Over the last few weeks on Sunday mornings we have been looking at Jesus in the Gospel of Mark, and how he continually claimed to be the unique, only begotten Son of God. As such, he claimed to share the power, glory, and authority of God the Father. In fact, God the Father even verbally validates the authority of Jesus in Mark 9:7. But Jesus didn't just claim to be the uniquely authoritative Son of God, he demonstrated it. As we have seen in the last 4 weeks, he doesn't just say he possesses the power of God, but shows it by taking definitive authority over sickness (2:1-12), evil spirits (5:1-20), commanding a storm to end and it obeyed (6:45-52), and religious thinking and traditions (7:1-22). All of this led to the religious leaders of the time, who were quickly seeing their own "authority" being overwhelmed by the true authority of Jesus, taking matters into their own hands; if they couldn't stop him (which they couldn't, because every time they challenged Jesus' authority they always came away the ones challenged!), then they were going to have to kill him. When they finally got Jesus in front of a trial in Mark 14:61, the high priest directly asks Jesus, once and for all, "Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?" Jesus' reply? "I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power." A couple of verses later, he was brutally murdered and nailed to a cross.
For some, this makes Jesus a failure in their eyes. "He claims to 'save' others, but he cannot save himself!" they mock. But thanks be to God, the story doesn't end with Jesus' death. The greatest display of Jesus power, his most definitive statement of authority, his triumph over sin and Satan, darkness and despair and death, was about to be revealed. For Jesus did not stay dead. He rose again, declaring and demonstrating that even death and darkness could not defeat him, he has authority over even those things!
There is much more that I could say about what happened during Jesus' death and resurrection, and if you can make it on Sunday morning we will talk about some of those things then. But like Jesus himself, we don't just want to tell you about Jesus' power and what he can do for you (even though we love to talk about it to anyone who wants to hear!); we want to show you what Jesus can do in a person's life. This week at Crossroads we are blessed to have visiting a man who will come and share his life story about how the power of Jesus, as demonstrated in his death and resurrection, has saved and restored him from the darkness and destruction of addiction and crime. So please feel free to join us this Sunday from 11 AM, to hear this man's amazing testimony of the power of Jesus in his life and to hear how the death and resurrection of Jesus can change and restore your life too.
Meeting People at the Crossroads of Life
Thursday 12 November 2015
Saturday 17 October 2015
Jesus in the Gospel of Mark
THE POWER AND AUTHORITY OF JESUS
In the book of Mark, in chapter 8, Jesus is speaking with his friends, his disciples, and in this conversation he asks them a simple but important question: "Who do people say I am?" And they told him, "John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets." Jesus then follows this up with an even more important question:
"But who do you say that I am?"
You can read the whole conversation in Mark 8, but the interesting thing about this question is that people have been asking themselves similar questions about who Jesus is ever since then right up to today. Different people come up with different answers, including the following: a great teacher, a prophet, a good moral role model, a social activist, a religious figure, some even conclude that the whole Jesus story is a hoax! One way or another, everyone has to come to their own conclusion when answering that question about Jesus.
The Bible, primarily through the words and actions of Jesus himself, provides its own answer to that question. And interestingly enough, it spends a lot of time answering that question simply by telling us the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. The Gospel of Mark, for instance, begins by stating that Jesus is the Son of God. So what does that mean, and more specifically, what difference does that make in our lives?
This is the question we will be looking at during our Sunday teachings for the next few weeks as we explore a number of stories from the Gospel of Mark that demonstrate what he meant when Jesus declared himself to be the Son of God, and what that means for us in our lives today. Please feel free to join us, as always you are more than welcome!
Blessings,
Caleb
Tuesday 6 October 2015
Changes at Crossroads
Hi all! These last few weeks at Crossroads have been both emotional and eventful, and we thought it would be good to let you know what is going on for us now and what we have in store in the future.
For those who haven't already heard, this month we said goodbye to the Becker family as their time at Crossroads came to an end. After spending years here in south Dublin sharing Christ's love and founding the ministry and the church, God has called them back to the States to take up a new role in a church in Pennsylvania. We held a going-away celebration for them at the Centre a few weeks ago and it was a really encouraging day as many people came to say their goodbyes, and it was a real testament to their influence in lives here over the years as there must have been well over a hundred people in throughout the day. Their departure though does not mean that they will no longer be involved in the ministry however, as Scott and Rebekah plan to continue working with us on a consultancy basis, and we hope to see them over to help out with camps and other special functions from time to time. Please continue to pray for them as they get settled into their new role in the States!
Many people have been asking what will happen to the future of Crossroads now that the Beckers have gone. What we can say to this is that although there is a bit of uncertainty during this time of transition, the plan for the future of Crossroads is for us to continue building on the work already started and our prayer is that we will see the ministry grow more and more in the coming months and years. God has been so good in bringing people to step into the leadership roles left vacant, and this is part of what we would like to tell you about. But perhaps the most important thing we can say to reassure everyone is to let you know that the ethos and vision of the church and ministry will remain the same and will continue to serve as the foundation for all that we do in the future. This is an excerpt from our church website to remind you of what the basis of our vision is:
Who Are We
We are a group of people committed to following Jesus Christ. We desire to live our lives as a reflection of His love. We study the Bible as the fully inspired Word of God, and desire to apply it to our everyday lives. We desire to know God and to make Him known. Our focus is to motivate one another to love God and love people in the way that we are loved by God.
Our Purpose
The purpose of Crossroads Church is to worship God, reach those without Christ, and strengthen lives, in Christ, across generations.
Our Motto
Meeting people at the crossroads of life and motivating them to be who God wants them to be.
Our Mission
Crossroads Church moves people toward Christ, serves others through Christ and lives life in Christ.
WHO IS TAKING OVER?
God has been gracious enough to bring a strong team of people to help lead Crossroads into this next stage. As there are a lot of things that go on at the Centre and in the community, as many are already aware, we are fortunate to have a diverse team to hopefully accommodate the diversity of the ministries here.
Caleb and Karen Parrow have been involved at Crossroads since May 2015, and have stepped into leadership roles since the Beckers left. Caleb will be serving as the pastor of Crossroads church and overseeing the leadership and vision of Crossroads ministries. He also hopes to be organising activities and Bible studies for other men in the future. Caleb's wife, Karen has a real heart for families and will be leading a lot of the mother and toddler mornings as well as other events for women and children. Both Caleb and Karen have a lot of experience in addiction treatment and hope to look for ways to do outreach in the community in this area as well.
Caoimhe Twist has been involved with Crossroads for the last 4 years and has actually been in a leadership role here for a while. Many people in the community will already know Caoimhe from all the work she has done in kids camps over the years and as she has formed a lot of relationships with people in the community during that time as well. She will be leading most of the kids and youth camps from now on as well as leading in the community outreach ministry.
The last (but certainly not least!) member of the leadership team is Michelle Loveley, who will be managing the cafe and the running of a lot of the activities at the centre. It is Michelle's goal to make sure every time you come into the centre you are given a warm and friendly welcome, which you are always sure to find! You will most likely see one or some of us around the centre quite a lot and we are all more than happy to have you, so feel free to call in or contact us whenever you like, whether it's to visit us for church, to try out a mums and tots morning, if you would like us to pray for you, or even if you just want a chat over a coffee and make some new friends, you will always find a warm welcome.
On top of the leadership team there is also a number of helpers and volunteers that will be doing so much around the centre, everything from serving, setting rooms up, cleaning and tidying up, doing administration and bookkeeping, and so many other things, for which we are really grateful and the Centre couldn't run without them. There really is a great atmosphere around the place all the time and we want to make sure everyone feels as involved as they would like to be.
WHAT EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES WILL BE GOING ON?
Basically, we would like to keep doing most of the same activities as you may have been used to already. The church services on Sunday will be continuing, they begin at 11 AM but the doors are open from 10:30. There is also a prayer time on Thursdays at 6 PM, which you are always welcome to come to. There will also be the usual weekday events as well, including toddler mornings on Wednesday from 9:30-11:15 AM and kids free play on Tuesday mornings. We also will be continuing on with the monthly clothes swaps, so on the first Thursday and Friday of each month you are welcome to bring whatever used clothes (adult or children) as well as old books, toys, high chairs (that sort of thing!) you want to pass on to someone else, and you can have a look around and take anything you need or want as well. These are always really fun days and usually really busy so please feel free to pop in sometime! There will also be kids camps and clubs throughout the year, seasonal events around Christmas and Easter times, and we hope to start up the international meals again soon as well. We have a couple of rooms in the centre that we will be able to rent out as well for very reasonable prices for teachings, trainings, counselling, language/music lessons so if you are interested in possibly renting out of the rooms give us a call and we can meet up to discuss this with you. On top of all this we are praying and planning to start new activities and events so stay in touch with us to see what more will be going on in the future.
The best way to stay up to date with what is going on at Crossroads is by word of mouth, so feel free to come by and talk with us and others around the centre, or to send us a text, drop us an email, or give us a call. Another good way to stay informed (at least for all you social media fans out there!) is to like and follow our Facebook and Twitter pages, and to watch this blog space as well. We intend to keep everyone informed on these pages as much as we can, so go ahead and like and follow us online!
HOW CAN I BE INVOLVED IN THE MINISTRY, AND HOW CAN I HELP AND SUPPORT CROSSROADS?
If you are in the area, as we have already said, you are more than welcome to come along and we would love to stay connected with you, through the church if you are looking for a local fellowship to join and connect with (or even just to visit), through dropping in to make friends and have a chat with people in a warm and friendly environment, or through helping and volunteering at the centre, we always want to welcome you and whatever help and support you want to bring. The most important thing we want to see here is people connecting with and getting to know God through Jesus Christ, and likewise connecting with other people as well. Again, feel free to contact any of us on the leadership team to ask us more.
In order for Crossroads to continue running, of course there are a lot of expenses involved. We are always working really hard to cover these expenses and God has provided for us miraculously over the years and continues to do so all the time, but if you are interested in helping us by supporting us financially this would be greatly appreciated! If this is something you feel led to do than please contact us and let us know.
Lastly, and especially for those who want to be involved with Crossroads who may not be in the area, we believe strongly in the power of prayer, and we believe that without God's help the ministry would not be what it is. So please pray with and for us, wherever you are, that God's work and will would be done in and through us, that people would experience the fullness of Christ's love when they are here, and that the life-changing gospel of God's Word and the freedom-giving power of his Spirit would be at work in our city for as long as he has us here.
Here are some of our contact details:
Phone number: 087-364-9326
Church email address: crossroadschurchdublin@gmail.com
Facebook page: The name of the page is just "Crossroads Church Dublin" so you can look for us there.
Twitter: @CrossrChurch
Church website: http://www.crossroadschurchdublin.com/ (parts of this website may need to be updated a bit, please be patient with us while we work on this!)
We hope this makes things a bit clearer about what is going on at Crossroads now and what it will look like going forward. Ultimately we want this to be a place where people can experience God's love for them through us, and even come to know him for themselves. I just want to share a section from the Bible that I think really sums up what we here at Crossroads want to introduce people to, from the book of Ephesians chapter 3 verses 16-19:
"...that according to the riches of his glory he (God) may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."
The best way to stay up to date with what is going on at Crossroads is by word of mouth, so feel free to come by and talk with us and others around the centre, or to send us a text, drop us an email, or give us a call. Another good way to stay informed (at least for all you social media fans out there!) is to like and follow our Facebook and Twitter pages, and to watch this blog space as well. We intend to keep everyone informed on these pages as much as we can, so go ahead and like and follow us online!
HOW CAN I BE INVOLVED IN THE MINISTRY, AND HOW CAN I HELP AND SUPPORT CROSSROADS?
If you are in the area, as we have already said, you are more than welcome to come along and we would love to stay connected with you, through the church if you are looking for a local fellowship to join and connect with (or even just to visit), through dropping in to make friends and have a chat with people in a warm and friendly environment, or through helping and volunteering at the centre, we always want to welcome you and whatever help and support you want to bring. The most important thing we want to see here is people connecting with and getting to know God through Jesus Christ, and likewise connecting with other people as well. Again, feel free to contact any of us on the leadership team to ask us more.
In order for Crossroads to continue running, of course there are a lot of expenses involved. We are always working really hard to cover these expenses and God has provided for us miraculously over the years and continues to do so all the time, but if you are interested in helping us by supporting us financially this would be greatly appreciated! If this is something you feel led to do than please contact us and let us know.
Lastly, and especially for those who want to be involved with Crossroads who may not be in the area, we believe strongly in the power of prayer, and we believe that without God's help the ministry would not be what it is. So please pray with and for us, wherever you are, that God's work and will would be done in and through us, that people would experience the fullness of Christ's love when they are here, and that the life-changing gospel of God's Word and the freedom-giving power of his Spirit would be at work in our city for as long as he has us here.
Here are some of our contact details:
Phone number: 087-364-9326
Church email address: crossroadschurchdublin@gmail.com
Facebook page: The name of the page is just "Crossroads Church Dublin" so you can look for us there.
Twitter: @CrossrChurch
Church website: http://www.crossroadschurchdublin.com/ (parts of this website may need to be updated a bit, please be patient with us while we work on this!)
We hope this makes things a bit clearer about what is going on at Crossroads now and what it will look like going forward. Ultimately we want this to be a place where people can experience God's love for them through us, and even come to know him for themselves. I just want to share a section from the Bible that I think really sums up what we here at Crossroads want to introduce people to, from the book of Ephesians chapter 3 verses 16-19:
Blessings from all us here at Crossroads ministries!
Monday 13 July 2015
Music is on Offer at Crossroads on Tuesday and Wednesday!
TUESDAY:Music class for children (1 - 4 years old) every Tuesday at 10 a.m.
Promotion price in July: 5 euro.
Fee from August: 7 euro.
Held in the Crossroads Centre, Unit 1 a Earlscourt Ind. Estate Beaumont Avenue, Churchtown Business Park D 14
WEDNESDAY:
Guitar group lesson for Children at 6p.m and Violin Group lesson at 6:45 every Wednesday.
Cost: 12 Euro per lesson.
Held in the Crossroads Centre, Unit 1 a Earlscourt Ind. Estate Beaumont Avenue, Churchtown Business Park D 14.
Guitar group lesson for Children at 6p.m and Violin Group lesson at 6:45 every Wednesday.
Cost: 12 Euro per lesson.
Held in the Crossroads Centre, Unit 1 a Earlscourt Ind. Estate Beaumont Avenue, Churchtown Business Park D 14.
Tuesday 7 July 2015
Guitar and Violin Group Lessons
Guitar and Violin group lessons available with Beata. Free taster classes on Wed. 8 July at 6.30 for guitar and 7.15 for violin and Tues. at 11.15. Must book in advance ring Beata at 0877874993. Cost 12 euro for group lessons thereafter.
Thursday 21 May 2015
SPIDERS AND GIANTS
A scream shot out of my 6 year old son's bedroom shortly after he got into his bed for the night! My legs couldn't be fast enough. I moved at lightning speed to find out what sort of horrible thing was happening to my youngest son.
Had he fallen from his bed and broken a bone? No, it couldn't be that. I would have heard a thump. Had he been stung my some bee or wasp or something? No, it couldn't be that either, we were still in the middle of winter.
As I quickly stopped next to his bed, I immediately asked, 'what's wrong?!?' To which he did not answer, but rather whimpered and rushed over to find safety against me. I was relieved that he had not been hurt in any way, but was still baffled as to what could have caused him such panic.
Again I repeat the question, 'Josh, what is the matter?' His big eyes stared up above his bed to something that looked like a tiny smudge on the wall and his little arm reached out to point at the thing.
'What is it Joshua?' I asked.
'A sp-p-pider' he shakily replied.
Relief washed over me as I realized that it was just a little wisp of a spider. All of this exaggerated fear and extreme behavior was over a little wispy spider! But instead of chastising him for the unnecessary fear I gently spoke to him and said, 'Joshua, daddy's here now. You did the right thing to call me when you were afraid. Let's take care of this together.'
(To any animal right's activists, or 'catch and release' proponents, you may want to skip over this next part) I switched on the light and showed Joshua that it was only a very wispy non-threatening spider that could never hurt him. Next we took a book and together squished it and cleaned the spot from the wall.
We then checked together to be sure that there were no other threats, of the arachnid type, nearby. When Joshua was satisfied that the issue had been resolved, he reached up and gave me a big hug around the neck and said, 'Thank you Daddy. I love you. Good night.' And he laid down and fell asleep in the same short amount of time that it took to resolve the problem of the little wispy spider.
This account of my sons bedtime drama reminds me of how, so many times I blow things out of proportion. I see problems and issues so often as so much bigger than I should. I can even find myself paralyzed by fear over something because I am not looking at it from the correct perspective.
It reminds me of an account in the Bible found in 1 Samuel 17, where the army of Israel did the same thing. In fact, Saul, the king of all Israel, known for his height, ('a head taller than any of the others' - 1 Sam. 9:2) was also fearful and intimidated by one man, Goliath.
Today his name has been used as a metaphor for big things, people, problems, and so on. In the eyes of the army of Israel and in the eyes of King Saul he was a big problem! And from a human perspective, rightly so. This man was literally a giant, probably reaching nearly 9 feet tall! He was not just a 'bean pole' either. His height was matched by his strength. We know this from the account in 1 Samuel 17. The weight of his armor and his weapons were very heavy to be able to lift, much less to be able to use them in battle! Clearly in human terms, this giant was intimidating! He was the secret weapon of the Philistines, their mighty champion, tested and undefeated in battle.
Because of the fact that the armies of Israel and King Saul himself saw this champion through human eyes and heard his harsh, intimidating and threatening words repeated day after day, for 40 days, they 'were dismayed and terrified' (17:11). In fact when he came out to make his daily intimidating speech, the armies of Israel 'all ran from him in great fear.'
It was a bit like Joshua screaming out from his bedroom and jumping to the other side of the bed away from the 'terrifying spider'! They saw Goliath as something they could not deal with. And in fact, in their own strength they could not.
But the one young man, David, saw this giant as he really was, through the eyes of God. He saw that
the man Goliath was no match for the living God, whom he saw as the Champion of Israel. So the young shepherd, David, said to the King of Israel, 'The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.'
David had the right perspective. God was the champion, and not him. He was the willing servant that God would use to fight this battle. His bravery came from the knowledge that the LIVING GOD of Israel would deliver him in this dangerous, life threatening battle. He knew to whom he should run. He knew not to run away from the enemy, but to run to God. Then, with God, he would defeat the enemy.
In the same way that my son ran to me to defeat the enemy, so did David look to God. Joshua, my son, saw the spider through the wrong eyes, until he saw the enemy through the perspective of his daddy. Then together with Dad's guiding hand, he was able to defeat the nasty, wispy spider. Then the beautiful thing of thanking me came next, followed by peace that allowed for rest after the battle.
This is the way we need to see issues in life. God is bigger than anything. He is more powerful than anything. When we run to Him and hang onto His mighty hand we can face the challenges and even the dangers of our lives. He is there for us if we just call out to him for our Salvation! If we put our trust in Jesus for our Salvation, and believe that He died for our sins and rose again from the dead, defeating both sin and death, the power of the resurrection is within us through His Holy Spirit. We can face issues head on because of Him and His power and not our own. He is MIGHTY TO SAVE!
Join us at the Crossroads Centre this Sunday and hear more about this powerful account and God's power to save. Hope to see you there.
--Scott Becker
Had he fallen from his bed and broken a bone? No, it couldn't be that. I would have heard a thump. Had he been stung my some bee or wasp or something? No, it couldn't be that either, we were still in the middle of winter.
As I quickly stopped next to his bed, I immediately asked, 'what's wrong?!?' To which he did not answer, but rather whimpered and rushed over to find safety against me. I was relieved that he had not been hurt in any way, but was still baffled as to what could have caused him such panic.
Again I repeat the question, 'Josh, what is the matter?' His big eyes stared up above his bed to something that looked like a tiny smudge on the wall and his little arm reached out to point at the thing.
'What is it Joshua?' I asked.
'A sp-p-pider' he shakily replied.
(To any animal right's activists, or 'catch and release' proponents, you may want to skip over this next part) I switched on the light and showed Joshua that it was only a very wispy non-threatening spider that could never hurt him. Next we took a book and together squished it and cleaned the spot from the wall.
We then checked together to be sure that there were no other threats, of the arachnid type, nearby. When Joshua was satisfied that the issue had been resolved, he reached up and gave me a big hug around the neck and said, 'Thank you Daddy. I love you. Good night.' And he laid down and fell asleep in the same short amount of time that it took to resolve the problem of the little wispy spider.
This account of my sons bedtime drama reminds me of how, so many times I blow things out of proportion. I see problems and issues so often as so much bigger than I should. I can even find myself paralyzed by fear over something because I am not looking at it from the correct perspective.
It reminds me of an account in the Bible found in 1 Samuel 17, where the army of Israel did the same thing. In fact, Saul, the king of all Israel, known for his height, ('a head taller than any of the others' - 1 Sam. 9:2) was also fearful and intimidated by one man, Goliath.
Today his name has been used as a metaphor for big things, people, problems, and so on. In the eyes of the army of Israel and in the eyes of King Saul he was a big problem! And from a human perspective, rightly so. This man was literally a giant, probably reaching nearly 9 feet tall! He was not just a 'bean pole' either. His height was matched by his strength. We know this from the account in 1 Samuel 17. The weight of his armor and his weapons were very heavy to be able to lift, much less to be able to use them in battle! Clearly in human terms, this giant was intimidating! He was the secret weapon of the Philistines, their mighty champion, tested and undefeated in battle.
Because of the fact that the armies of Israel and King Saul himself saw this champion through human eyes and heard his harsh, intimidating and threatening words repeated day after day, for 40 days, they 'were dismayed and terrified' (17:11). In fact when he came out to make his daily intimidating speech, the armies of Israel 'all ran from him in great fear.'
It was a bit like Joshua screaming out from his bedroom and jumping to the other side of the bed away from the 'terrifying spider'! They saw Goliath as something they could not deal with. And in fact, in their own strength they could not.
But the one young man, David, saw this giant as he really was, through the eyes of God. He saw thatthe man Goliath was no match for the living God, whom he saw as the Champion of Israel. So the young shepherd, David, said to the King of Israel, 'The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.'
David had the right perspective. God was the champion, and not him. He was the willing servant that God would use to fight this battle. His bravery came from the knowledge that the LIVING GOD of Israel would deliver him in this dangerous, life threatening battle. He knew to whom he should run. He knew not to run away from the enemy, but to run to God. Then, with God, he would defeat the enemy.
In the same way that my son ran to me to defeat the enemy, so did David look to God. Joshua, my son, saw the spider through the wrong eyes, until he saw the enemy through the perspective of his daddy. Then together with Dad's guiding hand, he was able to defeat the nasty, wispy spider. Then the beautiful thing of thanking me came next, followed by peace that allowed for rest after the battle.
This is the way we need to see issues in life. God is bigger than anything. He is more powerful than anything. When we run to Him and hang onto His mighty hand we can face the challenges and even the dangers of our lives. He is there for us if we just call out to him for our Salvation! If we put our trust in Jesus for our Salvation, and believe that He died for our sins and rose again from the dead, defeating both sin and death, the power of the resurrection is within us through His Holy Spirit. We can face issues head on because of Him and His power and not our own. He is MIGHTY TO SAVE!
Join us at the Crossroads Centre this Sunday and hear more about this powerful account and God's power to save. Hope to see you there.
--Scott Becker
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)