Preparing for Worship: February 28th, 2010

I'm thankful for the many encouraging words I heard back regarding worshiping with my friend Dan last week at Crossroads! It's so great to know that when I won't be here, that I can be confident that there will be biblical, joyful, genuine worship singing taking place. Thanks again to Dan for his leadership.

This week I'm back and rested after a lovely weekend away. I'm looking forward to our time together, and I hope you are too. Here's what's going on this weekend so you can prepare to come and be a part.

We'll start with the fun and easy "Friend of God," which is always a good tune to wake up and get in the groove for the morning. Ya know, with this tune I've wrestled with the theme being about how WE are God's friends, like it's bragging about ourselves and how great we are or something, so I just wanted to point out that we sing it not because of how great it makes us, but because of how in awe we are that we could actually ever be called friends of Almighty God! So yeah, it's simple, but it's profound; I like how the bridge of the song says it: "God Almighty, Lord of glory, You have called me friend!"

We'll then have the chance to worship through some announcements and opportunities coming up at Crossroads. How do we worship through announcements? As we hear of upcoming opportunities to serve or build community, we listen for the Spirit's guidance and illumination of how we can edify and build up the body of Christ, whether it be by participating in, or praying for said events. Allow your heart to be moved for those in pain, such as those still suffering in Haiti, or when we minister at the Union Rescue Mission; pray for outreach events, or Bible studies, that God might build His church through His Spirit to bring glory to His name; etc.

Then we'll sing the old hymn "How Great Thou Art" which talks about how all creation declares God's glory, and how His glory was perfectly displayed in His Son and through His death on the cross! We'll go from that into a song about the cross "This is Love." In our culture today, "love" is fickle. It's based only on romantic feelings, and there's so little depth to it. The Bible tells us that God so LOVED the world that He gave His only Son. True love is sacrificial; it's HARD. Christ didn't have the easiest time going to the cross. He prayed in the garden that His Father might accomplish His plan another way, but was obedient unto death.

Then Pastor Todd will come and preach from Ephesians five, as we continue our series: Sovereign Grace. The passage is Ephesians 5:1-7 which you can read by CLICKING HERE. It's about living as imitators of God as a child imitates his father. It's a super-convicting passage, and I need the Spirit to teach me to follow its truth and apply it to my own life more so every day. You might not need the same thing (yeah right, we ALL do), but prepare your heart through prayer that the Spirit might teach you to be an imitator of God even better upon hearing this truth preached.

We'll respond with the tune "Majesty(Here I Am)" that recognizes that our hearts are wicked, and that only the Holy Spirit enables us to put it off and put on the new man which we've been reborn into through Christ's death for us on the cross. The line "empty handed but alive in Your hand" is such a good way to remember this truth as we connect our heart and mind and take in God's Word most fully.

We'll close with "Take My Life" (an old hymn with a little bit of a twist on the melody, and a new chorus) as a prayer of commitment to daily sacrifice ourselves to God's glory and submit to His perfect will for our lives.

So that's what's going on; happy prep! Leave a comment if you like! See you Sunday.

Preparing for Worship: February 21st, 2010

Well I'm headed outta town with my wife and some friends tomorrow, so I wanted to update the blog with what's going on this weekend so you can prepare for worship.

My friend Dan Kush will be leading in worship this Sunday in my absence. Dan is a passionate brother who loves the Lord, who has lots of experience leading worship singing, and who will be a blessing to have at Crossroads, as he and his wife, Arlene, have attended a Pastor's Coffee, and are confident that this is where the Lord has called them for this season of their lives.

Pastor Todd continues preaching from the book of Ephesians as we learn how to live by the Spirit. Todd even mentioned that he wasn't sure he could preach this passage any more straightforwardly than the apostle Paul lays it out for the Ephesians! CLICK HERE to read this "how-to" on living the Christian life as you prepare for the Spirit to teach and enable YOU to live this life!

We'll kick off the morning with the song "Beautiful One" as we refocus our eyes on the glory, majesty, and of course, beauty, of the God that has redeemed us from sin through His Son.

We'll take a few moments to worship by ask God's blessing and guidance through His Spirit, as we seek to honor him in our time together. Then we'll talk about a few things that are going on in various ministries at Crossroads; specifically an update on our Haiti Relief fund, and our upcoming family outreach event: "Crossroads Live!"

We'll continue worshiping in song as we reflect on the glory and holiness of God. "Glorious and Mighty," "Be Unto Your Name," and "Holy, Holy, Holy" will all honor God through the words we sing, and will minister to each of us as we are reminded of who God is, and what that means for us! Those truths become our motivation and empowerment for living the life the apostle Paul describes in our sermon passage. Because God is almighty and glorious, he demands obedience and worship. Because God is holy and righteous, His own character required that he punish sin with His wrath. Because God is merciful and loving, He gave His Son to be punished in our place that we might be set free from death in sin!

Pastor Todd will then come and preach to us, and if you didn't do it before, you're going to forget if you don't CLICK HERE to read the passage right now, so don't put it off!

After the sermon, Dan will lead in "All I Have is Christ" which is one of my favorite new tunes; and which I will be missing singing with you! It's a perfect sum up of the morning, and of the sermon, as Paul ends the passage by explaining our motivation to live the way he's described: "forgiving one another as God, in Christ, forgave you." So we'll sing about that wonderful forgiveness that God offers us IN CHRIST!

That's the deal for this week. I'll be back with you the following week, so BE GOOD! :)

Happy prep!

Preparing for Worship: February 14th, 2010

How great that Valentine's Day falls on a Sunday this year!

How better to celebrate romantic love, than by praising and worshiping the One who created it and gave it to us??

I promise we won't go overboard with that though; I won't break out any of those "worship" songs that make it sound like Jesus is our boyfriend. I think having only one word for "love" in English makes it confusing when we think about how we are supposed to "love" Jesus. We tend to differentiate the types by saying we are "in love" when we mean the romantic, couple type of love, but sometimes even that phrase pops (or idea) up in worship tunes such as Matt Redman's tune "Let My Words Be Few" (Redman actually says he wishes he hadn't used that phrase in an interview HERE). "SO I'LL LET MY WORDS BE FEW: JESUS I AM SO IN LOVE WITH YOU"

The love we're supposed to have for our God/Jesus/Holy Spirit is a much more complex type of love that involves fear, awe, obedience, and sacrifice, in addition to those "warm fuzzies" you get sometimes (especially while singing worship songs!).

So yeah, we'll keep it biblical and rounded by placing God's glory, and not our feelings of love, as the highest priority. I'll save the phrase "in love" exclusively for my wife. :)

Glad we got that out of the way!

We're going to start our morning with "Ancient of Days" as we fulfill the very lyrics in the chorus by declaring God's glory and bowing at His throne in worship! If you don't have room to bow down where you are standing on Sunday, just be sure you have the attitude as one who bows! Or heck, just make your way to the aisle and bow down there; just be careful no one trips over ya!

Pastor Todd will come after that first tune and lead us all in prayer together, and then share some great ministry and outreach opportunities with us that are coming up really soon, so be sure you're at church on time so you can catch the vision for our Blanket Blessings ministry, and for Crossroads LIVE coming in April.

After those opportunities, we'll sing some more as we celebrate not just our love for God, but HIS love that captured us, and His grace that set us free when we sing: "Be Glorified." The bridge of that songs asks God to be glorified in US, and as John Piper says: "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him!" What better way to be satisfied in God than to have our hearts formed, our minds transformed, and our wills conformed to HIS good and perfect will?? I agree, so we'll ask that He do those things by singing "Take My Life (Holiness)."

Then Pastor Todd will come and continue teaching us God's Word from the apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Specifically chapter four, verses 17 - 24. CLICK HERE to read the passage and prepare your own heart and mind to be changed by the truth of God's Word applied to your life by the Spirit of God that lives within you. It's about putting off the old self, and putting on the new self that God created to share in righteousness and holiness ("set-apartness").

After the sermon, we'll connect that knowledge to our hearts as we respond to God through song. The first tune after the sermon, I'm going to ask that you just let me share with you, and not sing with me (yet, maybe in the future!). It's a song I wrote just last week as I was contemplating the process of confessing our sins to the Lord. Being first grieved at our falling short of God's standards, and hating our sin so that we are eager to repent. Then we remember that we have the firm promise of Christ's blood shed for us so that we know that when God looks on us, he sees not our wretched sinfulness, but Christ's righteousness! And finally, we rejoice in our sure forgiveness, knowing that when we are faithful to confess our sins, He is righteous and just to forgive them (1 John 1:9)

So yeah, it's a song I wrote called "Confession Song" (I know, it's a VERY creative title!) and I hope that the Spirit will use it to both convict us and encourage us as we continue to strive DAILY to put off the old self and put on the new self as we confess our sins and seek after God.

We'll finish the morning by singing together about the reason we can even hope to have success in putting on the new self: God's grace. We'll sing "Grace Unmeasured" which reminds us that grace has paid for our sins, helps us do what is right, and will eventually lead us to our reward in heaven!

So that's what's going on this week! Hope to see you there, ready to worship, ready to encourage a brother or sister in the faith, and ready to watch the Spirit do his mighty work in our midst! Pray for God's will to be done!

See you there; happy prep!

Preparing for Worship: February 7th, 2010

Hey guys, sorry I didn't post last Friday to help you all prepare for last Sunday! I was out renting cellos, and helping pianos get brought in to our worship center, and putting our great cellist, Meghan Zeikle, up in our guest room.

I hope you guys enjoyed our special "Winter Cello-bration" last weekend, and that it helped to keep our ears and hearts fresh to all kinds of beautiful musical expression to aid in our corporate worship! I had a great time playing that big beast of a piano, and it's always a pleasure for me to worship with Meghan, as we have ministered together since our college days at Master's College in the Chorale, and for the last two summers at the Resolved Conference.

We will have another Cello-bration in the future, and for those of you that weren't able to be there this past week, you'll have another chance to worship with us with piano/cello accompaniment.

So we set our sights on this coming Sunday, and prepare to pick up where we left off last week in our study of Ephesians. Pastor Todd is preaching from chapter four, verses 13-16. CLICK HERE to read this week's passage about growing up in Christ as his body.

Since it's the first Sunday of the month, we'll also remember Christ's death for us as we take communion together after Pastor Todd's sermon.

Now onto the singing! We're gonna start the morning with a good waker-upper song: "Marvelous Light" which reminds us why we are there together, to worship the God who called us out of darkness and into light through the cross. We, who once were fatherless strangers with no hope have been given new life in Christ. Sin has lost its power; death has lost its sting! From the grave You've risen victoriously!

Pastor Todd will jump up for a few minutes of welcome and announcement stuff and we can worship together through prayer, welcoming visitors and greeting and encouraging friends we already know! We'll also see a quick video for the upcoming Financial Peace University class at Crossroads.

We'll start up the music again as we engage in revelation/response with God as He's revealed himself through His Word, and His Son. We'll sing of his great love for us in "The Father's Love" and contemplate our new life as sons and daughters, and the desire for clean hands and a pure heart; that we might seek God and seek Him alone in "Give Us Clean Hands."

Pastor Todd will preach the Word to us, and lovingly encourage and exhort us to grow up in spiritual maturity so as to not be tossed to and fro, but to speak the truth IN LOVE to one another so as to build up the body of Christ. Again, be sure you check out the passage of scripture, so you're prepared to glean the truth God would have you learn and apply to your life.

We'll respond to the Spirit's teaching by celebrating communion together after Todd's message, and singing "Jesus Messiah" which quotes 2 Corinthians: He became sin, WHO KNEW NO SIN, that WE might become HIS righteousness! It is absolutely astounding that we have inherited the PERFECT righteousness of Christ because of our faith in what He did on the cross!!!

We'll end our time together with the song "Stronger" that I hope will go with us as we leave the church "building" to BE the church in the world around us; that God is stronger than sin and darkness, and that through us, his name will be lifted higher and higher above all names in the universe!

Phew!

So yeah, that's what's-a-happening. Hope to see you there, ready to go! Happy prepping.

Preparing for Worship: January 24th, 2010

Hey everyone; I hope you are enjoying the rain more than I am. I can only truly enjoy the rain when I am inside by the fire with my wife and a hot cup of coffee. Once I have to go out INTO the rain, it's not quite as enjoyable.

I suppose this week of non-stop rain is completely unusual though, and I should remember that we suffer from droughts almost every year from the normal California LACK of rain.

So with that fresh perspective in mind, let's look at what's going on at Crossroads this Sunday!

Try this: click HERE to check out our Order of Worship directly from our Online Planning Center!

This is what Pastor Todd and I craft during the week as we consider the sermon text/theme, any special announcements or videos we are showing, and all the songs we'll sing together.

Pastor Todd has invited Pastor Jeff Noe of Oak Hill Bible Church in Castaic to come and preach God's Word to us this week. Pastor Todd likes to try and bring in guest speakers semi-frequently because as he says: "it gives people a break from me!"

Whether you need a break from Pastor Todd or not; why not let him know how thankful you are for his constant care and ministry to the body here at Crossroads? He spends a LOT of hours studying and preparing to preach and teach us on Sunday mornings, but he also spends a LOT of hours on the phone with people and meeting with people in his office as he shepherds and cares for people on a personal and individual basis. Whether he is up on the stage preaching, or stacking chairs in the worship center (we are both Pros at this), he loves Crossroads, and more importantly he loves the PEOPLE of Crossroads. So make sure he knows that you appreciate him whether you catch him after church, shoot him an email (tsmith@lifeatcrossroads.org), or call him at the church office (661-775-9502).

So yeah, Pastor Todd is giving everyone a break from his preaching this week as Jeff comes and teaches us from the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel. He's preaching from all of chapter 27 (it's short), and the choice of text may seem strange to you, so CLICK HERE to read it and prepare for what God will teach you from this "road less travelled" text.

We'll kick off our morning with a pair of songs that express our joyful confidence in the never-changing, never-failing character of God with "Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee" and "Everlasting God."

From there, Pastor Todd will come and pray, welcome everyone, and introduce a short promo video for the next Financial Peace University course we're offering at Crossroads starting on February 11th. CLICK HERE to go to our calendar page for more information on being a part of this life changing class.

After a short greeting time to shake a few hands and give a few hugs, we'll take it up a notch as we sing and teach each other to be joyful and excited about the hope that we have because of Christ's death and resurrection by singing "I Have a Hope." The funny thing about us humans is that we need to constantly be reminded of this hope because we have such tendency to forget it and to doubt it. We will help ourselves in the area of doubt by singing "Completely Done"(follow the directions for a FREE download of this great song!) which reminds us that the work of the cross is not dependent on how perfect we can become (since we CAN'T become perfect), but that Jesus completed the work of redemption once and for all, and it cannot be added to or undone by any thing or anyone!!

Pastor Jeff will come and preach from 1 Samuel at this point in our meeting, and he will help us realize when we are falling into spiritual depression due to doubting God, and how we can fight spiritual discouragement in the face of difficulty in life. Have you ever experienced this? If you answered "No" then you're LYING!! This is going to be a timely and helpful message, so don't miss it!

We'll respond with a song that is straight from a key passage of scripture that relates to this idea: "Psalm 62" where David confronts his own soul, and commands it to find rest and shelter in God alone amidst the trials and temptations of the world. May it become stuck in all our heads this week as we seek to apply the message to our lives outside the walls of Crossroads!

That's what's going on so check out all the songs, and read up on the biblical text. See you Sunday!

Preparing for Worship: January 17th, 2010

Well last Sunday was yet another "first" for Crossroads, as Pastor Todd led in singing! After our opening set, he led our people in a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday" in celebration of my, not 18th as he "guessed," but 27th birthday. What a cool church family! THANK YOU!

I'm sure most of you have heard by now of the catastrophic earthquake that shook the country of Haiti earlier this week. What grace we were shown in that our short-term missions team returned from there just two days before the quake! Still, we mourn the destruction and havoc that has turned the country on its head. Even before the quake, Haiti was in shambles; weak, corrupted government; extreme poverty (Haiti is among the poorest countries in the world!); and a deep, deep need for the love of the Savior both in the knowledge of the gospel, and through his people as we reach out to meet their needs.

We are going to take a special offering on Sunday for the relief efforts that are being mobilized to get medical supplies and other necessities to the Haitian people. Please consider giving sacrificially to help bless these people who, for the small percentage that have jobs, live on about $2 a day, and who are even more in need now.

As you prepare to come and worship God with the body at Crossroads, here's what we'll be sharing together Sunday morning.

We'll start with joyful singing to help get us all on the same page. This is an important time in the service, as we all come in with different things on our minds, some having had great weeks, some having had terrible weeks, some dealing with great trial, etc. The beginning of the service is where we remind ourselves of the God that we serve, and that as we worship him corporately, we seek his will to be done both in our lives as individuals, and as a local body of believers. In many churches over the years, it's been called the "Call to Worship." I think that's an okay term to use but I prefer to think of it as a "Refocusing of Worship."

Every Sunday, we sing songs filled with truth about God, and we sit under teaching about God, and what he has to say to us. We leave with our thoughts and lives focused on him; living out our worship as a lifestyle.

Throughout the week, our minds are pushed and pulled in every direction, and we often lose focus on God. We still may have our "quiet times" or remember to pray before meals, but so often life just gets so busy that our "worship" refocused on our jobs, or our families, or our _____ (fill in the blank with the things you find take your mind off of God; the Bible calls these things IDOLS!!).

When we come together as a corporate body we often need a bit of a "Spiritual Realignment" so that our minds might be renewed by the Spirit to recognize the supremacy of God in Christ in all things!

So DON'T BE LATE!! Church starts at 9:00 and 10:30, and we need YOU, as a vital part of God's body, to be there with us!

Okay, now that we got that out of the way...

We'll "refocus" our worship together back to the One to whom it rightfully belongs as we share music and melody together with "Holy is the Lord" and "Praise to the Lord, the Almighty."

We have our yearly financial update as we reflect on God's goodness and faithfulness displayed in the faithful giving of his people! We'll talk about the budget for the coming year, and thank God together for blessing Crossroads so immensely. We'll also talk about our "iServe" program and how to get involved in ministry at Crossroads. We'll finish with a few minutes focused on Haiti, and how we can get involved to be God's hands and feet there in the coming weeks as they recover from the disaster. Also, our team that was just there will be sharing a recap of the trip on Sunday, the 31st, for which they will supply the details on Sunday morning.

After a few minutes to greet and encourage each other, we'll resume corporate singing that helps us remember God's sovereignty even in light of the events in Haiti: "We Will Remember" and the old hymn "Great is Thy Faithfulness."

Pastor Todd will share his message from Ephesians 4:1-6 where the Apostle Paul calls us to live worthy of the calling we've received as children of God in Christ. The Spirit who dwells in us enables us to live with humility, gentleness, and patience. He calls the church to live in unity with peace, recalling the truth that we all serve the same One God as a part of One Body and One Faith and Baptism. READ (CLICK HERE) the passage Todd's preaching from, and ask the Spirit to teach YOU how to live in this way that none of us are truly capable of apart from Him!

At the end of his message, Todd will invite us to do something NOW about Haiti, and give towards relief efforts there. Will will be setting up more ways to help in the coming weeks, but instead of just waiting around, we thought we should give towards efforts that are already being mobilized.

We'll close with the new song we learned a few weeks ago called "All I Have is Christ." I thought this would be a good way to close, because this perspective is so foreign to us in America: that ALL we have is Christ, and that we're HAPPY about that??? To us, Christ is often something we list (consciously or unconsciously) among other "stuff" that we have that gives us joy and security in life: family, spouse, house, car, etc.

The people in Haiti truly have next to NOTHING. In a sense, they are in the best position to understand that Christ is ALL we need, and that which we should want the most!

"Hallelujah! ALL I have is CHRIST!"

That's what's happening Sunday, see you then!

Preparing for Worship: January 10th, 2010

I received lots of positive feedback from doing a more acoustic, "unplugged" vibe this past Sunday during our worship singing; thank you! That was a planned for a while beforehand, but it ended up being part of God's perfect plan.

Friday evening I came down with a dreaded stomach flu; something that prior to last weekend, I can't ever really remember having, which made it worse. I spent all of Friday night waking up every hour as my body wrenched itself of all water. I spent Saturday sleeping and recovering but by Sunday morning I was still really weak so a mellow worship set while I sat on a stool was an example of God's kindness to me! :)

I also really enjoyed teaching you our new song "All I Have is Christ" and everyone seemed grateful for its truth and power. Looking forward to incorporating that song again often in the coming weeks!

So I feel almost 100% percent again, and am excited to worship with you guys again this weekend!

Here's what's happening:

We'll call our souls to worship with an old faithful: "Open the Eyes of my Heart" and corporately ask God to allow us to experience himself high and lifted up, shining in the light of his glory! Next we'll obediently and joyfully ascribe to the Lord glory and strength (Psalm 29:1) by singing the hymn "To God be the Glory."

Pastor Todd will lead us in prayer for the morning, that it would be done in the power of the Spirit, through the blood of Christ, for the glory of the Father. Then we have a bittersweet portion of morning to share together.

The Penberthy family (Jon, our 1st-6th grade coordinator; his wife Kerri; and their 4 girls) have received the call to a youth pastor position in Washington! We want to take some time as a church to pray for them, and commission them to the work the Lord's calling them to. We'll miss them!

Then we'll have a chance to meet Jon's replacement: Kari Pendleton (who knew there were so many ways to spell that first name??). She'll share her heart for children's ministry with us, and give us a face to go with the name. She's already been very active in our kids ministry by coordinating and directing our kids Christmas program.

Next we'll have a short group announcement for our Life Stage Groups that will be launching/resuming next Sunday, January 17th. Some of these ministries have already been established, but they are moving their meeting time to Sunday morning at our North campus to expand our "Church" experience. Corporate worship is a good and necessary part of the life of the believer, but it's not intensely personal, and you can't minister very much to your brothers and sisters in the Lord just by singing with them and listening to a sermon with them.

These groups will help make our church a little smaller (when do ever hear THAT as a desire of a church?? It SHOULD be!). They are structured to general age demographics, and for more information, you can check out the "Ministries" page of our website. (Click HERE to go there)

Then we'll have a short greeting time, and jump back into worship singing as we continue to reflect on God's glory with "Glorious and Mighty" and then meditate on the profound truth that a glorious and mighty God, whose judgments reign over all nations, would exercise his Kingship not by sentencing us to our just punishment for sin, but by substituting his Son in our place: "You Are My King." What a King he is!

Pastor Todd will then preach God's Word from Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Click HERE to read this week's passage where Paul prays for the Ephesian church. Come with soft hearts, ready to apply God's unchanging word to your own life for his glory!

We'll respond with "From the Inside Out" as we process and internalize what it means to be strengthened in the "inner being" Paul talks about in his prayer.

That's what's happening; see you Sunday!