Sunday, December 17, 2017

weekend report

As we prepare for Christmas weekend there was no cut-back in preparations for this weekend's services!

Milo lead us in a great time of celebration as we sang Christmas songs and then as Pastor Dave taught us things we've never considered before and we all saw Christmas in a whole new light...messy!

Here are a couple of shots from the weekend:

Shawn, Michael and Streeter took Drummer Boy to a whole new level!


Our Young Adults set up their Christmas service in our lobby in anticipation of a great night of celebration and an open Coffee House with refreshments!

Our setlist:

Announcements - Jesse Rider on Video

Joy To The World (Unspeakable Joy)
Angels We Have Heard on High
Drummer Boy
Hark
The First Noel

Video Bumper
Message:  Messy Christmas Pt. 4; Messy First Christmas

Exit song: Hark

To watch our service go to crossroadswired.com

I hope to see you at one of our 5 Christmas Services next weekend!

Thursday, December 7, 2017

blessed

I just got to work and immediately was in tears...again.

Our family has had an emotional year for sure, like many of you have.

The separation from us that someone we dearly loved chose to make caught us totally off-guard.  I guess we had bought into 'having the perfect family' as my friends teased me often.

I've been very emotional this year.  Those I work with have shown patience and my family has all rallied together in Christ to move past it.  But it's very humbling how emotional I still am at the most unexpected things.  I like being in control of my emotions more than I can say.  More than is healthy I suppose.

I totally believe I'm watching God's will unfold in front of us and am very excited about the future!

But, this morning I felt God's presence totally and unexpectedly wash over me when I got to work.

I realized just how unbelievable God has been to me, allowing me to be surrounded by family and getting to see them all use their talents for the Lord!

My son pulled me into his office this morning to show me the Christmas promo he created to use for our Christmas services in a couple weeks, and I immediately began to tear-up.  As I heard the words on the video that my daughter wrote, I was completely overwhelmed with the sacrifice God made to send us His only son.

We're telling the Christmas story from the perspective of Mary this year.   It's made me consider again how God can use the most-unlikely, unexpected people and things to change our world.  In fact He chooses to.

If He used extraordinary people - none of us could relate to them!

As I watched Abi's image come across the screen when my son showed me the promo - it all came pouring back to me.  My family's opportunity to get to know Abi's family when they first arrived from Mexico.  It took my breath away as God revealed the 'good' He's allowed us to be part of.

I left my son's office too emotional to talk - I believe our Christmas services are one of the most important projects that our team creates and our team takes it very seriously.   Our jobs are to tell the story of Jesus.  To use our creativity and talents to make it applicable to people's lives.

So that's my request to each of you.

Please invite your friends to one of our 5 services this year!

Pray for unsaved friends and don't hesitate for one moment to invite even unlikely friends, if they hear His Word, and SEE the story, they just may gain a new understanding of their need for a savior!

This could be a new beginning for many, just as God is moving our family into a new beginning!!

Please plan your holiday around our services and bringing friends and family to Him!  Merry Christmas!

Monday, December 4, 2017

weekend report

My view of the weekend.

Running down hallways with final info about people being baptized.
Talking on walkie talkies.
Rushing into the video booth more times than I have in months!  (Also snagging one of Bob Price's amazing mini cream sticks he brings the tech team whenever he serves!)
Discussing how to save 3 or 4 minutes in the service.
Crying backstage as I send people out to be baptized.
Organizing the group of mom's that send care packages to our college students and college aged military young adults.
Holding a crying little girl who was waiting to go out on stage and be baptized.
Listening to the congregation shout and sing praises to the King witnessing people following the Lord in obedience as they are baptized!
Listening to a challenging message - the first in our Messy Christmas series!

Celebrating again, that this is my job!

A few shots of the weekend.

Ron instructing about how the baptism will work





It was an extremely powerful worship service this weekend - thanking the Lord for my church!

Our setlist:

Found in You
Oh Praise The Name
Oh Come Let Us Adore Him
Pastor Dave explained Baptism and introduced a video describing how many men we've baptized at the Prison!
Prison video
No Longer Slaves (baptisms began during this song)
Broken Vessels
Video Bumper
Message:  Messy Christmas Pt. 1 - Messy Background - Pastor Dave Vance
Exit Song: No Longer Slaves

to watch our services go to crossroadswired.com

Friday, December 1, 2017

my dad touched this

It's always interesting when I feel the closest to the Lord.

It's not when I'm enjoying a big accomplishment, a completed assignment or renovation.  It's when I touch something that is connected to a memory of simple things.  Quiet things.  Things possibly  overlooked at the time as completely insignificant!

This morning as I pulled an old electric skillet out of the cabinet, I remembered all the times I watched my dad's hands touch this.... 

He cooked bacon in it for us kids, he used it to make crazy concoctions out of leftovers, things that don't go together at all!

Mostly what this old pan reminded me of, was how valuable time was with him - how fast things change and how much he cared for us.

The other thing that caught my eye was all the old stains.  Possibly things he could have scrubbed off in days-gone-by, but now they were here to stay.  Cooked into the fiber of the pan forever.

Our heavenly Father longs to touch the stains of my life.  He wants to forgive them, forget them - remove them from me as far as the East is from the West, but will I let him?

Why do I choose to hold onto hurts, allowing them to become permanent instead of releasing them to the Savior?

I invited my father to touch my life today - removing stains - renewing me.

Christmas is the story of what it took to offer me this forgiveness and I choose today to receive His touch anew - releasing all the stains and accepting His touch....

My earthly father is in heaven - I don't know what earth awareness God allows us to have once we're with him, but if you can hear me dad, "thanks for touching my life in so many amazing ways growing up, but mostly thanks for making sure I understood the Heavenly Father's touch.  I love you and miss you!"