weekend report

It's been such a busy week I'm just now posting about last weekend!

It was the 2nd weekend of our Origins Series with Pastor Dave!  So good!

Our congregation worshipped strongly!

Eric performed "Word of God Speak"

We love it when Nick visits with his cello

Terry and Nick were a great addition to the team

Scott's famous bass runs were awesome!

It was great to worship at Crossroads!

Our setlist:

Call Upon the Lord
This is Amazing Grace
Amazing Grace/My Chains are Gone
No Longer Slaves
Special: Word of God Speak
Bumper Video:  Jacob Vance
Message:  Origins Pt. 2 - Pastor Dave Vance
Exit Song: Word of God Speak

 To worship with us on-line go to www.crossroadswired.com

See you at Crossroads this weekend!

a night worth remembering

After all the preparation, memorization, praying, planning and carrying - Tuesday night came.  The night we invited the community, our community to join us for worship.  And worship they did.

The Lord was present in our worship and I pray He was honored.  Here are some of the sights and sounds from our Night of Worship!

everyone worked really hard to get it just right - 4 churches
represented just in this song!

Fellowship is an important part of this whole event - plus we were waiting
for sound!

The theatre is still breathtaking!  A great icon of our community!

So so good to be lead by multiple gifted leaders!

Praise team members from various churches made up our little choir - beautiful!

I have to comment on our fearless musical director, Dan Fleming
on the left.  He has lead every special musical service at
Crossroads for the past 20 years!  So thankful!

The Dotson brothers completed the band.

Everyone so ready to worship the King!

Brittany got us off to an amazing - exciting start!

Pastor Dave's vision to have it at the Ren was definitely
the right decision!

The local pastors were welcomed to the stage for prayer!

There is hardly anything I love doing more than
encouraging young artists and musicians!  Nick
lead us in worship as he created a beautiful mosaic
supporting our theme of "One Church...One Mission"!

On a personal note, I was honored and so thankful
that my mom was able to attend!

Rachel Justice created a beautiful painting which beautifully depicted
our theme for the night "One Church...One Mission"

Some of our male worship leaders pictured here - so much gifted talent in the area - we are blessed!

To help create the Night of Worship the past several years is a responsibility I don't take lightly, but the opportunity to take ideas and lay them at Jesus' feet asking for His guidance and will to be done, is what I love to be part of, and this year was no different.

As the worshippers came and the voices began to fill the room I was nearly overwhelmed knowing God was clearly in this place! He blessed the night - He completed our efforts.

None of us can ever thank you enough for coming, but I'll just say it again, thank you all!  You helped make it a night to remember!

Father's Day

My dad taught me to love my heavenly father madly and I didn't question it because as my earthly father he lived what he asked me to do.  It wasn't just lip service although he loved to talk.

I didn't have a dad to buy a dumb card or Duck Dynasty blanket for this year, it made me sad, but I have a husband who is the best dad I've ever known and a fabulous son who I get to watch raise amazing kids as he models God's love.

We asked Ron what he'd like to do and he knew exactly!  NOTHING - stay home, order Leaning Tower and crash with the kids - so good!

My heart is thankful!  I hope you all had a great Father's Day!

weekend report

Father's Day was hopping at Crossroads with Bacon Fest!

I'm pretty sure bacon may be the universal language of men based on their reaction!  Each guy got a couple slices of bacon as they entered the services this weekend.  The smell dominated the ministry!  Even our talented children's ministry supported the bacon fest with their little 'skillet' activities!

Pastor Dave returned from vacation and launched the new series "Origins" - it's going to be a great series as we study the importance of scripture and learn together!

Here are some more shots from the weekend.

For 20 years I've been watching this guy prepare for the weekends!
Happy Father's Day Dan!

It was a special Father's Day for Shawn our bassist
as he gave his son a hug on stage as they served together! 

And Shawn's hugs continued with the bacon!

We're thankful for an excellent intern Isaac, as he
served in the student ministry this weekend running tech.

Our students are becoming excellent musicians and leaders as Jocelyn and Milo work to help them gain valuable experience serving back in the Student Ministry areas.

I didn't get a very good shot of our team this weekend as we worshipped!

And another series began - very thankful!

 Our Setlist:

Announcements:  Keegan McQuate another young man interning with us took care of announcements this weekend

Unstoppable God
Break Every Chain
A Mighty Fortress is Our God
Jesus I Come

Origins Bumper Intro:  How appropriate on Father's Day the very talented pastor's son Caleb, did this powerful spoken word piece.  https://www.facebook.com/cccwired/videos/1394305420657425/

Message:  Pt. 1 Origins - The Necessity of the Word - Pastor Dave Vance

To watch our services on-line go to crossroadswired.com

To see what other ministries used in their services go to theworshipcommunity.com

See you next weekend for Part 2!

judging others vs grace

I'm currently reading Max Lucado's In The Grip of Grace, and it's fascinating how difficult we try to make the grace God extends to us.  It's so simple...

We can't possibly achieve the level required to be perfect enough to make it to heaven on our own.  But instead of just believing His message, instead of admitting our sin, we choose to try over and over again to make ourselves feel better by judging others.

The old illustration that I've heard over and over is this - if all we had to do was physically reach heaven by jumping NO ONE would get there.  One person may be able to jump 6 inches and one person 2 feet, but there is no difference in where we finally land!   Not high enough.

The point is, in your eyes you may choose to compare to make yourself feel "I'm not as bad as a murderer", but it's still not good enough - nothing is!

I spent time asking the Lord to search my heart this morning as I spent some extra time resting, and to reveal to me my judgements toward others...it's hard to admit you're just as bad in the eyes of a perfect God!

In Romans 2:1 it says:  God judges those who do wrong things, and we know that his judging is right".

The hardest thing for me to admit however, is that in most cases judging others can be to feel better about myself....hard to swallow.

The time that's wasted in judging others instead of worshipping the Lord is something worth confessing and 're-aiming' ourselves...again.

quiet moments

I've had some slow-down opportunities lately, mainly with my grand-babies,
but also long prayers that turn into begging as I ask the Lord to reveal His will to me constantly...
I stood watching the rain today and was so thankful for all the Lord has given us understanding that it's not by our own hands.

Slowing down...taking it in.

One precious slow-down day I had recently was when Trinity was with us and we decided to try to get some flowers planted and various tasks done.

Anyone that works with a 5-yr old knows nothing happens fast, so it allowed me to sit and watch, and listen and wait, while I watched her work so hard and try new things.

Grandpas mulch assistant

mixing several kinds of bird seed together

working with the soil

And of course the only possible ending to such a day is bath time!

We worked outside all day, enjoying one another, thankful for quiet family times and hoping this would be an annual event - cherishing it all so much! And next year we hope to enjoy all 3 grand-babies working with us - we missed Oliver and Margot who were on vacation!

Fancy accomplishments mean little compared to life forming quiet talks and intention time given.

Psalm 118:24
This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

weekend report

Once in a while you meet people that you instantly feel connected to and wish you had more time with...such was the case this weekend with Three-star General Loren Reno and his wife Karen.

We hosted General Reno for a weekend that featured the topic of leadership because it's something Crossroads' knows is crucial for a healthy, Godly, maturing ministry.  I can't imagine a position that requires more leadership training and commitment then that of our military leaders.

As I watched the reaction of our congregation to General Reno, I could tell by their body language that they wanted to hear about his experiences, they hung on every word.  I could only imagine the things that he's seen and experienced in his position, things that had to be both devastating at times as well as rewarding victories and accomplishments.  Things that take the kind of confidence and decision making that I have only dreamed of.  But that's not what I found to be the most fascinating about him.

It was his complete dedication to his Lord.  He had an understanding of this personal relationship with his Savior that made you want to know Jesus more.

And his love was also openly shared for his wife Karen of 41 years who he obviously was in love with and cared for deeply.  Their adoration and respect for one another was obvious as I talked with them.  This was very encouraging with so many marriages around us in disarray.

What had been intended to be a weekend focused on learning more about leadership and asking our congregation to attend the Global Leadership Summit in August, turned into a personal encouragement and a deep hope that our paths will cross again.

I'm grateful for the weekend on a personal level, deeply grateful!

I am very sorry if you missed this weekend at Crossroads, but here are a few pictures!

Terry opened the service with a beautiful rendition of Hallelujah

Everyone was thankful for the opportunity to
purchase General Reno's book!

He took the time to hear each person's story as he signed their book, and the line was long!

Our Setlist:

Announcements:  Thanks Linnell Allred!

Hallelujah
Jesus I Come
The Lord Reigns
King of My Heart

Video Intro by Pastor Dave
Message:  Abram the Warrior, Giver, Servant - Lt General Loren Reno
Exit Video by Pastor Dave

To watch our services go to crossroadswired.com