I was sitting on the couch Sunday night after a weekend filled with Soccer games, church services, and Boulder City’s Art in the Park. Great weekend. Tons of fun. I was exhausted. I quickly flipped channels trying to find something to watch. (Isn’t it a sad state of life that I have over 200 channels and I can’t find one thing to watch.) Somehow I landed on the local news and a story about a local church had just started.
The Crossing is a church that was planted by Canyon Ridge and Central Christian in the SouthWest part of the valley. Shane Philip is the lead pastor and they were celebrating their 10 Year Anniversary at their church. Their celebration, well it was different then what you would think. It wasn’t filled with inward expressions focused on what “they” had accomplished over 10 years. It was completely opposite.
Their vision, simple. The impact, explosive.
Their mission: The Church has Left the Building.
The Crossing literally closed their doors sunday morning and went out into the community with one purpose: To SERVE.
Over 2000 people rolled up their sleeves to serve the community.
Over 8 different locations were specifically targeted to help.
Countless stories of impact have been shared.
What’s so simple, yet so impacting, was the Crossing – a church – was just being the church. As a church, it is so easy to become inward focused, to become an island. But that is not what Christ intended the church to be. The church has to be focused on impacting the community inwhich God has allowed her to exist in. The church has to be about people outside her walls. The church has to be about what she can give to others and not what she can get. The church has to reflect the heart of the Samaritan man.
Let me ask you two real honest questions. Don’t read these and quickly move on. Let both of these questions rattle around in your heart for a moment.
Q: If the church you attend – serve in – work for – closed it’s doors, would anyone in the community (outside the walls of the church) know?
Q: What are you doing at your church to impact the community in which you live?
PHOTO CREDIT: Kathy Hillacre via Unsplash