CrossPoint Newsletter

Fifteenth Edition 7/1/2024

“May the Lamb that was slain receive the reward of his suffering!” These words shot across the Copenhagen harbor on October 8, 1732 from John Leonard Dober and David Nitschman, two Moravian men who sold themselves into slavery as it was the only way to reach a group of slaves in the West Indies. 

Imagine being so gripped by a love for Jesus and an urgency for his mission that you would be willing to risk anything to share His good news, even sell yourself into slavery! The love of Christ compels us to take the gospel to the nations and our neighbors. And God’s Plan A to reach the world is through the local church. Who’s the church? We are!

We have been greatly blessed with godly men and women who lead and serve the church to accomplish God’s mission. Here in just a couple of weeks, all of our full-time, part-time, and volunteer staff will come together for a few days of encouragement, refreshment, and realignment to the mission that God has given us as a church to equip you to be and make disciples. We will open the Scriptures, sing, pray, and laugh. 

Your pastors and staff love Jesus, and they love the church (yes, that means you!). They so believe in God’s mission that they often work crazy hours, have restless nights, and burdened hearts. Just because they love Jesus doesn’t mean that they don’t deal with stress, worry, financial burdens, and other various trials. Your pastors and staff are people in need of Christ and community like everyone else as we all band together to accomplish God’s mission. Our annual, all-staff meeting, is a key way to provide this for our leadership.

The unity and mission we have as one church in many places is both a unique blessing and weighty responsibility and we don’t want to take it for granted. We must protect it and cultivate it through planning, preparation, and most importantly, by prayer. If you are up for the challenge, would you commit to praying for us through the month of July? Perhaps set a once-a-week alarm on your phone or mark your calendar as a reminder to pray for your pastors and staff for the month of July. Here are a few prayer prompts to help guide your prayers for our All Staff meeting this year:

• Pray that God would give us the stamina and brain space needed as we hear about what we believe He is asking us to do.
• Pray that God will continue to unify us in His mission to reach our communities for Jesus.
• Pray that God will encourage and provide for us as we get together.

In addition to prayer, if you would like to financially give or help in any way, email info@crosspointchurch.com. Thank you for financially giving so that we can bless our leadership in this way. Thank you for loving and caring for the leaders God has given his church at CrossPoint. May Jesus receive the reward of his suffering. He is worthy!

Jason Waller

Lead Pastor

Isn’t it awesome when you see God move in ways you never imagined He would? It was never a matter of if He could, but if He would and how He would go about doing it. It was only five years ago that the leadership at First Baptist Church in Liberal, KS found themselves seeking the Lord, unsure of what He would do, but filled with expectant faith of what He could. We are now a little over two years of being a CrossPoint location and we have seen the Lord move in unimaginable ways. We are seeing an attendance surge not just in our worship service, but across every ministry of our church. More than half of our church is made up of new attendees from the last two years. The growth we get the most excited about is the growth we are seeing in our grow groups and our serve teams. Not only are people “coming and seeing” but they are laying down roots where they are growing in obedience and being discipled to live like Jesus. 

Join us in prayer:

• Pray that God would continue to instill a heart for discipleship in our church
• Pray that God would teach us how to live sacrificially for the sake of the gospel
• Pray that God would raise up new leaders who have the desire to love and serve the church

Jonathan Zamora

Location Pastor

With the Fourth of July just around the corner, we’re all looking forward to fireworks, barbecues, and a little time off. It’s a great time to celebrate our freedom, our heritage, and the old Red, White, and Blue.

But, when I was asked to write an article answering the question, “Is it OK to be patriotic and a believer?” I knew that the question was about the current hot topic of Christian nationalism.

If you don’t know what the definition of a Christian nationalist is, you’re in good company. It’s kind of all over the map. But, if I can paint a stereotypical picture, it’s someone who believes in God, guns, and ‘Merica and they are often known for being bold and brash about all three.

The problem is, while I’m a proud gun owner and lover of the land in which I live, these things are not on par with my faith in Jesus Christ. It’s definitely OK to be patriotic and a believer, but as a believer, there are some things that just have to come first.

Let me reference Acts 4:12 as an example, “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” 

I hope you love our country, it’s got a lot to love about it, even with its faults. I’m thankful for our freedom, our constitution, and all those who came before us to give us what we have today. That being said, when people say they love “God and country” and they put them on the same shelf, that becomes a problem.

1. Jesus first - the patriotic believer needs to remember what was just taught in the verse above. There is no other name by which we can be saved. Not a historical revolutionary hero or a current political leader. Only Jesus! We can be passionate about many things as believers, including our patriotism. But, if our top-tier passion isn’t Jesus, then we’re out of line and out of order. Everything else must fall under that, and bow a knee to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
2. Our goal is a Christian church not a country - everything in scripture teaches us to be a body of believers that shine like lights in the darkness. It tells us to submit to our authorities whenever possible, but it never once tells us to form a government, to legislate morality, or to culturally systematize the faith. We are called to be the church, no matter what government exists around us. We must be careful not to think that we need a Christian nation, but we can be Christians in a nation. We can never mandate the beliefs of a culture, because if we did, we would actually be creating a false church of people paying taxes to a God, homage to an image, and spewing beliefs they don’t really hold. Remember, Jesus told us to build His church, not His country.   
3. Enjoy and endure - I am so thankful to be living when and where I am. And because I’m an American in 2024 I can enjoy incredible freedoms and liberties that I know are a gift of grace. But if that were not the case, I would still need to be a believer when and where God has placed me and endure for the sake of the gospel. Patriotism is an act of gratitude for the fact that we can be the church God has called us to be without the struggle that other believers have and will have around the world.

In this season of patriotism, I celebrate the veterans in the victories of the past that give us the freedom that we have today!

In the present I am thankful and grateful for what I’ve been given, so I will celebrate and fly the Red, White, and Blue as one of the many things I’m thankful for in my life as a believer.

And I will vote, speak, and act for the future because I am submitting to the authorities and being a part of the government in which I’ve been placed. It’s my duty, honor and responsibility.

But, I must remind us all that everything which I enjoy as an “American“ I enjoy under the umbrella of my faith in a loving God and His son Jesus Christ. I am not so much a member of a church as I am a citizen of a kingdom.

And I remember the Lord’s prayer… “May your kingdom come, and your will be done.“

Andy Addis

Lead Pastor