CrossPoint Newsletter

Twelfth Edition 4/1/2024

The book of Revelation is fascinating. The Apostle John who wrote it, gives us a vivid picture of heaven, not just to inform us of the future but to impact the way we live today. In chapter 12 he talks about Christians who have victory over Satan, our adversary. He observes that they didn’t make it to their eternal home through their own strength or effort, but through “the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11).

Jesus, the Lamb of God, shed his precious blood on a cross to redeem us from our sin. This is the bedrock of Christianity and what the bible refers to as “the gospel” or “the good news.” And it’s this good news that is the power of God for salvation to all who believe as Romans 1:16 tells us. The shed blood of Jesus changes everything. 

Why then does John also say, “and by the word of their testimony.”? Do you and I somehow add to what Jesus did on the cross to contribute to our salvation? Of course not! We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. “The word of their testimony” is simply referring to what happens when God’s grace is at work in the lives of Jesus' followers. The “and” is the ripple effect of lives that are being changed by Jesus…So what’s a testimony? Simply put, a testimony is an individual providing proof to the reality of something they’ve witnessed. 

The word of our testimony is proof that Jesus still changes lives. How has Jesus saved you? How is Jesus at work through your obedience to be baptized? How is Jesus working through your story of infertility and your journey toward foster care or adoption? How is Jesus at work as you strive to live as an everyday missionary in your neighborhood or workplace? How is Jesus bringing restoration in your marriage? How is he at work on the other side of your divorce? Not every story has a happy ending because the author isn’t done writing it yet, but what our stories ultimately point to isn’t the perfect circumstances that we have been led to but the perfect Savior who leads us through high peaks and low valleys. As the Psalmist says in Psalm 73–our heart and flesh may fail, our circumstances and aspirations may fail us, but not the Lord. He is the strength of our heart. He is the hero of our stories.

And there are thousands of stories that God is writing in the lives of those who make up CrossPoint Church to showcase his greater glory and story of redemption. Over and over again, Jesus takes our mess and turns it into his message. The powerful and precious blood of the Lamb is still at work changing lives, marriages, homes, workplaces, and communities, and I don’t know about you, but I want to overcome. I want to make it to heaven’s shore when I breathe my last. And if the bible says that we need to share stories of how God is at work to get there, then I want to implore the church to share them. Jesus does the heavy lifting of saving us, but it’s on us to share it with others. You have a story worth sharing, and we would love to help you tell it.

If you feel God prompting you to share your story, I encourage you to go to crosspointchurch.com/stories and take the first step of sharing your story by filling out an application form.

Jason Waller

Lead Pastor

The other day I was looking through some old photos on my phone trying to find a certain picture. What I found instead reminded me of God’s goodness and faithfulness. The photo I found was the picture of Crosspoint Topeka’s first Sunday on March 20, 2022. Two years later I’m so blessed to report that all the folks (9 adults and 7 kids) in that very first photo are still faithfully serving here at Crosspoint Topeka (yes, even the kiddos), and God has faithfully added to our number. 

Seeing God’s sustaining power as his people have served faithfully through 2 years, 2 different locations, countless lives impacted for the Gospel, and several challenges has been such an incredible encouragement to me. The heartbeat of service is worth celebrating as our people have caught the vision of “Serve All”! Even our kids can be found each week helping put up signage, set up the rooms and helping tear down after service each week as we are in a borrowed space. 

Pray with us:

• That God would continue to cultivate a servant's heart and attitude in our congregation.
• That our people would live missional lives as they interact at work and in our community.
• That God would give wisdom as we continue to look for a more permanent home for our church body here in Topeka.
• That people in Topeka would turn their hearts to Jesus, give up their sin, and follow Him!

Jameson Beckner

CrossPoint Topeka Pastor

Growing up, church was always encouraged and from a young age I can remember going, but I never understood the reason or the importance behind it. I didn’t see the value in what I could gain from a relationship with Jesus. Church felt like a bunch of rules and sounded like a lot of people who were supposed to express love, but what they were expressing felt like the opposite. 

In high school sports were a large part of my life, it’s how I made friends and built relationships and my goal for the future was to play college basketball. I had always been told that I was a good leader and that I had potential, but I was always scared to try and work at something, because I was scared of failing and not living up to that potential. So I just buried myself in the things that my peers were involved in and did what everyone else was doing. 

Thinking about it now, I’ve always felt a deep longing in my heart. I felt like my life had been building up to something, but that moment never came to be. I thought that moment was going to be playing college basketball, or finally figuring out what I was going to do with my life. How I was going to make an impact, how I was finally going to be fulfilled. But that moment never seemed to come and I continued to seek answers in all of the wrong places.

The first two years after high school, I started to really struggle with my purpose. I was trying to figure out what career path I wanted to take, but it went so much deeper than that. I didn’t understand the value I had as a human being, and the abundant life that God has created me for. It wasn’t until I surrendered my life to Him that all of that changed. I had just hit rock bottom in my search for a purpose, I had tried everything and nothing was getting me to that destination. But I just didn’t see the life that God had for me and the fulfillment and opportunities I would find in that. 

I finally realized that I would never be ready to give up my own desires. I realized I was going to have to truly commit and surrender my life to Jesus. And that moment was in my truck on the way to work that morning, I finally just put it in God's hands, and from that moment on God has completely changed everything about my life.

That moment was about a year ago, but it feels like so much longer because of how much I’ve learned and grown. Being poured into and discipled for a while has now allowed me to turn around and do the same. I got involved with Challenge and the college ministry and joined a group of college guys who were meeting for a bible study group. I met Pastor Porfirio and since then he has been discipling me. 

My original plan after graduating from HCC last year was to go to KSU and continue my degree in Education. But I started to feel a tug on my heart that God might have a different plan for my life. So I had a conversation with Pastor P, who had already mentioned to me before that he had seen some ministry potential within me. I told P that if he had anything in Hutchinson for me that I would stay, and the Lord is so faithful and provided that. He offered me the opportunity to be resident at the church for a year. So that I could continue to develop and grow. And since doing that, God has done so much in my life and in my heart. 

My leadership capability has become so much greater and my understanding of people and their need for the gospel. God has really given me a passion for his people. I now see that value that I hold myself, how God created me, and how he created me with a purpose and a plan for my life. That God has laid out works in front of me, that I am to carry out, works that are unique to me. And I now see the value in other people too, and how lost some of us can be without Jesus, how we are all longing for something so much greater than ourselves, and that the God we serve is so faithful and whether or not we realize it, he has been knocking on our hearts for our whole lives. Getting the opportunity to do ministry has completely changed my life, being able to now help grow and disciple college students is just amazing. I have a new sense of purpose and it is so much bigger than me now. I don’t know what the Lord has for the rest of my life, but I can see how faithful and good he’s been in my past, and I know that the direction he is leading me is good, because it is for his honor and it is for his glory. 

Jake Huhs

CrossPoint Hutchinson