Our HISTORY (I LOVE MY CHURCH)

Sunday - Noon Worship Service
theCrossroads UPC, 4/11/21

10 “So it shall be, when the Lord your God brings you into the land of which He swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give you large and beautiful cities which you did not build, 11 houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, hewn-out wells which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant—when you have eaten and are full— 12 then beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. —Deuteronomy 6:10-12 (NKJV)

6 That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?
7 Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever.
8 And the children of Israel did so as Joshua commanded, and took up twelve stones out of the midst of Jordan, as the Lord spake unto Joshua, according to the number of the tribes of the children of Israel, and carried them over with them unto the place where they lodged, and laid them down there.

24 That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty: that ye might fear the Lord your God for ever. —JOSHUA 4:6-8, 24 (KJV)

THE HISTORY & FACILITIES:

In October of 1985 this church started in a Home on Glenwood Drive…

The Shrums wanted to see a diverse congregation all worshipping God together. Sis. Shrum told that to a lady that was a minister in another church in town…the lady told her that IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN IN RADCLIFF that was 1985…one of the first members of the church was Patricia Cooper…and so it started with diversity…there were then and still are all kinds of ethnicities worshipping God together at theCrossroads!

They met there until they could afford to get a building..
Then they purchased the property we are on today..
When Pastor J.B. Mills and his family came in January of 1990 they were pastoring a multi-cultural church.

Pastor Mills had the vision to tear down the old house that was used for Sunday School classrooms and they built the current building that we sit in today. The Mills moved back to Indiana in 1998.

The Medlock Family came to pastor here in 1998 and again they were pastoring a diverse congregation. They stayed until early in 2001 before moving back to Louisiana.

In July of 2001, this church elected myself and my wife to be their next pastor. At our first services we had about 12 people, then 16 if my parents and my wife’s parents came.

The first week I was pastor we got a letter from the city…it stated that the original plans for the church included a parking lot, and that the gravel parking lot we were using was not adequate for the city codes. It also threatened that if the parking lot was not in place within 30 days that we would have to cease and desist from all services and gatherings in our building.

What were we to do? We had a good size mortgage looming over us, and not really even enough tithe paying members to pay the mortgage and the monthly utilities at the time…I was actually working outside the church two jobs, one with the Hardin County School system and another with Spencerian College…We knew we would have to take STEPS IN FAITH to get where God wanted us to go!

Services then were much different than they are today. We only had ONE musician…a drummer that was about 13 years old…so we sang with drums. We had 6 long wooden pews and about 30 brown metal folding chairs at the time…and yes…the church was a lot more “pink or mauve” at the time.

We knew we would have to take STEPS IN FAITH to get where God wanted us to go!

As we have progressed there have been many incredible transformation to the building and to our services and our ministries.

It was only about 7 years ago that we didn’t have adequate parking for our membership and the size of our Sunday Services…We had tried to purchase the property next to us that was owned by the Union two times previously for above market value…we were turned down, land-locked and not sure what to do. When the opportunity to step out in faith came again through a word that God gave me - we responded in FAITH and OBEDIENCE - and to make a long story short - we now OWN and PARK on the property that God allowed us to purchase for less money than what we had offered previously!

Then in October of 2017, Joe Ontiveros sends us this picture from up in the rafters above the sanctuary…

We knew right away that something was NOT GOOD.
Called the Insurance Company - they sent out an adjuster than an engineer - who in December of 2017 informed us that we were no longer allowed to meet in our sanctuary until it was fixed or shoring was put into place. So as most of you know - we had our Christmas Sunday in the Colvin Community Center in Radcliff.

In late December 2017 we had some contractor friends come over and help us get shoring in place so that at least we could meet in the sanctuary until we found out what the process was going to be and if the insurance company would step up.

From January 2018 until October 2018 we met in this sanctuary with wood beams for shoring going right down the middle of our sanctuary. In October 2018 when everything was finally in place to go ahead with the repairs even though the insurance company has to this day still NOT STEPPED UP, we realize that we would again have to take STEPS IN FAITH to get where God wanted us to go!

So we were displaced into two locations (our fellowship hall next door and at theCrossroads of Louisville in Valley Station) until we got through all the obstacles it took to get us to February of 2019 and be able to be back in our Sanctuary to worship together!

MINISTRIES ETC…

It is easy for us to see the changes in the building and the campus.. but sometimes we forget that God has done so much more than just take care of our physical and material needs for a place of meeting. He also helped us to train many in ministry that have gone from here and are or were involved in ministry in other places all over the world.

Just to mention a few.. there have been:

• Thomas and Patricia Stokes (got licensed while here)
• Jim and Angie Jarvis (left to pastor an ALJC church)
• Keneysha Cowden (married Brandon and in Music Ministry at Atlanta West Pentecostal Church)
• Zachariah and Aimee Potter who are now assistant pastors in Arkansas
• Steve and Elizabeth Salgado who left here to be involved in the Pentecostal Assemblies in Colorado where they were from.
• James and Ramona Thornton - who are now pastoring a UPC in Leitchfield, KY.
• Stephen Bechberger who is heavily involved in the music and ministry at his church and the German Speaking Nations.
• Joe & Lisa Ontiveros who are now our Youth Pastors and are currently in Purpose Institute.
• Ted and Crystal Abbott who have now been in this church for over 6 years…and are in ministry training in Purpose Institute.
• Rebecca, John, Tyresha, Julia, Jasmin, and James who are also in Purpose Institute and training to be used in further ministry.
• Jeremy and Kristi Bond who are team leaders and are actively ministering, as well as training and growing in Purpose Institute.
• Archie and Michelle Shelley who were both filled with the Holy Ghost and Baptized in Jesus’ Name here and are in Purpose Institute and helping the Coopers as vital members of theCrossroads of Louisville
• Joshua and Jessica Cooper who now pastor theCrossroads of Louisville and are very involved with us still!

BY MY COUNT that is at least 28 PEOPLE that have been trained for, or gotten empowered for ministry HERE!

The WORKS…

In the past 12 years, we have Reached out to Brandenburg and Fort Knox and attempted to get works planted in each…after being shut out of both places for the time being…we moved to STEP OUT IN FAITH again and started a church plant in Louisville, KY. About 5 years ago we purchased a building in Valley Station and it is a great thing that we had another campus to meet at when we were displaced from our sanctuary!

MISSIONS TRIPS

Over the years we have taken several mission trips to various communities in addition to our own and the churches we have started. Places like Bowling Green, Greensburg and Bardstown have been outreach trips for our church.


In 2017 our church took it’s first ever Global Missions trip to the country of Guatemala to minister to the churches and the H.O.M.E. orphanage, then in 2018 we went to Athens, Greece to minister for a youth camp where 9 were filled with the Holy Ghost during the week! In 2019 we traveled to Costa Rica with a group of 28 people to be a blessing to the churches and the Campbells - missionaries to Costa Rica.

Not only these trips and outreaches, but this church has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to missions and missionaries in the past 20 years.

Time does not permit me to really talk about the many dozens of awesome people who have PCSd or transferred out with military and job situations that are now blessing other churches all over the United States many of which got Baptized in Jesus’ Name and filled with the Holy Ghost right here at this church!

PEOPLE…families, lives, souls…affected for eternity!

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I could honestly go on all day with so many more “memorial stones” of the incredible things GOD HAS DONE, and the lives that have been changed!

I want to challenge you right now…take a second to LOOK BACK and see WHAT GOD HAS DONE in your life and let your heart fill up with gratitude and thankfulness!

EITHER write up your memorial on the card available to you…or click the link (I LOVE MY CHURCH - MY STORY) and send it to us digitally. If you don’t mind…take the time to do it right now because if not, you might get to busy later…

Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: “You are old, advanced in years, and there remains very much land yet to be possessed. —Joshua 13:1 (NKJV)

Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. —Philippians 3:12 NKJV

Yes, we REMEMBER the incredible things God has done…but now - Our dreams must be bigger than our memories!

God is not finished yet. GOD HAS SOME BIG THINGS PLANNED for US!

We have a choice today…a choice to be part of the INCREDIBLE FUTURE of this church!

LET YOUR STORY START TODAY!!!

We have seen God do some really incredible things in the lives of those who were willing to surrender their lives to His Will. People who realize that there is a price to pay if you want to live for God - but that it is totally worth it! I LOVE MY CHURCH - but it’s not the building or the campus or even the city that I love…I love the people whose lives God has changed and the things God has done. I LOVE MY CHURCH!

Let’s spend some time giving thanks to God for what He has done.

What Should I Do Now?
1. Repent: confess sin, express sorrow, surrender all to God, ask for His forgiveness.
2. Believe: trust God, open your heart.
3. Repentance and faith are the only two requirements for receiving the Holy Ghost.
4. Once you have fully repented, praise God with your mouth and with joy and expectancy.
5. As the Spirit begins to move on your tongue, yield and let the new language come out.