Mondo Gonzales, Pastor
CrossRoads Community Church in New Lenox
www.ccc-nl.org
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a
hill cannot be hidden.” Matthew 5:14
My family and I moved into
this community about 6 years ago from the west coast. It has been amazing at how quick this area
has grown and what is poised for the future.
One of the insightful opportunities we have as pastors in the area is to
attend a clergy breakfast put on the by the Lincoln Way School district. It is at these meetings where the District
leaders share with us all the ways in which the schools are growing and the
need to stay ahead of the curve in providing quality education for the students. There are two new high schools getting ready
to open this year and next which will bring great opportunity for us as
churches to share the good news with students and families.
If you haven’t heard,
there has been a concerted effort by approximately nine local evangelical
churches to develop a community center that will provide even greater
opportunities for a spiritual and social impact on our community. It has been named the Lincoln Way Community
Youth Center and to avoid confusion, it is not affiliated with the school
district. In the development stages we
are receiving a great blessing and outpouring of supplies and needs from the
community to make this dream become a reality.
The Community Center is being nicknamed, “The
HUB” and we are looking forward to seeing it open up sometime this summer.
A
good friend of mine, Dan Stinnett has been a life long resident and graduate of
Lincoln Way Central and feels a tremendous calling to reach this community in a
tangible way for gospel of Jesus Christ.
Our advisory team is committed to using this center not just to be a
light for the gospel, but also to reach out in concrete ways to students. Our
goals with the LWCYC are many. We are working for the good of the community in
every way we can--providing a positive and safe atmosphere for entertainment
(local bands), social life, education (tutoring), community service, and more.
However, at the heart of it all, we understand that the only real source of
life comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. We want to show the
extravagant love of God to as many young people as the Lord will allow us to,
and prayerfully, we’ll see many turn away from a life of sin and come to a
saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We
have chosen to locate the HUB at 1303
Schoolhouse Road, Unit #3, New Lenox and also can be found on the Internet at: http://www.lwhub.org.
What
is the point of all this? Well… our
first and foremost responsibility as the church of God is to provide the
spiritual message of salvation that is only found in Jesus Christ to those in
our community. Yet we are also called to
do good to all (Galatians 6:10). I am reminded of the story that Jesus gave
when He described, at the time of the judgment, His verdict on the things we do
in the interaction with those around us (Matthew 25:34-46). He mentions that there were things done to
those around us, but because they were done in the name of the Lord, they were
done unto Him. That is our goal: To be a light to the community and honor the
Lord by sharing His good news in a variety of ways. I personally have financially supported this
work and if you feel led to do that you can donate money or furniture or time
or labor or anything you would like.
More information about that can be found on the website. I would ask that you would pray for the
Lord’s guidance, wisdom, and provision as we seek to be that Light that cannot
be hidden.
Have a blessed week!