Crossroads Church

Today, we are looking at 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 and how it is easy to look at the world around us and feel discouraged. We see people taking advantage of others, harming themselves, and chasing after things that can never fully satisfy. So what happens when this isn’t just in the world around us, but this way of life enters the church? How are we to respond, and how are we to live in the world but not of the world?

Studying through 1 Corinthians, we are entering a section of the letter that addresses sex and our bodies, looking at how God has designed each of us with a purpose that the world, or our flesh, often distorts. But in everything, the Lord extends His mercy, grace, and love to all who come to Him, creating a way of restoration and redemption.

What would it look like to prioritize prayer in your life?  In todays sermons, we look at a moment where Jesus expresses deep frustration and disappointment with people’s approach to God.  Behind His frustration is an invitation to transformation and relationship, rather than transaction and regulations.  We will look to discover what it means that God’s house is a house of prayer and what it looks like to cultivate a life of prayer.

Today's sermon is a little different as we take time to share with one another ways we can praise the Lord for what He has done in 2025!

Jesus has come that we may find light and life in Him, where there is darkness; the light of Jesus overcomes. Where there is despair, the hope of Jesus overcomes. Where do you need to let His light shine? Where do you need to invite Jesus into your life? What could the next year look like if you allow His light to shine?

Jesus moved into the neighborhood and dwelt among humanity. In Jesus, we see the way forward, we see the embodiment of both Grace and Truth, and we see an invitation to know God, be known by Him, and live as He lived in the light of Jesus.

God, in His great love, sent Jesus to shine light on everyone. But not all find life in the Light; some seek the shadows, some seek their own way, but to all who believe, they become children of the light. We were made to shine in the Light, even in the midst of darkness.

John the Baptizer was rough, grizzled, unkept, and uncouth. His message was straight and to the point. Things are broken, we are broken, but one is coming who would fix all things, change all things. John was not the light, but he was a witness to the light, and reflected the light who had come. We, too, are called into the Light and invited to bear witness to the Light, which shines in the darkness.

Each Christmas, whether we call it nostalgia, or simple an ache for more, we long for meaning, for home, for peace, for light and life. Christmas reminds us that Jesus, Immanuel, God with us has come and in Him we find light and life, to cast away darkness and despair in which we find hope.

In a world that is so often divided over everything, how do we stand for truth with courage and conviction? How do we disagree with kindness without out Compromise? Our study of the first section of Corinthians culminates in learning how to disagree well.