Archive for the ‘What’s On Our Mind’ Category
Reverse Thinking…
The world has always offered, and will continue to offer, things that are said to provide “a fulfilled and meaningful life.” However, once the temporary pleasures and quick fixes run out we find we’re left with nothing. The only certainty we have in following the world’s standards is an endless cycle of dissatisfaction. It’s a lose-lose situation. When we give in to the temptations of this life, we allow the ways of the world to chokehold our thinking.
Scripture tells us we have been made in God’s image and given the mind of Christ. ( 1 Corinthians 2:16, Ephesians 2:10) Instead of accepting the lies of the enemy, what if we embraced God’s truth? What if we allowed Christ to reverse our thinking…
CrossWalk Spring Retreat
We love Spring Retreats! There’s always a new adventure to discover filled with laughter and fond memories. Our weekend started on Friday evening as we headed to Whitewater Express in Copperhill Tennessee. We were absolutely blown away by the beautiful scenery on the way. During our awing and marveling at the scenic drive, one of our 6th grade students said, “What if the sky is a part of one of God’s eyes….” (It was a great reminder of how truly great our God is!)
On Saturday, some of our activities included paintball, horseback riding, a high ropes course and white water rafting. The students did a great job! Many of them tried an activity for the first time and displayed positive attitudes while encouraging each other. Teamwork, cooperation and flexibility are key during retreat activities and our 5th and 6th grade students rose to the occasion!
Our theme for the weekend was Solo de Gloria; “for the glory of God”. Sometimes it’s easy to get caught up in the routines of life, forgetting we were made for a higher purpose. We forget that our every action and thought should radiate with the love of Christ and bring glory to God. Instead, we try to fill our lives with things that we think will make us happy, only to find they’re temporary fixes. Jesus is our answer! He’s life, healing, and purpose! A life devoted to Christ, glorifying Him in what we do is life at its best! What a mighty God we serve! 
We are blessed with some awesome students in CrossWalk and are grateful to be a part of what the Lord is doing in each one of their lives.
We look forward to seeing you on our next adventure!
~The CrossWalk Team
Graduating Seniors
This past Sunday, May 1st was spent celebrating and honoring our Graduating Class of 2011!
As a staff, we loved getting to spend time with our seniors and their families. It was a special time of remembrance, fellowship, and looking with hope and excitement towards the amazing things God has in store for each individual.
We wanted to share the wisdom that Dr. Michael Youssef passed on to our Seniors in a personal letter which he shared in his blog, “Before You Go To College.”
Seniors, we love you and are so grateful for the time you have spent here in STS. May you know our Savior’s peace and joy as you move on to whatever He has in store for you.
CONGRATS TO THE CLASS OF 2011:
Brian Basco Allison Brackin Kevin Cason Lee Caswell John Cooledge Maggie Cox Aaron Cutbirth Molly Cypher Haley Denisoff Sophie Dillard Kevin Donahue Patce Dutcher Elizabeth Elmore John Friedman Janey Fugate Matthew Gentry Tillman Hamilton Paige Hogan Collier Horton Blake Kennedy Kiersten Kivinge Gracie Laminack Barlow Marriott Ben Mathis Warren McClure Bain Morgan Jessica North Mary Elise Ottley Shepard Parke Joseph Raymond Chris Reagan Lauren Rosemond Conrad Rybka Ariel Schulze Amanda Shilling Nick Smith Tim Smith Bryce TeBeest Allice Termure Avery Thomas Joanna Toso Zach Turner Mason Upshaw Dory Wexler Avery Wiens Matthew Wilkes Melody YooEaster
Easter is a favorite time of year for me. The Spring season is rolling in and I’m always reminded of how important faith and family are in our lives. Though I haven’t been given an Easter basket in many years, I can remember the time when I would run downstairs to find a basket with fake grass of every pastel color nesting a chocolate bunny of some sort. Somewhere along the way Easter became a bit commercialized, but for many of us it is a time to remember the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Three key verses speak to who we are in Christ, where we plan to go, and the confidence we should have as a result of God’s grace.
Philippians 3:20-21 “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
To use a great quote of the past, “we are saints who sin on our way to heaven”. We should take incredible comfort in the fact that the Gospel gives us the opportunity to understand the importance of Easter. Because of Jesus’ work on the cross when we accept him as our personal Savior we become citizens and co-heirs with Lord Jesus himself. Our eternal residence is in the Kingdom of God and therefore we should make the most of our lives in the flesh bringing glory to the Father in all we do.
2 Timothy 2:11-12 “Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him.”
This should give us hope at Easter time and throughout the year. Every waking day provides an opportunity to die to self. Our selfish motives are continually influenced by the world around us. The easiest way to fit in is to join the majority. Sadly, the majority are walking away from the Lord who saves. The Kingdom of God is yours. Live for Christ and walk in true freedom. Even when we struggle and fail we need to remember that the “work” was completed on the cross. Our best effort at life still leaves us in need of forgiveness and direction based on absolute truth.
Hebrews 4:16 “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
Easter is a time to recall all of what living for Christ entails. Let’s live for Christ and strive to point others toward His love. Take comfort in the truth found in Hebrews 4:16. Nothing should stand in the way of us as we seek the King. God’s grace is a gift that continues to give. Isn’t it amazing that the only thing God asks of us is to put our faith in Him, love Him with all of our heart, and receive the eternal forgiveness which was & is made possible by & through Jesus Christ.
Enjoy your Easter Sunday and give your family the gift of love. Ask yourself, how can I honor Jesus and serve my family this Easter? As Easter comes and goes, remember that Easter is the reality of our Savor Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection. Chocolate bunnies and jelly beans can be enjoyed, but Jesus is the celebration.
~Rand Eberhard
“Don’t Waste Your Sports”
Springtime is right around the corner and many of us will be spending a lot of time on the road going to youth sporting events. This is an exciting time of the year but can be an exhausting time of the year as well. All parents want our children to enjoy playing sports and learn many valuable lessons along the way.
As a parents I want my children to learn the importance of working together as a team, showing good sportsmanship in winning and losing, working hard to achieve a goal and many other things.
But how many of us stress to our children the importance of playing sports to the glory of God? The Apostle Paul reminds us in 1st Corinthians 10:31 ” so whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God”.
I recently came across a video that I would like to recommend. The title of the video is Don’t Waste Your Sports. The message is an hour long, but you could watch it in 20 min. segments. Pastor C. J. Mahaney, of Sovereign Grace Ministries, not only challenges the player in how they play their sport to the glory of God but also the spectator in how he or she watches from the sideline to the glory of God (ouch!).
~Mark Johnston
Bass & Blast
BASS & BLAST – Not Your Typical Dad & Son Retreat
I am not sure where to begin as far as describing the Bass & Blast Retreat that the STS staff orchestrated. This was not your typical STS retreat due to the fact that for every student there had a parent/grandfather to chaperone… this helped keep the dads in line☺. The overall location was something out of a movie, I could not describe it in words so please see the shot I took via my blackberry (yes we forgot the camera) early morning Saturday while my son Zack fished:
The retreat started off with Mike (the pancake guy) Sessoms preaching on “Good:” what is good in the eyes of God. The theme eventually developed into Brian teaching on how David the shepherd boy was chosen by God to be king, even though he was extremely young, which drove home the accountability factor for our sons.
Somewhere along the way I had time to not only share my testimony with other dads but receive theirs. The dads were able to gather around the camp fire and connect to each other and eventually connect back to our sons. The theme transformed into removing the masks, as men, as husbands, friends, brothers, and ultimately fathers and sons. I was truly moved and thankful for what God was doing.
Outside of having a closeness with God, the other dads, and the STS brothers, I had time to reconnect to my son, to fish, to discuss life and to shoot. Being a city kid from New Jersey you really never get a legal opportunity to fire shotguns, so it was not only my son’s first time shooting a shotgun but mine as well. Zack and I bonded on many levels. I am so grateful to the STS team for orchestrating this opportunity!
~ Ray Seid
“It’s In The Giving That We Recieve”
“It’s In The Giving That We Receive” -St. Francis of Assisi
St. Francis of Assisi’s statement was so evident to me this weekend. I got the opportunity to serve in our city by volunteering through urban missions programs. Our 45 STS students teamed up with Rescue Atlanta, My Sister’s House, Resource Ministries and Back to the Streets.
What a blessing to be able to serve alongside STS going throughout the city! From organizing clothes at a homeless shelter to interacting with the less fortunate, it brings me a lot of joy. Particularly, I enjoyed spending time with many of the children of women living at My Sister’s House, Atlanta Mission’s home for women and children who have experienced domestic violence in their past. It was obvious that our STS teens enjoyed the conversations and time spent as much as the kids there did.
Nick and STS students at My Sister's House
It seems to me that a lot of people wait for God to move them to serve, but that’s not always the case. The Bible makes it clear that serving is not just what a Christian does, it’s also who he is. This weekend, we got to live out Jesus’ words in Matthew 25:40: “Truly I say to you, as you did it unto the least of these my brothers, you did it to me”.
~Nick Smith, 12th grade student
Snow man
Snow…Snow… and more Snow… that is pretty much all we have heard about this past week. And if you are like me, you are probably pretty tired of the snow. But the interesting thing is that the snow, which is actually still on the ground in many areas, accumulated only for a couple hours Sunday night, but it is still on the ground! So where does this snow come from? Well, the simple answer is it comes from the sky, but who is in control of this snow?
“10 The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. 11 He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. 12 At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them” Job 37:10-12
God is in control of the snow; every snow flake! To do an illustration of this, I took some time Sunday in CROSSWALK to make my own snow and see how good I was at creating snow. For this experiment, I purchased a retro snow cone maker, and two bags of ice from the gas station. I then began to create snow with the snow cone maker as fast as I could! After about 45 minutes of snow making, and the silly faces from everyone that walked by, I accumulated a little square of about 2 inches of snow… Not very much…
After this I asked two students to make snow men out of my snow. The picture to the left is the result. As you can see, it was hard to make a nice snow man with the snow I made: the snow began to melt because of the room temperature, it was little softer than I would have liked, and I wanted more to make a larger snow man! To compare these 
snow men to a real snow man, this picture to the right shows a snow man Megan and I found after only an hour of snow. Big difference!
There is one simple lesson I learned from this experiment: Man cannot control the weather. As much as we try to manipulate the roads to make them melt, create more rain when we need it, stop a storm in its tracks, it is impossible for us to control the weather. But as we see from the bible verse above, God is in control and He is sovereign over His creation — no snow flake can fall without His activity and design. As I thought of this, it reminded me of humans in general, and how hard we often try with good works to save ourselves. We create these tiny snow men and think that we are good enough, when in fact God wants to work something far larger by saving us in His sovereign grace; He alone is the one that seeks and finds us. As an example of this, if you are a 5th and 6th grader, I want you to find the hidden snow man on the STS website. The hidden snow man will have something hidden on his stomach. Look around on the STS website and see if you can find him, when you do, email me a description of the image that is on his stomach to [email protected], and the first girl and boy to complete this task will get the candy bar of their choice Sunday morning! Hurry up and start looking for the snow man!
Text Message Q/A #6 -Why Worship?
If God has all of heaven to entertain Him, why does He care if we sing to Him?
“I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.” –Psalm 9:1-2
We’re going to correlate the word sing used in this question with worship, as singing is a form of worship. (Worship doesn’t equal singing and singing doesn’t equal worship, however, a lifestyle of worship is our response to God’s amazing grace.) With this thought in mind let’s look at a simple question: “What is the purpose of worship?”
In our “me, myself, and I” culture, we tend to focus on us, don’t we? We invest a majority of our time and efforts in the people and things that give us a sense of comfort and identity. (I mean, who cares about focusing on me as long as I’m not hurting anyone else, right?) Not exactly. We have to remember that this isn’t about us; it’s about God. Focusing on ourselves robs us of a life of fulfillment and causes us to miss out on the purpose for which we were created. When we realize this we see the beauty and purpose of worship.
Psalm 19:1 says: “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.” Why? Because that’s what they were created to do, and that’s what we were created to do! It’s not that God needs our worship; He desires it. Does our worship make Him more worthy? Does it make God feel better about Himself? No. God knows who He is and He doesn’t need us to remind Him. He graciously gave us Himself through His son, and provided us with the incredible opportunity to worship Him. So, why is worship important? Well, this brings us to our next point: we’re in a constant battle for our worship. Whether we realize it or not, the enemy seeks to hinder our worship. What’s up with that!? I’ll tell you, Luke 10:18 tells us that Satan was focused on himself and continues to deceive others. He’s in the business of altering focuses. You may be thinking, “What? I didn’t choose to battle with anyone, nor do I plan on falling for some silly trick; I’m going to live my life and look both ways before crossing the street.” You can be as cautious as you like, but avoiding temptation is not an option. Matthew 4:1-11 reminds us that even Jesus was tempted. In his final attempt, Satan tried to steal Christ’s worship. However, Jesus overcame temptation by keeping His focus on His Heavenly Father. So what does this mean for us? It means we need to realize we’re like silly sheep. As great as we think we are, we can’t trust ourselves. We’ll follow anything that looks interesting unless we’re guided. Think about it like this: a good shepherd is always looking out for his sheep and calls them unto himself so they can know him. Sound familiar? Jesus is the ultimate Shepherd! He knows us, guides us, and gives us the opportunity to know Him. Worship is a unique part of our relationship with God! It’s an opportunity to draw near to Him and acknowledge Him for who He is and all He’s done. You may be thinking, “Why me?” Well, because there is no other you! The Creator knows you by name and wants a relationship with you! He loves you and delights in you! (Psalm 149:4)
It’s also important to remember that whatever we choose to worship, we will most likely become. For example, if we worship money, we’ll become greedy. If we worship stuff, we’ll become materialistic. Putting the things of this world on a pedestal jeopardizes our worship. If we want to be more like our Heavenly Father we have to spend time with Him; in His Word and through a lifestyle of worship. So how do we worship? Well, the Bible tells us that God is looking for worshippers who worship Him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) It’s not about how great of a singer you are or if you enjoy singing, it’s about your heart; whether you have a personal relationship with God. It’s about your joy in spending time with Him, and the testimony you are to others. Yes, God is surrounded by praise, but is that a license to opt out of worship? Well, it’s less about convenience and more about allegiance. It’s about giving back to God the praise He is worthy of. It’s about living a life committed to Him and bringing glory to His name.
I’ll close with this: I was in Asia a couple summers ago. One of the fondest memories I have of this trip is a little church filled with people. There were so many joyful faces! Everyone was eager to soak up the Word and proud to praise their Redeemer. This particular area in Asia is under surveillance and freedom to worship is uncertain. Did this stop anyone from worshiping and singing to God? No. People were packed into this church! Some people listened outside and others piled into the basement to listen through a wired audio system. No one budged during the message, and when the time came to sing, they sang! They didn’t care who was watching because they knew God was listening. It was a beautiful reminder of what matters. (What would life be like if singing was a threat? Would we come to church if our comforts were removed?) Maybe sometimes we take for granted the freedoms we have.
Life is a gift, and Jesus paid the ultimate price so we could be reunited with our Heavenly Father. Worship…why not?
