 Sermon Reflections from Embracing Grace | Alex Hardt | February 25,2024
Pastor Alex addressed the last rhythm for staying close to God which is service. When you draw close to God with prayer, study and reading the Word, try to cultivate Love for others sincerely, seek to witness to the transforming power of Christ, it leads you to service. What do you do with your faith? Now that you know God, desire to commune with Him, are practicing His love when with others and telling others about Jesus, you may ask what more do I need to do? All of these things leads you to love God more deeply, have a genuine love for others and desire to see them with you in the kingdom of God. But, not everyone is ready and willing to listen. Service is a way of showing others the love of God in a tangible way- no words required – just smiles and an open hand. Reaching out to others in love with food, a kind email, cookies, a welcoming smile and words of greeting are ways of showing God’s love. Nothing is expected in return. You aren’t doing the kind deed to ‘get’ something, only to give. This something very foreign to the world’s system of getting, doing and working for gain. How does this happen? Paul tells us in Colossians 2:6-7 “ So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Our actions are a direct result of Christ being in our lives, indwelling and motivating us to love the world as He did. Pastor Alex had many scriptures of Jesus’ actions as He modeled this while here on Earth. Being rooted in Christ leads us to reflect God’s goodness to the world. Are you overflowing with grace and love because of your faith in Christ? Are you rooted and grounded in our faith? This is not something you get quickly but it grows over time as you allow the Holy Spirit to work in your life. The sanctification process of becoming more and more like Jesus begins at the moment of belief in Jesus and continues growing throughout your life. It is truly a life changing process made possible only in Christ. Christ alone is the reason for our change. Without Christ, good deeds are just good deeds and have no eternal value. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, we can be rooted and grounded in Christ producing a life that is abundant and filled to overflowing with thanksgiving, hope and love. A life motivated by Jesus is one that loves to serve others and express His love for them. Deeds are done out of love and gratitude. It is the process of giving out the love of God. As you made the bags with goodies to give to someone in need, you were motivated by the desire to help someone else and show them a bit of God’s love. Lianna got the blessing of leading and helping others to do something nice, possibly creating an opportunity for someone to talk of Jesus and His love, and showed others a tangible way they could act. Lianna also got the joy of giving and being able to participate in God’s kingdom. You get the blessing of participating, giving out and possibly talking to someone about Jesus. You also get joy in giving out and participating in God’s kingdom. A win-win with blessings and joy for all in service to our King. Thanks Lianna for this great lesson in tangible love. Linda MESSAGE LINK Click Here to View the Message on Youtube Our Sunday service is online and in-person at 11:00am. Come visit us at 5353 Concord Blvd, on the corner of Concord Blvd and Kirker Pass.  Sermon Reflections from A New Way to Live | Damon Hopkins | January 29, 2023
We had the pleasure of hearing from Damon Hopkins again this Sunday. He graciously spoke for Pastor Alex as he was beyond jetlagged after his week spent time at Mid-Winter Covenant Conference in Florida. This was the last of the current series A New You. The scripture from Matthew 25 points us to the importance of caring for those around us with a new gracious attitude. The memory verse for this week is Matthew 25:40. “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ In his message, Damon challenged us to use our gifts to glorify God and to serve others selflessly. He pointed us to several areas in which we can look to serve God by showing His love to those around us. Opening our lives and our hearts to Him will bring guidance and direction from God. God has opportunities awaiting us each day if we will listen and look around us. God does his best work when we are outside our comfort zones. First, Damon pointed us to look for those who are weak or sick. God calls us to love others, help the helpless, love the less fortunate, and care for those who are sick. When was the last time you picked up a card, made a call, or brought a meal to a sick friend? Sometimes we have to disrupt our routine or get a bit uncomfortable in order to care for someone else’s needs. Perhaps there are other ways that you can tangibly express God’s love for those around us. How about praying for someone who is sick or feeling emotionally challenged? The world around us is hard and being uplifted in prayer is a specific way God has for us to support one another. James 5:16 puts it this way, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.” Prayer helps us too as we seek God, talk with Him about our concerns, get right with Him ourselves and tap into God’s power to heal and save. We are promised in Isaiah 55:11 “so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” God’s Word will never come back empty and will accomplish His will in our lives. Pray and keep on praying and seek to diligently lift others to Him. Prayer is a gift He gave to all of us. Do not be afraid to use it daily! Damon also spoke of visiting the sick and those in prison. The blessing of one’s presence might be how one experiences the presence of God. And though we might not all be capable of such a feat; All can pray, call, write, or express compassion through other mediums. Prisons, for example, have a specific set of rules and restrictions for entry. As a congregation, we support Bay Area Chaplains, which minister to those in prisons within Contra Costa County. Their mission goal is to make Christ known. Join us in prayer as they reach a population that is inaccessible to the majority of us. The last area Damon mentioned is speaking to strangers about the Lord. It’s about planting seeds for the kingdom and taking advantage of those opportunities where we can speak of our Savior. Those moments where we can express how God is affecting our lives. Damon reminded us that we are called to do great things for God. God calls us to reflect his love for those who are broken, weak, lost, sick, lonely, and in prison. Perhaps this is challenging and out of our comfort zone. But following God is not about our preference, it’s about our posture. We are submitting our desires, our plans, and our comfort before God so that he may be edified and glorified. He asked us to go and do this for those in need, showing our love for them in His name. John 13:34-35 puts it plainly, 4 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” Jesus asks us to do this for Him. And what we will discover is in doing these things for others reveals our love for Him and those around us. God calls us to love regardless of whether or not the person will love us back. God does his best work when we are outside our comfort zones. Who will you seek out this week? Will it be someone sick, weakened emotionally or physically, or someone you do not yet know? Be there for the world around you as Jesus asked. We are to do these things as if we were doing it for Jesus. Do it and you will be blessed! By Alex Hardt SERMON LINK A New You | A New Way To Live Click Here to View the Sermon Sermon series, "A New Community " Today Damon Hopkins share how to live a New Way To Live. If you are local, please join us for our weekly service. Our Sunday service is held at 11:00am. Come visit us at 5353 Concord Blvd, on the corner of Concord Blvd and Kirker Pass.  CROSSROADS COVENANT MISSIONS
For further information, contact us and we will put you in touch with Linda Knight who provides oversight of our missions. Crossroads continues to support several missions, both foreign, local and regional. Currently we are supporting these missions:
Email received from Nathanael and Darla Gregoriev Dear Prayer Partners, We are grateful for your prayers. Thank you for investing in our Wycliffe ministry. God is good. We are thankful for all he has done and is doing. If you want more ideas on how to pray for us, we resonated with the suggestions at this link: https://hungryformore.org/prayer-for-returning-missionaries Your prayers matter. We recently took our car in for regular maintenance. The mechanic found that a rodent had some fun chewing on stuff under the hood so that was good to get fixed. Another item we wanted to get checked out was the hood. We could raise it a bit when it was latched. The mechanic said the hood certainly could have disconnected and flew into the windshield. We are so grateful for your prayers for our safety!! Thankfully, that is fixed and Lord willing we won’t need to worry about it causing an accident any time soon. Our car sounds great and is ready for the next road trip that starts on Monday. Upcoming Travel Schedule September 25 – Altamont, Kansas October 2 – Buckeye Lake, Ohio October 9 - Bedford, Virginia October 16 – Merritt Island, Florida October 23 – Rockledge, Florida October 2022 – January 2023 – Florida/Arizona/Missouri Please pray for these ongoing needs:
Nathanael, Darla and Eliana UPDATE - OPTIONS HEALTH Celebrate Life Gala Join Options Health for the 2022 Celebrate Life Annual Fundraising Gala Friday, October 7, 2022 at the Bay Church in Concord. Dinner & Program 6:30 pm Throughout the program, you will hear how Options Health has impacted the lives of women, men, and their families in our community. Questions: Call 925-827-0100 [email protected] Options Health is looking for volunteers. To learn about opportunities, call their Concord Center at 925-827-0100 or email [email protected]. Training is provided! ---------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE - Bridges of Hope We were pleased to have a surprise visit from Karin Sorensen in September. She shared from her heart about the extreme needs both physically and mentally and spiritually in Micronesia. Please continue to pray for the young people at Pacific Island University for spiritual growth, strength and that the outreach to the islands to recruit for students would not be hampered by Covid. Pray for an opening of both hearts and minds in this closed off area of the world. Check out Karyn Sorenson's amazing story about Guam and what God is doing there: wearecrossroads.church ---------------------------------------------------------------- UPDATE - Bay Area Chaplains Chaplain John will be sharing information at Crossroads on Sunday, October 2. Delivered Out Of Darkness - Chaplain’s Celebration Dinner We are pleased to announce that in lieu of our annual benefit dinner we will host a dinner to celebrate God's faithfulness through 20 years of ministry including the legacy of Chaplain Harold Albert. Contact Linda Knight if you would like to join her and others from Crossroads attending this event. When: Friday October 28th, 2022, 6:30 PM Price $30.00 per person Location: Oak Park Christian Center 2073 Oak Park Bl., Pleasant Hill Your heart will be blessed. Hearing the testimonies of former inmates who have been at the very bottom of social ladder, and who through Christ have put their lives back together, will bless you and your church. Lance Marshall, Chaplain [email protected] CHANGING LIVES and BUILDING HOMES through Spiritual Guidance of the Incarcerated |
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