CrossPoint Community News 09/15/2023

by | Sep 15, 2023 | Announcement, CrossPoint Community Ministry, FrontPage-News | 0 comments

Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 
     Reminder: This Sunday, September 17, we will be using the Fellowship Sanctuary, in the Fellowship Building (Bldg A) for our worship service. The reason is that the Mandarin and Cantonese congregations will have joint service with a special speaker who is likely to draw a large crowd. So, to avoid congestion in the hallways and to enable us to start our worship on time, I’ve suggested using the Fellowship Sanctuary. Join us in this new space for our worship service! 
 
     This Sunday, we’ll be seeing what God has to say to us through his word in Mark 3:20-35. In this passage, Jesus’ family think they know better than him. They think he is a bit too eccentric. He is doing things out of the ordinary. In other words, they think he has gone crazy. But Jesus wasn’t crazy. He was doing his Father’s will. He had just called out a new people – the disciples to follow him.  
     Jesus still had problems with crowd control. I don’t know if you picked this up, but the crowds in Mark are never presented in a positive light. They are crowding around him so that he and his disciples don’t have a chance even to eat. When his family hears about this, they go to laid hands on him – to arrest him – to forcibly remove him to a place where he can get back into the right mind. 
     But Jesus wasn’t crazy. He was the most sane person to have ever walked the planet. If anyone was out of their minds, it was Jesus’ family or the crowds. Even today, if we are offended by Jesus, we need to consider if we are out of our minds. He speaks the truth. And he speaks as the servant of God. Given that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, it would be crazy for us to ignore or dismiss or disobey what he says. The best course of action is not to try to stop Jesus, but to join him in what he is doing. We need to follow where He goes, to obey what He says, to do what He does. And the great thing is that He has promised to go with us, having all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18-20). What would be crazy is if we don’t live for him! 
 
     Also, please continue to pray for the nation of Ukraine. Pray that they would cease bringing the war to Russia – because there are no winners in a war. Here is a suggested list of prayers if you are at a loss for words in how to pray: https://send.org/story/hh_pray_for_ukraine. Thank you for kneeling on behalf of the people of Ukraine and Russia, and taking a stand (or a knee in prayer) against the forces of darkness in this present age.  

This Week (Sept. 15 - Sept. 21, 2023):

1. Tonight, Sept. 21, 2023, the Living Stones Friday Night Bible Study is meeting from 7:30-9:30 to study how to live a life set apart by Christ. Join in person in Room A-216 or online via the following link at 7:30 pm:

https://zoom.us/j/685376249?pwd=cWtyUk1pckJiRHJxZVZCSGdJZWw2UT09  
Meeting ID: 685 376 249   
Password: 840840   
Join by phone:  +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)   

2. The Living Stones Sunday School and Grace Ambassadors Sunday School are meeting this Sunday. The Grace Ambassadors will begin a discussion of “The Pilgrim’s Progress” in the Community Hall (A-202). The Living Stones will be studying the Theology and Practice of Evangelism in the Koinonia Room (A-216). They will use the following link for those who wish to join online:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/491248585?pwd=RnpLcnpjQ01nTGZLSmhaZ3l4L3dKQT09
Meeting ID: 491 248 585 
Password: 403767 
Join by phone: +1 929 205 6099 US (New York) 

3. This Sunday, Sept. 17, 2023, at 11:25 am, Pastor Nathan will be preaching. Pray for him! Join us for worship at CBCGL (in the Fellowship Sanctuary this week)!

Text: Mark 3:20-35
Title: They Say, We Say, He Says
Live stream via Youtube: https://www.cbcgl.org/live-stream/

4. Each Wednesday, such as this week (Sept. 20) at 7:45 pm, you are invited, encouraged, and requested to join our weekly prayer meeting. We will not grow in Christ without growing in our dependence on God through prayer. The link is found below in the section on prayer.

Administration / Events

1. We have a missions update (so check out the missions tab from the bulletin)! You can provide support for COCM (in England), for James Liang (at UConn), or Rob and Lisa MacEwan equipping church leaders and making disciples in the Netherlands.

2. We are once again collecting new or used electronics to support the work of Benjamin Owino and Let the Needy Smile (in Uganda). Collections are from Sept. 3 to Oct. 8. For more information, check out the church announcement tab in the bulletin (Second Page).

3. Did you know that our buildings have been named/renamed? Check out the church announcement tab in the bulletin for more information.

4. On October 15, from 1:30 to 4 pm, CrossPoint Community will host a training facilitated by the Gideon’s International called “Conversations: A Simple Approach to Sharing the Gospel.” We will meet in Room A-213 for a time of learning and discussion. We do need you to sign-up (just so that we can ask for an additional facilitator if we have more than 25 people signed up). It would be great if every participant in CrossPoint Community could join. Here is the link to sign-up: https://forms.office.com/r/v0GZLpBq7E

5. Sunday Lunch Service is available at CBCGL with $5 lunchboxes. To place an order, please use the following link: https://forms.office.com/r/nCwQnMruKv Orders are preferred to be placed as soon as you know, but need to be placed by Saturday night so that the kitchen can prepare the correct amount of food. Note: The selection which states “Number of Meals” refers to the cooked food/lunch box/Chinese food option.

6. All other announcements can be found here (in our CrossPoint Community bulletin).

For Prayer:

From Bishop J.C. Ryle – “To be prayerless is to be Christless, Godless, and in the high road to destruction…It will always be found that when prayers are few, grace, strength, peace, and hope are small.” Please join our Wednesday night prayer meeting (7:45 – 9:15 pm) even if you can’t participate the whole time.

https://zoom.us/j/758587937?pwd=aS9sZUdxcm1janNNM2I2aXJ6Smx2QT09
Meeting ID: 758 587 937
Password: 030086
Join by phone: +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)

We’d be glad to pray for you. If you need prayer, you can submit your prayer request via the following link: https://www.cbcgl.org/pray/

In Christ, your servant, SDG,
Rev. Dr. Nathan Willems
Associate Pastor of CrossPoint Community – A Ministry of CBCGL