CrossPoint Newsletter

Fourth Edition 8/7/2023

All of CrossPoint Churches' staff made the trek to Salina last month to enjoy time with each other, training, resting, serving, and worshipping. 90+ staff, from full-time to volunteers, come together yearly to build unity as one church in many locations. Each year, we spend time diving deep into one or more of the elements of our Culture Stack. The Culture Stack is the document that holds all of our mission and vision statements, attributes, and expectations of all who we call staff. This year's focus was on being an ambassador of Christ in our families, church, and world. The Lead Pastors challenged the staff throughout the 3-day event to live our lives in such a way that there is no question that we are residents of the Kingdom of God and are on a mission with God where we live, work, and play.

This concept comes from 2 Corinthians 5:20:

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you, on behalf of Christ, to be reconciled to God. (ESV)

While this is incredibly important for our staff, I would argue that it is just as crucial for the whole church to understand and ultimately orient our lives around it. Let's take a closer look at this passage.

We Are Ambassadors

As Paul writes to the church in Corinth, he wants them to make this distinction. God's people are not at home on Earth; we are residents of the Kingdom of God. We are not talking about semantics; we truly become a new creation with a new home when we surrender to Christ. So, as we walk around and "do life" here, we need to understand we aren't just sitting around waiting for Jesus to show up and relieve us of our duties here; instead, we get to live each day with purpose on a mission from God himself.

Making His Appeal Through Us

The earthly equivalent of this concept is when one country places a person in another country to be a representative of the sending country. Here is the most significant difference between the US ambassador to Chile and us. We are not just representatives; God is making His appeal through us. We don't just speak to the interest of God; we are conduits of the mission of God.

Be Reconciled To God

Verse 18 of the same chapter says that when he reconciled us to Himself, he also gave us "the ministry of reconciliation." It's why we aren't immediately taken to be with Jesus when we are saved; He's not done. This truth is important because it clearly and simply states our purpose as long as we still roam this planet. We are sent to those that don't know Christ so that He can supernaturally work through us to continue his mission of reconciliation. Then, just as Jesus shared with his disciples: 

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Matthew 24:14 (ESV)

Eric Franklin

Lead Pastor Team

Executive Lead Pastor

We have seen so many exciting things in Lindsborg recently! In the past couple of years the Lord has continued to grow us in many different ways! Each of the last three years we have seen steady growth in church attendance to the point in 2023, our worship center and kid areas are getting maxed out on space, which is a wonderful problem to have! Even during the summer months this year when it is usual to see a decline in attendance, we are full on a weekly basis. It is beautiful to see the hearts of God’s people desire community even in the busyness of summer. The growth we have seen is important, but that is hardly the best thing happening in Lindsborg. 

This year, and only 7 months into the year, we have already had more baptisms in Lindsborg than the past two years combined! The baptisms have ranged from young kids giving their life to Christ for the first time to adults who have been believers for a time but never followed through in obedience in baptism. It is hard to gauge success in ministry at times. Numbers can be misleading and should not be our focus. But when God allows us to see hearts surrender to Him, to see His people start desiring Him over their possessions and time, and to see true heart change, it reminds us of the perfect, powerful God we serve. 

Pray with us: 

• The city of Lindsborg would be convicted of their sin and repent and turn to Jesus.
• CrossPoint Lindsborg would desire living intentional lives in their home, work and play.
• We would have more opportunities to reach Bethany College.

Joel Beckner

CrossPoint Lindsborg Pastor

My daily time in the Bible doesn’t always result in profound takeaways, sometimes it feels more like a meal that I forgot I ate if I am being honest. However, I am thankful for moments that I get to drill down on a particular text and ponder what I’m reading and what the Lord wants me to see and obey as a result. As I read through the Bible chronologically I’ve been in 1 Kings/2 Chronicles most recently. This past week I read about King Asa. He reigned as king for 41 years, and he appeared to be devoted to God and good to God’s people for most of those years. However, in his last years, something changed. 2 Chronicles 16:12 jumped out at me as I read it, “In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease he did not seek the Lord, but sought help from physicians.”

Is God against modern medicine? No. He’s against self-reliant hearts. C.S. Lewis said, “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains.” God was shouting, but Asa put his fingers in his ears and quit seeking the Lord for help. Instead, he relied on his resources, connections, and access to medicine. In short, Asa trusted in himself. The rest of 2 Chronicles 16 makes it clear that this was his heart posture, affecting more than his health, but also how he approached his responsibilities as king (see 2 Chronicles 16:7-10).  

If I’m being honest, I share the same heart as King Asa more often than I’d like to admit. Just like him, I’ve seen in my life that has been shorter than Asa reigned as king, how the year over year battles, successes, struggles, victories, heartaches, and mundane moments present a unique temptation that whispers to my heart, “You’ve been here before. You’ve got this.” This temptation creeps into our families, finances, careers, and relationships. If we believe this lie, a deadly drift will slowly start to wreak havoc on the very calling God has for each of us. While this tendency to trust in ourselves is easy, it doesn’t have to be inevitable.

Colossians 2:6-7 says, “Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” We don’t receive Christ from a place of trusting in ourselves but from a place of desperate need. As Christians, we embrace and delight in the fact that Jesus Christ alone saves. This isn’t only true of when we first place our faith in Jesus, but as we “walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith.” Day after day, year after year, decade after decade, God is calling us to remember that we don’t outgrow our need, just deeper in our awareness of it and deeper in dependence upon Christ as a result. We remember our need, and rejoice in our Savior.

As I wrap this article up, my heart is particularly heavy for those of you who are struggling to trust the Lord in the midst of an onslaught of trials in your life. Sometimes our problem isn’t that we feel helpless, it’s that we don’t feel helpless enough. Coming to the end of who we are is just the beginning of coming to know all that God is for us. 

Jason Waller

Lead Pastor Team

Executive Pastor of Worship & Engagement