Love God, Grow Up, Serve All, Live Sent

April 22, 2025

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I thought I would make today's post about something for which I'm thankful. So, it's basically a Thankful Tuesday post. I chose our church. The title of this post is the "motto" of our church.

We are members of CrossPoint Church (you can visit our website here). It was planted in 1970 and reinvented in 2002. We are a multi-site church with locations all over Kansas. We're all Kingdom Multipliers, following the words of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20:

19 Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Pastor Andy Addis and his wife, Kathy, have two grown sons, Noah and Nathan, who are both married. Noah and his wife have one child. Nathan was my oldest grandson Andrew's best-friend back when they were in the same elementary school and attending Awana together. This, in turn, brought our families together. Then, in early 2013, our family began attending CrossPoint and became members. (I grew up in the Presbyterian church, where I, and then Jerry when we married, had membership until we switched to CrossPoint.)

And here's a small tidbit about our current church building. We began outgrowing the previous building in the early 2010s. In 2013, we found the perfect building to renovate for the future, opening it in 2014. It was the old bowling alley where I used to go in high school with friends, and later played pool with my first husband (winning much of the time, haha) and our friends. Before the sanctuary was walled in, we were all invited to come to a preview of what it would look like when the basic structure was in place. Afterward, we were allowed to write on the drywall that was to be the area behind the baptismal pool to "leave our mark" before the main wall coverings were installed. I wrote: "May this church and all who enter be filled with the Holy Words of our Lord and may all find eternal life in His saving Grace and Love."

Pastor Andy has been with our church since 2002. He is the Lead Teaching and Vision Pastor, and serves with the Church Forward Convention (Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists) and the North American Mission Board. He's also an independent speaker/trainer and an author, and part of The Rural Church Pastor podcast. His personal website is andyaddis.com. 

I have a signed copy of Andy's children's book "Blotch" that he wrote in 2016. It's a great evangelism tool for anyone helping a child learn about the gift of God's redeeming grace and love. I've probably read it at least a million twenty times with my grandson, Aero. It can be found on several websites, including Amazon.

We don't say that Andy gives "sermons" in our church. No, no, no. We are a learning church, what Andy gives are "messages." As soon as the worship music is over and Andy comes onto the stage, everyone opens their Bibles (or the YouVersion Bible app on their cellphones), a writing utensil (I prefer a pen), and something to write on (I have a small notebook/journal). Yes, we take notes throughout the message. I am a profuse writer. And I save everything. Yup. We follow the Reading It Right method; there are resources on that page that you can download and print. You can also get it on Amazon.

Andy is not your run-of-the-mill pastor. His messages actually feed his flock. I always say that God has indeed blessed him with a heart and mind for teaching and leading our church. No one goes away not understanding the Word of God.

Our pastor was there for my family when my older son Jeff was injured and died as a result of the industrial accident on November 5, 2013. He stayed with us to the end of that day when we finally had to let Jeff go. He, along with many others in our church, held us and cried with us during Jeff's funeral. Even now, over eleven years later, when he sees me at church or out in the community, Andy will ask how I'm doing. I can be truthful with him and expect an on-the-spot prayer if needed. (I led Jeff's wife - my DIL Amanda that I often speak of - to Christ and she was baptised six months before Jeff's death. I thank God for that every day!)

The last I knew, we have about 2,500 members (yeah, I'm sure not all show up). We have three times for worship - one on Saturday, two on Sunday, and we also have online services, plus Grow Groups (smaller groups that meet at other times during the week and learn more from the weekend's message). I go to the Saturday worship service and sit with several friends, or I watch online if the weather is bad. One gal and I grew up next door to each other since I was in kindergarten and she was in second grade. Funny how God brought us back to the point in life where we're in the same church.

I'm so thankful for my church!

I would love to know what each of you are thankful for!

Have a wonderful and blessed day!

Always,

Diana 🌻