We talk about this often with our church. We try to help everyone embrace their identity as a missionary and a vital member of a missionary community (Life Group). For some, this can seem overwhelming, so I want to offer a few practical ideas that can help us approach everyday life as everyday missionaries.

Be regulars
We’ve seen people become a part of our community through relationships built at stores, gyms, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, parks, hospitals and grocery stores. These relationships rarely develop through a single encounter. They grow over time and with regular interactions. Go to the same places for your regular routines. Go to the same coffee shop regularly and build a relationship with the baristas. Go to the same gym at the same time each week and build relationships. Go to the same library at the same story-time session weekly with your kids, and become a part of that community. Shop at the same grocery store at a regular time and go to the same check out each time. Be intentional about visiting the same places for your weekly activities. Get to know the people, remember their names, ask about their kids and their weeks and follow up next time you see them. Before long, you’ll find out that you’re becoming friends.

Build friendships
New friendships require time together — whether it is with your neighbors, coworkers or other people you have met along the road. Eat meals together, go to parks together, watch sporting games together, do hobbies together — just do something together that allows you to share your life, listen, learn and love. In our culture, people will recognize an agenda-driven, salesman approach to friendship. We must actually love people — whether or not they ever come to believe. When you are genuinely friends with someone, they will trust you and listen to your perspective more readily, and they will more readily share their true reasons for not yet believing.

“Show & Tell” the grace of God
As friendships grow, we must model honesty about our own brokenness. Most people imagine Christians to be either clean and put together or hypocrites, so they feel the need to pretend like they have it together. This proclivity to maintain a façade of righteousness hinders us from proclaiming and celebrating the grace of God. Because of God’s grace in Christ, we can be real about who we are — our struggles, our trials, our failures and our joys. We don’t want to boast in our sin, but we do want to be honest about it so that we can boast in the Cross where we have received grace. As friends begin to let us into their lives, we must show God’s grace to them as we accept them, and we must be bold to share with them the good news of God’s grace in Christ.

Invite friends into your community
Introducing unbelievers to your community of believing friends is one of the most neglected, yet important aspects of introducing people to Jesus. Practically, this is the same as building friendships, but it requires finding ways to build friendships with unbelieving friends and believing friends simultaneously. When people see your individual life and your love, they see one good person. When they meet your believing friends, they will (hopefully) meet a community of grace, a community of honest and broken people, a community of servants and a community that loves God’s truth. They will meet the Body of Christ. Your community displays God to the world because God is in you (i.e. y’all). When broken people are accepted by God’s people, they begin to understand that God will accept them too, because of Jesus. Often people come into a real relationship with God after first coming into a meaningful relationship with His people.

Pray like a missionary
If we are God’s missionaries, then we must pray like missionaries. We must pray for opportunities for ourselves and for one another. We must pray for readiness. We must pray for Spirit-filled love. We must pray for patience. We must pray for wisdom. We must pray for awakening. Unless God graciously acts, we will never see people come to new life in Christ. So, above all, we must pray for God to awaken our friends to the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

To Christ the ransomed sinners run
Their burdens cast aside
In grief, the crowned and only Son
With glory shed would die

What blessed death unique and pure
To drain the powers of hell
The Spotless Lamb, the perfect cure
For Satan’s flickerin’ spell

Great sins I had and shackled pride
Unmovable by man
Fought by works and sacrifice
The law’s imperfect plan

Though dark the stain upon the soul
And countless are it’s crimes
To Christ the challenge is so small
He gives His blood Divine

Temptation may it have a way
Upon this narrow path
Old Adam’s hand may still have swayed
And haunt the sinner’s past

But Christ our Brother had no sin
Though tempted more than we
the guilty freed forever by
His guiltless Majesty

Heaven is our sinless sphere
Eternal source of light
Judgement sits upon the throne
Where none escape his sight

Though impossible to enter in
The hands of labor try
The grace of Christ must pull them through
The needle’s narrow eye

His righteousness is not removed
by earth or hell or law
Its fixed upon his cross he proved
to stand without one flaw

In life the cross will be our guide
In death our victory
Where else can sinners come to die
to live eternally

Here’s a fantastic video with Tullian Tchividjian (Pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church) and Jonathan Linebaugh (Professor of New Testament at Knox Theological Seminary) discussing the Law and the Gospel–what they are, what they do, and why it matters.

HT: Tullian Tchividjian

Jesus is not a commitment among other commitments, but rather the commitment of our lives.

Over the past couple of years I’ve come to question the purpose of the Lent season. Why do some Christians get ashed up on Wednesday following Mardi Gras? Since Jesus gave up everything for us, why do we continue to give things up during Lent season? Among other questions I believe there is much goodness that can come from a Christian observing Lent.

The Gospel Coalition has a recent blog post from Chuck Colson that highlights 5 benefits to observing Lent. I hope it encourages you, causes you to reflect on Jesus and want to share with a neighbor what this whole Lent thing is about.

Why Bother With Lent?

Typically, evangelicals are shy about Lent. The 40 days prior to Easter—Sundays excepted—are known popularly as a season for giving up chocolate or other extras in order to show God how much we love him. With such impoverished notions, it is no wonder that Lent has fallen on hard times.

So should evangelicals bother with Lent?

Whatever the popular conceptions, the season can encourage gospel-centered piety. But, before considering Lent’s value, let’s briefly discuss the benefits of the church calendar, in general.

Some evangelical traditions reject the notion of the church calendar wholesale, believing that the Lord’s Day is the only God-given measure of time for the church. Some Puritans discarded all special holidays on this principle. But, no matter our efforts, we organize our lives according to some seasonal calendar that’s not prescribed by God (semesters, financial quarters, and months, for example).

Recognizing this, the church’s liturgical calendar seeks to order time around the major events of our redemption in Christ. During these seasons, we encourage certain theological emphases, spiritual practices, and corresponding emotions to instruct and train the church in godliness. Of course, the calendar does not limit the celebration of a truth or the experience of a particular emotion to one season or day. For instance, observing Easter Sunday as a joyous and festive holy day does not deny that every Lord’s Day celebrates Jesus’ resurrection. Rather, a joyous Easter Sunday anchors and gives shape to all other Sundays throughout the year. So it is with the liturgical calendar.
Five Benefits

That said, let’s explore five benefits to observing Lent.

1. Lent affords us the opportunity to search the depths of our sin and experience the heights of God’s love.

With Good Friday approaching, visions of Jesus’ gruesome death remind us of the dreadful reality of sin. Here, our individual and corporate brokenness is on display as the Lord of glory dies under the weight of our just judgment, inspiring personal introspection. Though self-examination can turn into narcissistic navel gazing, such abuses should not foreclose on a godly form of self-examination that encourages humility, repentance, and dependence on Christ.

But for such introspection to remain healthy, we must hold together two realities that converge at the cross—our corruption and God’s grace. If we divorce the two, then our hearts will either swell with pride and self-righteousness, losing touch with our sinfulness, or sink into anxious despair and uncertainty, failing to grapple with mercy.

Confident of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, we are free to probe the inner recesses of our hearts, unearthing sin’s pollution. God’s grace liberates us to explore our soul, facing its filth, rather than suppressing or succumbing to its contents. With David, we are free to pray,

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Ps. 139:23-24)

Searching us, God discovers nothing unknown to him (Ps 139:1-3), but discloses the secrets of our hearts, allowing us to know ourselves. Under his tender scrutiny, God exposes, not to shame, but to heal. Thus, turning inward, we are led upward to find consolation, hope, and transformation through Jesus Christ. Certainly, such piety isn’t the exclusive property of any church season, but Lent provides a unique setting for this self-examination.

2. Lent affords us an opportunity to probe the sincerity of our discipleship.

Jesus bore the cross for us, accomplishing our salvation, yet he also bestows a cross on us (Mt. 10:38-39; Lk. 9:23). Following him, Jesus guarantees unspeakable comforts and uncertainties (Jn. 16:32-33). Frequently, these uncertainties test the genuineness of our discipleship. Consider the following examples from Jesus’ ministry.

In Matthew 8:18-22, two people approach Jesus, proclaiming their desire to follow him. One, a scribe, offers his undying devotion saying, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus responds by instructing the scribe about the rigors of following him, explaining that foxes and birds enjoy more comfort than he does. Perceiving selfish ambition, Jesus reminds the scribe that following him is not a means for advancing in the world, but rather involves forsaking it. We don’t know how this scribe responded to the challenge, but Jesus leaves us with the question, “Will we follow him when it is inconvenient or only when comfortable and to our advantage?”

The second, a disciple, requests to attend his father’s funeral before going on with Jesus. Jesus takes the opportunity to reveal the disciple’s heart, unveiling his ultimate affections. He says, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.” Remember, Jesus warns us that we cannot love father and mother, or anything else, above him (Mt. 10:37). Obviously, Jesus does not forbid loving our parents or attending their funerals, but he does insist on being first in our hearts. Jesus is not a commitment among other commitments, but rather the commitment of our lives. Therefore, as Augustine points out, we must take care to order our loves properly, ensuring that our affections are set on Christ and not another.

In this way, Lent provides opportunity to question and examine ourselves, exploring the integrity of our discipleship.

3. Lent provides us an opportunity to reflect on our mortality.

Pursuing eternal youth, our culture seems to live in the denial of death. But ignoring death does not erase its impartiality—everyone who draws a first breath will take a last one. It is a certainty we can’t escape (Heb. 9:27). Fortunately, death is not the last word. For all who belong to Christ, there is a promise stronger than death—we will die, but Jesus will return to raise our bodies, wiping the tears from our eyes and making all things new (1 Cor. 15:12-28; Rev. 21:1-8).

The most difficult moment I face each year, as an Anglican pastor, is to apply the ashes, in the sign of a cross, to the foreheads of my wife and children on Ash Wednesday. It is an intimate and haunting moment. Echoing the words of Genesis 3:19, I say, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” It is jarring. Every year, I cry.

Yet the ashes are applied in the shape of Jesus’ cross—the only means for escaping the dust of death. When God raised Jesus, he raided death, destroying its power. Jesus’ resurrection marks the death of death and welcomes us into a living hope (1 Pt. 1:3). This is our consolation and joy in the midst of our mortality.

Lent provides an unmistakable opportunity for disciplined reflection on this neglected certainty and God’s radical solution.

4. Lent gives us the opportunity to move towards our neighbor in charity.

Long misunderstood as a form of works-righteousness, Lenten fasting is not about scoring points with God, but rather emphasizes simplicity for the sake of others. By temporarily carving away some comforts or conveniences, good gifts from God himself, we hope to de-clutter our hectic lives, allowing us to focus. Simple living allows us to reserve time for others while also serving to curb our expenses. It is fitting to allocate these savings, along with other gifts, for charitable purposes, especially directing those funds to the poor and marginalized.

So search your heart and go simple. Consider fasting from types of food, technology, and/or sources of entertainment. Live frugally, and do so for the sake of charity. Find a cause, or better yet a person, and give sacrificially. And, in so doing, may you know the joy of Jesus who gave himself fully to us.

5. Lent prepares us to celebrate the wonder and promise of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday.

Here, Jesus trampled down sin and death, defeating the Devil (Heb. 2:14-15). After a season of depravation, highlighting the grim reality of our broken creation, Jesus’ resurrection floods our grief with life and light. In other words, Lent prepares us to join the disciples in their joy and bewilderment on that strange morning long ago (Mt. 28:8; Mk. 16:8; Lk. 24:12). Our Easter worship is a dress rehearsal for our Lord Jesus’ return when he comes to unite heaven and earth, making all things new (Eph. 1:10; Rev. 21:1-8).

And so, I invite you to a holy Lent. Take up the opportunity to dwell upon the grief of our broken world, the sin within your heart, and the deep love of God that exceeds these realities. Reflecting on the hospitality of God, consider the needs of your neighbor, especially those without life’s basic needs. And, most importantly, in the gritty details of Lent, don’t forget—Easter is coming!

• Connect, Talk, Read the Word, Pray – This is not exactly a resource, but it is powerful and transforming to regularly be with a couple of other believers in the Word together and praying together.
• Gospel DNA – A free resource from Soma Communities that is meant for a group of 3-4 to go through for several weeks and then to multiply your group and take others through it. Focuses on applying the gospel to all areas of our lives so that we can become more like Jesus.
• Multiply – Another free resource from Francis Chan that is designed to go through with a small group. Requires participants to read a short chapter each week and to get together to talk through the various application questions. Focuses on understanding Discipleship, The Church, How to Read the Word, and the Biblical Storyline. Also pushes groups toward multiplication.
• Book Studies – Our recommended reading page has books about the centrality of the gospel, christian living books, books on marriage and parenting and evangelism and apologetics as well as some Christian classics. Talk with someone about reading through a book and getting together to talk about how God is using it in your life.
]]> http://thecrossingfc.org/2013/01/discipleship-resources/feed/ 0 http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/12/o-come-thou-dayspring/ http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/12/o-come-thou-dayspring/#comments Fri, 21 Dec 2012 19:06:15 +0000 Gary http://thecrossingfc.org/?p=2822 There is a tension between the merriment of the Christmas season, and the darkness that is so prevalent in our world, in our communities, in our homes, and in our own hearts. The reality of this tension is not something that should be hidden in the closet for a month, only to re-emerge when its reality can no longer be suppressed by distractions and festivities. The tension between joy and sorrow, peace and pain, light and darkness should fuel our worship of the God who entered into the darkness like the dawn breaks into the night!

“O Come, Thou Dayspring! Come and cheer our spirits by Thine advent here! Disperse the gloomy clouds of night, and death’s dark shadows put to flight!”

The profound meaning of this classic Christmas Carol can get lost in its familiarity and its poetic language. The verse seems to allude to Isaiah 9:2-7, where Israel, in the face of coming judgment and tribulation, is encouraged to look forward to the birth of a special Child, a Son. This Son would be a light shining into the darkness–like the dayspring [i.e. dawn] puts an end to the clouds of night. His advent [i.e. His coming] would bring an end to the suffering. He would cause wars to cease. He would bring peace. He would do this by removing the root cause: our sin and the consequent curse of separation from God. He would be Emmanuel, God-with-us.

“Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel!”

We can rejoice because Immanuel came to remove the curse by becoming the curse. We can rejoice because He is at work to “make His blessings known far as the curse is found.” And we can rejoice because Emmanuel will come again!

Long lay the world in sin and error, pining ’til he appeared, and the soul felt its worth. A thrill of hope! The weary world rejoices! For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

]]> http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/12/o-come-thou-dayspring/feed/ 0 http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/12/kingdom-living-becoming-family/ http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/12/kingdom-living-becoming-family/#comments Thu, 20 Dec 2012 20:17:09 +0000 Gary http://thecrossingfc.org/?p=2818 By God’s grace, The Crossing family has been growing, and our Life Groups have been multiplying. Our Life Groups are more than Bible Studies or weekly meetings. They are growing families, committed to living for Jesus and His mission together. The following video shares a story of what God has been doing in one of our newer Life Groups in Loveland, and how this burgeoning family is being used to shine God’s glory to our community. Praise God for His faithful love.
]]> http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/12/kingdom-living-becoming-family/feed/ 0 http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/11/apologetics-for-everyone/ http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/11/apologetics-for-everyone/#comments Fri, 30 Nov 2012 22:01:31 +0000 Gary http://thecrossingfc.org/?p=2755

1 Peter 3:14-16 – But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason (Greek: apologian) for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

a•pol•o•get•ics | əˌpäləˈjetiks |

When people think of apologetics, they typically think of some sort of intellectual debate or argument defending the Christian faith against some form of intellectual opposition. Though there are contexts where this type of debating can be helpful, this is not what apologetics was meant to be.

1 Peter 3:15 is the classic text from which the term apologetics comes from. People often take the verse to mean something like, “always be prepared to defend Christianity.” This leads people to spend time learning intellectual rebuttals to intellectual attacks on the faith. The reality is though, that’s not what Peter was talking about. In the context of the letter, Peter is encouraging suffering Christians to live as God’s distinct and holy people. Specifically in chapter 3, he is encouraging these persecuted Christians to have unity, sympathy, love, and humility toward all people; to refrain from retaliation, to love their enemies, to seek peace with all people, all the while looking to Jesus as the supreme example of this type of faithful witness. Peter knows that when the Christian community lives this unique type of life, it will inevitably provoke questions about the source of this unusual and attractive hope.

“How is it that you all can love like you do?” “How can you remain faithful in the face of suffering?” “Why do you serve people who mistreat you?” “Where does your hope come from?” Peter says, when these questions come, be prepared to give a reason (apologia) for the hope that is in you?

Apologetics then, is answering the questions raised by the distinctive lifestyle of our Christian community.

If this is the case, the main question for us as the Christian community is: Are we actually living in a way that would provoke these types of questions? Is our lifestyle distinct from the world’s? Do we love people that are unlovable? Do we serve people who are thankless and unappreciative? Do we have hope in the midst of suffering? Do we give to those in need even when it hurts? And do we do these things in context where this love can be seen and experienced by those who do not know Christ?

In other words, is our Christian community an attractive light in the midst of a broken city? And are we living in a way to make that light visible to the people around us who still live in darkness?

]]> http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/11/apologetics-for-everyone/feed/ 0 http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/11/like-a-liver-or-a-big-toe/ http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/11/like-a-liver-or-a-big-toe/#comments Wed, 28 Nov 2012 23:48:49 +0000 MattW http://thecrossingfc.org/?p=2750 From Porterbrook:

Remember that the church is neither an end in itself, nor is it merely a means to an end…Church is a place where Jesus reigns and where people will catch a glimpse of people loving and serving one another. Church is God’s Kingdom with flesh on it. It is a glorious phenomenon.

The Crossing is a church plant, and one of the greatest personal benefits that I have received from being part of this church plant has been a greater understanding of what church actually is. That’s not to say that my previous church experience was devoid of this, but this reality has come into sharper focus as I’ve matured alongside this growing body.

In so doing, though, it has become rather easy to think of building the church as an end in itself. And when I notice myself thinking in this way, the pendulum swings (as pendulums often do) to the other side, which is isolation.

I regularly find myself way too focused on how to gather more people by meeting with them, inviting them to my Life Group, or to a Sunday gathering, or to any other church community related activity. This happens until I notice my ability to simply sit and adore Jesus has become severely diminished. The response to that is often frustration at my busy schedule (and the people who fill it) and a tendency to seclude myself from others so that I can have those personal quiet times in devotion. This usually continues until I notice that I’ve been so isolated from community that I get frustrated with myself yet again, and the cycle starts over.

Neither of these extremes is healthy, and I propose trying to strike a balance is not the answer.

Rather, what I think is right is for us to put Christian community in its proper context. Simply, church is the expression of God’s people as they come together to live in a community that models what reconciliation with God looks like by living with each other in a reconciled way. This means we can forgive each other (Ephesians 4:32), serve one another (Philippians 2:3-4), pray with one another (1 Thessalonians 5:17), speak the word to each other (Colossians 3:16), eat with one another (Acts 2:42), etc.

The church is a spiritual community. Therefore in order to have our spiritual satisfaction, it’s helpful to understand that our spiritual life is not confined to personal devotion time, though not to the utter neglect of that time. But is it possible that Christian community can be utilized for our growth in godliness in a more healthy and significant way than we typically conceive?

So what does this mean for our church context?

Firstly, we need to fight against the idea that church is something that you attend. Instead, church is something that you participate in. Like the liver participates in digestion and detoxification, or a big toe participates in balance. I have no body parts that merely attend my body.

Secondly, I want us to become a community that worships and enjoys Jesus through and with one another. The emphasis of the New Testament is that the church is the context in which worship, personal growth, community growth, and mission take place. This is in stark contrast to the popular view that spirituality takes place in one’s own quiet room or in the isolation of the mountains.

Let us consider whether or not there is something we could learn here that not only benefits our own personal walks, but also influences and builds the community of God that is The Crossing in Fort Collins.

]]> http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/11/like-a-liver-or-a-big-toe/feed/ 0 http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/11/a-case-for-fiction-east-of-eden/ http://thecrossingfc.org/2012/11/a-case-for-fiction-east-of-eden/#comments Fri, 16 Nov 2012 23:05:30 +0000 Cole Strehlow http://thecrossingfc.org/?p=2719

“In reading great literature I become a thousand men and yet remain myself…I see with a myriad of eyes, but it is still I who see.”

― C.S. Lewis

Truth is a constant, powerful light. It shines down to us from our Father and illuminates all that it touches. From beyond the dark and hazy present, bright rays break through to remind us of our Heavenly City, and our unveiled encounter that awaits with Truth himself.

This is why I love to read great fiction. As the sun’s light reflects differently upon our mountains, so the great story of life is cast in shadow and light across our many tales. Though they can’t be counted upon to portray truth entirely, great stories remind us that God’s grand narrative is ever unfolding. They awaken and inspire our imaginations. In an age of skepticism, stories help us believe that invisible things are real.

Many of the minds that remind of these things are themselves blind to the person and work of Christ. Yet, humans made in the image of God are unable to escape the age-old rhythms that point to our creator. It is the universal insights into these rhythms that may stir our hearts and minds into worship. As a fictional child becomes aware of its breath, we then become aware of the God who gives life. While an imaginary father despairs that his son is following his fallen example, we may think of Jesus who was perfect in his Father’s business. Melody is added to rhythm, and with our God-given creativity, we may sing along in time.

One example of such insight comes from the mind of John Steinbeck. In his classic novel, “East of Eden”, Steinbeck tells the story of two families that, try as they might, could not outrun the fallen patterns of our ancient ancestors. Many asides are woven into the story to give shape and meaning, but the following seems one of the best.

“…Samuel could remember hearing of a cousin of his mother’s in Ireland, a knight and rich and handsome, and anyway shot himself on a silken couch, sitting beside the most beautiful woman in the world who loved him. ‘There’s a capacity for appetite,’ Samuel said, ‘that a whole heaven and earth of cake can’t satisfy.’”

In a way this tells the story of a broken world; an eternally thirsty people lapping at the bottom of their empty cisterns. There is an insatiable desire at the core of humanity, and many spend their entire lives searching for satisfaction. We could let this brief story rest at that lowly point, or we could imagine joy everlasting. There are rivers and bread that satisfy always; there is a God who does not leave us wanting. It’s the greatest story ever told.

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