family campaign has some events you won't want to miss. We'll keep you updated on times and locations as information comes in from the trenches.

† Wednesday, February 6 - Town Hall Meeting
† Tuesday, February 12-13 - Twenty four hour Prayer Chain
† Week of February 25 - Small Group Meetings begin
† Saturday, March 1 - Church Prayer & Fasting Day
† Sunday, March 16 - CELEBRATION SUNDAY – BIG EVENT
† Sunday, March 23 - First Fruits Sunday

Who's Who?

2008-01-10T15:46:00.000-06:00

Turning a horse arena into a house of worship is going to take a lot of work, which means everyone at Cross Road Fellowship Bible Church will have opportunities to jump in to invest their time and talents into getting the job done.

We could do things willy-nilly, but thought we could be more productive by breaking down the Big Job into more manageable sub-jobs -- "jobettes," you might say -- thereby making it easier to discover where you can plug in. And to make things even more practical, we've got talented, dedicated individuals who have volunteered to take the helm of these committees and steer us to the common goal of turning said horse arena into a house of worship.

The Leadership Team are those whose efforts you'll notice right off the bat. They are the ones who are coordinating the special events in the upcoming months that will allow every Cross Road family member an opportunity to participate in the project.

The Long Range Planning Task Force are the folks who will oversee and coordinate our efforts over the next three years.

Each of these committees already have a handful of dedicated people on board, but that doesn't mean they are the only ones doing all the work. After all, they have day jobs, too.

Please be praying about how God might have you pitch in. Leave a note (under "Comments," below) to contact the team leader of your choice, or call the church office. Our friendly and soon to be overworked receptionist Mary is waiting to take your call.

Leadership Team

Campaign Director: Ron Williams
Campaign Secretary: Vivian Rogers
Communications Team Leader: Lois Helvie
Leadership Response Team Leader: Anita & Deryl Schuster
Hospitality Team Leader: Jan Dobbins
Small Group Team Leader: Deanne Voyles
Prayer Team Leader: Jackie Sauder
Event Team Leaders: Kay Cass
Kid’s Team Leader: Pam Johnson
Jr./Sr. High Team Leader: Pastor Steve
Follow-up Team Leader: Vivian Rogers

Long Range Planning Task Force

Chairman: Mike Freed
Vice-Chairman/Project Coordinator: Vivian Rogers
Member: Pastor Brad
Prayer: Jackie Sauder
Communication: Lois Helvie
Growth: Michael Connor
Fund Raising: Ron Williams
Technical: Kip Schmidt
Interiors: Jane Freed
Ministry Programs: Ron & Gale Briscoe
Construction: Jerry Cass

Insomniacs Wanted

2008-01-07T16:38:00.000-06:00

Ole' Jackie is scouting for prayer team leaders when we have the 24-hour prayer chain Feb. 12 - 13. The 24-hour clock runs from 10:00 AM Tuesday through 10:00 AM Wednesday.

"I have some suggestions on guidelines, scriptures, etc.," she says, "but it is up to the leader how things are done. The thrust of the prayer time will be on personal commitment and the relocation process."

The following hours are available:
TUESDAY, Feb 12: 6 to 7pm; 9-10pm
WEDNESDAY, Feb 13: 1 to 2am; 4 to 5am; 6 to 7am.

Now, I'm sure there are some insomniacs out there who know there are better things to do in the middle of the night than stare at the ceiling. And it doesn't get any better than prayer.

Some pics of our first worship at the new facilities

2008-01-06T13:31:00.000-06:00

News to Use from the Prayer Team

2008-01-02T13:44:00.000-06:00

The prayer team has some exciting ideas to help us direct our own prayers concerning growing God's family.

One pending idea would be to hand out small bottles with child-proof caps to each family or individual with a label reading, "Pray for Growing God's Family on Cross Road Holy Soil." The bottles will be filled with soil from the arena and, thankfully, dipped in a sterilizing solution (remember, it has been a horse arena for a loooong time). Anyway, each person/family will keep the bottle in a conspicuous spot to be reminded to pray daily about our new church location and the relocation process.

Sunday, Feb.10, will be the Prayer Emphasis Week kick-off. An insert will be placed in the bulletin outlining the seven topics the congregation will pray over daily.

On Tuesday at 10AM, Feb.12, prayer warrior Jackie Sauder reports, "...we will begin the 24-hour Prayer Chain at the church. I have six people calling for volunteers to lead a 1-hour segment of the 24 hours, with about 10 people in each hour, as prayer partners. Each volunteer will lead the group in devotions, scripture, testimonies of answered prayer, one-sentence thanksgiving prayers, prayer requests, and especially corporate prayer for the upcoming campaign and relocation process. The hour will end with individual, private prayer." So speak up if you want to be a part of this important work.

Tuesday, Feb. 26, we will have an all-church day of fasting and prayer. Info will be available for any who wish to do a multi-day fast. (Maybe Wednesday we'll all go to Brad & Robyn's for steaks. hint hint.)

Also planned is a circular path, about one half mile in length, that will be cleared for a walking/jogging trail. Along the trail 10 prayer posts will be stationed, each with subjects like stewardship, homelessness, unchurched, healing and grieving, pastors and staff, harvest time, etc. It will be out of the way --but hopefully within viewing distance -- of the coming construction area.

And a yet-to-be firmed-up idea is a 40-day prayer calendar, given out each Sunday, beginning Jan. 13th, with 7 daily topics for the week.

So, that's it from the prayer team. If you have any questions or want to participate, contact Jackie Sauder.

And don't mistake that bottle of arena soil for a pepper shaker!