While one reason would be enough, I’ll share with you 11 reasons I experienced Sunday afternoon while at the Cross Point Dickson picnic.

Luke 15: 3Then Jesus told them this parable: 4“Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

Click Here to Subscribe to Without Wax by Email

I’m so proud of the Cross Point Dickson staff team consisting of Chad Roberts, Butch Simmons, and Leslie Hanson, along with the dozens of volunteers it took to pull off this great event.

I just finished up a book by Francis Chan called ‘Crazy Love’. What a great book, especially the first four chapters! While the series is not based on the book (we just stole the title) there is a quote that I used in yesterday’s message that I wanted to reflect on a little further.

Chan said this,

The goal of American Christianity is often a nice marriage, children that don’t swear, and good church attendance. Taking the words of Christ literally and seriously is rarely considered. Most of us want a balanced life that we can control, that is safe, and that does not involved suffering.

This quote hit me like a truck. See, here’s my problem.

I want to give. I just don’t want to give in a way that impacts my family’s lifestyle.

I’m fine sacrificing my time as long as it doesn’t get in the way of my agenda.

I want to trust God with all aspects of my life, but I still desire to control all the outcomes.

What do you think of the quote? How does it apply to you?

The group was on a medical mission trip where they dispensed about $5000 worth of medicine. They also saw over 1,000 different patients!

Here are a few pictures they took. For more details, you can CLICK HERE and read Chad Robert’s blog, he’s the Dickson campus pastor.

These individuals took off for a weekend mission trip to Wheelright, KY. While there, they helped serve some local families by doing home renovations and making improvements to the ministry center there.

I’m so proud of both campuses for getting out there and serving in this way!

-God is doing some incredible things through our Plan B series at Cross Point. Almost every day I’m hearing more stories from people who are trusting God through their current circumstances. Can’t wait to see what God is going to do next!

-This afternoon I got to have lunch with Brad Ruggles who was passing through town. I love reading Brad’s blog. He’s a super creative guy who has a real heart to plant a church. I’m excited to see what God does through you guys in Indiana.

-This week our staff is taking a field trip to visit with David Landrith and his staff at Long Hollow Baptist Church. I love learning from other churches and hearing how God is using them

-Tonight after the 6:00 p.m. service I had dinner with Dave Parker and his wife Michelle. Dave leads worship for us at Cross Point Dickson, but was in Nashville leading worship today. It was great to get to spend some time with them and hear more about their story.

-CLICK HERE to read this pastor’s announcement that blew me away. I’m so proud of you, Eugene. You are an inspiration to me. I hope you will continue to allow God use you in powerful ways! You are going to make a global difference.

So, what are YOU excited about these days?

On Monday things started to get crazy here at the Cross Point Nashville campus. Lots of equipment, lights, and other things I don’t understand. It’s going to look and sound amazing!

I have been talking with Pastor Chad about things at the Cross Point Dickson campus. They are getting fired up about celebrating their first Easter together. They face unique challenges meeting in the high school, but I know it will prove to be a Easter those of you in Dickson will not want to miss.

I hope you have been praying about who you are going to invite this weekend. If you have someone in mind, let me know so I can join you in praying for them.

To send an e-invite for the Cross Point Nashville campus CLICK HERE.

To send an e-invite for the Cross Point Dickson campus CLICK HERE.

• It allows a church to start with great momentum. Every church planter knows this is difficult. Cross Point Dickson started with an incredible core group of around 100 and has averaged over 350 attenders since its launch.

• It allows more people to start strategially serving. Today in Dickson I saw people serving in different capacities whom I had never seen serving at Cross Point Nashville. Maybe they didn’t serve before because they were driving forty-five minutes just to get to church. Maybe, they thought we had all the bases already covered. But either way they are now using their God given spiritual gifts for the glory of God.

• It allows people living in the Dickson area to effectively reach out to their neighbors, co-workers, and family. While there were some willing to drive forty-five minutes away to try a church, most were not. Now when someone living in the Dickson area wants to invite someone to church with them they can do it without the geographic barrier.

• It allows the church to focus more on ministering to people. Cross Point Dickson has the benefit of using systems that have been created by Cross Point Nashville. These systems effect everything from the way the service runs to how specific ministries are set-up. The end result is this allows Cross Point Dickson to focus more on people and less on systems.

Believe me, I could go on and on, but I thought I would include a few pics from my visit this morning. Cross Point Dickson, I am very proud of you guys and the way you are allowing God to form a transformational community. 

If your a part of a multi-campus church somewhere I would love to hear how and why you do it. Will you take a second and share with us how it’s going? 

•  Jenni Catron, our executive director, just posted a great recap of this past weekend. Click here to read!

• Chad Roberts, our Dickson campus pastor, will keep you up to date with what’s happening just West of here. One thing Chad won’t tell you is that they have been averaging over 350 people their first three weeks. Wow! God is up to something there. Click here to read 

Ok, ok, one last thing. Here’s an e-mail I just received from a new attender. We would all do well to follow God prompts like this!

I really enjoyed Sunday & it inspired me to make changes. I do get involved, but I find it hard to be a leader. I was thinking & praying about what I could do differently & on Monday morning it came to me. Everyday at work I read a short devotional & it starts my day off right. I thought that maybe a few others in the office might like to do this too. I passed out a flier with an example of what the devotion would be & asked people to come & sign up if they would like me to place one in their office each day. Almost the entire office of 60 people signed up.  It is some extra work that I have to do now, but so many have already come up & told me how much that means to them or that the devotion said exactly what they needed to hear that day.  I know that this may be a small step toward leadership, but I think its a good start! God Bless ~ Hanna Dozier 

What’s God prompting you to do?