Crossing Church

A CROSSING is a JOURNEY.

The Bible is saturated with the image of JOURNEY.

In Genesis, we read of Abraham stepping out in faith to leave the land of his ancestors and go to a place chosen by God. In Exodus and Deuteronomy, the journey continues with the forty-year trek of the people of Israel from the harsh oppression under Pharaoh in Egypt to the promised land of Canaan. In the New Testament, we see the earliest Christians were refered to as those who belong to the way (Acts 9:2).

Our culture also understands this image of JOURNEY when it comes to spirituality.

Because of these factors, and others, we have chosen the name Crossing for our church.

The CROSSING image reminds us :

• We are going SOMEWHERE–by God’s grace, into a deeper relationship with God and His people and, someday, heaven.
• We are in a PROCESS–any journey does more than simply lead us to a goal. The spiritual journey that we are on is, within itself, a process that God uses to grow us and develop us as we press on to our goal of becoming like Christ.
• Our journey is a journey of CHANGE

If we are IN CHRIST, our spiritual destiny is to be conformed to the image of Christ (Rom. 8:29)

We believe this is a “crossing” worth making.

“Building a City within the City”

Church Father Augustine spoke of a “city of God” being built among the cities of men.

What he meant by this is that God’s people should look and live differently from the world around them for the glory of God and the good of the world. This “difference” will not be simply defined by our external appearances but rather in the way we love and treat one another in community, our ethics, our parenting, our marriages, our finances, the way we treat those who aren’t currently following Jesus and so on.  As we live out this difference, we build a “city of God within the city of Louisville” that reaches out to the rest of our world.

As this happens, our hope is that we would be perceived as different…in a good way.

Like any other city, our city is built on several values that define who we are and what we do.

For us these values are:

The Bible

We believe that God wrote the Bible through men without error (2 Timothy 3.16, 2 Peter 1:20-21) and that it should be our “sole rule for faith and practice”—the ultimate authority for all of our lives as well as our journey together as Crossing. We believe the Bible is the final authority rather than church tradition or human experience and it is the dominant voice in our Sunday Gathering and in Community Groups. We believe that when the Bible is the primary way that God communicates with His people and when it is faithfully taught and correctly applied, its truth can and does change our lives.

In order to glean as much as we can from the Scriptures, we do a type of teaching called Expositional Teaching in which we most often work through books of the Bible paragraph by paragraph. Though we certainly don’t think that this is the only way to teach the Bible, we have found it extremely helpful in our people growing in their knowledge of God and His Word.

The Gospel

We believe what Historic Christianity has always believed about the Gospel and about how human beings restore their broken relationship with God.

• We are born sinners separated from the holy Creator God. • No works of our own are sufficient to restore us to a right relationship with Him. • Only the finished work of Jesus Christ of the cross credited to our account can make that happen.

• We accept this gift from God by turning from our sins and trusting in Jesus to lead our lives.

Most evangelical churches in America would wholeheartedly agree with these statements and affirm that the Gospel as good for justification (the moment in which we are declared righteous before God, a.k.a. getting saved, being born again, becoming a Christian, etc.), however, we have found that many churches do not say much about the Gospel’s value in the process of sanctification (becoming more like Jesus as we grow in our faith in Him). We believe that the Gospel has great value should be applied for both.

We also believe that the most faithful preaching and teaching is always pointing to the Cross and making as many connections as possible to the Gospel.

How this Plays Out in Our Ministry:

In our preaching and teaching, we are careful to frequently talk about “Redemptive History.” This historic language (though it may be unfamiliar to some) reminds us that the Bible is not a disconnected collection of stories and pithy sayings, but rather one unified story made up of Four Movements (Creation, Fall, Redemption, and Restoration) that is “going somewhere.”

The garden is the way things were intended to be but the Fall shattered that arrangement. The brokenness of Adam is credited to all of us. Genesis 3 foreshadows that there would be a Redeemer to come to set things right and the Old Testament heroes and the sacrificial system point to that Hero, the Messiah. Jesus, who is that Messiah comes and the Gospels are the account of His life and ministry. The rest of the New Testament tells us of the advancement of His ministry through His church and tells us how we are to live in light of His message. Revelation shows us what the return of Christ will look like and the full realization of His Kingdom will look like.

Thus, the Gospel is the central storyline of the Bible.

This also means that our teachers are always pointing to Jesus as the Hero of Bible, and therefore its particular Bible passages (e.g. Nehemiah is about Nehemiah, but everything we learn about Nehemiah reminds us of all that we love about Jesus.)

This also means that our teachers will have much to say about the heart, idols and idolatry, the “sin behind the sin,” “applying the Gospel” and that real behavior change begins on the inside and not simply with behavior modification. All of these concepts flow from our desire to keep the Gospel central and employ its effectiveness in every possible avenue. This is also reflected in the fact that we take communion each week at our Sunday gatherings.

It also includes a continued emphasis on evangelism and church planting.

Community

Though certainly no substitute for the Gospel, we believe that authentic spiritual community is something that is close to God’s heart throughout the entirety of the Scriptures. God has always had a people and those people have always, to some degree, lived in community.

To this end, our goal is to not simply be a group of people that attends church services together, but truly seeks to live our lives together for the glory of God and the good of the world. Thus, at Crossing, it is not uncommon for people to become extremely close with their “church family” spending lots of time with them outside of church functions, vacationing together and so on. For many, this has been a welcome change to their previous church experiences.

In addition, it is also our conviction that this kind of authentic spirituality is not an end in itself but rather the best context in which biblical discipleship (sanctification—the process of becoming like Christ) can occur. We believe that the ultimate spiritual adventure is to begin to investigate, evaluate, and implement the teachings of God revealed to us through the Holy Scriptures. We believe that this happens best in a community and not as a “lone ranger” Christian.

Mission

As the Bible teaches, we believe that Jesus’ Great Commission to “go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matt. 28:19-20) should be close to the heart of any Church that seeks to follow the Bible. Our heart beats to connect as many people as we can (both in Louisville and around the world) to loving churches that share the message of Jesus, faithfully teach the Holy Scriptures, and provide authentic relationships where men, women, boys, and girls can grow in their faith.

We believe that an active relationship with Jesus Christ is the only true path to God and we seek to share His message with everyone we can. We do this by authentically investing in the lives of individuals who do not know Jesus Christ, church planting (both here and around the world), and through the support and sending of missionaries abroad.

We also believe that part of the Mission of God in the world is made manifest through serving those inside and outside the church in practical ways. This includes seeking to help those who are marginalized and in need by using the gifts and talents God gave us.

*Please note that this is not our exhaustive belief statement. We align ourselves with 2 documents called the Acts 29 Doctrinal Outlook and the BFM 2000 which taken together total about 40 pages. This is merely a synopsis for the sake of brevity.

God

We believe that God is the ultimate Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign Ruler over all of Creation and its creatures. We believe that our greatest pursuit in life should be to live all of our lives for His glory and to make Him known in the world. (See the whole Bible).

The Bible

We believe that God wrote the Bible through men without error and that it is the ultimate authority in all of our lives as well as our journey together as Crossing Church. The Bible is the dominant voice in all of our groups and gatherings.

Jesus Christ

We believe Jesus Christ is the eternal God-Man who became a man, lived a perfect life died on a cross, was crucified, and physically rose from the dead to allow sinful humanity to be made right with God through His ’substitutionary atonement’ (His dying in our place and offering us His life) (Acts 4:10, Phil 2:7-11, Luke 23:26-24: 53). We believe that Jesus is returning to earth to judge all people and to rule and reign with His people forever (Rev 22:12, 2 Tim 4:1).

Humankind and Salvation

We believe that God has created all human beings in His image and that He has created them uniquely male and female (Gen. 1:26-27). We believe that all human beings are born separated from God and are in need of being made right with God (Rom. 3:23) We believe that ’salvation’ (being made right with God) comes to us by GRACE ALONE (God’s loving favor to us) through FAITH ALONE (not by works, baptism, or any other act, religious, or otherwise). For more information on our complete set of beliefs, please contact our church office.

The Church

We believe that the Church is a spiritual community made up of all Believers everywhere for all time (Eph 1:22-23, 5:25-27, 1 Cor 12:12-14, 2 Cor 11:2). We believe in the autonomy of local churches and recognize Believers’ Baptism (being baptized by immersion after placing conscious faith in Jesus Christ) and the Lord’s Supper (Communion) as its two ordinances (Acts 13:1-4, 15:19-31, Rom 16:14, 1 Cor 3:9, 1 Peter 5:1-4, Matt 28:19-20, Acts 2:41, 42, Acts 18:8, 1 Cor 11:23-36).

In ESSENTIAL beliefs, we have unity. In NONESSENTIAL beliefs, we have liberty. In ALL of our beliefs, we promote love.

Crossing is affiliated with the Acts 29 network and the S.B.C.

The story of Crossing begins in 2004. It is a story of both vision and providence. In January, a burden begins to develop for a new church in the East End that will preach solid Truth and have a radical heart for reaching disconnected people. Dustin Neeley (Teaching Pastor/Elder at sojourn community church) starts an in-home Bible study and begins reaching out to his neighbors in the Lyndon area. The group grew and became two groups. In September of that year, the decision is made to transition Dustin out of his position as the Administrative Pastor at sojourn into leading the planting team of Crossing Church in the East End. Strategic partnerships are established with sojourn and other mission agencies.

In January 2005, Dustin begins developing the Crossing’s initial core team and began meeting once a month for visioncasting, prayer and worship. In March, James Welch jumps on board to be the second pastor/elder and begins another home Bible study. On June 12, 2005, the Crossing community is sent out from sojourn, its mother church and Summer 2005 was filled with lots of hard work and ‘working out the bugs’ in several areas of our ministry to prepare for an early fall launch service on September 18, 2005.

In June 2006, Crossing sent out its first church planting team to New Orleans, LA. This is an amazing milestone for such a young church and confirmed God’s special work within this body. In August, Crossing saw a significant increase in attendance. One month later, after outgrowing its initial location, Crossing moved from St. Thomas Episcopal Church to Ballard High School and from Sunday evening to Sunday morning services. In December of 2006, Crossing sent out its 2nd Church Planting team to Cleveland, OH.

In 2007, Crossing began to establish itself in the East End and experienced a season of significant numerical and spiritual growth. She also celebrated her second brithday and moved to a more permanent home at the Kentucky Country Day School, which is her current location. Sundays continued to grow and improve and become an even greater source of life and light for many. In addition, small groups continued to multiply and families and individuals grew in their ability to understand and apply the Gospel.

2008 was an extremely exciting year for Crossing. Not only did she grow and begin new outreach ministries in the East End, Crossing also piloted a second location in Crescent Hill to expand its ministry.  We also began the initial steps toward planting our 3rd church, this time in Louisville. It was a good year.

2009 was also a very exciting year for Crossing. We grew in strength and number, installed another elder and sent out our fourth church planter. This time, we sent Elder Matt Peavyhouse to Hollywood, FL. In addition to numerical growth, we also saw significant spiritual growth within our body and the beginning of a writing ministry by our Lead Pastor, Dustin Neeley. He began a new blog for church planters that has immediately established a following and began writing regularly for The Resurgence, which is one of the top five Christian blogs on the internet.

So far in 2010, God has been increasingly gracious. We sent out our fifth church planting team (Ernie and Lisa Banks and Jack and Brittany Cheadle) to Savannah, GA and are in the process of transitioning to our first “permanent” facility of our own as we speak at 3600 Chanberlain Lane Ste. 736 Louisville, KY 40241. Needless to say, we – especially our setup team – are very excited!

Elders

Dustin Neeley
Lead Pastor
Dustin has been the Planter and Lead Pastor of Crossing Church since Crossing’s inception in 2005. Before planting Crossing, Dustin was a Teaching Pastor/Elder at Sojourn Community Church here in Louisville, KY. Dustin’s ministry history also includes extensive experience with youth and college students, several years of traveling speaking and leading worship around the United States as well as writing two independently published books and recording five music cds. Dustin now writes regularly for The Resurgence and his own Church Planting blog called “Church Planting for the Rest of Us.” Dustin loves Jesus, his wife and 4 kids, preaching, mountain biking, techie gadgets, Brewster’s Ice Cream and blowing things up in video games He is also a 2007 graduate of S.B.T.S. here in Louisville.

Dan Gossett
Executive Pastor
Dan has been a part of Crossing since it was launched in 2005. In the summer of 2007, Dan started serving as the Administrator. In June of 2008, Community Groups were added to his list of responsibilities. Dan loves Jesus, his wife, dog, almost any local coffee shop, backpacking, hiking, camping, mountain biking, gardening and just about anything else outdoors. He is currently working on a degree from S.B.T.S. here in Louisville.

Heath Lambert

Pastor of Biblical Living

Heath is an amazing gift to our church. He handles much of our pastoral care, some Sunday teaching and is in the process of raising up an army of biblical counselors. He and his wife Lauren have three amazing children-Carson, Chloe, and Connor. He recently finished his Ph.D. at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he is also a professor. We love this guy.

Also Serving Our Community Are:

Stephen Farrior

Worship Arts

Pete Mosher
Men’s Ministry

Becky Raver
Crossing Kids

Shelby May
Tech

Brad Walker
Setup