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Easter Times

Make Plans to Join Us for Easter at Cross Points Church!  Whether you’re joining us for the first time, have come back after a season away, or already call Cross Points home, we’re glad to see you.

We want you to know that you will be met with a friendly environment, dynamic music, and a message of hope.  Our children’s services feature games, puppets, music, Bible stories and more. You will find something for everyone in your family.  

Everyone is welcome and we invite you to experience God in a fresh and exciting way with us this Easter!

Come celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and invite your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, and anyone else you can think of.

EASTER SERVICE TIMES:

Sunday, March 27, 2016

  • 9 a.m.
  • 10 a.m. (Super fun Easter Egg Hunt for children ages 2 years – 6th grade.)
  • 11 a.m.

 

Greedy to Generous in 30 days!

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One of the reasons I love working for and with Pastor David is how he challenges me. Sometimes the challenges are direct, but many times the challenges are subtle and indirect. Many times the challenges are from watching him operate.

One of these areas of challenge is in generosity. Pastor David, by nature, is a very generous person. I’ve referred to him before as a “YES” person. It shines forth in his generosity as much as anywhere.

I’ve found myself saying (out loud and to myself), “You want to give what!?!” These moments have exposed my own heart – greed.

Read what Paul wrote to Timothy about greed and generosity,

Timothy 6:6-11; 17-19

6Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

9But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

11But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

17Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 18Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. 19By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.

In his book, Enemies of the Heart, Andy Stanley states one of the emotions which ruins our spiritual heart is greed. Stanley prescribes the formula to overcome greed, and the formula is no different from what Paul says here.

We overcome greed through generosity.

If you are a greedy person, and by greedy I mean tight-fisted, stingy, frugal, selfish, penny-pinching or grasping, then you need March Kindness. You need to do intentionally kind and generous acts. You need God to do a work in your heart, and He will begin the work as you begin to give.

This week our challenge is to give something away. I’m talking to all of us greedy people (because the generous ones have already done it 3 times since Sunday). What are you going to give?

Personally, I gave to a friend who’s in need financially. If you need an idea, you can start with him. Let it be a springboard to generosity in your life.

Milk & Oreos by Pastor Matt

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Song: Joy

Artist: Rend Collective

Yesterday, Pastor Andy invited us into the relationship between joy and generosity – specifically, that God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor 9:7). Joy and generosity.

Just a page or two before this encouragement to the Corinthian church to give cheerfully, we read this description of churches in a neighboring region:

Now I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, what God in his kindness has done through the churches in Macedonia. 2 They are being tested by many troubles, and they are very poor. But they are also filled with abundant joy, which has overflowed in rich generosity. For I can testify that they gave not only what they could afford, but far more. And they did it of their own free will. 4 They begged us again and again for the privilege of sharing in the gift for the believers in Jerusalem.5 They even did more than we had hoped, for their first action was to give themselves to the Lord and to us, just as God wanted them to do.

2 Corinthians 8:1-5

There they are again. Joy and generosity. Just hanging out together. A bit like milk & Oreos. Or peanut butter & jelly. Or bacon & eggs. Or chips & salsa. Or…you get the idea.

Joy & generosity. They just go together.

I think I’ve always sort of heard “God loves a cheerful giver” as a command. I’m called to give, to be kind, to be generous. And I’d better do it with a smile on my face – because God likes that. Joy is something I add to my generosity, because I’m supposed to. And, sure, at times, there’s an element of that. We call it obedience.

But this passage paints a slightly different picture. For these believers, joy is not something they tack on to their generosity. Joy is what leads to their generosity (v 2).

And it all starts with God’s kindness (v 1).

It’s interesting. Paul’s careful to point out that these Christians don’t have a whole lot going for them: many troubles, and very poor (v 2). But God’s kindness cuts through all of that. God’s kindness fills these Christians in Macedonia with joy. And that joy finds its natural expression in generosity.

Kindness, joy, & generosity.

It’s March Kindness at Cross Points. And we’re looking for opportunities to be generous – to walk in obedience to the command to be kind to one another.

But today, can I invite you to do something else as well? Pause from the responsibilities of your day and remember God’s kindness. Think about what God has done for you in Jesus, let it fill your heart fill with joy, and watch what happens when it overflows. And maybe enjoy some milk & oreos while you’re at it.

Rock Chalk Joyhawk!

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March Madness

This is one of my favorite times of the year. It’s college basketball playoff time! If you are a K State or Tiger fan, you may hate this time of year. Sorry. As a Jayhawk fan, I can’t get enough.

Last night, I listened to a little bit of the coverage of KU being chosen as a #1 seed in the national tournament. Bill Self, KU’s coach, said this about the Jayhawk team,

“Right now they’re playing joyful. I have to remind them of that some times…play joyful.”

That’s a powerful statement. Play joyful.

Joyfully Generous.

Pastor David yesterday shared the second message in our March Kindness series. He gave this definition of kindness –

the quality of being friendly, generous, and considerate in an effort to meet the need of others.

Let me key in on that word “generous”

 

6Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. 7You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

8And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others. 9As the Scriptures say,
“They share freely and give generously to the poor.
Their good deeds will be remembered forever.”

10For God is the one who provides seed for the farmer and then bread to eat. In the same way, he will provide and increase your resources and then produce a great harvest of generosity in you.

11Yes, you will be enriched in every way so that you can always be generous. And when we take your gifts to those who need them, they will thank God. 12So two good things will result from this ministry of giving—the needs of the believers in Jerusalem will be met, and they will joyfully express their thanks to God. -2 Corinthians 9:6-12

 

 

One of the things God asks us to do…no be, is generous. The ESV translates verse 7 as “for God loves a cheerful giver.” Which brings me back to March Madness and the KU Jayhawks.

The things we do in life should be full of joy – especially the things God asks us to do. It’s why God loves a cheerful giver. It’s why Bill Self loves a team playing joyful basketball.

This week your challenge is to give something away. Some of you may have an item, a person or a cause in mind. If not, let me offer a suggestion.

I have a friend who is in need. He’s not a believer, but he’s asking questions. His son is in the midst of an illness that doctors have no answers for. No answers in the sense they don’t really know what the problem is.

Because of this, they are traveling to a special hospital to meet with special doctors. As you can imagine, this won’t be cheap, so they are raising funds. My friend is a fine art photographer, so he’s selling one of his prints toward this cause.

If you can, be generous. It’s not inexpensive ($99 + S/H), but it’s an investment. It’s generosity. I just purchased my print. I want to support him and his family. I want to be kind.

Find theimagejournal.com HERE.

I would love for you to put on kindness too. It doesn’t have to be with Ryan. It could be someone else – something else. Not matter what it is…be joyfully generous.

Kindness in Action – By Pastor Chris Horsley

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In thinking about kindness, I am drawn to the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37.

We are all pretty familiar with the story.  A man goes down from Jerusalem to Jericho and is robbed, beaten, and left half dead.

As luck would have it a priest passes by!  What a blessing!  A man of God! He see him… and passes by on the other side.  The same thing happens when the Levite passes.

These are two men who Spurgeon states were “bound by their profession” to help this man. They look at the situation, and go on their merry way.

Nothing changes until the Samaritan shows up.

The Samaritan gives instantly and without delay.  There doesn’t seem to be any hesitation on the part of the Good Samaritan, even though he is a helping a Jewish man, and Jews and Samaritans DID NOT like each other.

This is a picture of kindness in action.

The Good Samaritan gives of his time, his energy, and his money.

Some traits of kindness:

Kindness is full of self-denial.

Kindness isn’t worried about cost.  The Good Samaritan wasn’t going to be repaid by this man.  In fact, he probably never would see him again!

Kindness isn’t worried about how much work it will take.  He had to take the time and energy to get him from where he was to the inn.

Kindness isn’t worried about who it helps.  As I stated before, the Jews and Samaritans DID NOT like each other. This goes along with what Pastor Andy wrote in his devo yesterday about how we are to show kindness to those who don’t “deserve” it.

Taking care of this man delayed the Good Samaritan from where he was going.  But he still did what was right.  He showed kindness and compassion to this man who was not able to help himself.

The priest and the Levite were so worried about themselves that they were unable to see the person who needed help right in front of them.  They missed the forest for the trees.

Let this be a call that as followers of Christ, we are to not only be aware of our surroundings, but also willing to do something about it, even if it may cost us what we deem as precious to us.

The challenge is what Jesus says in Luke 10:37 from the Amplified:

“Go and constantly do the same.”

We should show kindness and mercy when we have the opportunity.

It goes along with the tagline for this month: Kindness: It’s what we do.

Have a great weekend and continue looking for ways to be kind to others, through speech or deed.