Paul CastelliLead where you’re gifted, serve where you’re needed.

This month will go down in the short history of Crosspoint Church as a month to take note of. I have been replaying this month over and over in my head. All I keep coming back to is “Glory be to God!”

Here are some things to celebrate…

* We had over 550 people in attendance each Sunday the last 3 weeks of the month. That is a jump of 90 people in one week!

* We had 26 people accept Jesus Christ as their savior this month, that is 1 less then the last three months combined. Go God, that is awesome!!!

* This past Sunday we had people write down the names of over 600 people they are investing in, inviting and praying for to come to know Jesus as their Lord & Savior.

* We had 50, yes 50 first time guest families come this month,, that is more then the last two months combined.

* We had the highest monthly offering ever in the history of Crosspoint, over $41,000.  That is 25% higher then last August.

* We turned 4 years old as a church. I knew God could do it, it was me I doubted.

* We hired our first Student Ministry director and are planning our first event ans already have over 70 teenagers signed up. This is unbelievable. I love teenagers and I cannot wait to see what God is going to do.

Here are some things to be excited about…

* On Sept 12 were are kicking off our Land Campaign to raise $1 million to purchase up to 25 acres of land to build future facilities on. Yes I said  $1 million, i know that sounds like a lot of money (it is) but we have a 3 year plan to do it.

* We put together a great Capitol Campaign Leadership team to oversee this for the next three years. They are awesome, I am so excited for their gifts, abilities and most importantly their faith and heart.

* We are going to see God bring even more people to faith in Jesus then ever before in the history of our church.

* God is going to stretch all of us through this campaign, and is going to do things that only He can do, through the generous and obedient sacrifices of His people.

This is a new season for Crosspoint Church and for all of us it can seem like a little overwhelming. But for God it is exactly what he has planned for us at this time to be able to reach this community for Jesus.

To God be the glory! Let’s Seize the Day.

In God’s Hands

Pastor Paul

This past Sunday was the 4th Anniversary of Crosspoint Church of Spring Hill. We had the chance to celebrate all God has done in our community through the humble sacrifice and service of His people. It was truly a day to remember. We had a highlight video that showcased the journey. We also had a chance to celebrate all the life change and impact made. And we got here Cody and Jenny’s story of life change. It was an awesome day indeed! Best of all, 8 people accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

I can’t tell you enough at how blown away I am by what God has done. He is faithful to fulfill what He calls us to do. I am reminded of what He has done and what He has in store for us as I read Ephesians 1. I often forget all that God is doing in me and through, but on those moments when I stop and reflect, I am truly humbled. For the next three weeks we will walk with Jesus as we continue to explore our calling and God’s vision for Crosspoint.

I am also encouraged about what is to come. I know that the best that God has in store for me and Crosspoint Church has yet to come. God is doing more then I can ever imagine or fathom. In fact God has been orchestrating His next steps for us before we finished the last ones. And in the life of Crosspoint HE has a really big one coming.

In just a few weeks we will launch our first ever capital campaign to raise funds for land. It is going to be big leep of faith, but I know He is calling us to do it. I know as we continue to serve Him, reach the lost and disciple the saved that we will grow beyond the capacity of current meeting space. I know that in order to reach more people in Spring Hill we are going to need more space and more opportunities for ministry. And with the lack of large commercial property available in our community we will need to buy land and build our future ministry space. And I am stoked about it. I can’t wait to embark on this new journey, it kick offs on September 12, 2010 when we “Seize the Day.”

You do not want to miss out what God has in store for you.

Wow, what an awesome Sunday. God moved in a mighty way.
* 6 people accepted Jesus! That’s right we have 6 more brothers and sisters in the faith.
* 3 people recommitted their lives
* We had 8 first guest families and 5 second time guest families.
* Plus our we just hired our new Crosspoint Students director Chris Seitz.

God is doing some amazing things through Crosspoint and the people here. We also had some crazy unexpected news, we found out that we needed to go mobile yesterday, two weeks sooner then expected.

And you guys did awesome, we had first time guests stay after to help. Everyone jumped right in and we were able to tear everything down, load up the trailers and pull before 1pm. Thank you for making that possible.

Since the school needs us to go mobile we are back to regular set up and tear down each week starting this Sunday Aug 8. So if you are on those teams we will need you for your regularly scheduled assignments.

If you would like to be on either of those teams please just email me back I a will get you set up with the team leaders.

In God’s Hands
Pastor Paul

P.S. We are putting together our trailer team to pull our equipment trailers on Sundays, if you have a truck and would be interested in helping please email me or call me (352) 592-7188.

I am not sure there are words enough to describe yesterday, but I will try.

Yesterday was our first on site baptism in the history of Crosspoint Church. Since we are a mobile church we usually do our baptisms at the beach. But we have had a hard time fitting all our people, our little beach in Spring Hill. Plus with the 4th of July falling on a Sunday we thought how fitting to celebrate our true freedom in Christ by baptism,  “going public” with ones faith in Jesus.

So that led to the crazy idea of a 4th of July outside baptism service and cookout. We got everything ready and the response was overwhelming. We had 52 people signed up for baptism. We had a borrowed portable baptistry form my good friends at www.churchatthebay.com and we had an army of volunteers to help.

And God added an absolute down pour of rain 10 minutes into the service, oh well.

So here are some of the highlights…

* 49 people got baptized!!! Our largest baptism ever…until the next one in Oct

* 539 people came out to celebrate with them.

* A police officer who came to know Christ 7 months ago got baptized, and then he got to baptize a former drug dealer that he arrested 2 years. Only God can bring about such life change!!!!!!

* We had an awesome cookout.

* The Crosspoint staff and the best volunteers in the world pulled off one amazing service despite the weather and last minute changes!

* The bag piper was off the hook, I mean it, He rocked! Nothing like closing the service with some “Amazing Grace” on the pipes!

I was truly blown away by yesterday and so grateful that God has asked us to participate in the life-changing work of His Kingdom. We witnessed some serious life change testimonies and it was awesome.

This Sunday we kick off a brand new message series “Passages”. The focus of this series is passages that have impacted and shaped the lives of the Pastors. You don’t want to miss one minute of it. See you at our regular times 9:30am & 11am and at our regular location Challenger K8 this Sunday!

In God’s Hands

Pastor Paul

Wow what a crazy week at Crosspoint. We got a call on Thursday that we would not have power or AC at Challenger and that we needed to move. The Crosspoint staff jumped into action like superheros. Within 3 hours they notified over 700 people of the move, organized a team of volunteers to meet at the school that afternoon and move essential equipment for Sunday, and let their teams know the plan for the weekend services.

And then Sunday came and it was awesome. God moved in our services, attitudes were high, people we pumped and our Sunday morning volunteers handled it like pros. I couldn’t be more proud.

So here is just a few highlights:

* 1 person accept Christ, Go God.

* 4 more people sign up for our 4th of July baptism.

* We had 8 first time guests families at a brand new location.

* All our volunteers showed up to serve and extras who weren’t scheduled even came early, talk about commitment. You guys ROCK!

I can’t wait to see what God does this Sunday as we wrap up the “Fired Up” series.

In God’s Hands

Pastor Paul

P.S. Don’t forget we are still at Explorer K8 for 1 more Sunday before we return to Challenger. So continue to pass the word.

I normally reflect on the past Sunday and all God did at Crosspoint Church. But I needed to reflect on all He did this May because it was unbelievable.

Here are just a few of the highlights…

* We had our largest regular attendance ever 577 on a Sunday Morning.
* 10 first time decisions for Christ.
* 18 people signed up for baptism.
* 40 first time guest families.
* 35 second time guest families.
* Gave away over $7000 to needy families.
* Largest monthly offering in the history of our church over $38,000.
* And we hired our first Crosspoint Kids Director.

I can’t wait to see what God has in store for us in June!

Don’t miss this Sunday as we wrap up our “Promises” series, with God’s promise of protection. It is going to be life-changing. The feedback from this message series is blowing me away. So many people are really connecting with God and getting guidance and help for life.

I can’t wait to see you there this Sunday at 9:30am or 11am. Come ready to worship and experience God like never before.

In God’s Hands
Pastor Paul

Wow what a week and what a weekend. This past week Erin and I went on vacation. We celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary and it was a great time together and much needed break. We left Keegan at home with grandma and spent 7 days all by ourselves. Every couple needs to do this regularly. The busyness of life, the demands of family and everything in between will drain the life and passion out of your marriage. So make time to foster that precious gift.

Now while I was gone, Crosspoint was rocking. Pastor Wayne kicked off our brand new message series “Promises” It is about what God will be faithful to do that you can bank on. It was powerful. If you missed it check it out online at our website. Here a few other highlights and some big things coming:

* 1 person accepted Jesus Christ this Sunday, Go God!

* Our new Children’s director started, so pumped about what she is going to bring to our kids.

* 8 first time guest families.

* 4 second time guest families, i love it when they come back.

* You gave over $1000 to Crosspoint Church in Nashville to help with flood relief, way to go!

* Two moms won SPA packages for a day, we love moms at Crosspoint and want everyone to know it.

Now for the big NEWS…

Do not miss church this Sunday! What God is leading us to do this Sunday is something we have never done before. It is so big that if you miss it, you may miss out on a blessing from God.

I know that sounds serious and it is. We are going to look at 2 Kings 4:1-7 and I believe God wants to come through on a promise for you. As a pastoral staff we have been studying these verses, praying and preparing for this Sunday for over a month. Get here early and get the kids checked into the children’s ministry and come ready for God to show up.

I mean it, do not, I repeat do not miss church this Sunday!

In God’s Hands

Pastor Paul

What a crazy time it has been. On Friday night I had an awesome worship arts team leader meeting. We have the best Worship Arts team on the planet. The leaders at that meeting are committed, gifted and true servant leaders. If you are looking for a place to serve at Crosspoint check out the worship arts team.

On Saturday Erin and I headed to Orlando for a house warming/Christmas party. However the engine in Erin’s car had other plans. We had the car in the shop last month for the same issue and Volkswagen said after 8 days of work it was fixed. So we had to cut our trip short. The car was nursed down to the dealership on Sunday and awaits a miracle. Its not our car, its God’s car and we are merely stewards. So we will see, right now Volkswagen is trying to weseal their way out of fixing it.

Sunday, Sunday, Sunday. What a day. Pastor Wayne taught an awesome message for our current “Reach”. He laid out a great plan for investing in relationships and pouring into to other people. Check it out at www.crosspointlive.com. My lovely wife Erin shared about what is going on in Crosspoint Kids (our children’s minsitry) and God is changing lives and growing disciples in our kids.

Also the Christmas offering is almost at $10,000. Go God. I believe it will reach halfway before Sunday. Our goal is $25,000 if you haven’t given yet you need too, don’t miss out out changes live in this county, nation and world through the ministries we are partnering with through this offering. You can give here.

We had a number of people step up and serve because we were short handed with some volunteer no shows. Way to go Crosspoint servants. You made life-change possible because you were willing to serve. We also had several people step to become volunteers. There is nothing more rewarding then serving.

Here are few other highlights…

*2 people accepted Christ. AWESOME!!!! Bring the total for 2009 to 102 people folloing Christ this year through the ministry of Crosspoint Church.

*2 people recommitted their lives to Christ. That brings the total for 2009 to 208. Wow, God is great.

*Did I mention the Christmas Offering is only $200 away from $10,000. I am so pumped about that. In the worst economic time in our nation people are still obediently tithing and then sacrificially giving abov and beyond. We God’s people are faithful with their finances, God blows the doors off heaven to pour out blessing, no really check it out Malachi 3:10.

* Christmas Eve is only 10 days away, we will have room for 1000 people. Who are you bringing?

Sunday night was our Small Group Leader’s Christmas Party. Pastor Brad assembled a fantastic group of leaders for this past semester and the next semester crop looks ready to lead. I was truly blown away by all God did in our small groups! The stories of life-change were overwhelming.

We kicked off a brand new series “REACH.” Pastor Wayne did an awesome job teaching out of Matthew 28 about being intentional in our relationships and how to be attentional to those around us.

If you missed it check out the website for the download www.crosspointlive.com

We also add 100 extra seats to each service to make room for more people. Last week we ran out of seats in the first service and with Christmas Eve around the corner we know we need to make room for our friends, neighbors and coworkers, classmates and teammates. I was so thrilled to see those chairs in the service and people sitting in them.

We had two people accept Christ! That means that since January 100 have accepted Christ! That is amazing. Stop and let that sink in 100 people accepted Jesus this year through the ministries of Crosspoint Church in 2009.

And the best part is the year isn’t over. Don’t miss out on inviting people to church this month. The Christmas season is a time when people regardless of their background will accept an personal invitation to come to church.

See you on Sunday for part 2 of REACH!

This Sunday was unbelievable. We wrapped up our “Whatever It Takes” message series with a special Lord’s Supper experience. If you missed it, go to our website and listen to it www.crosspointlive.com

The message started out with the Last Supper and journeyed back to the passover in Exodus 12. It was a great encounter with the grace and provision of God for people. As the teaching wrapped up I asked everyone to write down the name of people in their lives who are not under the blood of Christ. And then to come and place those names on the cross where the Lord’s supper elements were waiting.

It was a truly moving experience to watch as people everywhere got up and covered the cross with the names of family members, friends, coworkers, classmates and neighbors.People who they love and God loves and longs to see them come into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Here are a few pictures…

When all was said and done the cross was covered with over 1000 names. Today the staff and I are gathering to pray over each and every name and praying that God will use the people of Crosspoint to reach each person that was stuck to the cross.