Rags to Riches

"God chose what is low and despised in the world" 1Corinthians 1:28

Walk the streets by moonlight, if you dare, and you will see sinners then. Watch when the night is dark, and the wind is howling, and the picklock is grating in the door, and you will see sinners then. Go to yon jail, and walk through the wards, and mark the men with heavy over-hanging brows, men whom you would not like to meet at night, and there are sinners there. Go to the Reformatories, and note those who have betrayed a rampant juvenile depravity, and you will see sinners there. Go across the seas to the place where a man will gnaw a bone upon which is reeking human flesh, and there is a sinner there. Go where you will, you need not ransack earth to find sinners, for they are common enough; you may find them in every lane and street of every city, and town, and village, and hamlet. It is for such that Jesus died. If you will select me the grossest specimen of humanity, if he be but born of woman, I will have hope of him yet, because Jesus Christ is come to seek and to save sinners. Electing love has selected some of the worst to be made the best. Pebbles of the brook grace turns into jewels for the crown-royal. Worthless dross He transforms into pure gold. Redeeming love has set apart many of the worst of mankind to be the reward of the Saviour's passion. Effectual grace calls forth many of the vilest of the vile to sit at the table of mercy, and therefore let none despair.
Reader, by that love looking out of Jesus' tearful eyes, by that love streaming from those bleeding wounds, by that faithful love, that strong love, that pure, disinterested, and abiding love; by the heart and by the bowels of the Saviour's compassion, we conjure you turn not away as though it were nothing to you; but believe on Him and you shall be saved. Trust your soul with Him and He will bring you to His Father's right hand in glory everlasting.
—Charles Spurgeon, Morning and Evening

Praise be to Jesus that we who are sinners, who are dressed in the rags of our own despicable works, are redeemed by an Almighty Merciful God!  We are the sinners that Spurgeon speaks of, but we are also the saints that he speaks of too, because we have been purchased by the blood of a spotless lamb.  Our God shed his tears and his blood for us so that we who are low may be lifted high.  But can we merely rejoice in our own salvation and not cry over those who continue in their trespasses and sin?  No, of course not!  We should be moved in the same way our Savior is moved, because we share His Spirit.  We are constantly being transformed into the image of Christ, therefore what saddens him, saddens us, and what makes him joyful, makes us joyful.  We should cry over the lost, but we should also rejoice because we know that it is God who chooses that which is "low and despised in the world".  Praise be to Jesus the Christ!  And let our prayer be for those who do not know Him.  Pray that Christ would strip them of their rags and clothe them in the glorious riches of grace.

Soli Deo gloria,

Sean Alford

Operation Christmas Child

Each year, CrossPoint partners with Samaritan’s Purse to collect shoeboxes from the Clemson community for Operation Christmas Child. Thousands of shoeboxes filled with toys, toiletries, school supplies, and a gospel track are sent to remote parts of the world where upon receiving the boxes, children are presented with the message of the gospel and in some countries offered the opportunity to participate in a 12 week discipleship program.


CrossPoint had a church fellowship last Wednesday night where we packed shoeboxes and wrapped them together. This is always a fun event that we do each year to serve Operation Christmas Child. This year as a church we collected close to 200 boxes.

We also serve as a drop-off location for other churches and organizations in the area. On Monday we sent about 1700 boxes to Anderson, where they will continue to travel to a distribution center before being sent all over the world. It is a joy to help in a small part of such a big mission where so many children will receive a gift of love to lift their spirits this Christmas, and most importantly the opportunity to hear about the love of Christ.

posted by: Caroline Cole

Remember the Poor

November 09, 2011

 "Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." Galatians 2:10

The call to remember the poor did not fall on Paul as an unwanted duty but as an affirmation for the very thing he was eager to do!  How do we respond to the remembrance of the poor?  When the great multitude of five thousand men came to hear the words of Jesus did our God merely preach to them the good news and leave them to their hunger?  Of course not!  He fed them until they were satisfied.  In the very imitation of Christ, Paul did not dishonor the grace that was shown to him by merely preaching with his mouth, but he also ministered with his actions.  In the same way James teaches us if "a brother is without clothes and daily food" and we say to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," and we do nothing to supply for their needs our words are meaningless.  Jesus proclaimed both that the Kingdom of Heaven is near, and he sacrificed his life on the cross so that we could have an inheritance in Heaven. 

Have we forgotten that we were once poor and broken and that Christ redeemed us and raised us from the grave and into life?  Jesus pulled us out of despair and gave us joy, so praise, honor, and glory to his name!  Holy Spirit please continue to work in our hearts and let us see the joy in loving our neighbors well and supplying for those who are in need, because you God have provided for our needs.  By your power and for your glory God let us imitated our Savior.

It is easy to be blind to the needs of others; however there are many people in the Seneca, Central, and Clemson areas who are in need.  Crosspoint receives many phone calls a week from people who are in need.  If you wish to serve and minister to those in need, or would like more information regarding Benevolence and Mercy Ministries at Crosspoint please contact Sean Alford at salford@generation-link.org.

Soli Deo gloria,

Sean Alford

Hope for Clemson

October 31, 2011

"And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region."  Acts 13:49

Paul and Barnabas were not satisfied with merely sharing the gospel with one or two individuals but with entire regions.  They did not see the gospel as an interesting piece of news, but as being profitable for salvation.  They took this understand and with boldness went into cities proclaiming the name of Jesus and serving the people for his glory.  We also as Christians see the gospel as being more than gossip or an irrelevant fact, because we have experienced the redeeming and transforming power of God's words in our lives.  And we are commanded to take gospel to the entire world, from the Far East to our own backyards, so that the good news of Christ would impact and transform the world. 

Because of this calling Crosspoint Church has a vision to transform our communities for Christ.  One of the action steps for this vision is Hope for Clemson, which is an extended service partnership with various ministries and communities in the Clemson area.  Crosspoint's Connecting Point groups are leading these partnerships by linking their group with specific areas of service.  The goal is that each CP group would intentionally serve their partnership at least once a month for the remanding school year.  So far the CP groups have partnered up with various neighborhoods and dorms as well as many ministries such as Helping Hands and Haven of Rest.

We ask that you would please be in prayer for our CP groups as they go into the world to impact the culture, and if you would like to participate in or start a new Hope for Clemson partnership please contact Sean Alford at salford@generation-link.org. 

Soli Deo gloria,

Sean Alford

Inspiring Internationals

International Ministry at Crosspoint Church has been growing and thriving thanks to God's extravagant grace!  Events like weekly International Women's Craft Time, Christianity Explored, Football parties and Chai stands have given church members opportunities to build individual relationships with international students.  There has also been many opportunities for international students to hear about Jesus and His precious gospel!


Monday and Tuesday of this week was a beautiful time in the mountains at Camp McCall with nationalities from all over the world!  Iranians, Uzbekistanis, Indians, Chinese, Brazilians, Germans and Americans attended.  This event was hosted by the International Student Association of Clemson University but several Generation-Link staff and Christian college students were able to attend as well.


While hiking, skeet shooting, swinging, eating camp food, bunking down in cabins, and ziplining, we were able to build relationships with these students, hear their life stories, and share our faith!  We are very thankful for a couple of days to get away and share life with men and women from such diverse cultures.

Praise the Lord for opening up doors and hearts.  Many students are interested in learning more about Him!  Pray that He will continue to soften hearts and minds to Himself.  Pray for our International Student Bonfire Bash this Friday night, that relationships between Crosspointers and Internationals will develop and continue to grow after this weekend.  If you would like to come, meet us in the Victoria Square parking lot at 7pm to ride out to the Dillman's farm.


Want to get involved with International students in Clemson?  Contact Emily Kurtz (ekurtz@generation-link.org).  We would love to get you involved!  


Written by Emily Kurtz

Fall Getaway and Christian Leadership

Fall is the season of harvest.  We have been able to see God move in big ways already this semester.  A few weeks ago we ventured to Camp McCall with college, high school, and middle school students for Fall Getaway.  It was a great time of worship, sound biblical teaching, and community.  My favorite aspect was perhaps the first partnership between Crosspoint Church’s college and youth ministries for Fall Getaway.  It was such a beautiful picture of the church. Different walks of life were present and interacting with one another.  Yet the common denominator is Christ.  I look back on when I was in middle school and remember how having the Godly example of older students was such a motivation. 

 

I hope our younger students came back feeling encouraged and empowered to hit their schools with the gospel.  We can celebrate in seeing God work in the lives of the students as a result of the weekend.  One student came back saying, “For the first time, I trusted in Jesus.”  Praise be to Him.

            Another highlight of the fall semester for our team has taken place in the classroom.  On Tuesday mornings we meet for seminary training led by our pastors and other leaders in the church.  We are studying the principles of Christian leadership.  Most of our discussion is focused on figures in Scripture who provide great examples of biblical leadership.  So far we have looked at Hezekiah, who returned the focus and priority of Israel to God, Jeremiah, who led in spite of his self proclaimed inadequacy, David, who turned to God amidst trials and suffering, and Paul, who gained the respect of those who were imprisoning him by standing firm in times of fear.  This class has been both encouraging and challenging.  We are all leaders in some capacity at Crosspoint, and will most likely continue to lead in other areas of life in the future. I am looking forward to being challenged and stretched further in my understanding of what it means to be a leader.

Written by Will Jackson

Iron Sharpens Iron...

One of the key aspects of Generation LINK is the emphasis on building a gospel community, and one of the ways that this is done is through the G-LINK staff members living together.

When considering how to describe the ‘organized chaos’ that is the GLINK guys’ house, I had difficulty deciding where to begin, so I’ll start with the fun, social stuff.  There are the bonfires with friends down by the train tracks, the afternoons reading and napping on our 21-foot long couch, playing video games and watching “Band of Brothers,” and even late-night water balloon wars with our landlord!  A few others that come to mind are wrestling matches, a saxophone that functions as a morning alarm, late-night renditions of “Grease,” and many more.

From a different perspective, God has gifted each of us in unique ways, and each is able to put his gifts to use in different ways in ministry.  It is clearly evident in just looking at the six of us (who represent but a small fraction of the family at Crosspoint) that the church is a body of many parts, none greater or lesser than another and all needed for the church to work properly.  Just as we are gifted differently, we also have different struggles, and so we are able to challenge and pray with one another to see victory over sin through accountability. I am constantly reminded in my time living with the other guys that however different we may be, we are all united through the blood of Christ and are brothers laboring side by side to see the gospel reach the nations.   It is such a blessing to do life together with them!

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.  Proverbs 27:17

Written by Andrew Gunter

Clemson Scavenged and Crosspoint Discovered

Sunday, September 18th was our first Discovering Crosspoint of the Fall semester, and it was a huge success. God is blessing our fellowship tremendously with numerous individuals from every walk of life who are excited about pursuing the mission of God locally and globally as a part of the Crosspoint body of believers. With approximately fifty attendees at the two-session event Sunday, the Crosspoint pastors (Ken, Jeremy and Jason) led the group through sessions that included Crosspoint’s History, Crosspoint’s Doctrinal Beliefs, and even Crosspoint’s Church Structure.

GLINK staff with Pastor Ken during scavenger hunt

During Discovering Crosspoint, attendees hear a biblical presentation of what Christians believe from Scripture, how, historically and practically, Crosspoint has been structured as a church, and why it is important to intentionally and faithfully join together with other believers in a church. Although we would love for everyone who goes through Discovering Crosspoint to become a member of Crosspoint Church, we recognize that God may have something else planned for some of the attendees. So whether or not they end up joining with us, we encourage every one of them to find a biblical, local church that they can join and serve in and through, because we believe that God has called us to pursue him and his mission while in intentional Christian community.

Also last week, the Generation LINK staff was able to take a much-needed break from the busyness of life and spent a fun evening together on a surprise scavenger hunt. The staff was divided into teams, and each team was sent on a search to find different locations around Clemson. At each location, rather than finding a particular item, the teams were instructed to take several pictures documenting their escapades. Some of the highlights of these escapades included taking pictures that depicted the essence of fall, taking personality pictures based on the personality of each member of the group, taking pictures with feet off of the ground, and, my personal favorite, taking awkward pictures. Everyone enjoyed the time getting to know each other and having fun, and the best part is that several awesome pictures were taken throughout the course of the night (if you have Facebook and are friends with any of the Generation LINK staff, then you may see some of these pictures in the coming weeks).

Written by Bailey Pearson. Photograph courtesy of Caroline Cole.

Starting Point and College Lake Day

It is always a great time to see the college students rolling back into Clemson for the fall.  They are full of energy and excitement.  Each year we have the privilege to see college students desire to grow and mature in their walk with the Lord, and we get to them commit to the body of the church.

We recently had our Starting Point meeting.  This is a chance for college students to learn about our Connecting Point Groups (CP groups).  Our CP groups provide our church body an opportunity to live life together seeking intimacy with God, fellowship among believers, and influence with those who are in the community.  We have more servants equipped to lead CP groups this year than ever before!  It is great to see God provide!  We have groups for freshmen men and women, sophomore men and women, upperclassmen co-eds and men's and women's, international men's and women's.  We have also have small groups for the Bridge Program at Clemson and Southern Wesleyan University.

College Lake Day

Our Starting Point meeting consisted of 200 attendees.  All of our CP leaders attended, providing college students with a chance to meet the leaders, learn what CP groups are all about, and let us know if they desired to connect with a certain group.  Praise God that He uses the Holy Spirit in Crosspoint Church to continue to make disciples and use us to mature his children into the likeness of Jesus!

We also had a college lake day.  This was a great time of fellowship and assimilation of new college students into the life of Crosspoint.  The Welborns' Adult CP Group graced us by cooking some excellent hot dogs and burgers and providing us with sides and snacks.  We ate, played volleyball, threw frisbee, played corn hole, partook in the legendary battle melon game, and enjoyed each others' company.

What a blessing it is to see college students who could be different in every way find unity in Christ and be a part of the body of Crosspoint Church.

Posted by Heath Fulmer

First Week Events

This is an exciting time of the year for the Crosspoint Fellowship as ministries are kicking off for the fall and small groups are starting to meet. The arrival of freshmen and college students is another highlight as we seek to reach Clemson University and the community with the gospel. We host several events the first week of school in hopes of meeting many new freshmen and reconnecting with students.

On Monday, Clemson holds an Organization Fair and a Welcome Back Festival downtown for students. Several members of our college leadership team set up a tent along with other organizations to pass out freeze-pops and invite students to Crosspoint.  Following these events, we gathered in the Union Loggia on campus for an ice cream social.

Tuesday night was a Summer Missions Night where members of our college ministry gathered to share stories of the Lord's faithfulness as they served in missions this summer. Several students shared about their experiences with our Summer LINK programs in Myrtle Beach, Clemson, and India, and others shared about trips to Kenya, Uganda or working with local missions. It was so encouraging to hear how the Lord worked in the lives of our college students and to hear our college pastor, Jeremy Chasteen, cast vision for being intentional as we live misionally here at Clemson. On Wednesday Night we met at the intramural fields for some competitive and not-so-competitive games of Ultimate Frisbee. We also had groups play football, soccer, and volleyball.

Friday night we met at Crosspoiont for coffee and trivia. Students formed teams and competed for prizes and enjoyed coffee, dessert, and fellowship. All the events of the week culminated in Sunday's Starting Point event after the service. Approximately 270 students joined us for lunch and to find out more about the small group Bible studies that meet throughout the week.

Although it was quite a busy time, this was a great week to be intentional with meeting students. We hope that students who attended these events had a great time, but we have an even greater hope that relationships were built with these students. Our desire is that they might see Crosspoint Church as a home-away-from-home and a church to get plugged into during their time at Clemson. Crosspoint desires to be a church that proclaims the gospel to the campus and community and disciples students as they grow in their walks with the Lord. It's going to be an exciting year as the Lord works in the lives of college students!

Post by Kimberly Sherman. Photos courtesy of J. B. Winchester.

Generation LINK Christian Leadership Class Kicks Off!

GLINK staff at summer 2011 GCEN class in Myrtle Beach

In partnership with Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Generation LINK is a part of the Great Commission Network (GCEN). As a member of the GCEN, Generation LINK is approved to teach 18 hours of seminary credit. We are in the fourth year of this partnership as we desire to equip the next generation of leaders serving in churches and in the marketplace all over the world.

This week, Generation LINK launched a seminary class called “Christian Leadership” and there were 25 students who attended the class. During this course, we will examine Biblical leadership, evaluate current models of Christian leadership, and learn how to implement Christian leadership within the context of the church. Our pastors, staff, and Christian leaders from the community will help facilitate the lecture portion of this class.

Published by Jenna Wayment

College Leadership Retreat

When the month of August rolls around each year, the college ministry at Crosspoint takes on a drastic change. Not only does the population of returning students skyrocket, but there are also about 4,000 new freshmen arriving to start their first semester of college. Since we want to be faithful to minister to these students, we must take time to plan as well as to get to know these students when they get here.

One way we prepare ourselves is by taking a college retreat for all of the college staff at Crosspoint as well as the college students who are on our leadership team. This retreat serves two main purposes: refreshment before the craziness of a new year starts and logistical preparation for the semester ahead.

The team spent two nights with a family from our church who was gracious enough to open their home and whose small group helped prepare and serve our meals. We spent the first night catching up and sharing about our summers and telling each other things God had been teaching us while we were apart. We continued meeting the next morning and discussed many of the activities Crosspoint is hosting for students as they come back, such as an Ice Cream Social, Ultimate Frisbee, a Trivia Night, and Starting Point where they can learn more about our small group opportunities.



The retreat wasn’t all work and no play, though! Thankfully the family we stayed with lives on Lake Keowee, and we had an afternoon for lake time. Between swimming, skiing, and boating, students and staff were able to enjoy a great end-of-summer lake day. We gathered together again that night to have one last meeting before trying to get some sleep to get up early to help freshmen move in the next morning.

Although there has been and will be a lot going on during this time of year, the challenge in all of it is to keep the Gospel central to our purpose. It is so easy to get sidetracked or to lose perspective, but the desire of our hearts is that these events would not be an end in and of themselves. Instead we desire to see more disciples of Christ made in the Clemson area and the nations, and we hope that God will use our labor for His glory.

-Written by Savannah Stone & Pictures taken by Jesse Winchester

Summer Link India 2011 Preparations

This weekend, we had our Summer Link India retreat to prepare for six weeks in India! There will be 3 staff members and 9 students traveling to India from June 23rd-August 4th.

We had a blast hanging out together, laughing, playing catch phrase, water skiing, and wake boarding. Team leader Chad Ferrell did an excellent job of opening God's Word and teaching on the gospel in Ephesians 2 and how to engage the culture as seen in Acts 17. We also spent time practicing 2-3 minute testimonies and learning more about Hinduism. It is our hope that this weekend helped prepare students as they have to cope with cultural differences and culture shock in India.

Above everything else, we emphasized to our students the importance of walking with God before they leave for India and while they are in India. The best way to overcome culture shock and the American ethnocentrism so inherent to our natures is to be saturated with the truth of the gospel. We want our students to be humble learners of the culture and to engage the millions of lost people in India with the gospel through tears of compassion.

In preparing to leave for India, I have been reading through Acts. One of my favorite passages in Acts is Acts 20:19-24,
"You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."


Please join with me in pr@ying that our students would serve the Lord in all humility, even in the face of fear, cultural differences, and persecutions. Pray that like Paul, we would speak in boldness being constrained and directed by the Holy Spirit. Pray that we would not account our lives as having any value if only we may finish the course and ministry we have received from Jesus to testify to the gospel.

If you would like to stay updated with our group over the summer, check out our blog at: http//summerlinkindia.blogspot.com.

Our whole team! Front row: Jenna, Christy, Chad; Back row: Anna Grace, Corey, Jared, Sean, Joel, Aubrey, Abbie, Lindsey, and Jordan

Written by Jenna Wayment