Crossover is a middle school and high school youth ministry that is part of The Bridge Church Atlanta in Lawrenceville, Ga. We believe that Jesus is best thing that ever happened!
NOV 9- 5:30 PM Chili Cookoff and making signs in Crossover for our students who are getting Baptized.
NOV 16- BAPTISM in the Morning at 10:30 in the foyer (Abbi Grizzard-9th Grade, David Gant-11th Grade, Jonathan Roof-12th grade, Donald Amos-6th grade, Joel Ballew, and Deven Woods are the people I know of that are being baptized).
A) Let's make sure to be there to support them.
B) Be praying for them as they prepare to take this important step!
NOV 16- Friendly Village Visit to deliver Food and Jesus. Angel and Joel Ballew will be helping us coordinate it. We will meet at the church at 4:00, head over to Friendly Village at 4:30, hand out food, invite people to Crossover, tell people about Jesus, and then be back by 6:00 for the start of Service.
NOV 21-23- UNPLUGGED RETREAT.
DEC 12- Crossover Leader Party (Time and Location TBD)
Excuses, excuses, excuses. We have all made them for various occasions; why we are running late, why we forgot our assignment, why I forgot to take out the trash, why we don’t want to go out with someone. Our excuses can sound really ridiculous at times- "My dog ate my homework”, "I can’t because I’ve got to floss my cat tonight”.
I wonder what our excuses sound like when it comes to serving God. Jeremiah made some crazy excuses. But never once did God chide Jeremiah or beat him over the head with the Bible or give him a spiritual back hand across the face. God reassures Jeremiah when he lacks faith. He tells Jeremiah 3 things before he sets out on his mission as a prophet.
God knows you
You are special
You are created for a purpose
Jeremiah interrupts God and says “I’m too young” and I’m too uneducated.” Jeremiah has an “I’m too attitude.” When it comes to seeking and serving God how would you fill out the sentence “I’m too______.” Would you say, "I can’t possibly do that I’m too young to share my faith” or “I’m too busy to read my Bible and pray.”
Change is really scary and difficult. The privileged Jeremiah was going to give up on any personable ambitions and his career to become a priest in order to pursue a vocation as a prophet. God’s secret to get through the scary change, the promise that God said, “I AM with you.” (Jeremiah 1:7-8).
When we give God excuses, He gives us a promise of His presence. We don’t need an excuse if God is with us.
Never before in human history have we had such an acute sense of what is going on in our world. The world is seemingly spiraling out of control.There are wars breaking out with ISIS and Syria. The threat of super powers are on the rise again. Fatal diseases are spreading in west Africa and slowly creeping their way into America. Add in the ingredients of famines, pestilences, natural disasters, and moral decadence and you have yourself a recipe of disaster and despair. These weighty matters combine with our everyday burdens, which we pack on ourselves. Issues of poor self image, loneliness, addictions to porn and pleasure, stress from school, work, college and career decisions, all combine to make our lives seem to spiral out of control too. It seems we are on a collision course of epic proportion and there is no way off the crazy train. There is hope! These issues are not isolated to our generation. In fact, our world has seen the ebb and flow of human suffering and one of the peek moments came during the time of an old testament prophet, Jeremiah. Jeremiah's story is a Collision Course with the super power Babylon, the morally bankrupt Israel, and family and friends who would despise and reject him. As we look at Jeremiah's life over the next 6 weeks we will hope to find some of the answers in dealing with pain and suffering. We will be asking the question where is God when it hurts? The book will give us some hope and inspiration to keep pressing forward. It is an ancient book with some practical principles to apply for our postmodern generation. The book will end with a promise of a new way. The whole series will lead to this new way. We know Him as Jesus. He is the answer. He is our hope. I'm praying God does some amazing things over the next few weeks to stretch our thinking and challenge us to go further and deeper than we ever have before. If you want to follow along and read ahead, we will be in Jeremiah chapter 1 this week. See you sunday.
Great job Rob McQueary with the message! The message centered on Romans 5. God desires more for us than to be happy which is completely dependent on our circumstances. God wants us to be joyful which radiates from within us when we are walking with Jesus in our lives, hearts, and minds.
Through trials and hardships we can still be joyful. These "bad things" often help us appreciate the blessings in our life, they help us relate to others who are going through similar challenges, and it causes us to lean into God. Rob also spoke about salvation and how we often think about it incorrectly. Salvation is not a scale weighing your good works and bad works. Jesus is responsible for our salvation and our spirit and we are responsible for pursuing him. Once a person begins to follow Jesus that is when the Holy Spirit enters them. We don't have to be "happy" or fake all the time because we can instead be joyful. We can be joyful only because Jesus is always in us. Joy is not about how your week went, it's about Jesus living in you. Jesus is ok with us asking and doubting but He wants us to always be seeking Him.
Think of the example illustration: Jesus is within us but we are also within Jesus and all things are within God.
Romans 5:
"Therefore, since we have been justified by faith,we[a]have
peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.2 Through him we have alsoobtained access by faith[b]into
this gracein
which we stand, andwe[c]rejoice[d]in
hope of the glory of God.3 Not only that, but werejoice in our sufferings, knowing that
sufferingproduces
endurance,4 and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope,5 andhope does not put us to shame, because
God's lovehas
been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. 6 Forwhile
we were still weak, at the right timeChrist died for the ungodly.7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps
for a good person one would dare even to die—8 butGod
shows his love for us in thatwhile
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.9 Since, therefore,we
have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him fromthe wrath of God.10 For ifwhile
we were enemieswe
were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are
reconciled, shall we be saved byhis life.11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus
Christ, through whom we have now receivedreconciliation.
I was reflecting on the message and thought this worship song went really well with the message. We often find it easy to praise God when everything is going well but even "on the road marked with suffering" Blessed is the name of the Lord!
Blessed Be Your Name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name
Blessed Be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed Be Your name
Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's 'all as it should be'
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name
Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say,
Thanks to all the students who came out and made this such a fun event! Also big thanks to the adults who chaperoned. Here are some pictures from the Corn Maze event:
We finished up our series Crossover Under Construction. The final “F” word for the series was Forgotten. Forgotten is one of the most unfortunate tags we can place on a student in the youth group. People can slip through the cracks. I don’t want that to be the characteristic of any of our students. God makes the promise in Isaiah 49:15-16 that He never forgets His children. In fact, we are tattooed on His hands. During the Old Testament times, slaves were tattooed or branded with their master’s name. In this passage the opposite is true, the master brands Himself with the name of the servants. God identifies with us. When God works we are on His mind. God never forgets you.
Being flawed individuals we often forget. The challenge this week is to be like God. Remember those who have slipped through the cracks. Reach out to anyone you think you may have forgotten or neglected. We want them to know God cares for them and so does the Crossover student ministry. Text, call, email, DM, tweet, do whatever you have to do reach out to make people feel remembered and not forgotten.
DON'T FORGET: This Sunday is the Corn Maze event! Students need the following items:
Signed Permission Form
$12 for the Admission Fee
Some additional cash for dinner at the Corn Maze
Please be at the church by 2:45 PM on Sunday so we can leave on time - we expect to be back by 7:30 PM for parents to pick up students from the church.
All of us have been forced to do things that we don’t want to do. We've been forced to eat our vegetables, forced to go to school, forced to dress certain ways, act certain ways, forced to go places we don’t necessarily want to go.
The “F” word for tonight was FORCED. The topic of discussion centered on this question- “Should parents force their kids to go to church?” We divided the group into 2 opposing sides and debated the question. One side had to come up with their best arguments saying yes parents should force their kids to go and the other side had to argue no parents shouldn't force their kids to go.
The debates went really deep. The Yes side argued for the parents responsibility to raise up their children as God desires and designed. Also, they pointed to the positive effects of their being forced because now they have a relationship with Jesus Christ. They were glad someone made them come because now they know Jesus. The no side argued that making kids come to church, especially when they don’t want to only creates resentment and even hatred towards God, the Bible, and the church. No one can force you to know Jesus, it is something you have to discover for yourself. I don’t think we landed on a clear winner for the debate. Both sides had some really strong points and I was super impressed by how engage they were with the question.
After the debate we looked at Deuteronomy 6:4-7. It looks like in the passage God is forcing Israel to love Him. God wants us to love Him, but it sounds kind of odd to say God forces us to do so. In any romantic story, the 2 parties have to have mutual consent before it can be considered true love. It is a decision we have to make to love or not to love. No one can make you love God. Jesus doesn't make you love Him.
But He does give us good reason to love Him. Paul states it succinctly in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15. Go back and look at that passage during the week. See how deep the Savior’s love is for you. He will never force you to love Him, but He will sacrifice everything to show that He loves you.
Discussion Questions:
What is an example of something in your life you were forced to do out of love (study, go to church, spend time with family, etc)?
Did something positive come out of that situation?
How can we adjust our attitude to view the situation differently if we feel forced to do something?
Should parents force their kids to come to church? Why or why not?
If someone were to say to you, “Forcing me to come to church makes me hate God” what would you say to that person?
Why would being forced lead to feeling hate towards God?
Read Deut 6:4-9. Why does God want us to love Him?
Whether you are forced to come to church or aren't, list some of the reasons why someone would be forced to come.
Do you think Jesus is being unfair or unloving when He tells us we should love God more than anything else?
If you had children would you force them to come to church?
There are paper printouts in the back of the Crossover room if you would like a paper copy to use for your personal or family bible study.
Jesus once said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from
the mouth of God.” (Matt 4:4). Pause and think about that for a second. You can’t just
live on a steady diet of what the world provides (TV, Music, Video Games, Social
Media). In order for you to grow you have to feast on the Word of God. Is the Word
part of your daily routine? Here are some simple pointers and a plan on how to read
the Bible.
Jesus was a master teacher. He has a wonderful ability to use ordinary objects from every day life to teach deep and rich theological truth. Grapes are the most popular fruit on the planet. In John 15, Jesus compares Himself to a grapevine (John 15:1-6) His Father is the vinedresser or gardner and His followers are the branches that are to bear grapes or fruit. Jesus wants us to bear fruit in our lives.
The only way we can bear fruit is if we abide in Jesus. Abide means to remain, stay, or exist. It is so easy to get frustrated in our faith. We normally don’t want to sit and remain. We go crazy just waiting around. Naturally, we bail on Jesus when really all He wants us to do is remain in Him in order to produce much fruit. We see this scenario played out in a few short chapters in the book of John. Jesus said, “Abide” and He is then betrayed and arrested and the disciples all abandon Him. How often do we bail on Jesus when He simply says “abide”?
Fruit is the “f” word of the week. What kind of fruit are you experiencing or lacking from the list in Galatians 5:22 (The Fruit of the Spirit)? How is Jesus teaching you to remain in Him?
Illustration: Andy showed the students a light bulb and talked about how the lightbulb by itself has untapped potential. He then holds the lightbulb near the power source but doesn't plug it in. Often in our faith we go to church and hang out near Jesus but don't fully plug into his desire and intent for our life. This does bring us closer to the truth but doesn't change the fact that we cannot shine by proximity to faith alone. It is only when we plug fully into Jesus that we move from untapped potential to shining brightly.
Jesus once said, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but every word that comes from the mouth of God." (Matt 4:4). Pause and think about that for a second. You can't just live on a steady diet of what the world provides (TV, Music, Video Games, Social Media). In order for all of us to grow we have to feast on the Word of God. Is the Word part of your daily routine?
"Food" is the 3rd "F" word in our Under Construction series. We camped out in 1 Peter 2:2 and talked about cultivating a loving desire for pure spiritual milk. Milk is good for awhile. It gets us going. We learn the basics of the faith, who Jesus is and what He accomplished for us.
But most of us have been in church for a long time. We need to move past milk into some meat. We can't be stuck in baby mode until adulthood. It is just weird to see grownups drinking from a bottle and wearing diapers. We challenged the students to start a Bible diet plan. Less than 5% of Christians say they read the Bible daily.
It isn't always easy to start something new but here are 3 keys ways to get you going: 1) Make reading the Bible a priority 2) Decide a time of day and a place to read it. 3) Get a game plan.
There are tons of resources for reading plans. From youversion on your phone to Biblegateway on your computer, there are hundreds of easily accessible ways to read the Bible. I have extra reading plans that I passed out during our time together. Come and ask. I'd love to get you started. It would be awesome to see you putting Jesus' words into practice feasting on "every word that has come forth from the mouth of God."
I was born in October, the oldest sibling, loving parents. I am a
sophomore in college currently at Toccoa Falls College, but then transferring
to Kennesaw State University to study business administration. I have been at
The Bridge now for about 3 or so years, started leading worship when I got here
and have loved it ever since. My story in Christ is began as a baby. My dad was
a pastor for a long time and I have always been in Church. Ever since I was
able to fully understand God and who he is I have always known that God has had
some plan for me. God called me into a huge step when I was about to enter my
junior year of high school. That summer I preached my first sermon and from
then on have been involved in ministry. Worship ministry is where I believe God
wants me and is taking me. My walk with God has had many ups and many downs, my
story is one that isn’t so lovely to look at either.
However, I believe that the worst of stories make the best of Christians. I’ve
seen a lot of change in this student ministry since I've been here and I fully
believe that this one will be the best yet.
I don’t necessarily have a cool or exciting
job that I can tell you about just yet because I’m currently just
looking for jobs as they come since I'm a college student. My favorite movies
are the Batman trilogies, Bourne trilogies, and all Die Hard movies. I guess
you could say I'm an action junky. Ha! As far as music I'm always blasting
Christian music, however, I do love country music and every now an then I’ll
turn on the radio to see what everyone else listens too. My hobbies include
anything that sounds dangerous, but fun; as well as studying cars. No, I am not
married and nor do I have a girlfriend. I am just a regular, un-normal, Jesus
loving human being who loves to help lead you students in worship every chance
I get.
I can think of a thousand things God created that are not good - to name a few mosquitoes, spiders, snakes, brussel sprouts. If we turn back to the beginning of the Old Testament in the book of Genesis, God said that everything He created was good. When He created the heavens and the earth they were good. When He created the birds, fish, horses, giraffes, duck billed platypus all of them are deemed good. The first time we see that something in God’s creation that is not good is in the second chapter of Genesis. “Then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone.” (Genesis 2:18). It is not good because the man did not have a human companion created for him yet. God created man to be in relationship with each other. He created us to have friends.
FRIENDS is the 2nd ‘F’ word in our series. God created us to be in community with each other. We built upon that idea as we discussed the challenges of having deep, healthy, long lasting friendships. If God created us that way, why is it so stinking hard to have healthy friendships? Here are the 4 challenges that we came up with:
Your friends are Sinners (If you are looking for a perfect friend you will never find one).
Your friends are Different (We have church friends, boy friends, girl friends, social media friends, school friends)
Your friends are Influences (More than any other people in our life, our friends have a greater impact in shaping who we are. Proverbs 12:16)
Your friends take Energy (Jesus sets the example inJOHN 15:12-13 of what a friendship really looks like)
Remember these by the acronym SIDE - sinners, influences, different, and energy.
Our small groups helped facilitate the conversation about friends. The hope for small groups is to be an avenue of creating healthy, deep, long-lasting friendships that God designed us for.
Questions for Digging Deeper:
If a person has over 1000 friends on Facebook or over 250 followers on twitter, or collects a ton of likes on Instagram what does that say about that person? Can a person have that many followers online and still feel lonely? Revisit this video we watched a couple months ago as a group.
How has social media redefined friendships?
Define the word friend? What is a friend? How do friends function? Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
What examples do we have in the Bible of friendship?
What are the biggest challenges to friendships? Think of a personal example.
Who are the friends you have that you need to let go of or pull closer towards?
READ John 15:12-15. What does Jesus’ example of friendship look like? How does His example of friendship have bearing on your life?
I lead the tenth and eleventh grade girls group. We are a pretty crazy, fun group! My husband I moved back to this area in December. We are working on fixing a house that we bought a few months ago. I enjoy cooking while dancing and listening to music. That is probably one of the most enjoyable things for me. I also enjoy camping and hiking. I love reading books almost anything other than sci-fi or horror. Movies that I enjoy are on the side of sentimental. I love working with the students because I like to see them find their passions. I know that Jesus radically changed my life and I like to see how he is affecting them.
The message on Sunday was the second week in our series CROSSOVER-UNDER CONSTRUCTION. The major theme of the night was the first "F" word Faith.
Middle school service went as planned but that evening the high school kids arrived to the church and the power was out. The first reaction is always a little anxiety but very quickly the whole group relaxed and ran with it. It was great to meet with the High School students with everything stripped down to 1877 style church. We had the worship led acoustically, which sounded phenomenal and the message was done with the aid of candle light. Andy said it was the best high school service he had been a part of since coming to the Bridge and I completely agree that the simplicity of it all was powerful.
The conversation was kick started with a statistic - 88% of those who attend the church will drop out after they leave High School. We asked the students if that was shocking and why? Most said it was due to their friend groups pulling them away from church. Others addressed the superficiality and gimmicks of youth groups. We so often don’t deal with some of the tougher questions concerning the faith.
Our goal is to reclaim youth ministry from this idea that bigger is better and that entertainment is the core. We want Jesus to be the core. It all starts with Faith. Andy talked about why we should believe, what we should believe, and how we should believe.
The main point of the night was faith is hard. Why is faith so hard?
VERSES: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Hebrews 11:1 “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8 DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: • What are the greatest hurdles to Faith? • Why do you believe in Jesus? • We all know people who don’t believe. Even as a believer I have had some doubts. Why do you or your friends not believe? Is it rational, experiential, a bad experience, a good experience, or not really interested? • Do you think if a person took faith serious and sought after God that they would find Him? • Read James 4:8. How can we find God? How can we draw close to Him?
I grew up just down the interstate in Sugar Hill, GA. I grew up being involved in various youth
groups but really started to embrace my own faith when I got involved with
Young Life in high school. I
transitioned within about six months from a visitor to a student leader, it
challenged and excited me in ways I had not experienced in my faith
before. I met my husband Kyle in high
school and was unbelievably surprised and delighted to find him as early in
life as I did. We got married in 2008
and have an adorable little dog that we spoil like crazy, his name is
Divot. Kyle and I have been volunteering
with the high school ministry here at the Bridge for six and a half years now
and it’s been an amazing journey. I’m so
thankful that we’ve been able to serve together. We’ve been through 2 date/time changes and 3
pastor changes and 1 name change so call us crazy or committed or both. I truly see God at work in the students here
and spending time with them in our high school service is one of my favorite parts
of the week. Jesus is the best thing
that has ever happened in my life and I want to do anything I can to help
students explore their own faith and build their own relationship with their
Savior.
I am an IT Manager for T-Mobile so while I spend a lot time
on conference calls and being in a cubicle I get to help deploy game changing
projects to production which can be really exciting. I also love being able to mentor and grow the
members of my team. I am a total nerd for things wireless related and I love
being part of such an exciting and dynamic industry. My hobbies outside of work include dancing, photography,
listening to music, reading, crafting, and blogging. I grew up dancing and was blessed to get to
be a Georgette (member of the football dance line) while I attended the
University of Georgia. Go dawgs!!!
My favorite bands are Imagine Dragons, City and Colour,
Emery, Linkin Park, Echosmith, No Doubt, Paramore, and Macklemore & Ryan
Lewis. I’m not a movie buff like my
husband but if you ever need a book recommendation I’ve got your back!
I'm a language arts and
technology teacher by day, and a complete music and cinema nerd by night (or
all the time really). I've worked with our high school students for nearly
seven years now. Wow! I've loved every moment; God has given me a big heart for
teenagers, which is why I volunteer and teach. I'm married to the beautiful and
impeccable Dale Jones who is also a high school leader. I have a cool little dog
named Divot. (He's a cockapoo, but don't say that to his face; he gets upset.)
I'm currently working on a doctorate degree in English education, and much like
our ministry proclaims, I believe Jesus is the best thing that ever happened!
Alright, quick stats--Favorite Books: Ender's Game, The Reason for God, Child
of God, To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Flies... Favorite Movies: The
Goonies, Vertigo, Cool Hand Luke, The Neverending Story, Django Unchained, Dumb
& Dumber, It's a Wonderful Life (I could go on forever probably)...
Favorite Bands: Thrice, Emery, Echosmith, Imagine Dragons, Incubus, Mumford
& Sons, Van Halen, and I love some Billy Joel. I'll finish by explaining
that the most important experience and trait I think we can give any of our
children is to empathize. Jesus is the greatest example we've ever had of what
true empathy looks like.
Colossians 3:23
“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men”
The message on Sunday kicked
off our new series CROSSOVER-UNDER CONSTRUCTION. The major theme of the
night was passion. We looked at the above verse from the book
of Colossians. If you look at the Greek word
for “heartily" it is soul. This verse is encouraging
us to be intentional with our actions and to carry out all tasks big or small
with a passion that radiates from within our soul. It has often been said
that the current generation of youth is apathetic. We have seen the
potential within our students when the intent and action are fueled by
passion.
Our sincere hope is that our students
will become increasingly more passionate about their faith. There is a
beautiful worship song by Jesus Culture that sums this up well.
“Set a fire down in my soul,
That I can’t contain and I can’t control,
I want more of You God, I want more of You God.”
We asked the students to reflect this
week on their passions. What are they passionate about? Is it a subject
in school, a sport, a cause, an art form, etc.? Once they have recognized
their passions and gifts, we want to help them look at how they can use
that passion in their everyday lives, in their school, and in their community. Ask
yourself what are my passions?
I'm so excited to post this amazing reflection from one of our students Megan Pruitt (11th Grade Student). I
have a very big God. By my side, by my side. Day three of our trip in the
Dominican, we started running a sports camp at a local park. Our team had been
split into different groups to run three-hour long stations, and I was with the
crafts group. We had been planning this camp for weeks before we arrived in the
DR, but the moment my group walked into the white room filled with twenty-something
8 to 10-year-old girls in plastic chairs, clapping, smiling, and staring at us
as they awaited our instruction, our neatly prepared crafts agenda got thrown
out the barred window, and the improvising began. After playing “pato, pato,
ganso” and attempting to learn the girls’ names, we all gathered in the center
of the room and started singing that song. Tengo
un Gran Dios. A mi lado, a mi lado.” And those words pretty much sum up
the trip. No matter where we were or what we
were doing, God was by our side and doing big things. He was with me day one as I flew
across the border and entered a bigger reality. Jesus was the answer as I lay
in bed the second night, discouraged by the poverty I had seen and wondering the
solution to it all. God was the topic during devotional
time with the kids at the sports camp. As Nadia and Angel met and spoke with
women in the streets of Boca Chica. While my dad and Andy taught a bunch of
young pastors about theology. God was bigger than my insecurities
when I had to use my three years of Spanish for something way more important
than passing a class. He was by my side, letting me learn, when things were
awkward and I didn't know what to say. Jesus was the reason we handed out
sandwiches to the window washers and armed guards and gas station workers from
the street. Why we played in a dusty, trash-covered field with a group of
little kids. He was bigger than the stars I saw
as I stood outside with my dad one night and tried to look for constellations. He was with my team as we walked through
the streets of the local villages, as we met so many people who recognized God
as holy but didn’t realize what that made them. As I bought sandals from a lady
who believed in the Gospel but didn’t think she was a Christian because the
local church said Christians had to wear nice clothes. As we prayed with the
Haitian refugee who lived in her house. As he, too, became a Christian. God was in control as I stumbled
over words while explaining what the colors of the beads on our bracelets meant
to a circle of children. When I felt completely useless, God was still there. He was listening as a group of us
prayed with a man named Julio who lives in a village for Haitian refugees and uses
a wheelchair.As Julio prayed for us.
“My needs are small,” he said, “but their needs are big.” Wow. That was
humbling. The biggest thing I learned in the
DR is that God is huge, and powerful, and the only thing that can meet our
needs. Jesus is the answer to everything and, I’ve got to say it, the freakin’ best
thing that ever happened. The trip was amazing.
Here is a video recap she created using photos and video from the trip:
I’m excited about this weekend. The first weekend of Crossover! I’m starting a new series and it will go into the heart and mission of Crossover. I’ll be talking about the 6 F words of Crossover (FAITH, FRIENDS, FOOD, FRUIT, FORCED, and FORGOTTEN). Each of the F words categorizes the students in our group. I want to teach on each of the terms for the next 6 weeks.
After this 6 week series I plan on jumping into a new series, a study in the book of Jeremiah called Crash Course. The teaching calendar is set up until Christmas.
I’ve got a few more important dates you will want to put into your calendar:
Corn Maze (Sept 28)
Unplugged MS retreat (Nov 21-23)
I’ll give you more details about the events in the coming weeks. I’m looking forward to serving with you this fall. Praying for an amazing school year that we get to see God use each of you. Thanks
Andy Bedford
Student Pastor
The Bridge Church
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Middle School Crossover will be doing it's second annual UNPLUGGED retreat November 21-23. The location of camp will be an upgrade from last year. We will be at the Woodlands Camp in Cleveland, GA. Here is the website for Woodlands so you can get a feel for it.
This is the first in our series of leaders posts to help you get to know the staff and volunteers that are working with your kids. We'll post a new leader each week. First up is our amazing student pastor Andy Bedford! In Christ,
Thanks to all the students and leaders who came out tonight to pray over one another and the ministry. The evening was an awesome outpouring of love for our God and one another. Remember, next Sunday is our big back-to-school launch. Invite a friend and come enjoy the festivities as we all get ready for an exciting new year. We can't wait to see what God has in store for Crossover @ The Bridge Atlanta this year!
Next Meeting: Sunday, August 10th 6PM -- Back-to-School Launch!
Welcome to Crossover's new blog. This our space to communicate with students, parents, and leaders about what's going on inside the ministry week in and week out.
For those who have been part of the Ignition ministry up until now, we will be holding a prayer session this upcoming Sunday at 6PM to prepare our hearts and minds for what God has planned for our ministry. This is an important family time to come together to truly lay ourselves at the feet of Jesus.
On Sunday, August 10th we'll have a our launch party for everyone including your friends for both the middle school and high school Crossover services! Feel free to invite friends as we'll be kicking of the new school year with some fun and games.
Remember! The new times for Crossover are Sundays @ 11am for middle school and Sundays @ 6pm for high school.
