Celebrating with free Starbucks

For 40 days leading up to Easter many Christians practice “Lent” by giving something up, in order to identify with the sufferings of Christ. Then Easter comes along, everyone celebrates on Resurrection Sunday, and then we go back to life as usual.

Not this year! Easter is the defining event in the history of the church, and we need more time than one hour on Sunday to properly celebrate it!

In light of what we learned last weekend, it’s time to REALLY celebrate! (If you weren’t able to join us last Sunday, listen to the podcast here.) Consider doing something new for the next 40 days. Something that’s fruitful, wholesome, and self-giving. It might be something you can only do for 40 days. That’s fine! After 40 days, (around June 5th) we’ll have a chance to tell the stories of how celebrating Easter has impacted our lives, and the lives of others around us.

• You may want to try a new habit that helps someone else…something you’ve always wanted to try.

• You may want to begin a new friendship, maybe someone you’ve been meaning to talk to.

• You may want to volunteer somewhere for the next 6 weeks.

• You may want to reach out and encourage someone for the next 40 days.

• You may want to break out of your ordinary routine and discipline in order to remember the freedom we have because of the resurrection!

The idea is, we can do this BECAUSE of what God did on resurrection Sunday. And we do it to remember and celebrate God’s great love for us!

I think it would be helpful if we could share our ideas along the way. So feel free to add your ideas and plans in the space below. (click the "comments" word below this post) As for me, I’m going to start paying for the Starbucks drink of whoever is in line behind me every time I visit my local barista. Hopefully they’re not buying for the whole office! It’s a simple way to celebrate and ensure someone else benefits from what God is doing in my life.

Serving and celebrating together,

Pastor Mark
(Enjoy the video!)

 

Is Easter a Big Deal In Your Life?

Christmas gets a lot air play, doesn’t it? Months of planning, purchasing, and celebrating. Compared to Christmas, Easter kinda flies past. A trip to the candy store, some colored eggs, and a crowded Sunday event. Then we’re on to Mothers Day, Memorial, and so on. But are we missing something? Isn’t this, after all, the defining moment in history? 

What if we’ve got it mixed up? What if we thought about the Easter Spirit instead of the Christmas Spirit? What if, instead of "Christmas in July"  we had “Easter in July” or “Easter in September”? What if we laid awake at night pondering the anticipation and the excitement of Easter morning instead of Christmas morning?  What if we spent months planning and preparing to celebrate the gift that God gave on Easter?  What if the events of Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday were actually powerful enough to transform our lives?  What if we've got it mixed up?

If you want to experience something different this year, join us for Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. And discover why it really is a big deal for your life. For every moment of your life. Starting now. See you this weekend. 

- Pastor Mark

A creative, personal way to ignite HOPE

I'm amazed at the creative of people...but then I shouldn't be, as we're made in the image of a creative God.  Watch this video, and see if it doesn't stir some ideas in your own life...

The Invisible Church

Last Saturday was our Mega Block Party! The weather was chilly, but the people were warm and welcoming! We welcomed people from our surrounding community to a free afternoon of food, games, entertainment, and friendship! Thanks to each of you who came out to serve, or just to participate. 

As we started talking with people, we started hearing a very troubling question over and over.  That question was, “So where does your church meet on Sundays?” WOW! We’ve been meeting for three months every week, and yet we’re virtually invisible. Since we believe that the message of Jesus Christ is the message of HOPE that people are looking for, we’ve got a problem.

One way we’re addressing this problem is to get a better sign that’s visible for people walking and driving by.

But the second way we can address this is if all of us live our lives as though the building was invisible. Imagine that the only way someone will find our meeting location is if you tell them. In effect, you and I become the signs, clearly pointing people to our weekend gatherings where they come to know the God who loves them.

So I encourage you to join me in praying for chances to tell others about what you’re experiencing at Seneca Creek. Here’s some interesting data:

• 82% of Americans say they would be likely to attend a church if they were invited
• 2% of church members invite an non-church person to attend in a given year (meaning 98% do not invite anyone)

Let’s do something about that, shall we? And since Easter is a natural time to visit a church, please pray specifically for opportunities to hand out the Easter invites that we’re making available every Sunday.  Or, you can click here and go to the online invitation/information. 

Together, by our actions and our invitations, we can make the invisible church VERY visible!

Crazy leadership tactics

So I’m reading through Nehemiah recently. It’s often used as a text-book on great leadership skills. And in fact, there are some great leadership lessons there. But then Nehemiah says this,

I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name… (Neh. 13:25)

I’m going out on a limb to say that leadership tactic is probably not gonna work for you. Or for me. But here’s the tactic I do want to implement based on feedback from last Sunday.

We had the privilege of hearing from a diverse panel as we looked at “Becoming Part of a Healthy Church.” One panelist noted that as he walks through the lobby and halls of Seneca Creek, he often feels ignored or de-valued because others will choose not to greet or acknowledge him as they approach. Interestingly a few others commented on this phenomenon on their connection cards after the service. Apparently this is more common than I realized. So it got me to thinking.

• First, I recognize that we’re all capable of getting lost in our thoughts, our busyness, and our insecurities. When that happens, we may ignore someone, or fail to greet them with a hello, a smile, or a handshake.

• Second, some of you walk through the doors of 13 Firstfield on Sunday and you’ve had a horrible week. You need encouragement, strength, affirmation, and an infusion of hope. Extending a warm welcome to someone else might seem like a herculean task.

I think most of us are in the first category. And if so, let me encourage you to approach Sunday mornings with a slight change. As you walk into the building, just say a simple prayer: “Help me to encourage the people you bring into my path this morning.” If you think that asking, “How’s it going?” is too shallow, try asking someone, “What’s God been teaching you this week?”

By taking the initiative, we’ll not only reduce the numbers of people who feel ignored, but we may very well open up the door to friendships that will enrich us all, and change the course of your life! After all, God has arranged your life and the other person’s life so that you’re together in that moment. Is it a coincidence…or does God have something planned for you? Maybe it’s part of the good work that God is completing in you (see Philippians 1:6). Or maybe that other person is in the second category above.

Let’s try it out this Sunday. And I promise not to curse at you, or beat you, or pull your hair out. :)

- Pastor Mark

The multi-cultural discussion in another voice

In preparing for last Sunday's discussion, I discovered some great resources. There was not enough time to include them all. Here's an example of some of the resources on the site, thenewculture.org.




Here's part 2



And part 3



Feel free to join the discussion below.

See below...

Crazy leadership tactic...
Click here to read this week's article for April 7, 2011.  (sorry for the confusion)

[The following is from March 31, 2011]
After last Sunday’s mega-message, in which we explored some controversial passages in the New Testament about women in the church, I heard some troubling feedback. In short, the feedback was this: “Mark, if we can’t simply read the Bible and understand it without all kinds of background information, then what’s the point of reading it at all?” To which I immediately think, “That’s NOT what I meant!” But it’s a fair question. Let me try to address it.

• First, the vast majority of what we read in the Bible requires no further explanation. Things like, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” “In your anger do not sin,” “Worship the Lord with gladness,” “Flee sexual immorality,” “Share with God’s people who are in need,” “Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others,” just to name a few examples.
• Second, there is power in God’s word. When we open the book, we open our lives to God’s Spirit. You can actually trust God to help you learn and grow as you’re reading, even if you don’t understand everything! As a life-long student of Scripture, I can honestly say that I continually learn and grow from my regular, personal Bible reading, which I do without any outside resources.
• Third, there truly ARE some difficult passages that we need help with. One of the reasons we have difficulty is that the Bible was written thousands of years ago in a language and culture that we’re completely ignorant of. Think of it this way: most of us can’t even explain the culture and events that led to the First World War, which was less than 100 years ago! Or imagine someone trying to understand Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech if they knew nothing about the history of race relations in America. Sometimes we simply HAVE to learn the context surrounding the conversation. We talked extensively about overcoming these difficulties in our series, “Making Sense of the Bible,” from January of this year. If you missed that series, check out the podcasts. If you want to go further, sign up the next time we offer our workshop, “Dig Deeper.” There we provide even more help on how to study and learn and grow in the area of personal Bible study.

So please don’t let the difficult passages discourage you from pursuing the most effective tool known for personal spiritual development. And if you want to learn more about the topic we dealt with over the last two weeks, be sure to let us know. You can click here and type the phrase, “biblical equality,” in the subject line. We’ll add your name to the list and let you know the details of that discussion group when we get them finalized.