Everlasting God, Prince of Peace
the_name-pt3
Season’s Greetings!
First off I want to thank Ron Biddle and Kristina Tomlinson for writing and sending the PSG last week while Jean and I were out of town on vacation.
This week’s PSG is attached above. As always, if you have any questions or if I can be of any support to you or your small group, please let me know.
In Him,
Deering
This morning I was captivated by this psalm. While reading, the Holy Spirit really gave me a sense of God’s greatness and that moved my heart towards an attitude of thanksgiving because God is sovereign and reigns over all creation from His holy throne. So I thought I’d share this with you today as you prepare to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday tomorrow.
Psalm 47 (ESV) - God is King Over All the Earth!
Clap your hands, all peoples!
Shout to God with loud songs of joy!
For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,
a great king over all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us,
and nations under our feet.
He chose our heritage for us,
the pride of Jacob whom he loves. Selah
God has gone up with a shout,
the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth;
sing praises with a psalm!
God reigns over the nations;
God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather
as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
he is highly exalted!
I’m thankful to have such a great team of small group leaders and coaches. May you and your families have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Lies We Believe, Pt. 5
For the last four weeks, Pastor Tim has been teaching us about the lies we tend to believe about ourselves, our marriages, our faith and even about our God. This week, Tim wraps up his this message series by teaching us that the ultimate truth serum to these lies is the Bible. Attached above is the Pulpit Study Guide for “Pt. 5 – Truth”.
If you have any questions, or if I can be of any assistance to you and your small group, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
In Him,
Deering
A couple of weeks ago, I had the humble pleasure of speaking at the midweek service. The nature of my talk dealt with the touchy subject that sometimes God will bring trouble into our lives in order that we would return to Him, understand that we are a part of His perfect plan, and we must persevere in joy. If you’d like to listen/see this message you can click here to be routed to the Crossroads Community Church website to download it along with all the messages at Crossroads.
In my talk, I referenced the life of Horatio Spafford. Spafford wrote the well known hymn, “It Is Well With My Soul”. This hymn was born from a heart that was crushed by loss and grief - an a heart that would continually return to God, understood he was a part of God’s perfect plan and that with God’s help he could persevere in joy.
Some of you have asked where I got the video we showed during the message because you wanted to see it again. The video was produced by Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. I’ve embedded the video below for you to see.
May God richly bless you today!
Deering
By Betty Lemaster, Small Group Leader
You know…there occasionally comes along a location in a person’s life where they can become somewhat complacent. You’re a Christ follower, you are serving your church and community, you are reading God’s Word and spiritually, you are not so much lackadaisical as you are just “cruisin” along. That could probably be said of me on many days.
Except there is this one couple in our small group that can splash a welcome/needed cup of reality water in my face to wake me from my spiritual slumber. They are the “mature” couple in our group and when I say that, it means much more than years. These two people shine. Their lives, their attitudes, their long and continued service to the Lord is more than a testimony to me. They mentor me. They hopefully show me what my life, Lord willing, may look like in about 25 years. I sure hope so. They make living for Christ look so easy, so joyful. I remember asking her a question regarding marriage one time and she simply said, “Just don’t get upset about it”. Now, that is not a profound statement, but coming from her, from someone who has lived and proved out this serenity of life that is so attractive makes it profound. The simple truth of it glowed in her eyes as she spoke. The impact of that moment surprised me then, and still today I go back and capture that peek into her heart that she gave me.
When things flare up, I remember what she said: “Just don’t get upset about it”. And it really helps! God is so good to give us what we need right when we need it. It is not always what and when we think we need it, but how glad I am that He knows more about how to run my life than I do. His faithfulness to me, and my trust in Him is the most valuable thing in my life even on those days that I am “crusin” along.
Rick Muchow
Don’t forget that Rick Muchow will be our guest worship leader this weekend at Crossroads Community Church. Muchow is the accomplished Worship Leader at Saddleback Church in Lake Forrest California (Rick Warren’s church). He has also has his own music ministry called Encouraging Music and has authored the book, The Worship Answer Book.
Congratulations to Lori Biddle (Crossroads’ fabulous Director of Magnification) for putting together this special event. Rick will be with us for all three services this weekend (Saturday at 7:00 PM and Sunday at 9:30 and 11:00 AM). I have no doubt that this will be an amazing time of worship.
Crossroads has gotten some local press about Rick Muchow’s visit in a recent article in the Mansfield News Journal, so we are hoping for a great crowd this weekend.
You won’t want to miss this special worship set during our weekend service. Remind the members of your small group about it and be sure to invite your friends and family.
Lies We Believe, Pt. 4
This week Pastor Tim exposes the spiritual “lies we believe” as he continues his current message series of the same title. Attached above is the Pulpit Study Guide for this message.
If I can be of any assistance to you or your small group, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Lies We Believe, Pt. 3
Dear Friends,
Attached is the pulpit study guide for this weekend’s message “Worldly Lies: My Worth is Determined by My Possession and Performance”. This message is part three of the “Lies We Believe” series.
I hope this study guide is beneficial for you and for your small group. If I can be of any assistance to you, please let me know.
In Him,
Deering
I know many of you are probably getting tired of getting emails, and phone calls from me and your coach regarding the Small Group Leadership Workshop this Thursday but we are just making sure that all small group leaders know about the workshop and have the opportunity to RSVP. As you likely know the workshop starts @ 7:00 PM in the Sr. High room. The first half of the workshop will consist of a praise and worship set led by Chris Draper and then we’ll dive into a session to help us be intentional about duplicating ourselves as small group leaders.
The second half of the workshop will help us to better understand the new web-based people management system our church is using. As a group leader, this new, easy-to-use system will really help you lead and manage your group from an information standpoint.
Please try to bring an apprentice or co-leader from your group as well so we can more effectively pass on opportunities for leadership.
You can RSVP by leaving a comment in the space below or call Kristina Tomlinson @ 419-529-0750 Ext 117. Also be sure to let us know the name of the apprentice leader you are bringing to the workshop.
Thank you for all you do in your dedicated service to your small group and to Crossroads Community Church.
In Him,
Deering
Fireproof Your Marriage Small Group Study
You may have either seen or heard about the recent film “Fireproof” there is now small group study based on the movie designed to strengthen marriages using Biblical truth. This curriculum is a 6-part DVD study that uses clips from the movie to help facilitate discussion.
I heard some good things about this study so I picked up a copy and reviewed it. In all, I would say that it is done well and would make a good study for a couples small group.
You can purchase the DVD, leader’s guide and participant’s guide from Amazon.com. Orders over $25 are eligible for free shipping. The links are provided below.
If your small group decides to use this curriculum, please leave a comment below know how you liked it.
Leader’s Guide, 1 participant’s book and DVD:
http://www.amazon.com/Fireproof-Your-Marriage-Leaders-Guide/dp/0978715381/ref=pd_sim_b_6
1 Participant’s book:
http://www.amazon.com/Fireproof-Your-Marriage-Participants-Guide/dp/097871539X/ref=pd_sim_b_1
