Crossroad Community Church

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Rick Betts preaches on the effect governmental authority has on its people. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Rick Betts preaches on the importance of hanging on to what is good. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Rick Betts preaches on the importance of walking in the Spirit of Christ and rejecting the flesh. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Rick Betts preaches on the importance of taking each and every thought captive. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Rick Betts speaks about Easter and two men give their testimonies of Gods work in their lives. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Rick Betts talks about Palm Sunday and there is a special message from Pastor Andrew Betts. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Rick Betts speaks about how the body of Christ is to work together by submitting to one another. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Rick Betts speaks about how the body of Christ is to work together by submitting to one another. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Vince Hinds and other members of the congregation speak about SOS and the Mission Trips from the last year. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Jim Apgar calls us to get into the battle for Christ.

Hi, this is Pastor Ken, thanks for joining me once again for the Monday Marriage Message where together we search God’s instructions to experience highly successful marriages. Last time I concluded our series on the Order and Structure of a God Shaped Marriage. Today I want to begin looking at the prescriptions for both a God Shaped Husband and a God Shaped Wife. In our most recent series the focus was on the order of authority within a marriage as laid out in God’s word. As a part of that study of 1 Corinthians 11:3, I did speak briefly to the actions of a godly husband and wife, as they pertained specifically to maintaining the God-ordained marital order and structure. Now I would like to delve deeper into the scriptural prescriptions for a God Shaped Husband and a God Shaped Wife. One might ask why I keep using these terms for a husband and wife, and that is a reasonable question. First and foremost, I do so because as I have said many times before, the primary purpose of marriage as stated by God Himself is to reflect His character. Genesis 1:26 tells us that God chose to create mankind in His image and His likeness. Verse 27 tells us that in so doing He created both a man and a woman. In the very next chapter in Genesis 2:22-24 we learn that God created that first man and woman in a one flesh or married condition. Furthermore, He said that going forward He would join future men and women in marriage to recreate what He had accomplished with Adam and Eve. Following that understanding, it becomes abundantly clear that a marriage is intended to reflect God, therefore the participants of that marriage, the husband and wife need to be…God Shaped ones. Second it is important to understand that if we were not called to live up to a standard as a husband or a wife, then each would need to determine for themselves how to do that best. A third grader can see the value and logic in having a standard for such an important undertaking, yet most married people can’t see that the bulk of their marital difficulties arise from trying to define for themselves if they are a ‘good’ husband or wife. Most people are not overtly evil, and the vast majority of us believe ourselves to be ‘good’ people. Therefore, most of us act as a husband or wife in good faith, thinking we are doing the best we can given our circumstances. Interestingly enough, I have noticed as a marriage counselor that most husbands and wives I encounter in my office do not believe that their spouse is doing the best they could. Why do we find ourselves in marriages where we believe we are doing the best we can, but our spouse isn’t putting in the same effort? Why do our spouses agree completely with that assessment except that they think the tables are turned in the other direction? The answer is simple. We have attempted to dispose of the standard. We each are defining for ourselves what a husband should look like and how he should act. We rely completely on our own understanding to decide if a woman is being a good wife or not. These determinations are made based on a myriad of information. Our families of origin and the marriages we each watched growing up…that by the way were having many of the same difficulties we are struggling with. We also draw on our life experience and our own set of core beliefs to help us know how to interact as spouses. Among the most dangerous sources of information of how our spouse should be treating us is the alter-universe of comparison. Movies, books, songs, checkout line magazines…and don’t even get me started on social media…all of it designed by the enemy of marriage to cause us to think our spouse is mistreating us, and they are probably never going to live up to being what we and they know they should be. Scripture identified the problem we run into when we each want to develop our own standard. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:12 They use themselves to measure themselves, and they judge themselves by what they themselves are. This...

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Jim Apgar challenges us to be a better witness for Christ. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Hi, this is Pastor Ken, thanks for joining me once again for the Monday Marriage Message where together we search God’s instructions to experience highly successful marriages. Today we will continue with our look at the Order and Structure of a God Shaped Marriage. This will be our eighth and final installment in this series looking at the differing roles of the Husband and the wife in the greatest of all human relationships. Each of the episodes in this series have been based on 1 Corinthians 11:3. There the Apostle Paul wrote the following. But I want you to know and realize that Christ is the head of every man, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. I used the first few editions in the series to consider the role of a husband, and the fact that according to our focal scripture he is directly responsible to Christ for his interactions with his wife. In the last few episodes we began focusing specifically on the important position of the wife within the marriage. In those we delved into topic of submission and what it really means for a wife to submit to her husband while understanding her value is equal to his in every way. Today we are going to look at the final phrase of this scripture verse and what it has to say about the Order and structure of a God Shaped Marriage. As I mentioned in past editions of this series, we have been working our way through 1 Corinthians 11:3 phrase-by-phrase keeping with the very structure and order with which it was written. I have also made the point that this verse not only sets the God given structure of authority in the marriage of a husband and wife, but also the Godhead that marriage is intended to reflect. This is valuable on many levels but the one I want to concentrate on today is that the marriage of Adam & Eve, and every marriage since has been only a reflection of the greater Godhead that created all of them. In light of that, Paul writes that there is a common thread to the order of authority that runs all the way through the hierarchy. According to this scripture, this God ordained order for our marriages is actually part of the reflection. Allow me to read our focal passage once more, But I want you to know and realize that Christ is the head of every man, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. Let’s take a few minutes to look closely at this final phrase so that we can highlight what our marriages are supposed to be reflecting. “…The head of Christ is God.” According to this passage, within the Godhead there is also an order of authority. God the Father is in authority, and Jesus Christ the Son, who is the Father’s equal, willingly submits to the Father. The bible tells us that Jesus is God. The Apostle John began his gospel with that very truth. In John 1:1-4 John wrote of Jesus, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The bible also points to the fact that Jesus is equal to the God the Father. Philippians 2:5-6 says 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God. This means that Jesus is God and that He understands that he has the exact same value as the Father. God the Father is not superior to the Son and the Son is not inferior to the Father. They are both perfectly holy and are therefore equal in their superiority over all things. Our focal scripture from 1 Corinthians 11:3 tells us that the head of Christ is God, or in other words, God the Father is in authority over Jesus the Son. We can see that further explained if we continue to read on in the passage from Philippians we were just looking at. Beginning again in Philippians 2:5 and this time continuing on to verse 8 we read, 5 Let this mind be in you which was...

Hi, this is Pastor Ken, thanks for joining me once again for the Monday Marriage Message where together we search God’s instructions to experience highly successful marriages. Today we will continue with our look at the Order and Structure of a God Shaped Marriage. This will be our seventh edition in this series looking at the differing roles of the Husband and the wife in the greatest of all human relationships. Each of the episodes in this series have been based on 1 Corinthians 11:3. There the Apostle Paul wrote the following. But I want you to know and realize that Christ is the head of every man, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. I used the first few installments in the series to consider the role of a husband, and the fact that according to our focal scripture he is directly responsible to Christ for his interactions with his wife. Last time we began focusing specifically on the important position of the wife within the Structure and Order of a God Shaped Marriage. In that episode we delved into the much misunderstood topic of submission. Knowing that the concept of submission inside marriage is a bit of a touchy subject I considered carefully how I would approach it. As a pastoral counselor, I understand that teaching some of the precepts in God’s word can at times be problematic. This is not because there is some problem with what God’s word has to say, God’s word is infallible. It can be difficult based on our level of willingness to accept what it says as right and true. Sometimes that gives us trouble. Unfortunately, as human beings, when we don’t like, or personally agree with something we tend to close our minds to it by simply ignoring the subject all together. So, when there is a topic like submission that must be practiced to enjoy marital success, the challenge is to convey the truth without people metaphorically sticking their fingers in their ears and shouting “I can’t hear you…I can’t hear you!” With this in mind, I had to consider carefully how to best speak on the much misaligned concept of submission. Psalm 19 tells us that all of God’s precepts are perfect, that all of His ways lead to successful living. It tells us that if we will take scriptural guidance seriously it will bring blessing to our lives. Nowhere is that more true than in the marital relationship. If we want the blessing of an amazing marriage, we must follow the prescription written by the author of marriage. Who would know more about the correct operation of successful marriages than the creator of the institution? Furthermore, as I have documented many times before, the primary purpose of marriage is to reflect who and what God is. Certainly there should be no arguing that God is most capable of giving us proper instruction as to how to best reflect Him. If we are willing to forsake what we think about it in the natural, submission is actually a very interesting idea. It presumes the essential truth that the person offering their submission is equal in value to the person in leadership or authority. Slavery is accomplished when one who is bigger, stronger or of some greater ability forces the involuntary subservience of another. Slaves have no choice in the matter, they are forced to serve the one in authority. Submission is not slavery. When one submits, they choose to do so. Submission is an act of the will. I must volunteer to place myself under the submission of another, because I am an equal with any human authority I choose to submit to. This is also true of a wife’s submission to her husband, I pointed out last time how God used specific words when referring to Eve that clearly indicated her equal value to Adam. Every wife who chooses to obey God’s perfect precepts for marriage and willingly submits to her husband, who holds no greater value than she does, is also positioning her marriage to receive blessing. While we are on the subject of submission there are few things I think necessary to...

Hi, this is Pastor Ken, thanks for joining me yet again for the Monday Marriage Message where we search God’s instructions together to learn how to experience a highly successful marriage. Today we will continue with our look at the Order and Structure of a God Shaped Marriage. This will be our sixth edition in this series and we are beginning to shift our focus to the wife’s important role in the greatest of all human relationships. Having been led to 1 Corinthians 11:3 as the focal passage for this series, and considering that the series is dedicated to structure and order, I have directly followed the very structure and order of the passage. Meaning, I have chosen to expose the truths contained here phrase-by-phrase just as they were written. In the Amplified Bible that verse reads as follows: But I want you to know and realize that Christ is the head of every man, the head of a woman is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. In the past episodes of this series we have covered the concept of Christ being the head (or the One in direct authority over) every man (or every husband in this context). Last time I introduced the next layer mentioned in this verse covering the structure and order of marriage and the Godhead it is designed to reflect. This portion of the passage identifies that “The head of a woman is her husband”. Though this means that the husband is the one in direct authority over the wife, I was careful to make sure that there was no misunderstanding that Paul was somehow saying that a woman had to go through her relationship with her husband in order to have a relationship with Christ. I shared several other scriptures that clearly dispel that erroneous notion. I also took the time to show that from the very words God used to describe and define Eve as a wife, there can be no doubt that men and women are equally valuable to the marriage. Both are equally necessary to their successful ability as a married couple to fully reflect God. In the past I have highlighted many of the ways that scripture points out the unique ability a woman to reflect God in ways men are not capable of doing nearly as well, if at all. When joined as one they become a marital mirror intended to reflect their maker. I want to move forward now by restating something from last time. Some of the scriptures we will be looking at have for a very long time been the cause for dissention. I think much of the difficulty with them has come from misunderstanding and misinterpretation. I believe that those difficulties diminish if husbands don’t look at these scriptures as an opportunity to dominate, and wives don’t read them believing that God is saying they are not as valuable as their husband is. Selfishness is what makes husbands want to dominate, and causes wives to want to resist authority. That is why I believe our focal scripture to be so vital to this discussion. It does not simply say that there is a structure and order of authority within a marriage, it continues and illustrates that same structure and authority exists in the Godhead as well. Why is all of that important? Because if wives are to correctly understand their equal value with their husband in the marriage, and gladly adhere to its scripturally defined framework, they need to be able to see that just as Christ is supposed to be their husband’s example of how to love them, Christ is also their example as to how to be a godly helpmate. Before we begin digesting scriptures that contain that easy-to-misunderstand word submission allow me to reiterate some important facts. • Submission to authority does not equate to inferiority. • Scripture clearly illustrates that even within the triune Godhead authority and submission to authority are necessary components of success. • Jesus Christ, the Son of God voluntarily offered His submission to the will of the father so that Their united purpose could be accomplished. • Though Jesus’ submission to God the Father was voluntary it was...

Thank you for joining us at Crossroad Community Church in Georgetown. Pastor Rick Betts begins the new year with his top 10 best endings in the bible. For more information on how to get connected with Crossroad Community Church Georgetown small groups, bible studies, events, and times of services visit crossroadcc.us

Hi, this is Pastor Ken. Generally, on Thursdays I bring you my thoughts about some currently notable subject or personal story from my life and connect it to a scriptural truth. However, for the past three years on the Thursday before Christmas I have shared with you a Christ-centered Christmas poem or Christmas story by another author that I found valuable. This year I decided to bring the words of a well-known Christmas Carol and the back-story behind its writing. So here are my Christmas thoughts on this Thursday, December 21st, 2023…Silent night. Allow me to begin by reading the words from the now famous song. I find that we often sing songs that are well known almost automatically giving voice to the lyrics. This auto-response to the melody sometimes conceals the depth of each stanza’s true meaning. So I thought…its Christmas…let’s open the gift of the originally intended meaning and expose each verse free of its melodious wrapping. Silent night, Holy night. All is calm, all is bright. Round yon virgin, mother and child. Holy infant so tender and mild. Sleep in heavenly peace; sleep in heavenly peace. Silent night, Holy night. Shepherds quake at the sight. Glories stream from heaven afar. Heavenly host sing al-le-lu-ia. Christ the savior is born; Christ the savior is born. Silent night, Holy night. Wondrous star, lend thy light. With the angels let us sing, Al-le-lu-ia to our King. Christ the Savior is born; Christ the savior is born. Silent night, Holy night. Son of God, love’s pure light. Radiant beams from thy holy face, with the dawn of redeeming grace. Jesus, Lord at thy birth; Jesus, Lord at thy birth. In the New Living Translation Isaiah 7:14 says, The Lord Himself will give you a sign, Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and call Him Emanuel (which means) God is with us. Just two chapters later we read in Isaiah 9:6-7; For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called; Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of His ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s armies will make this happen! There can be no argument that the evening that the virgin Mary gave birth to the Lord was indeed a Holy night. That night the glory of God was revealed in human form! The word of God recorded for us in Isaiah 7:14 was fulfilled on that Holiest of nights. Was it a silent night? That I am not so sure of. A baby was born, in a stable…in the small city of Bethlehem. Luke 2:1-7 tells us about it. At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, to whom he was engaged, who was now expecting a child. And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them. We do know that it was not a silent night out in the pastureland where the shepherds were. Luke 2:8-20 tells us about all the noise in the normally quiet fields outside the city. That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in...

Order and Structure of a God Shaped Marriage Vol. 5 Hi, this is Pastor Ken welcome back to another edition of the Monday Marriage Message where we search God’s instructions to experience a highly successful marriage. We will continue today with our look at the scripturally given order and structure of a God shaped marriage. Since the beginning of this series, I have directed your attention to the God-given order and structure of a God Shaped Marriage found in 1 Corinthians 11:3. Once again, that passage in the Amplified Bible reads as follows: But I want you to know and realize that Christ is the Head of every man, the head of a woman is her husband, and the Head of Christ is God. As the focus of this series is order and structure, I felt it doubly important to follow the very order and structure of this focal scripture. Therefore, I dedicated the past several episodes to men as husbands, following the lead of Christ. We looked carefully at several different scriptures and noted just how husbands can interact with their wives, just as Christ our overseer, interacts with His bride the church. We will now shift our focus to the second portion of this passage “The head of a woman is her husband”. Before we push further into the exposition of this verse allow me to clarify a point that I feel important to address. My concern is that there could be an unfortunate misunderstanding when considering this verse void of its context. One could take this verse to be indicating that a wife’s relationship with Christ must go through her husband. This is simply not true at all. Scripture is clear that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is possible for anyone who believes in Him (John 3:16). Others speak directly to believing wives who have unbelieving husbands, which should negate any argument that a woman (wife) cannot have a direct relationship with Christ. (1 Corinthians 7:10-16). Furthermore, Paul wrote in Galatians 3:28 that in Christ there is actually no distinction between men and woman, meaning that both are capable of joining with Him. With that concern addressed let’s move forward. Just as I did concerning husbands’ interactions with their wives, we will now look at what the bible has to say about how a wife should interact with her husband. A wife’s position in a God Shaped Marriage is one of incredible importance. Eve’s God given title was that of a helpmeet. This is not a word commonly used in contemporary vernacular but the meaning has not been in any way diminished with its use. The idea of a helpmeet comes from the original Hebrew words [ezer] pronounced [ay'-zer], and [Neged] pronounced [neh'-ghed]. As I explained in the first edition of this series, these words used together, according to Strong’s Exhaustive Bible Concordance, mean an absolute counterpart to a perfect set. Eve was created the absolute counterpart to Adam. She was so in every way having been literally created from Adam’s own flesh. God then proclaimed His desire to recreate that same result in others going forward. He decided that a man would leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, and the two of them would quite miraculously become “One flesh”. Marriage is God’s process of recreating the one flesh experience of Adam and Eve in every man and woman that enters into this sacred relationship. Ladies, if you believe that it is God who joins a man and a woman in marriage, then you must also accept that when you marry, you become your husband’s helpmeet, his absolute counterpart. Scripture describes God’s hand in the marriage process. Proverbs 19:14 in the Amplified Version says; Houses and riches are the inheritance from fathers, but a wise, understanding, and prudent wife is from the Lord. Men, it is high time we begin to understand that though God may not have put each of us to sleep, removed a rib and created for us a wife of our own flesh, she has been given to, and joined with us, by Him. What is the greater miracle, to create a perfect...

Hi, this is Pastor Ken, I want to welcome you to my Thoughts on a Thursday Podcast where I take some regular occurrence or personal story from my life and connect it to a scriptural truth. So here are my thoughts on this Thursday, November 30thth 2023…Under Construction About 20 years ago I fulfilled a lifelong desire. I built a house. When I say that, I don’t mean that I sat down with an architect and planned the size and shape of the house. I also don’t mean I paid someone to construct a home for me. I mean that I actually drew up the plans, submitted them to the governing authorities for approval and then personally put hammer in hand and built the house. From the footers to the ridge cap including everything in between, if it was a part of that house, I was the one who constructed it. It was important to get each part of the build done right, but thankfully at each stage there are almost always allowable tolerances. Some level of variation is expected both in materials and workmanship. As long as the building is constructed within reasonable parameters, all goes well. Early on in the process however there was one task that was critical to everything that would follow. It was crucial for that particular job to be accomplished with incredible precision. There the allowable tolerances are as my grandfather (who was also a carpenter) used to say “next to nil”. When it came to laying the foundation, the footers could be a little out of square or even less than perfectly level. They are poured wide enough that the block foundation can vary slightly from the centerline of the footer if need be to remain straight and true. The cement blocks can even be shaved if necessary to provide a perfectly level wall once it is completed. What has nearly no room for error is the placement of the initial corner block. If that one singular block is not perfectly positioned exactly 90 degrees to the corners perpendicular to it, nothing…and I mean nothing constructed on top of it will come out right. That one block determines the success of the rest of the project. In this day and age, it is the placement of that initial corner block that garners all the attention. In days gone by, however before the advent of cement blocks, the perfect stone also had to be found. A corner stone had to be one that had all of the necessary qualities to position it correctly and to build upon. Furthermore, a good cornerstone is a promise of a successful building project. When you possess a good true cornerstone, you can build with total confidence that the entire structure will be strait, level and true because the corner stone is all of those things and it defines the foundation’s characteristics as a stable building surface. Certainly the integrity of the other building materials matter, but without the best possible foundation, beginning with the cornerstone, all you will ever have is problematic structure and a pending pile of rubble. Ephesians 2:19-22 speaks of a spiritual building project. It says, Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. These days I am busy with a new construction project. This time I am not the architect, the general contractor or the builder. I am counted among the building materials. In a way this verse says that I am listed among the acceptable list of materials that are being used to build a holy temple. Essentially through the work of Jesus on the cross I have been invited to be incorporated into a house that is being constructed in His honor…for Him to live in. That house is being framed up and completed by my life and the many lives of others given...