crossroads

"Taste the rainbow."

Genesis 9:12-13

The promises of God

The rainbow is the symbol of God's promise to us. They remind us of the second chance we all have because of God's grace through his son.

Matthew 10:2-4

The people of the church

The disciples are a rainbow in and of themselves - a motley crew of different individuals with diverse backgrounds and with different faults.

Matthew 16:13-18

The mission: an embassy; a hospital; a school; a refuge; a family

The church's purpose is a rainbow of different categories, all part of the advancing "kingdom of heaven."

Revelation 7:9

Heaven is a rainbow

There's a rainbow of people in heaven. And the church is supposed to be an earthly representation of heaven.

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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Numbers 11:4-9; 18-23

"You're not you when you're hungry."

• You're not "you" when you're hungry

When we're not satiating that hunger for God's word, we can't become the person that God has called us to be.

• You're not you when you're "hungry."

When we become dissatisfied with what God has given us, we can't live up to God's calling. Even in our dissatisfaction, God hears us and he'll meet us.

• Snickers Jesus Satisfies (John 36:35)

Only the life Jesus offers us can truly satisfy our desires.

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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Matthew 14:22-25

"Make it last a little longer"

When we read about the feeding of the 5,000 and then how Jesus walked in water, sometimes we miss how Jesus met with God in between. Jesus takes that moment with God and makes it last… he stretches it out as long as he can. When we meet with God, maybe we don't always let it last like we should. Big Red teaches us three things we can do to make our time with God last a little longer.

• Say goodbye a little longer.
• Hold tight a little longer.
• Kiss a little longer

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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James 1:19-22

"Melts in your mouth, not in your hand."

M&Ms are meant to be consumed. They're meant to be inside us. In a similar way, the word is meant to be inside us. Our faith is not meant to be simply held, it's meant to be internalized and consumed. Jesus said his food was to do the will of he one who sent him. Do we believe that for ourselves. The longer we keep our faith at arm's length, the better the chance that it will make a mess in our hands, and we'll eventually wash it off. M&Ms can teach us a few things about our faith:

• Melts in your mouth, not in your hand
• Peanut problems
• It's supposed to get in you so it can get out of you.

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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Psalm 27:14

"Waiting time is not wasted time." - Andy Stanley

Times of waiting are inevitable and crucial to our growth in faith. It's a bit like sleep for the body, where it might not be what you want to do, but it is what you need. It can be very hard to wait, but God will work through our times of waiting in unique ways if we know how to wait well. In order to get the most out of our waiting times, we have to know:

• Waiting asks for trust
• Waiting requires hope
• Waiting offers worship

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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Luke 5:17-26

Jesus rewarded the faith of all the friends… it wasn't just the faith of the paralyzed man. This demonstrates what it means to be a church. We are a family. Like a family, he church has a few roles in order to fulfill God's design for it:

• To care for each other
• To carry each other
• To get each other in front of Jesus
• To chat about what God has done

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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Even atheists and agnostics would benefit from reading the Bible more. It is essential for understanding western culture. We wouldn't have arrived here as a society without it.

But besides that, the Bible is useful for us as Christians because it teaches us and informs us and shapes our actions toward the world around us:

Isaiah 55:8-9

Romans 5:6-8

Genesis 1:27

Psalm 119:105

James 1:25-27

Romans 12:2

Do you engage the Bible as a tourist, visiting it 2-3 times per week? Or do you take up residency there, engaging it 4 or more times per week (more days than not)? When you take up residency, it starts to become ingrained and transform you.

How to overcome the barriers to reading the Bible:

• It's Ok not to understand it. Ask questions and read with others.
• It's not boring. We have to allow it to be interesting and remember all the wild events that happen with it.
• Most translations are just fine. Instead of getting hung up on which translation to read, pick the one that you will read the most.
• It is a lot, but it's already broken up into books and chapters.
• Even if you hate reading, taking it in small chunks makes it easier, and you can also listen to it read to you.
• If you don't know where to start, try starting in the beginning with Genesis, or start in one of the gospels.

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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1 Kings 19:1-5

God had used Elijah extensively, and he reached a point where he thought he couldn't do it anymore. If he were a pencil, he would be dull. Over the course of God writing his story through us, we will get dull. So we have to sharpen ourselves to be prepared for his work. Here are some questions that we can answer to help determine how to sharpen ourselves:

1. What sharpens you?
2. Who sharpens you?
3. To what end?

Here are five things that can sharpen us as Christians:

• Remembering
• Prayer
• Service
• Community
• Rest

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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Hebrews 12:1-3

Understanding that our lives are like a pencil that God is using to write his story can help us grasp the answers to some key questions.

• What is my purpose?
• What is God doing in my life?
• How do I align my life with God's will?

God is writing YOUR STORY.

• Psalm 139:16

God is writing THEIR STORY.

• Acts 17:26-37

God is writing HIS STORY

• 2 Corinthians 5:20

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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As we get ready for going back to school, we can be praying for the students that will be starting a new school year. To aid us, we can think of these prayers in terms of the five "W's" of writing.

Who: God

Genesis 1:1, 27, 31

Psalm 103:8-18

John 3:16

Deuteronomy 6:5-9

What:

• For needs
• For your worries
• For strength in temptation
• For direction and wisdom

Matthew 6:32-33

1 Peter 5:7

1 John 5:14

Matthew 26:41

James 1:5

When:

Ephesians 6:18

Where:

• Privately - Matthew 6:6
• With others - Acts 4:31

Why:

• It's God's will

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Romans 8:32

Crossroads – about heaven, earth, and the journey in between.

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