Crossway Life

Crossway kids, here is another opportunity to win a free Sovereign Grace kids CD!  I have 2 copies of the album, “To be like Jesus“ that I’d love to give to the first 2 children (11 and under) who are attenders at Crossway Church and who can answer correctly the following questions:

1. What is the type of tree that Zacchaeus (the little man who wanted to see Jesus) climbed up into? 
   • You’ll need to search in the Gospel according to Luke to find this answer .
2. Complete this line from a song we sing often on Sunday mornings: “You give and take away, you give and take away, my heart will choose to say _____   ______  ______  _____  _____” (5 words!)
3. What kind of food does Mr. Privitera love best?
4. Why is it impossible for us to go to heaven by doing good things?

To answer these questions, click on THIS LINK and send an email to me.  Make sure you include also your full name and your parent’s email address, so that I can contact you if you win.

I will be announcing the 2 winners next Tuesday, so stay tuned!

Willow Street CG scores!

First dollars in the $100 CG campaign goes to the Willow St. CG – It is all about marketing and transportation, my friends. The poor city slickers out here in Montgomery County (no offense, Peter and Doug) are hungry for authentic Lancaster County home baking. With a little money spent on ingredients, a little time baking shoo-fly pies, a little gasoline and hustling buyers and viola; money happens! Tom Bueche, selling Carol Landis’ shoo-fly pies at his school in Montgomery Co. has raised $110!

The Millers and The Dewalds

Michael Miller – “It takes a while to find the right person to work at a small-town funeral home. I’ve been looking for more than two years,’ said Joel Reynolds, owner of Dewald Funeral & Cremation Services in Quarryville. Last month, he found that person.       ‘On October 19, Michael C. Miller, joined the firm….”(read entire article)

The Plank home – Abby stopped sucking on her fingers yesterday.  That is HUGE news at the Plank home. (photo by Chris McGrigor)

Ovalle’s – We welcome Sam and Chrissy and the children back from their recent trip to Guatemala!

The Hanna’s – Quay and Shannon are expecting their third June 2010!!!

onemission update – On Sunday Peter announced that we received 3 bids this week from our contractors. All three bids came in at around $5 million. (with a spread of @ $75,000) This puts us in excellent position to accomplish the entire project for @ $7 million, our projected total. We are very thankful to God for this news.

Visitation Ministry – Crossway has a newly established Visitation Ministry whose goal it is to visit the sick and infirmed in a way that honors God and shows proper respect to those whom God has called us to share our lives with in this life. The following couples are part of the team:

• Sam and Martha Privitera
• Pat and Dana Parmer
• Don and Kim Garber
• Carl and Linda Driedger
• Dan and Carol Davis

When you get a chance ask them how it is going. Their stories will encourage you!

Kurt Weaver – This Saturday Kurt was seen trying out the new hair dryers that Ruby Tuesday’s offers.  It’s their “get your hair done while you wait” promotion.

Kurt spotted at a remote location LIVE!

The air is brisk, the leaves are radiant, the smell of autumn is in the air.  Fall is definitely here – and even more exciting, so is Thanksgiving.   I’m not sure if it’s the two vacation days from school, the celebrating with family, or the delicious turkey and mashed potatoes, but I just love Thanksgiving.  Sadly, the two-day vacation from school might just take the lead (kidding, kidding).   

Thanksgiving is a time when “giving thanks” is often highlighted.  In our family we go around the table and share what we are most grateful for.  I love this.  But recently, I have been struck with my lack of verbal thankfulness. I often think “thankful” thoughts about others, ask God to bless them, but often don’t take the time to express my thankfulness.   I receive encouragement when someone thanks me and identifies God’s grace in my life, why would I think my gratitude toward someone else any less important? 

I recently read a quote that says “to not express thankfulness to someone is like wrapping a present and not giving it to the person”.  I would never do that.  I love to see the expression on my children’s faces when they open a gift.  It truly is priceless.  How much more giving the gift of an apt word of thankfulness to encourage another’s heart? 

There are many reasons that I opt out of giving this gift.  I may be preoccupied and not notice that someone has served me or others. I do have five children!  It may be a lack of convenience. I have places to go and people to see. Time is money.  I may fear looking stupid. What if I don’t know the person well and my words get all jumbled up, how embarrassing! 

The bottom line is self and pride.  I am so focused on myself and my desires,  that I rob someone else the encouragement that thankfulness provides.  A heart that is acutely aware of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and it’s implication for this life, will overflow with gratefulness, first to God, then, to others.  Colossians 2:6,7 says, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving”.

Now onto dessert!  Everyone loves a good dessert.  Well, here are 2 fail-proof recipes to wow all of your Thanksgiving guests.  Perhaps that is a bit overstated,  but these desserts are yummy.  I can say that only because neither originated with me.  These are others’ recipes that I have incorporated into my little repertoire, that have become “go to” recipes.  Enjoy!

Pumpkin Crumb Cake

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease one 9 x 13 inch pan (preferably metal).
2. In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs, sugar, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Mix well. Pour batter into the prepared pan.
3. Sprinkle the dry cake mix evenly over the pumpkin mixture. Melt the butter or margarine, and drizzle it over the cake mix. Sprinkle walnuts over the top.
4. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes, or until done.

Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie

Ingredients

FOR THE CRUMBLE TOPPING

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed

FOR THE PIE

• 1 (9 inch) single pie crust
• 6 apples – peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• dessert topping caramel sauce

I’ve heard this expressed from people over the years.  It’s a good question.  It does seem like a “downer” to consistently talk about the sinful heart or the depravity of man.  Why make such a fuss about sin?

But what if we change the question to this; “How do we make much of Christ?”  You see when we see the vileness and darkness of our sin we must grapple with the harsh reality of being bad to the core.  So when we see our sin for what it is then we see the Cross as much more glorious and gracious (a completely undeserved gift from God).  Acknowledging our sinful state shouldn’t spin us into condemnation but should drive us to an amazement that God, in his mercy, would save sinners like us.  If we don’t see how bad the bad news is (sinners deserving God’s wrath) we will never see how beautiful and incredible the good news is (salvation from wrath and life eternal). Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes, “We cannot understand the greatness of the power of God’s salvation until we have realized that man by nature is spiritually dead.”

Ephesians 2 starts off… “And you were dead in the trespasses and sins…”, later Paul writes, “Remember that at one time you…seperated from God…without hope….”  Each time after he shows us the depravity of man he goes on to highlight the sheer mercy of God through Christ.  Puritan Thomas Wilcox says this, “Whoever is afraid to see sin’s utmost vileness, and to confess the desperate wickedness of his own heart, suspects the merits of Christ.”

Please read this wonderful little booklet by Puritan Thomas Wilcox called “Honey Out of the Rock”. 

One of my favorite scholars, Don Carson, addresses this important topic for an upcoming evangelistic effort in the UK.  Dr. Carson is brilliant, of course; but what he gets at so helpfully in the video below is that we can approach this issue from the wrong perspective.  We can assume that we are the judges and that we sit over the evidence for and against God’s existence, and weigh out whether or not it is convincing; but that is not the case.  You’ll have to watch the video to catch his point; but he has a great one-liner to that effect: “God will not be subject to being the conclusion of a mere syllogism and nothing else.”

Over the past several decades, there has been a growing trend in Christian theology that comes with great concerns.  Often referred to as the “health & wealth gospel”, or “the prosperity gospel”, there are many notable preachers within this stream of doctrine who variously argue that Christians who are growing in faith will also grow in their experience of God’s blessing on their physical health and the state of their financial being. Quite simply, there seems to be a sad ignorance of the reality of Christ’s call to discipleship: “take up your cross and follow me!” (Matthew 16:24-26). We are called to suffer and even to die for Jesus Christ. For most of us, there will come seasons of great suffering and financial difficulty that are ultimately from God’s hand and for our good as his children.

Recently, Christianity Today posted a video that shows the effects of the “Prosperity Gospel” in regions of Africa. This video is very humbling. It reveals how unsteady the ground becomes when we drift from the true gospel of Christ.  Take some time to watch this and then pray that our merciful God would turn the hearts of those who stray back to unshakeable ground.  The video can be found here.

Also recently, Pastor John Piper posted a video response to this false gospel of prosperity.  I appreciate his words and the passion he exhibits in establishing and defending the true gospel of Christ.

Greetings Crossway! Today begins a new series of posts on Monday’s. Seems that so much is happening in Crossway these days, that we can’t keep up on all the news. God has richly blessed us as a church and is continuing to do so in increasing ways. We want to share these evidences of God’s grace with as many folks as possible. So . . . every Monday we will put as many news items as we are able into one post highlighting God’s goodness in the lives of members of Crossway Church. Please be patient with us as we go. This is an experiment. We hope you enjoy it.

Expectant Mothers

1. Sheila Ginder – November, 2009
2. Anya Stoltzfus – November, 2009
3. Kay Gilanyi – December, 2009
4. Amanda Palmatier – January, 2010
5. Bekah Landis – January, 2010
6. Kara Miller – February, 2010
7. Sally Butler – March, 2010
8. Shallon Rohrer - March, 2010
9. Kim Randolph – April, 2010
10. Tina Lapp – April, 2010
11. Kendra Herr – May, 2010
12. Hope Bassett – May, 2010
13. Jenn Lewis – June, 2010

Noah and Rico Miranda will play in a benefit concert at Millersville University’s Lyte auditorium this Friday, Nov. 20th at 7:30pm. Details here

Christiana Goslin has a child part in the Fulton Opera House’s production of “Annie”. Email her at christygoslin@gmail.com for dates and times. Tickets are selling out!

Model Train Display – Guy Wilson will be having a model railroad open house on Nov 14th and 21st from noon to five on both days.  HO scale layout with sound equipped diesel and steam locomotives. Call the Wilson’s if you have any questions. 336-0070

Alyssa Driedger is a full time student at HACC and interested in studying counseling. This semester she is commuting to Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia and taking David Powlison’s class on Dynamics of Biblical Change. Cheers to Alyssa! Check it out.

photo by  SnapShot1951’s photostream