Preaching and teaching at Crossroads Church in Odenton, Maryland is a big part of the process of us helping our people understand God’s grace to us and how living on mission is a natural response to that grace. Almost all of the teaching times at Crossroads end with the exhortation to go out and “live and reveal the kingdom of God this week” and our people are beginning to get it and are enjoying living that out!
Besides preaching and teaching about what it means for us to be a missional people, Crossroads is offering a variety of opportunities for our people to get outside the church walls and practice actually doing missions. We know that people tend to get better at doing what is modeled for them and what they have a chance to practice, so we organize a monthly local mission activity in our community, doing things like serving at a homeless shelter, helping Habitat for Humanity build a home, or providing the music for an outreach activity at a local park. This way, our folks actually get to practice missions, and as they participate we encourage them to begin to listen to God and let him show them their own personal mission field.
We also offer a variety of other mission opportunities outside of our immediate community, like a trip to New Orleans to help rebuild after hurricane Katrina, a summer trip to Mexico to join with a Mexican church in spreading the story of God’s love, and other opportunities in the U.S. and overseas. We’re really not doing anything special, just what God’s people are supposed to be doing, but we sure are having fun doing it!