LOVE AT THE CROSS
MINISTRY
JESSICA NEWSOME
PRESIDENT & FOUNDER
OF LOVE AT THE CROSS
Jessica Newsome is a native of Montgomery County, Maryland. She spent the early part of her life there, living first with her mother and then with her father in the city of Rockville after their divorce during her elementary school years. She graduated from Colonel Zadok A. Magruder High School in 2002, and went on to study criminal justice at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. After obtaining her Bachelor of Science in the field, she later spent two years in a Master’s program for the same course of study.
In 2008, while working in Maryland, Jessica decided that she wanted to change the course of her life, and began attending First Baptist Church of Glenarden in Upper Marlboro. It was during her membership with this congregation that she rededicated her life to Jesus Christ and got baptized again as a sign of her faith’s renewal. A year after she turned this corner, she moved to the small town of McAllen, Texas to pursue a career opportunity, a move that would ultimately change her life.
Since her relocation to Texas, she discovered that God had a strong call on her life, one that would cause her to reevaluate her entire lifestyle. Upon totally surrendering her life to God, she would be called to The Family Church in McAllen, a church body that would help her to grow in Christ more than ever. During her time with TFC, Jessica has been involved with the congregation’s youth ministry, as well as the Celebrate Recovery ministry, a twelve-step program that she herself completed and then led others through. After years of being active in ministry through her church home, she felt as though something was missing from her ministry life. “I was seeking to find a group in South Texas [that] could use a leader to assist individuals seeking to leave homosexuality and I couldn’t find one. A friend and mentor told me that I should start one. Soon after, God confirmed to me that I should start my own ministry through several other encounters.” Out of this confirmation grew Love At The Cross, a non-profit that Jessica founded in April of 2014. By sharing the story of how God’s love gave her the power to change the destructive patterns in her life, it is Jessica’s hope that she can help others break all kinds of destruction in theirs.
MINISTRY BELIEFS
GODLY LOVE OR CHRISTIAN LOVE
This is God’s kind of love in us for others, especially for believers. John 3:16 and Romans 5:8 demonstrate that God’s love is sacrificial. Since this is true, godly love—Christian love—is also sacrificial. The Holy Spirit produces it in a believer who is controlled by the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23; Romans 5:5). Christian love is not dependent on the person who is loved. It depends on the source. Godly love pleases God (2 John 5-6). The basic idea in godly love is sacrifice for others—thinking of others first and doing for them that which is in accordance with God’s will and God’s good, and that which is needed. Furthermore, it includes responsibility, which is being accountable to God, to doctrinal principles, and to one’s level of spiritual growth; protection of others by way of verbal protection (what we say), mental protection (our thoughts), and physical protection; self control which relates to sacrifice, responsibility, and protection; and thankfulness. First Corinthians 13:4-7 personifies love by saying what it is and does, and what it is not and does not do. Godly love contrasts with friendship love which is for certain people.
THE SCRIPTURES
The Bible is the inspired Word of God – the product of holy men of old who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. The new Covenant, as recorded in the New Testament, we accept as our infallible guide in matters pertaining to conduct and doctrine. (2 Timothy 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Peter 1:21)
ETERNAL LIFE AND THE NEW BIRTH
Man’s first step toward salvation is godly sorrow that leads to repentance. The New Birth is necessary to all men, and when experienced produces eternal life. (John 3:15; Romans 6:22-23; 2 Corinthians 7:10; 1 John 3:3-5, 5:12)
