Crosspointe Community Church

November/December 2005

E-Newsletter

In this Issue:

From the Pastor

Current Sermon Series

This Month's Ministry Spotlight

Holiday Happenings

North Fulton Community Charities - Disaster Relief Update

Sympathy

Family Forum

Garage Sale Report

C.L.A.S.S.

Metanoia Update

The Pointe Student Ministry

From the Kids Corner

Upcoming Calendar Dates

Psalm 135:1-3 goes straight to the heart of who we are and what we are to be about, “Praise the Lord.  Praise the name of the Lord; praise him, you servants of the Lord.  Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.”

As Christians, you and I are servants of the Lord.  That’s who we are.  As servants, we live to Praise Him.

Honestly, there are times that I feel that I am serving everything and everyone except the Lord.  And during those times I really don’t feel like praising…period.  The busyness and pace of life can rob us and God of praise.

We are entering the season (between Thanksgiving and New Years) when we will be tempted to become servants of our schedules, others expectations and long-held traditions.  None, in and of themselves, are bad.  Neither are any of these non-negotiable. 

My encouragement to you (and me) is to take your plans and schedule to our Master and ask Him to establish your steps during this frantic time of the year.  How will you know if you are following His counsel?  Praise!  You will have the heart and time for praising Him.

Whether you feel like it or not, take the advice of the Psalmist, “Praise the Lord…Praise Him…for He is good!”

Listed below are specific times and ways we will praise the Lord as a church family:

ü      Sunday, Nov. 20: Celebration of Marriage Service – Praise Him for the gift of marriage and His power for our marriages

ü      Sunday, Nov. 27: Thanksgiving Service – Praise Him for the many, many blessings He has provided

ü      Sunday, Dec. 4: Christmas Banquet – Praise Him for the gift of fun, food and family

ü      Sunday, Dec. 18: Christmas Children’s Program – Praise Him for the gift of His Son and our children

ü      Saturday, Dec. 24: Christmas Eve Service – Praise Him for the gift of abundant and eternal Life  

So, how about it?  Are you ready to praise Him?  What do you say we praise Him together…

See you Sunday,

Mike

Sr. Pastor

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“And God spoke all these words: ‘I am the Lord your God…’”

Exodus 20:1-20 (NIV)

Psychologists tell us that boundaries provide security, protection, and self-esteem. Long before psychology, God provided ten clear boundaries to protect His people from harm and give them the highest values ever recorded on the earth. This fresh look at the Ten Commandments will help you discover God's boundaries for your highest, best and most abundant living.

• 9/25    Honoring God

• 10/2    Accepting No Substitutes

• 10/9    Guarding Your Mouth

• 10/16  Resting Right

• 11/6  Prioritizing Family

• 11/13  Valuing Life

• 11/20    Honoring Marriage

• 11/27  Taking the High Road

• 12/4  Telling the Truth

• 12/11  Learning Contentment

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Two of our elders, Jeff Lantz and Doug Bailey, will be "rolling off" of the rotation this year.  We'd like to take a moment to recognize and honor them for the service that they have provided us.    In addition to the many other ministries that these gentlemen help facilitate, they have spent much time and prayer faithfully discerning God's direction for our church.  When you see these guys around, be sure to thank them for their service to our community!  Thanks, Jeff and Doug...we appreciate you!

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Crosspointe's Annual Women's Truly Ornamental Evening.

All women, college age and above, are invited to attend our holiday kick off event on Thursday, December 1, from 7pm to 9pm at Marsha Feldman's home. Check the info card if attending  and bring two new wrapped ornaments (one for exchanging, and one for our Katrina Relief partner church) and your favorite hors d'oeurves. Be sure to invite a guest!

Let's Decorate!  Christmas carols playing in the background, hot coco and laughter.. Sound like fun? Come join us Saturday morning, December 3 from 9:30 to 12 noon as we prepare the worship center and lobby for holiday celebration and spruce up the church for the holiday season. If you can' t make it then, consider helping with the decorating during the day Monday, November 28 and Tuesday, November 29, 9am til 3pm.

Christmas Banquet - The date for this year's Christmas banquet is Sunday, December 4th at 6:00pm.  This is one of Crosspointe's largest annual outreach events.  Please prayerfully consider who you can invite to experience an evening of fun and family.  Tickets will go on sale this Sunday, November 13. The cost for tickets will be $10 each.  Invitations will also be available to you at that time for you to use to invite friends, co-workers and family.  If you would like to "help make the banquet happen," please contact Marsha Feldman (770-640-9959, marsha@crosspointeonline.org).

(Also, in preparation for the banquet, please return to the church any

church tablecloths you may have at home. Thank you!)

Christmas Card Exchange -  Coming Soon!  Look for the Card Exchange table in the lobby soon.  Folders will be provided for your card exchange with Crosspointe members, friends and regular attenders.  Please consider donating the cost of postage saved to the Lottie Moon foreign missions offering, which supports mission teams across the world.  Envelopes for Lottie Moon donations will be provided as well as a list of member & attender names.

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Crosspointe extends our prayers and heartfelt sympathy to

Elizabeth Bateman upon the recent passing of her father,

Merrill Crissey.

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Family forums (held on the 1st Wednesday of each month) are a time for Crosspointe to come together as a church family to share experiences and insights and also to pray for church-wide concerns.  Everyone is encouraged to attend.  The next family forum will be held upstairs  (in the Life School Suite 310) on:

December 7 @ 7:00pm

Topics will include:

• Missions Dates & Ministry Opportunities

• Katrina Relief

• South Africa

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“Thank You!” to all who helped make the semi-annual Crosspointe Garage Sale for missions a huge success.  The Hobbs Life Group organized the sale, many Crosspointe member and friends donated truck loads of “treasures”, 17 children, youth & adults worked the sale and in the end – 3 truck loads of unsold items went to The Salvation Army, a kitchen table & chairs, a couch & 2 lamps were donated to the Ledfords, and as for the rest of the “treasures” – well it all looked like junk to me, but God turned them into $1,236.18 for Crosspointe’s upcoming missions projects.

Yeah God!!!

Take the next step!!!

• CLASS 101 provides attenders with an overview of Crosspointe's structure and beliefs. 
• CLASS 201 reveals the habits of the growing Christian life. 
• CLASS 301 will help you discover your God-given SHAPE for ministry. 

The next CLASS offering will be:

Sunday, January 15, 12:30pm

Sunday, January 22, 12:30pm

**Meals and materials will be provided for those that sign up.  Look in your bulletin and on the information card for an opportunity to RSVP for the next offering or call the church office (770-640-9959).

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Dear Crosspointe Family,

We’re enjoying a crisp, cool Maryland Fall as I write this update. Ministry with Metanoia is underway and we are currently investing our time in three specific areas:

1) Relational Development – My part-time job as a coffeeshop barista has allowed me to meet many new people (and drink copious amounts of coffee). I am meeting weekly with two non-Christians and recently was able to share the Gospel with one of them. Kim is connecting with other teachers at her school, and Scott is making connections with the younger 20-something crowd. The other planters on the team, Matt and Jenny Otto, are pursuing relational opportunities within their neighborhood and at their respective jobs.

2) Pre-believer Bible Study – In just over two weeks we hope to begin a bi-monthly (2x’s a month) Bible study for at least 3 non-Christians who have expressed interest in knowing more about Christ and Christian community.

3) Core Group – Our partner churches in the area been heavily involved in sending teams down to the Gulf Coast to help with hurricane relief. As a result we have been delayed in bringing together a core group. Our team will be speaking at the worship services of these churches throughout November in hopes of gathering names of persons interested in being a part of the church plant. We hope to meet as a new core group at the beginning of the new year. This delay has been to our benefit as we have been afforded more time to solidify our mission, vision, values and strategy and have been able to “gel” as a leadership team.

Please continue to remember us in your prayers daily. We miss our Crosspointe family and look forward to seeing again.

Godspeed,

Adam Feldman

news@metanoiachurch.org

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May I be the first to wish you Happy Holidays!  Just in case you didn’t know, as of today’s date (11-10-05), there are only 45 days left until Christmas – which means there are even less days until the annual Crosspointe Kids Corner Christmas Program!  No need to panic – we have already started practicing.  And, for the next 5 Sundays, we will continue to practice during both the 9:30 & 10:45 time slots.  We will sing, dance, practice our lines and prepare to perform.  We will have only one additional rehearsal (the Dress Rehearsal – date & time to be announced) so it is very important that the children (K-5th) attend every Sunday possible between now and the performance.

“The Legend of The Christmas King” will be performed Sunday morning December 18th during the 10:45 service.

Mark your calendars and plan to have your children be apart of this exciting Crosspointe annual event.

See you in The Corner,

“Miss” Tammy

Director of Children’s Ministries

(770)509-7725

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*Printed copies of the November & December calendars are available in the lobby.

*Be sure to check the online calendar on the Crosspointe website for any changes & updates.

NOVEMBER

• Nov. 13 – Special time of Prayer for John Boyd during Worship Service

• Nov. 13 – WarPT meeting, 12:30pm

• Nov. 20 – Marriage Celebration Service, 10:45am

• Nov. 21-23 - Decorate Worship Center

• Nov. 23 - Churchwide Prayer cancelled for Thanksgiving Holiday

• Nov. 24^th – Thanksgiving Day

• Nov. 24 & 25 – Crosspointe offices Closed

• Nov. 27 -  1^st Sunday of Advent, No 9:30am classes

DECEMBER

• Dec. 1 – Women's Ornamental Evening, 7pm, Marsha Feldman’s house

• Dec. 4 - 2^nd Sunday of Advent

• Dec. 4 – Annual Christmas Banquet, 6pm - 8:30pm

• Dec. 11 - 3^rd Sunday of Advent

• Dec. 18 - 4^th Sunday of Advent

• Dec. 18 – Christmas Children’s Program, 10:45am

• Dec. 24 – Christmas Eve Service, 6pm

• Dec. 25 – Christmas Day, No Morning Services

• Dec 30-31 - Crosspointe Offices Closed

• Dec. 31 - New Year's Eve

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