Crossroads Church

Today we worshiped at Crossroads Church, 707 Thomson Park Drive, Cranberry Twp., PA 16066, 412.494.9999, www.crossroadsumc.org, Pastor Mike Arnold.

Scripture – Luke 12:22-31 (NIV)

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

“Consider how the wild flowers grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.”

Bob’s thoughts:

I was glad to visit this church again; it was good to hear God’s word spoken and appreciate my own guilty pleasure of great coffee. I am limited to decaf and it is seldom worth drinking.

I believe our first visit here was before we began the blog and the church was new to this space. They are at home here now with a number of satellite locations.

I noted a massive-looking wooden cross that I do not recall seeing before and a large projection screen above the worship team. We were welcomed by a number of people.

The sermon was delivered by the youth director who seemed very much at ease with his message. He developed it well with good Scripture references in a timely manner.

The theme of handling stress might be identified with “don’t worry, be happy.” God tells us not to worry or fear but we never seem to be comfortable doing so.

Jan’s thoughts:

This being Grandparents’ Day, we opted to attend church with our grandchildren where they and their parents have been attending. It has been two years since we last visited this church and not a lot has changed that I could tell.

We were greeted at the door by two gentlemen and by a number of people once inside. Since Bob and I arrived before our family, we got a cup of coffee and sat down at one of the tables with a few members. We were warmly welcomed and invited into the conversation immediately.

The music was well done and enthusiastically presented at a volume that did not require earplugs.

This church has a relationship with a church in Mozambique and the picture board in the corner of the fellowship area brought back fond memories of Malawi.

The lead pastor was out of town so the message, “How Can I Handle Stress?” was presented by Tim Fray, the youth pastor. He spoke of the fact that everyone feels stress and that not all stress is bad; in fact, we function better with some stress. The problem arises with unrelieved stress, i.e., lack of rest. Rest is a good thing, and the Sabbath is important.

He pointed out that Jesus was never in a hurry and that the way to deal with stress is to act on what we can and trust God with what we can’t control.

He suggested we can act to create margin with our time, money, and rest and build trust in God by rehearsing God’s past goodness to us. In order to trust God more, know God deeper.

Resting, doing what I can and giving it to God and trusting Him to bring about what is best, appeals to me.

Our prayer for this church:

Father, we pray this church will be free from worry and stress to worship and enjoy You. Amen.