{"id":3649,"date":"2019-04-05T09:00:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-05T14:00:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/?p=3649"},"modified":"2019-04-05T08:43:41","modified_gmt":"2019-04-05T13:43:41","slug":"taking-gods-love-to-the-streets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/2019\/04\/05\/taking-gods-love-to-the-streets\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking God\u2019s Love to the Streets"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On Sunday, March 31, Cross Pointe Church in Laurinburg, North Carolina, packed up its musicians, workers, and congregation to take its morning service to the community.<\/p>\n

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\"Cross<\/a>

Cross Pointe Church, Laurinburg, NC<\/p><\/div>\n

For the past few years, Cross Pointe\u2019s Senior Pastor Michael Edds has expressed concern over the crime and hunger rate plaguing his city, which has the fourth highest crime rate in the state. Edds believes that the responsibility for addressing the growing crime situation is not just the responsibility of the government.\u00a0 He believes churches must get involved and Cross Pointe (formerly East Laurinburg PH Church) is committed to bringing God\u2019s love to the residents of Washington Park, a neighborhood victimized and terrorized by violent crime.\u00a0 \u201cThe transforming power of God\u2019s love can change hearts and then change our neighborhoods,\u201d said Edds. \u201cChurches must get out of the four walls of their buildings and take that message into the community.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Cross<\/a>

Cross Pointe Church, Laurinburg, NC<\/p><\/div>\n

On Sunday morning, over 70 church volunteers led by Associate Pastor Jason Watson organized food, fun, and games for the residents of Washington Park. As a large flatbed trailer was converted into a stage for the church\u2019s praise band and singers, Scotland County Sheriff Ralph Kersey and deputies played football, sports, and games with the children. The event was a real community effort as the church provided free soft drinks and hot dogs and the Scotland County Parks and Recreation supplied games and activities.\u00a0For four hours, church members, community residents, and local law enforcement officers sang, worshiped, and prayed together.<\/p>\n

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\"Cross<\/a>

Cross Pointe Church, Laurinburg, NC<\/p><\/div>\n

As the event concluded, a young man asked Pastor Edds, \u201cWhy is the church doing this?\u201d Pastor Edds replied, \u201cBecause we love you!\u201d\u00a0The young man responded, \u201cWow!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cross Pointe\u2019s commitment to its community is not just a one-time event. Each Tuesday evening, the church provides food, games, and a Bible lesson for approximately 125 children in the area. They have plans to expand this ministry with a new Life Center opening soon. Associate Pastor Watson and his team also want to visit different neighborhoods once a month to hold similar community events.<\/p>\n

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According to Pastor Edds, \u201cGetting out of the four walls is changing our church. People are getting excited. Young families are coming to church.\u201d Cross Pointe pastors believe that God has a great future in store for Laurinburg and they are committed to helping that vision become a reality.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"excerpt","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":3651,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","filesize_raw":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[708,58,709,710,711],"class_list":{"0":"post-3649","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general","8":"tag-cross-pointe-church","9":"tag-iphc","10":"tag-laurinburg","11":"tag-north-carolina","12":"tag-pastor-michael-edds","13":"entry"},"title_es":"Llevando el amor de Dios a las calles","content_es":"

El domingo 31 de marzo, la Iglesia Cross Pointe en Laurinburg, Carolina del Norte, empac\u00f3 a sus m\u00fasicos, trabajadores y congregaci\u00f3n para llevar su servicio matutino a la comunidad. <\/p>

Durante los \u00faltimos a\u00f1os, el pastor principal de Cross Pointe, Michael Edds, ha expresado su preocupaci\u00f3n por el crimen y la tasa de hambre que asola a su ciudad, que tiene la cuarta tasa de criminalidad m\u00e1s alta en el estado. Edds cree que la responsabilidad de abordar la creciente situaci\u00f3n delictiva no es solo responsabilidad del gobierno. \u00c9l cree que las iglesias deben participar y Cross Pointe (anteriormente Iglesia de East Laurinburg PH) est\u00e1 comprometido a llevar el amor de Dios a los residentes de Washington Park, un vecindario victimizado y aterrorizado por un crimen violento. "El poder transformador del amor de Dios puede cambiar los corazones y luego cambiar nuestros vecindarios", dijo Edds. "Las iglesias deben salir de las cuatro paredes de sus edificios y llevar ese mensaje a la comunidad". <\/p>

El domingo por la ma\u00f1ana, m\u00e1s de 70 voluntarios de la iglesia dirigidos por el pastor asociado Jason Watson organizaron comida, diversi\u00f3n y juegos para los residentes de Washington Park. Como un gran remolque de plataforma plana se convirti\u00f3 en un escenario para la banda de alabanza de la iglesia y los cantantes, el Sheriff del Condado de Scotland Ralph Kersey y los oficiales jugaron f\u00fatbol, deportes y juegos con los ni\u00f1os. El evento fue un verdadero esfuerzo comunitario, ya que la iglesia proporcion\u00f3 refrescos y perros calientes gratis y los Parques y Recreaci\u00f3n del Condado de Scotland proporcionaron juegos y actividades. Durante cuatro horas, los miembros de la iglesia, los residentes de la comunidad y los oficiales locales de la ley cantaron, adoraron y oraron juntos. <\/p>

Cuando concluy\u00f3 el evento, un joven le pregunt\u00f3 al Pastor Edds: "\u00bfPor qu\u00e9 est\u00e1 haciendo esto la iglesia?" El Pastor Edds respondi\u00f3: "\u00a1Porque te amamos!" El joven respondi\u00f3: "\u00a1Guau!" <\/p>

<\/p>

El compromiso de Cross Pointe con su comunidad no es solo un evento \u00fanico. Cada martes por la noche, la iglesia proporciona comida, juegos y una lecci\u00f3n b\u00edblica para aproximadamente 125 ni\u00f1os en el \u00e1rea. Tienen planes para expandir este ministerio con una nueva apertura del Centro de Vida pronto. El pastor asociado Watson y su equipo tambi\u00e9n quieren visitar diferentes vecindarios una vez al mes para celebrar eventos comunitarios similares. <\/p>

Seg\u00fan el pastor Edds, \u201cSalir de las cuatro paredes est\u00e1 cambiando nuestra iglesia. La gente se est\u00e1 emocionando. Las familias j\u00f3venes vienen a la iglesia \u201d. Los pastores de Cross Pointe creen que Dios tiene un gran futuro reservado para Laurinburg y est\u00e1n comprometidos a ayudar a que esa visi\u00f3n se convierta en una realidad. <\/p>","author_name":"Cross Pointe Church","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2019\/04\/image9.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Bx-WR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3649\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3651"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/gso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}