Welcome to Cross Way United Methodist Church

Vacation Bible School was a great time this year! Thank you to Dee Fields for leading us. I really can see where we are going in the future and it is brilliant with leadership like hers! I kept thinking: If we can do this much borrowing a facility (as we have done the last 3 years), can you imagine what's going to happen when we can do our own thing!?

A big shout out to our church family at Oak Grove UMC for their amazing hospitality, allowing us to set up and use the building for the last week too. Those of you who have joined Cross Way or taken Methodism 101 will know we are part of a "bigger church" than Cross Way alone. Oak Grove really embodied that spirit of Kingdom Building... Thank You Rev. Liz Moen and Oak Grove for everything!

Starting July 1, I will be spending most of July with my family giving them some well deserved undivided attention. Diane, Dallen, Jordan and Shelli will be available to help with any church related items as well as members of our leadership team.

I am excited for all which is in store for us when I get back... particularly Connect 4 (if you don't know what that is, you will soon) and celebrating our 3rd birthday in September!

Blessings and see you Sunday!

Graduations, end of the school year, the wrap up of spring sports, business presentations, projects, fill in the blank... while the focus of life in general is a journey, there are portions of our lives which fit neatly into starts and finishes. Starting points with ending points. I’d like to share with you some Biblical advice on how to finish well from Paul’s experience written in Philippians 3:13-14.

Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus. – CEB (Common English Bible)

Paul is calling upon the metaphor of running a race to explain how he is pursuing Christ’s salvation and living out God’s call on his life.

1. Know your goal: Before, during, and finishing the race, you should be focused upon the goal... if you are “running” without focus, you can’t cross a finish line.


2. Do not look back: Any track coach will tell you, looking back is the best way to slow down. Sure, there may be lessons you can learn on the fly, however, you can only make improvements running toward the goal, not looking back where you have come from. Don’t waste time and energy getting stuck on a past mistake.


3. Finish well: Reach out for the finish line. Push through to the end, no slowing down until you have finished, past the finish line.


4. Celebrate victories: Beyond these verses, Paul calls to mind the glory of “victory” Christ has in store for us. There is celebration of a race well run, the awards podium you might say. There is one spot on God’s awards stand: Either you ran the race God sets out for you or you don’t.

Finish well, my friends, the next race course is being laid out right now.

See you Sunday,
Chris

"All you have to do is be true to the highest you know, and success and failure are in the hands of God. That emancipates (frees) you from the bondage to succeed. " E. Stanley Jones, The Way.

Success. Would you know it if you got it? If you make "it," would it be a place or time to capture... to stay at... something which changing conditions could easily steal away? At home, work, school, vacation and leisure, we want to be successful. But what defines success?

If you take your measure of success from any number of sources, you may find (as some already have) that success looks a lot like a hamster wheel: You are tired all the time, you don't find the pursuit very enriching and you are in the same place you were when you started. The Christian Way of success is a journey. It is more like golf than a hamster wheel: While there are some external measures to help us gauge how we are doing, the real competition is being the best golfer you can be. One drive, one chip, one putt at a time, it all adds up to a score you may or may not care about... you just may have found some peace along the way in the open spaces.

The quote above helps us stay focused upon God in all circumstances and being the best "me I can be." We cannot always control the outcomes, but we can affect how we work in the midst of life.

"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17- New International Version

See you Sunday,
Chris