Tis the Season...for Disappointment

Have you ever stopped to consider the journey of the Magi from a slightly different perspective? Do you ever think about the disappointment these men must have experienced. Think of the
hundreds if not thousands of miles they traveled by camel only to discover that the star had come to rest over a stable. They had followed a star and found a stable. Wouldn't they expect a palace or perhaps a stately mansion. Can you imagine their vast disappointment as they look down from a Judean hillside only to realize that their destination was a stable.

What disappoints you most often during the Christmas season? Why do you think it affects you the way it does? Would asking the right questions, being persistent and remembering the reason for the season help with your dissappointment?

'Tis the Season...for Stress

The humorous story is told of the young lad who in singing the classic Christmas song Silent Night, insisted on ending the chorus with "sleep in heavenly beans." His sister, tired or hearing him goof up the song, elbowed him one day and said, "It's heavenly peas not heavenly beans, silly!" The way many of us feel by the time Christmas arrives, the song might just as well end with beans or peas instead of peace which is the promise of the season. The reality is that in the frantic rush to get everything done the peace and reason for the season often eludes us.

What causes you the greatest stress during the holiday season? Is it the hectic schedule, the gift-giving or maybe the relation challenges? Perhaps we can dialogue as a community of faith about how to make the holiday season one that focuses on "the most important thing!"

Identity Theft

Identity Theft

In recent weeks our Lead Pastor, David Wahlstedt, has experienced the cruel reality that part of or modern culture includes others covertly obtaining our most personal information and then committing acts of purchases, possibly all around the world, in our name.

This past Sunday we learned that Jesus actually encourages others to take His name and commit calculated acts of kindness and love in His name. Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth... if anyone offers you a cold cup of water in my name... they will not loose their reward." Pastor David on Sunday challenged us to imagine the following thought, "What would be the impact on Dallas if CrossPointe's partners constantly committed acts of good deeds in the name of Jesus?" The truth is Jesus actually paid an enormous price so that we might commit kind and loving acts around the world in His name - and we don't even have to worry about being arrested, because we cannot steal what has freely, yet costly, been given to us. When was the last time you committed an act of loving kindness in the name of Jesus? What are those things that hold us back from doing this often, or at all?

Conjunction Misfunction

Let's face it, we live in a society that suffers from acceleration syndrome--the compeling need to move faster, do more and do it in as little time as possible. We want things and we want them now. We have instant coffee, instant oatmeal and instant news at our fingertips. Why not have an instant God? A God that allows for our transformation to happen as quickly as everything else in our life. In what ways do we tend to short-circuit God's transformation process in our lives?

The J Factor

In 2005, over 400 million boxes of Jell-O were sold around the world! That's 400 million boxes of glutinous animal bone, skin and connective tissue with food coloring and sugar! No wonder the classic southern congealed salad (fruit cocktail suspended in gelatin) is as unappetizing as its name!

But lets face it. Not only do we eat lots of Jell-O, Jell-O is what we do! Put us in various situations and more often then not we conform to our surroundings. Why is it that we find ourselves "conforming to the world" so often in our lives? How can we better obey Paul's command to not be conformed to the world's system?

What Not to Wear

So you've decided that you know longer wish to Trade Spaces with God and that it is time to Trade Places with God. Now what? Author Steve Wyatt says you have a Fashion Emergency. I say its time for us to learn What Not to Wear. This past Sunday we looked deeply into Paul's admonition to the Ephesian christians about what the appropriate Christ-follower fashion statement is for the fall. As you contemplate the list of things we are to put off and put on in Ephesians 4:17-31, which fashion accessory is the most difficult to slip out of and slip into?

Trading Spaces or Trading Places

We discovered Sunday that spiritual transformation--defined as internal change outwardly manifested--begins when we allow God to wrap his strength around our areas of weakness.
The Prophet Isaiah taught us that this wrapping takes place when we wait upon the Lord. God's promise is that He will then act on our behalf. Is waiting a difficult thing for you to do? Do you struggle let God act on your behalf? How can we more effectively wait on the Lord?

Living Out Loud

In his last days on earth, Jesus told His followers that they were to love God with all of their heart, soul, mind and strength and to love their neighbor as He had loved them. At CrossPointe, we have summarized these thoughts—loving God with our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbor as Christ loved us—in the simple phrase, live out loud. I’m interested to hear what living out loud means to you. In simple, concrete terms, how do we as a community of faith, live out loud?

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