Crossing Community Church

Like many churches the beginnings of the church in Philippi was small -- and unlikely! It consisted of a Roman soldier and his family and a Jewish woman and her family -- not a likely pairing! But from this dubious gathering grew a church that Paul praised. The book of Philippians has much to teach us about unity!

Every year since 2010 Crossing has hosted Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) as they train students to share the gospel with children. This year 130 students lived on our campus for ten days. They do training for three days then do Bible Clubs throughout the greater Philly area. This year they held over 30 Bible Clubs and shared the Gospel with nearly 1100 children. This podcast is an overview of the ministry + two testimonies and prayer time for their ministry.

John 4 begins with the conversation Jesus had with the woman at the well then moves into Jesus talking about the farming principles of sowing and reaping. What's the connection? Perhaps the connection is that process of raising a crop has many similarities to evangelism and seeing people come to faith in Christ.

It is always a special time when we can recognize a new Elder here at Crossing Community Church. John Ashton, our newest Elder, received a charge from Scott Brubaker, one of our current Elders, then John spoke. We closed the service with a time of prayer by our Elder Council for John, his family and his service in our church family.

How would you define a healthy church? By it's programs? By the building or the budget? What does the Bible say about what makes a church healthy? This week we look at several passages in the epistles to see what a healthy church looks like and consider a few of those factors as we look at Crossing to see how we are doing.

Paul compared the church to the body. Peter wrote of the church as a building with a foundation, a cornerstone and 'living stones'. Even Jesus spoke of 'building' His church. These metaphors for the church provide keen insight into how the church should function, but even greater insight into who leads the church!

There are areas of life that God has not given us explicit instructions on. These areas are often referred to as 'christian liberty.' How can we know when it is appropriate or inappropriate to participate in these questionable issues? The best rule of thumb: we are not to live to please ourselves.

The typical responses to dealing with other Christians in our church who are in sin seem to boil down to three scenarios: Go & confront; go and ignore; and finally the thing it seems we do the most -- just avoid the person. Avoidance in relationships kills relationships. Christ calls us to love even when it is awkward. We are called to step into that awkwardness!

Whatever God is doing in your life, He is doing that in our church as we others to see and witness what God is doing. Being at church, in a small group, a bible study -- in relationship -- is important. It's how God intends church to function.

In our study of the local church this week we looked into Scripture to see how Jewish wedding customs at the time of Christ tell us a great deal about what it means for the church to be the Bride of Christ. Spoiler alert: it all boils down to remaining faithful.

This week we begin a new series focusing on the Church. It is the Bride of Christ -- glorious and wonderful. And at the same time, it is a mess much of the time. People get hurt, confused and angry. God uses all that and more to sanctify people and bring glory to Himself in the local church.

On Sunday afternoon, April 23rd, we gathered to remember and celebrate Cheryl Ann Shipley and the Lord Jesus that she loved and served. Each of her children as well as Greg, her husband, shared during the service. While this recording does not include the congregational singing or the music that accompanied the power point presentation, it does include the piano solo by Charis. "Glory be to God in the highest!"

Fake News is all the rage but it's not a new thing. Thousands of years ago the Apostle Paul was addressing the 'fake news' that Jesus never rose from the dead. On this Resurrection Sunday we look at history and Scripture to confirm the truth -- that Jesus did rise from the tomb!

All the players were assembled. All the agendas were presented. Pharisees, Romans, true followers of Jesus, the disciples, those seeking a new Jewish nation and the sight seers -- all the elements for a perfect storm. And in rides Jesus on a donkey. Such a seemingly simple act, but in reality is like a match on gasoline. Jesus confronts every agenda and assumption as He proclaims Himself as the Messiah!

Exactly what did Ham do that was so wrong? This week we explore Genesis 9 and take a look at this puzzling passage. Nestled in this passage we find eternal truth for parents and children.

This week our guest speaker was Mordechai Wiseman. He is the Chairman and CEO of Israel Firstfruits Center for Economic Advancement. He spoke to us about what it means to be a priestly servant leader in order to manifest the Kingdom of God here on Earth through prayer, repentance, submission and discipleship. It was a strong challenge to move from being an 'observer' to a 'server.'

In Genesis 9 God makes a covenant with Noah. Later He'll make other covenants with Abraham, Moses and David and finally the New Covenant will be instituted by Jesus Himself. Why are covenants important? What do we learn about God from them? Be encouraged as we are reminded that God demonstrates an everlasting faithfulness towards us. He can never break His promises to us!

Joe Darrow, our missionary in Kensington, shared today about how he is seeing faith jump from the book of Hebrews into every day life in many aspects of his family and his ministry -- from K&A in Philly to the Congo!

Rich Mears, a long-time Crossing member and one of our missionaries, shares about how God is using soccer to bring children to Christ all over the world. Enjoy his stories of children in Bensalem and Haiti trusting Christ as well as the time he was shot while serving in Haiti.

Genesis 9 is packed with learning opportunities! This week we focused on Genesis 9:6 where God states that whoever sheds a man's blood must pay with his own blood. How does capital punishment line up with the Christian position on abortion and war?