CROSS Training

CROSS Training is a time where you can be strengthened and encouraged in God's Word for the daily struggle with sin and to win the lost. Beginning October 4th, various classes will be offered on Sunday Mornings @ 9:00am and Sunday nights at 5:45pm.  These classes not only offer Biblical solutions for every day life, but also educate and feed mind, body and spirit on the meat of the Word of God. Check below for upcoming or current classes that emphasize your personal needs for growth.  CROSS Training provides you with the necessary tools for "putting arms of love around your community and the world!"

• 101: Newcomers Class - Pastor Sawyer, Room 113.- This class that many have been through will be revised and updated with our evolving vision.  It will still include a review of "connecting to Christ" (which means to be saved), but will focus on "connecting to the church" ( a study of what God's church is and does around the world, types of churches/church government, etc...), and "connecting to First Church" (unifying around our identity, our covenant, and our vision).  In the final section there will be an overview of how spiritual gifts are used in ministries here.
• 201: Basics for Believers - John Gibbs, Room 209  -  This new class covers what it means to be a Christian, assurance of salvation, baptism, how to have daily devotions, giving, introductory lessons on God/Christ/Holy Spirit, and more.  New converts will find this class essential for understanding what being a Christian is all about.  "Seasoned" believers who want to refocus on the roots of the Christian life will be inspired to recapture the joy of salvation and service and bear more fruit for the Kingdom of God!
• 301: Improving Your Serve - Daron Dwyer, Room 205-  $5 resource pack.  This exciting new class will train believers for service by helping them develop their S.E.R.V.E. profile (Spiritual gifts, Experiences, Relational style, Vocational skills, Enthusiasm).  It will include the DISC personality assessment, a spiritual gifts explanation and inventory, discovery of how your vocational skills can be used in ministry, instruction in how your life experiences have prepared you to powerfully serve Christ in the real world, and how God has formed your heart to bring a unique form of enthusiasm to the Body of Christ.  The final weeks will be spent evaluating specifically where God would have them serve in First Church Ministries in the community and around the world.
• Family Culture - Darin Gibbs, Sanctuary, Oct 4th - Nov 1st. - $15.00 book.  This class uses the book Re-Create: Building a Culture in Your Home Stronger than the Culture Deceiving Your Kids by Ron Luce.  It is geared toward all parents of birth-18 year olds.  We will focus on creating an environment in their home that will guard them and their children/student against the culture of the world.  We will examine the culture in which our kids live, learn, work, and play, studying music, movies, school environment, and friendships in an effort to expose the various attacks the enemy will place on our kids.  We will then supply a stratey that every parent can place into their particular home that will seek to bind the hearts of their children to this Biblical approach.  This will be a book study, but only on the sense that we will discuss main themes from each chapter with the option to skip some for time's sake.  This book should be purchased at www.amazon.com or www.Christainbook.com and the foward/introduction read in advance. 

• Men's Fraternity: The Quest for Authentic Manhood - Frank Guzauskas, Room 116- $10 workbook  This study focuses on a man's core identity and gives an overview of basic issues:  What is a real man?  What is he supposed to do and be?  It will help men deal with issues that may have distorted their idea of Biblical mansculinity.  This captivation journey helps men resolve wounds from their past, embrace a Biblical definition of manhood, and develop their own personal plan for becoming the man God intended them to be. 
• Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman- Terri Sawyer, Room 105- $15  If your time is limited, here's your answer.  This new Beth Moore studay requires far less outside work than previous ones.  Esther may have been a queen, but her life was no fairy tale.  An outsider, foreigner, and an orphan, she found herself facing an evil plan to destroy her people.  And you thought your life was hard!  The story of Esther is a profile in courage and contains many modern parallels for today's overloaded and stressed woman. 
• Eat This Book : A Conversation in the Art of Spiritual Reading  - Daron Dwyer, Room 107- $12 book.   How we read the Bible is as important as That we read it.  Do you read the Bible at all?  Do you read it for information , or for teaching someone else?  Or do we read it in order to listen to God and respond in prayer and obedience?  This class uses the book, Eat This Book by Eugene Peterson (available at Lifeway or new/used at www.amazon.com), which evey student will need to purchase.  It will teach you the practice of "spiritual reading" and by that, create in you the hunger, the enjoyment, and the living of God's Word that you know should be there.  If your devotional life needs to be rekindled, or if you want to be a better teacher, or if you simply want to read the Bible for all it's worth, this class is for you.
• Secrets of the Vine: Breaking Through to Abundance, Room 109 - $5-10  Ever wonder when the "abundant Christian life" is supposed to begin, or struggle with spinning your wheels, frustration, failure, or reaching the "next level"?  Break through to real fruitfulness by exploring the four levels of fruit-bearing made possible by abiding in Christ, the Vine, and learning three surprising "secrets" that will open your eyes to your unrealized potential in Him.  This book by Bruce Wilkinson is short but powerful (available by order at Lifeway or new/used at www.amazon.com or www.christianbook.com ).  Your experience of the abundant life may come after this visit to the vineyard with the Master!