Dreaming

On December 21, Pastor Scott, of my home church, Crossroads Community Church, did a great message on Dreaming. It was part of a message series entitled.. 'Tis the Season. This message... 'Tis the Season for Dreaming.

I have to say, it was one of the best messages I've had the privilege to hear him give over the past 5 years of attending Crossroads.

I pulled out the message CD the other day and got to listening to it again. Here's some of my favorite key points from that powerful message:

"I believe God is sick and tired of Christians asking God to give us breadcrumbs, when He's capable of giving us a feast!"

"God doesn't need our recommendations... He wants our recognition."

"God didn't die on a cross so we can survive, He died on a cross so we could thrive!"

"God is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask for or imagine."

"We're certainly not a perfect church because we've got people in it!"

"Can you imagine a church that is more concerned about people than it is about the color of the carpet? That's it's more concerned that when people walk in that we want people to come as they are... that we don't care what color you are, what economic level you come from, what side of the tracks you come from... that we're more concerned that we love you, that we appreciate you, that you're welcome because God is passionate about people!"

"Can you imagine a church that reaches out into the community and stops playing political games and doing protests and doing boycotts that Jesus couldn't give a rip about? I can!"

"I've got news for you and I've got news for the critics and skeptics and naysayers about Crossroads or about any other church that goes through growth... We're not gonna back up, we're not gonna let up, we're not gonna shut up until we are called up. We're not gonna give up because we serve a God who is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask for or imagine and I don't know about you, but I'm ready to get on with it!"

"What would you be willing to do for God and His Kingdom if you knew you couldn't fail?"

"God wants you to get over your but."

"If we're going to reach people that no one else is reaching, I believe we've got to be willing to do things that no one else is doing."

I'm proud to belong to a church that dreams like this.

Are you dreaming like this?

It's Coming...

... mark your calendars! December 5 & 6. More info coming Sunday at Crossroads!

Here's last years video (you'll want to put my play list on pause so you can hear the music with the video).

Serving with Friends

Got to hang out with some incredible people yesterday and last night! The CLASS team at Crossroads is packed with some amazing people who really have a heart and passion to serve the people of our church! I LOVE hanging out with these people - because there are some things you can just count on spending the day with these folks. You can always count on:

• Laughing your head off! Seriously - my stomach muscles were KILLING me last night!
• The team just getting the job done. I tell ya - these folks just KNOW what needs to be done and they do it! No questions asked!

Thank you to the following people for Making the Difference in the lives of those taking their next step at CCC:

• Faythe Emens - for being my right hand WOman!
  
• Larry and Cindy Fry - for traveling ALL the way and staying late even with the long drive!
  
• Chuck and Debbie Beck - for getting to church early to stuff bulletins and still being willing to stay late into the evening. AND for the delicious treats!
  
• Scott Bennett - for going to Wal-Mart for the extra 24-pack of water we needed!
  
• Joe Bennett - for making sure the supplies were purchased and ready for Sunday!
  
• Marvin Howard - for your servants heart! We have a lot to learn from you, Marvin! God is working on you and it was a pleasure having you do a first serve with the team!
• Shaun Plato and his tear-down team - for coming back to help with tear-down of all the tables, chairs etc. You guys are amazing!

Thank you, team! Thank you for demonstrating Christ's love. Thanks for serving. Thanks for YOU!

I look forward to August when we get to do it again!
(hey - and if you want to serve on this amazing team - let me know... we can hook you up!) :)

AWEsome Weekend!

Wow - - I am BLOWN away! This past week was powerful. I'm still trying to wrap my mind around all that happened. Here are just some of the highlights:

• Passion and Prayer on Wednesday night was incredible. Watching the suffering of Jesus Christ makes me incredibly humbled, honored and thankful to call myself His daughter. Not a dry eye in the place. There's just something about seeing that movie collectively as a church body that touches my heart! Wednesday night I was reminded of just how intense Christ's love is for ME and how much he endured for MY sin. Praise Him!
• Friday night... can I just say WHAT HAPPENED TO SPRING? As I pulled into the parking lot of the Christian Family Centre at 4 p.m., I was SURE this Egg Hunt would NOT be happening. I was sure that volunteers wouldn't show and even more certain that no one in their right mind would bring children out to hunt eggs in SNOW! Um - let me just say how WRONG I was! I had to keep asking myself, "Who's in control, Wendy?" Thank God it wasn't me! The Egg Hunt happened and it was AMAZING! Truly one of the best Egg Hunts that I remember! I was totally BLOWN AWAY by the awesome volunteers who came out to show Christ's love to Egg Hunt attenders! I am SO honored to be serving Christ alongside of these amazing people! I will never forget the sea of snowsuits that surrounded Pastor Scott as he gave a heart warming message before guests arrived. It was truly one of the most unforgettable Crossroads moments! (I won't too soon forget our fearless Kid Crossing Director on cross country skis and the 2-year-old kids I witnessed trying to get a grip on their wet, snow-covered eggs!)
• Easter experiences at Crossroads were unbelievable. Between all 4 service times, we recorded 1,800 people who attended. Fifty-Four families identified themselves as new to Crossroads. Forty-six individuals indicated a decision to accept Christ's gift of salvation. I tell you people - it doesn't get any better than that! THAT is why I do what I do. THAT is why I get excited every Sunday! It's all about changed lives. For two of those families who told us they were new to Crossroads for the very first time came as a result of the Egg Hunt - the SNOWY Egg Hunt - on Friday night. Did deciding to have the Egg Hunt, when every other hunt in the county was cancelled, have an impact on those two families? Absolutely!
  

My prayer is that we will NEVER lose sight of the lives we are trying to reach. May we continue to stay laser-focused on the 65,000 lives that God STILL wants to change and never forget why we do what we do!

Thank you, Crossroads - for being THAT kind of church where PEOPLE matter.

Eggs, Eggs and MORE Eggs!

66,000 Eggs!

Lots of candy!

Lots of fun with friends!

Can anyone guess who this is??

Speechless!

I cannot recall a time when I was more speechless than I was this past Saturday, December 15. In fact, I was not only speechless, I was typeless. I wanted to blog about this Saturday night, but the words just wouldn't come. They didn't come. They still won't come. All I can say is that God did a phenomenal work through Crossroads Community Church this past weekend!! He was truly lifted high through the efforts of our amazing volunteers to bring food to a hurting community. I've never been a witness to such selfless love and dedication! It was by far one of the biggest moments of my life.

To the Project Share leaders who embraced the vision from the early days of planning... THANK YOU.

To the 450+ volunteers who showed up, in the freezing temperatures, to serve our God and our community... THANK YOU.

To the agencies who partnered with us to make this vision... this dream of helping hurting families a reality... THANK YOU.

To the God who loves us & who blesses us beyond measure... THANK YOU.

If you missed Project Share, you can see the amazing video here.

Because No One Should Be Left Out...

Who are we serving?

This has to be the best blog entry I've read in a long time! Brilliant!

I'm always talking about customer service on this blog... but this one knocks it out of the park as far as I'm concerned!

Who are we serving? Who is our customer? Great questions for the church to ponder.

Stories!

One of the coolest parts of my job is hearing all the God-sized, life-altering stories. Honestly, it's why I do what I do. It's what keeps me coming back to work everyday. Motivation. Inspiration.

For the past few weeks we have been talking about an outreach that Crossroads is heading up on December 15 entitled Project Share... Food. Love. Hope. (read my previous entries about the project.) It's been amazing to see the number of people who have stepped up and stepped out to help a community of hurting, hungry families. The most exciting thing for me are the stories I've had the privilege of hearing about. Stories of sacrifice, of paying-it-forward, of giving selflessly to something bigger than Christmas presents. Here is just a glimpse into some of those stories...

"My family and I traditionally do a $25 white elephant gift exchange since our family is so big. It's been fun and it's made us laugh over the years, but this year, I encouraged everyone to donate to Project Share their $25 that they would normally spend on their white elephant gifts. Because of what Crossroads is doing, my family and I will make a substantial gift to your project. In addition, it opened doors for me to be able to invite them to your Christmas services. Thank you!"

"I didn't know how I was going to give. I knew I wanted to give something, but I have nothing. I'm selling things in my house to raise money to donate. This is such a good cause and I'm grateful to be a part of it!"

"I want my kids to see what it's like to be less-fortunate. We want to deliver boxes to homes so my family can be a part of something so much bigger than themselves!"

"Thank you for Project Share! Going through the devotionals has helped my family and I tremendously! Our family normally goes up north between Christmas and New Years. Because we've been so touched by Project Share, we have decided to donate the money we would normally spend on the vacation to the project. Thank you."

"My kids go to Crossroads, but we don't, however, we've been so moved by what you all are doing we want to help. Can we help serve anywhere on that day even though we don't attend?"

WOW! Our God is an AWEsome God!

Will you pray with me for all the individuals who will serve at Project Share on December 15 and pray for the families who will be receiving Food, Love and Hope this holiday season?

An Afternoon To Remember

What do you get when you combine a beautiful Loch Erin Lake Frontage home, rain, two small canopies, rain, a basement full of yum-o desserts of all kinds, rain, a garbage-bag covered video camera, more rain and 17 people who have accepted Christ and want to make public their private confession of faith??? A WONDERFUL BAPTISM celebrating lives forever changed by Christ, that's what!

For those of you who couldn't make it out to the Baptism Celebration this past Sunday, August 19, boy did you MISS OUT on something big!

The day started out pretty bleak. I must admit I had my doubts about moving forward with an outdoor baptism in the pouring rain, but one thing I've learned about God - He is bigger than any problem we face. He knew the rain was coming long before we even planned this event and we weren't about to let a little water "rain" on this celebration!

Can I just say - we have the most incredible people in our church!!! I am constantly blown away by the support of those we serve Christ with every week! Time and again I am amazed by the countless ways our people step up to the plate to get things done! We can do what we do week in and week out because of the self-less acts of people helping to make a difference in the lives of those around them. To you, the people of Crossroads Community Church, I am honored to be doing life with you. I am honored to be able to serve Christ alongside of you. I am blessed by your love and count it a privilege to share this life journey with you.

Congratulations to all those who were baptized on a cold, rainy day in August. I know it will be an afternoon I will never forget!

What a weekend!

I love True Crossroads Stories weekend at my church! It's always amazing to hear about the many ways God is changing lives! This weekend we heard many God-size stories that simply BLEW ME AWAY! Everyone has a story to tell and I am convinced that He is using these stories to transform lives! We watched 8 people demonstrate their faith through Baptism... how exciting! I HAVE to share a line from one of the True Crossroads stories that really had an impact on me. In talking about her coming to Christ and overcoming her feeling of 'loneliness', she said this, "I don't know how He thinks I'm worth it, but I'm glad!" I thought about this line for the rest of Sunday. It really resonated with me. I don't know how He thinks I'm worth it. I don't either, Karen, but I'm glad He does!

Well, We're Off!

Well - in just a couple hours almost 100 women of Crossroads Community Church will be headed to the annual Women Who Worship Fall Retreat! I am pumped! I am looking forward to see what God has in store for us this weekend as we gather to worship Him! I am blessed to be able to be traveling with my good friends, Faythe and Tracey to Camp Michindoh and then sharing a cabin for the night with these wonderful ladies. Don't know if the cabin will be able to handle all the laughter that will most likely continue into the wee hours of the night - - so we'll see! :) Please pray for us as we prepare to our hearts and minds for this wonderful experience and may we be able to feel the Holy Spirit's presence during our time together. Blessings!

The Best Quesion Ever

My church, Crossroads Community Church ,will be launching a brand new series beginning October 16th which will run for 6 weeks entitled, 'The Best Question Ever'. This series is based on the awesome book by Andy Stanley, The Best Question Ever. If you haven't read it - I encourage you to run (not walk) to the nearest bookstore and pick it up. Better yet - plan on visiting Crossroads on (or before) October 16th and check it out for yourself. You may have passed by our giant billboards recently and saw the big question mark sign. Yeah - that is us - that crazy church again! :) The website it a pretty cool sample of what's to come in the series.

Summer's End Carnival Celebration!

My church, Crossroads Community Church, had our 10th Annual Summer's End Carnival this past weekend! I have to tell you - what an amazing time we had! We had over 560 VOLUNTEERS pull together for one of the biggest community out-reaches I have ever seen! I have to tell you that I have never before seen such wonderful people - then the people of Crossroads! It truly amazes me when I think about the love that these individuals have for others and the selfless ways they are always SO willing to dedicate themselves to reaching more people to Christ. I had an opportunity to work in food service yesterday. It was so awesome to be a part of this totally free event for our community. In addition to free food, children (and adults) participated in many games, moon-walkers, face painting, train rides and antique pedal cars while the youth enjoyed a variety of X games. Although I experienced many wonderful "Kodak moments" yesterday - one that I will not forget is one of a little boy, who's name I will probably never know. He was THRILLED to be there - you could tell by the big smile on his face. His dad was with him and you could tell they were a little tired, a little hot and a lot hungry. When I asked him what kind of chips he wanted he didn't hesitate to say Doritos... and he would have been okay if I had told him that was all he was getting. Then I asked him did he want ketchup or mustard and he said, "neither thank you." I said "It's for the hotdog!" He looked up at his dad and said "I don't have to have a hot dog dad." to which his dad replied, "son, it's free- get yourself one!" The kid lit up and said "I will have ketchup please!" As he took his hotdog he smiled one of the largest smiles I had seen in the whole day. This may not seem like much, but at that very moment I felt amazingly blessed to be a part of a church like Crossroads and to be able to share with people the love that Jesus Christ has for us. At that very moment I prayed for this little boy and his father and I thanked God that we were able to make an impact - large or small..in his life and hopefully many others. At that very moment I was overwhelmed by joy and excitement - that I have the greatest gift on earth to share with others - - the gift of salvation through Jesus. Honestly - it doesn't get any better than that!

Kid Crossing Hits Main Stage at Crossroads!

Crossroads Community Church Festival of Families

This past weekend at my church, Crossroads Community Church, our Children Grades K-5th took over the main stage and auditorium and all I can say is WOW! What an awesome experience it was to see those kids performing live with such passion and enthusiasm! I cannot tell you how exciting it was!

Being at this church, I am constantly reminded of Gods amazing love and grace. I feel so blessed and so honored to be a part of the wonderful things God is doing here at Crossroads!

For those of you who do not attend Crossroads, you can see a small glimpse of what it looked like on Sunday morning, June 5th, by visiting our website at: www.ilovemychurch.org. Click on Resources and then on Gallery and you will be able to see just a small dose of how much FUN we had! We even had popcorn popping during our worship experience - - ??? How cool is that! We worshiped Kid Crossing Style and learned Kid Crossing style and it is my prayer that we will all take away from that experience the true lesson of families! Way to go Kid Crossing leaders, Shari Glass and Amanda Iott for pulling this all together! You guys are awesome and I am truly BLESSED to be serving Christ along side of both of you!

At the end of the day - there were 7 recorded commitments to Christ - - after all, THAT is what it's all about and WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO!

Keep rocking on, ladies! :)