volume 3, issue 3 march 2009 finding god’s way to the ... · youth group articles-insert ... to...
TRANSCRIPT
to Crossroad. My rela-
tionship with God started
to grow as I listened to
Pastor Rick’s sermons. I
continued to struggle
with letting go of “my
way” but God patiently
waited for me. Each time
I walked away and came
back to God, I did that
because I did not know
who I really was in
Christ…so it never lasted.
Finally, I surrendered to
the Lord and have found
my identity in Him.
It is wonderful to be
known as “Pastor Ron
and Mary Ann’s daugh-
ter”, going to the same
church and seeing how
God uses them. I love
being known as “Eli’s
wife” and having two
great kids who call me
“Mama”, but I realize now
that my identity can only
be found in Jesus Christ.
The Lord even blessed me
with one of the greatest
gifts a mother could ever
have by allowing me to
lead Micah and Ellie to
Christ. Do I believe I will
never have struggles
again? No, but now I
know I can trust in God’s
word. I don’t need to lean
on my own understand-
ing. I can simply find
rest believing in Him.
II Corinthians 5:17a says
“Therefore if anyone is in
Simpson’s Scorecard
by Craig Simpson 2
Children’s Ministry
by Gail Betts 2
And The Beat Goes On
by Ken Harper 2
Marvin’s Corner
Small Groups
Servant of the Month
By Pastor Marv
3
3
Stop, Look, and Listen
Live the Life 4
State of the Church—Insert
by Jack Riddle
Youth Group articles-Insert
by Andrew Betts
by Sarah Vanaman
On the Road
with Pastor Ron 3
Roadmap
Coming Events
Youth Group—Mondays 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday Night Services 7 p.m.
• Children—Pioneer Club
• Breaking Free
• Discipleship
• Bible Study
• Financial Freedom
March 29—Celebration Service at 6 p.m.
April 10—Good Friday Service at 7 p.m.
April 11 & 12—Easter Services
May 2 & 3—Anniversary Services with John Hobbs
May 9 & 10 Mother’s Day Services
Finding God’s Way to the Crossroad by Rhonda Gonzales
March 2009 Volume 3, Issue 3
Christ, he is a new
creation.” I am that
new creation. Ephe-
sians 1:4a tells me that
“just as He chose us in
Him before the founda-
tion of the world”, I can
know that He chose
me. II Corinthians
6:18 “I will be a Father
to you and you shall be
My sons and daugh-
ters, says the Lord Al-
mighty.”
God has brought me to
this “crossroad” in this
season of my life so
that I can know my
true identity — a new
creation chosen by God
to be His daughter.
While I have not fin-
ished learning about
my identity and the
plan He has for me, I
do believe that God has
me on the right path, a
path I plan to stay on
with the help of the
Holy Spirit and to en-
joy the journey while
walking in Him.
Rhonda & Eli
Micah, Ellie Gonzales
I was raised in a Christian
home and accepted the
Lord at an early age. Dur-
ing my junior and high
school years, my father
pastored a church. I was
known to everyone as
“Pastor Ron and Mary
Ann’s daughter.” Living
up to the expectations that
I “thought” were placed on
me seemed impossible, so
I rebelled and stopped
walking with the Lord but
He never let go of me. Af-
ter high school gradua-
tion, I made a decision to
attend Bible College be-
lieving that I would find
God again. It was easy to
make good decisions and
the right choices while in
a Bible College. However,
after graduating, I chose
to walk “my way” again
rather than walk the path
God had for me.
After Micah was born and
I met Eli, I began working
on my relationship with
God again. In 2001, I
married Eli and thought
life would be perfect, but I
was young and ignorant
and made poor choices as
his wife. I was struggling
to find my way but it was
my way, not God’s way. In
2002, our daughter Ellie
was born and my identity
struggles continued.
In late 2002, Eli, the chil-
dren, and I started going THE ISSUE IS ALWAYS
THE HEART . . . . . .
View Newsletter Mission
Statement
“ To Celebrate the people
and activities at Crossroad
Community Church”
View from the Youth by Craig Simpson Simpson’s Scorecard The playoffs for the volleyball season
begin on Thursday, March 26, at the
Atlanta Road Alliance Church. The
Crossroad team will probably go into
the playoffs as the #6 seed in the dou-
ble elimination championship tourna-
ment. Even though the Crossroad
volleyball team struggled during the
regular season, they do have the potential to go far in the
tournament. So let's not count them out.
Just a reminder that the Orioles-Phillies baseball trip is
planned for Friday, June 19. Seats are going fast so sign
up today (especially if you are an O's fan).
Here is more information on the upcoming softball season.
The games will be played at Brown's Branch Park east of
Harrington. The season will start at the end of May and
go to the beginning of August. Games start at 6:30. All
games are double-headers and will be played one night a
week, either Monday, Tuesday, or Thursday.
I want to encourage all those interested in playing softball
to sign up. We have lots of fun ands it’s a good way to get
to know people within the church. If you have questions
or concerns, you can talk to me at church or call me at
302-245-9992.
Page 2 View from the Crossroad
Editors of this issue: Charlie Moreland, Elaine Moreland, Sandy Brown, Gwen Hines, Louise King, Sue Stamat
Children’s Ministry by Gail Betts Paulette Pongratz and her team have the
Pioneer Clubs up and running on
Wednesday nights. Helping Paulette in
the third through fifth grade is her
daughter Melissa and Tammy Dukes.
Sharing duties for the first and second
grades are Tracey and Paul Ranalli and
Tonya Zitvogel, along with helper Dale Goodwin. Miss
Sharon (Jones) and Amy Schlabach are the teachers for the
younger children and they are always doing something
seasonal and fun! The teachers and helpers are as excited
as the children about our new programs. Be sure to thank
your child’s teacher for all their loving, hard work.
Coming on Saturday April 4th from 9:30 to 11:00 will be the
next Super Saturday. This will be Palm Sunday weekend
and the activities for the morning will be related to Palm
Sunday and Easter. Please dress your children appropri-
ately for some outside activities. Volunteers are welcome.
For more information, contact Miss Sharon at 875-5535.
Donations of plastic Easter eggs filled with wrapped can-
dies would be greatly appreciated. Please bring the eggs
by Saturday March 28th or Sunday March 29th.
As always, please keep the children’s teachers and helpers
in your prayers as they faithfully minister Christ to your
family.
And The Beat Goes On with Ken Harper As I write this month’s article, I am sitting in my home waiting for the water heater to be fixed. Tak-
ing a cold shower when the temperature outside is 32 degrees is not pretty. However, it has inspired
me to write about things you may not be aware of that happen each week to the praise team.
All through history musicians have always been on the front lines during wartime. Many times they
were the first ones killed in action. In the bible there was a trumpet player at the Battle of Jericho
who blew the trumpet just before the walls fell. The Calvary in the old west had a musician that
rode on a horse, playing the bugle to sound the charge alarm for all to hear. My favorite has always been the Revolutionary
War pictures of the piper, flag carrier, and drummer marching in the front. In this picture, you see the three marching in
determination as they have been shot, wounded, and bandaged. I always felt a kinship with the drummer because in my
earlier days as a drummer, I always thought some one might want to shoot me. I was either too loud or the drums were not
quite accepted as an approved instrument and quoting the Book of Psalms about clanging cymbals did not win me a lot of
brownie points.
Why am I mentioning these things? In a similar way, the praise team is on the front lines from week to week. Behind the
pretty smiles, lovely medley lines, and different arrangements in music, we are in a spiritual battle as we prepare hearts
for worship. For example, it is amazing how good you feel vocally throughout the week, but come an hour before you are to
minister in song, you are distracted by a sore throat, headache, or a sinus infection. How about equipment failure? Guitar
strings breaking, drumsticks cracking, new batteries in microphones suddenly dead, and the power shutting down are
some of the mishaps. My all time favorite distraction is feedback from the sound system that occurs when you sing the
name of Jesus, or when a particular line in the song is supposed to reach out to someone.
When singing a powerful song, it’s amazing how you can practice the song, get it right over and over, then during the per-
formance do what I do, forget the words and start making words up. While playing our instruments, we may play the
wrong chords or notes. There have been times on stage when half the band and vocals are in one key and the other side is
playing another key at the same time. Now I’m not saying that this is always an attack, sometimes we just blow it. What I
am saying is, we need your prayers of protection from week to week as we continue to minister through song. The enemy is
not excited about our ministry at CCC, and your prayers will place a hedge of protection around us. I’ll let you in on one
more secret before I close. The Holy Spirit has never let us down. The Lord has used us each and every time, no matter
how good or bad we may think it turned out. As the beat goes on, His grace is sufficient.
Servant of the Month By Pastor Marv
Prayer Opportunities
N
E W
S
Volume 3, Issue 3 Page 3
Marvin’s Corner By Pastor Marv
“We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties” Oswald Chambers
† † † † Carol Gardner † † † † Julianna Hodgson † † † † Jackie Betts
† † † † Carolyn Craig † † † † Fred Aschmeyer † † † † Jeremy Wink
† † † † Jonathan Magee † † † † Marie Melvin † † † † Holly Wallace
Pray for our Missionaries:
† † † † Lee & Carol Short
† † † † Matt & Angela Atlas
† † † † John & Coleen Schleh
† † † † Jason and Heather Dexter
Prayer Chain Jackie Betts 684-4575
Wendy Daudt 629-8260
Prayer Chain Email: [email protected]
Presentation Kay Dukes 684-1210
Serving Our Savior
(S.O.S.) Frank Bolles 349-5112
Small Groups Marvin Jones 875-5535
Ushers Jim White 542.5670
View Charlie Moreland 349-5197
View Email: [email protected]
Visitation Ellen Bollinger 337-8303
WEB Master Amy Schlabach 349-5176
Women’s Lauren Vanaman 856-7591
Youth Andrew Betts 856-3811
To assist with any of
these ministries con-
tact the leader listed
for more details.
Providing Direction in Ministries: Senior Pastor Rick Betts 856-3811
Assoc Pastor Marvin Jones 875-5535
Visitation Pastor Ron Wyatt 875-4184
Admin. Denise Harper 684-2856
Altar Marvin Jones 875-5535
Children’s Gail Betts 856-3811
Sharon Jones 875-5535
Cleaning Louise King 422-3582
Staci Marvel 422-3796
Men’s Bob Young 856-3235
Nursery Amy Schlabach 349-5176
Praise Team Ken Harper 684-2856
A CCC small group ministry is a great way to
get to know people and gain a strong support
system. There are many small groups that
focus on various interests and meet at differ-
ent times throughout the month. Consider
joining or starting a small group today. For
more details, call me at (302) 875-5535.
Our "College & Careers" small group for ages 18 to 26
meets at the home of Dan and Diane Twisselmann. Their
daughter, Jenna Twisselmann, and Danny Tribbits are the
facilitators. The group has been focusing primarily on lead-
ership skills and are using the "Purpose Driven Life" by
Pastor Rick Warren as one of their study sources.
The group is made up of young adults that will start meet-
ing on a weekly basis with more emphasis being placed on
Christian fellowship through activities such as bowling.
They also plan to begin a one-year devotional. In addition,
they will be giving support and encouragement while hold-
ing each other accountable. To become a part of this small
group, please call Danny at 381-4844 or Jenna at 841-4754.
On the Road with Pastor Ron
Bob Young has been meeting with Social Services on be-
half of one of our church members. He has spent a lot of
time thinking through the needs of this person and consid-
erable time in meetings. It is easy to see why Bob has
been appointed Chaplain in the Civil Air Patrol, but he
does not give of his time and energy because he
is Chaplain, he is Chaplain because he readily gives of his
time and energy to such matters in service to our Lord.
At the last meeting, the case worker stated she could not
believe that Bob was doing this gratis and on behalf of
CCC. Bob assured the social worker that helping people in
our community, whether or not they are a part of our con-
gregation, was not unusual at all. In her years as social
worker, she stated that she has never known
any church to take such active interest in or
show such concern for the welfare of one of
her cases. She couldn't say enough good
about our assistance in such matters and
assured Bob that if anyone asked her about
CCC she would confer a good report. After
all, the issue is always the heart.
As your visitation pastor, I really am
privileged to visit with people who are
standing in need of prayer. So many of
them are sick or have been in a serious
auto accident or something of that na-
ture, and I get the honor of praying for
them. I have seen people recover and
live normal lives again. Praise the Lord!
Recently I was asked to visit a man who was dying from
bone cancer. After a short visit, I asked him about his rela-
tionship with the Lord. His response was that he knew who
Jesus was but had never accepted his salvation. After shar-
ing the word of God with him, he accepted Christ as his per-
sonal savior. Praise the Lord! Can you see why I count it
such a privilege to be your visitation pastor? Glory to God
and peace on earth to all men!
20684 State Forest Road
Georgetown, De 19947
Phone: (302) 629-0111
www.crossroadcommunitychurch.net
heart and live for Him. That is
exactly what happened to me in
January 1972.
My dedication to Jesus was now
established, my love for Him was
increasing, and I was approach-
ing my first Easter with a new
heart and eyes to view Jesus.
Easter had changed.
This time I saw the suffering.
This time I felt the agony. This
time I heard the cries. It was no
longer Jesus dying for the world;
it was Jesus dying for me. I real-
ized so much in my life had
changed. The Bible was now a
living book. Hymns had changed
because the words meant so
much more to me now. Prayer
When I was a child, Easter
meant chocolate bunnies, col-
ored eggs, Easter baskets, new
church suits, Easter bonnets
and Easter egg hunts. It was
an enjoyable time for a kid and
I have fond memories of Easter
Sundays in my early years.
Now imagine me as a thirteen-
year-old who only prayed to
God, not to Father God or Je-
sus. I did not understand the
Father’s love or the Son’s sacri-
fice.
Suddenly I realize that Jesus is
Lord and I need to turn from
my sins, ask Jesus into my
was now relational, not reli-
gious.
I hope you have surrendered
your life to the Lord and have
begun to see how God has
changed your perspectives. If
not, why not make Him Lord
today.
His name is Jesus!
Saturday Night 7 p.m.
Sunday Morning 8:30 and 10:30 a.m.
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By Pastor Rick Betts
Jesus said to His disciples,
“ If anyone desires to come after Me,
let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow Me.”
Matthew 16:24
…journey with us on the Cross road! Worship †††† Fellowship †††† Witness
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When Easter Changed.