CrossPoint Fellowship Messages

When we find unity under God and through His design, it’s a beautiful thing. But when we try to unify outside of what God has designed for us, it leads to self-elevation, whose only outcome can be destruction.

• When we fail to adhere to the design God intends for us, it leads to destruction.
• It's not just about abstaining from violence, it's about respecting God's word and sovereignty.
• Instead of honoring God, this was an act of rebellion.
• God’s command for unity isn’t a command for a lack of diversity, but to supersede our differences in favor of togetherness.

From the Garden to the destruction of Babel, God’s purpose was to unify us, although not how we might think. God’s desire for a diverse family is evident. We discuss how God’s desire for a big family doesn’t take away our individuality but expands upon it.

• God’s original intention wasn’t that His creation just survive - it was that they thrive. 
• When this relationship exists as it should, society prospers because it is in the design of God. 
• Gen 2:24
• Naturally, humans as creation will come together.
• We have a responsibility to lead others into life and not death. 

The family of God unites us across all nationalistic ties. In order to experience the fullness of what God has for us, we must learn to appreciate, respect, and connect to cultures around the world.

• Jesus's movement knows no bounds. It was and is the most culturally diverse and ethnically inclusive religious movement ever. 
• The diversity of the Church is a reason to hope. 
• Diversity does not weaken the family of God - it only makes us stronger.
• Christians have more in common with someone who is “inconceivably poor” on the other side of the world and believes in Jesus than with someone from their own location, economic status, and political party who do not believe in Jesus. -Wise Man or Woman in the Era of Twitter
• In order to recognize the fullness of the family of God, we must learn about, appreciate, and take from Christianity as it exists in other cultures. 

We are called to be a living sacrifice in our service to God, and to use our God-provided gifts in service of others. In doing so, we find unity as we all become one.

• The giving of our bodies is an act of worship in which we give back to God what he has paid for with the blood of Christ.
• The general measuring stick for life success is others. But as renewed beings, our success is measured against how well we conform to God’s plan for our life.
• Sober-minded persons are able to view themselves as part of God’s plan and not the author of it.
• The beauty of the body of Christ is that it celebrates diversity.

We have a responsibility to others. We must leave judgment to God and ensure that we are not the cause of someone being susceptible to his judgment.

• We will never change lives if our focus is on how we differ from others rather than how we all differ from Scripture.
• If you are making a choice in an earnest attempt to honor the Lord, and the choice you are making isn’t prohibited by Scripture, what matters isn’t what I feel about your choice. You are accountable to the Lord only. 
• We take time away from winning souls to win arguments - and that's gross.
• Mindfulness and weakness do not equate.
• When you are with a fellow believer who holds a strong belief, to disregard their feelings in favor of your liberty because you don’t have the same convictions is sinful.

God has fulfilled his promises to the Gentiles and he will for the Jew, too. God calls us into salvation with His mercy. Gentiles, who were not God’s chosen people and did not seek right standing with God, now enjoy that right standing by faith. What does it take to be saved?

• We must be anguished at the rejection of the Gospel in order to be bold enough to share it with the world. 
• The reason we often don’t feel as if we experience this isn’t the value of the promise - it’s guaranteed. It’s because of our failure to place our faith in the promiser.
• Mercy is God’s to give, not ours to receive.
• Judgment falling on those who turn a blind eye to God’s call for obedience is righteous.

We have been reconciled with God through the death of Christ. We are dead to sin and alive to Christ. What does it look like to be alive in Christ using principles in this section of Scripture?

• We have justification through faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
• Baptism is a naming ceremony.
• A life empowered by the reality of the new covenant with Christ and a life that reflects the values of Christ.
• Sanctification is becoming like Christ through our union with Him.
• Sin has lost its dominion over you.
• Through Christ we gain wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

Since no one can be righteous before God (see last week’s message), we see that right standing with God comes through faith in the atoning work of Jesus on the cross. But He didn’t stay dead. He rose again, defeating it all!

• Faith and righteousness are synonymous in that one cannot be obtained without the other. 
• Regardless of how hard we try, we continuously fall short of the mark set for us by God. 
• The ransom payment was the literal blood of Christ, and it paid for our sins. 
• Not only did Christ die for you, he rose for you too. 
• Christ didn’t come just to forgive your sins. He came so that you might conquer them.

God is righteous in his wrath against sinners. To understand the depth of his salvation, we have to understand the depth of our depravity. People usually do not sin in naivety but actually try to push approval of their sin.

• God's condemnation is the natural consequence of ignoring his existence and righteousness. 
• The lie we believe is that humans can be self-fulfilled, self-reliant and have no need for God.
• Anytime we live outside of God’s design for us, we sin. 
• There are no excuses for sin.
• God's judgment is based on three things: truth, impartiality and the example of Christ.
• We face God's judgment based on what we do more than what we know or proclaim.

Are we the same as this world? What sets us apart? We should strive for a renewed mind. We use the gifts God has blessed us with to benefit the Church and God’s kingdom. We submit to earthly authority. We don't judge each other. We don't cause each other to stumble. We are model citizens.

• Genuine love reflects the Father's love and it is the fruit that Christians must bear.
• We have to be brave enough to call a sin a sin. Not to do so is the opposite of loving and it destroys the purpose of God's love, which is to bring us into right relationship with him.
• When we love one another with brotherly affection, we follow Christ’s example of loving sacrificially.
• Too many of us serve a God whose love is based in accepting our will. That’s a false God.
• When we are persecuted for our principles, we return their curse with a blessing. 
• Without empathy, harmony is non-existent.
• The Bible's literal advice is to kill them with kindness.