Preparing for Worship: July 18th

Hey guys! So the boss is out of the country this week, and we have been totally partying it up at the church office while he's gone! You should definitely stop by the office during the week sometime and see how crazy it is! Or at least you could stop in and enjoy our A/C for a few minutes. Summer has finally decided to drop in, and with a vengeance!

This Sunday we're welcoming guest speaker Andy Bales to Crossroads, and it'll be great to hear from him and be encouraged and challenged from God's Word, and from real life examples from the Union Rescue Mission.

We're going to start the service with the songs "For You Are the Lord" and "Let Your Kingdom Come" as we seek to realign ourselves with God, and understand that He is the reason we gather, his will is what we seek when we gather, and he is also the means by which we gather, since Christ has given us access to the Father through his death and resurrection.

Since Pastor Todd's away, our elder, and worship band bass player, Steve Stark, will lead our corporate time of prayer, and extend an "official" welcome to our new visitors. He's going to give us an important and exciting update on our new Youth Pastor, and some cool things coming up in Children's Ministry. Then he'll dismiss to a quick greeting so you can run over to your friend and give 'em a bear hug before we dive into a "new" song that's really an old hymn called "There is a Fountain" which is an artistic ode to the symbol of Christ's substitutionary death on the cross for sin: his blood. While the lyrics might seem macabre at first, they really communicate a joyful and glorious truth: that because Christ shed his blood on our behalf, we can be forgiven of our sins! We'll follow that song with "Completely Done" as we triumphantly declare that Christ's offering of blood is a sacrifice that needs no repeating, EVER!

Then we'll welcome our guest, Andy Bales, to the stage to teach us. I've not had the pleasure of hearing Andy speak before (aside from short tidbits we've seen in Union Rescue Mission videos), so I'm excited to hear what God has put on his heart to communicate to us!

We'll close the service with the song "Exalted (Yahweh)" and then our other elder, and worship band guitar player, Wayne Dell, will close off the service with a few announcements and pray for our weekly offering.

So that's what's happening this week; can't wait to worship with you this Sunday! Happy prep!