CrossRoads

The Church is a wonderful place and it is also a frustrating place. New people have been coming to our Church on a regular basis, but many of them have discontent for where they have been previously attending. While I want the Church to grow I would prefer that the numerical growth would happen through conversions. Before the Church can see numerical growth however it must be prepared and it must be working toward the goal of bringing new people to Christ. When I was a young Christian I experienced this once and have never forgotten the experience.

The Church was named CrossRoads and it was located on the edge of the University of Illinois Campus. The Church was started by Dave Short who Pastored the Church for several years. Dave began the Church with a vision of reaching lost souls in a liberal town and on a liberal secular campus. The only person besides Dave's wife who caught the vision for the lost was a young woman who attended the University. Together they met regularly and began to pray that God would help them reach the lost specifically. Within a few months there were services at CrossRoads with a handful of people. CrossRoads enlisted its new members to pray regularly for the lost and Dave challenged even new believers to spread the Good News on the campus. Within a few years CrossRoads had multiple services in a tiny stone building every Sunday morning. Through the week everyone began to meet in homes for small group worship. During the times of small group gatherings there was always a time of worship and a time of prayer. Many of those prayers were for salvation of the lost of that community. On Sunday mornings a few of the members would get together and pray for the services of that day and for the lost that frequently came in. I hardly remember a Sunday without a baptism during my short time at CrossRoads.

I thought a lot about CrossRoads lately since our Church is trying to reach the lost for Easter. This Easter we are holding our service at the local High School with the prayerful hope that salvation will come to those who are lost. We are praying and trusting in God's movement for this event. By doing this it forces us out of our comfort zone and hopefully will increase our faith in God. The Church does exist to help the saints grow closer to the Lord, but I am afraid that we have become to comfortable in America. The Church is not about being happy, it is becoming holy and reaching out. The second part is where we are falling short. I have a faith that God is going to give us a greater vision for the future. I believe that He is going to enlarge our hearts toward those who are around us everyday and are lost.

I recently drove past CrossRoads a few months ago. The Church no longer exists and the building has been turned into campus offices. Dave eventually left the Church and another Pastor stepped in who did not share his passion for evangelism. I don't fault CrossRoads last Pastor, but I wonder what happened to all of the passionate people that I worshipped with and their passion for the lost? The Church needs everyone to be sold out to evangelism, and if the saints are not excited together it will just become another buffett line where people just want to go and get fed. Growing in Christ is wonderful, but my growth should promote action!