Just Couldn’t Help It…

Psalm 100

¹Shout with joy to the LORD, O earth! ²Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. ³Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. ⁴Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. ⁵For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

I was reading this passage this morning and I could not help myself…I felt like everyone needed to read it and just dwell on the fact of how good our God is! It is Thanksgiving week and I just wanted to continue to give thanks where thanks is due! He and He alone is worthy of all praise, glory, honor and thanks!

Hope that you have a wonderful Thanksgiving,

Rodney

Sunday Reflections…11/22/09

As a pastor I am always a bit nervous when I walk outside on Sunday morning and it is cold and raining. Let’s be honest, you really have to love Jesus to come out in the cold and rain to worship on Sunday morning. Nonetheless people showed up yesterday and we had an awesome Pre-Thanksgiving service. It is my belief that we could minister on being thankful to God and nothing else and minister out of a thankful heart and win our communities to Jesus Christ. Let”s be THANKFUL this week.

• Thanks Pastor Chris and the worship team for ministering with such energy, enthusiasm and anointing yesterday. I would still put y’all up against any team in the nation!
• Crossway volunteers you’re the best! There is no way that we could do what we do without every one of you! Thank you so much for your time and effort…even in the rain!
• I just wanted to say thank you to the whole church for coming out in the rain and cold yesterday. It seemed to be raining the hardest about 15 minutes prior to service time, but you were here anyway. Thanks for your dedication and commitment to God and others.
• A few notes from yesterday…

Matthew Henry quote after being robbed… “Let me be thankful, first, because I was never robbed before; second, because although they took my purse, they did not take my life; third, because although they took my all, it was not much; and fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”

“If you can’t be thankful for what you receive, be thankful for what you escape.” Anonymous

Remember as you go through the week…

Thanking God is a choice…Thankfulness is about obedience…Thankfulness draws us near to God…and Thankfulness produces peace in our lives…

The message is available online @ www.crosswaychurch.com

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving week…

Rodney

Happy Thanksgiving…

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NLT) ¹⁶Always be joyful. ¹⁷Keep on praying. ¹⁸No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

If you are from Crossway this may look a little familiar. I shared this message in our November newsletter. I felt like the Blog audience needed to get in on this to. I absolutely cannot believe that it is November again. It only seemed like yesterday that I was turning forty-one and now it is time for my birthday again. No, this short note is not about my birthday but it is about a holiday that comes every year close to my birthday Thanksgiving.  Where did this year go? Was I thankful enough for all that my Heavenly Father gave me this year? Was I thankful in everything like the scripture above instructs me to be? I think these are questions that we can ask ourselves as the year 2009 is coming to an end.

I have had the opportunity to sit before a lot of people this year in many different circumstances. Some were happy, some were mourning, some were bitter, some were excited and some were bewildered by the economy and other circumstances that they were facing. I have caught myself saying more times than not but be thankful that…you fill in the blank. You are still breathing, you did not lose your home, you still have a job, your family still has a roof over its head, you have a car, you have a little bit of money to put gas in your car, you have food in your pantry and the list goes on and on. I believe that we sell our God short when we are not thankful for all the things that we take for granted on a daily basis. I love what the Apostle Paul instructs us to do in our passage “be thankful for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” These were some of his final instructions to the church in Thessalonica.

If you want to know what God’s will for you is this Thanksgiving season then take note. It has not changed. Be thankful for everything that He has done for you, is doing for you and will do for you. I had a wise preacher tell me one time, “Get up everyday and write down three things that you are thankful for and this will help you have a grateful heart.” I have been obedient to this, maybe not everyday but most and it is very seldom that I cannot find something to be thankful for and it keeps my heart healthy and grateful. If you struggle with being thankful let this be the year that God transforms you into a thankful person. Start now by creating a gratitude list of all the things that you are thankful for. You will not be sorry! May God’s blessings overtake you and yours as you celebrate His goodness in this season!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving…

Rodney

History Part 2…

Thought that I might get back to a blog that I posted in August. I have not posted in 3 months. I will be very honest and tell you that I have not had time. It has not been my priority. God, my wife,  my children and our church have been at the top of my list and I am not ashamed to post that. I am going to do my best to post weekly, but I am not going to promise anything.

Back to our history…I said before, that the small group of people began to grow. They did, and we ended up meeting on Saturday night in one location for about 6 months. After that we moved to our home where we had a building that we met in for 4 years on Sunday. During that time we built that building out twice and filled up our home as well. For numbers sake…we were probably averaging 75 people a service before we moved to our current location. (2081 Ware Street Extension-Blackshear GA-31516) We are in an old shoe factory. It is a 13,000 sq. ft. warehouse that we have renovated. We have had 3 building phases up to this point. We have secured almost 3/4 of the building. In December of last year we moved into our Worship Center that seats 400 comfortably. It has been a GREAT year!

If I could some up our story in two words they would be grace and servants. God’s grace has been so sufficient for us as we have been obedient to lean on Him to accomplish His mission. The people that serve with us and have served with us through the years have been AWESOME! Every person that has been on the journey with us has meant so much to us. We could not have done any of this without God and all of the people that have given of their lives, time, talents, resources and abilities to see the vision accomplished. Thanks to every one of you!

Good to be back on the BLOGOSPHERE again!

Until all have heard,

Rodney