(November 17, 2019) “Glimpses of Jesus: Healing”

from Mark 5:21-43

In this week’s glimpse of Jesus, we find two similar yet very different encounters with Jesus. Both people who come to Jesus are seeking healing, and both experience healing in very different ways.

Perhaps you have longed to see healing in your life or in the life of someone you love. Perhaps you have sought God for that, praying that healing would indeed come. Maybe it did…maybe God answered those prayers in the way you hoped…praise God for that.

But what if it didn’t? What if healing didn’t come in the way you hoped for or expected? Is it possible that Jesus is working to bring healing in your life in places deeper than an injury or an illness? Is it possible that Jesus wants to heal completely…even if it means you may still bear the pain of injury or illness?

What if you sought that kind of healing? What if you trusted Jesus enough to heal in the way you or those you love need most?

w/ Lory Beth Huffman

(November 10, 2019) “glimpses of Jesus: Calming”

from Mark 4:35-41

That there will be challenges in life is unavoidable. The question becomes not, “what if?” but “when?” When you find yourself faced with one of life’s storms, something that is out of your control…where do you turn? Do you seek the expertise of others? Do you rely on your own wisdom or ability or pure determination to weather the storm? Or might you be willing to turn to the One Who is Lord over the storm?

The One Who is in the midst of the storm with you!

What if God doesn’t just have in mind to rescue you FROM the storm, but to deliver you THROUGH the storm? How might your faith…how might your life be transformed as a result?

Who would you know God to be on the other side?

w/ Vern Collins

“Broken: How Sin Affects Our View of God” (April 14, 2019)-Palm Sunday

from Mark 11:1-10

We spend a great deal of energy in our lives managing our expectations of the people around us. Whether your spouse, your children, a roommate, a significant other, or co-worker, or someone in leadership…there are expectations we place on people. Consider what happens, though, when those expectations aren’t met…we are left to adjust…to manage what we thought ought to be expected.

Have you ever considered that perhaps you do the same thing with God? There might be things you want from God, or things you expect God should do on your behalf? What happens when God doesn’t answer prayer the way you want, or when it feels like God isn’t coming through the way you hoped? What if the problem isn’t so much in Who God is, but who you expect God to be for you?

w/ Vern Collins

“A Stewardship Journey: Most Important” (November 4, 2018)

from Mark 12:28-34

What does stewardship mean to you?  Often times we cringe at those words in church…here comes the ask, right?  More money.  More time.  More serving.

What if stewardship weren’t about what you GIVE, but about Who you understand God to be, and how you lived your life in response to that?

As we start this series inviting you to consider a new way of thinking about stewardship, what if you thought about the journey of stewardship as a journey?  When starting a journey, what is most important to have…in order to sustain a journey…what is most important to have?

w/ Vern Collins

“Healing Connections: Vulnerability” (October 21, 2018)

from Mark 5:21-43

Perhaps the one thing that keeps us from experiencing the fullness of God’s ability to heal and restore and renew, both our relationship with Him and relationship with those around us, is the one thing that is most difficult for us to do…that is, admit that we are weak.

Admitting weakness, coming to terms that we don’t have it all together, that we have been hurt and that we hurt others, that we are desperate for help, that we try to put on a facade of strength, but the truth is many of us are broken and bruised and worn out.

Coming to terms with this about ourselves, naming these things…there is a word for that.  Better yet, there is a posture for that…vulnerability.

While it is one of the most difficult things for us to practice, it is the catalyst for God to bring healing in our relationship with Him and with those around us.

w/ Vern Collins

*including a special testimony from two from our Crossroads family

“Easter: Not the End” (April 16, 2017)

from Mark 16:1-8

In each of the Gospels we are given an account of the resurrection of Jesus…that moment, that event which took place on the third morning when Jesus walked out of the tomb.  The event that changed everything.  The hope of the church, and the world hangs on that one event.  The one that says death and sin DO NOT have the final say.

We hear that story each year on Easter morning…hear that hope proclaimed.  But how do you make more than just the retelling of an account of something that happened 2,000 years ago?  How do you, like Peter for example, EXPERIENCE the resurrection…the LIVING HOPE of the resurrection…the hope that affects your life NOW right where you are?

Mark’s Gospel gives us an idea of how we might go from hearing an account to be transformed by this Savior!

w/ Vern Collins

“Overwhelmed: Headlines” (September 27, 2015)

from Matthew 24:1-8, Mark 4:35-40

How long, O Lord…how long?  So many around the world, those affected by the events told in the headlines and those who watch from afar, find themselves asking this question.
How long?  How long must this go on…this hurt and pain?
As we begin our 5 week “Overwhelmed” series, we do so by looking at the headlines.  We are overwhelmed with difficulty in this world…a world that is beginning to look much like that which Jesus describes to His Disciples in Matthew 24.
Perhaps, though, rather than worry about when, we would do well to worry about where.
Where is Jesus in the midst of this?  What if you lived knowing He was right in the middle of the storm with you?  In a place of peace, and faith?
w/ Vern Collins

“Transitions: Listen” July 12, 2015

from Mark 9:2-8

We came away from week 1 of our “Transitions” series daring to believe that transitions not only carry the possibility of being good, but also necessary for what God desires to teach us…about Who He is…about who we are…not only does God teach in the midst of transition, but He is faithful to use transition to prepare us for what is next.
So knowing that God is not surprised by your circumstances, that God does not waste time, and that He knows you intimately…just how do you go about allowing God to maximize the transitions in your life to the fullest extent?
Simple.
Listen.  That’s it.  Listen to Him.  That’s the starting point.  That’s the instruction for the journey…listen.
w/ David Hockett

“Questions God Asks: What Will it Profit?” (May 3, 2015)

from Mark 8:31-38

What does a new perspective of Jesus mean for any who seek Him?  It means a deeper understanding of why He came and what life with Him is meant to be.
In this week’s passage, the Disciples come face to face with some shocking news that means everything for them is about to change…perhaps more should change for us as well.
Is the life you are pursuing with Christ truly a life WITH Him, or is it a life that seeks only to fit Him in to the places that are safe…the places in your life where He will do the least amount of damage?
Jesus is calling you to more.
w/ Vern Collins