Sermon Reflections from 50th Anniversary | Tammy Swanson Draheim | August 9, 2026
I was wonderful to hear Tammy’s encouragement and praises to God for the faithfulness of Crossroads for the last 50 years. 50 years is a big deal when we consider the number of business that start and fail just within the first few years. The number of marriages that sadly end way before reaching such a milestone. My own parents made it 50 years and my sister and her husband lived to see 60+. Those are both anomalies in this society and times. But Crossroads enduring 50 years is not due to any one individual or group but to the steadfast faithfulness of our God. He has taken all the individuals, and there have been so many, and used them to create an enduring group of believers on this corner of Kirker Pass and Concord Blvd. It has been the hope and faith of faithful prayer warriors and leaders who clung to God’s promises and sought to live them out.
Philippians 1:3-6 was reference by Tammy and many of the previous pastors as a driving force in Crossroad’s ‘success’. “ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Each of us has had an impact for the gospel through Crossroads as we partnered together. We prayed, planned, studied God’s Word, received biblical instruction from our pastors and sought to be ambassadors for Jesus in our community.
We may not have known that we were watching God at work while worshipping, packing meals for the hungry, visiting the sick, singing carols to shut-ins, working in Sunday School or daily vacation Bible school, going on mission trips with the kids locally or far away, supporting missionaries with prayer and giving, or cleaning up in the kitchen or on the church grounds- But we were and Are! God is here at Crossroads in the people and in the things we do for Him. Those things have eternal value and we should praise Him for them and for the opportunities He brings to us each day.
Let’s look at the promises of Philippians 1:6 more carefully, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Here are a few lessons I gleaned from this promise that I hold dear:
Philippians 1:3-6 was reference by Tammy and many of the previous pastors as a driving force in Crossroad’s ‘success’. “ I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, 4 always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, 5 because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. 6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Each of us has had an impact for the gospel through Crossroads as we partnered together. We prayed, planned, studied God’s Word, received biblical instruction from our pastors and sought to be ambassadors for Jesus in our community.
We may not have known that we were watching God at work while worshipping, packing meals for the hungry, visiting the sick, singing carols to shut-ins, working in Sunday School or daily vacation Bible school, going on mission trips with the kids locally or far away, supporting missionaries with prayer and giving, or cleaning up in the kitchen or on the church grounds- But we were and Are! God is here at Crossroads in the people and in the things we do for Him. Those things have eternal value and we should praise Him for them and for the opportunities He brings to us each day.
Let’s look at the promises of Philippians 1:6 more carefully, “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Here are a few lessons I gleaned from this promise that I hold dear:
1- God never starts something and leaves it incomplete. He will always finish what He started- guaranteed. Proverbs 16”:3-4 “Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.”
2- God is faithful, always. I love Hebrews 10:23 “ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” And Lamentations 3:22-24 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
3- Christ Jesus will return. Acts 1:9-11 “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 “ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
4- God’s work is good in me and for me. God is building something in us and through us. Ephesians 2:19-22 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” I also cling to Romans 8:28 “ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God can and does use all things that come into our lives to grow us and develop us into the people He wants us to be!
May this Jubilee celebration at Crossroads spur you onward to greater faith and lead you to work wholeheartedly for our Lord and Savior.
4 The Lord has made everything for its purpose,
even the wicked for the day of trouble.”
2- God is faithful, always. I love Hebrews 10:23 “ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” And Lamentations 3:22-24 “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; 23 they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. 24 “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“therefore I will hope in him.”
3- Christ Jesus will return. Acts 1:9-11 “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 “ For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.”
4- God’s work is good in me and for me. God is building something in us and through us. Ephesians 2:19-22 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” I also cling to Romans 8:28 “ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God can and does use all things that come into our lives to grow us and develop us into the people He wants us to be!
May this Jubilee celebration at Crossroads spur you onward to greater faith and lead you to work wholeheartedly for our Lord and Savior.
Linda
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Linda is a member of Crossroads church and regularly blogs about her faith.
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