Sunday was Father’s Day. And it was a great day in that we celebrated Fatherhood. We began the service with a Letterman-esque Top Ten List on being a Husband/Father; a Crossroads Partner named Bob led a communion meditation that discussed God as our perfect Father who gave up His son for us; I preached a sermon on Excellence in Fatherhood from Genesis 21-24 (listen at www.crossroadsofjoliet.org/listen.html); and we ended the service with a challenge and blessing for fathers. It was Father’s Day.
It was also the end of a sermon series called “Almost Famous Families” that was received really well. We preached two sermons on parenting, two sermons on marriage, and a sermon on staying faithful to God as a family. I think it was one of the better Family Series I have preached. We had lots of good responses, all sermons on CDs disappeared from the welcome center, and it was evident that the Holy Spirit used this series to instruct and convict.
What has surprised me in this process is the lack of understanding about healthy families. After talking with the folks each week it occurred to me how very messed up so many families in our sphere of ministry really are—probably more so than what is common in mid-western, bible-belt America (which I am used to). I’m just trying to communicate God’s high-standard for family with God’s grace toward those who seek Him and still fail. It’s a fine line.
Attendance was just OKAY. It has dropped a bit since Memorial Day, which I guess should be expected since it’s Summertime and since we have such a high percentage of unChurched people who attend Crossroads. I haven’t heard our numbers for offering, but it has been a bit low for the last six weeks or so. We do have some big expenses coming up rather quickly, starting this week with the construction crew fixing/working on our parking lot.
Also, we have two ladies who are going to be baptized into Christ this week—which is very exciting. I am getting ready to start a new series this week from Psalm 23 called The Shepherd. We have an Outreach Event this weekend at the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life which is a nationwide fund-raiser for cancer research. We are going to give about 1000 bottles of cold water to all those walking the Relay. We also have a kid’s ministry event at Splash Station. Soooo, it’s going to be a very busy week.
But I’m looking forward to seeing God at work in our church and in people’s lives. He is awesome!
