Sunday Wrap

It’s another gorgeous pre-spring day here in the Ville! The sun is shining and we have so much to be thankful for. I hope your week is off to a great start. We really are praying for you and we hope that God will give you open doors of opportunity to share Jesus this week. Here’s the wrap back:

- Yesterday was week 1 of our new series (would be hard to be week 1 of an old series) “LegoLand”. We’re going to spend the next 4 weeks studying the book and the person Nehemiah and talking about how God is building his church.

- Our theme yesterday was “An Unstoppable Vision”. Nehemiah knew that God had called him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It was clear. Concise. And compelling. He wasn’t going to stop or be derailed for anything. The vision-pattern that God used with Nehemiah 2500 years ago is the same pattern he uses today. Very cool.

- Loved the worship set. Loved hearing you sing. Loved Alvin Brewer ripping it up on the guitar!!

- OK, those were some of the best video announcements we’ve had in a long time. Very creative. Big props to AJ Guptill for turning Pastor Mark and Pastor Jamie into a couple of block-heads. Share the link with your friends and let them get a taste of Crosspoint.

- Terrific crowd yesterday and several new families!! Invite someone for this Sunday?

Sunday Set List/Artist/Album
“Holding Nothing Back” Jesus Culture, Consumed
“I Will Exalt” Bethel Live, Be Lifted High
“Stronger” Hillsong, This Is Our God
“Our God” Chris Tomlin, Passion: Awakening

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Sunday Wrap!

What would a Monday be without the Sunday Wrap blog post?? A Monday. OK, so maybe these posts aren’t life changing but they do represent some life changing things that God is doing in our church. We’re pretty pumped. Here’s the wrap back to another fun Sunday at Crosspoint.

- There was 10 feet of snow! OK, slight exagerration. I’m always amazed at how we can get to the mall or the rink or the coffee shop but if there is a little snow on Sunday morning we cross church off the list. It really wasn’t that bad in Fredericton. And, I need to say that we had a pretty decent crowd all things considered.

- It was the 5th and final installment of our ‘Once Upon A Time’ series. This has been a top 5 series for us for sure. Several of you have shared how this series has impacted your life and how you are going to ‘write a better story’ with the rest of your life. That’s a God thing.

- Yesterday’s theme was “Lost things matter to God”, Luke 15. It was 3 for 1 Sunday with back to back to back parables. The lost sheep, lost coin, and the lost son. Rumor has it that I nibbled like a sheep mowing down fresh grass. It’s just a rumor. The sheep was lost through preoccupation, the coin through the carelessness of others, the son through miscalculation. Never stop praying for spiritually lost people to find their direction in Jesus!

- There was a guy leading worship who looked a lot like John Sherwood.

- Kelly Lynds shared a bit of her story in the video testimony of the week. These videos have been ginormously impacting for all of us. Big thanks to all who let us film your story. You are making a difference.

- We announced that Kathy Shanks is coming on staff at Crosspoint! Kathy’s position will primarily be in Children’s ministry and she will also assist us in areas of finance and administration. Kathy is from Marysville, this is her home church. She is currently serving as the Children’s Pastor at Moncton Wesleyan.

- I love Brandon and Emily Ingraham. They are rock solid servants of Jesus. I am so thankful for Emily and how she has served her church for the past two years in Children’s ministry and many other areas as well. We’ll be praying for you as you head back to Hillsong Australia to finish your education. Thanks for coming home and stepping in when your church needed you! That’s huge.

Sunday Set List/Artist/Album
“Holy Spirit” Bryan & Katie Torwalt, Here On Earth
“You Are My Passion” Jesus Culture, Come Away
“Nothing But The Blood” Jesus Culture, Awakening
“You Never Let Go” Matt Redman, Passion: Everything Glorious
“How He Loves” David Crowder Band, Church Music

Sunday Wrap

Oh hey. Thanks for stopping by. This is the place to keep tracking with what’s going on at Crosspoint. Well, we can’t cover everything that’s going on, but we can hit the highlights from Sunday and a few other points of interest in the life of our church. This has already been a crazy week for Jesus in our church. Lots of good going on. Here’s a look back at this past weekend @ CP…

- Sunday was week 4 of our “Once Upon A Time” series! If God has been speaking to you in this series, if you are committing to write a better story, leave a comment on this post and share with others.

- We looked at a very famous parable of Jesus that is on the end of his most famous sermon. It’s Matthew 7:24-27, the wise and foolish builder. There is a huge difference between being a listener to Jesus and a follower of Jesus. The person who follows Jesus is wise. Not the person who gives the most or attends the most or knows the words to all the songs, etc. Obedience is the depth that will hold you in any storm.

- Big response to God’s word in all 3 services!!!

- We had another powerful ‘write a better story’ video from another Crosspointer. Thank you Michelle for sharing with us!!

- Excellent response so far to the ’90 Day Tithe Challenge’. We’ve heard several stories of people trusting God and God blessing people. It’s not too late to start!

In other news…

- Uprsising was OUTSTANDING!! HUGE thanks to the entire team that carries the vision, plans it all out, recruits the volunteers, prays it through, and makes it happen! You know who you are. You are making a difference!

- Shave Ed’s Moustache! Great job on the video announcements Ed. You’re a natural. Thanks for putting your moustache up for shave/auction as a fundraiser for the CPYouth. If we raise $2000 Ed will shave off his 41 year old moustache. Love it. Our youth group is exploding, great things are happening. Lets’support them!

Sunday Set List/Artist/Album
“Here For You” Matt Redman, 10, 000 Reasons
“Unending Love” Hillsong, God Is Able
“We The Redeemed” Hillsong, Faith + Hope + Love
“God Of This City” Chris Tomlin, Hello Love

Sunday Wrap

OK, so it’s Thursday and this is my first opportunity to make this post. Hope your week has been rolling along well. Except for the snow. And the snow days. And the shoveling. And the snow. But hey, it’s February which means we’re another month closer to the big melt.

- Sunday was week 3 of our “Once Upon A Time” series. The series has been picking up traction each week. Sunday’s theme was on heaven and forgiveness, “The Unforgiving Debtor” from Matthew 18. Forgiven people forgive others. People who know grace, show grace. If you are thankful for what God has done for you, reach out to someone else. You never know, you might change a life for eternity!

- Loving our ‘write a better story’ videos that we’re doing each week. Very powerful There’s just something about hearing the transformation story of someone from your church that reminds us of why we do what we do. Thanks again to those who have been willing to take a camera for the cause!

- We threw out a ’90 Day Tithe Challenge’ and several of you responded!! Thank you Our church and our budget have both been growing exponentially over the last several years. Many of you are giving sacrificially and we appreciate you. Great things are happening and we have great days ahead.

Set List/Artist/Album
“Revelation Song” Jesus Culture, Consumed
“He Is Lord” Hillsong, This Is Our God
“There Is A Redeemer” Kathryn Scott, We Still Believe
“This Is Our God” Hillsong, This Is Our God
“All The Way My Savior Leads Me” Chris Tomlin, Hello Love

DON”T FORGET:
Uprising is this weekend!! Crosspoint’s women’s ministry event of the year. It’s going to be fantastic.

Sunday Wrap – January 22nd

Hey, remember that time we had church? Yeah, that was crazy. Oh, you weren’t there? Well, read this blog post and then you can pretend like you were. Here we go!

First lesson of the day: Don’t let Pastor Jamie shave your head. Or at least buy a good, stable razor.

We then kicked off week 2 of our “Once Upon a Time” series with some stellar worship from Ruthie, Shea and the crew. Here’s the setlist if you want to hunt some of those songs down:

“Your Grace Is Enough” Matt Maher, Empty And Beautiful
“Sing My Love” Jesus Culture, Your Love Never Fails
“Glory To God Forever” Vicky Beeching, Eternity Invades
“The Wonder Of Your Love” Hillsong, Faith + Hope + Love

Huge thanks to Darren Stewart for sharing his story via video this week. Wow. Powerful stuff. LOVE these stories. We could’ve seriously just prayed and sent you home the last two weeks after watching these things. And there’s more stories to come!

This week’s parable was the Story of the Rich Farmer; aka, the guy who just built a bigger barn for all of this stuff, and then had a surprise visit from God.
The main issue we wrestled with was, “God has blessed me with SO MUCH money, time energy and resources, but am I ‘loving my neighbour as myself’ or just building a bigger barn?”

When faced with multiple scriptures all admonishing us to take care of those around us, and then comparing that with our own spending, I think we all had a good reminder of what God is calling us to do. “Well done always trumps well said.”
So, the challenge was given to everyone at all three services: Come to the altar and make a sacrifice. A real, literal sacrifice. Leave your coats. Your shoes. Your hat and mittens. The things you love the most. And give them away to people who need them in our very own city. And WOAH. You responded.

Fur coats. Leather jackets. Brand new boots. The sweaters off your back. More gloves than we can count. A personal tablet. And on and on it goes.
You gave God your best. You walked out to your cars in your socks. You walked out to your cars in your t-shirts. (and it was -30! I promise, we didn’t plan that!)

And we committed to stop building bigger barns.

It was a powerful, memorable morning. I hope and pray that your commitment wasn’t a one-time offering of a coat, but a lifestyle change that will continually show the love of Christ to everyone around us. Awesome stuff, Crosspoint. Keep writing a better story.

Couple of notes:
1) We launch our tithing challenge next Sunday! Have you been talking and praying with your family about this? More details to follow on Sunday.
2) Be praying for Pastor Tim and his family – he’s in Atlanta at the biggest church in the Wesleyan denomination, being poured into by the leadership there. A very cool opportunity. He’ll back this week and ridiculously fired up!
3) Your Connect Groups will be kicking off this week or next, so stay tuned for information about when your group launches. We had lots of new people sign up for a group…awesome!

Sunday Wrap

Thanks for checking the blog and staying plugged in to what’s happening at Crosspoint. We are far from perfect but we’re doing our best to help as many as possible follow Jesus. Yesterday was a very exciting day. Here’s the look back:

- Baptisms!!!! 4 exclamation marks. One for each of the people who were baptized yesterday. Baptisms are my absolute most favorite thing to do in ministry. I love seeing people step forward and go public for Jesus. Congratulations again to those who took this very important step/plunge!

- We kicked off our new series, “Once Upon A Time”! It was one of my favorite Sundays ever in the past 5 years. Yep. God’s presence was with us, worship was powerful, and it seemed like a lot of people were doing business with God. The tag line of the series, “write a better story”, is going to be a life changer for many. Forget about your past, what can your future look like if you let God script it?? Anything is possible!

- We’ll use a different parable of Jesus each Sunday in the series. Yesterday’s parable was a more obscure, and I think hilarious, parable, “The Parable of the Friend at Night”. No doesn’t always mean no. Persistence pays off. Ask. Seek. Knock. Receive. Find. Open. Pray about it, look around, and make some noise.

- Yesterday’s video testimony was off the charts impacting. Huge props to Chris Johnson for sharing his story with us and showing us how we can write a better story when we trust God with our lives. Not a dry eye in the place as we watched Chris’s video. Be looking for the video on our Vimeo site and forward it to everyone you know. God is alive and he is working!!

- Huge thanks to AJ Guptill and Brandon Ingraham for creating our best looking stage and lighting design yet!

- Huge crowd yesterday. One of our largest non-holiday non-special event attendances ever. Invite someone this week. Really. It’s a great time of year to invite someone and this series is going to be huge. Found people find people.

- Get in a group, register for Uprising, give like never before, get to know new people, pray hard, thank God for what he is doing and ask how you can be a part of the future!! Great days ahead Crosspoint!

Set List/Artist/Album
“Hosanna” Paul Baloche, A Greater Song
“Knees To The Earth” Christy Nockels, Passion: Sacred Revolution
“None But Jesus” Hillsong United, With Hearts As One
“Bless The Lord” Watermark, A Grateful People
“Lord, I Need You” Chris Tomlin, Passion: Here For You

Sunday Wrap!

Every week, well almost every week, I do a quick blog summary of the services at Crosspoint for those who weren’t there, those who are never there, and those who like to follow from afar. This is that post.

- Gigawatts!! It was week 2 of our mini-series “Back to the Future”. One week to look back and one week to look to the future. Special props go to guitarist/vocals Martin S (no one can spell his last name) for wearing some seriously retro back to the future sneakers. Nice.

- Loved, totally thoroughly enjoyed, the worship set! The songs fit the message and the theme perfectly. Great energy and by far the best ‘transitions’ between songs that we have ever, ever had. Thank you again to all of you who work so hard on this behind the scenes. You know who you are. And to Ruth Woodworth who ultimately gives point leadership to everything we do musically.

- Since we’re on the topic of worship, let me say again how much I love the total media, tech, and lighting package we present every week. It’s so good that you often don’t notice it. Exactly! It’s not intrusive but it helps us focus on Jesus.

- Well, the preacher was rusty and the crowd was kind. Ha! That’s the best way I can describe the message.

- Every January I share a few things that remind us of why we do what we do. Let’s never take for granted what God is doing here people. Our culture, our mission, and our style are all working together to help us share Jesus with as many people as possible. Many churches would give their choir robes to be doing what we are doing.

- Great crowd yesterday! Great to see new faces and to see some faces we haven’t seen for awhile. Seriously. Great to see you. If you know anyone who is missing, give them a little nudge. Or a big nudge.

Sunday Set List/Artist/Album
“Holding Nothing Back” Jesus Culture, Consumed
“You’ll Come” Hillsong, This Is Our God
“Amazing Grace” The Almost, Southern Weather
“Hosanna” Hillsong United, All Of The Above
“I Will Exalt You” Hillsong, Faith + Hope + Love

Coming up!!
- Youth Baptisms this Wednesday! Come out and cheer them on! 7 PM
- Baptisms this Sunday morning, January 15th, all 3 services!!! If you haven’t been baptized we would love to celebrate this very important step with you. What are you waiting for? Dive in!
- Connect Groups! Every person who goes to this church should be in a connect group. Sign ups are coming. Start the new year right and join a small group of people!
- Brand new series for the new year, “Once Upon A Time”. You can write a better story! Follow the parables of Jesus and see how your story meets God’s story! Invite someone!

Stuffs

Hey Church!Hope that your 2012 is off to a great start. We had a slamtastic time in Ontario last week. Good travels, great company, and way too much eating. It’s good to be back in the Ville and we are totally amped, pumped, stoked, (and other words that used to be cool years ago) about this coming year at Crosspoint!! Seriously.

- Crosspoint Christmas at the Playhouse!! By far, like really far, our best night ever. I am so thankful to God for the entire evening at the Playhouse. The kids were awesome. The youth were incredible. The quartet, the worship, the band, the video announcements with Aaron Cambers, the crowd (the HUGE crowd!), the response to the message, and on and on. We probably had between 1000 and 1100 people and 80+ indicated a new decision for Jesus!! Thank you so much, so many of you, for the many hours of hard work, the praying and the inviting. You are making a difference. Jesus is making the difference. Wow.

- We left for Ontario early in the morning on Christmas eve. I think it’s only the 2nd time in 20 years that we’ve been to Gayla’s home for Christmas day. Great drive. No problems. No speeding tickets. I only get speeding tickets when Conard is in the car with me.

- Heard great things about the Christmas morning service here at Crosspoint. Way to go Mark, Jamie, Ruth, Emily and others for putting in the extra effort. Looks like we had many new faces on Christmas Sunday and January 1st.

- We kicked off a 2-week miniseries on Sunday titled, “Back to the Future”. It was an icy morn and New Year’s Day and we still had a very decent crowd. We had multiple shredders at the front of the church and gave you an opportunity to put the past in the past. Now, let’s focus on our future in Jesus!!

- I’m looking forward to preaching this Sunday. Uh, that’s the understatement of the year. (The year is only 3 days old!) I can HARDLY WAIT to preach this week. I’m always a little more wound than usual when I haven’t preached for a Sunday or two. Should be entertaining. Come to the first service for the full effect.

Two things that I am really, really excited about:
Youth Baptisms next Wednesday!! Wow. All invited. Come cheer on some of our teens who are taking this huge step in their journey with Jesus. It’s going to be power-full!!

New series starting January 15th, “Once Upon a Time”. We’re throwing a lot into this series because we truly want everyone to ‘write a better story’. Each week you will hear from a Crosspointer whose life has been radically transformed by Jesus. We’ll be preaching from the parables of Jesus and seeing our story in God’s story. Also, we’re doing BAPTISMS in all 3 services on January 15th. Get the year started right, don’t wait, don’t put it off. Let us know if you’d like to be baptized on the 15th!!

Sunday Set List/Artist/Album
“One Thing Remains” Bethel Live, Be Lifted High
“Jesus Paid It All” Kristian Stanfill, Passion: Everything Glorious
“I Will Exalt” Bethel Live, Be Lifted High
“Freedom Reigns” Jesus Culture, Come Away
“Break Every Chain” Jesus Culture, Awakening: Live From Chicago

The Playhouse

Hey Peeps! We’re just a few days away from our largest outreach event of the year and I wanted to give it one last push. Thanks for reading along and praying for our services!

- Not long ago it would have been laughable for us to reach 1000+ people in one evening.
- We won’t be at the Playhouse nest year because it is booked for their own Christmas production. So, let’s take full advantage of this year.
- It is going to be the best 60 minutes we’ve ever put together.
- Many people have been working hard for weeks to make this an exceptional evening.
- If you knew someone’s life would be changed for eternity, would you invite them?
- People in Fredericton love going to the Playhouse. It’s an easy invite!
- We need you to pick up a bunch of the remaining tickets for the 8:00 service and give them to everyone you know. Hand them out at the office. Get creative.
- Put an invite out on your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
- Neighbors, friends, relatives, hairdressers, person who serves you coffee, whoever!
- Check with other Crosspointers and make sure they are going. I’m amazed at the number of our own people who simply don’t go to this service.
- We’ll make a simple and clear presentation of the gospel.
- We’re going to have offering boxes on the way out this year. Low key for people who want to give.
- God has been doing something completely awesome in our church over the last few years. Let’s not take it for granted. Let’s do our part and be willing to put some feet to the vision.
- Last thing. We seriously need your prayers for the Playhouse. Pray for the tech, sound, and lighting crew at the Playhouse that we’ll be working with. Pray for our band, vocalists, and all involved. Pray for every person who will be showing up!

Thanks
PT

Sunday Wrap!

Good morning church, happy Monday and welcome to another wrap back on all things yesterday here @ Crosspoint! Hard to believe that Christmas week is here! I’m sure you have lots to do this week but settle down for a few minutes and rejoice with us over what God is doing in the Ville.

- Yesterday was the 4th and final week of our ‘Scrooged’ series. The 4 ‘Somewhere’s’ of the series were, somewhere unexpected, somewhere unbelievable, somewhere unknown, and somewhere undeniable. Wherever you are on your journey, we trust that God used these themes to draw you closer to Him.

- We had 3 people in the first service invite Jesus into their lives!!! Crossing the line of faith. Declaring that they believe in Jesus. That never gets old. That is why we do what we do.

- There have been several, many severals, new believers this Fall at Crosspoint! Our baptism service in January should be off the chain, off the hook, off the chizzam awesome. Cannot wait!!!

- Loved the “How He Loves” song with the video montage. So good. Powerful. Really reminds us that the baby came to be a sacrifice for us. Let’s keep that in perspective this week.

- How about the closing song with the extra vocalists??!! Again, very powerful and moving. Thanks to the creative peeps behind the scenes that put that together. You know who you is. Ya done good.

CROSSPOINT CHRISTMAS AT THE PLAYHOUSE!!!
- Tickets still available for the 8:00 PM service. Absolute best opportunity of the year to invite someone to a pro-quality event with a clear presentation of the gospel. It’s not too late to invite people.

- One service Christmas Sunday, 10:30 – 11:30 AM. It’s Christmas. Go to church.

- “Back to the Future” two week series, January 1st and 8th! What year do you want to travel to?? Don’t miss it. We are back to 3 services on the 1st. Yes, 3. Wakey wakey and get your year in gear.

Sunday Set List/Artist/Album
“Born Is The King (It’s Christmas)” Hillsong, Born Is The King
“He Has Come For Us (God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)” Meredith Andrews, Various Artists: Come Now Our King
“How He Loves” David Crowder Band, Church Music
“It Came Upon A Midnight Clear” Ginny Owens, Bring Us Peace
“Hark The Herald Angels Sing” Chris Tomlin, Glory In The Highest: Christmas Songs Of Worship
“All The Poor And Powerless” All Sons & Daughters, Brokenness Aside