1) What you can not expect
Many people come to a church with different expectations to God as well as to church. And once we do not see them, we feel discouraged. We do not want to discourage you. So please take time to read things written below. What can NOT you expect from our church, Crossroad?
a) A holy looking preacher in black robe
Our pastors wear casual cloths on Sunday. Just say hi to them at church. They are more like friends than like ministers.b) A "Sisters' Act" type of choir
Many people have different image of church music. Throughout the ages, the churches had different kinds of music styles. Our music is something that you can relate to. Sounds like Rock n’ Roll. But we sing hymns from time to time. You will see guitars and percussions, Electric piano and Bass when you come into our worship room. We do not have Sister Act like Gospel Choir. What we have is some of our church members to sing along with the band to support them.c) Pews and pulpit.
We do not have pews and pulpit. We set up many folding chairs for you to sit on and a music stand beside which a preacher speaks. Those chairs are more comfortable than the wooden pews and you will feel closer to our preachers because nothing is between you and them.d) Pressure that challenges you to join in our organization
We believe “no pressure strategy”. Because Bible says, he has given you and I something called “Free Will”. It’s totally up to you if you want to join in a church or not, though we are praying for it. Feel free to just check us up! If you like it, that means God is working in your life through us.e) Sound of Organ
Some of you might love those Organ sound and in fact some of us really like it. Because it surely gives us the sense that we are in a church. But there is no only one church sound or music. God loves variety. That’s why He created each creatures in different ways. We apply God’s strategy of loving variety. We do not persist to a certain style. Sometimes Piano players choose to play in Hammond B-3 sound. That surely makes you want to sing!f) A gigantic bible in the front
We believe the bible is the source of God’s blessing. And we value it highly. At the same time, it’s just a book. The contents is much much more important to us than its holy appearance. We do not put a gigantic bible in the front. Instead we strongly recommend that you should have your own smaller size bible in your hand!g) A big church building and parking lot.
This is something we are praying for and craving for! We sometimes wonder if we could have a church building. But at the same time, we hesitate to think forward in this direction. Because if we had a church, we would easily forget oen important bible principle. That is, Church is not a building, but a people. In the Bible there is no reference to a building called a church. Instead, there are many reference that church is a people. God will build you up as a part of a church in your life.
As for parking lot, that’s our No.1 request to God. Yet, we haven’t got it. If you want to come to our church by car, please park your car at the pay parking lot. They are all around our church! (link to pay parking lot map)
2) What you can expect
Now let us show you what you can expect from our church!
a) Kids
We have a great Kids Ministry called Crossroad Sparks! They learn how to apply God’s word to their life. While we adults listen to Sunday sermons, they go to another room to do their own program. Different parents and volunteers take turns and teach. They learn important lessons about life in a safe and secure environment. We are sure they will love it! (link to Sparks page)
And for those Kids who have a hard time going to another room by themselves, we have a “Crossroad Kids Island” space, where Moms, Dads and Kids all sit there and Kids can play with toys (blocks, colorings, etc) and you parents sit beside them and listen to the sermons. (link to Kids Island pictures)
The choice is yours and your Kids’.b) Preaching
Nothing in our preaching is non-relatable. Our preachers speak about God’s profound truth in an “easy to be understood” language. They speak about their life struggles, their weakness, their victories and failures in their life. And they teach “What shall we do then!?” to us and encourage us to go deeper in the relationship with the Lord and in our searching for our life meaning and purpose in Him. They use illustrations such as movies they saw, their cats and dogs, their family and their everyday life. You might be surprised! Just be ready to laugh!c) Music
Our music is uplifting! It will surely lift your soul up right to the things above. You will see our people singing, clapping their hands or raising them up! You might find some people dancing along with those songs like many people did in the bible!d) Coffee and Snack
We love to get to know each other. Loving each other is the vital part of our church and we know it starts with good coffee and delicious cookies!
You are allowed to drink coffee, tea or water even during the sermon!e) Friendly people
This is the best part of our church. Our people are friendly! If you want a friend or two, you are coming to the right place!f) Life changing moment
Our hope is God will use this church in your life, so that you will find how valuable in God’s eyes. As you find it, your life will be changed little by little. Everybody wants to change, not knowing how. We believe Jesus is the answer. We pray Crossroad be the environment where God will change your life!
3) Location and service schedule
4) FAQ
We have listed up those questions that you might want to ask before you come to our church. Hope these answers will lower your guard and you will become more relaxed to come to Crossroad!
a) I only understand English. Is that OK?
We do everything in our church in both English and Japanese. So you will have no problem in anything at our church. Our international atmosphere breaks down the cultural differences and enables us to love each other beyond nationalities.b) I am not a Christian. Am I allowed to come to check out this church?
Crossroad is a church just for someone like you! Our prayer is that you find the meaning and purpose of life and start to walk with God. Please come and check us up!
You are most welcomed! We all once were not Christians. We know how you are feeling now. NERVOUS! But once you come through the door, we are sure you think you have come to the right place!c) Do I have to go to a bookstore to by a bible before I come to church?
You do not have to bring your bible to our church. We have several bibles for visitors. Please take one for you and use it during the service. (And please bring it back to the welcome table when you leave!). We believe that God’s word is our source of blessing. We strongly recommend you have your own bible and work on it !d) I have my kids with me. I am afraid they do not want to leave me during the service. Is that going to be OK?
If you have a young family, you are coming to the right church! We have many young families in our church. We love Kids! Remember you have 2 options. If you have kids aging 5-10 and they can go to the Kids class called Crossroad Sparks, please encourage them to go and have fun at Sparks! If your kids hesitate to leave you and go to the Sparks class by themselves, we have a space called Kid’s Island in our worship room (See Pictures of Kids Island!). You can sit right beside your children and join in our worship service.e) I am afraid that your service might be too fanatic. How does your worship service look like?
We do not know how you define the word “fanatic”. But all we can say when we describe our service is “Exciting!” We have been trying to make our church easy to enter. So we do not think we are doing what you will be surprised at.f) Do you have a church parking lot?
Sorry. We do not have any church parking lot. We park our cars at the Pay Parking lot.
They are all around our church! Please check out this map! (link to the Parking map)g) I do not want to be asked about my address and phone numbers. Can I keep myself anonymous in your church?
Yes, we will respect your privacy. We do not ask you to write down any of your personal information. But because we are a friendly church, some of us will come up to you and say hi to you. Maybe they will ask you for your first name!h) I know that we should put our money in the box and that is called offering. Do I have to do that when I attend your service?
We think of offering as a very important part of our church. We give thanks to God, by giving up to him what we think is most important. We Christians see money as a reflection of our life. So offering is our actual and practical worship to God. Yet, we believe offering should be done by free will. If you want to do so, as a form of worship, please do so. And if you feel funny about putting money in the offering box, just relax!i) Can I leave your church at any time in the service if I do not really like it?
The biggest difference of Christianity from other religion is “no pressure” strategy. We do not use any visible/invisible pressure to force you to do what you do not want to do. So we respect your decision of coming in as well as going out. No one will stop you from leaving, though we pray you stay for further fellowship with us!j) Who are you affiliated with?
We are affiliated with different great churches in this area and on abroad. Kobe Bible Fellowship is the church that sent us here in Nishinomiya. We are affiliated with Hope Chapel Kaneohe Bay in Hawaii, too. Why don’t you go and visit their website?k) Do you have any Kids program?
Yeah! We have a great Kid ministry! It’s called Crossroad Sparks. It’s mainly for 5-10 years old Kids. Japanese speaking Kids and English speaking Kids all go to another room to learn about God and His Word, while you listen to Sunday Messages.
Please go and visit Sparks page. (link to Sparks page)
And if you have younger Kids who might have a hard time to leave you and go to another room, you can stay with your kids at the space in our worship room called Kids Island.l) What does your music sound like?
We simply call it Rock n’ Roll!m) What does your preaching sound like?
Our preachers’ primal goal is delivering Sunday messages which are always applicable to life. They speak in nomal language (Honestly speaking, Fumi speaks in Osaka dialect and Mark speaks in west coast US English). Some parts are funny and the other parts sounds challenging. But they are always encouraging. They always have an interpreter with them. Please experience the excitement of listening to bilingual sermons!n) What do I have to bring with me to the church?
Yourself! Beside that, you do not have to bring anything. You can come to Crossroad just the way you are.m) Is it OK that someone like me to come to a church?
Of course! You are prescious in God’s sight. Nothing is more important in his heart than you. Crossroad is for you. Please come and join us!