Pastor Brian. Worship in January: January 7 Worship Note: Communion Belonging Together: Breaking Free John 9:1-41

Transcription

1 January 2018 Dear Cross Roads Church Family: A lot can change in a year. At this time one year ago, my family and I were living in Pittsburgh, I was driving for a school bus company on the side, in addition to being a pastor, and we were expecting the birth of our second child. Now, Arlo is nine months old, we live in San Antonio, and the only child I take to school is my daughter, Elsie, who started kindergarten this fall and is very proud to be a big kid. My head is still spinning to be honest! A lot has changed around here at Cross Roads as well. The campus has been reorganized to make room for more partnerships, the church went through a name change, there is a new pastor, and starting this month, there will now be three congregations worshiping in our campus on Sunday mornings. We truly are becoming a Cross Roads of the capital C Church, and of the world. Perhaps your head is spinning, too. Whatever changes are coming in the next year and who knows what God has in store for us our main focus will remain the same. Seeking the Lord together. Our primary work as a church remains seeking God in persistent prayer, honest confession, and study of God s word. Everything else our mission and vision, our outreach, the ministry we do, the experiments we try, the love that we share, the connections with people that we make all flows from there, like a wake created behind the forward motion of a boat. So while many things change, some things do not, and we will keep our focus right where it belongs - on seeking the Lord together. If you ve ever watched ballet dancers, one of the techniques that they use when dancing is called spotting. It is a way to avoid becoming dizzy while spinning around and around, where the dancer quickly moves her head to fix her gaze on the same spot as much as possible while the body turns. In the same way, as the new year brings whatever twists or turns that God has in store, our job is to keep our heads from spinning by keeping our eyes fixed instead on Christ, yearning to see his face and glimpse his glory. Let s keep doing that together and bring on 2018! Happy New Year! Yours in Christ, Pastor Brian Worship in January: Sundays: 9am & 11:05am January 7 Worship Note: Communion Belonging Together: Breaking Free John 9:1-41 January 14 One service of worship at 10:00 am Installation Service & reception for Pastor Brian. 3:00 pm January 21 Belonging Together January 28 Belonging Together Cross West Roads Main Church St., An 8102 Midcrown Drive, San Antonio, TX

2 News around 2 Cross Roads Church CrossRoadsofSA.church office@crossroadsofsa.church

3 Life at Dec 9th Live Nativity at Cross Roads Church 464 cars ~ 52 walking by Over 1300 cups of hot cocoa 250 donkey craft kits to children Thanks be to God for being able to share the Good News with the community. CrossWest Roads Church Main St., An 8102 Midcrown Drive, San Antonio, TX

4 Life at Book Group. The Read & Dialogue Book Group meets the 2nd Thursday of each month (September- June) at 7:00 pm in the Parlor to fellowship, review the book of the month, pray & discuss their mission focus. This month s book is A Gentleman in Moscow. For January, the group will meet on Thursday, January 11th. Stop in with your fellow book lovers! Questions? Contact Ann Zeigler. Having a Birthday? The Birthday fund was established a few years ago and is used to purchase items beneficial to the life of the whole congregation that may not be part of the operating budget. Simply make a donation in the amount of your age as a thanks giving to God for another year of life! Sunday School Sunday School classes for all ages are ready & waiting for you! Sunday mornings at 10:05 am in the main building just follow the crowd. Presbyterian Women The Presbyterian Women are waiting on you to join them. On January 4th, the Lydia Circle will meet at 1pm in the church parlor. The Mary Martha Circle will meet on Monday, January 8th at 9:30 am in the Parlor. Study, Fellowship & Mission awaits you! Men s Breakfast The Men s Breakfast group is reconvening for their monthly breakfast on the second Saturday of each month. 8:00 am at the Windcrest Golf Club is the place to be. Ministry Reports For your convenience, we have moved the session s monthly ministry reports to the church lobby. Stop by the Welcome Center anytime to see what the various Cross Roads Church ministries are doing. Just look for the red binder! If you have questions about any reports, you can chat with Pastor Brian, Clerk of Session Brenda Mata or any Ministry Chair: Admin & Personnel Jack Leonhardt Buildings & Grounds Tom Delk Christian Education & Youth Brenda Matthews Finance Lorry Houtman Missions & Congregational Nurture - Silbia Esparza Strengthening Michelle Walter Worship Brian Fink Annual Congregational Meeting The Annual Congregational Meeting has TENTATIVELY been planned for Sunday, February 4 th (dependent on session budget talks on January 16). We ll have just one service of worship at 10:00 am followed by a pot-luck luncheon in the gym. The purpose of the meeting is to vote on the terms of call for Pastor Brian, to review the 2018 budget and receive reports from each of the Cross Roads Church ministries. You ll want to be present. Start thinking about what game-food style dish you ll bring to the Super Bowl themed pot-luck! 4 Cross Roads Church CrossRoadsofSA.church office@crossroadsofsa.church

5 Life at Committee into the chapel on January 18, and Stated Clerk Tricia Tedrow from Mission Presbytery, will be leading a Healthy Boundaries Workshop for pastors on January 20, also in the chapel. Happy New Year! We are off and running in 2018 with some exciting new opportunities! But first, a recap of our end of year activities. Apart from CRC and community groups who call CRC home on a regular basis, we stayed pretty active in December. We hosted the Bowie Foundation Scholarship BBQ fundraiser by providing kitchen and parking lot space for pick-up of pre-ordered plates. We were able to blend a partnership with CRC on Dec. 17 as we hosted WeACT TX (animal rescue) for a Blessing of the Animals service, as well as a photo opportunity with Santa and pets. Ballinisahabit held a Basketball Camp during the day Dec , for kids who were out of school. And of course.who can forget the church wide effort and gift of the first CRC Live Nativity? We are all still glowing from that incredible experience. We are welcoming several new partners this year, with praise and Thanksgiving. We are blessed to provide a home to the Debre Edom St. Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church (EOTC). The Ethiopian Orthodox church is one of the oldest in Christianity and this congregation found our Geneva Conference Center to be a hospitable venue to worship, fellowship and conduct Sunday School. They will use that building on Sundays from 4 a.m. until noon, as a normal rule. Of course, we will continue to partner with several other groups. St. Thomas More Middle School will practice in the gym Monday-Thursday afternoons and Ballinisahabit will conduct their practices on Monday-Friday evenings, as well as Sunday evenings. And our Congolese sisters and brothers from UPCM will worship in the Chapel on Sunday afternoons, and have choir practice on Saturday afternoons. All in all there is activity in and around campus each day of the week, each group bringing glory to God in their own unique way. We are fortunate to have a campus and a willing and generous congregation - that allows this Kingdom work to take place! Tune in next month for more information on prospective partnerships in the making! Blessings Bev Spitznagel Amazing day as Micalea Melgoza receives news that she is officially inducted into the National Honor Society! This is what it's all about a wonderful example to the younger kids in the Ballinisahabit program! She will be suiting up for Arizona Christian University NAIA D1 next year as a freshman. To the future college players your character and your education matters, it goes a long way. Congrats MAC! In January we welcome the Walzem Road Revitilization CrossWest Roads Church Main St., An 8102 Midcrown Drive, San Antonio, TX

6 Mission work in San Antonio JOSHUA BUILD Sunday, January 14th, from 12-3 pm Northwood Presbyterian Church, 518 Pike Rd, ALL AGES ARE ENCOURAGED TO HELP US #BUILDFORBETTER!!! Habitat for Humanity of San Antonio is bringing the construction site to the Northwood Campus! Habitat will provide all the tools, material, hardware and staff supervision needed to put volunteers to work building all the wall panels needed to complete up to three Habitat homes. Habitat then will transport and store the completed panels. One of these will be used for the Presbyterian Cluster build this spring at Lenwood Heights!! Help empower a family for a lifetime, one nail at a time! No construction skills are necessary, and everyone is invited to participate, including children and teens with adult supervision and a parent signed waiver for those under 18 years of age. Come and write scriptures and special blessings on the wood to fill the home with God's love, or join a group putting together a wall following the easy directions. Please wear 6 Cross Roads Church CrossRoadsofSA.church office@crossroadsofsa.church

7 Missions & Congregational Nurture Ministry Lunch & Love We would like to thank the Session of Cross Roads Church for providing the meal for our guests in November. We served 16 guests. As we start our new year in 2018, we will need groups to serve the meal at Lunch & Love. Thanks to Cross Roads Presbyterian Women for volunteering to serve our community in January. February through December is open. Please contact Silbia Esparza at if you are willing to serve. Thank you for your generous hearts this past Christmas: Disaster Relief Angel Tree Thanks to everyone that donated to this giving opportunity. We made the following to help bring hope to our neighbors in Texas, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. Harvey-$400 Puerto Rico-$190 Mexico-$15 Women s Ministry 1 month tuition-$64 1 year textbooks-$60 BALLINISAHABIT College Scholarships-$60 Collegiate scholarship-$40 Agape Ministry-Don t forget to bring your nonperishable food items to benefit the Agape food pantry. Place your donations in the new blue Agape Pantry Cupboard. This cupboard is on the left hand side as you walk towards the kitchen. Presbyterian Children s Home Transitional living program-$120 Single parent program-$60 Battered Women s S helter Live saving services-$145 Lunch & Love Shoe Ministry-$200 To go food bags-$35 Toiletries-$15 CEDEPCA-Guatemala Women s Ministry $64 Women s Ministry 1 year textbooks $60 Water Filters $200 Mayan Market- $777t Prace and Blessings, Silbia Esparza, Chair Cross West Roads Main Church St., An 8102 Midcrown Drive, San Antonio, TX

8 January Calendar for Every Week: Mondays 6:00 pm Bridge Group Tuesdays 10:00 am Prayer Group Wednesdays Church Office Closed 1:00 pm Small Group 6:30 pm Sanctuary Choir Practice 7:30 pm Praise Team Practice Sundays 9:00 am Traditional Worship 10:05 am Sunday School 11:05 am Praise Worship In January Jan 4th Lydia Circle, 1pm Jan 5th Prayer Quilt Ministry, 9:00 am Jan 6th 9am Take down Christmas decorations Jan 8th 9:30 am Mary Martha Circle Jan 11th 7:00 pm Book Group Jan 13th 8:00 am Men s Breakfast Jan 14th Pastor Brian s Installation, 3:00 pm Jan 15th Prayer Quilt Ministry, 9:00 am Jan 27th Lunch n Furniture For A Cause Closing Sale Since 2003 Samministries (a ministry CRC has financially and hands-on supported) Furniture For A Cause has been offering furniture to the general public to raise additional revenues for Samministries programs. On February 28, 2018 the lease at 5254 Blanco Road will expire and after thoughtful consideration Samministries will cease operations of Furniture For A Cause at the conclusion of our lease. This will allow Samministries to focus primarily on the core functions of the organization which is providing services to the homeless and at risk of becoming homeless in the San Antonio area. We have enjoyed serving San Antonio community with affordable furniture and as an outlet to offer an outlet for the community to donate their gently used goods to raise funds for our ministry. Starting Today January 3, 2018 we are beginning a 57 day liquidation sale where we will be selling our entire inventory of furniture, lighting, home accessories and even select store fixtures. Save up to 70% OFF!! Our entire inventory!! Come in today to take immediate advantage of savings and last minute deals that will available for just 2 months only. Items are first come, first serve so act fast. 8 Cross Roads Church CrossRoadsofSA.church office@crossroadsofsa.church

9 8102 Midcrown Drive San Antonio, TX Midcrown Drive San Antonio, TX fax Web: CrossRoadsofSA.church CONNECT with us Staff: Brian Diebold, Pastor Bev Spitznagel, Facilities & Events Coord Lisa Ringler, Office Manager Amy Oxley, Choir Director Gordon Ringler, Worship Leader Edward Esparza II, Campus Technician Office Hours M, T, Th, F 8:30 am 4:30 pm Cross West Roads Main Church St., An 8102 Midcrown Drive, San Antonio, TX