THE CROSSING WEEKLY

LOOKING AHEAD

AUGUST 22ND - 29TH!

SOWA Camp R.A.W. presents the first annual overnight camp August 22nd-27th. This is an immersive worship, personal development, fitness, and martial arts camp for the young and aspiring warrior 9-15 years old. Click HERE to learn more!

APPLICATION DEADLINE, AUGUST 31ST

Internship Applications are being accepted for the 2022-2023 year! The Youthstorm Internship program is a 10 month discipleship intensive in the context of the local church to establish foundations in authentic faith, biblical conviction and passionate devotion.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST

NEW First Principles Cohorts starting Thursday September 1st at 6:30-7:30 PM. The First Principles Series is a set of 13, six-session Bible study guides used to establish believers and churches in the Christian faith. To sign up contact Amy Donnelly at donnelly.amyr@gmail.com or visit the Welcome Center on Sundays. Childcare is provided.

JOIN US WEEKLY

EY (Emerging Youth) 6:30 PM, is a gathering of ages of 12 – 18. Contact Josiah Armstrong to get involved jarmstrong@lifealliance.org

Prayer Furnace 7 PM in the sanctuary, come pray and worship with us!

Young Adult Group 7 PM, contact Laura to get involved messinanc@gmail.com

Life Groups are at the core of our community expression and are the primary place for connecting with people in our community at a personal level. Find one near you!

Life Groups are at the core of our community expression and are the primary place for connecting with people in our community at a personal level. Find one near you!

First Principles classes are at 6:30 PM. The First Principles Series is a set of 13, six-session Bible study guides used to establish believers and churches in the Christian faith. New enrollment occurs in fall and spring. Learn more about First Principles!

Coffee and Conversation Women, join us every third Saturday morning of the month from 9 AM – 12 PM, contact Anna Benedict Anna.benedict@gmail.com

Worship Service 10 AM. Find our messages HERE.

Children’s Church drop off times are from 9:40 AM – 10:15 AM. Kingdom Kids (age 1-5) is across the street at the Daycare. Power Kids (ages 6-11) is in the main building’s hall. Learn more about Children’s Church.

Café Kerygma is our very own cafe which opens at 9 – 10 AM & 12 – 1 PM for coffee and fellowship.

Dreamers’ Ranch sells their products from 12-12:30, or directly after service. Come buy our beef, lamb, pork, and eggs as available.

School Of Warrior Arts offers various classes throughout the week featuring Martial Arts, Dance, and Music lessons. Click HERE for more details!

CLA Academy Spotlight
with Alex and Evelyn Madden

Where did the idea of CLA come from?

 

In 2021, a number of people in our community, as well as our leadership, felt the Lord prompting the Crossing LIFE Church to launch a school. With a lot of prayer and fasting, a small group came together after the holidays and met in February 2022 to discuss and brainstorm what a school would look like and how would we start one. Questions came up about what would the mission and vision of the school be? What do we want our graduates to leave a school with? Do we want to be an evangelical school or discipleship school? We answered a lot of these questions, and opened a whole new world of the large task before us. The biggest question of all however, was, “When do we launch the school?” 

 

At first, we all came to the conclusion it would be wise to create a two-year run way to launching the school, but the Lord had other plans. Just as with many of the prophetic words over the Crossing, the Lord kept highlighting fall 2022 to our small group. The burden for not only the desperate need for the school, but the incoming harvest of souls weighed on us all. Over the next few weeks, we came together again and agreed to launch the Crossing LIFE Academy in fall 2022. This was a huge leap of faith, especially because at the time, it was March 2022. We are now a month away from our first day of school, and the Lord has provided abundantly. We hope as you read more about CLA, you are encouraged and propelled to step out in faith in whatever the Lord is calling you towards. 

 

What is the long-term, overall vision?

 

At the Crossing LIFE Academy, our mission is “To raise up the next generation of authentic disciples and transformational Kingdom leaders through Christian education.”

 

Our school is designed for Christian families who desire to be sincerely governed by Christ, effectively pass on the faith to their children, and be trained in the power of the Spirit with a biblical worldview. Our ultimate goal is for students to become lovers of God and skillful wise leaders who are able to keep the Faith, direct their families, establish and strengthen the future churches to which they may belong, and influence the culture where they will live. Students are taught that their calling is to be in full-time Christian service in whatever occupation or station in life they may find themselves. The primary purpose of the school is to be equipped and prepared to obey the command of Jesus to “Go ye therefore and teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.” – Matthew 28:19-20

This is achieved by providing a strong biblical-based holistic education model that emphasizes a wisdom-based approach to lifelong learning, skill development, academic excellence, and character formation. Students develop the virtue and nature of Christ as the standard for personal ethics and behavior. We challenge each student to stretch beyond their current level of ability and thought, build a biblical mindset, develop critical thinking and reasoning skills, and experience new outlets for using and expressing their God-given gifts, unique design, and making meaningful contributions in service at every stage of their life. Each student is taught that the primary qualification for leadership in service to others is a spirit of excellence worked out in humility and love.

What is the vision for the pilot year? Why push to launch it now with so many other things going on?

 

During the first year, our focus will be primarily on the elementary grade levels. We hope to add more grades as CLA grows each year. 

 

We were talking with a mentor who has been coaching us on the ins and outs of starting a school. We explained our mission, vision, and timeline. We expressed the struggles of launching a school so soon. We described it as learning how to build a plane that has taken off and is in midair. He stopped us and said, “No, not a plane in midair. You guys are building a rocket ship that is going straight up.”

 

That is true. Since that step out in faith and trust that God was going to build this school or we labor in vain, the amount of blessing over this effort it nothing short of a miracle. The Lord has provided in so many ways, and we have faith He will continue to do so. 

 

So, why now?

 

Coming out of 2020, the evidence of the corruption and decay within our educational system was on full display, but nothing new. The cultural and moral depravity being introduced in the educational system is an obvious reason to start a school, but it wasn’t the only one or even the main reason. All around us in our churches, schools, and society, we have a family crisis. In the U.S. alone, the level of spiritual attack on the nuclear family has dramatically increased as morality in the culture is stripped away and redefined. The enemy has focused his efforts to remove God and His design from the family. Men are discouraged and marked as outcasts if they attempt to rise to their place in leadership in their homes as fathers and husbands. Women are being erased and replaced in their role as wives, mothers, and nurturers of the family. Children are pre-maturely being thrust into adulthood left to fend for themselves in a culture pushing a narcissistic and relativistic world-view. This also isn’t new, but we are fools to think the spiritual and literal attack on the family isn’t directly crippling the witness and voice of the Church, especially in the West. If we really believe the Lord has promised a great harvest of souls, we must start with grounding our families deep in the Word and standing as disciples of Jesus Christ and His Gospel. The time to take a stand is now. 

 

The idea for the school has always been a part of the Crossing DNA. Establishing disciples in the faith has long been the larger mission and vision of the Crossing. Crossing LIFE Academy is another form of targeted discipleship that flows into the makeup of the Family and into the Family of Families – the Church. The school is a strategic, Holy Spirit-led approach to spur on the rapid expansion of the Church by deeply rooting and establishing disciples.

 

If not already obvious, what makes it different from a public school, a private Christian school, and/or a homeschool co-op? Who can attend?

 

The Crossing LIFE Academy (CLA) is rooted in the Crossing Life Church. CLA will follow the discipleship model, which is based on the Great Commission. What makes our school unique, is its philosophy. We are a discipleship school, asking that one parent be a believer; a principled school, where biblical principles guide its methodology of instruction; a worldview school, where each discipline expresses and illustrates Biblical truth; and a classic tutorial school, where the teacher-student ratio is about 1:12.

 

Since God has laid the responsibility upon parents to train up their children in the way of the Lord (Proverbs 22:6), we intend to enroll parents and families, not just individual students! It is the parent we philosophically enroll; the children can come along with them and of course attend daily classes! Parent classes are also held throughout the school year so that we may all grow in our understanding of biblical principles and a philosophy of life that honors the Lord in our homes. This is essential to understanding if we are to see real fruit and some of our ultimate goals come to pass!

 

We are not just embracing the ultimate goal for our young people to “keep their faith” as if in survival mode. Though we hope and pray each individual will remain devoted to their Lord, our goal is for each student to be a warrior that knows how to apply his faith, taking every opportunity to be an influence in discipling nations, beginning in his own back yard!

 

In short, we are here to train a generation of youth who will take seriously the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, “Therefore, go into all the world and make disciples of every nation.” – Matt 28:19a. We want youth who will engage in the task of seeing individuals, homes, churches, and entire nations bowing their knee to the King of Kings!

 

For those who are interested in applying for a job, or for their children to attend, who are you looking for, what is the process and what are any links or contact information?

 

We are looking for laborers who are hungry and ready to pour into this missional effort to establish our families and children as disciples!

 

We are at the beginning stages, so help is always needed and appreciated! We do have a few paid positions available for teaching and part time administrative work. Please contact us via email if you would like an application. 

 

If you want to learn more, volunteer, teach, or give to CLA, please email info@crossinglifeacademy.com.

 

We are working on a website and hope to share it in the coming months. Stay tuned! 

We’d love to know… Is God on the move in your life?  If you have a testimony, click the button below to share in an upcoming edition of The Crossing Weekly!