Announcements

Dear CrossPointe, This Sunday we'll zero in on the Beatitudes, specifically Matthew 5:19. As we established last week, the Beatitudes and the rest of the Sermon on the Mount are not ethical laws that we must keep so that God will accept us, but rather they are what the Christian life should look like because God has made us alive in Christ. But beyond just having personal...

Dear CrossPointe If you missed last Sunday's sermon by Robert Ward on Ephesians 5:1521, I encourage you to listen to it here. It was a very timely and helpful message on how Christians should walk wisely amidst evil days. Great message! This Sunday we begin our series through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 57). This first week will be a sort of introduction into the ov...

Dear CrossPointe, Brad's given me the keys to the pulpit this Sunday, so I'll be taking it for a spin through Ephesians 5:1521. Looking forward to unpacking what I think is a timely text given our cultural climate and the tension we all feel between plotting our course and letting the world plot it for us. Go ahead and read the text once or twice for Sunday. Looking forwa...

Dear CrossPointe, This Sunday we finish up our series through 1 Thessalonians with a look at how and what it means to grow as a Christianthe doctrine of sanctification. In 1 Thess. 5:23, Paul prays that God himself would sanctify his readers completely and keep them blameless until he returns. That is a huge statement! What does it mean and how does that happen? What is G...

Dear CrossPointe, We are winding down our series on 1 Thessalonians this Sunday with a look at 1 Thessalonians 5:1222. As he often does in other epistles, Paul wraps up his letter to the church with a smorgasbord of practical instructions on how Christians should relate to the their leaders, to one another, to God in their gathered worship, and to the world. On the surfa...

Dear CrossPointe, Our text this Sunday is 1 Thessalonians 5:111, in which Paul continues his teaching about the return of Christ. His purpose in these verses is to encourage the Christians in Thessalonica to be sober-minded, spiritually awake, and ready for the day of the Lord when Jesus returns. In a culture that lulls us to sleep in so many ways, Paul's numerous exhort...

Dear CrossPointe, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15:17 that if Christ has not been raised our faith is futile and we are still in our sins. In other words, Paul is pinning every Christian's hopes on the resurrection of Christ. Because Jesus rose, we will rise. Because Jesus got up from the grave and has defeated death and sin, we can be confident that he will return as he p...

Dear CrossPointe, Our text this Sunday, 1 Thessalonians 3:613, gives us a glimpse into Paul's warm pastoral heart for the church. The emotion expressed is especially significant in view of the fact that Paul only spent about a month in Thessalonica. I think this text has much to teach us about God's intention for life in the local church, and how we should abound in love ...

Dear CrossPointe, This Sunday our text, 1 Thessalonians 2:173:5, gives us a glimpse into the often difficult doctrine of God's providence and how all things, even Satan, are under his complete control. In a culture that seems to be getting more hostile and evil by the day, I hope the truths in this text will be a great encouragement to us. Take some time to familiarize y...

Dear CrossPointe, This Sunday our text will be 1 Thessalonians 2:1316, in which Paul gives thanks for how the Thessalonians have received the word of God and how clearly it is at work in them. I think this brief text gives us a very important insight into the power and primacy of the word of God in the life of a Christian and the local church. Our plan will be to unpack h...