I am thrilled to have started our new series as we reboot our 2018 theme of being disciples who make disciples! And, the excitement that I heard expressed this weekend about the different opportunities to grow, the call to display a living faith and even joy over the soon to come CrossPoint Spanish campus are absolutely inspiring.
But, after multiple questions from CrossPointers across the state about the different challenges and elements of this series, I decided to chronicle them all right here as an easy way to access them for this series.
So, here we go:
Weekend Focus - Make a commitment to be a part of every weekend experience for the remainder of “Made Different To Make A Difference 2.0.” We will continue to center on a key element of each chapter of James as we progress through the book. If you can’t join us at one of our locations, then please play catch up online:
Weekly Memory Verse - Hiding God’s word in your heart is like hiding buried treasure that you rediscover when you are at your deepest point of need. We will be memorizing a key verse or two from James each week as a way of taking this series even further. Our first passage is James 1:2-3 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
Daily Devotional Readings - Spending time with God in prayer and His word is always important. During the series we will continue to offer daily readings which line up with our journey through the book of James. You can always find a suggested daily reading on the CrossPoint app, or in the weekend hand out at your CrossPoint location. However, during the series we have an added resource called “Count It All Joy.” This 25 day devotional is provided for every family at the church free of charge, or you can pick an extra one up any weekend for a reduced rate. To everyone outside of CrossPoint, you can order a copy here: book (there is also a bulk rate if you’d like to get 10 copies for your group: bulk order).
CPXL podcast - To go even further in our biblical studies, we are making a commitment to teach on every verse of the book of James as we progress. But, since that can’t happen in a weekend service, we are introducing the new CPXL podcast in which you will hear additional (or extra large) teaching that will expand on what we were not able to cover during the weekend service. This will be available through the CrossPoint app, and linked on some social media platforms. Make sure you fill out a connect card whether in person at a CrossPoint location, or on the app so you can be notified when the podcast is available.
A living faith challenge - James teaches that faith without works is dead, so, a natural application will be to display our faith as alive and well. Each week there will be a challenge moving us in the direction of displaying our own faith. This week the challenge was to make sure you are in a Grow Group and for that Grow Group to adopt a mission or out reach of its own. And, individually, we are challenged to share the story of enduring a trial, and God’s faithfulness through that.
So, that’s the game plan! There is every opportunity in the world for you to really grow spiritually and begin to make a difference as you live out your faith. I challenge you to jump in with both feet and maybe try on some new spiritual disciplines, even if they feel uncomfortable at first.
Join us this weekend as we continue our series, “Made Different To Make A Difference 2.0.”