September 8th, 2010 by Tim Moore

This weekend we are “officially” launching our new Loft for our students.  We are encouraging all parents and students to head to The Loft after your Weekend Experience to meet the new youth staff and check out their new space.  It is located near the back of the Boulevard down our graffiti Alley.

I am sending this post out to ask for some help in furnishing it.  Some of the furnishings in The Loft were part of the TNT project and funds were set aside at the beginning of that project for them (TV’s, gaming consoles, etc).  We had planned to purchase couches, tables and chairs out of our own “pocket” as a church.  However, with the impact of the economy our finances have not positioned us to do so.

We are asking for your help to fill the room with couches and other furnishings for our youth.  So far, we have had several good couches donated.  We still need some more.  If you have a “decent” quality couch that you would like to donate to our youth, we are interested.  We first want to inspect them all to see if they will work in the Loft.

Sorry, but these beggars will be choosers when it comes to our youth.  We are not looking for any ugly dated floral printed couches that your grandmother bought in the 50′s.  But if you have some modern couches that you just replaced or want to replace that are in decent shape, please email Joe Miller.

Or if you would like to donate some money specifically to help us get some good used couches from Craigslist, let us know as well here.

Many are already stepping up to the plate.  That’s what I love about our Church!

September 7th, 2010 by Tim Moore

Tomorrow, September 8th, we will be holding a special time of prayer from 12-1pm at the church.  This time is specifically set aside to pray for the hundreds of names that have been submitted to us.  These names represent the lives of people who don’t know Christ.

We are gearing up for a big weekend at Crossroads with the launch of FAQ and celebrating our 2 years in Lithopolis.  We are prayerfully expecting God to move in a POWERFUL way.

Join us this Wednesday as we agree together for the lives of our friends and family that need Christ.  Then bring them on Sunday and expect God to move in their lives.

August 30th, 2010 by Tim Moore

I love the weekend so much that I’m often re-living the great things we saw and heard the next day.  So, I thought I would take a moment to recap some of the highlights from this past weekend.  I may do this every Monday.

• Our 10:30 experience was packed full.  Thought we were going to run out of chairs at one point.  I’m praying we fill it so much on 9/12 that we have to ask our regulars to stand along the walls!!  Praying the other times fill up as well.
• Band was spot on and worship was off ‘de hook!
• I preached on vision.  Probably spoke more to people who know they need to chase what God is putting in their hearts to do.
• Made this statement:  Dreamers dream with their eyes closed, visionaries look with eyes open to see a need to be met.
• A vision always begins with a burden.  Otherwise its just a self-motivated dream.
• I’m praying that God will turn our people’s passion into burdens that we can’t ignore.
• Don’t spend your life without discovering what God wants to do through you or it will be a life filled with regret.
• Preached from the Book of Esther.  Love the story in that book.
• Didn’t share the happy ending in Esther in the first 2 experiences and my wife said I should.  I did in the 12pm.  They usually get the best message.
• Talked with a bunch of first time guests that loved it!! 
• Talked with a Muslim leader who wanted me to condemn a church in Florida that is going to burn the Koran on 9/11.  While I don’t agree with that action, I will not get political or preach on what the Church should be AGAINST.  I have one focus – sharing Jesus.  That’s what I want to be known for.

Gearing up for FAQ.  We have some really tough hard hitting questions.  I can’t wait to celebrate 2 years in Lithopolis.  Bring as many people as you can that day.  I will be sharing the Gospel!

Also, don’t forget to join us on Sep. 8 from 12-1pm in the auditorium as we pray for the names of the people we are going to invite to church or share Christ with.

It was a great day.  I love my church.

August 26th, 2010 by Tim Moore

I say this almost every time, but 4W last night was over the top and perhaps the most moving one yet.  I shared a very passionate message about a term that often scares so many of us “Evangelism”.  Let me recap it for a moment.

This might be the best definition of evangelism I’ve ever heard.

Evangelism is nothing more than one beggar telling another beggar where to find food! (I didn’t come up with it, but heard it first from Perry Noble)

The problem is many of us in the church don’t see ourselves as a beggar.  You might have lived a pretty good life.  Maybe like me, you didn’t get into alcohol or drugs.  When we don’t see ourselves as “that bad” or needing saved “that much”, then we have no desire to tell others about what Christ has done for us. (Rom 1:14-17) Maybe its because we don’t think he has saved us from that much…

But God has made me more and more aware in the past years that even though I may think he didn’t save me from a horrible past, perhaps he has saved me from a horrible future!!  That messed me up. I got emotional.

At the end, I asked everyone to take a small paper plate that we gave them and as one beggar who has found food, to write the name(s) of other beggars in their life who need Christ.  We then tacked those plates up to a board that we are going to pray for every day.  It was a moving moment and a night that had me in tears!

Here’s what we’re doing to reach many more this fall.  We are kicking off our fall in a huge way on September 12th.  It is our 2 year anniversary in Lithopolis and we are inviting the entire community to join us.  We are handing out thousands of invites in the local parade on Sep. 6th.  We are expecting our church to invite as many people as they can.  We are also going to pray with desperation that God moves in their lives.

We are going to make the message I shared last night available to watch on the web soon and ask everyone to submit names of people they know need Christ that they are going to invite on Sep 12th.

On Wednesday, September 8th we are having an open time of prayer at the church between 12pm and 1pm in the main auditorium.  We are going to pray for every name that is submitted and beg God to do something undeniable this fall.

Join me in praying for an opportunity to lead dozens of people to Christ this fall!!

August 25th, 2010 by Tim Moore

Today begins the return of our kids back to school.  I remember what it was like going back to school in the fall.  It’s rough.  I believe the pressures felt in school are among the greatest we ever face in our life.  There are so many pressures to conform and do whatever it takes to fit in.  Parents, this post is for your students.  Share it with them.

My students,

I want you to know that I am praying for you all day today.  I am praying that God will use you this year to be a leader in your class and not just a follower.  I am praying for your safety and for you to make wise decisions.  I am praying that you will be courageous enough to reach your friends for Christ.

Don’t be afraid to show your faith.  That doesn’t mean you have to be weird and spiritual all the time.  But don’t be afraid to stand up for those who are picked on, don’t be afraid to resist temptation, and don’t be afraid to speak up about your God and your church!

You might be in one of the hardest places of your life, but you are also in one of the greatest opportunities to make a difference in people’s lives.

I believe in you.  Be bold and know your pastor is praying for you!

August 18th, 2010 by Tim Moore

The idea of being a leader has a nice ring to it.  Many want the recognition and title, yet few realize the sacrifice.  Being a leader is not always as glamorous as it sounds.  Here’s how it plays out in church ministry for me or many of my leaders.

• When major decisions have to be made, we have to give up evenings to get together and it affects our time with our families.
• When people are having a crisis in their life, we have to adjust our schedules to make time for them.
• When hard things need to be said, we get to say it.
• When challenges are brought to the church, we have already faced them and responded.
• When we ask people to give to a vision opportunity, we feel the need to give on a greater level.
• When we try something and it fails, we must humbly admit it.
• When we see something lacking in God’s church, we carry a burden for it.
• When we stand before God we have to give an account not just for ourselves but also for those we lead.

You see, being a leader even in a church setting sounds great.  People joke about pastors only working 1 day a week.  As if the rest of the week they get to play golf or sit by the pool.  Many do not know the burden and sacrifice that comes with ministry.

You want to know the truth?  Being a leader is a sacrifice that few are willing to pay.  In fact, the Bible discourages people who want to lead for the wrong motives.

James 3:1 says, “Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.”

It is often easy to criticize and pick apart people in leadership positions.  The next time you think negative thoughts about the people leading you, I would encourage you to pause for a moment and thank God that someone is willing to sacrifice a lot for you.  They may not always get it right, but they give up a lot trying.

To all of my leaders…I honor you for the sacrifice you have made for this church and for me.  Thanks for being willing to give up so others can grow up in Christ.

August 4th, 2010 by Tim Moore

I think sometimes it is easier for us to invest in a system rather than in people.  It’s less complicated to create a uniform system where everyone is recruited, given a handbook and told how to operate.  But we have seen the limitations of systems in the church.  Sometimes they help, but other times they can actually hinder.

The church is in the PEOPLE business.  We are called to reach PEOPLE with the Gospel.  We want to see PEOPLE get on the path to God.  So we’ve decided to invest in our people rather than any curriculum.

I believe that if we can equip and train leaders how to care for and lead a smaller group within the church, that our entire church will grow spiritually.  So we are taking many steps to find and invest in new leaders.

Here are some of the things we are doing for the leaders:

1. Walking them through an application process.  (This can be started on the web, but it will finish with the personal help of our ccGroup leaders)
2. Our ccGroup leaders are making themselves available to meet one-on-one with leaders if the situations calls for it.
3. Offer up regular training sessions for anyone who wants to lead a ccGroup to give them the tools to do it well.  I believe the first scheduled training is August 11th.  Contact Mike McCoy for details.
4. We want to regularly bring leaders together to share ideas and continue to provide them with tool for leadership.
5. We are doing a series coming up to raise the bar of leadership within our entire church.

Jesus took 12 young guys who had nothing to do with ministry and turned them into leaders who changed the world (okay 11 of them).  He invested the majority of his time into those guys.  We want to do the same thing.  We are investing in our leaders!

August 2nd, 2010 by Tim Moore

This past Sunday, I shared the new direction we are taking with our groups.  They are now called ccGroups and with that name change comes an even bigger strategic change.  We have for many years had groups focused around doing the same thing (rehash the weekend message, bible study, etc).  They have been okay…but we are not fine with “okay”.

We are attempting to remove the road blocks to allow community to happen.  I believe when we simply allow true community to happen, discipleship naturally occurs.  Here are some of the key thoughts from this past weekend’s message based on Ephesians 4:11-13.  If you missed it, catch it later this week on our website.

• The pastor is NOT responsible for discipling the church…the church is responsible to disciple each other.  (Wow!! That was something I never captured in this text before.)
• Pastors and Teachers ARE responsible to equip or train the church to disciple each other.
• We don’t need another system or method to force discipleship, instead discipleship happens when people in the church are empowered to do what God asked them to do.
• We are not going to invest in methods or classes, but rather in people – to equip leaders to facilitate discipleship.
• Church leaders have often hindered this because we’ve wanted to control it.  (I am guilty of this as well)
• What is one thing you absolutely love to do and are passionate about it?  (Ride a motorcycle, play golf, scrapbook, read, etc…)  Could you imagine doing that for God and getting to help others as well through it?
• We are empowering our people to form a group around something they LOVE to do.  When people love the same things, they want to be with each other.
• Some might object to this because they think it is “too shallow”.  To that I say, “When you’ve lost your job and have no money for bills and food and people in your “shallow” group step up and give you money and food, you probably won’t think it’s shallow anymore.”
• I believe we can triple our ccGroups almost over night.  We have received TONS of requests already to form new groups or join one.

Some of the groups that people have expressed interest in forming are motorcycle groups, exercise  groups, outdoor groups, knitting (yes I said knitting) groups, reading/book groups, sports groups, business groups, and more.  I really believe this has the potential to create a deeper sense of community than we have ever known at Crossroads.

If you were inspired to be in a ccGroup or form a new one, go here and take the next step.

I’ll share some more thoughts on this throughout the week.

July 30th, 2010 by Tim Moore

Most everyone that comes to our church will see quickly that we put a major emphasis on our Weekend Experiences.  We recognize that in our culture, it is one of the best ways to reach people with the Gospel.  Our environment is darker, with moving lights, haze, videos and more.  Trying to reach an MTV generation is not easy.  Yet, it’s working and people are receiving Christ nearly every weekend at Crossroads.  That’s stinkin’ awesome.

But we are working to make it even better.  Here are few things we are working to help us create 5-star Weekend Experiences.

• We recently added a production manager that is responsible for the entire experience.  His job is to make sure everything runs well and is done with excellence.
• We have a short review after the 9am experience to see what needs changed or what can be made better for the other experiences.
• We are moving toward IMAG.  This would move us one step closer to stream our entire experience online as well as enable us to broadcast to future sites.
• We are training our Host Experience Team to do everything they can to remove distractions.  There may come a time when you walk out of our auditorium that you will be asked to stay somewhere else to watch the feed.  We aren’t trying to be difficult…we are trying to remove all distractions so people can clearly hear and receive the Gospel.  You can help us do this now by being courteous to those around you.
• We hope to get our construction going for tearing down the back stage wall and expanding the room by 2,000 sq ft which should let us add more seating and make the stage presence better!

We want everything we do to be 5-star quality.  Our hope is that by the time a guest makes it into the Weekend Experience, they have been greeted, seated and treated with excellence.  At that point, we will present the Gospel through a 5-star Weekend Experience and continue to trust God to lead people across the line of salvation.

July 29th, 2010 by Tim Moore

As many of you know, we have invested lots of $$ and hours into our new ccKids facility (The Boulevard).  We invested in our kids first because we believe in them and want them to know Christ.  It’s actually an outreach strategy.  Most statistics say about 80% of people who give their lives to Christ do it by the age 18.  So perhaps, they are worth investing in.  Here are some of the things we are doing to give every kid that comes to Crossroads a 5-star experience.

• We are finishing up The Loft (new space for Jr and Sr High groups).  We still need couches (good stuff) if you can donate any.
• We are investing big money in the kids space to reach people who never go to church or are disillusioned by it.    People who have an issue with this should read this post by Joe Miller.  Enough said.
• We want to double the number of people in our Impressions team and install the Concierge Team in the youth facility as well.
• We still have work to do to finish our ccKids Studio room.  We’re going to need help for this soon.
• Beth, our ccKids Director, is working to add more teachers and helpers to each room so individual kids can get more focus.  But to do this…we NEED you!
• We want to launch a 5-6 grade experience in The Loft and need leaders and teachers who are willing to invest in our kids at possibly the MOST important time of their lives.

Let’s just say, we care about our kids.  I care about my own kids and I want to do everything I can to build the most amazing Kids and Youth program I can.

It bothers me that nearly 80% of kids who are raised in the church walk away from it when they graduate.  I want to CHANGE that at Crossroads and I will do everything in my power to make that happen.  But I can’t do it alone.  I need your help.  Our kids need your help.

Listen, if you are a parent of kids who attend at Crossroads…YOU NEED TO DO SOMETHING.  Don’t just drop them off every week and hope they learn about God.  Be part of it.  Be a helper, be a teacher, heck, be a bouncer.  Just get involved.

Are you ready?  If so, go here and fill out our volunteer application online!

Oh and you must have a background check before you can help out.  (And speeding tickets won’t disqualify you)