July 2010 July 2010 Pastor Mark: Team Impact: Until the whole world hears: In the Family Room: Team Outreach Just around the corner: This month; Desert Cross is “Reaching out, Touching lives and Changing this World” What’s on your list? Desert Cross Community Church Pastor Mark: Until the whole world hears: Team Outreach: 3 weeks for Jesus: Team Impact: Just around the corner: Desert Cross Community Church August 2010 Desert Cross is “Reaching out, Touching lives and Changing this World” Are you ready for the test? The Bridge keeper Why short term missions? My English Camp life lesson The ABC’s of helping families
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Transcript
July 2010July 2010
Pastor Mark:
Team Impact:
Until the whole world hears:
In the Family Room:
Team Outreach
Just around the corner:
This month;
Desert Cross is
“Reaching out, Touching lives and Changing this World”
What’s on your list?
Desert Cross Community Church
Pastor Mark:
Until the whole world hears:
Team Outreach:
3 weeks for Jesus:
Team Impact:
Just around the corner:
Desert Cross Community Church
August 2010
Desert Cross is
“Reaching out, T
ouching lives
and Changing th
is World
”
Are you ready for the test?
The Bridge keeper
Why short term missions?
My English Camp life lesson
The ABC’s of helping families
Page 2
Our beginning. . .
Desert Cross has a rich heritage and long standing tradition. What is today Desert Cross was once known as Phoenix Japanese Free Methodist Church. This all began in 1929 when Mr. Kiichi Sagawa
came to a life changing faith in Jesus Christ and began a Sunday School in his home in Tolleson. That Sunday School was later relocated to the Japanese Language School on the corner of 43rd Avenue and
Indian School Road.
In 1932 the church was officially organized and dedicated on May 8, with Rev. J. A. Kashitani who served as our first pastor. Our present sanctuary was built in 1964 on land that was donated by Mr. Kiichi
Sagawa. The original buildings were moved from their original locations and placed on our current church property.
As time moved forward the world around the church was changing and now Phoenix Japanese Free
Methodist Church was changing too. In 2007 the name of the church was changed from Phoenix Japa-nese Free Methodist Church to Desert Cross Community Church. This new name is more reflective of
the wonderful diversity of the family we know and enjoy at Desert Cross.
Today we are a multi-generational, multi-ethnic church family. We are a church family with a wonderful past, and a promising future. Come join us as we work together to advance the Kingdom of God into the
lives of many people.
Welcome Home!
Come join us this Sunday @ 10AM for exciting worship, great bible teaching
in a warm family atmosphere.
Bring the kids—there’s something for everyone!
Desert Cross Community Church 4143 N 43rd Ave, Phoenix, AZ 85301
602-278-0917 www.dc3fmc.org
It„s that time of year. Summer is ending and students everywhere are
preparing to return to the classroom. Teachers have already been at it for a
week, in anticipation of the day. One could say that anticipation is in the air.
A lot of unknown for some, uncertainty for others as the day approaches.
Some look forward to it with excitement, while others feel a mounting
stress as they think to the days ahead.
School will do that to you. So will life. As we move forward into uncertain days, the stress
of the unknown can drive our spirits down. The “what ifs” of life can drain away any hope,
any energy for facing tomorrow‟s uncertainties. So what are we to do, to face tomorrow with
our heads held high and our hearts ready? Be ready for the test.
So how do we prepare for the test? We do it by knowing the one who orders the test, rather
than focusing on the test itself. When we know the heart of God for us, the tests of life be-
come less threatening. So then, the obvious quest becomes to know His heart.
Last night we watched the new movie, “The Book of Eli". I would caution you that the
language is rough in this movie, but the film made a great point. The main character, Eli, has
one of the last remaining copies of the bible, which he is diligent to read every day. His goal
in life is to get the book to a place where it can be safe and get it reprinted. But as the movie
progresses, he makes the decision to trade the only remaining copy of the bible to save a
young girl's life. When asked why he did it, he responds that he realized he has focused so
much on protecting the book that he forgot to live out what the book taught.
In the end, he makes it to the place to reprint the bible, but he has given away the last re-
maining copy to save a life. That‟s when we all discover he has memorized the entire bible,
which he dictates word for word. The bible has become the “Book of Eli”.
As I sat watching this well crafted movie I saw a life principle come through. As I learn
the word, and grow in the word, it becomes a part of me that will keep my heart on track
when the trials and tests of life come. That‟s how we pass the test. Become the book. As we
learn the Word and it sinks deep within us, we become the book. But more than that; the book
becomes us.
As we give ourselves to the Word, it transforms our lives. And we begin to live out the
book in our everyday life. We really become the book. Will you join me? Will you take the
quest to drink deep from the Word, so that our lives becomes the “Book of Eli”. Then we will
pass the test, no matter what….
Pastor Mark
Are you ready for the test?
Page 3
Team Impact — Children & Youth Ministry
The Bridge Keeper
There was once a bridge which spanned a large river. During most of the day the bridge sat
with its length running up and down the river paralleled with the banks, allowing ships to pass
through freely on both sides of the bridge. But at certain times each day, a train would come
along and the bridge would be turned sideways across the river, allowing a train to cross it.
A switchman sat in a small shack on one side of the river where he operated the controls to turn the bridge and lock it
into place as the train crossed. One evening as the switchman was waiting for the last train of the day to come, he
looked off into the distance through the dimming twilight and caught sight of the trainlights. He stepped to the control
and waited until the train was within a prescribed distance when he was to turn the bridge. He turned the bridge into
position, but, to his horror, he found the locking control did not work. If the bridge was not securely in position it
would wobble back and forth at the ends when the train came onto it, causing the train to jump the track and go
crashing into the river. This would be a passenger train with many people aboard. He left the bridge turned across the
river, and hurried across the bridge to the other side of the river where there was a lever switch he could hold to operate
the lock manually. He would have to hold the lever back firmly as the train crossed. He could hear the rumble of the
train now, and he took hold of the lever and leaned backward to apply his weight to it, locking the bridge. He kept
applying the pressure to keep the mechanism locked. Many lives depended on this man's strength.
Then, coming across the bridge from the direction of his control shack, he heard a sound that made his blood run cold.
"Daddy, where are you?" His four-year-old son was crossing the bridge to look for him. His first impulse was to cry
out to the child, "Run! Run!" But the train was too close; the tiny legs would never make it across the bridge in time.
The man almost left his lever to run and snatch up his son and carry him to safety. But he realized that he could not get
back to the lever. Either the people on the train or his little son must die. He took a moment to make his decision.
The train sped safely and swiftly on its way, and no one aboard was even aware of the tiny broken body thrown
mercilessly into the river by the onrushing train. Nor were they aware of the pitiful figure of the sobbing man, still
clinging tightly to the locking lever long after the train had passed. They did not see him walking home more slowly
than he had ever walked: to tell his wife how their son had brutally died.
Now if you comprehend the emotions which went through this man's heart, you can begin to understand the feelings of
our Father in Heaven when He sacrificed His Son to bridge the gap between us and eternal life. Can there be any
wonder that He caused the earth to tremble and the skies to darken when His Son died? How does He feel when we
speed along through life without giving a thought to what was done for us through Jesus Christ?