at the xroads

if you are a freshie

2006-05-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

Hi there! If you are a freshie about to come into NTU, and somehow your web search brought you to this webby...well just to let you know that this webby is quite outdated.

BUT!

Do go to this webby for updated information! Hope to fellowship with you soon!

http://everystudent.com.sg/ntu

18 Aug 2005

2005-08-18T19:38:00.000-07:00

Nobody's Perfect

Crossroads started with icebreakers led by the two emcees, Weiyee and Xin Ying. Following that, Clara and her team led us with a time of worship.

The message for this week was "Nobody's perfect", shared by Sharon, the wife of Kok Hiang who's the head of the Campus Leadership Team. She shared on how we tend to see ourselves through other people's opinions and remarks, and thus affecting our self-esteem.
She then reminded us on our identity in Christ, that God individually handcrafted us, and that we are all special and unique in God's eyes.

Pointers being shared by Sharon:
1. Build our identity in Christ and on His word.
2. Acknowledge our Uniqueness.
3. Secure in His love
4. Know His purpose for my life.

During announcements, Chee Seng shared his testimony on his trip for the Metamorphosis Camp 2004, how the camp totally changed his life, and how he learnt the lesson of forgiveness, and applied it on his recent issue he had with his friend. He ended by challenging us to go for the Metamorphosis Camp 2005.

Quips and quotes
"God knows what our weaknesses are. He formed us so what matters is how God sees us so we gotta think of ourselves the way God thinks of us," Wai Yin, Yr 2

"I was quite excited when Sharon was talking about Psalm 139 because I like how it says that God knows everything about you.The handouts given were good...at least I can write notes," Leu Kexin, BUS. Yr 3

11 Aug 2005

2005-08-11T19:43:00.000-07:00

Welcome back, You've been missed......

The first Xroads of the new academic year started off with much warmth and welcome even as the freshies joined in and mixed around with the senior crusaders. Our emcees for the week Jason and Kristin started off with a light ice-breaker whereby crusaders got into groups of 3 and mingled together. They had a time of prayer as well as sharing. To emphasize that the crusaders were really missed and welcomed, Jason even did a special rendition of "I miss you baby" and both emcees got everyone comfortable and warmed up with some entertaining and humorous banter.

Shaohong and his worship team then took over, leading us in a time of fun and focused worship when we sang our hearts out in praise of God. We proclaimed our love for the Lord with action songs like "Stand up and shout it if you love my Jesus", as well as enthroned our Heavenly Father as we worshiped in spirit and truth.

We were then blessed and challenged by the message given by Crusade Staff Tony. He shared on the importance of starting the new semester well for the Lord, and not only that, but having the end in perspective – ending well is just as important. Tony highlighted 2 biblical examples to illustrate this. First he shared about how King David, a man after God's heart started well for the Lord, yet stumbled in sin along the way, succumbing to adultery and later, murder. However, he ended well as he confessed and repented his sins to God.

The other example was that of Paul. He started off as a persecutor of the Christian church, having a part to play in the stoning of Stephen. Paul was a Pharisee who publicly sinned against the Lord. Yet he was changed and made new through an encounter with God on his way to Damascus and he became a man used by the Lord in the advancement of the gospel and led many to Christ. He was indeed an example of starting wrong but ending right for God.

Food For Thought...Yum Yum
We were thus challenged to think about our own story, whether at the end of the day we would live a life that is evidently starting right and ending well for God's glory. In response to this, we were challenged to "live each day as if it were our last". We were renewed in perspective. Also, as the story of the lady who gave 2 copper coins as offering as recorded in the gospel of Mark, we were challenged to set aside an amount for God in faith to give to His work in Campus Crusade for Christ.

All good things come to an end....
Xroads ended with the commencement of the Annual General Meeting where the minutes and accounts statement were presented and passed. We also had a time of commissioning the new Servant team and prayer for the Servant Team and the Spiritual Multipliers and GIG leaders. Kenneth reminded us of our theme verse Rom 1:16 for the year through a short sharing.

We were further challenged by Roger to commit a friend to the Lord, a friend that we wanted to share Christ with and invite for the GIG session during disciple group time. We did it the 'NKF style' as a form of accountability about our commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission.

Xroads ended with a time of fellowship and supper at Canteen 2...... We believe that it was a refreshing and renewing time for us all.

Announcements:ring ring!!
1) Metamorphosis Conference will be held from 26th to 30th December 2005. By faith, all NTU crusaders are pre-signed up for this 'opt out' conference.
Venue of the Conference is Katong Hostel.
2) Gen12ii Mission trip is an opt out event as well for crusaders.

SM Appreciation Nite

2005-04-01T07:42:00.000-08:00

Hey all!
The photos are up!!!

Check out the link on the right!

SEM2- ISSUE 4

2005-03-04T17:11:00.000-08:00

Crossroads—17th February 2005

We started off today's crossroads by playing a game known as 'Jumble the Words'. Our emcees for the evening, Ivan and Zhixin, had prepared a list of words that were related to the things in our lives that are capable of causing us to worry and to feel stressed. Some words that were included in the list were 'projects’ and ‘assignments'.

Despite the fact that deadlines for projects and assignments were drawing near, we still gathered as a ministry to worship the Lord and to listen to His Word. The worship team led us into a time of worship where we were reminded of the security we had in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father.

The theme of today's Crossroads was 'God is Good'. Selina, our very own NTUCCC staff, brought us the message for the evening. She gave us 3 nuggets of truth to take home for the day:

God is good
God is Immanuel
God draws us to Him

We read Matthew 14:21-32—the familiar passage where Peter walked on water in the midst of a storm. Firstly, we learned that Jesus is never too late to come to us to help us in times of need. He is not only concerned with our cries, but also with our response in the midst of the storm. He cares enough to be with us and to mold our hearts and attitudes as we face the storms of life. God wants us to take the step of faith and to walk on water with Him, just like Peter did.

"The message reminded me that what God wants is our response in the face of problems, and for us to trust in Him…"—Chean Xinying, BioSc, Yr2

"It served as a reminder that God is with us…Was ministered to by the message…" –Faith, MPE, Yr2

SEM2- Issue 3 (3rd Febuary 2005)

2005-02-04T22:20:00.000-08:00

Feel defeated...maybe, but dumped by God? Hardly!

In the midst of hectic schedules and week after week of tests and project work, it is inevitable that we stumble in our walk with God. You might feel defeated and wonder if failure means that God has turned His back on you. But that is WRONG!
Crusade Staff Violet gave a meaningful talk about how failures point Christians back to God. She gave her testimony of how she collected $60 for discipleship materials but didn't return the money immediately and even spent some of it. As a result, God temporarily cut off fellowship from her. However, she mustered up enough courage & confessed her actions to the other Staff Members and they showed her grace, forgiving her for what she did. It was indeed comforting to taste God’s grace for the first time.

God allows failures to point us to one crucial truth: We cannot live the Christian life on our own efforts. Failure is inevitable in life; even Jesus did not pray that Peter wouldn't fail, but that Peter’s faith will not fail. But Jesus promises in Hebrews 13:5 that He would never leave us nor forsake us, and that is a very comforting thought when we are in dire straits.

We let Jesus live in us when we are filled with the Spirit and the 4 key traits of a person of grace are

1) The surrender of personal rights. We all want our free time to do what we want but… God is asking us to give up these things unto Him. Are we willing to do so?

2) We are stewards, NOT owners. One day, we have to give an account for how we manage what is given to us.

3) Speech. We have to say something that will honour the Lord and build others up. (Ephesians 5:19-20) 4) Give sacrificially.

Violet also shared with us a prayer that we can utter when we do not feel like submitting to God. "Lord, you know I really don’t feel like, but your plan is the best. I need you to fill me & set the direction for my life, in Jesus name, Amen."

Lastly, for the message to travel from our head to our heart, it takes commitment and surrender unto the Lord.

Announcements:
1. Gen 12ii-“Are you in or out?” Hurry up and register!!! The closing date is on 7th Feb.
2. Crusade reunion dinner is on the 7th Feb! Meet at 5:30 at Crusade corner to leave for Marina Square. For those who are going later, take the MRT to Marina and take bus number 400 to Chong Pang restaurant
3. There will be no Crossroads next week as it is Chinese New Year. However, Crossroads will resume on 17th Feb, 6:30pm, NIE LT6.

Quips & quotes

“Felt really touched by Violet’s honest sharing. Could really connect with her cofession. I must really commit to God all those things precious to me.” Ee Jun, Acc, Year 1

“Really challenged to be spirit-filled daily, living a life totally yielded to the Lord.” Joyce, BS, Year 1

“Cool! Finally a ‘public appearance’ in Crusade! Now, no one can say they ‘dump’ me! :P” Lee Choon, CS, Year 1

SEM2- ISSUE 2 (20th January 2005)

2005-01-20T20:10:00.000-08:00

Crossroads 2

God's Heart For The Lost

"People don't care how much you know, but how much you care," said Kris, NTU Campus Crusade Staff. It is indeed a challenging task to share Christ with pre-believers as some have misgivings because of previous bad experiences with Christians and have hence closed their hearts to receiving the gospel. As the term progresses, even we ourselves become too wrapped up doing projects, FYPs and CCAs to show care and concern for the 'lost' in NTU.

But God calls us to reach out to the lost and not to become too distracted by personal agenda until we forget how important and urgent it is to do God's will. Jesus Himself left the comfort and glory of Heaven to do God's will on earth. The nature of God is unconditional love (1 John 4: 9-10). John 4:1-26 relates Jesus’ personal encounter with a Samaritan Woman and exemplifies this attribute of God.

God’s love is
1) Not limited by logical thinking
2) Natural yet intentional
3) Not distracted by personal agenda.

Jesus purposely chose to go through Samaria. As a result, many Samaritans believed in Jesus. Nothing is impossible for God, the Lord of the harvest. Life transformation can take place at unlikely places and situations, breaking all human barriers due to logical thinking e.g. 'They'll NEVER want to hear me preach because they have heard this so many times over!’ He also identified with the needs of the Samaritan woman by striking up a conversation with her about water and likening Himself to living water that "whosoever drink from Him will never thirst."

Likewise, fellow Crusader, Champ also saw how Tony, a Staff member identified with the needs of pre-believers when he was doing weekly campus witnessing with him. "The pre-believer became less 'hostile' when Tony took over to share the 4SL with them because he understood their needs. Witnessing is an experience and you cannot just do it once and expect success," said Champ.

Lastly, Jesus was also hungry to do the will of God while His disciples were concerned about satisfying their own needs and pleasures. Are we too busy with our own agenda that we have neglected the Word that God has entrusted to us? What are we hungry for today?

Announcements:
1. Gen 12ii-"Are you in or out?" Hurry up and register!!! The closing date is on 7th Feb.

2. "After the sea calms."- This is a book that has been specially printed to answer difficult questions people ask in the face of tragedy. It will be used to reach out to NTU students. Visit the http://www.ntuenews.000k3.com/ website for more details on evangelism events in NTU!

3. Connexions- Evangelism and discipleship training on 28-29th Jan.
Venue: Aloha Loyang Resort Garden Terrace.
Meet at 2030, Pasir Ris MRT station.
Registration fees: $15.
For further details, ask yourrespective SMs.

4. No X-roads next week. X-roads will resume on 3rd Feb, 6:30pm, NIE LT6

Sound bites:

"I feel energized & I finally grasped the full meaning of being fixed & to preach the gospel regardless of whatever cost like Jesus did," Shengzhi, CEE, Yr 2

"The weekly evangelism was quite challenging for us but we always need to take the first step so that barriers can be broken," Christabel, Biz, Yr 1

"How Jesus was able to be connection starter….pointers like how to start evangelizing. I was inspired by Champ when he shared his testimony on street witnessing." Charis, CS, Yr 1

SEM2- Issue 1 (13th January 2005)

2005-01-14T08:35:00.000-08:00

CrossRoads I

A new beginning for a new semester

The second semester of 04/05 started with us Crusaders gathering for a time of worship and praise in NIE LT6. Everyone was uplifted by the repertoire of songs by the Worship Team as they sang and gave praise to God for His goodness.

After that, Ivan shared his testimony of how God helped him to be able to attend the Meta camp and how the camp transformed his life by inspiring him to set up an 'accountability' group with his church friends to help them remain pure in God's eyes despite worldly pressures.

"Many times, I'ld rather face a computer than a person," says Crusade Staff, Ray. Indeed, it is so much easier dealing with objects rather than people because objects do not respond or say hurting things. Human relationships are very complex and many Chinese drama serials have illustrated that point well. Yet, the most REAL thing in life is relationships and who better exemplifies this other than God Himself! God is 1) Personal 2) Trinitarian 3) Covenantal. He distinguishes Himself from other idols by asserting that He is the ONE & ONLY true God. Unless we understand God in Trinitarian form, He is but an empty name!

There are 3 implications for us: Knowing that God is relational, we can put confidence in God's love and faithfulness. The essence of life is relationships and we have to be more other-centered instead of being self-centered. Jesus does the will of His Father to bring glory to Him and the Holy Sprit works in us to bring others to Christ. Admittedly, this isn't easy as being other-centered goes against typical self-centered human nature but with God's help, He will gradually mould us and make us more Christ-centered.

Announcements:
1. Coming up: Prayer week ENGAGE will be from 17th Jan- 29th Jan. Venue & Time: 5pm Canteen A, Crusade Corner for a time of prayer and sharing every Mon-Thurs for this period of time.

2. ConnecXions- Evangelism and discipleship training on 28-29th Jan.

Venue: Aloha Loyang Resort Garden Terrace.

Meet at 2015, Pasir Ris MRT station.

Registration fees: $15

For further details, ask your respective SMs.

3. Gen 12ii registration is now OPEN!

Newsbites

" I come to Crossroads to help me focus on God despite my hectic schedule. Though I only went a few times for last year's Engage, it was good to see so many brothers and sisters in Christ gather together to pray." Zhixin, Acc, Yr 2

"You always talk about losing yourself for Christ but you never think of it as going on a 'downward race'". Ivan, Bus, Yr 2

X-road statistics:
Total number of attendees: 30
Number of newcomers: 3

SEM1- ISSUE 6 (30th Sept 2004)

2004-09-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Trust & obey in an all-powerful God

Tonight's Crossroads served as a gentle but firm reminder that we should trust & obey our all- powerful God no matter what the circumstances are. Too often, we admire popular people like Bill Gates & David Beckham for their qualities like intellect, good looks & technological or athletic prowess. But when asked about God, we are at a loss of what to say about Him. Often we forget that God is the one who endows people with the aforementioned qualities. Emcees Rena & Daniel brought this point across in a light-hearted and thought-provoking manner.
Jix, Jia Jun, Roger, and Shihui led in the worship session with songs like 'Power of your love', and 'Jesus, We Celebrate Your Victory'.

Our speaker Josephine talked about another of God's attributes: He is all-powerful! God is in control though it seems that time is running out for us...exams, projects, deadlines. To encourage us, she shared her testimony about how God surprised her by blessing her with honors for her final year exams despite her busyness in serving Crusade and having blanked out on the day of the exam itself. Indeed, this debunks the lie that one cannot serve God & excel in his studies at the same time!
God's attributes are very important for they determine how we react to situations in our lives. If we don't have a clear idea of God's attributes, we may react to situations the wrong way. Also, it we exalt one attribute of God over the other, we will get a distorted picture of Him.

She gave a few points for us to mull over:
1) Who is God? (Ephesians 3:20-21) If He is all powerful, why do we act as though He isn't able?
2) What is He able to do? He is able to do ALL that we ask or think, abundantly and exceedingly beyond all that we ask or think. Don't limit God by human experience! Josephine shared how God blessed Crusade with $28,000 from various sponsors (more than they had budgeted for), enabling her and the then E-thrust comm. to get goodie bags and distribute them to the freshmen.
3) How is He going to do it? According to the power that works within us (Ephesians 1:19-20)
4) Why is He doing it? To Him be the glory in the Church in Jesus Christ to all generations, for ever & ever! But we first have to let go & trust & obey in Him in order to experience His power. We NEED His power to exercise self-control and not to fall into sin.

Faye also shared her testimony about how God brought her two stubborn aunts to Christ and how they received Christ and came to church on their own free will. Nothing is impossible by God's grace! She urged us to be patient and persevere to save the unsaved! All things are possible through Christ =)

Tony reminded us that as we are thankful about how God has blessed Crusade in this year with a record number of SMs, 65 freshie Crusaders and 6 NTU pre-believers going for the GIG weekend this year, we must be more alert in interceding and praying for one another. Something which we have not been doing. So we MUST confess our sins daily and keep praying to claim back our son-ship & for protection against spiritual attacks.

Announcements:
1) Those who want the Crusade Directory can get it from Mimi at $1 each.
2) For Crusaders staying in halls, please approach Mimi to offer your help with distributing some items to our contacts in halls.

Sound bites from fellow Crusaders...

"The part where Tony & us were in prayer...should have brought a tape recorder"
Charis, Year 1, CS
"I think it hit me because there are so many projects piling up that I find myself neglecting God. Today reminds me of how great God is & not rely on my own strength. If I just trust in God, He has the power to do so much more." Rena, Year 2, CS
"For me, it's the busyness...like how we should not neglect our walk with God despite all this." Jia Jun, Year 2, BUS

Number of attendees: 37

Number of newcomers: 0

Issue 5 (23rd Sept 2004)

2004-09-25T10:57:00.000-07:00

A great, all-knowing God

After a one week hiatus, Crossroads is back in action! We Crusaders gathered in LT6 for a session of Praise & Worship amidst yet another week of mounting project deadlines and *ominous music played*...the Exams!!! *Stress* Thus, it was comforting to be reminded that God knows what we are going through =)

Faye, our emcee for the night, pretended to read a book titled, '1001 things you have to know to be prepared for life.' Almost on cue, Chee Seng (also tonight's emcee) went up to her & encouraged her to ask God for help to see her through.

To get us Crusaders energized after a hectic days worth of lessons, we sang & did the actions to the song 'Shalom, my friend'. It was really heartening to see both girls & guys alike greeting each other with a handshake and funny dance moves.

Eileen, our Crusade staff delivered a thought-provoking sermon about how God is all-knowing (Isaiah 40:13-14, 1 John 3:20). God's knowledge is ABSOULTELY true, pure & never distorted! Many men have spent their lives trying and failing to fathom the mystery of life but to God, there's no mystery! He knows everything, never had to learn anything, doesn't need a computer and nothing surprises Him! So we can come before Him honestly and tell Him all our problems, with the knowledge that He is fully aware of everything that's going on in our lives (Psalms 139:1-6). How comforting!

Eileen also shared about God cared deeply enough to minister to her two little daughters Rachel & Naomi by answering their prayers and giving them new bicycles! Indeed, NO ONE is too insignificant in His sight. When we feel misunderstood, God cares deeply for us and knows our purpose and the reason why we undergo certain trials in our lives and grieves deeply when we refuse to allow Him into our lives & willfully choose to be mired in sin. Jesus chose to die on the cross so that we won't be slaves to sin forever more. We have to ask God to cleanse us & forgive of our sins and be willing to choose to live for Him through the little things in our daily lives. If not, we can’t shine for Jesus (Jeremiah 29:11).

'The 3 trees', an animated feature, reminded us not to give up on God no matter what failures we experience because He has a greater plan for you and does things in His own unique way & makes all things beautiful in His own timing. The dreams that we have pale in comparison to what God has in mind for us. Praise the Lord!

Kang Guan, our Prayer Comm I/C shared his testimony about how God helped him overcome his fear or public speaking and how he even got an A! He also introduced the P-Comm members and some items to urgently pray for: 1) Intercessions for our lecturers & grads 2) Pray for NTU 3) Prayer board. He reminded us that prayer isn’t a sacrifice but a privilege.

Yung, our E-Comm head prayed with all of us for the GIG weekend. Though it is difficult to get the Gigsters to come, God is still sovereign over what is going on and it is our responsibility to guard what God has entrusted to us & not do things in our own strength.

–Rachel

Quips & Quotes from the Crusaders
"Good that God is control of everything, especially after a week of horrible stress."
Jane, EEE, Yr 3
"I think the worship was very good...was ministered by the last 2 songs. The whole message that Eileen shared tied in with what I did for my quiet time ...if I desire to honor Him, He will honor me." Arlene, SBS, Yr3
"Enriching! ,'The 3 trees' clip was very nice and the songs were very nice!"
Christina, ACC, Yr2

Total number of people: 47
New attendees: 1

ISSUE 4 (10th Sept 2004)

2004-09-10T08:32:00.000-07:00

God IS love...no matter what
At long last, the week before the mid-term break has arrived! Despite our busy schedules of projects, tests , quizzes etc. many were able to make it for today's Crossroads!! Praise the Lord!
"God is love, shen shi ai, tu itu kasih",Jix & Clara our funky emcees demonstrated just few of the many ways to say 'God is love'! As a prelude to the sermon, we were divided into two teams 'Cross' & 'Roads' and had to unscramble words from the bible verses 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 in 30 seconds. E-James, Kimberly, Simon and Matthea led the worship session in which we sang songs and praised God for His love.

Tonight's message was centered around the theme, "God is love" Victor, last year's E-Comm head gave an enlightening sermon about the qualities of God's love. God's love is 1) Unselfish 2) CANNOT be earned 3) Unconditional 4) Unending and everlasting. God's love is good and flows out of the goodness of God's character.

But in order for love to exist, there must be another element: Choice. In the beginning, God the Father, God the Son and the Holy Spirit lived in perfect harmony with one another. There was no need for God to create us but He chose to! . However, man damaged that relationship with God when man allowed a 3rd party, SIN, to come in. Despite all this, God hasn't given up on us and paid the penalty for our sins by sending His son to die on the cross for our sins and restore the broken relationship with us.

So how do we love each other? 4 simple equations: 1) MORE love= LESS indifference 2) LESS indifference= MORE involvement 3) MORE involvement= MORE sacrifice. 4) MORE sacrifice= MORE life change & growth!

Admittedly, it is difficult to muster enough courage to make friends and show concern but the more we do so, the less our hearts will be hardened to our friends, peers and tutors in NTU. Their lives are being changed for the better though it may take a long time to see our efforts bearing fruit. Victor ended by saying something thought-provoking, "Let the love of Christ compel you to make a difference amongst your friends and don’t do it because of personal motives." So do everything for God's glory!!

In addition 3 important events were announced. 1) Yung made an important announcement about GIG weekend (25-26 Sept) and E-Comm gave out flyers with prayer requests...so pray that GIG weekend will be a success! 2) Selena and Kok Soon publicized Metamorphosis (6-11 Dec). So sign up now and pay ONLY $100 instead of $160. 3) Crusade family day is on 13 Sept! ( Meet at 1130 am at Harbourfront MRT and bring a dark tee , extra change of clothes and $5 if u are staying for BBQ.

- Rachel

Sound bites from fellow Crusaders...

"Victor shared about love & I was doing my quiet time & he mentioned about Jeremiah 2 & Isaiah 15, my quiet time passages during Crossroads. So it was very coincidental & I think this Crossroads is very special for me...but then again, so is every X-roads ;)"
John, Year 3, Acc

"It was a great time of worship. Great balance between Word & fellowship. A very edifying time….fuelled for next week’s Crossroads =)!"
Lifern, Year 1, Biological Sciences

"The message really taught me a lot that God releases and the Holy Spirit were living in perfect harmony in the beginning. The Love Week inspired me to bless Shao Hong...the question 'Why can't we show love to people all the time?' made me wonder."
Jix, Year 2, MPE

Number of attendees: 60
Number of newcomers: 4

Photo Blog!!!

2004-09-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

Hi!!!
The Crossroads Photo Blog is up! Check out the link on the right!

ISSUE 3 (3rd Sept 2004)

2004-09-03T07:51:00.000-07:00

Prayer & Praise night
This week's Crossroads centered on Prayer & Praise and Mark 11:22-24 was the verse for the night, reminding us to have faith that our prayers do come true! There were 5 key areas that our fellow Crusaders prayed for: Evangelism, Discipleship, CrossRoads, the Crusade Ministry & fellow Crusaders.

Prayer pointers for Evangelism: 1) That GIG will bear good fruit; to see God working in the lives of group members and see them turning to Christ. 2) For the Crusaders to bear good fruit; to actively reach out to the non-Christians around us. 3) For us to bear good fruit; for the salvation of our close friends, and our family.

Prayer pointers for Discipleship: 1) All SMs to have the perseverance and wisdom in conducting DG. 2) Disciples to have teachable hearts and be equipped to spread the Gospel and also leading a fulfilling Christian life. 3) To be sensitive to the needs of our bros n sis-in-Christ . 3) For an atmosphere of love to be among DG mates and SMs.

Prayer pointers for Crossroads: 1) That crusaders would be enjoying the teaching of the Word and a fruitful time of fellowship. 2) Pray that crusaders would be burdened to even bring their friends down for crossroads events. 3) That crusaders will take time off to come down for Xroads .

Prayer pointers for Crusade Ministry: 1) Teamwork and unity, bonded in God's love to focus on God and not be distracted by things of the world/flesh. 2) To have a heart of humility and patience as we serve. 3) Pray for staff and their families. 4) That we'll make an impressionable impact in NTU. 5) That we'll be of an encouragement to the other Christians in NTU.

Prayer pointers for Crusaders: 1) For the Holy Spirit to fill us as we do His work and serve each other together. 2) Obedience and servant hood. 3) To be honest with God and hunger for His Word. 4) For wisdom and strength in our daily life. 5) Yield to God and seek His guidance.

In addition, Crusaders and staff members like Tony, Junxiang, Katherine, Samantha shared their testimonies. Lingyun also gave a talk about discipleship.

** Registration is NOW open for the Metamorphosis Camp ! So hurry & sign up!! For further details, contact the staff or watch out for future publicity in Xroads and emails =) **

Stay tuned for...Love Week!!!

**Next week is Love Week and it is an opportunity for us all to BLESS someone!!! We can do something to show God's love to him/her before 9th Sept AND pray for him/her =)**
**So don't forget to come for this week's Crossroads at NIE LT6, 6:30pm. The theme is: God is love.**

Issue 2 (27 August 2004)

2004-08-27T03:51:00.000-07:00

Prayers and thanksgiving for an unchanging God
It is the second Crossroads of the semester! Once again, us fellow crusaders met in LT6 to praise & worship God =) Joshua and Man Yin were our highly entertaining emcees for the evening. Joshua made everyone laugh when he 'exercised' his lusty vocals and made Man Yin swoon on the ground in mock horror.
To kick start the evening, we played Crusade taboo in which we were given a paper with certain words and we had to use words or phrases other than those written there to describe the particular word (sounds confusing but it actually very easy to understand ;-)
We also were privileged to have Juliana, a Crusade staff, give her first Crossroads sermon about how God never changes. In this day and age, it seems that change is the only constant in life. We are perpetually having to cope with one transition after the other...from projects to exams to more projects, more tests and the list goes on & on as the semester workload piles up.
Before we get adjusted to change, things change again and this world becomes more & more relative. Often, moral standards are also compromised and our sense of right & wrong becomes increasingly blurred. We become increasingly jaded to change and think, "If others say it is good, it is good lor." But deep within us, we feel confused, rushed and insecure. Only God can be our anchor & rock in times like these because He never changes! Hebrews (1:12) says, "You remain the same & Your years will never come to an end." Hebrews (13:8) says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever." God has been true to His word since the Creation. Whatever He said, it was so and if it was so, it is so and it will be so. God is good all the time! =)
Tonight, our executive committee was formally introduced and called to office during the AGM. Shao Cai, our student co-coordinator gave a speech reminding us of our mission: To make disciples for Christ in NTU & fulfill God’s purpose for us here and that ultimately, it is not our academic achievement or CCA accomplishments that matter the most but that God has changed us for the better.
Last but not least, there is also a new addition to the Crusade corner...A prayer board! Crusaders can post their prayer requests there so that our fellow brothers & sisters in Christ can pray for them. After that, they can post that they have prayed for their fellow crusader under the 'Prayed for' section. There is also a 'Thanksgiving' section for us to post how God has blessed us so as to encourage one another in the Body of Christ. -Rachel

Sound bites from our fellow crusaders

"The message was very useful and applicable to me! It was a good time spent and I feel very refreshed. The prayer board that Kang Guan made is very good, enabling us to bond deeply & to know each other better & to grow as one ministry." Cai Li CEE Year 4

"Shao Cai's speech was quite touching. He shared his life with us and talked about how he missed going for Crossroads because of family problems. For the rest of us, sometimes we don’t feel like coming down because we feel that we have more important things to do like studying and that isn’t good because God comes first!" Yongzhi MPE Year 3

"Crossroads reminded me that God will always stay perfect. His attributes never change & He is whom I can count and depend on. After Shao Cai's message, I realized the need to treasure my parents and be a responsible son to my parents & my heavenly Father." E-James, Acc Year 2

Number of newcomers: 8
Total number of people attendees: 63

Issue 1 (20th August 2004)

2004-08-20T08:04:00.000-07:00

A night of FIRSTS

Today marks the FIRST Crossroads of the FIRST semester where we welcomed all the FIRST years (a.k.a Freshies) who joined Crusade...as well as the rest of us oldies. 13 newcomers turned up altogether. Praise the Lord!
The ice breakers really got everyone up & about with us scrambling to find people who were The shortest, The longest, with the emcees Nicholas & Kexin keeping everyone in suspense about what they wanted exactly. The funniest part happened when Kimberly burst out laughing 6 seconds after holding her breath when saying the word Crossroads , thanks & no thanks to Yung who was funny as usual ...hehe :P
The skit about The Giving Tree was funny, yet touching, reminding us that God is always there for us even though many do not always show our gratitude to Him and it is not too late for us to do so! =)
The message, God is Sovereign, shared by Tony, really spoke to many of us here. He is in full control of everything on earth. I was reminded about 3 things:

1) That He is sovereign over the universe

2) He is sovereign over history

3) He is sovereign over current events.

Many times I questioned God & was a very bitter person, condemning myself for not being as good as others in terms of studies and CCA. I used to ask why He did not make me all-rounded like my cousins. Now, I have finally understood that He has shaped me according to the plan that He has for me & it is not for me to question His intentions. Also, no matter what kind of circumstances I face, He is in the driver's seat & will never give me more than I can take. Whenever I am tempted to compare with people and wallow in self-pity, I will always remember that our God has a unique plan for each of us which will be revealed if I seek after Him.

...Rachel....

What our fellow crusaders think about today?

Not bad, quite a good turnout...loved the message & the skit about the tree. Learning that God is in control no matter how bad things seem. Serving God is the BEST thing we can do with our lives! Kimberly, CEE Year 3

Very enriching. The sermon spoke to me especially the part about the potter & the clay. We do not really know the whole picture but God knows the outcome. It inspires me to know more about Him by reading His Word & encouraging people. Clara made quite a good tree ;) Really touching to know that God is always giving though other people take Him for granted. James

I think it was very special because today is my birthday. Did not expect them to surprise me with a bouquet of flowers & I did not know how to react. This is what Crusade is all about. Though my real family cannot be around today, the Crusade family is around for me. Faye, CS Year 2