“The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to those who are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (Is. 61:1-3) These verses are special to me. It was through these verses that God spoke to me as a teenager in leading me into pastoral ministry. I like to go back to them from time to time to remind myself of what it is God has called me to do. It’s easy for any of us to get bogged down in the grind of administrative work and the “details”. Certainly, the details need to be taken care of, but the “main thing” needs to be the “main thing”. CrossBridge must be a church that would fit the description of these verses. To purposefully pursue this, I want us to begin to search out some organization we can assist around the Thanksgiving holiday season. If you know of an organization our church could be a help to, please let me know. Let’s actively reach out to heal someone with a broken heart!

Youth Bible Study: Tonight we are having “Cereal Night”! Oh yeah! Everyone bring your fav cereal, & we will have the milk, bowls and spoons! With cereal and some time in the Word it promises to be a great evening! 7-8 pm at the church!

Mom and dad, if your teen ever needs a ride on Wednesday nights, please let us know. We will work with you to provide transportation. Thanks!

This Sunday: October 4 – Chris May family baby shower at 2:00 pm. If you want to help with the food or need gift information, contact Michelle Padilla.

Sunday Evening Bible Study: This past Sunday evening we began John Piper’s Bible study, “Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ”. We had a good group with great discussion. We will not be meeting this Sunday evening (10/4), but will pick back up the following Sunday (10/11). Follow this link to download the participant guide. Print out pages 13-28 for the next lesson.

Wow! Is it just me or does everyone you meet seem to be down these days? So many are discouraged with their circumstances; so many struggling as they deal with the day to day that becomes mundane. Let’s be reminded of something. No, I have nothing new, just a reminder. Truthfully, sometimes I just have to laugh at the ideas and thoughts people have. Have you ever heard someone critical of contemporary worship songs stating “they are just so repetitive”? I have heard it and just have to laugh! We need repetitive! So much discouragement and distractions! How do we counter it? I like how the Psalmist handled it, and notice his repetitiveness in these verses: “7 Lift up your heads, O you gates! And be lifted up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. 8 Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, The Lord mighty in battle. 9 Lift up your heads, O you gates! Lift up, you everlasting doors! And the King of glory shall come in. 10 Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah” (Ps. 24: 7-10)

Are you discourage? Do you feel a bit worn down? Take this prescription from Dr. Psalms! And stop trippin’ on that lower lip; lift up your head!

Youth Bible Study: We had a great time of Bible study as we discussed the second coming of Christ. Next week we are having “Cereal Night”! Oh yeah!

Mom and dad, if your teen ever needs a ride on Wednesday nights, please let us know. We will work with you to provide transportation.Thanks!

Sunday evening: This Sunday evening we begin John Piper’s Bible study, “Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ”. Follow this link to download the participant guide. Print out pages 11 & 12 for this Sunday evening’s study.

Luke 19:5 “And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, "Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” Most of us know this story from a song we sang as children in church, but it still speaks to us today! This is a story of God noticing the unnoticeable. At this point in the ministry of Jesus, He has a great following. This is clear as old Zacchaeus climbs up a tree just to lay his eyes on this great Rabbi who made lame beggars walk and opened eyes blind from birth. Did you notice…the crowd didn’t notice Zacchaeus? No one gave him a moments notice, but the Savior of the world stopped everything. That’s right, the raucous crowd, the teaching, everything came to a screeching halt, like hitting the pause button on your IPod. Jesus takes notice of one whom no one else would give the time of day for. And we know the rest of the story, not only did Jesus take enough notice to spend time in the home of such a despised and disliked individual, He took such notice of Zacchaeus that He later walked the Via Dolorosa for him…and for you and me!

The crowds are around us in this world, and too often the individuals who make up the crowds go unnoticed. If noticed at all it is with frustration that they get in our way or live in a way that causes us to dislike them. But notice them. Take time to lean of them. And point them to the one who always takes notice of the unnoticeable.

Youth Bible Study: Last night we met at the new church location for our Bible Study! We had a good group and some really good cake!!! Had some good discussion about growing our youth ministry outreach, and a great time in the Word!

Mom and dad, if your teen ever needs a ride on Wednesday nights, please let us know. We will work with you to provide transportation.Thanks!

Location Change: This past Sunday was our very first in the new location, and it looked great! And the music was just awesome!!! As we discussed, so many hands were involved these past 4-5 weeks in preparing the space, and we want to thank everyone for your participation and prayers. We still have some things we want to consider in regard to decorations, furniture, etc., but it is fully functional. One particular thing we will need to work out is cleaning the facility weekly. This Sunday we will have a calendar and ask folks to volunteer to take a week out of the month to clean. Please be willing to help us with this!

Music: Do you sing or play an instrument? We want you to serve the Lord with your talent at CrossBridge. Please contact Chris May so he can incorporate you in the worship services. Click here to email Chris. Thank you! Also, be sure to thank Chris and his family for the hours and dedication he is giving to help our church. How privileged we are to have such wonderful music each Sunday.

This Sunday Evening: Church – wide movie night! 6:00 pm