Crossroads Church

Hey Team!
We had fun at the Chatterbox this weekend. Thanks to all who showed up!

I would like to update you on a few things. Last September, we all got together on the patio at church, ate burgers, and went over our new worship vision. If you like a reference, click the link here.

I wanted to update you where we are at on this vision. We have been working hard to make sure we are continuing to grow in our ministry. (1) We have brought on board Gary, who has taken on scheduling. (2) We have brought on Shelby, who has taken on a lot of the charting for the ministry. (3) We have implemented weekly devotions for our teams to encourage spiritual growth and allow our volunteers to make a connection of the music to the message of the weekend. (4) We have held bass, drums, guitar, and keyboard seminars. All of this has been to improve our ministry. We can see that God is moving and growing our ministry because of it.

This next season, I want us to focus on one word…THRIVE. I want us to thrive in what we do. I do not want us to simply sustain a ministry; I want our ministry to THRIVE. The only way we can do that is by continuing to grow spiritually.

Here’s the rub…How do we do that? Are weekly devotions enough? How do we encourage each other daily to be growing closer to God and community? If you have any insight, I would appreciate your input.

DEVOS February 25 & 26, 2012
PASSAGE: Proverbs 14:30

Let me ask you: Who are you secretly envious of? Who would you love to see fall flat on their face? Who would make you cheer (inwardly of course) if they gained 15 pounds…or if their kids rebelled…or if someone put a dent in their BMW’s door? Who do you find yourself belittling or badmouthing?

The truth is we all struggle with this disease. The question is, “How big of a deal is it?” Grab a Bible and let’s find out. Let’s read it Proverbs 14:30: “A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body; jealousy is like cancer in the bones.” Wanting what other people have and feeling bad if I don’t get what they have is toxic. Envy can easily turn to resentment (envy = desire + resentment). It invades our hearts and blocks the flow of love into and out of our lives.

The Bible calls us to be happy with those who are happy and to weep with those who weep. Envy leads me to do the opposite—it causes me to weep when others are happy and to be happy only when others weep. Friends, that’s sick.

What we need to do is build a guardrail around our hearts so that envy/jealousy doesn’t destroy us and our relationship with others. And to do that, we have to look honestly at the ROOT cause of it. 

What causes jealousy? What’s the culprit? It’ ME. It’s ME not getting what I want. Jealousy is not an “other-person” issue. It’s really not about some other person. The problem isn’t the person across the street or the person in the next cubicle or the person in the corner office. THE PROBLEM IS THE PERSON I SEE IN THE MIRROR. I am the problem. My heart is the problem.

When I envy someone I’m essentially saying, “God, you ripped me off. God, it’s not fair that you gave him ‘____________________’ and gave me ‘__.’” We think God’s short-changed us. We think that life is supposed to be fair. And when it’s not (and it rarely is) we blame God.

DEVOTIONAL POINT: What’s the guardrail that keeps our hearts envy-free? It’s called GRATITUDE. Gratitude starts with me looking differently at what I see in the mirror. Instead of looking at the things I don’t have (that others may have), I focus on what the Giver of the Gift Box has given me.

This week, let’s focus on giving God thanks and gratitude for what he has given us. Lets let Him soften our hard hearts with his worship and let his love and grace flow through us to the congregation. Pray for the hearts of our people. Pray that envy would stay far from them and that through our worship their hearts would turn to gratitude towards God and the blessings he has given them.