Crossroads Foundations - Growing In Community

A Refresher on Foundations

This week we finish up with our Foundations Series. For those that are new, or have missed a few weeks, or really even those who have been here, we have been looking at the big ideas of what make up Crossroads.

EACH of these Foundations has been a part of Crossroads for many years, so these aren’t necessarily “new” ideas, so much as they are a refocusing of what the church is called to., what your leaders hope to see in the coming years.

These three Foundations are that we are:

Grounded in Christ

Guided by Hope

Growing in Community

These three foundational ideas can also be broken down into three “church” words: Discipleship, Evangelism, and Fellowship. But really, what do they mean?

To be Grounded in Christ is to be rooted or anchored in Him. As we have seen, for Crossroads this means that Christ is our Spiritual Foundation and Practical Foundation.

We recognize Christ as the Son of God, the one whom Creation was made through and for, the Sustainer of all things, the perfect man who lived a sinless life, died a sinner’s death, and rose to life on the third day that we might receive His righteousness and be brought into a relationship with God, the Father. That our sins would be buried with Him and that we could have new life in His resurrection, living for Him on this Earth.

We also recognize who we are in Christ. We are chosen and spiritually blessed We are redeemed, forgiven, made into new creations. We are adopted into God’s family and in this adoption, we are called to be a new people with new relationships, new goals, new purpose.

And because of all of this, because we are Grounded in Christ, we are called to be a church of DISCIPLESHIP. A church where we are growing in our understanding of who Christ is, we are growing in our understanding of what the Bible says, we are growing in being SHAPED by those two things.

We are disciples.

And we also are helping others grow in these same ideas as we grow in them.

We are disciplers. (which is not a word, but it fits)

As a church we are also Guided by Hope. This means that as individuals we have received Hope through the Gospel because of who Christ is and what Christ has done. We have received an inheritance of eternity and life with Christ forever. And this hope in eternity changes how we live now , how we love now, how we even suffer now — easing fears, bringing comfort, reminding us that we are not of this world but citizens of a new Kingdom. This hope brings peace to us as individuals and a church full of people who are at peace, no matter the circumstances, who recognize that they are part of the new Kingdom, will change how we interact with each other.

To be guided by hope, for the Church, is to be at peace and to be unified under a common cause.

At the same time, to be guided by Hope also means that we are actively bringing this Gospel Hope to the world around us, through the way we live, but also through inviting others to be a part of the Kingdom, to be a reconciled, or made right, with God through Christ.

The Gospel hope that guides us leads us into that “church” word, EVANGELISM.

We tell others about Jesus through our words, through our actions. We pray for others to come to know Him. We share the good news about who he is and what he’s done with the people we are close to. We build relationships with others so they can see the peace that we have in Him.

Now, before we leave the recap of Guided by Hope, it’s important to note, because I know at least of few of you are sitting there saying “I am guided by the Holy Spirit, not by Hope”. And you are right, we ARE guided by the Spirit, but we recognize that the Spirit guides us INTO HOPE.

I put this graphic together to help us better see it, I would encourage you to take a picture of it and I can also share it to social media, so that you can hopefully visualize how this works.

EXPLAIN GRAPHIC

As you can see, being Grounded in Christ means the Holy Spirit is leading us into Hope, and also leading us into our third Foundation as a church:

We are Growing in Community

Let’s pray that God would settle what we have heard, and what we are about to hear, on our hearts. That he would give us the “eyes” and “ears” we pray so often for in this church. That we would be led to response.

PRAYER

Growing in Community

As I was preparing this week, I was thinking about what a successful team looks like. Whether that be in an office, in sports, in a restaurant, in a retail store, in a club, in an organization, etc.

And what I came up with is that, in each case — even though the specifics may look different — a successful team shares:

a common bond - like we are on the same team, same jerseys, same business

a common objective/goal - like we are all trying to make money, win a championship, make a meal

a diverse gifting - someone is good at running numbers, someone managing, someone sales

and finally, an understanding of how each person with their unique gifts fits into the team and how they impact the objective.

Take a NASCAR pit crews for example:

If we take those ideas we can apply them loosely to what it means to be part of a family.

Everybody working together for a common goal, each bringing different strengths to the table, united by a family name.

One BIG difference between a business and a family. Do you know what it is? If someone doesn’t get on board, understand the goal, have the right gifting at a business, they get fired.

But we can’t really fire family (as much as we may want to!)

What does any of this have to do with a church - specifically growing in Community?

1. A Community of Faith

Ephesians 4:1-16

Common Bond

The Spirit creates a bond of peace within the body. The Spirit urges humility, gentleness, patience, forbearing in love, unity

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, One God and Father

Common Objective

Unity in the faith and knowledge of God’s son

Steadfastness

Growth of the body in love

2. A Community of Gifts

1 Corinthians 12:12-31

Common Body

The Spirit (again) bonds it together with Christ as the Head

The body needs all the parts, and all the parts are gifted and valuable

Diverse Gifting

We all have gifts that are to be used to grow the body

Feet, Hands, Ears, Nose, Eyes

From the “least” to “greatest” in value

3. A Community at Crossroads

Romans 12:3-8, Hebrews 10:23-25

Why Church?

Pursue Maturity together, Laugh together, Cry together, Encourage each other

You ARE the body — you are gifted to be a part of the body

YOU have a reason for being here — what is it?

All these gifts are COMMUNITY and OTHERS focused because that’s where they are shown

As a church we serve with our time, with our money, with our skills (more than worship and preaching),

WHAT IS YOUR GIFTING IN THE CHURCH

We also have to SHOW UP (Hebrews)

the early church was healthier because they didn’t have any other options than meeting together. Online is necessary for many, but should not be the default for most.

Fellowship Opportunities

Time for Response

Join the Body

Serve in the Body

Meet with the Body

We are Grounded In Christ, We are Guided by Hope, and We are Growing in Community

GRAPHIC