Wow!

We had our third and final preview service yesterday and in one word, all I need to say is "Wow!" Before I go on, let me say this - it is not about the numbers. I can tell you that we had 83 in attendance and this is 30 more than the last service, but that is not my focus right now. My focus is on the five families who came to this service who are brand new contacts for us. My focus is on the ten kids who were in our Kids' Crossing ministry. My focus is on the fact that we only had thirteen empty chairs in our worship area. My focus is on two local organizations we committed to support during this service. I do have a confession to make - I was humbled Sunday. When the service began, I did take a moment to go off on my own and say a prayer. My prayer was a huge "Thank You!" to God. This was the verse that came to my mind - "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us," (Ephesians 3:20)

I can't wait until September 14 to see what God is going to do.

Do They Know We Are Here?

This past Saturday night I went with my family to the Natural Bridge Speedway to watch my son's friend race his car. During the race, I had a thought - If you live anywhere near Natural Bridge, you know that it is race night! Not only were there circle track races taking place, but the drag strip was also up and running at full force. This led me to think about a question that was asked at our staff meeting this past week - The question was, "Do they know we are here?" We are a new church trying to meet the people of our community. Within a ten mile radius of Daleville, there are over 60,000 people. How do we get their attention? The simple answer is to meet as many people as possible, to advertise, and to make ourselves available to the community. The bigger question is, "Why do we want to get their attention?"

Here is the top five reasons why we are planting a new church -

1. We all need direction in our lives.


2. We all need to feel a sense of community in our lives.


3. We all need an opportunity to be a part of something that is bigger than ourselves.


4. We all need a place that will accept us for who we are.


5. We all need to find our purpose and to pursue the mission to love God, to love others, and to serve.

Crossings is here and it our prayer that God will enable us to cross paths with those who need Crossings as much as Crossings needs them.

What An Irony!

If you will take a look at the Botetourt View blog you can read an entry that details a local church that has a building, but no people to use the building. In fact, a person representing the church is presently trying to find a congregation of people to start using the building. If no congregation moves into the building, the property will be go back to the heirs of the family who donated the land for the building. Here is the irony, we have people and no building and here is an irony on top of an irony...I guess that is possible....we don't want a building right now. Our desire right now is to build up a congregation, a family, a community of believers who has a purpose to Love God and to Love others. This can be done in a house, on a street, at the Greenfield Education Center, and any where else we come together.

The Countdown

About a year ago, it was decided that we would launch a new church on September 14. A year ago that seemed like a distant date. We had plenty of time to prepare, to pray and to plant. But now, September 14 is only five weeks away! We are still preparing and praying and yes, we are ready to plant. Our final preview service is on August 24 and we are sending out postcards to the community, handing out information at local events and talking to as many people as we can about the mission and the vision of Crossings. Church planting is like riding a roller coaster - you are filled with excitement and scared to death at the very same time. What a ride! More to come!