The FOCUS ONE is:

ONE life focused for ONE year on ONE message, to make a difference in ONE city, through the life of ONE person.

This God-dream birthed out of the desire and longing we have to truly see the gospel become REAL to us in the the way we live our lives and in-turn find its way into someone else’s life. You see, that’s what authentic Christianity is all about;  this is the kind of stuff we hope we never grow beyond! You see, an understanding of what God has done FOR and IN us, can’t help but to fully live in lieu of what God wants to do THROUGH us. Here we go again, from now on till December 2010 we’re together yielding and FOCUSED on ONE thing. That is our sermon-series for the remainder of the year, we hope you’ll join us, invite everyone  you can so that together we can continue to press on towards becoming the church God wants us to become here in the city.

The weekly 19|ONE arts forum (every Wednesday @ 7p.m. at the Pinecrest campus) is on fire! Many artists from virtually every discipline (musicians, photographers, videographers, producer, dancers, writers, sculptures, etc…) have committed to birth here an oasis “hub-type” open-dialog format forum, that’s low pressure, non-judgemental, a hyper-creative environment so artists like you can experience mutual support and collaboration by promoting one another’s geniuses and together seeking for ways to bring about positive change to this great city we live in!

Did you know we have a Sunday night gathering on Brickell?

You gotta check it out! There’s a new community springing up from the Beach, the Downtown areas and Brickell surroundings that’s waiting for you to join with the sole intention of seeing the “city of man” looking more like the city of God! Crossbridge Brickell is a miracle-response to the awesome prayer of so many who have long-dreamed to see a dynamic expression of a gospel-centered and authentic christian expression lived out in community right in the heart of a gorgeous yet in many ways broken part of our city.

Think about becoming part of this grass-roots catalytic movement seeking to usher Spiritual, Cultural and Social renewal here in the city.

Hope to see you there at 1770 Brickell Avenue, every Sunday night at 6:00 p.m., sharp.

Come join us on Grouplink Sunday as we launch all of our community groups for the 2010-011 year at Pinecrest and at Brickell. We will also be celebrating Crossbridge’s 2nd year anniversary after both  services with food & drinks provided as well as an opportunity for you to sign up in a group and experience the full extent of the gospel through authentic community. Please contact Pastor Sam for more info. (sam@crossbridgemiami.com)

]]> http://www.crossbridgemiami.com/group-link-sunday/feed/ 0 http://www.crossbridgemiami.com/group-link-sunday/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CrossbridgeChurchMiami/~3/UA9ZgYNLbZ8/ http://www.crossbridgemiami.com/haiti-medical-mission/#comments Fri, 06 Aug 2010 17:49:41 +0000 admin http://www.crossbridgemiami.com/?p=1319

The dates for the next Crossbridge medical mission to Haiti are to be announced sometime in Jan./Feb. of 2011. We are hoping to recruit about 10 doctors and 10 church members to accompany them. Dr. Dezfulian is coordinating the medical personnel. We are tasked to organize the support staff. The cost per person will be about $1,000 including accommodations, transportation, and food and each participant should raise funds to purchase medicine and vitamins for the mission. Anyone who wants to participate should post a comment below indicating medical training and Creole language knowledge. We will announce an information dinner in the next 2 weeks. Anyone who is interested can contact J. Reynardus with questions at jay.reynardus@gmail.com.

ONE COMMUNITY: OF PRAYER

August 8, 2010 |
A gospel believing Christian understands that he/she cannot ignore the physically oppressed nor take advantage of the weak because the gospel teaches them that one day God became physically oppressed and week so that he/she would experience spiritual shalom and wealth. Moreover, a gospel believing Christian understands his responsibility to share of what’s been given to him so that the needs of the poor, the single spouse and the immigrants are met. Do you believe the Gospel? Then, (in James words) “show it!! Otherwise, your faith is dead!!”

Yesterday I was able to perform one of my favorite things that ministry allows me to do– infant baptism. Some people were surprised that Crossbridge baptizes babies so, I decided to write a post to explain why we sprinkle babies.

1. We are Presbyterian. Part of what it means to be Presbyterian or Reformed is to be covenantal. Cove…what? Reformed Christians read the Bible with the understanding that God relates to individuals through a people he has set aside. The terms of this relationship that God establishes with his people are called covenants. Through the 6 main covenants depicted in the Bible (Adam/works, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, New) God vows to protect, to nurture and to never abandon his covenant people.

2. We believe that baptism (as circumcision in the Old Testament) functions as a sign and seal of this covenant. The seal aspect points to the fact that through baptisms people are brought into life in the covenant community in a visible way. In Matt 28:12 when Jesus commands his disciples to make disciples and baptize, he intended that those who became believers in his Gospel would have to be immediately inserted into the covenant community for nurture, service and growth. The sign aspect reveals that there is a greater reality which baptism points to. This greater reality is, God’s outpouring of special blessings to his covenant people (we technically say that baptism is a “means of grace”).

3. We believe that adults are brought into the community through baptism after they profess faith in Jesus. Infants on the other hand, that are born in the covenant community (children of members) are naturally brought in through their parents. To deny them the seal that recognizes their participation in the community is to A) narrow the composition of Jesus’ church (covenant community) to people that have the ability to discern B) to be inconsistent with what actually takes place practically.

4. We believe that baptism does not confer salvation. Reformed Christians differ from Catholics that believe that regeneration is initiated in baptism and from Baptist or Anabaptist Christians that believe that baptism is merely a symbol of one’s profession of faith. For us, baptism is a sacrament. Sacramentum is a Latin translation of the Greek word Musterion from where we get the word ‘mystery’. We believe that in baptism as in communion, God graciously distributes blessings to those who participate by faith. In the case of infants being baptized, their parents’ faith. Parents trust Jesus in baptism that Jesus will mysteriously begin to work in their child’s life and that one day Jesus will draw their child to himself and, that their child will one day publicly profess their personal faith in Jesus.

5. A covenant involves responsibility for those who participate in it. As wedding vows bind those who marry, baptism binds the church (the covenant community) and the parents to Jesus’ covenant. For both, it means bringing the child in the ways of the Lord, providing the child a culture of Grace and, godly examples to follow. Lack of faith in participation implies in judgment.

I know that there is room for a lot more to be said in this post and I’m sorry if I disappointed but, let me remind you that this is a blog not a theological journal. I attempted to be practical and less technical so, if you wish to study this topic in more depth let me know and I’ll send you a couple of theological papers. I also recommend this video by Dr.Richard Pratt one of my professors in seminary.

Click here to view the embedded video.

On Sunday, July 18, we will be performing baptisms during the worship hour. If you wish to be baptized or to have your children baptized please RSVP with Pr. Sam.

This Sunday from 10:30 to 12:30 Community Blood Centers of Florida, Inc. will be at Crossbrige Pinecrest. All donors will receive a t-shirt, mini-physical and thank you pack!!!

We’ve created a real special opportunity for you to learn more about us!! If you have been hanging around Crossbridge lately and you’d like to dig in a bit deeper TASTE OF CROSSBRIDGE is for you!! Come have some coffee with Pastor Felipe on Aug 1, 2010 @ 7:30 p.m (following the evening service). He will take you through our journey and tell you where we’re headed together and maybe even help you find your place in this awesome story God’s writing here in the city. RSVP with Pastor Sam.