The Why before The Y (Happy Birthday Crosspointe)

Happy Birthday Crosspointe. 
It all began 17 years ago this weekend. And here we are, beginning some more.

We are getting ready to embark on a bit of history. I'm sure you've heard. For the next few weeks we'll discuss what that looks like. It's not hyperbole to refer to this as a game changer for our Church, for our community and even for how church is done around the world. And we get to be part of it.

Today, before we get into all this in coming weeks, talk as a group about church. Not simply a rah rah over Crosspointe, but a reminder that Christ all those years ago seemed to think it was a good idea to leave communities of people, imbued with his Spirit, at the helm of love and rescue. Talk about that, and what it means today. Because you're part of it. There's really no call like the call for imperfect people to follow this Christ, to be his people for the sake of the world. 


Thaw

• Rake or leaf-blower? Go.
• How long have you been going to Crosspointe, and how did you find the church? 

Leader note: You may have already dealt with this question, especially if you are in a BETA Group. You might want to put "What makes a good church?" in its place.

• What most impacted you from Sunday?

Read

• John 13:34-35
• Thoughts?
• What do you think it means for a church, a gathering of people who are putting more and more of their confidence in the Christ and Christ's way, to be known by something like love?
• What would you say people know followers of Christ for these days, generally?
• How might Crosspointe and the YMCA's partnership address your answer to the previous question, as well as Christ's words in John 13?

Read

The Epistle to Diognetes, c. AD 130

"... Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life.

They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all others; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death and restored to life. They are poor yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things and yet abound in all; they are dishonored and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of and yet are justified; they are reviled and bless; they are insulted and repay the insult with honor; they do good yet are punished as evildoers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred. To sum it all up in one word -- what the soul is to the body, that are Christians in the world."

• Thoughts?

Read

From the Apology of Tertullian, AD 197 (a letter explaining Christianity to Roman citizens)

"It is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. "See," they say, "how they love one another," for they themselves are animated by mutual hatred. "See," they say about us, "how they are ready even to die for one another," for they themselves would sooner kill.

• Thoughts?

Read

• Romans 12:1-5
• Ephesians 5:1
• 1 Corinthians 12:27
• Thoughts?
• Consider Christ's values and agenda in the world. What does it mean to be the body of this Christ, mimickers of this Christ, connected to the other body parts and mimickers of this Christ?

Discuss

• Do you consider yourself part of the body of Christ, or something else? Explain?
• If you do not consider yourself part of the body of Christ, how might this group help you feel like you were?

Leader note: The reasoning they share here might have to do with a resistance to being conformed to the ideology of his or her parents or others they don't respect. It might have to do with past wounds caused at church. It might have to do with a sense of shame and therefore a self-inflicted distance (banishment). As much as is appropriate, try and help each member understand that we are not part of this by our perfection, but by our faith that there's something stronger than our errors. Forgiveness of course isn't mere tolerance, but inclusion in Christ's work. No matter who we are, we are forgiven AND THEN hired for work, incorporated into Christ's loving service to the world.


Prayer

• In coming weeks, Crosspointe will officially link arms by way of finances, prayer and more in The Why Project campaign. Pray as a group, and continue doing so, as we move into this next chapter together. Pray for the leadership of the Triangle YMCA. Pray for the leadership of Crosspointe. Pray for all who call Crosspointe home. Pray for all the details meticulously crafted over the last three years, such as the lease, the financial elements, the architectural designs, civil engineering, the timeline. Pray for the thousands upon thousands of children, young adults, men and women from every sort of background, whom we've not met yet but will get to serve in a way we otherwise never could have. And very significantly, pray for your LifeGroup and the dozens of others who meet throughout the triangle- for the commitment it will require of all of us, those who comprise Christ's body in this area.