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Welcome to CrossRoadsCC

By Alisoun | August 29, 2010

 

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THIS WEEK

Wednesday 1st September

9:30am Playtime

10:00am – English For Life – English Tuition class

Friday 3rd

1.30 pm CrossFire at Corrimal High School

4:30pm – OASIS 4 Kidz

4:45pm – The Meeting Place (for adults)

5:00pm   One Way Ticket - Youth Church- its cool! (Great dinner at 6pm)

Saturday 4th

9:00am – CrossRoads Prayer Time

Sunday 5th September

See our Services entry for more details of our four varied style meetings.

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What is the Meaning of Life? (Alpha)

By Alisoun | January 22, 2010

Asking Questions?   Looking for Answers?

The Alpha course is an opportunity for anyone to explore the Christian Faith in a relaxed manner over 8 thought provoking sessions. It is low ley, friendly & fun and there is no cost! It is supported by all the main Christian denominations. Over 13 million worldwide have already found it to be a worthwhile experience.

Crossroads Christian Community is hosting this course beginning with a no obligation introductory dinner on Friday the 15th October at 6pm in the church centre.  The course runs for 8 weeks, for further information please contact the office.

To register please contact the church office (02 4285 5011), email us at office@crossroadscc.org.au, or download the Alpha Registration Form (PDF) and drop it into the church.

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One Way Ticket (Youth Church)

By Alisoun | August 23, 2009

 

 

One Way Ticket is made up of youth in Yr 6-12.  The service is exciting and fun with a particular focus on youth.  The idea of this service is to provide a style of worship that appeals to young people and teach the Bible in a way that they understand.  The service is short, the talks dynamic and the music loud.  This service also provides a link to our Youth activities on Sundays and High School ministries.

One Way Ticket happens on Friday nights – 5pm – 8:30pm

Dinner included – $3

Come along and bring your mates!

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OASIS 4 Kids

By Alisoun | August 23, 2009

 

A fun-filled afternoon, making new friends, playing games, singing songs, making craft and learning about our awesome God!

Where: The church centre

When:  Friday afternoons: 4:30pm – 6:00pm

Who:    School Aged Children K-5

Light Dinner available at 6:00pm

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A Kingdom Strategy

By Alisoun | August 2, 2008

Every once in a while I encounter someone who reacts against the idea of the church trying to think strategically about what it does, with the unspoken implication that strategy is sort of worldly and “unspiritual”.  The argument is often something along the lines that all we need to do is pray and the sovereign God will get done what He wants done.

While it is true that God is sovereign and that no kingdom work gets done unless He wills and empowers it, it does not follow that we do not need to think strategically about ministry in this church.  Observation of the ministries of both Jesus and the Apostle Paul underlines this point.  Jesus was clearly strategic in both what He did (preaching rather than healing – Mark 2:35-39) and in the timing of what He did (John 11:6).  Paul also used strategic thinking in determining his actions, spending most time with the Ephesian and Corinthian churches out of all the churches he founded (e.g. Acts 19:10).  This was because those places were major trade and communication centres for the Roman Empire, and people converted in these cities would take the gospel to the far-flung corners of the empire.  Strategic thinking is not “unspiritual”, on the contrary we have biblical models to inspire us to develop strategies for the extension, by His garce, of God’s Kingdom.

It is for such strategic reasons that we place so much emphasis on youth and children’s ministry in this church, areas of ministry that have grown significantly in recent years.  Importantly, it is also true that of those people who become Christians, about 75% of them do so before their twenties.  it is clearly in their younger years that people are more open to the gospel, and so it makes good strategic sense for us to concentrate our resources here.

Coupled with this is the fact that God seems to be encouraging us to focus in this young persons’ area by opening doors for us.  Neither of the two high school ministries we have commenced in the last twelve months (Woonona and Keira high schools) were at our initiation.  In the case of Woonona it was the, then, Bishop of Wollongong who asked if we could establish some ministry in this area, and in the case of Keira the initiative came from the school itself.

It is for this reason that in the last few months we have been developing an overall strategy to take Christ not only to the children in the community but to their families as well.

A brief outline of the strategy is as follows:

In this overall community outreach strategy we are working with, and have the support of the resources of Anglican Youthworks.

This is a very exciting project that has the potential to become large scale, and to be highly effective for the proclamation of Christ into the non-church community.  This, what is in effect a community outreach project, could actually involve a staff person (or more) being fully employed in this area of ministry alone.

This is a challenging vision but seems to be one God is encouraging us to pursue, and I would ask every member to get behind it in every way possible.  What ways are there?

a) To pray for all our youth and children’s ministries, both existing and proposed, because the greatest strategy will fail unless God is behind it.

b) To be involved.  If we are to increase school related ministries as envisaged above then this requires more people to be involved – teachers, group leaders and people for youth church ministry.

c) To give.  This vision will require a greater staff resource than even the current staff structure (even if it was filled).  It is thus a vision requireing significant finance.  Contributions, both ongoing and one-offs, including Thank Offerings on the first of June, to our Tax deductible Schools Ministry fund will be highly strategic gifts, and contribute greatly to the achievement of this vision.

We seem to be presented with a great kingdom building opportunity, one we must take for God’s glory.

In Christ,

Martin J. Bragger,

Senior Minister.

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Drought Alert

By AAM | July 8, 2008

We are sadly all too familiar with the word ‘drought’ because this is what most of Australia has been suffering from for many years.  However, there is another kind of drought, one which affects the country, and also sometimes the church and which is far more damaging.  This is the Amos-type drought which God brings even on His own people as when He declares

“I will send a famine throughout the land, not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11).

It should be emphasised that these words were addressed not to unbelievers but to the people of God, the chosen people, those of the northern kingdom of Israel.  These were still religious people, they still had their “church” services (Amos 6:21-24), their special religious festivals (their “Christmasses” if you like) but God still promised judgement on them.  Why?  Because they ignored the Word of God, and we know from the Bible that this always brings negative consequences.  It started with Adam & Eve’s decision to ignore what God says and continued through the Old Testament history right up to the time of Amos, when God finally decided enough was enough and allowed the people to be conquered by the super-power of the time Assyria.  God makes it quite clear that this disaster was a direct consequence of the people consistently ignoring His Word.  This is an example of a Biblical principle which can be put in a sort of mathematical way – i.e. God’s Word + Ignorance = Disaster.

Conversely, to put the point in a more positive way the person who is “blessed” is the one who’s

“delight is in the Law (Word) of the Lord, and on it he meditates day and night.”  (Psalm 1:2).

Such a person does not suffer from “drought” rather

“they are like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.” (Psalm 1:3)

There are, and were in Amos’ time, two ways in which God’s people can suffer from the shrivelling effects of a drought of the Word of God.  One is when those appointed to teach God’s Word don’t do it, and the other is when people do not place a high priority on listening to, and studying (“delighting” in) it.

The causes of spiritual drought, brought on by ignorance of the Word of God, are fairly easy to state, they are a lack of personal Bible study, irregular attendance at Growth Group; also, missing church and therefore the teaching time; remember God appoints certain people to the teaching role (Ephesians 4:11,12) for the purpose of the spiritual nurture of the congregation.  Such a “drought” of the Word of God in the Christian life caused in this way has negative consequences (as the Bible clearly shows will be the case).  How many unwise decisions have been made (have we made) because of the ignorance of a biblical God-given principle?  How many wrong “lifestyle” choices have been made because of a lack of knowledge of God’s Word?  How many children’s spiritual health is damaged, even permanently, because of a “drought” of the Word of God in the home or irregular attendance at Kidz@FMAC?  How much is the ministry of the church damaged, to God’s hurt, because of a lack of understanding of, or a confusion in regard to, the reason for our existence? The “mathematical” equations of God’s Word are clear –

The Bible + Ignorance = Disaster

The Bible + Knowledge = Blessing

God warns severely of the dangers and consequences of us being “drought” stricken, but He does so for our good, that we and our children shall be blessed.  Let us make sure that we are not spiritually “drought” stricken and be the blessed and fruitful trees planted by the “streams of living water”, the Spirit of God.

In Christ, Martin J. Bragger, Senior Minister.

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What Will Jesus Get?

By AAM | July 8, 2008

It is not uncommon to hear children (and some adults as well) ask of each other as Christmas approaches “do you know what you are getting for Christmas?” This is because our culture teaches and models that Christmas is about ‘getting’, about what we will receive – and this is reflected in the billions of dollars that are spent to give people mountains of ‘things’, ‘possessions’, most of which in Australia we don’t really need. The retail industry estimates a ‘spend’ of $34 billion this year.

I was caused to think of the approaching ‘material fest’ when I read this week of the tragic death of one of Australia’s richest people, the founder and owner of a telephone company and reportedly in possession of a nine figure fortune, who died suddenly while barely 40 years old. He was also a man that gave away a great deal of his wealth to good causes.

Firstly, my mind went to the words of Psalm 139:16 “All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be” which reminds us that how long we have is totally in God’s hands. Then I was caused to think of Jesus words to the man who was arguing with his brother over the division of their inheritance. (A not uncommon event in today’s society sadly). Jesus responded with the Parable of the Rich Fool (Luke 12:13-21) a stinging rebuke to anyone who thinks that mounding up money or possessions is of importance. The ‘rich man’ who did this in the parable is condemned by God as a fool with the chilling words “This very night your life will be demanded of you…… this is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God!”

What does it mean to be rich towards God? It is to understand that all we have is God’s, including ourselves. If we are to be rich toward God we will be using all we have for God and His kingdom – not lavishing excessive presents on those who already have far more than most in the world. Rich towards God, means funding God’s work, or to put it another way, instead of asking what will our children/family/friends get rather ask “What will Jesus and His kingdom get?” – the one who gave His life for us.

The sad early death referred to earlier is a reminder of the truth of Psalm 139:16, that no matter how much wealth we have, how many ‘things’ we amass, our life is totally dependent on God’s sovereign will.

Jesus made it clear the one who stores up wealth for self and family is a fool – for such wealth neither prolongs our life or has any lasting value, whereas what we fund for God’s kingdom does have eternal effect.

A good question to ask ourselves as we approach the ‘spending’ season – a question God is asking us – is “What will Jesus get?” The context in which we answer this question is the very real fact that this very day might be our last.

In Christ, Martin J. Bragger, Senior Minister.

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Do Not Hinder The Children

By AAM | July 8, 2008

At CCC we are truly blessed by the growing number of children attending our children’s ministries each weekend, and it is a great joy to see this ongoing increase. The Bible has many things to say about children, not the least important of which we can read in Mark 10:13-16. In this incident parents are bringing their children to Jesus for Him to bless them, yet the disciples were warning them off, presumably because they considered Him to be engaged with “more important things”. Jesus’ reaction was one of anger – saying “let them come, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”.

As we think about our responsibilities for the children in our care we can note that there are three aspects to Jesus’ statement:

  1. Bring Children to Christ
  2. Do not put anything in the way of them coming to Christ
  3. Those who have trusting (child-like trust) faith in Jesus are the ones who actually enter the Kingdom of God (ultimately experience heaven)

On the assumption that those of us who are, or will be, parents (or act in place of parents) do not wish our children to be excluded from the Kingdom of Heaven, then Jesus’ statement deserves our closest attention.

Firstly, we are to bring children to Christ, that is, we have a part to play in pointing them to Christ. As Deuteronomy 6:2 says parents are to teach children the commands, decrees, laws of God so that they may learn to fear (reverence) God, to receive His blessing.

It is parents’ responsibility to make sure that their children are taught about Christ (as every parent promises before God they will do in an infant baptism service). In this way children have the opportunity to come to the type of trusting faith in Christ which ultimately is the only way to unlock the gate of heaven. An important part of this nurturing process is regular (i.e. weekly) attendance at Sunday School. Ultimately, and eternally, the learning available at Sunday School is more important than the maths, English etc. learned at school, where they are also required to be regular attendees.

Secondly, if we truly value the spiritual health and destiny of our children we will be taking much notice of the second part of Jesus’ statement and not be hindering our children’s opportunity of coming to (faith in) Him. This of course begs the question to what hinders children coming to Christ? The list is endless, but just a few things that absent children from faith-building spiritual nurture are – sport, dancing, ballet, physical culture, other kid’s birthday parties, the surf club, work breakups, sleep-ins after a too late night before, family visitors, friends dropping in, grand finals, to name just a very few.

Anything that removes children from teaching about Christ, is in effect hindering them coming to Christ, and if they do not come they will not be touched (spiritually) by Him and therefore not experience the Kingdom of God.

Two notes on the above. One is that the activities listed above are not necessarily wrong in themselves, they only become so when we allow them to be hindrances to a child’s spiritual growth. Remember, Satan is always very subtle – he was far too subtle for Eve in the Garden of Eden. We should be wise and not allow him to use apparently “good” things to damage our children’s spiritual health.

The other is that those for whom Christ died are saved and called to be “Holy” (2 Timothy 1:9). That means “set apart”, not like the rest of the culture; it means taking up our own cross i.e. there is a cost, this cost can well be not doing that we and/or our children would like to do – i.e. missing out. One of the most powerful and spiritually beneficial words a parent can say to a child is “NO”.

Of course, ultimately a child must have their own dialogue with God, and decide whether or not they will accept (trust) Christ and so enter His Kingdom. However, God has given each parent, or carer, the primary role of a) bringing children to Christ through teaching and b) making sure that absolutely nothing hinders them.

Parents and official carers are primarily accountable to God for children being given every opportunity to come to Him. May God inspire us, bless us and make us strong in resisting Satan’s deceptions regarding those things which the culture offers children, yet which if allowed to do so will “hinder” them coming to Christ, which is ultimately on the Last Day the only thing that will matter.

In Christ, Martin J. Bragger, Senior Minister.

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Familiarity Breeds Contempt

By AAM | July 8, 2008

At reasonably frequent intervals we introduce new songs in our services at CCC. We could in fact introduce a number of new songs every week because the production of new Christian songs is like a flood nowadays. Despite the fact however that there are so many songs being produced that no church could possibly use them all, very few of them will really last the distance, i.e. will still be being sung in ten years time. Already we have a large number of songs in our music collection at CCC, most of which we have never sung or no longer do so.

I was thinking about this the other day when leafing through, what we call the “Hymn” book (strictly speaking all Christian songs are “hymns”, which just means “song”). Even in the hymn books (and there is even a whole variety of these) there are many songs which are simply not sung any more. However some are, and not just for ten years, but keep on being sung for several hundred years. This is particularly true of what we call Christmas Carols, those well loved songs that we (and the supermarkets) keep on bringing out year after year. The fact that they, despite being very old in most cases, are brought back to our minds each year is part of the reason for their longevity – and here lies a problem.

There is an old English proverb which says “familiarity breeds contempt”. To put this another way, when something becomes very familiar to us, through repeated use for example, we can lose sight of its meaning or importance. This can certainly be the case with those “familiar” Christmas Carols, they are so familiar that we miss what they are saying to us.

A good (or bad, depending of how you look at it) example of this is Charles Wesley’s great carol “Hark The Herald Angels Sing” which teaches some vital truths everyone needs to know and respond to.

  1. “Hail the incarnate Deity, ….” tells us that this child in the manger is not just a man but God Himself – so we should think about why was it so important that God should turn up in that manger? Was it just so we could have a party and sing about it? No, He was:
  2. “…. born that man no more may die ….” – that is die “spiritually” or to put it another way, after physical death be eternally separated from God. To avoid this problem He was:
  3. “…. born to raise the sons of earth ….”, that is resurrect us after death,
  4. in fact, he was “…. born to give us second birth ….”.It is through that “second birth”, the rebirth Jesus grown to be a man spoke about in John 3:1-7, that we are born a second time (spiritually) as a child of God.

What we can celebrate (and in fact the only reason to celebrate) at Christmas is the second birth Jesus came into the world to give us.

Let us sing with great joy our favourite Christmas Carols, but let us not miss what they are teaching us, that it is not just the Jesus in the manger we need but the Jesus of the Cross, it is at the Cross He offers the greatest present, second birth, resurrection, and the gift of eternal life.

Let us make sure that the “familiarity” of all things Christmas does not cause us to miss the point of why Jesus came, and be certain we have accepted the gift He came to offer.

Martin J. Bragger, Senior Minister.

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“Know About” or “Know”

By AAM | July 8, 2008

Many of us will know people we would call “name droppers” – those who seem to make a habit of letting others know the “important” and “influential” people they claim to have as friends, etc. In fact often the “names” claimed to be known are nothing more than casual and occasional contacts, more “know about” than having a real relationship with them.

This is sad as it often reflects the person’s need to gain status-by-association and most probably indicates a lack of self worth. A similar problem however exists in the spiritual realm and is far more serious. This occurs when a person, often a long time church member, claims to “know” Jesus and therefore be a Christian. In actual fact the “knowing Jesus” claimed turns out to be more of a “knowing about” Jesus rather than the personal relationship Jesus meant by “my sheep know me” (John 10:14).

When we really “know” a person (the New Testament verb to know is mostly a relational word, not “knowing about”) we will have a real relationship with them. Such a relationship, if it is healthy, is demonstrated by many things, such as a desire to spend “quality” time with them, a desire to know them better, a desire to talk with them. This is non-negotiably true of the Christian’s relationship with Christ, and when we have that then we will experience it in our life. We will see Christ’s affect on our life day by day, week by week, year by year. This Christian life is marked by the experience of Jesus’s active participation (and often surprising and sometimes miraculous) intervention in our lives, and we will know it! The way Jesus dynamically impacts the lives of those who truly “know” Him is illustrated by the story about Stuart and Katherine Haynes, told in the current BCA magazine (a copy is in the newsheet). In it they say that they had certain plans for their life but “God had other plans” which totally wrecked their plans and dramatically re-shaped their future – this is how God works!

These are the characteristics of a life lived in a real relationship with Jesus, a life “intertwined” with Him (John 17:20-26). The alternative is a sterile, experience-less, church-going churchianity, produced by “knowing about” Jesus, in the same way I know about Napoleon, rather than “knowing” him personally.

The Pharisees, great Bible students that they were, “knew about” the Christ, but they didn’t “know” Him (John 6:39,40). It is important that we do not make the same mistake. A test we can apply is to ask the question – “How is Jesus actively impacting my life?”

In Christ,
Martin J. Bragger, Senior Minister.

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