Christmas Eve Candle Light Service

Pastor Jay McCaig and the congregation of Crossroads Baptist Church are inviting everyone to join us as we celebrate the birth of Christ with a Christmas Eve Candle Light service. The service will start at 7pm, on Wednesday, December 24th, and will include a reading of the Christmas story and several musicle special. Join us as we get fully focused on what Christmas is all about, Jesus Christ. We hope to see all of you here!

This Morning's Sermon

As you settle in with your family this Christmas don’t miss the gift for the wrapping. It is easy to get caught up in the wrappings of Christmas, the giving, joy, peace, good will, etc. And while these are all good things none of them compare to the real gift of Christmas, Jesus. To hear this morning's sermon on the gift announced by the angel Gabriel click HERE

Pray Like You Mean It

Don’t take for granted the ability God has given you to seek Him face-to-face in prayer. Our Father loves to hear from us. In His Word he has given us examples of two types of prayer – private & corporate. Private prayer is our alone time with God and Corporate prayer is when we come together as a church to cry out to Him. Make sure you have both in your life.

Christmas or Xmas?

Several years ago the “Xmas” as an abbreviation for Christmas became popular. Many theories abound as to why this started and why it has gained popularity. Some have attributed it to the notion that the word Christ in the Greek can be spelled with an X as the first letter others have argued that X was used by the Romans as an abbreviation for the word Christ because of the Greek spelling, even though x was more commonly used for the number 10. While both of these explanations are shaky at best neither explains the insurgence of its use today, since most people today do not write in Greek and last time I checked the Roman Empire was still dead. More likely the use today stems from one of two areas. The first cause I believe is a combination of laziness and ignorance. People are simply too lazy to write out the whole word Christmas and ignorant of the message they are inadvertently sending when they eliminate Christ from His own birthday celebration. The second reason has to do with the world’s hatred of Jesus. It is difficult to see Jesus without being reminded of our sinful situation and our need for repentance. The thought of writing down the name of someone they hate is simply more than they can bear so they “x” Christ out of Christmas. Jesus left Heaven and came to earth to live and die for the worlds sins. He was motivated 100% by a love that is incomprehensible to us. He knew being born meant that he was going to be falsely accused, beaten, mocked, spat upon, and crucified but his love for us was so much greater than the pain. This season don’t leave Christ out of His Birthday Celebration. Merry Christmas!

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Are you looking for Jesus or a Religion?

What are you looking for. Jesus? Religion? Aren't they the same thing? Listen to the Sunday morning message by Pastor Jay McCaig for insight into these and other compelling questions. To listen or download Sunday's sermon click HERE.

Chris Being Baptized!

Chris has made many life changes this year. In addition to accepting Jesus as his Savior and following Him in believer's baptism, Chris has made many more productive changes in his life. Please pray for Chris as he continues to grow in Christ and allows Him to eliminate sin from his life. Chris is one of several new men God has sent us that have great potential for the ministry in the future. We are praying for you, Chris!

Podcasting is Working Again!!

After working out a few bugs the podcasts are now making their way back online. Over then next few days you should see several new sermons posted and then regulare updates as they become available. Even during our hiatus our podcast remained some of the highest rated on the podbean (#3 most listen to under the Baptist tag!), and now that we are back uploading we hope to be #1 very soon. To God goes the glory as he allows us the opportunity to send His word around the world!

You can hear all of the podcasts by clicking HERE or by going to http://crossroadschurch.podbean.com/ . Please leave me some feed back and subscribe so you will be notified when new sermons are uploaded and you can listen online. Thanks, Pastor Jay

COOKIE WALK!

Don't miss the Cookie Walk Saturday starting at 8am and going until all of the cookies are gone. Come early for the best selections. There will also be crafts for sale and coffee for all of you early birds out there. The ladies are using the funds from this event to offset the cost of the church float being constructed for the ST. Cloud Christmas parade. See you there!

REVIVAL!!!!

Never been to church before?

YOU’RE INVITED!

Attend another church?

YOU’RE INVITED!

Haven’t been to church in awhile?

YOU’RE INVITED!

Please join us starting on Nov 2nd thru Nov 5th for a spiritual time of revival. Evangelist Roland Lawson will be speaking at each service and there will be special music each night! Even now be praying for this time of revival as we seek to the Holy Spirit stoke that fire in each one of our hearts. Service start at 7pm each evening.

Family Movie Night

Everyone is invited to Family Movie Night, Friday, Sept. 19th at 7:00pm. We will be watching "Facing the Giants".

From the award winning producers of FLYWHEEL, comes an action-packed drama about a Christian high school football coach who uses his undying faith to battle the giants of fear and failure. In six years of coaching, Grant Taylor has never led his Shiloh Eagles to a winning season. After learning that he and his wife Brooke face infertility, Grant discovers that a group of fathers are secretly organizing to have him dismissed as head coach. Devastated by his circumstances, he cries out to God in desperation. When Grant receives a message from an unexpected visitor, he searches for a stronger purpose for his football team. He dares to challenge his players to believe God for the impossible on and off the field. When faced with unbelievable odds, the Eagles must step up to their greatest test of strength and courage. What transpires is a dynamic story of the fight between faith and fear. Facing the Giants is a powerful experience for the whole family inspiring viewers to live with faith, hope, and love!

Voters say NObama in online poll

The Results from our online poll are in and it was a landslide victory for McCain. Thanks to all that participated. The results of the online poll are as follows:

McCain 81%
Somebody Else 12%
Obama 6%

Politicizing Jesus

It is election time and suddenly everyone is out to prove they are a Christian. It amazes me how every election the politicians want to dust off their Bibles and pretend to be Godly and the country falls in lock-step to support them. We need to stop listing to the flowery speeches and look at their history.

In our presidential race we have two men who up until recently have not seen fit to espouse Christian values. Obama, who was born to a Muslim father, was given a Muslim name and attended Muslim school is now suddenly Christian. Supposedly he has been the member of the same "Christian” church for the last 20 years, he claims the pastor of that church as a “mentor” and considers him to be like an uncle, although he doesn’t seem to have ever heard any of his sermons. Obama waited for his presidential run to give up public smoking and drinking (he had quit other illegal drugs previously). McCain is not much better with his flip-flopping on the sin of abortion and his willingness to compromise his values in the name of reaching across the aisle.

In our local election we have the incumbent Bill Lane running for re-election to District 5 who last October denounced public prayer at the county commissioner’s meeting and now has written an editorial claiming that he is leading the fight against the ACLU to keep prayers in the meetings. I have spoken with members of the church he claims membership at and none of them have ever seen him in a service.

It is a shame that these men would have the audacity to cheapen Jesus and what He came to earth for in order to further their own political gain. It is a further shame that we as Christians allow it to continue.

Subscribe To This Blog

Now it’s even easier to keep up to date with current events at Crossroads Baptist Church. Scroll down on the left side of the page for the “Subscribe To This Blog” section and click on one of the buttons to subscribe and you will be notified anytime something new is posted! How much easier can it get? Remember comments are always appreciated and be sure to visit some of our advertisers to keep this page funded.

Praying for you as you pray for me, Pastor Jay McCaig

Only 10 Days Left To Vote

Only 10 days left to vote in our online Presidential poll. Don't miss your opportunity to be heard. Scroll down on the left to vote.

Fourth Step, Turn

The last step in healing our lands is to turn from wickedness. To often in Christian circles I see cafeteria style repentance, where people choose certain sins to repent of and the hold on to others like comfortable little pets. They give up the affair but hold on to the pornography. Or they choose a “better” sin; instead of smoking they chew tobacco. God does not rate sin he sees all sin as being equal and separating in our relationship with Him. Our goal and desire should be to separate ourselves from ALL sin and quickly repent when sin creeps back into our lives, before it has a chance to stick and get comfortable.

When we do these simple things God makes us and awesome promise - “Then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

God healing America is directly and only contingent upon Christians doing what he has outlined in 2 Chronicles 7:14. Let’s get to work.

Third Step, Seek The Face of God

In II Chronicles 7:14 we are told by God to “seek my face”. This phrase, as do many passages in the bible has multiple meanings. A word about passages with multiple meanings, they will never contradict each other or other passages from the Word of God. What I have found is when I think I have come across a conflict or error in the Word I have always found the error to be in my understanding and not God’s Word. Through much prayer and “rightly dividing” I have been able to resolve every perceived error that I have come across.

Back to our topic. The first meaning of the phrase “seek my face” is to give God your full attention. Recently I had my grandchildren staying with me. As is the nature with little ones sometimes they did not want to listen to what I was telling them. At these times, to get their full attention, I would lean down in front of them and gently take them by thee chin until they were looking directly into my face. Then I had their full attention. If we want God to heal our land then we must give Him our full attention all of the time, not just when things are going poorly and we need rescuing.

Secondly, “seek my face” can mean putting on the face of God. Like a mask we figuratively place our face into a God mask, so that we start to see the world through God’s eyes, Hear things as God hears them, when we speak we speak of the things that concern God. How different would our world be if the next time we went to the mall instead of looking for bargains were saw all of the lost and dying souls? Or, if the testimony of our tongue was to shared the Gospel at every opportunity? Do you want to see America healed? Begin seeking the face of God.

Second Step, Pray

The second step to healing our lands is for our churches to start praying, again. There was a time when our churches actually prayed. Now the traditional “prayer meetings” have been replaced by studies and social events. Many more have canceled the mid-week prayer meetings in exchange for more free time. God’s churches and His people must get back into the prayer business if we expect Him to heal our lands.
It is important that we understand that there are two types of prayer, Individual Prayer, the private type of prayer and Corporate Prayer where we come together as a body and pray together. Both types of prayer were utilized by the New Testament Church in the Bible. Today most churches have reduced their corporate prayer time down to a flowery speech given by someone on Sunday morning (they have their reward). On Wednesday nights we get together and sing praises, have a reading from the word, take prayer requests and then we all get down on our knees and pray out to God for His intervention and thank him for his blessings.

Does your church have an organized time of corporate prayer like the church in Acts? If not, start one or find a church that does.

First Step, Surrender

The first step to healing our land is to “humble” ourselves. The Hebrew word used here for humble is also used in Judges 8:28 only there it is translated to “they lifted up their heads no more” it implies a brokenness of heart. As God’s people we must reach that point where we are broken, on our knees totally submissive to God and His will only then can our land begin the healing progress.

Are you broken? Are you submitting to ALL of God’s will or only those parts that are convenient? Don’t expect God’s full blessing when you are only willing to give Him partial submission.

Whose Fault is it?

As we see our country continue its slide into immorality & liberalism we are often face with the question “Whose fault is it?” Whose fault is the lack of Godliness in our elected leaders? Whose fault is the violence in our schools? Whose fault is the destruction of the institution of marriage? While it is easy to find those to blame, Satan, government, liberal school teachers, atheists II Chronicles 7:14 gives us a different viewpoint;

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

I love the simplicity of the Bible, not only does this verse give us the recipe for turning our country around it also gives us the answer to our question. “My people” God is specifically speaking to his followers. As the Church goes so goes the country. If we want our land to be healed then we (the church) must turn back to God. Over the next few days, Lord willing, I am going to look at the solution to this problem and see what can be done about it according to the scripture.

Families by Faith

Families by Faith is a campaign to reach the unchurched families in our community. Soon we will be asking for your commitment to fervently pray for a family of your choosing and to be open to God’s leading regarding this family. Everyday our neighbors are dying and going to hell while we sit back and do nothing. Won’t you stand in the gap and do your part? Please be praying for the family God will have you pray for.

Jefferson Memorial

A short distance from the Pentagon, inscribed with an iron stylus on blocks of granite, the walls of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington proclaim the words of our third President, “And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure, when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with his wrath? Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just: that his justice can not sleep forever.”

Pictures from the luau

mmm...I smell bacon


Are you looking at me?


Hula Babe


Do the hula


Is that Hannah Montana? Maybe not...


God showing off!




Pastor and His wife, Vee

Presidential Poll Working Again

Our Presidential poll had stopped recording votes but is again working. If you tried to vote but could not please try again. Scroll down on the left side of the page.

BOYCOTT McDONALD's

Despite repeated requests and failing profitability at it locations McDonald's has refused to remain neutral in the political issue of the homosexual agenda, including actively promoting homosexual marriage. This has included over $20,000 given to legalize homosexual marriage in exchange for the placing of one of their executives on the board of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. McDonald's has made it very clear that they are more concerned with forcing the homosexual agenda forward than the are about their customers or stock holders.

What the boycott of McDonald's IS NOT about

• This boycott is not about hiring homosexuals.
• It is not about homosexuals eating at McDonald's.
• It is not about how homosexual employees are treated.

What the boycott of McDonald's IS about

It is about McDonald's, as a corporation, refusing to remain neutral in the culture wars. McDonald's has chosen not to remain neutral but to give the full weight of their corporation to promoting the homosexual agenda, including homosexual marriage.

Click HERE to sign the on-line petition

Luau Tonight!

Join us tonight as we have our monthly fellowship. This month's theme is LUAU! Come and hang out with us as we roast a pig and sample each others fares. Wear you best luau gear and bring a covered dish to share. The services start at 6:30 with the luau following. Hope to see you here!

Movie Night

Join us on Friday for our monthly movie night. Starting at 7pm we will be viewing the movie Left Behind. This movie gives the fictional accounts of those left behind after the rapture and the beginning stages of the Tribulation Period. Seating is limited so get here early to reserve your space. And, as always, visitors are welcome!

Who Do You Want For President? New Poll

Place your vote for who you want to be our next President in our online poll. Scroll down on the left side of the page to vote.

We had another great Sunday...

We had another great Sunday Service with visitors in both Sunday School and the Morning Worship service. We explored the very difficult area of sexual immorality and what God had to say on the subject. Sunday evening we finished our study on Spiritual Battles. Our teen girls performed during the morning service. Those who were absent missed a true blessing. See you on Wednesday!

Ronald Reagan and the KJV Bible

Below is a transcript of one of Ronald Reagan's famous radio addresses. In this address (which aired September 6, 1977), Ronald Reagan, the great orator, eloquently gives his thoughts on the "Good News Bible" (also called the Good News for Modern Man and Today's English Version) in comparison to the Authorized Version or the King James Bible. Enjoy!


What would you say if someone decided Shakespeare’s plays, Charles Dickens novels, or the music of Beethoven could be rewritten & improved?

I’ll be right back. . .

Writing in the journal “The Alternative”, Richard Hanser, author of The Law & the Prophets and Jesus: What Manner of Man Is This?, has called attention to something that is more than a little mind boggling. It is my understanding that the Bible (both the Old & New Testaments) has been the best selling book in the entire history of printing.

Now another attempt has been made to improve it. I say another because there have been several fairly recent efforts to quote “make the Bible more readable & understandable” unquote. But as Mr. Hanser so eloquently says, “For more than 3 1/2 centuries, its language and its images, have penetrated more deeply into the general culture of the English speaking world, and been more dearly treasured, than anything else ever put on paper.” He then quotes the irreverent H. L. Mencken, who spoke of it as purely a literary work and said it was, “probably the most beautiful piece of writing in any language.”

They were, of course, speaking of The Authorized Version, the one that came into being when the England of King James was scoured for translators & scholars. It was a time when the English language had reached it’s peak of richness & beauty.

Now we are to have The Good News Bible which will be in, “the natural English of everyday adult conversation.” I’m sure the scholars and clergymen supervised by the American Bible Society were sincerely imbued with the thought that they were taking religion to the people with their Good News Bible, but I can’t help feeling we should instead be taking the people to religion and lifting them with the beauty of language that has outlived the centuries.

Mr. Hanser has quoted from both the St. James Version & the Good News Bible some well known passages for us to compare. A few thousand years ago Job said “How forcible are right words!” [Job 6:25] The new translators have him saying “Honest words are convincing.” That’s only for openers. There is the passage [Eccl. 1:18], “For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow”. Is it really an improvement to say instead, “The wiser you are, the more worries you have; the more you know the more it hurts.”

In the New Testament, in Mathew, we read “The voice of the one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way.” [Matthew 3:3] The Good News version translates that, “Someone is shouting in the desert. Get the road ready.” It sounds like a straw boss announcing lunch hour is over.

The hauntingly beautiful 23rd Psalm is the same in both versions, for a few words, “The Lord is my shepherd” but instead of continuing “I shall not want” we are supposed to say “I have everything I need.”

The Christmas story has undergone some modernizing but one can hardly call it improved. The wondrous words “Fear not: for; behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy” has become, “Don’t be afraid! I am here with good news for you.”

The sponsors of the Good News version boast that their Bible is as readable as the daily paper – and so it is. But do readers of the daily news find themselves moved to wonder, “at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth”? Mr. Hanser suggests that sadly the “tinkering & general horsing around with the sacred texts will no doubt continue” as pious drudges try to get it right. “It will not dawn on them that it has already been gotten right.”

This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening.

God is not in the peach business

A young Christian was attempting to get into the peach growing business. He had worked hard and invested everything he had in a peach orchard which had blossomed beautifully, but then came a frost, and it destroyed his entire crop. He did not go to church the next Sunday nor the next. So his pastor went to see him to find out why. The young fellow said, "Pastor I’m not coming to church any more. Do you think I can worship a God who cares so little for me that He would let a frost kill all of my peaches?" The preacher looked at him for a few moments in silence, and then said so kindly, "Son, God loves you better than He loves your peaches. You see God understands that while peaches can grow without frost, men cannot grow without trials. God is not in the business of growing peaches. He’s in the business of growing Christians.”

Recommended Book Of The Month

Trials of Today, Treasures for Tomorrow is an amazing book written by an amazing woman. Jan Eckles gives us an intimate look into her life and the trails that God has used to make her what she is today. Jan is a living example of the promise that God gives us in I Corinthians 10:13 that he will never give us more than we are able to handle.

I have had the privileged of spending time with Jan and can attest to the fact that she is not only a gifted author but someone who truly loves the Lord. I hope you enjoy her book as much as my family has.

Mary Getting Baptized!

In the name of the Father, the Son, & the Holy Spirit



Buried with Him in His death...



...raised again in His resurrection!



Congratulations Mary!

Teen Carwash Pictures!

Here are some pictures from the teen carwash on Saturday. More to come later.

Why won’t God just take me home?

Why won’t God just take me home? This is the question that was asked of me by a man, Ray, who is facing a minimum of 15 years in prison for a recent string of bank robberies in the Central Florida area, including two in our town of St. Cloud. I have pondered that question in the past and while the Bible does not directly say it does tell us that we each have a path or race that must be run. Ray was focused on the impending prison time and not the path God has for him. I don’t believe God is done with Ray.

The prison system is full of people desperately seeking the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have finally reached a point in their lives where it is obvious that what they are doing to run their own lives is not working and many are ready to finally submit to Jesus. In that respect they are wiser than most in this world who still think that they can run their own lives, without Jesus.

I also believe that there are people in this world that only Ray can reach with the gospel. We all have our circle of influence, those people who will listen to us and value our opinion. In many cases the only person that they will listen to is you. The problem is that statistics tell us that only 5% of those who profess Jesus Christ as their savior ever tells anyone else about Jesus. How sad that someone took the time to tell you about Jesus but you are either to lazy, selfish, or hateful to tell anyone else. Please pray today that God will eliminate these satanic characteristics that you are clinging to and show you the person that He would have you share Him with. By the way I was able to share the gospel with Ray and he accepted Jesus as his Savior, please pray for Ray as he works to make Jesus His Lord as well. Pray for me as I pray for you, Pastor Jay.

9 Souls Saved

I have been sick for a couple of weeks now, which has caused me some angst regarding the ministry God has given me. There is so much to do, but the body is weak. In spite of my own shortcomings God allowed me to lead 9 souls this week to the saving Grace of Jesus Christ! Leading someone to the Lord just never gets old. Why God chose to use such weak, corruptible vessels such as us as the carriers of His Gospel I may not understand until I stand face-to-face with my Lord. I’m just glad He did! Please pray for me as I pray for you. Pastor Jay

Lord's Supper This Sunday!

Join us this Sunday as we remember the sacrifice the Lord made for us by observing the Lord’s Supper. This is open to anyone who has accepted Christ as their Savior and been biblically baptized (biblical baptism is by immersion not by sprinkling). Hope to see everyone here!

Book Of The Month - Pursuing Righteousness

Pursuing Righteousness - by Earl J. Headley


The Bible passage II Timothy 2:22 instructs us to pursue righteousness, but the steps in this pursuit of righteousness are found throughout the Old and New Testaments. Author Earl J. Headley takes us on a journey through the scriptures, taking a path to leading a life of righteousness. The four sections: Walking in Love, Obedience, Faith and Peace, break down the steps into simple instructions and moving scripture passages in a way that is inspiring and easy to understand.

If you like books with lots of scripture rightly divided then this book will make an great addition to your library. After you read it I would love to hear your thoughts on it.

McDonald’s Encourages Homosexual Violence Against Police

McDonald’s continues its support for the homosexual movement. During a McDonald’s sponsored homosexual pride parade in San Francisco, McDonald’s aired a commercial praising a gang of homosexuals who violently attacked police officers that were raiding a Homosexual bar in New York City because the bar was serving alcohol without a license. During this violent, unprovoked attack 4 police officers were injured after being beaten with beer bottles and other weapons. This is the behavior that McDonalds now encourages and promotes. You can view the commercial by clicking HERE.

It was recently discovered that McDonalds had become a "Corporate Partner and Organizational Ally" with the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce. In exchange for a $20,000 donation from McDonalds to the NGLCC Richard Ellis, vice president of communications for McDonald’s, was placed on the board of NGLCC.

McDonald's made it great as a “family value” restaurant. It is clear from these recent events that the current leaders of this once great company are more interested in promoting violence, hate and immorality and not family values. I encourage you to make you voices heard by contacting your local McDonalds and letting them know that you will not support the terrorist activities of the homosexual community.

Blog Has New Look!

We are trying a new, cleaner look to the blog. Tell me what you think about it.

Abortion Poll

Please share your opinion in our online abortion poll. You can find the poll on the LEFT side of the page when you scroll down. Also, feel free to leave you opinions in the comments area.