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Is This Kind of Community Still Possible Today?

August 18, 2008 in Church Planting, Cross Point Church, Friends, God, Leadership, Preaching, Religion with 53 Comments

Yesterday in our Crazy Love series at our Cross Point Nashville campus we talked about three phrases which sum up the kind of community that Jesus came to create. We had a bunch of t-shirts printed up (thank you so much Miranda) that some of the greeters and band members were wearing just to help reinforce the point. The three phrases were…

EVERYBODY’S WELCOME

Jesus modeled a community for us where everyone’s welcome. He would welcome, love, accept, embrace, and include anybody who came up to Him. It didn’t matter—prostitutes, Samaritans, tax collectors, Gentiles, lepers, or sinners. We dream of a church where people, even if they don’t agree with everything we believe yet, and even if they don’t understand everything we teach yet, can discover a place where they are welcome “as they are”.

NOBODY’S PERFECT

Jesus helped us understand that we’re all equally in need of the forgiveness of Christ. Because of this there is no need for any sense of spiritual superiority. We dream of creating a community at Cross Point where there is no need for hiding, no need for reputation building, no need to impress anybody because we are all
sinners, saved and living by grace.

ANYTHING’S POSSIBLE

Jesus continually chose to believe the best in people. He looked at people like Peter, who was inconsistent, unpredictable, and shaky in his faith at times and still chose to believe that transformation could happen. Likewise, as Christians we’re called to believe the best in all people. We’re called to look one another in the eyes and see the men and women that we can become through the power of Jesus Christ.

Here’s my question. Which one of these three elements of community is most difficult for you to practice with others? Why?

Can You Feed Yourself?

August 4, 2008 in Cross Point Church, God, Leadership, Preaching, Religion with 94 Comments


Okay, okay, if you’re done laughing at the picture, I actually have a serious question for you.

Have you learned to feed yourself? It pains me how often I hear from people who have been Christians for 10, 20, or even 30 years complaining that they “need to be fed”. What? Are you kidding me??

I said this yesterday at Cross Point and I want to say it again here. Early on in your Christian life you need to be fed. You need someone that understands the Bible to help you understand the Bible. You need someone to help you understand what it means to follow Christ.

But at some point you have to get out of the high chair, take off the bib, pick up a fork, and start to feed yourself.

If you’re not growing in your Christian walk you can’t blame your spouse, your schedule, your church, or your pastor. As you mature you have to own this area of your life. You have to want Christ formed in your life enough that you begin to arrange your life around certain practices and methods (ie. Bible study, prayer, worship) that help God’s vision become a reality.

So let’s discuss. Have you learned to feed yourself? What are you doing to feed yourself? What excuses are you using if you’re not growing these days?

I Need Your Input!

August 3, 2008 in Cross Point Church, God, Leadership, Preaching, Religion with 97 Comments

I could really use your help. I have a deadline later this week for a fall message series I’m writing for Cross Point. It’s a relationship series based on John 17:20-21 where Jesus said,

20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. 21 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.”

There is an alarming connection between the way we treat each other and relate to each other and people’s perception of God. In other words our ability to maintain healthy relationships is a direct reflection of God’s glory.

In this series I want to address the barriers we all have to maintaining healthy relationships. The focus is not on one particular type of relationship, but relationships in general. This could be your relationship to your kids, to your parents, to your spouse, or even to your co-workers.

So what do you think are the major barriers that keep us from being one? Maybe jealousy? A lack of forgiveness? Let me know what you think!

Pray Less and Listen More!

June 30, 2008 in Cross Point Church, God, Leadership, Preaching, Religion with 34 Comments

We are continuing our series at Cross Point we’ve entitled “SYNC”. We’re spending the summer looking at the disciplines, the rhythms, and the practices that we should arrange our life around if we really want Christ to be formed in our life.

Yesterday we talked about prayer.

I confessed to our church that in many ways I have reduced prayer down to a transaction. I’ve reduced God down to a vending machine. I go to him when I need something. Truth be known, I really don’t know what to do with God when I get done with my “list”.

God is teaching me these days that prayer is about so much more than my “list”. God is so much bigger than the vending machine I’ve reduced him to. I worship a God that breathed life into me so that I can know Him and love Him. And he longs to have a relationship with me.

So my commitment this week is that I’m going to pray less and listen more. When I get done with my list, I’m just going to sit in His presence. I’m going to see if just maybe God has something he wants to say to me.

How about you? What is God teaching you about prayer these days? What is God showing you about himself?

Continue The Conversation (Part 4)

June 24, 2008 in Cross Point Church, God, Leadership, Preaching, Religion with 53 Comments

Sorry I’m a day late. I was out of town this past Sunday and George Stull, our interim student pastor, continued our SYNC series at Cross Point Nashville with a message on joy. I have known George for almost four years and not only is he an incredible communicator, he’s a first class guy. You won’t find a better friend and a person who lives out what he teaches.

I was listening to his message from Sunday in the car and I thought his first point on joy was brilliant. You can listen to his entire message HERE. But point one was simply that JOY IS A GIFT. He went on to say, “We need eyes to see that all of life is a gift. Breath is a gift. Being able to love and be loved is a gift. Having the ability to be forgiven and forgive others is a gift.”

This is so true. I think most of us live with a disease. It’s the disease called “taking life for granted.” Every day the sun comes up and we’re like, “Big deal.” Babies are born, our kids learn to speak, rain falls, plants grow, and yet we seem more amazed with the latest T.V. show. Lives are transformed by the power of Christ, laughter happens, hugs are given, waves crash, spiritual gifts are used, and yet we miss it because we are focused on getting a raise at work.

We live with a sort of blindness to life. A blindness to the fact that life is good and more importantly God is good. I’m going to make an extra effort this week to choose joy. I’m going to try to view everything in my life as a gift and live with a thankfulness toward God for those gifts instead of taking them for granted.

What is one thing you are thankful for today that you might normally take for granted?

Join the conversation! (If you’ve been lurking around for a while and have never commented this is a great opportunity for you to jump in…go ahead you know you want to.)

Continue The Conversation (SYNC-Part 3)

June 16, 2008 in Cross Point Church, God, Preaching, Religion with 42 Comments

CTC is where we take a snippet from Sunday’s message and turn it into a conversation. Most of you know that I would much rather sit down one on one over a cup of coffee and have a discussion than to stand up on stage and just deliver a message. So here’s what I want to talk about:

Yesterday I talked about the importance of Scripture in our lives.

Jesus said in Mathew 12:35, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him.”

This verse explains a lot. There is a direct correlation between what you take in and what comes out of you (please refrain from potty humor here). If Christ being formed in your life is an actual goal for you, then you need to spend some time evaluating what you’re immersing your heart and mind in.

David Watson once said…

“As I spent time chewing over the endless assurances and promises to be found in the Bible, so my faith in the living God grew stronger and held me safe in his hands. God’s word to us, especially his word spoken by his Spirit through the Bible, is the very ingredient that feeds our faith. If we feed our souls regularly on God’s word, several times each day, we should become robust spiritually just as we feed on ordinary food several times each day, and become robust physically. Nothing is more important than hearing and obeying the word of God.”

So how are you guys doing with this? Is scripture an integral part of your daily life? Why or why not?

It’s Got To Stop!

June 11, 2008 in Church Leadership, Cross Point Church, God, Leadership, Preaching, Religion with 84 Comments

I have been thinking about a post on the topic of criticizing one another and then I read THIS POST by Mark Batterson, pastor at National Community Church in D.C. that summed it up so well. My heart has been really heavy lately as I have watched Christians absolutely destroy one another. I just don’t get it. Mark said…

I think there are basically two kinds of people. People who are doing things and people who aren’t doing things, but they need something to do so they take potshots at people who are doing things.

There. I said it.

Come on, folks. Let’s be about the Father’s business.

In the words of Michelangelo: criticize by creating!

Can I be brutally honest?

The psychological tendency to try to feel better about ourselves by pointing out what’s wrong with someone else is immaturity at its worst. And no where is it more prevalent than the church

Now, I will be the first to say that I have displayed this kind of immaturity in the past. I have also been the recipient of my fair share of this kind of immaturity over the years and even more so lately. In the end, nobody wins. Nobody grows. Nobody is reached. Nobody is loved. Nobody becomes more like Christ. It’s got to stop.

That’s just my opinion. What do you guys think?

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