Great Things Are Happening

The Way of the Cross Fellowship began as a small Bible study group. We began meeting from home to home, a lot like the early church did in the book of Acts. As we went from home to home, we began to envision what a new church would look like. As we talked more about this, our excitement grew and we began to look for a space to rent so that we could meet on a regular basis. God was at work because we found a place to meet on Park Avenue in Lebanon, TN. It was just right for our group at that time and we had a number of sweet moments in Bible study together. While we were meeting at that space, we constituted as a church and finalized our Constitution and Bylaws. Wow! That all happened in August of 2024 and now here we are just a few months later and we are seeing God do amazing things in our group.

After meeting for a while at Park Avenue, God opened a door for us to move to the School Exhibit Building on the James E. Ward Ag. Ctr. campus. This building is at the back of the Wilson County Fairgrounds (Tennessee State Fairgrounds). We have been there for some time and we have been learning how to be disciples of Jesus. We are growing spiritually and that is providing us with the strength we need to build the church and the ministry God has in mind for us. Our church is based on the passage in Matthew 24, verse 16, which says that as Jesus was talking with His disciples, He said: "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." This became our theme verse and the foundation for a lifestyle among our members. We have chosen to be disciples of Jesus, meaning we want to do more than just His followers. We want to be more like Him in our thoughts and our actions. We strive to do what Jesus did. As we are learning to do this, we are finding that dying to self is very hard. We have so many ideas about what we want in a church. We are finding that music tastes differ as well as understanding on theological truths. But, as we put self to death, we find life and learn how God wants us to think and respond to issues that come up in a church.

We are being prepared now to pick up the cross. We have been praying for a place to meet for Bible study and worship. God revealed to us that we were asking for the wrong thing. We were asking for just another space for rent. God showed us that if we would ask for a place to do ministry, He would not only give us that but He would also give us the space to meet in. Wow! Did this prayer change us and the cry of our heart before God. As we began to pray in this new way, God opened our eyes to what He had planned for us.

As of the first of June, we will be moving to a new space on Lovers Lane in Lebanon, TN. We will begin to minister to the area on the Northeast side of Lebanon. Sure, there are churches there already because there are churches on every corner and in every strip center in Lebanon. In the area where we will be moving, the door is open for phenomenal growth in Lebanon, TN. There will be people from all over the country moving into that area for work and for a place to live. We want to be in position so that God can use us to reach these new people in our community.

What does The Way of the Cross Fellowship offer? It offers the love of God through faith in Jesus. That is always first. We also offer an intimate setting where people can be themselves while God does His work in them to transform them into the image of Jesus. Our goal is to help people take one step closer to Jesus so that He can change them from what they were to what He wants them to be. We are not perfect yet, but we are being perfected by the Holy Spirit of Jesus and we are growing as His disciples. We are understanding every day that we are His workmanship, created for good works.

We would love to meet you. We meet every Sunday at the Lovers Lane Event Space, located at 671 Lovers Lane, Lebanon, TN, 37087. Bible Study takes place at 9:00 am and Worship begins at 10:00 am. Come and see what God is doing in us and experience a real connection with God and with His people. I will be looking for you!

Pastor Greg Bell

pastorjgregb@gmail.com