Crossing Community Church

This week we paused to review the first eleven chapters of Genesis and considered whether such an ancient book is still relevant to our faith, especially at times when we are working through sorrow and loss in our life.

The sin of pride motivated mankind to build a tower to the heavens and disobey God's instruction to spread out and fill the planet. So God spread them out Himself and in doing so established individual people groups and nations. And that same pride that inspired the tower still motivates mankind to act with racial injustice and hatred. All the while believing that man has the ability in himself to remedy those injustices. But the Church is the steward of the only solution to racial hatred and strife: The Gospel of Jesus.

Genesis takes a decidedly "R Rated" turn in chapter 9 as we study the sin of Ham and the resulting curse on his son, Canaan. Chapter 10 demonstrates the sin of mankind and the desire to be like God continues even after the flood.

In Genesis 9 God gives instructions to Noah as He 'reboots' creation. Along with the instructions is a promise and a reminder -- He will never destroy the world by a flood and the rainbow will serve as His reminder of the promise. But why does it matter if God keeps His promises?

Session 6 of our 2018 Equipping Conference. Our guest speaker, Tim Barnett of Stand To Reason Ministries, addresses the difficult issue of evil and God -- If God were all good, as you say, He would want to deal with the problem of evil. And if God were all powerful, as you say, then He would be able to deal with the problem of evil. Obviously, evil exists, therefore He is either not all good or He is not all powerful, or maybe He is neither. How would you handle this line of thinking? Listen to the final session of the Equipping Conference for the answer!

Session 2 of our 2018 Equipping Conference. Our guest speaker, Tim Barnett of Stand To Reason Ministries, presents an interactive and engaging presentation of how an atheist might present their viewpoint and counter the claims of Christianity. This session includes a lively Q&A session!

Session 3 of our 2018 Equipping Conference. Our guest speaker, Tim Barnett of Stand To Reason Ministries, demonstrates that moral and religious claims are objective despite assertions to the contrary by our confused culture.

Session 4 of our 2018 Equipping Conference. Our guest speaker, Tim Barnett of Stand To Reason Ministries, trained us with a handful of effective maneuvers, which he calls 'Tactics'. Whether you are shy or outgoing, this session will help you get in the game and make an impact for Christ.

Session 5 of our 2018 Equipping Conference. Our guest speaker, Tim Barnett of Stand To Reason Ministries, engages any and all questions of our audience.

Session 1 of our 2018 Equipping Conference. Our guest speaker, Tim Barnett of Stand To Reason Ministries, speaks on the major reason students are walking from their faith: intellectual doubt and skepticism. In this session, Tim gives practical solutions to help families and churches give real answers to the questions our students are asking.

Our sin doesn't stop God. It doesn't cause Him to pause and try to figure out Plan B. Instead He redeems our sin for His eternal purposes and uses the consequences of our sin in the process of sanctifying us. It's just a further demonstration of God's incredible power and sovereignty!

All of us have sin in our life. ALL of us. Like everyone on Earth has sin in their life. But not everyone has hope while they are struggling with their sin. This week Pastor Tim spoke on the all-encompassing nature of sin as well as the hope we have for this life as we struggle to walk in obedience to Christ.

Wisdom is portrayed in Proverbs as a woman calling out to anyone who will hear. Meanwhile, Folly is also portrayed as a woman who calls out to everyone as well. But Proverbs 4 teaches us to be be very proactive in acquiring wisdom and avoiding folly. This week Pastor Tim walks us through Proverbs 4 and encourages us to pay attention to the way we live our daily lives as a means to gain wisdom.

It's the end of 2017 and the beginning of 2018. Where are you in your walk with Jesus? If you are like most of us 2017 ends with a fair share of unmet goals and an ongoing struggle with sin in our lives. Take heart! There is great encouragement to be had from God's promises to us.

When a politician wants your vote they will visit your community and visit a few local businesses to try to convince you that they are just like you -- just common people, then they leave. When Jesus came to Earth he came among the common people as well. And he lived his whole life among common people. His birth was announced to the most common, the most lowly of people -- the shepherds.

Jesus didn't come because we invited Him. He came because we needed Him. The Creator of the universe came to save His creation.

The cast of characters surrounding the birth of Jesus are few. But among those few people, Joseph stands above most of them. When we realize there is no record of anything Joseph ever said, one could ask why we remember his role in the Nativity story. It all comes down to his actions -- to his unflinching obedience to God.

Luke 1 records the conversation between the angel and Mary as he tells her God has chosen her to give birth to Jesus. That was a serious interruption of the plans Mary had for her life. Has God ever interrupted your life with an unexpected event or circumstance? This short passage has a lot to teach us about how to respond when God interrupts our life.

The very heart of our faith is forgiveness. Each of us were forgiven and we are supposed to forgive others in the same way. In today's sermon, Pastor Tim challenges us to not only forgive but to bless those who have hurt and offended us.

People are never excited about going somewhere or doing something when they are largely unaware of what to expect. Worse yet is when the little information they may have is wrong. That is the way it is with many of us in regards to Heaven. New Testament writers continually point us to look to the next life, to Heaven, for comfort, hope and endurance. Because of that, as followers of Christ, we need to be sure of what we know about Heaven and be excited about it!