A Note From Kyle Zimmerman

MessageFrom-IR

I’m overwhelmed as I think about all that God is doing in and through Mariners Church. We are hosting Catalyst West over these next two days where over 3500 leaders from across the country will be encouraged in their faith, and to be bold in the way they live their lives following Jesus and leading churches. This week, we’re training over 30 churches from five states in how to create disciples of Jesus that change the world, beginning with our Rooted experience. It’s exciting to think about how God is going to move in these churches as they begin this powerful journey. Last night, we launched our latest Rooted session where hundreds of people are saying yes to learning more about connecting with God, His Church and the purpose that God designed for them. It’s amazing! I love how God is not only positioning us to be a catalyst for good in Orange County, but also a church that encourages His Church around the world.

I’m praying for you guys as you live out God’s call to be the hands and feet of Jesus this week – in your schools…in your workplaces…in your neighborhoods…in your relationships. I’m praying that you’ll Reset your rhythms and your thinking around everything God wants for you and everything He designed you to be. I can’t wait to celebrate all that He is doing within you and through you. As we continue this adventure together, you’ll want to join me this weekend as our good friend, Pastor Muriithi Wanjau, from Mavuno Church in Kenya, will be teaching and inviting us to become all that God created us to be. What a great adventure we’re on as a church! Invite your friends and family to join us this weekend as we walk it out together.

Peace…
Kyle

A Note From Jeff Maguire

MessageFrom-MV2

This past Sunday, I was reminded of the simple beauty of a life transformed by Jesus. Our lives are undeniably busy, crazy, complicated, and important. We struggle with identity: wanting to know if the person we are is the person we “ought” to be. We wonder about the love we experience and we wonder about the love we long for. We have pain. We are familiar with sadness and sorrow. We see and know momentary happiness, while not-so-secretly wondering if there’s a little more of it somewhere else. But, amid all of it, there’s Jesus. He is forever calling us, inviting us back to Himself to the place where the most potent of life’s anxieties are addressed in gentle, but powerful love. It is Jesus’ love which is most transformational. It’s His love poured out on the cross, victorious in resurrection, that meets us in our troubled now. That love — undeniable, unpredictable, unexpected — changes us. The world, at least for the time being, will still be the world as it is: rife with confusion and bewilderment. But, it is Jesus who has the capacity to change our confusion into awestruck wonder.

Foremost among the forms and symbols of that wonder is baptism. Vast and mysterious, yet personal and understandable, being immersed in water then raised again, the eminence of God meets the very human us. Baptism communicates what is often lost in the shortcomings of language. It is the definitive picture of a life reset.

This quote from our Facebook page sums it up well:

“A little over a year ago a few friends of ours invited us to Mariners MV. I was feeling overwhelmed with life and knew something needed to change. I didn’t know it at the time but the answer I was looking for was Jesus. This year I have been loving life while learning how to follow Jesus. Today I was baptized! It was an amazing day!”

I’m honored to be a part of the work God is doing at Mariners MV. Join us this week as Doug Fields will be teaching from God’s Word and Kanji Mbugua, from our partner church in Nairobi Kenya, will be leading us in worship. It will be a great weekend to include friends and neighbors longing for a fresh understanding of God’s great love for us.

See you Sunday,
Jeff