Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Last night, during my time of devotions with my family, we read the devotional for Maundy Thursday in The Road to Joy: A Lent-to-Easter Devotional from Christianity Today. (Did you know that Maundy comes from the Latin for command, which is a reference to John 13:34?) Anyways….
In it, Ray Ortlund (who was ordained 50 years ago into Christian Ministry!) wrote:
“Our risen Savior, through his Spirit, visits us in Holy Communion with real-time experiences of his endless grace. By calling us to eat and drink, he is saying, “My dying love for you is so real you can taste it! Come. Take it in. Be renewed.
Holy Communion is a feast. Jesus fills our hearts again and again, reassuring us that our repeated sins in this life cannot deplete his finished work on the cross…
Our rescuing Savior is both a solid historical reality to be remembered and a vivid present experience to be savored. Tonight we will come to him as we are, with all the ruins and regrets of our sins. We will remember, with awestruck reverence, his total commitment to saving us from it all. And our eyes may well flood with tears.
“Do this in remembrance of me” invites us there. Why hold back at all. He didn’t. And he doesn’t.”
Please continue to pray for the nations of Israel and Ukraine and South Sudan. Pray that the wars would end and the ceasefire in Gaza would be reinstated. Here is a suggested list of prayers if you are at a loss for words in how to pray: https://send.org/story/hh_pray_for_ukraine. And https://worldrelief.org/blog-prayer-for-israel-and-gaza/ And here are other prayers for peace in general: https://worldrelief.org/prayers-for-peace-in-the-world/ Thank you for kneeling on behalf of the people of Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza and Lebanon, Sudan and South Sudan, and taking a stand (or a knee in prayer) against the forces of darkness in this present age.
This Week (Apr. 18-24, 2025):
1. Tonight, Apr. 18, 2025, the Living Stones Friday Night Bible Study is worshiping the Lord together for Good Friday at 7:30 pm in the Fellowship Sanctuary. Join us in person, but if you can’t, then join us via the livestream:
https://www.youtube.com/@crosspointcommunityministr4508/streams
2. CrossPoint Community Sunday School will take a break this Sunday – Apr. 20 so that you can attend worship at 9:45 am in the Fellowship Sanctuary. Rejoice in the resurrection of Jesus along with other brothers and sisters in Christ!
3. This Sunday, April 20, 2025, at 9:45 am, our CrossPoint Community Worship Service will start and Pastor Nathan Willems will be preaching. Pray for him! Join us for worship at CBCGL.
Text: 1 Peter 1:3-9
Title: Realities of the Resurrection
Live stream via Youtube: https://www.cbcgl.org/live-stream/
4. Each Wednesday, such as this coming week (Apr. 23) at 7:45 pm, you are invited, encouraged, and requested to join our weekly prayer meeting. We will not grow in Christ without growing in our dependence on God through prayer. In April, we will be praying with a focus on our friends. The link is found below in the section on prayer.
Administration / Events
1. We have a missions update (so check out the missions tab in the bulletin)! You can pray for Rev. Aritung Kikon. His recent update is from the Seminary that he runs in India to equip native church leaders to bring the gospel and lead churches in India. For more information, check out the missions tab of the bulletin. Also, if you’d like to help with providing mission updates for CPC – let Pastor Nathan know!
2. CPCM has reserved the Multi-Purpose Room on Saturday’s from 1:30 to 4PM for sports. In general, we can play any game: Ping-pong, badminton, pickleball, volleyball, basketball; we can do it all. The room is reserved only for CPCM members and their guests, so it is highly likely you will have lots of space and time to play whatever you want. The goal is to build deeper bonds through shared interest and activity. The contact person is Joshua Zhang.
3. No church lunch will be served on Easter (4/20). But generally, Sunday Lunch Service is available at CBCGL with $5 lunches that are first-come, first-served. Pizza is $2 per slice and Ramen is available (priced variously according to size).
4. Women’s Bible Study – “KEEPING IT VERTICAL” meets the first and third Tuesday of each month to learn, share and grow in the Lord. We are studying the Fruit of the Spirit. Come join us and meet new friends and bring more friends along! Contact jeannemic50 (at) icloud.com (Please note, on May 6, this begins at 10 am.)
5. Registration is now full for the women’s retreat. The Ladies Fellowship (Keeping in Vertical) reminds you to attend a one-day women’s retreat at Calvary Bible Church in Derry, NH either Fri, May 16 or Sat, May 17, 2025 (a one-day event held on two separate days) if you have already registered.
6. All other announcements can be found here (in our CrossPoint Community bulletin).
For Prayer:
1. From Bishop J.C. Ryle – “To be prayerless is to be Christless, Godless, and in the high road to destruction…It will always be found that when prayers are few, grace, strength, peace, and hope are small.” Please join our Wednesday night prayer meeting (7:45 – 9:00 pm) even if you can’t participate the whole time.
https://zoom.us/j/758587937?pwd=aS9sZUdxcm1janNNM2I2aXJ6Smx2QT09
Meeting ID: 758 587 937
Password: 030086
Join by phone: +1 929 436 2866 US (New York)
2. We’d be glad to pray for you. If you need prayer, you can submit your prayer request via the following link: https://www.cbcgl.org/pray/
In Christ, your servant, SDG,
Rev. Dr. Nathan Willems
Associate Pastor of CrossPoint Community – A Ministry of CBCGL