This morning the graduating pre-K class at the Training Station was rehearsing for their graduation program. They’re doing a poem where each kid goes up one at a time and recites a stanza to a poem.
They got to talking about what to do if any of them should get nervous when they get up on stage and see all the people there. One little girl had a great suggestion. She said, “You can pretend all the people are really ghosts and you can’t see them!”
I’ll have to try that one some time.
At CrossWay on Sunday we talked about dying to our sin-riddled selves and being given new life in Christ. We read the really strange story in Acts 20:7-12 and then walked through Romans 6:1-14.
The highlight of the day for me came at the end of the second service. When we reached our prayer time after the sermon, I grabbed a chair and used it for an altar, and encouraged others to do the same if they felt led to. As I got down and bowed my head with my eyes closed, I heard a lot of rustling. A lot of rustling. When I finished praying, I started to stand up and saw that everyone was on their knees in prayer! It was awesome. I was so moved that I couldn’t say anything, so I just walked up to the drums for the closing song. (Turns out that the prayer gave such a sense of closure to the service that people started to get up to leave, not realizing we had a closing song!)
It was especially cool because our Worship Planning Team met last week and talked about how we can lead people into worshiping through physically humbling ourselves before God. God definitely responded.
Three years ago today was my first Sunday at CrossWay Church. It’s the longest I’ve been on staff at a church. (I was on staff at two other churches for almost three years.) At the other two churches where I was a staff pastor, I could feel the end of my time approaching. It’s kind of funny, because even though I’ve been here the longest, I feel like I’m just getting started. And the time has flown–it seems like it’s been six months.
Today I had one of my I’m-such-an-ignorant-American moments. Laura Marie and I were at the park and I was pushing her on the swing. Another little girl was on the swing next to her. I tried talking to her grandmother, who was pushing her on the swing, and the woman replied with an accent, “I don’t speak English.”
So I tried talking to her in Spanish, and she just smiled and nodded.
Just then the little girl’s mother walked over and told me they’re from the Czech Republic. I’m pretty sure Spanish is not exactly the national language over there. Man, I’m such a buffoon.
Today I went to the Shorebirds game with one of the dads from the Training Station, and with his three-year-old son. I got my first sunburn of the year. It was a sunny day, and it takes a long time to watch the Shorebirds give up 12 runs.
My girls are sick. 😦
Whenever Laura Marie gets sick, it’s a pretty sure thing that Carolyn will get sick because the baby likes to sneeze on her. She can be sitting near Carolyn and looking the opposite direction, but when she sneezes she turns toward Carolyn and blasts her. I’ll be in another room and hear a baby sneeze, followed by, “Aaaahhhh!!! She got me again!”
At least Laura Marie thinks it’s funny when she sneezes. Usually it makes her laugh.
I’m praying for my girls to get well soon!
Yesterday at CrossWay we talked about the vision for our church. We read Acts 18:5-11, in which God appears to Paul in a vision and tells him that He has many people in the city of Corinth, where Paul was preaching.
God is the God of that city, and He is the God of our city, too! He is the God of our community. He has many people here. He is doing something in the West Ocean City/Berlin area, and He’s bringing His people together to make it happen. Not only that, but Jesus Christ has people in our community that don’t know Him yet, and He wants to work through His churches here to bring those people to Himself.
In this passage in Acts, Paul preaches in the synagogue–the established church, if you will–and they not only oppose him but actually abuse him. So he goes literally right next door, preaches the gospel, and revival breaks out in the city! CrossWay is on a mission to make lifelong followers of Jesus Christ throughout our community and around the world, and that means we can’t hide in an insulated religious bubble. We must go out into the community. Sometimes there’s a dormant revival right next door, just waiting to explode as soon as the gospel is shared.
So we talked about our vision of being a place where anyone can understand and respond to the Bible. That’s how we make lifelong followers of Jesus. We know Jesus by reading and understanding the Bible, and we follow Jesus by responding to the Bible in faith and obedience. We can fulfill our vision by living out our core values: Community, Reverence, Outreach, Service, Spiritual Growth. As these five things come to define us, we’re in position for God to bring His kingdom to our community. He is the God of this city!
Surfing the Inner N8 