Our Christmas Report

I wish I could calculate how many volunteer hours went into our Christmas at Crossroads services!  It took SO many brothers and sisters in Christ working unselfishly each doing what they are gifted to do to make the services possible!

Some of those jobs included:

-Greg Crawfis and Jean Sloan creating the stage pillars from a picture I took of one of The Voice programs

-The Crossroads' Artist group created the picture boards for friends and families to take Christmas pictures in front of in our Town Square lobby

-The choosing of music then scoring, editing and uploading of every song.  Countless hours of each volunteer and staff member rehearsing and memorizing music.
-Hours of off-site/ and on-site video shoots and then many, many hours editing are way too huge to calculate!

-Tryouts for our children and then rehearsals and services

-Adopt A child details too many to estimate over the past 3 or 4 months!

-Shopping for and the packing of the children's Christmas goodie bags by the Family Ministry Department
-Adding chairs in the auditorium and then cleaning the facility after every service

-And endless attention to the 'story' of our services ensuring that the message of Jesus was proclaimed in all of our work!

-The entire staff worked so hard to make sure every question was answered and every guest was greeted by both our volunteer greeting team as well as our staff!

Enough said - it was a glorious example of what the Lord expected His Church to be - working together to make dreams a reality!

And then God moved people to attend as we were just a couple hundred shy of 6,000 people attending!  I am SO thankful to have been a part of these extraordinary services!!

Watch our service at this link!

 https://vimeo.com/149996872

A precious Crossroads' girl trying out for the Christmas services!

Aaron and Jocelyn working on the mics preparing!

Aaron opened the services with a techno Christmas!

Aaron Nicolas

It was so much fun to use footage from Downtown Mansfield
as well as photography of Mansfield on our
Environmental Projection backgrounds.

Jocelyn leading "Do You Hear"...

Melissa performing the beautiful song "Adore"

Stephanie performed a beautiful monologue from the perspective of Mary.

Levi was our lead children's voice this Christmas!

As soon as our Christmas services were over - it was time to
teach that "It (Christmas) still matters".  The staff was more than
willing to contribute all of there used boxes and paper to cover
the stage and auditorium.  It really surprised the congregation!

These little ones helped me cover the floor of the
auditorium with lots of left over paper!

We enjoyed a Crossroads paper fight at our Sunday service!

It Still Matters - included entire families when no child care above pre-school
was provided.  I loved watching these young children worshipping with 'their father!

I felt like the deflating snow-globe best described
the feeling and the lack of stamina following the
busy Christmas preparations!

These beautiful picture boards were created by our Artist Group!

preparing

It seems I'm always in a state of preparing.

My entire job is to prepare and to enable others to be prepared.

But tonight's preparing is special because Rick Muchow is in the house! 

Crossroads is 18 years old and we have a few friends we've made through the years that stay in touch.  Rick Muchow is one of them and he is back this weekend.

Rick has taught our teams, encouraged us and empowered us to lead our congregation in worship over the years!  And we get him to be with us this weekend, and it's going to be great!

Rick travels the world training leaders and you can learn more about him on his website http://rickmuchow.com

preparing

Can we receive the Word of God and apply it to our lives if we don't prepare to hear?

I found myself asking that today as I went through my day doing laundry, corresponding with people, attending a family birthday party and looking ahead to being at church tonight.

Does it take an investment of thought and preparation of heart to truly 'hear' the message the Lord has when His Word is proclaimed?

I know when I find some quiet time to turn my thoughts toward the things of the Lord I seem to absorb the personal application that awaits hidden in the scriptures.  I'm not suggesting they serve no purpose if we're not prepared - the Lord can certainly penetrate even the most closed of hearts.  But coming already honoring Him with our spirit - desiring to learn - I would suspect would be very pleasing to Him.

I'm at Crossroads now, I hear the opening chords of rehearsal beginning, and I feel Him drawing me to Him - separated and protected from the world in this moment.  It's not the church that's sacred - it's multiple hearts drawn together toward Him that makes this place so special.  Unity in learning - unity in changing - we truly are one in the Spirit...

I thank him for Crossroads and for my extended spiritual family here.  And now that I'm ready personally - I can go to work ready to prepare for others.

Please join us this weekend - it's going to be so good! 

preparing for Easter

Preparing for Easter has been a top priority in my life for as long as I can remember.

Before Crossroads I was involved in 2 other ministries - all the way back to childhood.  In both ministries I was involved in singing, or playing keyboard, or decorating the stage or cleaning or any number of responsibilities.   I was always somehow involved in Easter preparation at the church.

As I read about  the liturgy connected to Lent or Easter  - I realized that even though I have prepared for Easter all these years, I haven't always personally prepared for Easter. cc Easter requires preparation.

My own sin required that He die.  If I had been the only one that had ever sinned, it would have required his death.  So what is my responsibility in preparing for Easter?

I feel it should be a time of purging, confessing and time of dying to my old self so the sacrifice the Lord made for us can transform us - a life that is again new in Him. 

In the middle of colored eggs, candy and baskets, choir practices and video shoots - the real preparation involves our own hearts.  Without our hearts prepared and open to Him - God's sacrifice is pointless.

Would you join me to make this Easter personal?

not a minute to think

I have literally not had one minute to even think about writing.  This week has been equal to the amount of details usually reserved for the week of Easter.  We are hosting Savorn Ou, the Country Director of Cambodia with Asia's Hope  and the Executive Director, John McCollum.  We are prepared as a congregation to partner with Asia's Hope in a way we have never done before.  This is about to get amazing!  There is a buzz here at Crossroads that is infectious.

As I sit in my office writing before I go hang the Silent Auction, I here the praise team singing "Oh the Blood "...wow, SO moving I can hardly concentrate.

You will definitely want to be at Crossroads the next 3 weekends...you will be very glad you came and very blessed!

As the weekend develops I will put up pictures and details - now I must go to finish preparing.  May God richly bless your night and I hope to see you at Crossroads this weekend!

preparing

This week I began to prepare for my Cambodia trip. It scares me on some levels.

I have never been out of the country except on a cruise ship - quite a contrast huh?

I like America, I like my comfortable life with its abundance of family, food and friends. I like my home and my church and my predictable schedule.

Cambodia is going to rock my world, I know it! So I am preparing. Praying each day as our leader instructed us to pray, studying the study we were given, reviewing my travel 'to do list'... preparing to be changed.

I want to change. My focus is so narrow. My waking moments are consumed with our family needs and remaining consumable moments are exhausted with ministry work and serving our congregation.

I am ready to make any changes that God lays on my life and so I'm preparing.

too busy to write

We were at the church preparing until late again tonight, but we found a little time to spend with cousins from Texas as the families all went tubing yesterday!

Squeezing in the fun!

the process in pictures

Such a blast to watch God take the creative ideas of a team and help us work it to completion! This is how Christmas at Crossroads will come to be!

Here are pictures of the rehearsals that took place at our home before going to the church.

After arriving at church I began to find various groups around the church in offices practicing before taking it to the stage. So fun to see them there and then later to watch it all come together!

Our first rehearsal, although chaotic - was amazing! I am excited to share the service with everyone!

The church is preparing!

just hours remain

Only a matter of hours before our first Palm Sunday weekend service begins! I cannot wait! Take a look at the 'way behind the scenes' preparations for this weekend and next...very exciting...



Painting
waxing floors
practicing
cross collaboration art project
Easter meals for the needy in our community
lighting designed and on and on...

One of the greatest things about preparing for the coming weekends is working with all the many, many faithful volunteers that help me! I cannot say enough about how vital each person is to our ministry, each one comes with unique talents to help us create the services. Without them, no services - simple as that!

I hope you feel right at home when you join us, we will be waiting for you!