God of this City

 

My blog is really not a "spiritual" blog, but every once in a while when I really feel the Holy Spirit tugging at my heart in a particular area of my spiritual life I decide to sit down and blog about it.

And I couldn't think of a better time than 1:00 AM on a Wednesday morning. Really.

So as I lie awake pondering all the wonderful ways God has been moving in Cross Point Church (formerly New Hope & Fair Park Community Churches) - I just can't help but be SO FREAKING EXCITED about what God has in store for us. This past Sunday our leadership unveiled plans that have been long in the works to purchase a huge, I mean HUGE new building located on hwy 100 & Greenfield Ave in West Allis. It has been our intention since early this year to move into the city of West Allis.

Now, from a person who, in the first year of my marriage moved 3 times - and have since moved 2 more times! - I am pretty used to this idea of "being on the move". But I have to say when I learned of our intentions to move I was emotional. I grew up in Franklin. Franklin has been my home for many years, I went to high school and spent 4 great years wearing black and gold as a Saber (saber tooth tiger, not a stupid sword), New Hope was the church I was married in, my son was dedicated there I have been on staff there for over 4 years and while I was not part of the founding group of people that started that church, a lot of my blood, sweat and tears went into the growth of the church. It was home. 

But with movement comes change and while change can be scary and emotional, it can also be exciting! Monday night there was an open house for the building that we are set to purchase sometime before the end of 2013. I have been to this building quite a bit - it was formerly Heritage Christian School - the school which the Farmer attended for many years and graduated from in 2002. I also was on staff there for a short time when I coached the high school JV Girls Volleyball team. I spent many fall nights there in 2007 and lead my team to an almost perfect 9-1 season.

The building is BEAUTIFUL. Part of the building is quite old, but there was an addition put on a few years ago that includes a humongous brand new gym, classrooms, computer labs, huge offices - it's gorgeous. New Hope Community Church - the little white church with tons of character and that storybook look about it was a great church, but it limited us in so many ways. Any time we have a large gathering we have to rent another facility. We host an AWANA program every Friday night that sees over 200 K-8th graders through the doors each week - doors of another church, that we rent. So this move is going to be good. It's not going to be good, it's going to be GREAT. We will finally be able to house ALL of our AWANA clubs, at the same time, in the same building. Most of you don't realize how huge that really is for us! It's such a blessing. We will be able to host all of our own Thanksgiving Dinners and Chili Cook Offs and AWANA Olympics. We will be able to add things to the list of events we can host.  I already plan on having Volleyball open gyms and eventually hopefully leagues. I want to contact all the old team from FHS and get the girls back together to play and srimmage. I mean I might just have to Facebook them all after I'm done writing this. I am so excited to have all the things that come with this new building.

On Sunday when the leadership was talking about all the new opportunities we have with this new building it was just so clear what God's plan is for us as His church. All the things that had to coordinate and fall into place for this to happen, happened within a matter of days. I mean anyone who's dealt with real estate in any capacity knows that's a miracle in and of itself. We negotiated and sold our old building in Franklin in about 4 days (from what I understand)!!! God has been performing miracles before our very eyes and I'm so excited (have I mentioned that I'm excited?!) to see what the future holds for Cross Point Church.

The meeting on Sunday included a slide show of pictures of the people of West Allis, the businesses, all the new things that are going to surround us. There were pictures of our new building and all the great opportunities we are going to be able to offer the city of West Allis. The music behind the slideshow was "God of this City" by Chris Tomlin. And I have to be honest as the slide show was playing I had a really hard time staying seated. I honestly just wanted to stand in humble adoration and praise God for this amazing opportunity. It took all I had in me to just sit and watch the pictures scroll. The song gave me goosebumps and brought tears to my eyes.

"For greater things have yet to come
Greater things are still to be done in this city..."

Another reason I think God is on the move. The excitement and emotion that it has stirred up in our people is so encouraging. I think walking through the new building on Monday brought us together and helped us realize what can be accomplished for the city of West Allis in the name of gospel when we're in this building. It means we have room for a food pantry, it means we can offer sports leagues, we can host zumba, yoga, aerobics classes, there's room for a library, computer lab, weight room, there's a kitchen, cafeteria for large gatherings. We are no longer confined to our 5 little classrooms and cold dingy basement. (Don't get me wrong, that building has served us a great deal over the past 12 years and it's going to be missed, but I think we are all ready for this change) God is so much bigger than even this new building we're moving to, but I think we will finally get to put our faith to the test and watch God do great things with Cross Point Church.

So I'm not really sure where this post is really leading, all to say that I"M REALLY EXCITED! Did you get that? I'm super excited to see what God has planned for Cross Point Church and how He wants us to use this great new tool He's provided for us. Miracles are happening before our eyes and it will be a matter of weeks before we are worshiping together in West Allis. You're all invited to join us on this journey! The more the merrier.

Ok...hopefully my Venti Soy Latte has worn off now...that's the last time I drink coffee at 8:30 pm. I think I'm getting old.

Good night,
The Farmer's [SUPER FREAKING EXCITED] Wife

1300 S 109th Street, West Allis, WI - *Future* Home of Cross Point Church!!!!!