Looking ahead 2026

After our service today, we’ll have our annual business meeting and discuss the in’s and out’s of our church’s operations, our budget and plans for the next year. We hope that all of you would stay and participate in the conversation whether you are a member or not.

On the Sunday of Business meeting the last few years, I shared a 5 year vision plan for Crossroads that I wrote in early 2022. I began with this question:

At the end of 2027 - next year - what will we say happened at Crossroads over the last 5 years? When I wrote these statements down, I believe they were from God, but they were statements that drove me as I preached and as I led here at Crossroads. I want to recognize that this is going to be a year of transition. My hope is that this list is still a priority at Crossroads for a long time.

Here are the top 5 things I wrote down:

1. People found Jesus at Crossroads. Many came to know Jesus as Lord and Savior.

2. People hurt by the church found healing and restoration through Jesus at Crossroads.

3. People who were “done” with church found their love for Jesus at Crossroads.

4. Entire families were restored and worshiped Jesus together at Crossroads.

5. People grew in their faith in Jesus at Crossroads.

This is has been the vision I have personally carried in my time here at Crossroads. When I think about it, these should all be what every church hopes to see and accomplish. I am thankful that this is happening already here at Crossroads. I want to go through that list again and if you would say that this has happened for me at Crossroads in the last 5 years, would you stand?

I want to point out three commonalities in these 5 statements. People, Crossroads and most importantly - Jesus.

I see three main categories of people...I can confidently say that each of you belongs in one of these groups:

People who are lost - we want introduce them to Jesus and lead them to a relationship with Jesus.

People who are saved, but hurting - we want to show them how Jesus can heal the hurt by a deepening relationship with Jesus.

People who are saved - We want to disciple them to a deeper relationship with Jesus so they can help introduce Jesus to the lost and help those who are hurting depend on Jesus more.

This is what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 28:

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

When we do what Jesus commands here well, People will be saved, Hurting people will be healed, People who have walked away from their faith will come back, Families will unite in worshipping Jesus and People will grow in their faith.

**Title Slide - Looking Ahead**

There is a second part to this message, one that will lead into the next few weeks. Before I do that, I am compelled to talk a little about the future. As I’ve said, we, the Evans’ family are in the process of being released from our assignment here are Crossroads. That means there will be some change ahead. I hope to give some observations and some advice to you over the next few weeks about how to handle some of that change. Today, I want to focus on what doesn’t change, or what shouldn’t change.

Since I have been at Crossroads, this is a church that loves Jesus. Don’t stop loving Jesus. Make Him the priority in all that you do. Ask yourself, is what I am doing and what I am saying pointing to Jesus? Would he encourage me in this path forward? I have not always gotten this part right, but when I did, I saw God moving in ways I could never imagine. In the days ahead, don’t lose your focus on Jesus. Don’t let others around you lose focus on Jesus. Don’t let the elders lose focus of Jesus. Don’t let Pastor Aaron or Pastor Jason lose focus on Jesus.

This church belongs to Him - Jesus. This isn’t my church, this is Jesus’ church. Keep it Jesus’ church. If Crossroads begins to drift into being someone else’s church, don’t let it. This Church belongs to Jesus.

The other thing that should not change is a commitment to this text, the Bible. Sometimes, a church can seem committed to the Bible, but they are really only committed to certain portions of the Bible, perhaps a particular focus on a certain doctrines or subjects. Let me give an illustration.

There are some churches so focused on love that they allow almost anything. In the name of love, people are accepted and affirmed in their behavior and never questioned or challenged in thoughts or actions. The Bible is used in a way to only communicate God’s love for us. I’m sure you can see where that might end up.

On the other side there are churches who are so focused on truth. Any mistake in thought or action is quickly pointed out. The Bible is used as a stick to beat people into shape. The problem with this is that people feel judged and in some cases the faith in the church is all about works and knowledge.

But neither love along or truth alone is not what the story of scripture tells. Scripture says that out of love I don’t let my brother or sister stay in sin...I tell them the truth. And at the same time, the truth of scripture is that God loves us so much that he sent Jesus so that by grace we are saved. God’s love did that for us and it should be love that is behind the truth we share. If not in love, the truth we share may not have the power that God intends for it to have.

No matter what else changes, Crossroads - do not let the lordship of Jesus change and do not change your commitment to scripture...all of scripture.

Let’s shift gears just a little bit...

***HEALTHY CHURCH TITLE SLIDE***

My plan is over the next several weeks to leave you some encouragement about what I believe a healthy church looks like.

Several years ago, we began talking about these 4 words: Worship, Serve, Grow, Tell.

Say them with me.

These 4 words represent what all of our activity as a church is about. While we also do these things on our own, these are meant for us to do together and they should be done with a focus on Jesus. I have allowed us at times to get sidetracked from some of these, or focused on one or the other at the detriment of the others, but I am convinced that a healthy church is one who does all four things. Today, let’s talk about the last one on this list.

Tell others about Jesus Together

How appropriate this one is with us coming out of Operation Andrew week.

If you, as Romans 10:9-10 tells us, have confessed and believed you have received the greatest single gift in all the world.

Romans 10:9–10 NIV

9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I saw this gift in each of the people who came to Vermont this week. I saw it in their passion to forgo the awkwardness of striking up a conversation with a stranger because of this great gift they had and their desire to see others receive that gift.

Jesus is the hope that people are looking for. Jesus is the answer to many of people’s questions and struggles. Knowing Him and being known by Him is the most rewarding thing a person can experience this side of heaven. Why wouldn’t we want everyone to know? We read from Matthew 28 just a few minutes ago about Jesus command to go and tell.

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The New Testament is full of passages that command us to do this. I don’t think it is an option. There are several ways this happens:

It happens in direct conversation: “Let me tell you about Jesus and what He did”

It happens over time while building relationships and conversations happen at kitchen table or at a soccer game, but don’t allow too much time to pass before doing number 1...Let me tell you about Jesus.

It happens with our actions and testimony: “I am doing this because of Jesus in my life.” This is great when we are going out of our way to serve someone. It’s not enough just to do the nice thing, we have to let people know what our motivation is. “Jesus changed my life. I am just loving on you the way Jesus loves us both.” There are many nice people in the world doing nice things for others, but we do it because Jesus first loved us. People need to know that.

What is clear from scripture is that telling others about Jesus is not an option.

A few more testimonies