Crossroads - Weekend Messages

Founding Pastor Bill Ritchie explains the importance of being fully committed to what God wants to do.

Our God is a gracious God. Although the children of Israel had returned to their Egyptian ways with the worship of the Golden Calf, God was not finished with them. God had made a promise that He intended to keep. Exodus 34 is all about God restoring the covenant with the people. New tablets are made, God reveals Himself afresh to the people and Moses ends up radiating the glory of God!

It is often said that reputation is what people think you are and character is what God knows you are. We are all rightly concerned about our reputations. Perception is reality and we all desire a good reputation. But we must be careful to place too much trust in our reputation amongst men to the expense of what Jesus knows. This is the exact mistake that the Church in Sardis made. As Jesus did His forensic analysis of this church, the diagnosis was dire. "Be revived," Jesus cries. In our next installment of our exciting Case Study series of Revelation 2-3, Pastor Daniel will be looking at the Church in Sardis. This church had a great reputation but Jesus says that it is dead. But Jesus, as is His way, is not content to leave the church in shambles. He counsels the church in Sardis, and us as well, on the steps to revival. You need to be here on Sunday. And don’t forget to bring everyone you know. God is on the move at Crossroads!

God forgives us. But in the physical realm, sin has consequences. After the calamity of the Golden Calf (Exodus 32), there are consequences. God does not want to travel with the children of Israel into the Promised Land. So Moses once again intercedes. Moses moves outside the camp of the people and receives a special blessing from the Lord.

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world that he doesn’t exist.” There's a lot of truth to this famous movie quote. If God's people are not careful, they may not even notice Satan's handiwork in their midst, but he's alive and well. Jesus’ diagnosis in His letter to the church in Thyatira in Revelation 2 still rings true today. Because of His love for the church, His bride, Jesus warns all of us to be careful about what we believe and why. How does the devil sneak into our lives and begin to wreak havoc?

Founding Pastor Bill Ritchie gives a powerful message.

Although God had miraculously delivered the children of Israel from Egypt, the people had not completely left Egypt behind. As Moses was on Mount Sinai speaking with the Lord, the people were becoming impatient. They didn't know what happened to Moses. So they decided to take matters into their own hands and created a golden calf idol to worship. Exodus 32 is all about the rebellion of mankind and the amazing grace of God.

In our Case Study series, looking at the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3, we have been seeing a forensic analysis of churches. To the church in Ephesus, we saw Jesus’ diagnosis to just add love. To the church in Smyrna, Jesus wanted them to just hold on and be faithful. Now we move to the church in Pergamos. The circumstances of the church in Pergamos was not conducive to prospering spiritually. There were many issues and temptations. The church in Pergamos was struggling. Jesus’ diagnosis was simple: Do not compromise. For each one of us, the opportunities to compromise are endless. Jesus’ encouragement to each one of us is the same, do not compromise.

God cares very much about worship. Not only Who we worship but also how we worship. In Exodus 30-31, we learn the last set of details about the construction of the Tabernacle. These chapters end the detailed outline of the mobile tent itself and all of its furniture. We'll get details about the bronze laver and the altar of incense and learn about the incense itself and the anointing oil. God also reminds the people not to neglect the Sabbath in the Tabernacle's construction.