Rejoice Today, in The Possessions That Are Yours in Christ.

Death and Dying

Whether…the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come -- all are yours – 1 Corinthians 3:22 (NKJV)

What a strange thing to say. How can Paul claim with a straight face that everything—even death—has been given to God’s people and belongs to them?

It certainly does not feel as though the world belongs to us, that our present life is completely under our control, or that the future is ours for the taking. Least of all, death does not ever feel to be mastered or owned or tamed; more than anything else, death reminds us of just how frail we are and what little power we have over our surroundings.

And yet Paul claims that they are all yours, if you are Christ’s (3:23). Even death has been made a servant to the people of God. How can this be?

The truth is that we, in ourselves, do not have autonomous control over our life or our death; but the truth is also that Christ has—through his death and resurrection—brought even our greatest enemies into subjection and made them to serve us for our good.

Death, for instance, has been subdued; instead of acting as the jaws of fate to consume us, it has now become the door of salvation to renew us. Whereas death was once to be greatly feared, as the result of sin entering into the world, it is now made an occasion for rejoicing, as the vehicle that brings us into the presence and likeness of Christ.

Life, through Christ, is yours, dear believer. And, yes, even death is yours, to serve you for your good and for God’s glory. Rejoice today, then, in the possessions that are yours in Christ.

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We Encourage You to Find a Point of Ministry at Cross Pointe; to be the Hands & Feet of Jesus in Our Community

Do you have a God-given talent and love for music?  Join our dynamic adult music ministry team,  United Voices of Praise,  in presenting the glorious message of our Lord Jesus in song!  Be prepared to use your talents to glorify the King through the praise and worship ministry at Cross Pointe as an instrumentalist or vocalist.   Plan to be a part of a dynamic, high-impact musical service.  There is a place for you at Cross Pointe; come join us!

Being a part of our church family is so much more than finding a place to be served and fed. Fellowship at Cross Pointe involves finding a place to be of service to others, and to share the gospel of Christ with the lost.   We find our greatest calling is in service to others; leading a lost world to Christ and making disciples of those who trust Him as Lord and Savior.

We encourage you to find a point of ministry at Cross Pointe; to be the hands and feet of Jesus in our community.  There’s a place for you.  Come and join with us in the work of reaching a lost world for Jesus.  Together we can make a difference in the lives of others.

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There is Always a Warm Welcome for Those Who Come to God by His Son Jesus Christ

“But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!" – Luke 15:17 (NKJV)

My brothers & sisters in Christ, the story of the Prodigal Son is one of the more popular parables and describes us all, as children of God.

So often we are all unfaithful children of our benevolent God. We all have squandered the abundant
inheritance he so graciously has given to us. And we all —at one time or another— have known what it is to finally “come to ourselves”.

Sin is insanity. It is an unreasoning, illogical, self-destructive way of life. It ignores the plain hand of our heavenly Father and follows after the hallucination of worldly pleasures and fulfillment. But we do it anyways. We curse another drive who has cut us off. We envy our neighbor's new promotion at work. We desire a colleague or friend. Then we sin some more to try and obtain those self-destructing goals.

But when we finally come to ourselves, when we see the light, (often times it takes a smack to the back of the head so-to-speak), we realize that starving out in the pigpen is not what our Father planned for us. We are the God’s children! No one in his house is hungry or wanting, and yet here we are in the mud pit of sin because we walked away from the house of our Father. When we finally come to our senses, we finally come back to him. We take the long walk back home to His loving heart. We give up the miserable quest for self-gratification and begin to seek the abundant life that is found in God alone. We come back humbled by his ever-lasting love and forgiveness.

Have you come to yourself yet? Have you turned your feet back to the Father? If so, know that there is always a warm welcome for those who come to God by his Son Jesus Christ.

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How Can I Be Saved? The ABC’s of Salvation

How Can I Be Saved?   The ABC’s of Salvation

So often we present salvation as something very complex, but God never intended it to be that way. God's plan of salvation is simple enough for everyone to understand. It is as easy as ABC.

Admit
Admit that you are a sinner an in need of salvation.    Each of us has a problem called sin.    The Bible says in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.”   Sin is a refusal to acknowledge God's authority over our lives, and the Bible says that “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).

Believe
Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that He is the only way to obtain salvation—to get to heaven.  Although we have done nothing to deserve His love and salvation, God wants to save us.  John 3:16 tells us that “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”  Jesus said,   “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

Confess
The Bible teaches that “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”   (Romans 10:9-10).

Please Pray

“Lord Jesus, I am a sinner in desperate need of a Savior.  I cannot save myself, and I believe that You died upon the cross for me.  I believe that You shed Your precious blood on the cross for the forgiveness of my sin.   I accept You now as my Savior, my Lord, my God, and my Friend. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus, and set me free from my sin. And because You are my Savior, I will not die an eternal death, but I now have everlasting life in You.  Thank you, Jesus for saving me today!”

Contact Us—We would love to have the opportunity to celebrate your new life in Christ with you!

If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior please contact us so that we may share in your joy. We would like to provide support and resources to help you grow in your Christian walk.

Cross Pointe Baptist Church strives to Love God, Love people, Share Jesus and Make disciples. There is a place for you at Cross Pointe, come join us!

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Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away – Matthew 24:35 (NKJV)

“Nothing lasts forever.” We have become so used to the reality of this cliche that we have many times, even as Christians, unconsciously applied this earthly maxim to eternal things.

But Jesus would have us remember that, yes, heaven and earth shall pass away; nothing in this world lasts forever. Cars and carpet, bodies and bank accounts, hobbies and holidays — all eventually break up or break down. The things we strive for and try to obtain mean nothing when we are finally called to the Lord. Egyptians used to want to be buried with their belongings in the afterlife. Are we that different these days?

Even nations and world powers rise and fall over time. Did you know there is not a single world government still in power today that existed when the United States was formed? As young as this
country is, it is already the oldest living government on the planet!

Heaven and earth shall pass away, Jesus says, but my words shall not pass away. God’s words and God’s works will still stand when the earth is on fire. You perhaps will agree to the point Jesus is making, but does the reality Jesus is highlighting infuse your decision-making with an eternal perspective and priority? In other words, do you live as if everything in this world is momentary and God’s promises are everlasting?

If your joy, fulfillment, or comfort is found in your youth… what about when you get old? If it comes from your wealth… what happens when you become poor or too sick to enjoy it? What if your happiness comes from popular? When you friends move on will you  turn to the Lord? Have you turned to Him throughout your life for happiness?

Brothers and sisters in Christ, NOTHING lasts forever, except everything that I do and say, Jesus reminds us. May this reality be reflected this day in everything we do and say.

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Will the worries ever stop?

Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord—that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful. James 5:11 (NKJV)

There has been a time when we question if the light at the end of the tunnel will ever be visible. Will the pile ever get smaller? Will the worries ever stop? When will the Lord show up? Allow me to tell you a story of an acquaintance.

A young man had been married for 15 years, but his marriage wasn't what it used to be. They had grown distant and cold to one another. "Going through the motions" was putting it lightly. If there had been an opportunity to sleep in separate bedrooms they would have. How much could he endure?

Emails left open and phone bills increasing in price led to the inevitable... an affair was occurring. How much could he endure?

Their ten year-old just diagnosed with something they felt all along: Autism. Slowly tearing their family further apart. How much could they endure?

Flustered and frustrated with life, his wife missed an important meeting a client. She showed up on Monday to discover that she had been let go because the company missed a six figure deal. How much could she endure?

But we know the Lord walks with us all the time. Think of where we'd be without the Lord? We can endure. It may not be the happy ending in storybooks we want, but we will be given another day to endure by the Father.

Job, as he was enduring the pain and sorrow of his lengthy ordeal, felt as if he had been utterly forsaken by God. But the example of Job should remind us that even when grief or turmoil hide the face of God from us, he is still working tenderly toward our sanctification and glory.

For this reason, James declares, we count them happy which endure. Those who steadfastly endure the trials God sends their way are, in the end, the most blessed people on earth. Their lives have brought glory to God, their testimony has pointed to eternity, and their faithfulness has reminded us of God’s goodness.

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When Times Are Tough

When Times Are Tough

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned,
Nor shall the flame scorch you. Isaiah 43:2 (NKJV)

I pray brothers and sisters that your life is going just as the Lord has planned AND that you are free of any trials or perils. But perhaps you are experiencing the drowning, crushing, burning power of a trial right now. Perhaps you are just overcoming one or for whatever circumstances you know of one coming. If so, then you need to know, first of all, that this is part of life.

I recently was told a story about a young girl whose mother had just passed. It was unexpected, unplanned, and devastating to say the least. Where was the hope for this little girl? Where was God for her? What great sin had she commmitted to be punished by God like this? She had not!

No matter who you are, or where you come from, or what decisions you make in life, you will face illness and pain and loss. No human lives forever and no one is perfect. Sickness and mistakes are part of the human experience. Embedded in the promise of this text is the reality of suffering: when you pass through the waters, when you walk through the fire. God’s children are not exempted from tragedy.

This is not bleak, this is God's plan for us. But there is hope friends. When you do face life’s difficulties, here is the promise for every child of God: He will be with you, the trials will not overcome you, and you will not be harmed.

For this reason, you need not fear no matter what obstacle or heartache you may be facing. “Fear not,” God says, “for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine” (43:1). He knows exactly what is going with your situation and has already dedicated himself to YOUR salvation; you belong to his heaert, and therefore will not let anything or anyone harm you.

If you have given yourself to Christ then you have been redeemed by God and he will not let anything happen to you that is not for your good (Romans 8:28). No difficulty will drown you, no trial will overwhelm you, no sorrow will destroy you. It is this knowledge that we take into our darkest times.

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Remember your Creator...

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, before the difficult days come, and the years draw near when you say, "I have no pleasure in them" – Ecclesiastes 12:1 (NKJV)

It is inevitable, young person, that you will eventually come to a time—perhaps even years—when you are not even able to enjoy the pleasures of this life anymore. As unthinkable as it may seem right now, you will not always be strong, free of pain, able to eat anything you want (that day is actually coming soon!), or even perhaps able to get out of bed.

Why does Solomon remind us of this fact? Is he just trying to burst our bubble or make us depressed? No. He is writing this admonition so that we will begin now to pour our hearts and lives into pleasures that even old age cannot take away.

Remember now your Creator! Don’t wait until every distraction is taken away from you and God is the only person left to talk to. Serve him now, even in the middle of a thousand immediate pleasures that may be tempting you away from him. Because even now he is greater than any of these pleasures.

The truth is that, in your Creator, there are “pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). He is not reprimanding us for enjoying the earthly pleasures of eating, music, painlessness, or sunsets — your Creator is the one who made these things also. But he is warning us against seeking these niceties as an end in themselves, while we are still able to enjoy them, and forgetting about the greater pleasures that never go away or diminish.

In the presence of God is fullness of joy. Don’t allow yourself to be satisfied with anything less than full joy.

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