Cross Creek Church Blog

This is the third in a series of short conversations between Pastor Chris Peters and Director of Women’s Ministries Laura Dougherty on Jeremiah Burroughs’ The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. You can watch the first two videos here and here.

Laura puts a direct question to Pastor Chris in this conversation: what has pursuing contentment actually looked like in your own life?

Pastor Chris points to something Burroughs calls the school of Christ, the idea that contentment is learned rather than inherited. You encounter it in the ordinary situations of daily life, in the small frustrations and the larger losses, and those become the classroom.

For Pastor Chris, one of those classrooms was an early morning workout group he’d been part of for about a year and a half. It was a demanding routine, and he was one of the older guys in the group. More than just a workout, it had become a space for Bible study and building relationships with the men there. Then last summer, during a session, he dislocated a shoulder, an old injury from high school that hadn’t caused trouble in fifteen years. Just doing jumping jacks. The injury required surgery and sidelined him from the group.

It was discouraging in a way that went beyond the physical. He had been investing in those relationships and that community, and suddenly he couldn’t be there. The question that follows that kind of loss, “Why would this happen?”, is exactly the kind of question Burroughs wrote for. His answer isn’t to minimize the difficulty but to locate it within something larger: God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition, even the ones that don’t make sense in the moment.

Burroughs defines Christian contentment as “that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.” The school of Christ is where that frame of spirit gets formed.

Follow along each week as Pastor Chris and Laura continue the conversation.

This is the second in a series of short conversations between Pastor Chris Peters and Director of Women’s Ministries Laura Dougherty on Jeremiah Burroughs’ The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment. If you missed the first video, you can find it here.

Many people carry difficult things. Are we supposed to just ignore those difficulties in our lives to achieve this Christian contentment?

In this conversation, Pastor Chris points to how Burroughs himself answers it. Affliction and contentment, Burroughs argues, don’t have to be in conflict. In fact, he writes at length about how affliction can actually be a path toward contentment, not an obstacle to it.

Burroughs wrote during a period of intense political upheaval in England, was forced into exile for a season, and died relatively young. He understood what it meant to seek contentment while carrying real difficulty.

This summer, Cross Creek Church is working through Jeremiah Burroughs’ A Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, and Pastor Chris Peters and Director of Women’s Ministries Laura Dougherty sat down to talk about what that means and why it matters. This is the first in a series of short conversations they recorded around the book.

Jeremiah Burroughs wrote this book about 400 years ago, which raises a fair question: does a Puritan writing in the 1600s still have something to say to us?

Pastor Chris points to something C.S. Lewis observed about old books. Every reader is shaped by their own moment in history, and writers working today are caught in the same cultural blind spots we are. Older writers had their own weaknesses, but we can see those clearly now. What they offer is a perspective from outside our current assumptions, and that’s harder to find than it sounds.

There’s also the matter of who the Puritans actually were. The common picture is severe and joyless, but Pastor Chris notes that their own neighbors reportedly described them as too happy in the Lord. They were people who found great joy in Christ even while walking through challenges and suffering. That’s not the caricature most of us carry.

Burroughs frames contentment not as a personality trait or a mood, but as something learned. He calls it the school of Christ. In a moment when most of us have no shortage of information but not much that actually challenges or deepens us, that framing is worth paying attention to.

As part of our ongoing “Relationships in God’s Design” sermon series, we’re taking time to reflect on what it means to build Christ-centered community in the church—especially across different seasons of life. In these three conversations, Pastor Chris Peters and Women’s Ministry Director, Laura Dougherty discuss how singles and married people can better connect, how to navigate discontentment in singleness, and how we can all pursue a more biblical view of sexual intimacy in a culture that often teaches otherwise.
Singleness and marriage both come with strengths and struggles—and sometimes, a lack of conversation between those two groups can make meaningful connection difficult. This video encourages believers to bridge that gap by asking intentional, heartfelt questions and creating space to share life across seasons and experiences. The goal isn’t to “fix” one another but to encourage mutual growth in Christ. This kind of relational depth helps all members of the church feel known, valued, and invited into meaningful fellowship, regardless of marital status.

When singleness feels unwanted or lonely, it’s easy to get stuck in a place of longing. This video speaks directly to that experience, offering both compassion and wisdom. There’s an invitation to trust God’s timing, pursue meaningful connection in the present, and remain open to what the Lord might provide. Drawing from Proverbs 3, the conversation encourages singles not to overlook the beauty and purpose of their current season. It also highlights the ways singles within the church are already contributing richly to the life of the body—through friendship, service, and shared community.
Cultural messages about sexuality are constant and powerful—but often far from the biblical vision of intimacy. This conversation emphasizes the importance of awareness and intentionality, recognizing that we are always being shaped by the influences around us. Rather than defaulting to silence or defensiveness, believers are encouraged to engage in gospel-centered conversations within trusted relationships. Resources like Sex in a Broken World by Paul David Tripp, The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, and the ministry Harvest USA are recommended for further reflection. Whether single or married, it’s within close friendships, small groups, and especially within marriage itself that space can be created for honest, wise dialogue and encouragement.

🎙️ Sermon archive

As part of our ongoing “Relationships in God’s Design” sermon series, we’re taking time to reflect on what it means to build Christ-centered community in the church—especially when it’s challenging. In these two conversations, Pastor Chris Peters and Women’s Ministry Director, Laura Dougherty discuss how favoritism can subtly impact the way we relate to one another, and what it looks like to love deeply even when it’s difficult.

This conversation explores the sin of partiality as described in James 2, with reflections prompted by a sermon from Jason Tucker. Favoritism is examined not only in obvious ways but also in more subtle forms—such as how we respond to political views, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, or gender. There’s a challenge to consider: What causes me to immediately favor or disfavor someone, even without knowing them? The discussion emphasizes the importance of recognizing each person as an image bearer of God and making space to truly understand those with different experiences. Referencing a framework by Tim Keller, it’s noted that even when Christians differ in their cultural or political approaches, they are still called to seek the good of the world as salt and light.

Loving others isn’t always easy—especially when relationships are strained. Drawing from John 13:35 and 1 Corinthians 13, this video reflects on how love is the defining mark of a disciple and yet can feel difficult in practice. It’s often easier to say we’re “frustrated” than to admit we’re not loving someone well, but honest self-reflection can be the starting point for growth. The conversation also highlights that while Scripture calls believers to love everyone, it doesn’t require the same level of emotional connection with every person. The encouragement is to take the next faithful step—whether that’s asking a sincere question, offering grace in hard moments, or staying engaged even when love involves correction or persistence.

🎙️ Sermon archive

This post is part three of a three-part blog series expanding on themes from our current sermon series on relationships. Each post includes a video interview conducted by our Women’s Ministry Director, Laura Dougherty with our Pastor, Chris Peters.

These two videos zoom in on Ephesians 5 and the roles of husbands and wives. Pastor Chris speaks with humility and care as he addresses questions around submission, respect, and sacrificial love in marriage.

What if submission feels confusing, frustrating, or even painful? Pastor Chris acknowledges the difficulty and clarifies what this call does—and doesn’t—mean. He also offers encouragement for women navigating this with wisdom and grace.

How do men grow in spiritual leadership without falling into pride or passivity? Pastor Chris offers practical encouragement and emphasizes the importance of community and intentionality for husbands.

🎧 Full interview available as a podcast

🎙️ Sermon archive

This post is part two of a three-part blog series expanding on themes from our current sermon series on relationships. Each post includes a video interview conducted by our Women’s Ministry Director, Laura Dougherty with our Pastor, Chris Peters.

Relationships are hard because people are broken. So why does God call us to submit to one another? This post explores what mutual submission really means—and what it doesn’t.

Submission isn’t about control or passivity. Pastor Chris explains how humility and love are essential in healthy Christian community, and why this command is about your posture before God more than the worthiness of the other person.

 

🎧 Full interview available as a podcast

🎙️ Sermon archive

This post is part one of a three-part blog series expanding on themes from our current sermon series on relationships. Each post includes a video interview conducted by our Women’s Ministry Director, Laura Dougherty with our Pastor, Chris Peters.

Before we talk about the “how” of relationships, we begin with the “why.”

These three short videos explore why our relationships matter so deeply, how they reflect God’s nature, and why placing God first changes everything.

Pastor Chris shares his hopes and prayers for this series, highlighting the beauty and challenge of relationships and God’s desire to be glorified through them. Many in our church are walking through painful or complex relational situations. This series is meant to be a help, a comfort, and a challenge for all of us.

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit live in perfect relationship with one another. Pastor Chris invites us to see that divine community as the starting point for understanding how we’re meant to relate to others with humility, love, and unity.

For most of us, our human relationships come first. But Pastor Chris explores why and how our relationship with God needs to be primary—the foundation for how we love, forgive, and grow with others.

🎙️ Sermon archive

Relationships. Relationships. As we move into this fall season at Cross Creek Church, so looking forward to diving into a sermon series where we’re going to focus specifically on both the beauty of our relationships and the challenge of them.

Certainly, whether it’s in a marriage relationship, friendships, co-workers, neighbors, parenting, an extended family, or any other number of connections we have with people. Relationships are one of those areas where we know the glory of God can shine and we experience the image of God that we see in one another. And at the same time, it’s one of those places that we know from even the early chapters of the Bible that the fall has affected and where we need Jesus, his redeeming love, his rescuing grace.

And so as we go through the next couple months in the life of our church, we’re going to be looking at topically through the scriptures, different verses that speak to relationships and some of the dynamics at play there. I hope it’ll be transformative to us.

We know that the Lord Jesus told us that we’re to love him with all that we have and then we’re to love our neighbor as ourself. So we know this is an important thing for us in life to grow in and also something that can really bless us if we embrace his plan and his purposes.

So I hope to see you each Sunday over the next couple of months as we dive into this special series.