CURRENT SERIES GUIDES & DAILY STUDY

This year at Crosswalk, we’ve chosen to reflect on the Christmas story as an Adventure.  The word Adventure can describe a significant undertaking, a remarkable experience, and exciting activity, a time of exploring unknown territory, but inherit with any use of the word Adventure is the idea of risk.  No risk, no adventure.

As we look back on the Christmas story unfolding in the gospels as foretold in the prophecies, we can easily see how jam packed the story is with adventure, risk. The characters include angels and shepherds, heroes like Jospeh and villains like Herod, wise men from the east following a star, a very pregnant and young Mary trying to survive atop a donkey for four days (can not imagine the discomfort), and even an order to find a kill the Christ child that led to a last minute trip to Egypt. The story of the Advent, or the coming of Christ into the world, is an incredible story of Adventure, that continues for us even today?

So Crosswalk, get ready for the life-giving, risk-taking, world-changing Adventure found in the story of a God who became human, so that humans could be filled with His Spirit, share His love to the world, and ultimately be reunited with our God.

Thanks so much for joining in the fun!

PREVIOUS SERMON SERIES

Have you ever thought that God could use these situations to grow you toward the person God wants you to be? I don’t believe that God sends hardship and suffering to us, but I do know that God can use anything to teach us to become the people he envisions us to be. Without adversity, we may never reach our potential. So being people who can handle discomfort means that we have learned to trust in God in those difficult moments, uncomfortable situations, and being pushed outside of our comfort zones.  This second season of the Uncomfortable series will discuss uncomfortable people, diversity, worship, unity, and comfort. I, for one, look forward to these conversations, sermons, studies, and the opportunity to grow in uncomfortable situations as a child of God and someone who would like to represent Christ more in all that I do.
UN/Broken
According to the National Association of Mental  Health, 1 in 5 Americans will report suffering  from a mental health illness. One might think the numbers can’t be as high  for church-going Christians. The assumption is  that those with a strong faith should experience  peace, joy, purpose, and connectedness. However, just as many Christians report  struggling with mental health issues, which is  also underreported for many of the same  reasons.  In this series that we’re calling Un/Broken,  we’ll look at some of the myths related to  mental health and faith and then tackle stories  and characters from Scripture that we think  relate to mental health. We hope that as we go  through this journey.
ELEMENTAL (SEASON 1)
In Elemental, Season 1, we introduced a challenging idea—that it’s appropriate to inspect our faith. It’s ok to note inconsistencies, conflicts, and even ideas that don’t seem useful, unearth difficult questions, and admit to confusion and doubt. We call this uncomfortable examination deconstruction, where questions are a typical, even essential, ingredient in belief and spirituality. Is it possible that faith and doubt are not enemies—that one doesn’t destroy the other?  Maybe doubt is an inevitable part of this broken world to which faith is God’s answer. Of course, our goal isn’t to wallow in a deconstructed graveyard of yesterday’s thinking. Rather, God would have us take things apart so that He can help us put them back together again.  So with this, we launch Elemental, Season 2, a time of reconstruction. We’ll walk together through the rubble of our deconstruction and sift out the most elemental building blocks of our faith.
THE LITTLE LETTERS
ELEMENTAL (SEASON 1)
AFTER - An Easter Series
We wanted to spend this time because we tend to leave the Easter Weekend experience and move on from the story. But the story doesn’t end there. For 40 days, Jesus showed up, taught, ministered to, and was a presence in the disciples' lives. It would behoove us to spend a few weeks thinking about the impact and importance of this time that Jesus spent with his disciples. How can we live in those Post-Resurrection moments?
UNCOMFORTABLE - SEASON 1
Throughout this first season of the Uncomfortable Series, I want you to face what gives you discomfort, befriend it, and live with it. I won’t use the word ‘conquer” your discomfort, because I am not sure I want you to. I want you to become comfortable with the discomfort, to become used to being a little anxious, a little bothered, and a little off-kilter. I know it sounds horrible, but it is how we keep moving forward for the Kingdom of God.
LOVEWELL: A THEOLOGY
The first series of the year will focus on our end statements but mainly on the theology behind them. We will dive deeply into what a theology of belonging, authenticity, relationships, and relevancy is. Theology is the study of God, but we will examine what Scripture says God thinks about these things. Whether it is written explicitly or whether it is implied, we will delve into scripture to see how our end statements align with what has been said about and by God on these topics.
THIS GENEROUS LIFE
Our hope is that during this season of thankfulness and hope, you will take the opportunity to re-envision what it means to live a life full of generosity and grace. To be generous is more than just what you give to others, although that is a part of it. It is really the attitude and the position that you take toward the world, toward others, toward those values that need to be supported, and even toward your family and friends. To be generous of spirit means to move toward the betterment of everything around you in all that you undertake.
MOMENTUM
Over the years, I have seen ministries grow and fade, others become successful and maintain that success and influence, as well as some that never seemed to be able to get off the ground at all. There are reasons for this. Often, when we think of ministry, we think that everything that happens is by chance, rather than design. When Crosswalk goes into a new community, we fully expect Momentum to show up. I don’t believe it is arrogant to believe this, I think it means that we are paying attention to the things that God would have us focus on.
DEEP FAITH
Through these letters, Paul not only helps Timothy think through challenges he’s facing with the church in Ephesus and how to best lead, but ultimately to help Timothy keep up the “good fight of faith.” Through these letters we can learn a lot about how to deepen our own faith as well. “The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.” (1 Timothy 1:5 NLT)
CHRISTOPHANY
Since the fall of man, we begin to see the desire for salvation, for reconciliation, and for forgiveness that can only come in its entirety through the work of Jesus on the cross. The Old Testament shows us our need for Jesus. It does this by setting us in front of a mirror, or the law of God, which point out our unrighteousness. The apostle Paul wrote, "through the law comes knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). These scriptures speak with one voice, even though at times it feels as if they are bifurcated in their understanding of God. They are not, rather, they are speaking to different people at different times with different revelations about Jesus. While the Old Testament speaks of a God that has not yet arrived, the New Testament speaks of the full revelation of God that we experience through Jesus. However, it is only in the totality of scripture we can best understand who Jesus is and the context to which he came.
BELOVED
How long has it been since you engaged in a deep study of a book of scripture? We are taking 42days to study this book, and it will lead us to Easter. This might be a wonderful opportunity toshare this guide, or even study with someone for the next 6 weeks in order to bring them to abetter understanding of Jesus and the story that unfolds in this powerful gospel. In fact, it couldeven lead them to a desire to be baptized, which we always love to offer to anyone in our Easterservice. However, more important than filling a tank, is filling hearts with a greater understanding of Jesus Christ, his purpose, his words, and his love for us.
WITNESS
In this series, we will be talking about how the kingdom of God informs the way we live our lives and see the world. As we read through the story of the “Advent” or the “Coming Of God”, it is clear that a primary purpose of this gracious act is to give us a glimpse of heaven in order to be inspired to model heaven on earth. Through the Christmas story, we will be focusing on the values of the kingdom of God and how those values are lived out ‘on earth’. Through an honest reading of the unique characters of the Advent story, we hope that our community accepts the calling to align our lives with heaven.
ON EARTH
In this series, we will be talking about how the kingdom of God informs the way we live our lives and see the world. As we read through the story of the “Advent” or the “Coming Of God”, it is clear that a primary purpose of this gracious act is to give us a glimpse of heaven in order to be inspired to model heaven on earth. Through the Christmas story, we will be focusing on the values of the kingdom of God and how those values are lived out ‘on earth’. Through an honest reading of the unique characters of the Advent story, we hope that our community accepts the calling to align our lives with heaven.
LOVEWELL
In the "Lovewell" series, we'll be focussing on Crosswalk Church's End Statements:

1. Crosswalk will be a community of belonging.
2. Crosswalk will be a community where people learn and grow in an authentic relationship with God.
3. Crosswalk will be relevant in living out the ways of Jesus in our place and time.
4. Crosswalk will be a community that lives beyond herself by caring and advocating for the powerless, oppressed and abandoned.
5. Crosswalk will be a community that exemplifies servant leadership.
REMEMBER
All through scripture we are told to remember. This series we will be remembering sorrow, joy, where they come from and remembering hope. Join us as we remember, starting on September 11 with remembering sorrow.

There will be no series guide for this four week series. We encourage you to browse through our previous series that have guides below!
CONTRAST
We decided that we would study this book of Paul, Galatians, as it holds wonderful questions and even greater answers. The truths found here are timeless for the follower of Christ, and we should all take heed to the advice and counsel given. Studying a book of scripture takes commitment, dedication, and desire. While this is not the longest of the series we have done, we will go deep into the word of God as expressed in this letter from the Apostle Paul. We know that Paul wrote this letter, its authorship has never been in question, but we are not 100% sure when it was writ-
ten. We do think it was written before the letter to the Romans, as it seems to be Paul’s first step in a much broader theological argument laid out in Romans 1-8 specifically. 
PAUSE
This series, we will be talking about something that is deeply close to our hearts; The Sabbath. You may have experienced sermon series on the Sabbath before, but perhaps not at Crosswalk. Our ethos is not to fight about a day, but revel in the gift that God gave us through the Sabbath. You will not hear a historical treatise on when a day of worship was changed, nor who did the changing.We don’t need to squabble over who is right and who is wrong and why that matters.
CHRISTIAN?
In this season we'll be taking a look into the literal and theological meaning of the word "CHRISTIAN and how in the past years this word has took a turn for different definitions.

Our series guides will look a little bit different. While not as much content, there will be a reading guide, questions, and a weekly small group guide for your small groups. I hope this is a blessing to you and your family.
REARRANGE
The story of the Children of Israel leaving Egypt is a complex story, full of successes and failures, with some miraculous instances, and some deeply troubling issues as well. How can a group of people who are seeking to follow God through difficult and trying circumstances find their anchor points to prepare them for the land that God has given them? We could and should ask ourselves the same questions. This series will take us through the Exodus of Israel and help us understand what changes need to be made in our lives so that we can continue to follow God. Hopefully, this series will also keep us away from some of the mistakes that they made in the preparation to take back the land God had given them.
CHRISTMAS LIST
To end the year of 2020, we focus on God's four priorities found in the book of Luke, Mark, Romans and Galatians. "Christmas List" starts on December 5, 2020.

The Christmas List holiday series will not have a companion daily series guide this year, but a bible reference and application booklet for you to dive deeper in discovery and meaning of scripture.  Click the button below!
THE NEW NORMAL
Welcome to the New Normal Series Guide. We have all heard the phrase “the New Normal” as it relates to our current and future Covid-related lives. None of us are too excited about what the future holds and how things are changing, but we are learning to lean into whatever the new normal will be. While we don’t know exactly how things will look, we do know that we can never go back to the same life we were leading before. Whether masks are here to stay, social distancing will become the new rule of our social lives, or perhaps working from home will be the norm rather than the exception, things will be different.
FAITH BY DESIGN
We decided to change our series after our Easter “Awakening Series”. We were going to do a series on the book of Joshua, which we will come back to eventually. However, we felt that doing something that would give us an incredible dose of hope in troubling times would be more appropriate. We have decided on 1 & 2 Thessalonians in order to see what the Apostle Paul has to say about living in troubled times, and how he is deeply invested in making sure that people understand how it all works at the end of all things, and at the end of our particular lives. So we hope this brings some hope, some peace, and some wisdom to how we are all living right now.
GAINING GROUND
We decided to change our series after our Easter “Awakening Series”. We were going to do a series on the book of Joshua, which we will come back to eventually. However, we felt that doing something that would give us an incredible dose of hope in troubling times would be more appropriate. We have decided on 1 & 2 Thessalonians in order to see what the Apostle Paul has to say about living in troubled times, and how he is deeply invested in making sure that people understand how it all works at the end of all things, and at the end of our particular lives. So we hope this brings some hope, some peace, and some wisdom to how we are all living right now.
AWAKENING
This series, our study focuses on many of the words that were said from the Cross of Christ that have evoked an awakening in people to the love, grace, compassion and hope of Jesus. For two millenia these words have shocked humanity, divided them and saved them. What we see of these final hours in the life of Jesus, by transcending the synoptic gospels and the gospel of John, is a Savior that is worth knowing, worth loving, and worth following.
THE ALMOST
The miracles of Jesus demonstrate Jesus’s absolute authority and power over the devil, sickness, death and nature, thereby confirming to all that He is indeed the Messiah and the Son of God. Also, the signs and wonders of Jesus testify to His limitless compassion for people and His longing to see people set free from all bondage. We take a look at some miracles of Jesus and we even head to the Old Testament at the end of the series to recognize that God has always been breaking through to show us the Almost.
CHRISTMAS PRESENCE
Beginning on the 30th of November, there is a devotional for every day. We would love to have you follow along, and then, of course, worship with us as we open up the texts we have discussed throughout the week on Sabbath. Download the guide, feel free to print it out or use it digitally. There are areas where you can write your thoughts and answers to questions. Thank you for being a part of this journey, we look forward to learning together.
MANIFESTO
The Manifesto series is on the book of Colossians. We have created a Series Guide that has devotionals for every day of this series. Beginning on the 22nd of September, there is a devotional for every day. We would love to have you follow along, and then, of course, worship with us as we open up the texts we have discussed throughout the week on Sabbath. Download the guide, feel free to print it out or use it digitally. There are areas where you can write your thoughts and answers to questions. Thank you for being a part of this journey through the book of Colossians, we look forward to learning together.