Weekly Update - November 20, 2023

This week’s team update is a guest post by Rev. Dr. David Smith, one of our dedicated Circuit Riders serving the Crossroads District.

How wonderful to be part of a team sport. Yes, Team Crossroads! God the Father is the owner. Jesus is the player-coach and calls all the plays against the “flaming arrows of the devil.” The most interesting part of the game is when He calls an audible which we never saw coming. But His wisdom and knowledge of the game takes us in a direction we never would have imagined. And thankfully, the Holy Spirit plays both ways; offense and defense. And never forget this, we have been recruited by Him to be on this team. Each one of us are Number 1 draft choices who He is training to think and react JUST LIKE HIM. May I humbly submit to you that His Gospel (aka, game plan) requires all of us to play. No one can stand on the sidelines or merely sit from the bench. Or even worse, to passively observe from the stands.

It is my true delight to team up with each of you in the Crossroads District; captain Mark Gorveatte, co-captain Chris Williams, all the other specialty players who contribute to the inbreaking Kingdom. Team Crossroads is baptizing our way forward this season. Each of you give of yourselves sacrificially on the practice field (aka., church office as you pray, prepare sermons, counsel, lead LBA meetings). But that is all in preparation for game day. As the stands fill with fans; both home and away; your words from the opening “call to worship” is to remind them that this game is played to an audience of “One.” Plus, there are no pew-sitters in this game. We must all continually prepare and prayerfully be ready when the Holy Spirit calls us into the game, to stand in active defiance of our only opponent; the evil one. Finally, we must protect fellow teammates with the gift of love and most profoundly to reflect the Imago Dei to the other team so they envision His mercy and holiness embodied in us. May this love and grace cause the other team to change their long held loyalty.

May I introduce you to a few of us who might be called substitute players of Team Crossroads. It is my delight to serve alongside Dr. Jim Lo, Rev. Mark Atkinson and Rev. Neftali Lopez. As you may know, we are called Circuit Riders. Our DS, Dr. Mark Gorveatte has given us a wonderfully generic job description which we can tweak based upon our individual giftings. Simply, we come alongside pastors and churches on Team Crossroads, providing encouragement, wisdom, and to “close any gap” that might be felt between your church and the District. Our overarching purpose is to serve the local church. Pastors and lay leaders, if you will let us serve you, Rev. Atkinson, Dr. Lo, Rev. Lopez and I will count it a huge privilege.

One closing thought. May I offer one more opportunity to Team Crossroads. Over the last 10 years I have been putting together material and corresponding training to teach laity in the local church how to Read-Interpret-Apply the Word in Bible study groups. It is also in these groups that we hold one another accountable in Wesley-style class meetings or Bands. Our goal should not be merely to teach people the contents of the Word, but to create a culture of radical transformation where the Word becomes authoritative and the Spirit Himself is the true shaper of our hearts and minds. If your church is interested in the material, please see www.TrueNorthBibleStudy.com. It’s all free. This website contains a full version of an online Kingswood University class with extensive videos. Finally, a recent addition to the website is the Spanish translation of the True^North workbook.

In Jesus’ joy,
Rev. Dave Smith

Ps. Below you will find the “Box score” for all the games being played this past weekend in local churches. And may I say…this is not a game but real life. Eternal life actually.

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It's wonderful to celebrate lives being #MadeNew throughout the Crossroads District! Pastor Jacob Gibson and the team at LifeSpring Church in Richmond celebrated 24 baptisms throughout both campuses this weekend!
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​Pastor Scott McDermid and the team at Six Points Church in Sheridan celebrated 2 more baptism this Sunday! God is on the move at Six Points Church with nearly 30 baptisms this year!

Congratulations to Pastor Josh and Megan Lavender on the happy occasion of their wedding this past weekend! Josh serves on staff as worship pastor at Trinity Church in Indianapolis.
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Registration is now open for the 2024 Heartland Gathering, April 2-5, 2024, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee! The DBA has approved one $300 scholarship for each district church, designated to cover a significant portion of the registration cost for one pastoral family per church. Details regarding the scholarship were sent to lead and solo pastors. If you are a lead or solo pastor and did not receive that email, please reach out to us at [email protected]. For more information and registration, visit gathering.heartlandregion.org. REMINDER: Early bird rate ends next Monday, November 27!
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Please place the Follow Conference on your church’s prayer calendar. We’re believing God for a powerful move among our next generation students and their leaders. You will want to attend and bring as many teenagers as possible for this life-changing experience!​
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