Overview

"These are the sermons of Bob Crossman while he was the pastor of a new church launch for ten years in Conway, Arkansas. Bob first became the pastor In 1994 when Bishop Richard Wilke asked Dr. Bob Crossman to join Dr. Joel Cooper in launching a new church in Conway. Dr. Cooper had successfully gathered 50 people before he was joined by Bob Crossman. By her 8th birthday Grace Church had witnessed: 194 public decisions for Jesus Christ; 134 baptisms; 26 weddings; 13 transfers to heaven; and dozens of Disciple I, II, and III graduates. In just 8 years Grace Church grew to 615 professing members, 125 baptized children, in 319 homes. By her 9th birthday, in just 468 Sundays, Grace Church grew from the smallest to be larger than 712 of her sister churches in Arkansas. Only 14 of 727 sister churches had more people in worship on a typical Sunday. Grace Church grew to have 500 in worship, 682 professing members, 150 baptized children, and 99 constituents all totaling 931 people in 356 households. By her 10th birthday Grace witnessed 242 first time professions of faith, and reaffirmations, 36 weddings and 150 Disciple Bible graduates. The Grace Church family came from a diverse background: 35% joining by profession or re-affirmation of faith; and, 65% joining by transfer from 239 different churches representing 23 different denominations. Every month, the Lord continued to add new believers to the Grace family. On Easter Sunday, April 20, 2003, Grace Church broke her all-time attendance record with 958 in worship and 245 in Sunday School! Bob Crossman writes, ""As you may know, pastors are often in the pulpit themselves and do not have the opportunity to sit and listen to others preach. Through the years, to feed my soul I intentionally sought out the sermons of Adam Hamilton, Norman Neaves, Rodney Wilmoth, Bud Reeves and Clarence Forsberg to be my 'preachers.' I greatly appreciate the many ways they each fed my soul and by their example helped me be a better preacher myself. Reading the Bible along with their sermons, newspapers, magazines and books I was always searching for stories and illustrations that moved me or caught my attention. By planning my sermon series months in advance, it allowed me to gather ideas and illustrations for upcoming topics or scriptures. Although I did not always record the source on those slips of paper, I have made every effort in this collection to list sources for illustrations at the end of each sermon. If in the text of the sermon or in the source notes I failed to properly acknowledge anyone as a source, please accept my sincere appreciation, and my apology for not properly acknowledging your contribution. Especially I appreciate my friend Norman Neaves, Grace Church's coach and consultant, who has exchanged sermon illustrations with me for years."""

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Bob Crossman has over forty years of experience in the ministry, serving as pastor or staff member in churches ranging in size from 13 to 3,000, and as an Annual Conference and General Agency staff member. From 2012 to 2018, Bob was deployed to the South Central Jurisdiction as a New Church Strategist for Path 1 at Discipleship Ministries. As pastor of a new church in Conway, Arkansas, the church grew from the initial group of 48 growing to over 500 in worship and 1,000 in the church family, witnessing 200 baptisms, receiving 270 professions and reaffirmations of faith, and membership transfers from 23 different denominations. He was also founder of The New Church Leadership Institute for the South Central Jurisdiction training potential new church pastors from twenty Annual Conferences. Bob has served as a consultant to Bishops, District Superintendents and Conference New Church Committees. He has coached pastors, district superintendents, and conducted workshops across the country including: Why Start New Churches; Changing the New-Church-Start Culture of your Conference; Discerning, Training, Assessing, Appointing and Supporting New Church Pastors; What Does It Cost To Start a New Church; Where To Start New Churches; 68 Ways to Increase Your Worship Attendance; and, How to Witness and Invite. Bob served as secretary of the North Arkansas Conference and Arkansas Conferences from 1990 to 2013, overseeing the annual conference sessions and the production of 25 conference journals during his tenure. Bob is a recipient of the Denman Evangelism Award and has received Doctor of Ministry, and Masters of Theology degrees from Perkins School of Theology, SMU in evangelism and Methodist History. He also received a Bachelors degree from Hendrix College. He has been a certified Minister of Evangelism since 1984. Bob and Marcia have been married for 46 years and make their home in Conway, Arkansas near their two sons and five grandchildren. His wife Marcia, an Elder in the Arkansas Conference, recently retired after 16 years as Archivist in the United Methodist Collection at Hendrix College's Bailey Library in Conway, Arkansas.

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