We are a society that is enamored with heroes and deep down we all want to be heroic. For every one of us, we hope that when the moment comes to step up into the gap, we have what it takes to be heroic. Not only are heroes all around us, but the Bible is full of heroic people. Join us for our new weekend message series as we look at what it takes to be a hero.
Ocean Hills Campus
Sundays @ 10a
directions and more info
Our hope is that you have decided to join us in reading through God’s Word this year! Each week, we want to encourage you in your reading by offering some thoughts for reflection. If you have not started reading with us, it is not too late! You can jump in anytime! There are still copies available at the bookstore, if you stop by after service, or get an e-version.
Daily Message, Reflection Week 3
As we have been reading Genesis, we see stories of God initiating interaction with His creation, and even His patience with them as they disobey, rebel, and run from Him. God ultimately cannot have His creation ruled by sin, it would destroy itself. Therefore, He acts out of love in attempts to rescue and restore. Continue reading Annual Read: Reflection, Week 3
Join us to learn about volunteer opportunities (tutoring, ESL, etc.) at the community centers in Santa Ana and Orange. Dinner provided. Contact Jane.
Thursday, January 23, 6-7p
Life Development Bld 200C
Love our neighbors with a meal. Serve food with a friendly “hello” and/or provide a portion of the 60 needed sack lunches. Partnering with Welcome Inn. Contact Melissa.
Tuesday, January 21 (every 3rd Tue of the month) 4:15-5:15p
Cul-de-sac near 26010 Domingo Ave, Capo Beach
Join us at a Social Night as we offer community and build relationships with the elderly while sharing stories. Every last Thursday of the month, 6:30-8p. Contact Debi.
Thursday, January 30, 6:30p, Atria Del Sol Senior Center
Kids will learn about God’s purpose for us and His promises to work in our lives. Activities include: Chapel, arts & crafts, cabins with your friends, outdoor activities, recreation room, outdoor laser tag, and so much more! Open to 4th and 5th grade students.
Register online.
Irvine
Huntington Beach
Ocean Hills
Fri-Sun, February 7-9
Tahquitz Pines, Idyllwild
$225
From all of us at Ocean Hills, we hope that this past year has been a blessing for all of you, and we pray that you will have a sense of God’s leading in your life this year. As a church it has been quite a year, and we are excited for all that God has in store in this next season. This past weekend we started our new series called Heroes. In life, we all look for heroes and at the same time, we have a desire in one way or another to be heroic. The Bible is full of heroes, some are obvious, some are incredibly unlikely. Either way, we have a lot to learn from the many courageous men and women in the Bible. This series will inspire us to live in new and courageous ways. I can’t wait to experience this with you!
And, don’t forget to pick up the Daily Message, our 2014 annual read. What a great commitment to make in the new year!
Blessings,
Jeff
Did you know??
Did you know that almost half of American New Year’s Resolutions are about relationships? (After dieting, exercise, self-discipline…)
Did you know that the top regret a person has toward the end of his/her life has to do with broken or neglected relationships?
Did you know that researchers have indicated for years that the primary driver of happiness and longevity of life is correlated to the quality of one’s relationships?
Our teaching series called A Beautiful Mess starts this Sunday, January 12. In it we’ll explore how being more intentional about your relationships will change your life–friendships, dating relationships, marriage, parenting…
Even if you’re heart-broken, burnt-out on relationships, or just not the “touchy-feely” type, A Beautiful Mess is still for you…and for your friends.
Bring someone who’s hurting. Bring someone who’s confused. Bring someone who just wants a date. I believe God will speak to us all and will heal hearts and lives.
We were designed to do life TOGETHER!
See you Sunday…
caleb
I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, Why do you bother with us?
PSALM 8:3-4 (MSG)
Somehow, in all of what God has made (and is presently sustaining), he BOTHERS with us — with me. We live in a world where we are constantly being reminded that we are mostly bothersome. Even more honestly, we’ve become trained that other people are mostly bothersome to us. Somehow the God-given dignity inherent in all people loses its primacy the moment we get a little annoyed. This is the reason flight attendants, restaurant servers, families slowly pushing a double-jogger stroller on a sidewalk, and inattentive drivers lose their “human being credentials” when we get annoyed… bothered. They are an obstacle to our real, true, full experience of life.
Yet, God chooses to “bother” Himself with us. If there is anyone capable of causing annoyance, it’s us. We are perpetually needy. We are always unsatisfied. We live under the belief that we need and deserve more. But, God chose us. He still chooses us everyday. He willingly chooses to listen to us. He chooses to continue to give gifts. And, when the rest of His majestic creation continues to treat us like we’re somehow in the way of their full experience of life, He welcomes us in His presence, treating us as though we were “a little lower than the angels” PSALM 8:5 (NIV).
This Sunday, we’ll begin our series on relationships called “Beautiful Mess”. All those people we love (and someday hope to love) — the ones that drive us crazy — they’re the ones who help to create both the beauty and the mess of being together. It is my hope, that at least in some small way, that reality — that God finds us worthy enough to bother himself with us, will sink in. Because, it is in the experience of being deeply loved that we are able to love deeply, transforming the mess (however messy it is) into beauty. Be sure to include someone in need of relational hope or help.
Looking forward to being together this Sunday,
Jeff
But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13b, 14
Have you been “forgetting” what is behind and “pressing on” this week? What an amazing weekend we shared together last weekend as Albert Tate gave such a beautiful invitation into the freedom and life that God offers as. I love the spiritual and relational momentum I see God continuing to build in our church, and I can’t wait to see all that He has for us this year.
This weekend we launch our relationship series Beautiful Mess where we get to dive into God’s Word and unpack the questions you all posed throughout the month of December. I’ll be revealing who won the bet between Kenton and me (and who will be swimming across the lake :)).
This is the last weekend to sign up for our winter session of Rooted, where our understanding of God, His Church and our purpose becomes more clear in the context of smaller community. Take advantage of this unique season to establish solid rhythms of life and relationship, and let’s continue to invite friends and family to join us on this adventure.
See you all this weekend…
Peace,
kyle
