ccm Cross 0137 The Cross Church, Sandstone, Minnesota

ccm Cross 0137
June 16, 2017

The Cross Church
Sandstone, Minnesota USA
ccm Cross 0137

GPS/DMS 46° 7′ 49.49” N   92° 52′ 4.56” W

Additional photos after Testimony

4390 cdd Stop This Drug
Cyber Daily Devotions
Volume 18 Number 160

Today’s Author: Pastor Bill

Scripture: Daniel 10:9a
“I heard the sound of his words” NKJV

Hello, my name is Pastor Darren Sedler with The Cross Church of Sandstone, Minnesota. This is my Cross testimony of my encounter with Christ at a Billy Graham crusade that changed my life and set me on a path of worship for the Lord.

I was born in Hopkins, Minnesota which is a suburb of Minneapolis, the oldest of three children. My father worked in management at two different companies, Minneapolis Moline and Control Data. Eighteen years at each company, and he took an early retirement at age 55. Mom never worked outside the home and I am very grateful. We moved to Wayzata, Minnesota in my early years and at the age of 13 was a very rebellious teenager.

My dad grew up a Methodist and mom was a Catholic. When they married they chose to attend a Methodist church. While growing up religion was what we did on Sunday.

In July of 1973 my dad assembled all of us and we drove to the Minnesota State Fair grounds to attend a Billy Graham Crusade. I was 13 ½ years old and my rebellion was spinning out of control. I heard the message that night and went forward to receive Christ as did our whole family. A few weeks later mom said, “Darren, you have changed since your commitment to Christ at the Billy Graham Crusade.” Everyone in my family noticed my change. But they didn’t change! It would be five years later that the entire family turned from a Sunday religion routine to accepting Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives.

Throughout high school I gravitated to music. Singing, playing instruments as I developed my music talent for Christ.

I attended college and one year later met my wife Linda. We were married when we were 19 years old. We attended church in Fargo, North Dakota. After graduation from college I became active in worship and eventually became a worship leader. We moved to Cambridge, Minnesota. We started our family which grew to five children. One of which we adopted from Kenya, Africa when he was only 2½ months old.

Twenty-one years I was a worship leader as our family grew. Then came an opportunity to step out for the Lord and become Pastor for a startup church. We began Harvest Church in Isanti, Minnesota just north of Minneapolis. That was 14 years ago.

Then a few years back we began helping a satellite church in Sandstone, Minnesota. The pastor retired and the local Senior Center donated their building to us. Today we are The Cross Church of Sandstone, Minnesota.

This month Linda and I will be married thirty-nine years. Through the years the Lord has worked some amazing miracles in the lives of the church members but none was more important than saving Linda’s life — three times!

The first two times were during child birth. The doctors thought they had lost her both times during labor. We prayed and the Lord heard.

Then Linda developed problems due to an allergic reaction to some medication she was on that a doctor prescribed. A few days later Linda was in toxic shock. We rushed her to the hospital where emergency doctors helped stabilize her but not before damage had been done. For the next several weeks Linda was in a coma. When Linda was released from the hospital she was sent home with an abundant amount of morphine to suppress the pain. The doctors had given up and expected her to die in days.

When we returned home we prayed. We heard the Lord say in our spirits, “STOP THIS DRUG.” We decided to stop the morphine cold turkey. That night Linda began horrific withdrawals along with the full pain of her illness. In the middle of the night we rushed her to the hospital in Cambridge, Minnesota. There was nothing more the doctors could do but attempt to make her comfortable.

I left the hospital in the middle of the night and walked to my van in the parking lot. I stepped in, locked the doors and began crying, weeping and screaming at God, “Don’t take Linda.” My cries to Jesus were outlandish, out of character and embarrassing for a Pastor to admit. This went on for two hours. I drove home broken and defeated expecting a call that Linda had passed away.

I stumbled into the house and laid down. When morning arrived I still had not had a phone call. I returned to the hospital and walked into Linda’s room. She was sitting up as if nothing had ever happened.

The Lord answered my gut wrenching prayer. Linda was alive and all symptoms of withdrawal and pain were gone. To God be all the Glory! Today we are enjoying our children and 10 grandchildren.

As a Pastor, I enjoy teaching the word. While music is a passion that still burns within me, its digging into The Bible and finding the revelations of Jesus Christ, that I like best.

My favorite scripture is Psalm 100 NKJV:
Make a joyful shout to the Lord, all you lands!
Serve the Lord with gladness;
Come before His presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,
And into His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

For the Lord is good;
His mercy is everlasting,
And His truth endures to all generations.

The Cross to me is everything. We named our church “The Cross Church” to accentuate the victory of the Cross. No one will enter heaven without the acceptance of what Jesus did for us on the Cross.

This Cross planted today sits at the gateway to downtown Sandstone. There is another church on the other end of town and now we are like two towers for the Lord. One at each end. Two churches giving testimony to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Father thank you for answering prayers in ways we never thought possible. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen!