Our mission at Crosspoint is to help every person become a fully devoted follower of Christ. The call to discipleship is the call of the church. Deuteronomy 6 commissions the wider faith-community as well as parents to disciple the next generation:
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. -Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Crosspoint wants to partner with families on the discipleship journey. While we cannot bring about transformation—only God can save—we can be intentional about nurturing opportunity for faith to develop and grow in the lives of our children; we can nurture the Five Marks of a Disciple —growth, pursuit, community, service, mission—in our children. The Five Marks helps us remember that faith is not passed on through mere knowledge transmission, but by modelling in every-day life. Discipleship takes place as children hear their mom pray at the dinner table (pursuit), as their dad helps them work through forgiving a little sibling who wrecked their art project (community), as they help make a meal for a family whose going through a hard time (service), or tell a friend about Jesus (mission); discipleship is immersive and holistic. The role of the family and the church is to live out the faith and then help children identify God’s work in their own lives, finding language to express their spiritual journey.
Each Sunday our Preschool & Kindergarten kids will have a Take-Home Activity that is connected to their Bible story and encourages families to focus on cultivating one of the Five Marks during the week. We hope these simple activities or questions to ponder will be valuable for parents as they disciple their child(ren).
Throughout the year, different opportunities will be given to our Elementary kids that will allow them to foster the Five Marks of a Disciple. This might look like an evening out with their small group (community), a bake sale to raise money for their sponsor child (mission), or a service project that will be done as a family (service). We trust these events will encourage families on their discipleship journeys.