If you would like to send your offering through the mail, our mailing address is:

CrossPointe Community Church
P O Box 126
Chippewa Lake, OH 44215

CALL TO WORSHIP

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace He has poured out on us who belong to His dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.

God has now revealed to us His mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time He will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for He chose us in advance, and He makes everything work out according to His plan. God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.

Ephesians 1:3-14

SCRIPTURE

When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”
“Well,” they replied, “some say John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.”
Then He asked them, “But who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being. Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Matthew 16:13-18

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Matthew 16:24-26a

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2

SERMON

Three P’s for the Church

Randy K’Meyer

Once upon a time, there was a country church that had a small barn, and a horse named Methuselah, that the youth of the church would ride and care for. When the number of families with kids attending the church dwindled, the leaders sadly decided to sell the horse. One day the preacher got a call from someone interested in buying Methuselah. And the interested party naturally wanted to ride him. So the pastor explained, “Now you have to understand this is a church horse, so when you want Methuselah to go you yell, ‘Thank God!’ And when you want him to stop, you holler, ‘Hallelujah.’”
So this guy’s riding along and isn’t paying too much attention when he notices Ole Methuselah is about to saunter right off a cliff and so he quickly yells out, “Hallelujah! Hallelujah!” And like a finely tuned machine, Methuselah screeches to a stop right at the edge. Whereupon our grateful rider exclaims, “Thank God!”

That old country church is not the only church that declined over time.

One month ago, the online version of the newspaper The Guardian, ran a story titled Why US Churches are on the Decline, in which they stated:

Churches are closing at rapid numbers in the US, researchers say, as congregations dwindle across the country and a younger generation of Americans abandon Christianity altogether – even as faith continues to dominate American politics. As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year in the country – a figure that experts believe may have accelerated since the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation means some hard decisions for pastors, who have to decide when a dwindling congregation is no longer sustainable. But it has also created a boom market for those wanting to buy churches, with former houses of worship now finding new life. About 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019, the last year data is available, (but there is some good news) with about 3,000 new churches opening.” 1

No doubt some of this decline is because there are fewer Christians in America. This past Tuesday a Christianity Today article stated:

From the early 1990s to 2020, the number of American’s claiming to be Christians has fallen from 90% to 64%. This number is expected to drop to 35 percent by 2070.” 2

But I am here to say that it doesn’t have to!

Not if individual members of the churches still standing across America respond to and remain faithful to God’s call upon their lives to be sold out to their local church. Wait . . . did the preacher just say, “Sold out!?” Isn’t that what Romans 12:1 is implying? “And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you.”

This is one of the reasons I have been preaching a series of messages about believing in and loving the church with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. A month ago, I said, I believe in and love the church because the head of the church, even Jesus, our Lord, invites each and every church member to participate in the most vital aspect of His Church: Reaching people for Christ!

Followed by, I believe in and love the church of Jesus Christ because it was designed to be the primo place where people find community, fellowship, forgiveness, grace, and love.

Two weeks ago, I believe in and love the church of Jesus Christ because it is the only institution in society that provides perspective to convey dignity to all human beings.

And last Sunday, I believe in and love the church for it is the only institution on God’s good earth dealing with the ultimate issue for all humankind.

I hope and pray that as a result of my effort your belief in and love for the church
has increased more and more each week. And that this has not only had an impact on how you feel about the church but more importantly, how you participate in the life of this Church.

A few weeks ago, we noted how the early Christians felt about the Church: “All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” In other words, they were ‘devoted’ to all things church. The Amplified Bible renders says, “They were continually and faithfully devoting themselves.”

And what was the result? “And the Lord kept adding to their number daily those who were being saved.”

The more and more that God’s people exhibit commitment, devotion, and loyalty to God’s Church, the more effective that church is in fulfilling its calling. That’s why Paul begs us to “give our bodies to God for all He has done for us.” Sold out to Three P’s for the Church.

The first is the Church of Jesus benefits from our Participation.

First, our participation in worship.

There are some practical payoffs to attending a worship service. A Christianity Today article states,

Research has shown a reduced health risk for regular church attenders. 29% reduced risk of depression, 33% reduced risk of death, 33% reduced risk of adolescent illegal drug use, 84% reduced risk of suicide. Research suggests that those who neglect to attend worship miss something that is powerful, both for health and for much else as well. The data is clear: Going to church remains central to true human flourishing.” 3

Speaking of ‘human flourishing,’ five weeks ago, I said I believe in and love the church because it is the gym of the soul; a place where together we work out in order to become more and more like Christ Jesus, our Lord.

From our own document Marks of a Mature Christian, “I am a Christian. I have been adopted into Christ’s universal Church through faith in Christ. I will join with other Christians at CrossPointe Community Church to attend worship services to grow in grace and to honor Christ.”

Yes, attending worship services is beneficial for us, but make no mistake about it, Christian worship is primarily about honoring the One who gave His all for us so that we might be encouraged to give our all for Him! This is why Hebrews 10:25 says, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another (to attend worship) especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.”

The writer adds that last phrase to remind the reader that one of these days Jesus is going to come back. And as Paul says two chapters later in Romans, “each of us will give an account of himself to God” (14:12).

Not only participation in worship; but also, our participation in the mission and ministry of the church. I am so grateful for all of you who use your gifts, skills, and talents when and where you can to help this church be all that God has in mind for us to be as we Share God’s Grace with our Community!

The first of today’s three p’s is participation.

Second, the Church of Jesus benefits not only from our participation but also from our Provision.

And, of course, I am referring to our commitment to being a good steward of what the good Lord has blessed us with.

Most of us know the skinny on what the Bible says about this: God is not only the creator of everything, He is the owner. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it” (Psalm 24:1). That includes you and I, as well as everything we think we own.

And the Bible is clear everything we have is on loan to us while we are here; not only for us to enjoy, but also to share. The Bible calls followers of Jesus to give, as Paul says in II Corinthians, “You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. ‘For God loves a person who gives cheerfully’” (9:7).

And what is the key to giving cheerfully? Examining what the Bible says about giving a certain portion of your income, and in light of what your income is, making a decision about how much of the Lord’s money you are going to give to His church and then doing it.

Besides Paul, did Jesus have anything to say about this? In Matthew chapter 6, as part of His ethical teaching in the Sermon on the Mount,

Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. (20-21)

No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. (24)

Again from our Marks of a Mature Member, “I am a Christian. In order to honor Christ, I will make a prayerful, informed decision about the giving of a portion of my income to Christ’s Church.”

I thank God for those of you who have considered these words carefully and made a decision to give generously to the Church of Jesus known as CrossPointe.

And I challenge those of you who have not, to take heed of the counsel of the Bible and make a prayerful, informed decision so that we could flourish as a church because the church of Jesus benefits from our provision.

Your participation, your provision, and it goes without saying, the Church of Jesus benefits from our Prayers.

The Apostle Paul asks us to pray, not only for him, but also for the various churches he was instrumental in founding.

That great 19th-century pastor and author E. M. Bounds, who himself wrote 9 books on the subject of prayer, in one of them wrote:

Paul tried hard to arouse Christians to the imperative importance of the work of prayer. Intercessory prayer (prayer for others, including churches) occupied a high place in his estimate of prayer. It is no surprise, therefore, when we find him throwing himself upon the prayers of the churches to whom he wrote.” 4

For example, when Paul was Pastor of the Church in Corinth, he asked the church at Thessalonica to pray for the Corinthian congregation:

We ask you to pray for us. Pray that the Lord’s message will spread rapidly and be honored wherever it goes.

I Thessalonians 3:1

I cannot tell you how much it means for our mission and ministry for all of us to be praying for our church.

Again I quote from our Marks of a Mature Christian document, “I am a Christian. I will pray for our church’s leaders and our ministry.”

A good number of us just finished a study, When God’s People Pray, in which we were reminded of how God loves for His people to call upon His name, not only for our own needs but for the needs of His Church. And we witnessed first-hand the tremendous impact prayer had on the Brooklyn Tabernacle Church in NYC, going from a handful of people to thousands of people as their ministry began to flourish.

I am so happy to say that one practical result of that study was the implementation of a 10 am prayer group that as of now meets in the kid’s worship room. But I can’t wait until we have so many prayer warriors that we have to move it into this room!

I have already seen an answer to those prayers in my own life, and I have noted a renewed sense of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit during our worship service in just the last two weeks!

If you don’t already, will you commit yourself to pray for CrossPointe Community Church every day?

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice; the kind He will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

One day someone asked William Booth the founder of the Salvation Army the secret of the success of that ministry. He wrote:

I will tell you the secret; God has had all that there was of me. There have been men with greater brains than I, even with greater opportunities, but from the day I got the poor of London on my heart and caught a vision of what Jesus Christ could do with me and them, on that day I made up my mind that God should have all of William Booth there was. And if there is anything of God’s power in the Salvation Army, it is because God has had all the adoration of my heart, all the power of my will and all the influence of my life. 5

My friends, my hope and prayer is that God will have all there is of us! My hope and prayer is that because God is good all the time, we will continue to discover what it means to say that we love the Lord and the Lord’s Church with all our heart and soul and mind and strength.

For today we celebrate the fact that we are part of the church of Jesus, a church that has far-reaching impact all over the globe. And when we say to somebody that we are part of the church of Jesus Christ, we are identifying with the single most important entity on the face of God’s good earth!

There is no other entity on the face of the earth that exhibits such wonderful qualities as brotherly love, compassion, forgiveness, grace, humility, service, sympathy, and unity. These are the marks of a community that sets the church apart from and above all other communities. These are the marks of a community to which human beings like you and I will gladly pledge their commitment and loyalty, yea, even their lives to. These are the marks of a community to which others outside of this community will look in awe and wonder. These are the marks of a community that reflect the life of the One who gave His life to bring it into existence. Indeed, these are the marks of a community that will reach more and more people with the gospel message that Jesus came into the world to save sinners like you and I!

1 Losing Their Religion: Why US Churches are on the Decline, The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jan/22/us-churches-closing-religion-covid-christianity

2 Re-Thinking the Post-COVID Church: Beyond the Walls
Newt Crenshaw, February 14, 2023
https://www.christianitytoday.com/better-samaritan/2023/february/re-thinking-post-covid-church-beyond-walls.html

3 Tyler Vanderweele and Brendan Case, The Public Health Crisis No One Is Talking About, Christianity Today Magazine, November 2021, pages 36-42. https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2022/april/reduced-health-risks-to-regular-church-attenders.html

4 Edward M. Bounds, Prayer and Praying Men,
https://biblehub.com/library/bounds/prayer_and_praying_men/xv_paul_and_his_requests.htm

5 William Booth’s Secret to Success, Family Ties
https://www.family-times.net/illustration/Surrender/200312/