More Than Peace

Hey welcome Crossing family so good to be with you. Listen I want to invite you to stand if you're able. This is the day that the Lord has made so we get to rejoice and be glad in it. We get to celebrate His goodness. We get to live out of His joy. So let's do that now. So I'll rejoice and be glad. Rejoice and be glad in it. Oh this is where I believe that you are more than enough. More than enough for me. Come on He's faithful. You are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak. And when I'm standing in your presence I have everything I need. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. It's more than a feeling. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. And oh my soul, oh my soul, bless His name. All that is within me stay. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Jesus, oh come what may. You are worthy of all, worthy of all my praise. You are faithful to your promise. You are strong when I am weak. When I'm standing in your presence I have everything I need. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Yes it is. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. And oh my soul, oh my soul, bless His name. All that is within me stay. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh with all your joy, Lord. So let it rise up like a river. Lord overflow it, oh Holy Spirit. And let it pour out, oh with no limit. Lord overflow it, oh Holy Spirit. Let it rise, let it rise up like a river. Lord overflow it, oh Holy Spirit. And let it pour out, oh with no limit. Lord overflow it, oh Holy Spirit. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. And oh my soul, oh my soul, bless His name. All that is within me stay. Oh my soul, bless His name. All that is within me stay.

The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Oh with all your joy, Lord. Lord overflow it, oh Holy Spirit. Let it rise up like a river. Lord overflow it, oh Holy Spirit. Let it pour out, oh with no limit. Lord overflow it, oh Holy Spirit. The joy of the Lord, the joy of the Lord is my strength. Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring. Worthy of everything we could ever bring. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you. Jesus, the name above every other name. Jesus, the only one who could ever save. Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe, we live for you. Oh, we live for you. Sing holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder. And show me who you are and fill me with your heart. And lead me in your love to those around me. Oh won't you lead us God, lead us. Sing holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes and show me. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart. And lead me in your love to those around me. Sing holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart. And lead me in your love to those around me. Oh, to those around me. I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation.

I will put my trust in you alone. And I will not be shaken. I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone. And I will not be shaken. Holy, there is no one like you. There is none beside you. Open up my eyes in wonder. Show me who you are and fill me with your heart. And lead me in your love to those around me. Let us know what it feels like to trust in you, Lord. May we experience your love. Showing down your love. Showing down your love. I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. I will put my trust in you alone. And I will not be shaken. I will build my life upon your love. It is a firm foundation. That is the hope that we have when we put our trust in Jesus Christ, no matter what our life circumstances are, that we have a firm foundation that will not shake. And maybe you are here for the first time, maybe you're starting this spiritual journey, and we just want you to know that this is true and that you're in a safe place to explore that. And we invite you to have these songs sung over you and to experience what God has for you. And for many of us in this room, this is our firm foundation. For centuries, Jesus followers have gathered together to worship through singing worship

to him through song, but also through the reading of scripture to remind us of who he is and who we serve and who loves us. And so would you please read out loud with me Psalm 34. I will extol the Lord at all times. His praise will always be on my lips. I will glory in the Lord. Let the afflicted hear and rejoice. I will glorify the Lord with me. Let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in him. Jesus is worthy to be praised, and this is why we worship. When I was lost and all alone, your presence was where I found home. You were there and you're here right now. In every high and every low, you never left me without hope. You were good and you're good right now. Come on, let's testify. I witness your faithfulness. I've seen you bring life within. So I pour out my praise again. You're worthy. God, you're worthy of all of it. Your promises never fail. I've got stories I live to tell. So I pour out my praise again. You're worthy. God, you're worthy of all of it. Yes, you are, Lord.

You left the throne and chose the cross. You laid down your life to rescue us. The Savior then, the Savior now. Faithful Lord. But even then, was not the end. You conquered hell so I could live. Resurrecting then, resurrecting now. Come on, we're free, we're free. Resurrecting then, resurrecting now. I witness your faithfulness. I've seen you bring life within. So I pour out my praise again. You're worthy. God, you're worthy of all of it. Your promises never fail. I've got stories I live to tell. So I pour out my praise again. You're worthy. God, you're worthy of all of it. All of it, Lord, all of it. You're good and I've witnessed it. Oh, you're strong and I've witnessed it. You're constant, I've witnessed it. And I'm confident I'll see it again and again. You're good and I've witnessed it. Oh, you're here and I've witnessed it. Oh, you're strong and I've witnessed it. And I'm confident that I'll see it again and again. I witness your faithfulness. I've seen you breathe like we did

So I'll pour out my praise again You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it And your promises never end I've got stories I'll live to tell So I'll pour out my praise again You're worthy, God, you're worthy of all of it To the broken, I'll witness that To the hurting, I'll witness that To the lost, I will witness that And I'll tell them that I'll tell them what I've witnessed To my family, I'll witness that To my city, I'll witness that To the nations, I'll witness that And I'll tell them this I'll tell them what I've witnessed About how good you've been How you have healed us How you have provided for us God, how you have taken care of us Whether we be at the top of the mountain Or in the valley, God, you are constant And you are always there God, that when the tears fall You are there to catch them That in the most exciting of times God, you provide your joy There is not a minute in life Where you are not present That, God, there are situations

That should have taken us out But because you were there We're still here So, God, we have something to celebrate today That we get to celebrate your goodness That we get to celebrate Having access to your peace And, God, yes, we get to celebrate That we have joy That the world is crazy But you are always there So, God, thank you for who you are Thank you who you have always been And thank you for who you will be tomorrow Your word reminds us that you are the same Yesterday, today, and forevermore You are trustworthy So, God, may we build our foundation on you Not rocky sand, God But on something firm, you That if there are questions, God, we can ask them Because you're ready to answer We seek you and we will find you God, thank you for this community that is around us That will love us as you love us God, thank you for this assembly Thank you for this time to commune with you It is in your name we ask all these things And we say together, amen Well, praise God

It is a joy to get to worship with you all I'm going to say it Look to your neighbor and say, hey And then have a seat What I love about this partnership, we're impacting the lives of our children A lot of our families, they do not attend church But just to have a sense that there is a church community that not only cares about our staff but cares about their children, that's a win That's a win-win situation My name is Dr. Melinda Rousey I am the principal of the church and I am the principal of the church My name is Dr. Melinda Rousey I am the principal here at Bermuda Primary School of the Ferguson, Florissant School District One of the biggest blessings that we have here at Bermuda Primary School is that we have been partnered with The Crossing Church since 2019 and it has definitely been a blessing for our school community Through this partnership, The Crossing has definitely provided 1,700 book bags for our students and our families, something that our families do not have to worry about, book bags or school supplies They know that it will be here waiting for them on meet the teacher night each and every school year And it is such an impact, and our parents they are so grateful for it

We have had parents come in tearing up because they literally had to be pick between, do we buy school supplies or do I buy the uniforms? Do I buy school supplies or do I provide just a simple meal on the table? With the crossing and through the crossing, we are so grateful that that is a need that our families do not have to worry about. It is also very appreciative of our superintendent and central office as a whole when they see that because whatever a community partner does for one of our schools, you're doing it for all of our schools in the district. So thank you. We love you all. We appreciate you all so much. You are definitely a blessing to the Bermuda Primary School. You are a blessing to my entire staff. And we just ask God to continue to bless each and every one of you. Thank you. The crossing once again. Let me just say way to go crossing, right? Yeah. Give yourselves another round of applause. Okay, stop. That was in the past. Okay.

We celebrated enough. You're only as good as your next effort. And so this is our next effort. So let's not rest on our laurels. We are collecting backpacks now, this weekend and next weekend, and just school supplies. It can be as simple as bringing in some pens, some pencils or a full backpack. But your generosity, as you can see, is impacting our community. It's a tangible expression of God's love meeting the needs of our community. So again, you can get more information in the lobby, on the app, on the website, but please be a part of this. This church is just generous in all kinds of ways. And it's an act of worship. And so we've worshiped through singing of song. We worshiped through the reading of scripture together. And we also worship by investing, giving through our tithes and offerings and the work that God is doing in our community, but also around the world. So this is a time for us to give. You're invited to do so. And if you have questions about that, then please ask us. We'd be glad to talk to you. At the end of the service, there's some pastors down here.

We'd love to meet with you. We'd love to meet with you. ♪ Well I'm afraid that I'm not supposed to be like this ♪ ♪ Like I was born in a land with no serpents ♪ ♪ And I have waited a long time for your kiss ♪ ♪ Well I have felt that they'd all take offense at me ♪ ♪ And so offense I have built to protect this year ♪ ♪ But all the bricks will secure its mortality ♪ ♪ I have been seated in circles and stood this grace ♪ ♪ And I have been seated in circles and stood this grace ♪ ♪ At the noted intention to be in place ♪ ♪ And I have seen that one man save the human race ♪ ♪ But it took his life and it took his faith ♪ ♪ I have risen from ashes and fed on flames ♪ ♪ And even though I still fear I have played a game ♪ ♪ And it seems no one else is as sick and depraved ♪ ♪ I have heard that I'm not supposed to be this way ♪ ♪ And still the stones that are lifted fall down to sleep ♪ ♪ But I keep doubting and think one will strike my face ♪ ♪ He's been promising me something more than pain ♪ ♪ Where the cost is grace and my loss is gain ♪ ♪ And I have chosen because there is no other way ♪ ♪ I either wallow in shame ♪ Or humble myself and be safe And be safe Mmm, mmm, mmm Hear that song, we hear those words It's not supposed to be like this And we see all that black and white footage And I can only imagine there's a shotgun range of reactions

Confusion, like why are we watching this? Maybe a little anxiety, curiosities Sometimes a little fear We want to put our head in the sand And just pretend like none of this is happening And like, all that old footage, it's old It's all like from the 30s and 40s Half the room is asking the question Like why are those kids hiding underneath the desk? Well, if the atomic bomb lands close by Our desks become bomb shelters Well nowadays our desks are used to barricade doors from shooters Things aren't supposed to be like this And if we're honest, if we look at ourselves We come up with a laundry list of things that need to change Like I'm not supposed to feel this anxious I'm not supposed to be failing at my relationships I'm not supposed to be this addictive I'm not supposed to be this hurt I'm not supposed to be this filled of shame But it's not just us We take a step back and look around our neighborhoods and our communities We open up our phones and see the headlines Or the tragedy that happens just a zip code away Or the headlines from around the world And it's overwhelming Is anybody paying attention? And is anybody going to do anything? How do we get out of this mess? It seems like there's a big chasm between how things are

And how things should be Well thanks for all of that Mr. Sunshine The Bible has a word for this It's a word that describes when you're far from home In like this strange land And you're longing for things to be different Because this is not how it's supposed to be going down And there's this ache of like homesickness And that word is exile So what are we supposed to do with this? Where do we go from here? Those are honest, valid, sometimes paralyzing questions What do we do? Well let's first take a breath And let's pray And let's open up God's word and see what he might be trying to tell us God I thank you that right now you are close Closer than we even think And that you know what's going on You know what we're going through Individually and collectively So God I pray that you will show us what it is you are calling us to And it's in your name Jesus we pray Amen Okay Well My name is Randall I am one of the pastors here A lot of times on the weekend I get to hang out with you guys online So welcome to you guys

Fenton, Mid Rivers, I'm not leaving I'm just getting my table here You guys at Fenton, Grants Trail, Mid Rivers I'm glad you guys are with us You know we're not the first people To look around the world and say Hey look things are not supposed to be like this We're not the first people crying out in exile In exhaustion asking if God is paying attention The children of Israel, God's people Are captured and enslaved and in exile And they are far from God And during this time God sends some prophets To speak to his people We heard about one of those last week Hosea Well Jeremiah is another one of those prophets And throughout Jeremiah's life He had the incredible Incredibly difficult job to speak some really hard truth to God's people. It looks like the children of God are so far gone. Like there's no hope for redemption. In fact, Jeremiah pens a poem of lament. The people of God just saw their city Jerusalem laid to ruin. The temple is destroyed. And so Jeremiah starts the book of Lamentations like this. How deserted lies the city. Once so full of people how like a widow is she who was once great among the nations. She who was queen among the provinces has now become a slave. Bitterly she weeps at night. Tears are on her cheeks. Among all her lovers

there's no one to comfort her. All her friends have betrayed her. They have become her enemies. Whoa. And that's heavy. You can feel the grief in Jeremiah's voice. This can't be how things are supposed to be. But not only that. Jeremiah tells God's people. Settle in. It's gonna be a while. This whole country will become a desolate wasteland and these nations will serve the king of Babylon 70 years. 70 years. Like how in the world did God's people get into this mess? And how are they going to get out of it? In order to best understand that, we really have to start at the beginning. See God creates everything and it's good. It's like very good. There's this right relationship between God and his people. There's this, there's this wholeness and flourishing. In fact scripture tells us that God walked with his people. But not only is there this right relationship with God and people, but with within people there's this, things are as they should be. And with creation. There's flourishing. There's wholeness. It does not take long for things to go crazy. Sin enters the world and chaos ensues. This once right relationship is now fractured. Fast forward. God looks at his creation and sees how far people have wandered from him. And so he calls a nomad named Abraham and he tells Abraham, hey through you, through your descendants, I'm going to establish a people. But not only that, he tells Abraham, he gives them this promise. He says this, I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you. And I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. And I will bless those who bless you. Whoever curses you I'll curse and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

So we can't unpack all of this, but but did you hear it? Like what word was was repeated over and over again? You. I'm just kidding. Bless, right? All peoples on earth will be blessed through you. So now it's not just that God has a has a people, but his people are on a mission. To be a blessing to the world around them. Well, Abraham has Isaac. Isaac has Jacob. And Jacob gets renamed Israel and has 12 sons, which become the 12 tribes of Israel. And they grow in number and what you see in Scripture is that they go through these cycles. The people of God, the children of Israel, go between like getting close to God and doing what he commands and then running really far away from God. And over and over again, these cycles. So they go through these rulers and then these judges and then we get into the kings and they grow in numbers. And for reasons we just can't get into today, they break up, they split up into two kingdoms. A northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. One of those reasons was taxes. But ten tribes formed this northern kingdom and two tribes formed the southern kingdom. So for two hundred and four years, the northern kingdom spirals further and further away from God. Of the nineteen kings of the northern kingdom, zero were good. Eventually, Assyria attacks and the northern kingdom falls and is in exile. Southern kingdom, a little bit better. For three hundred and forty four years, they, again, they go through these, this back and forth where they draw close to God and do what he commands and then run far away from him. of the 20 kings of the southern kingdom, eight were good. Eventually Babylon attacks, Jerusalem and the temple are leveled, and the people are now in exile. So this is where we pick up our story. This is where Jeremiah tells them, 70 years. So now what? How do they get out of this mess? I mean, things are definitely not supposed to be like this. This is, didn't God give Abraham a promise? How in the world are the people of God, the children of Israel, going to be a blessing to the rest of the world if they're enslaved and in exile? Well I am so glad that you asked, because Jeremiah tells them exactly what they're

supposed to do. Now if you're like me, this is where visions of Braveheart come in, right? This is, there's going to, this is where the military uprising comes, this political espionage and chaos ensues, where Jeremiah paints his face blue, comes in riding on a horse, and gives this massive speech, and they go into battle. This is where the oppressed citizens yell out, help I'm being repressed, come and see the violence inherent to the system, and they lead into battle. This is what movies are made of. This is what action movies are made of. How many of you guys like action movies? Like you love a good car chasing, you love when the Avengers swoop in, yes they destroy the city, but they win, right? For you, for those of you who get like action movies, for those of you who get like action movies, what makes a good action movie? What do you need? Anything? Chasing, yeah like yeah I love a good car chasing. You guys at the sites yell at the screen. I actually asked your campus pastors, Angela at Grants Trail says the good guys have got to win. Yes, yes. Chris Mitchell agrees with that, but says not only do they have to win, but they have to like go through some like insurmountable odds to win. Warren at Fenton, kind of the other side of that coin, he needs a really good villain that's defeated. It's like yeah, those make up great action movies. So let's pick up the story now, and see what kind of movie is in the making. Let's pick up the story in Jeremiah 29. Now for those of us who who grow up in church, we love to run to Jeremiah 29 11, because that's where God tells his people, look I got you. I've got a plan for you. I've got a plan to give you a hope and a future, a plan to prosper you. It's a good plan. Now ultimately that would be true for the children of God in exile, but that's not the punch line to the chapter. We tend to gloss over the really important parts. So we're going to back up to Jeremiah 29 verse 4. This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon. Okay, here we go. Cue the action movie. Build houses, settle down, and plant gardens, and eat what they produce. Marry, have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may increase and have sons and daughters. An increase in number there, do not decrease. Also seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord, before if it prospers, you too will prosper. I mean, I could have sworn I was going to read something about an insurrection or political espionage, an underground militia coming in from the north. Plant gardens? Get married and have kids? God really wants them to seek the peace and prosperity of Babylon, the city that enslaved them? I'm going to be honest, I've never seen that on the t-shirt.

Let that sink in. Babylon is a wicked oppressor. Babylon's goal was world domination. They were wealthy. They were technologically advanced for their day. They built their power on the backs of the people that they conquered and enslaved. And now God is telling His people to settle in and grow radishes? Like that's — God wants me to help them prosper? On the surface, that sounds... crazy. What is God telling them? He's not telling them to like assimilate and take on a pagan culture, but he is telling them don't withdraw, engage, engage with the world around you. He's telling them to live out what I told Abraham and be a blessing to the rest of the world. Be known as people who are for them, even in this context. Pray for them. Pray that they prosper. That phrase, peace and prosperity, sometimes gets translated as as welfare. It's the Hebrew word shalom. Now, shalom means way more than just peace as in like the absence of conflict. It really means like like wholeness and flourishing. First and foremost, a right relationship with God, peace with God, but also within mankind and creation itself. Again, it's this wholeness. It's how things were at the beginning. God is telling his people that in a land, in a season when you're in exile, when you're far from home, you are to pick up the promise I gave to Abraham and be a blessing to the world around you. You are to actively work and seek the restoration and peace of the land. See, God's plan from the very beginning was that to invite his people to be a blessing and to and be a part of making things whole. Did you pick up what Jeremiah said? Twice, Jeremiah tells God's people that God carried them into exile. God placed them there. God wanted his people to be a blessing even to people who are the enemies of God. 2 Corinthians 5, Paul picks up this theme and he tells us, he says that the people of God, people who follow Jesus, you've now been reconciled through Christ. And so you're a new creation. The old is gone, the new has come because we're reconciled through Jesus. And now that we are reconciled, he gave us this ministry of reconciliation. One of our pastors, Ben, puts it like this. Reconciliation is something that God does for us and through us. God makes us new creations so that we can participate in his mission in the world. I love that.

There's something, there's something gritty about that. Something earthy. Something very real, very, very practical. Something honest. It's what Jeremiah was saying. Look, it's gonna take a while, 70 years. We have to get our hands dirty and get really practical. We don't look to everybody else. We step up and work. How many of you guys would consider yourself a gardener? Okay, okay, maybe that's too strong of a word. You like to garden, yeah? You've planted something, yeah? Okay, like maybe it died, maybe the deer ate it, but you know what it takes to grow something, right? Yeah. I don't like to call myself an expert, but when I was in third grade, my science fair project was growing green beans in different kinds of soil. Clay, sand, regular old dirt, potting soil. I don't want to spoil it for you, but the potting soil won. So I need a quick volunteer. Anthony, I think you got tapped on the shoulder. Okay, are you a gardener? No. But you, you, but you know, you know what it takes, right? Okay, so we've got everything you need here. So I've got, we've got potting soil, real potting soil here and here if you need some more. Oh my goodness, yeah. We've got some sunflower seeds for you. There's your watering can, so make sure you water. They even got, I don't even know what this is, but, but you have this and gloves in case you, you've got everything you need. This right, this, Anthony, this is an indoor plant light. I know, right? Yeah. Okay, so will you plant a couple of sunflowers, don't forget to water, and then watch it, and then I'll, I'll be back. Okay? All right. Sometimes, I buy into the lie that what I'm doing doesn't really matter. Like what's really needed is like a big leader, some massive movement. That's what we need. I even get sucked into this when I read Scripture. Like I read what Paul said about being agents, being ministers of reconciliation. It's like, yeah, Paul, you. That's right. Think about it. Paul had this massive, life-changing encounter with Jesus, and then he goes on these extraordinary

missionary adventures where he's shipwrecked, and he's thrown in jail, and he's beaten. I mean, most of the New Testament are letters that Paul wrote. Like that's what we need. Or maybe you start thinking like, well, it's pastors. It's church leaders. It's our pastors. It's me, which I would understand. But it's, but you know, you look to pastors to go like, you're the ones who are going to lead the charge. Again, I love our pastors. But again, I think we're putting our focus on the wrong thing. I love our country. I love the freedoms that we enjoy. We just celebrated that. A couple weeks ago, my wife Emily and I were in the country of Zimbabwe, and we got to meet with some pastors in the capital city of Harare, as well as some pastors and leaders in some really remote parts of the country. Literally, while we were there, the president signed into law some amendments to their constitution that is going to make things more difficult for the people of Zimbabwe. The fellowship, the evangelical fellowship of Zimbabwe, some of our friends, they're concerned. They have an open door to the president. They met with him and voiced those concerns. But ultimately, it didn't turn out the way they wanted. So what are the people in the church in Zimbabwe now going to do? Well, they're going to continue to pray for the peace and prosperity of their land. I've had the humbling opportunity to be in other countries that, to say the least, do not enjoy our freedoms, where God's people are being persecuted, thrown in jail. They are in exile in their country. And God is using them to make huge impacts in their country, in the world.

As important as it is to vote and exercise our freedom in the political arena, and hear me now, that's really, really important, that isn't what's ultimately going to fix things. Larry Osborne is a pastor and leader in San Diego. To be honest, he's really been a friend and mentor to us as a church for 20-something years now. He writes and talks a lot about what it's like for the people of God to live in exile, to live in Babylon. One of his books, Spirituality for the Rest of Us, he talks about this. And he says, as important as Paul and the disciples were, really things changed because of who he calls the cobbler in Corinth. This regular old shoemaker who started taking Jesus at his word, started practically living out his faith. He stops going to the temple prostitutes. He starts loving his wife and his family in a different way than the rest of his neighbors. He starts loving his neighbors. He starts conducting his business in an ethical manner. So it's more than just like working hard and doing good, it's that combined with pointing people to where our ultimate hope comes from, and that's with Jesus. And so then peace and prosperity and shalom begin to enter the world. And by God's grace, things begin to change. It's what Paul describes when he says, make it your ambition to lead a quiet life. You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders. People take notice, his garden grows fruit. Speaking of, how are we doing? Do you see anything yet? Nothing yet. Did you water? Is this on enough? Okay.

All right. I'll let you off the hook. Thank you. I'll keep an eye on it. Okay. Thanks. Yeah. So, so right now I can, we can walk out into the lobby and we can see that we're getting ready to be a big blessing to our communities. Can you imagine the peace and the shalom that happens in a student's life who now has all the supplies that they need to make for a successful school year. The shalom that that brings to a family knowing that there's a whole bunch of people who are actively working for their peace, who are praying for their peace with God, who are cheering for them and working for them. Can you imagine that? So here's a question. This is one of these turn to your neighbor things. What have you done? What have you seen in our area where people have worked to bring the peace and the shalom to the world around them, to our city? What have you seen? Talk to each other and then, and then we'll keep going. So So Hello I am emily littleton I get to work with our outreach team here at the crossing and I say this every time but I mean it I have a front row seat to seeing all of the good that is happening in our city I work really closely with one of our food pantry partners and they are serving our community really well with monthly drive-through distributions of food and personal care items last year we served a man who came through our drive-through in a Really expensive car Now I make no judgments about anyone who comes through our line. I don't know his story I don't know if he had to borrow that car to come pick up food for his family I don't know if he was picking up food for a neighbor that he's caring really well for I think it happens all the time, but sometimes you can afford a car on one day and then something traumatic happens And your situation has changed. I don't know this man. I don't know his story But I put myself in his shoes that day

And I thought to myself What does it feel like to have to ask for help feeding your family? What I wanted him and everyone else in that line to know is how many people are for him Somebody heard that there was a need in their neighborhood. So they went to the store They purchased groceries and they donated it to the pantry And then a volunteer came and organized all the donations by expiration date We had a third group of people come to get a wide variety of the foods and pack them into boxes Then right before distribution we had a team go to schnucks to pick up fresh produce bread eggs milk meat And then on distribution day We had people there ready to make orders as the cars drove in and then to deliver it straight to the car So I sat there I counted how many groups of people that's five groups of people That are for him cheering his family on wanting what's best for them And that's not to mention the social worker who is there for his family all year long Our community is showing up for our community and caring for them really well, and it is just a joy to be able to witness that I love that story and you and I were talking earlier Like i'm i'm curious like we've already heard from dr Rousey about the the impact that our school supplies have for her school And this is a food pantry. So in a couple of months, we'll have another big collection event where we're collecting food and winter items, but But this weekend next, you know, it's school supplies and backpacks You being on our outreach team From your perspective, I'm curious, like, what do you notice, what kind of impact does this have on a student family's life? A big impact. We heard Dr. Rousey say it's the matter of making a choice between do I get school supplies or do I get a simple meal? But I went on our Amazon list this week and I made a full backpack with everything that a student needs. It was over a hundred dollars. So when you have more than one kid in school, that's not a

choice of school supplies and a meal. It's a choice of school supplies or a week's worth of groceries. It, the impact it is, it takes the weight off of a family's shoulders. Plus, I get to go to our distribution party where kids get to choose their own backpacks and to see the joy on their faces. I mean, that's it. School supplies are fun. It sets them up for success for the rest of the school year. Yeah. So what would you tell somebody who, for any number of reasons, just can't participate in this? Either because, you know, financially things are thin or maybe they're the ones who need help with school supplies or they're gone or in or out or again, any number of reasons why somebody can't jump in. What would you tell them? How can they still be a part of this and be a blessing to their community and neighborhood? Well, first I want to address and just say, we know the weight that is on your shoulders. If you're having to provide for your own students, if we can take that weight off your shoulders, we would love to. It would be our honor. So I want to say, please feel free to register your students for backpacks. You can do that online at thecrossing.church slash backpack. But if you are wanting to serve and our schedule just doesn't line up with yours, it's okay. We will have teams serving for the next two weeks, hundreds of people, but then we don't just serve students once a year.

We've got amazing teams that are going into the schools all school year long to help students with their reading skills, but also like making really meaningful relationships with students. Plus, we have serve days every single week. There's no prerequisites. You can just come, check it out, serve alongside your church and see the good that's happening in our city. And then lastly, because I know schedules are hard, I was thinking about this week just like seeing kids in my own neighborhood. You pass a school in your neighborhood. I don't think prayer is the least that we can do. I think it matters if you pray for the success of the kids in your own neighborhood, if you pray for the staff at the school in your neighborhood, God hears it. I think he will honor that. Yeah. Okay. Well, thanks. Oh, you're welcome. Yeah. Yeah. So plant gardens, have families, pray and work for the shalom of St. Louis. I mean, let's take a look at our garden real quick. Still nothing. That's dumb. We know that, right? I mean, we know that it takes time. It takes work. Even if you've never planted something, you know what it

takes. So when God told his people to plant gardens, that wasn't some spiritual metaphor, you know, like gather the seeds of peace and plant them as you go. Like some kind of Johnny Appleseed just randomly throwing seeds. Like no, he was being literal. Plant gardens, dig in the dirt. Gather seeds and plant them and water them and till the ground and grow and harvest. Provide for your family. Make sure there's food on the table. Dig in the dirt. Get your hands dirty. Work hard. That's one of the components to bringing peace and prosperity to the land. I mean, that's great, Randall. But are you not paying attention? Like we need help now. We don't have time. We don't have time for things to grow. What's the shortcut? What's the cheat code? What's the up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start? Like how do we, we got to get going. We want our neighborhoods and our city and our region to change now. Me too. So again, I'm not saying that there's not an incredible need for some immediate action on some really important issue. But what has to happen is that we, the people of God, have

to do the everyday, mundane, gritty, earthy job of bringing peace and shalom and pointing people to Jesus. So if you're new around here, and you're just checking out the claims of Jesus, one of the things that I hope that you walk away with is that we, the people of God, the people that follow Jesus, are called to this. This is what we're called to do. We don't always get it right. Like everybody else, we put our focus on the incomplete solution. We look to the quick fix. We look to the wrong people. We look to everybody else when the reality is that God is calling each and every one of us to the slow work of reconciliation. Our outreach ministry here, like Emily was talking about, we have some guiding principles that help keep us focused on this. See, we really believe that if our region is going to change, we have to serve like Jesus served. It's what Kimberly was talking about just a couple of weeks ago. Putting a towel over your arm and serving those around us. See, the people that were around Jesus, they wanted a military uprising. They wanted Jesus to paint his face blue and come riding in on a horse and going into battle. They wanted him to overthrow Rome. And what did he do?

He served. He told his disciples, look, I didn't come to be served, but I came to serve. And that's what we're supposed to do. So if we're gonna serve like Jesus, we have to get to know the people around us. We have to get to know our neighbors because that's what Jesus did. He was up close and personal with people. He rubbed elbows with people. He had meals with them. He went into their houses. He got to know his neighbor. He told people that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then to love your neighbor as yourself. One time somebody kind of pressed in on that. It's like, yeah, that's great, but who's my neighbor? And Jesus goes into a rather famous story that we're not gonna talk about today about a Samaritan man who literally crossed cultural divides to serve somebody that everybody else just passed over. So we've got to love our neighbor. We've got to figure out what it looks like to cross some of these divides. So I don't know where you live. I don't know where you work, what keeps you busy during the day, but if we really want things to change,

we have to understand is that God has uniquely placed you right where you are. God is calling you to interact with your world. Like Emily was talking about, I hope that our neighbors, our friends, our family, the people around us know just how many people are cheering for them, are praying for them, are working towards not just the peace and shalom of the region, but their peace with God, their shalom, working towards making them whole. But we can't forget about our sunflowers. It takes time. We've got to commit to this. We've got to be in this for the long haul. We've got to work. We can't just throw seeds on the ground and like just hope something happens. We've got to till the earth and get our hands dirty. So yes, things aren't supposed to be like this, but what an amazing opportunity God has given each one of us to partner with him in this ministry of reconciliation. As God told Abraham, be a blessing to the world around you. So how did it end up with God's people in exile? Glad you asked. Fast forward 70 years, Persia captures Babylon and the King of Persia, Cyrus, issues a decree telling the people of Israel, you can go back. You can go back to Jerusalem. You can rebuild Jerusalem. You can rebuild the temple.

So over the course of a hundred years and several waves of people, the children of Israel go back. But here's what's fascinating to me. Most don't. Only a relatively small group of people went back to Jerusalem to rebuild. The rest stayed, planted gardens, raised their family, had their business, interacted with their world. See, it was never God's intention to have his people like isolated right here. But instead, Instead, to be a blessing to the world around them, wherever they found themselves. So this is what God is calling us to do. Work for the peace and prosperity of our region. Imagine what our little corner of the world would look like if each and every one of us individually and collectively loved our neighbors like Jesus did. If we were to run our businesses ethically, if we were to get our hands dirty and cross zip codes to serve. Our outreach team makes it really, really easy. We've got a ton of opportunities coming up in the days and weeks and months to come. And you've got neighbors and friends and coworkers and family and people that you do life with. God is calling each and every one of us to seek the peace and prosperity of the city and be agents of reconciliation. That verse that we like to quote in Jeremiah 29, 11,

the one that says, God's got a plan for us. It's a good plan, a plan to hope and prosper in peace. It's that same Hebrew word, shalom. So the next time we read the headlines and our anxiety begins to grow and we look out there and it's like, man, things are not supposed to be like this. And we're like, what in the world that we do? And we just feel it. Well, we begin to actively work for the peace and prosperity of our community. And that's what God gives us, peace. So moms, dads, when you lead your family and teach your kids what it means to love and follow Jesus, you are modeling for them what a life of sacrifice and service looks like. When you pray for your kids, you, mom, dad, you're giving glimpses into what it looks like to be agents of reconciliation, bringing shalom to a region. Husbands, wives, when you love and serve each other like Jesus loves and serves, you are modeling to a watching world this divine love. When you remain faithful to each other, you show a watching world what love as a commitment looks like. You all who are single, young, not so young, when you pour into your friend group and you give your time to build relationships, when you spur each other onto greatness, when you show that there's a different way to date,

you are helping to usher in the goodness of God. Students, when you stand up for the classmate who gets picked on, when you work hard at your studies and you live out your faith in Jesus in authentic, faithful way, shalom enters the school hallways. Business leaders, when you lead with integrity and you treat your coworkers and employees with dignity and respect, you help lead to human flourishing. Employees, when you show up to work and help create a work environment where other people want to show up, you help create peace and welfare to those around you. College kids, as you study and prepare for your future, when you not just work on a future career, but deepen your relationship with Jesus with passion, God will use you in profound ways to change the world around you. Those of us who are of an older generation, when we invest in the next generation with our time and our resources, we get to model what it looks like to engage with culture with a deep rooted faith. And if you're still unsure about all of this and you've got questions, let's go. Let's ask those questions. Let's find some answers, but know this, God has called each and every one of us to roll up our sleeves, get our hands dirty

and work for the peace and prosperity, the shalom of our neighborhoods and our communities. And I could go on and on because there is so much to do. So let's be the kind of people that do the work and trust God that he will grow something beautiful. So right now, let me pray for us and then let's get to work. God, I thank you that you have called us to partner with you in what you're doing in our families, in our neighborhoods, in our communities and quite literally around the world. I thank you that you pursue us and that you do not give up on us and you do not give up on your world. So thank you for inviting us to partner with you. So may we see you now actively at work and join in. And it's in your name, Jesus, we pray, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. www.mytrendyphone.co.uk