Crossroads Assembly of God Church

06/17/2026

Devotion 061726

Matthew 16:24-25
24Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. 25"For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.
As I work whatever I’m working on I usually enjoy working and listening to music. Now you may suppose that’s no surprise! Lots of people do that, what’s the difference? Well I am a Christian, and I believe Jesus Christ is exactly who He has been proclaimed to be. Son of the most High God, redeemer, savior, healer, friend, captain, and King. So as I work, it matters to me what kind of muic: like songs of worship I prefer to go through my mind. It happens all the time.
There’s a group called audio adrenaline and they have a song called hands and feet. I had that one on my mind all day the other day. The song talks about how Jesus strengthens us, when haven’t the strength or quite frankly the courage. We face our lives and on our own we may chuck the white towel and give up, while Christ gives us the strength and courage to go on. Jesus does this in a way no one else possibly could. But what does it mean – and how do you discover that in your life? I think we just read the answer – deny - carry - follow.
Deny – it begins with meeting Jesus at the cross, denying ourselves enough to see Him arms outstretched eager to welcome us into His family. It doesn’t stop there, we live a lifestyle of denying ourselves so Christ may have more of us. Leaving us eager to see what He has for us next. John the Baptist said it in John 3:30 “He must increase I must decrease” We must continually give ourselves to Christ. Pastor Tim is absolutely right, you will never outgive God. Jesus said in Mattew 7:11 “If you who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Our salvation is just the tip of the iceburg, Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit. You’ll never fully wrap your mind around Him. The Holy Spirit will continue teach and teach, if we are will to submit, which begins with denying ourselves, chiefly pride.
Carry – As I just said, Christ leads us, gives us direction through the Holy Spirit, whom as we feel the prompting and leading of whom we rest assured we belong to God, the Holy Spirit is God’s deposit, His reserve on us for eternity. Yes, my salvation has been purchased by the shed blood of Jesus Christ, who gave me the Holy Spirit as a deposit (eph 1:14) guaranteeing my inheritance in heaven through Christ! As the Holy Spirit leads me, guides me into what is true life, not mundane fake, but true freedom in Christ How could I possibly ever say no? I’ll carry my cross. Jesus accomplished what only he could. Only Jesus could ever carry our sins to the cross. Only Jesus, who was completely free of sin, could take on ours. He bore our burdens. Matt. 11:28-3028 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (NIV) Our cross to carry, is whatever temporary “stuff” we have to endure to pursue to what we have been called to. He calls you today, do you hear? Perhaps you’ve heard, the journey is long you need Christ to supply you with strength anew. Courage regained, confidence restored. The song in your heart restored.
Follow- It’s not just enough to deny, to carry, we’ve got to move. Jesus is on the move, and we’ve got to follow. This is what we’ve been talking about. I’ve not planned this out. This is basically what I shared at the Rescue mission last Tuesday night only a little more polished. Last Wednesday night I just listened. Like we’ve been talking about we must let God out of the safe little box we’ve put Him in. My life is like this, God you have this part. God says, your joking me right? I hold the universe in the palm of my hand, made the stars, breathed life into your very body, provided you countless times, and I’ve got this…. Slice. When will you see… I AM the pie.

06/17/2026

Are you curious about what's in the Bible and how it applies to your life?
Are you a "Brand new Christian" looking for a welcoming and supportive community as you learn? Maybe you need to get back into the habit of regular Bible Study. Whatever your situation, we invite you to join us Wednesday evenings at 6:30pm!
Crossroads Assembly of God Church
615 E. Ash St. , Elmwood Il

06/16/2026

Devotion 061626

Ephesians 2:4-5

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved
Two of my favorite words in the bible, but God. There is an endless list in life of such a time: I rolled a truck down a hill, but God. I had 2 vehicles with transmissions down, but God. I was laid off and down on the funds, but God. A family member was desperately sick and in need of God's touch, but God(x?? times). But what we need to remember before any of the mind bending times God intervened on our behalf is that 2000 years ago Jesus did before we ever were born, or cared about our sin. Tortured to death for what we did, can it be better said that the apostle John looked and saw a Lamb as though it had been slain. The perfect lamb of God.
But God. But God saved us from ourselves in abundantly rich mercy and grace with Love that can only be known - by knowing God. But God made us alive in ways we never thought possible and now gives us the opportunity to be the witness and the light into someone's life, a chance to let someone see what it means to be saved. To be truly alive in Christ. What it truly means to live abundantly, not necessarily through abundance of worldly possessions, but an abundance of God's love, God's Holy Spirit, God's truth in our lives. To truly be an example of ... BUT GOD!!

06/15/2026

Devotion 061526

Psalm113:3
[3] From the rising of the sun to its going down The Lord’s name is to be praised.
There was a day my taste in music may have surprised you. To say it one way.. a bit aggressive? Til one day I truly listened to the lyrics and wondered just what kind of music I was listening and how that was reflecting Christ. Flip the channel: hey.. now that is where my heart is, praise. But do we just listen to praise, or find ways to live a life that praises? How do we live a life of praise? We live on such a way that expresses gratitude to a God for His goodness, "all the time". 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 Rejoice always, pray constantly, give thanks in all things for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. See Jesus in the moment. Listen to what God is saying through the Holy Spirit, ‭‭Gal ‭5:25‬ ‭If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.I admit living this way isn't easy. As we've heard people say don't catch me after somebody cuts me off in traffic. Not my best side then. Oft followed with sorry Lord, I can't be given to anger can I? Every moment every day brings possibilities in Christ. If do our best to keep a mindset of gratitude to God and seeing life through that lens, we'll have alot better time seeing what He's trying to do in the moment. What's Jesus doing now?

06/15/2026

06/14/2026

Everyone is welcome to join us this morning!
Coffee & donuts starting at 9:30 and service follows at 10:30.
Crossroads Assembly of God
615 E. Ash St.
Elmwood, Il

06/14/2026

Worship with us this week!
Sunday service at 10:30. Youth Sunday school held during service.
Crossroads Assembly
615 E. Ash St.
Elmwood, Il

06/13/2026

Family VBS is coming! July 8th-10th from 6:00-7:30pm.
Invite your family and friends and let's have some fun!
This FREE event is open to the community and is for ALL ages!

To register, visit the crossroadselmwood.org or use the link below
https://forms.gle/G2fxLzTL65N2KJNE6

06/12/2026

Devotion 061226
Romans 11:36
“For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.”
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when was your last wow moment? Maybe you bought something and you were so impressed. It can do this or that, just wait until you see this.
This was the apostle Paul’s wow moment. He’d been teaching on the law - how Jesus had fulfilled it and due to what Jesus did on the cross salvation is for all who believe, His mercy on both those who are and are not of Israel. So this in his taking a breath moment says “Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand his decisions and his ways!” Romans‬ ‭11‬:‭33‬ It’s his stand back and wow.
We see but a fraction of all that life truely is, but know that God has it all. It comes from Him, and exists by His power and to His glory. We could spend the rest of our days taking it all on, wow.