Christmas time is here

I would appreciate prayers today as I tackle Crossroads' Christmas.

It's such an opportunity for visitors to come and hear the Gospel that I take it very seriously!  We put a whole lot of prayer and planning into this one service - so prayers would be appreciated.

I value all of your friendships so much! Thanks for always being willing to pray!

Fa la la la la!

working on Easter

I just finished writing the video revisions to our Easter videos that are in the process of being prepared.

My ultimate goal is to have every part of our service to be God-honoring and to be used to bring understanding about who Jesus is to those who attend.  In order for that to happen, we must work as hard as possible to eliminate any mistake or lack of excellence.

As I typed out words that I needed removed from the video and images I need slowed down and speeded up, I wondered if the Lord is pleased with our work.  I wondered if the Lord needs our work?

The fact that He has chosen to use us to 'create' services to lead the lost to Him is crazy!  He could have just chosen whom He wanted leaving no part to play for any of us.

Instead, he uses us to create things like services and the details those require, with rehearsals and weeks of preparation and evaluation.  And he uses volunteers who carefully clean the church, and make the coffee and teach the children and greet and park the people.  All so they can see Him through us.  Amazing.

We are just 3 weeks away now, time is moving quickly like always.

Will you play your part in the preparations by inviting lost friends and relatives?

Will you hold every detail of things being prepared in prayer asking the Savior of the Universe to reveal Himself to many at Crossroads this year?

I cannot wait to see Him touch this place....

weekend report

Sometimes simple is best.  And God blessed us with a simply excellent weekend.  Seriously, our volunteers work their hearts out to make the services as excellent as humanly possible- week after week!  And the services this weekend showed what hard work can produce - excellence and the 'look' of simplicity.  No distractions, just focused work that pointed everyone in attendance toward the throne!

I talked to young and old alike who were so glad they had come to participate in worship both in song as well as a magnificent teaching by Pastor Tim as he began the teaching series STORIES of Jesus.  We were all blessed!

Our setlist:

Everyone (Praises) - Gateway
I Will Follow -           Tomlin
Revelation Song -      Gateway
Holy, Holy, Holy (Savior and King)
Message:  Stories of Jesus Pt. 1  (John 1:43-51)  Sr Pastor Tim Armstrong
Closing Special:  The Same Love - Baloche

To watch this weekend's services on Monday go to www.crossroadswired.com    You can watch all of our archived services anytime.  Download the Crossroads App for even easier access.

To see what other ministries included in their weekend services go to www.theworshipcommunity.com

weekend report

Awesome weekend!  Our congregation shared the Lord's supper this weekend.  It takes many people helping to prepare communion for over 2,000 people, but our teams are so great they make it look easy!

One small problem was that we made the communion table too big - none of us can reach the center and so I had the privilege of crawling around to light the candles.  We all do whatever is necessary!  

Our setlist:

Opening Special:  Remembrance - Redman

Announcements:

Worship:  Lead Me To The Cross - Hillsong

Worship: More Than Amazing - Brewster

Praise:  My Savior Lives - New Life

Message:  I Corinthians:  The Lord's Supper - Pastor Tim Armstrong

Worship during the communion elements:  Amazing Grace My Chains Are Gone - Tomlin

Worship:  I Stand Amazed - Keyes

To watch our services live each weekend or to watch the video of past services go to www.crossroadswired.com.

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

working ahead - plan

When I know a new series is coming or I know I will be away - I work ahead.

Some people have voiced doubt at whether the Holy Spirit can bless that which is too precisely planned or created too far in advance. I disagree.

As a child of God I feel certain that the same Holy Spirit that is present today with myself and my team at Crossroads as we plan, can reveal what God's will is just as well today as next month. Can a God that created the world and all of us in it not control our thoughts and open our eyes to the exact elements that He wants us to include? I believe He can and will.

In fact, when I work ahead - those plans remain in my mind as I go through my week. And when I know ahead what we are planning I notice things around me that can be added to our plans, or in some cases replace what we originally planned.

I believe as children of God we should work ahead, giving the Lord the opportunity to show us things that will enhance our work. It happens to me over and over again.

When I do not work ahead, I work so frantically on last minute details that many times I miss what God is trying to teach me through my preparation for the services. I LOVE being done early and listening to God for weeks before the service is presented knowing that by the day of the service, we are truly giving Him our very best!

Do you work this way...ahead or behind?

preparing

Water bottles in ice - fresh coffee made - donuts on the table outside the greenroom. Important details to keep our volunteers appreciated.

But, as I sat in my office early this morning I thought of all the people God will be bringing to Crossroads this morning. People experiencing all kinds of difficulties as well as victories. People from every area of our county, people from different backgrounds, people with families and people alone. People seeking God.

We worked this week to prepare well. We prayed this week for God's anointing on this place this weekend. And now we wait.

What kind of life change will occur? Who will for the first time understand how the scripture written so long ago directly applies to their life?

We may never hear a single story, yet we prepare diligently because each of us feels this is what God has called us to do. Sometimes God simply asks us to be ready, to prepare, then we just step away as He works in lives in ways we never imagined! Just knowing that motivates me in ways that years of preparing cannot dull. Prepare well this week for whatever God has put in your life!

my day off

Getting more and more anxious for Easter. Today I set out to purchase everything I possibly could - I do not like last minute shopping...

My car is filling up fast!

We began yesterday to remind people to invite their friends to our services on Easter. Two services on Saturday, at 5:00 and 7:00 p.m., and two on Sunday at 9:30 and 11:00.

The artists and actors are recruited, the praise team has their assignments and Pastor Tim is set to kick off the "Amazing Jesus" series!

Please invite your friends, you won't be sorry I promise!

planning Christmas

I have no Christmas decorations up yet - although the Christmas cards are all out. But I've been thinking a lot about God's gift to us - his son - a baby who was sent to become our Savior. Amazing!

I decided to share a writing that I wrote recently that is going to be used on another website - it describes the emotions connected to creating services especially during this time of the year. It was written to encourage others who create or are involved in Christmas services.

The Call to Create Christmas

Christmas evokes a large variety of emotions.

Love, excitement, stress, wonder, pressure to create something spectacular, as well as great anticipation. These are just a few of the emotions I experience each and every year as I begin to develop Christmas services.

I look forward to it and dread it sometimes simultaneously.

Then I remember. I remember the wonder of his coming. God revealing His plan that Mary would conceive and bring forth God's son and call Him Emmanuel. I once again marvel that this young woman believed and accepted this extraordinary responsibility.

Why God has trusted me to create services that introduce Christ to people seeking Him is something I will never fully comprehend. It is the greatest privilege and greatest responsibility of my life outside of my family. My desire is to show our congregation just a glimpse of His glory in the midst of economic uncertainty and earthly struggle. This may be our greatest opportunity in many years.

And so I begin with a prayer that sounds more like pleading for His direction. "Please show me how to reveal your son to these people, I cannot do this alone. Use me Father...I'll do anything you ask of me to reach them..."

I remember standing at the back of the auditorium during the first Christmas service I helped to create 13 years ago. I stood in front of the sound booth and cried. His Spirit was there and His presence filled the room that night. That is when I knew that this is what I wanted to do the rest of my life. To be used to reveal the marvelous mysteries of Christ's coming is a privilege I will never take for granted.

This year approach the call to create Christmas as if it were your very first time...full of amazement and wonder. We have been called to carry His message to a broken world. May God richly bless you and your team, and fill your services with His presence!

programming: chaos to completion

You can see from the pictures that this is a "throw it all on the table", fun environment in which we create! No one is uptight here. We are family in this place and this is one more area of the ministry where we just do life together. Perhaps demonstrated best by Dan our Worship Leader who somehow ended up with the baby as we all raced to play our CDs in the boom box first! (I know what you're thinking - real high tech - but it works for us!)

This team is creative, driven, organized, VERY competitive and really, really good at discovering songs we would never otherwise find for our services! They come prepared and fight for the songs they feel best support the thematic teachings of each series. It's a blast, enthusiastic and so creative! I couldn't even begin to put together the elements of all our services without their help.

Once again, like a broken record I say, when you release God's people in their passionate, gifted areas, really great things happen. He planned it this way!

weekend report

Oh my - church can be fun! I was so anxious to begin our weekend! We have so many new young team members, they bring such energy and are so anxious to serve...it's contagious!





Service Order:

• Beautiful Day
• You Are Good
• Our God Reigns
• Blessed Be The Name
• On My Knees - special music
• FaithHighway video - "Do You Pray?"
• Message: Prayer Pt. 1

I love being at Crossroads right before everyone begins to arrive, I love watching the church awaken! Here are shots from a few of the areas of the church early this morning.

These shots are taken of our cafe, greeters preparing for the service, our security team, technical areas, Jesse - our youth guy (shorts in February!), the early morning coffee group, the band, our childrens' areas, and just a lot of good friends fellowshipping! Our community coming together, using their talents to serve others! How amazing the weekend was!

If you want to see what other ministries around the country and the world were doing this weekend click here!

We stayed late today to work on next weekend's drama and are looking forward to it!