It is so good to be back home. It’s always good to be away. But, it’s great to be back.

As the Maguires spent the last 10 days in Texas with Amanda’s family (and the mosquitos… and the suffocating humidity), I spent time praying and dreaming about the future of the Mariners MV community. What kind of impact will we have in the surrounding neighborhoods? How many people will find repair for their troubled marriages? How many estranged friends will find reconciliation and forgiveness? How many people might be released from the power of addiction? How many people will discover a community overcoming the cynicism of the world with a vibrant hope in Jesus? My time away has given me such a powerful sense of optimism about the next season of life and ministry together.

I am so excited to be back teaching this weekend. We’ll get a tangible look at one of the most compelling pictures of the Kingdom of God. We will give people an opportunity to come forward to receive prayer for healing — emotional, psychological, physical, spiritual, relational. This is a weekend requiring the triumvirate virtues of courage, humility, and faith. Consider in your own life what might require healing. But, also consider the people in your life who are in need of healing. What might it look like to include them this Sunday at Mariners?

Then, after church we’ll celebrate together at our 39th annual Mariners MV beach day on Sunday afternoon at Doheny. What a great opportunity to bring, not only your own family, but also your friends and neighbors who are looking to find a way into the church. Let’s surf together. Let’s get a sunburn together. Let’s be clever, ambitious, and winsome about the ways we enfold people from our community into life of the church.

Grateful to be home,

Jeff

Each summer, my family and I take a trip to San Antonio, Texas. And, while there isn’t much to do in the ultra-humid, mind-numbing heat of Texas in July, there’s always eating Texas-style barbecue and swimming in the backyard pool. Today, Molly, my seven-year-old daughter, found the motherload of bubbles that were begging to be set aloft adjacent to the pool deck. Dylan, her older brother, discovered a virtual armory of water guns that resulted in a nearly unavoidable splash-battle. And my four-year-old son, Scotty, continued in his education on how to “surf” a boogie board from the side of the pool.

While looking at the pool, full of sun bleached rafts and foam noodles floating listlessly in the water, I was faced with the constant reminder of the subtle power of DRIFT. This past Sunday, we talked about how easy it is to drift from the life we were intended to live in a series of countless micro-decisions and tiny indulgent permissions leading us into the middle of the proverbial deep end. What is it that God might be reminding you of during this week that might be causing some drift? How might you resist it?

I can’t wait to be back together with all of you soon. I miss my MV family. Each Sunday, I’ve been meeting your friends — those you’ve been inviting to join us — who all say how welcome they’ve felt among our church body. They keep using the words “family” and “home” to describe us. There are so many great opportunities to include your friends and neighbors with you and your community over the next few weeks: baseball games and beach days to name a few.

See y’all real soon,

Jeff