They told him he couldn’t wear his hat anymore. They also made fun of his sweatshirt (he wears the same one a lot). On that day, he became far more conscious about those things than ever before. As his parents we listened, not having all that much difficulty remembering what that same scenario felt like so many years ago. We tried to guide him into a self-assured courage about his own ability to make his own decisions — not being persuaded to change simply because of some knuckleheads’ opinions. As a result of a seemingly innocuous clothing choice, he had become an outsider. He felt the pain of exclusion (small though it may have been). He now thinks differently about how he’ll be perceived as he gets ready for school in the morning. It’s a new and unwelcome anxiety.

We know this reality. We live in it everyday. My son is coming face-to-face with one of the realities of being a grown-up. Because, after all, that’s what grown-ups have learned to do: to work hard at fitting in, to cover over, to disguise, to pretend. Our efforts are more sophisticated than his. There are more means at our disposal. We can buy things to help us hide. We have learned to cover over the blemishes of the things that draw unwanted attention. We know how to elevate certain attributes and achievements to the fore in hopes that they overshadow our insecurities.

As adults we haven’t forgotten what those other kids on the playground know: the best way to hide our own wobbly self-consciousness is to pounce on a potential weakness in others. Obviously, we are more subtle in our ways of finding the faults in others than those days of the playground, but we can pinprick the pain in others without much difficulty. Eventually, however, everything — all the shallow exteriors — do cave in on themselves. Usually, it’s in a moment of crisis.

One wonders: where do people go when they’ve lost the ability to fake it, to pretend? Is there a safe-haven for those who have lost the energy to keep a well-formed façade in tact?

Sadly, for so many people, the church has been the ultimate example of false-exteriors and fault-finding in others. But, I heard a story this past week that undermines some of those painful perceptions people have about churches — those notorious places where the hypocrites gather. To a member of our prayer team someone said, “Mariners is the only place where I don’t have to pretend. I don’t have to make it seem like everything is fine. I don’t have to fake it for anyone. I don’t cry anywhere else in my life. I’ve never been prayed for before. I have always been afraid of seeming like a weak person. But, I am finding that I can be prayed for as I am.”

That may have been one of the greatest affirmations for any church community I’ve ever heard. It is an affirmation for the intangible “feel” of Mariners MV. That someone, overwhelmed by the pressure of life could find a refuge in and among other people at our church, is a statement about the authenticity, the openness, and the compassion of those who call it home. This week, as you’re praying about who to invite to our Christmas Eve services, think about those people in your life who are longing to find a place where they don’t have to pretend everything is fine. Think about those people who are moments away from losing the energy to sustain the perception that everything is great. Maybe, it’s they who need a fresh understanding of Jesus and his church.

MARK 2:16-17
“But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw [Jesus] eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, ‘Why does he eat with such scum?’

When Jesus heard this, he told them, ‘Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.'”

See you soon,

Jeff

Every day until Christmas we’ll post a devotional about Advent. They are reminders to tune our hearts toward God, the One who gave us the best gift ever: Jesus Christ. They’ll help us pause and remember why we celebrate.

Read our daily Advent devotionals exclusively on our Facebook page.

Join the fun and help out in Port Mariners Children’s Ministry during one of our Christmas Eve services. We are offering a children’s program for birth-5 years old. Serve the many visitors that will be coming to Mariners MV for Christmas! Contact Susan, shulse@marinerschurch.org

Children’s Ministry Volunteers Needed for Christmas Eve Services
Wed, Dec 23, 6p and Thu, Dec 24, 4&6p

I was at a wedding a few weeks ago. Not surprisingly, the bride was radiant. Her bridesmaids, dabbing their eyes, protecting their meticulously applied eye makeup from running, stood in solidarity with their dearest friend. The fathers were proud. The mothers were beaming. The groomsmen were, for the most part, presentable. The groom was as handsome as he’ll ever be in his life. It was the beautiful wedding everyone wants. The ceremony was humorous and tender. It was a moment to cherish.

The world paused momentarily while we were inside the echoey chamber and the glimmering stained glass. On that afternoon, so many promises, prayers, anticipations, and dreams were embodied in that chapel. But, never was a prayer uttered, nor a hope spoken that their mutual feeling of “being in love” should sustain them for the duration of their lives. Despite all the fairy tale accoutrements with which weddings are necessarily associated, the sustaining power of their marriage was never to be found in the ebullient euphoria of “being in love.” Rather, whatever will bind them together for the long-term must lie in a deeper, richer commitment to God and to each other… regardless of how they may feel.

CS LEWIS says it this way:
“Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing… Love as distinct from ‘being in love’ — is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other… ‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.”

Universally, an enduring kind of love is understood to be a good thing. No one ever sees an elderly couple tenderly holding hands on a park bench and then says to themselves: “Well, that’s really too bad.” To see something like that, one has to wonder what story is held within that shared grasp. Undoubtedly, it’s a story of beauty that has transcended both the initial love-drunk stages of “falling for each other” and the mere feeling of being in love. It’s a beauty forged not in the meadows of “happily ever after” but in the twin foundries of soul-level commitment and love-against-all-odds.

This is the kind of marriage we hope to be a part of building at Mariners. As much as there’s a necessity for big interventions and massive course corrections, there’s also a need for married people to play together, to get a shot in the arm to re-center what can occasionally drift. This Friday night, Mariners MV will host a date night for married couples. Amanda and I will talk from our own experience of marriage and ministry for a few minutes before sending you out on your date. Date Night is intended to be a boost for your relationship. It’s not crisis intervention. But, it is a chance to reconnect, and perhaps, to hold hands — maybe with an eager anticipation of one day sitting on a park bench amid passersby who quietly hold in high regard the journey that got you to that good place.

Let us know if you’re coming (especially if you’re planning on utilizing the childcare) by clicking the Date Night link.

See you Friday,

Jeff

Join us and hear from Lead Pastor Jeff Maguire & his wife Amanda as they share key values to help us sharpen the tools in our “marriage toolboxes.” Before we send you out to your favorite date spot, we will provide a programmed night of serious fun with meaningful interaction and thought provoking conversation. After your date, you’ll head back to the church to grab the kids from their own night of excitement (we will even feed them!). More info and register.

Fri, Dec 11, 6:30-9:30p, $15/couple, Mariners Mission Viejo
Childcare available, $10/family

Serve the poor and marginalized in our community
Click here to see upcoming events and sign up.

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me…”
MALACHI 3:1 (NIV)

Our neighborhood is manic about Christmas lights. In the same moments people were deciding whether or not marshmallows-on-sweet-potatoes belong in a sandwich made from leftover turkey, my neighborhood started putting up Christmas lights. In our family, we felt like we may have needed a bit more time to let the tryptophan weaken its grip on us before we started untangling the strands of Christmas glory. We could feel the disdain from our neighbors about our lack of impetus. They didn’t say it. But we knew it. They purposely sent their dogs to our lawn during this past week (I’m sure of it) — a kind of Whoville meets A Few Good Men “code red” to get us moving. Evidently, we needed to get with the program. Lights needed to be up on our house. “Immediately” would not be soon enough. We have to be ready.

Being ready is what the season of Advent is about. Advent is a word meaning “arrival.” It’s a time in which we dually place ourselves both in the 1st century amid the shepherds, the kings, the peasant farmers, the mothers, and the fishermen who felt the very real tyranny of Rome and our present world, twenty centuries later in which we have, once again, to wonder about the reality of senseless and unthinkable violence. Whether now, or then, we’re ready for new world -a world with at least a measure of more peacefulness.

In truth, we have a reason both for sadness about the state of things and a reason to celebrate about what will someday be. We can celebrate because the work that has begun in Jesus, which will one day come to completion, is being carried out through us and into the world now. We’ll need to prepare our hearts for all God has called us to be a part of, to living in eager anticipation of His future. That future, God’s future, is one of hope, peace, love, and joy.

The Sunday night, December 6th, beginning at 5p, we’ll get ready for Christmas at our annual tree lighting. We’ll remember what celebrating looks like. We’ll leave behind the memories of dirty dishes of Thanksgiving. Black Friday, Small business Saturday, Send-your-dog-to-the-Maguire’s-lawn-Sunday, and Cyber-Monday are all in the rearview mirror. We’ll gather as people in need of celebration -even if we don’t feel like it. So, come, bring a friend. Refresh your memory about what Christmas joy looks like. We’ll laugh. We’ll throw snow at each other (we’ve ordered 10 tons of it). Our kids will eat too many cookies and drink too much cocoa. We’ll huddle around cups of chili made by our own Mariners family (if you’d like to contribute, contact Kasaundra Domen at kdomen@marinerschurch.org). We’ll wear hideous Christmas sweaters -the way Jesus would’ve wanted it. We’ll sing, perhaps not perfectly, but loudly nonetheless. We’ll prepare our hearts for the arrival of Jesus. Your heart will be aimed at Christmas, and even if you don’t feel it now, you’ll be ready too.

See you soon,
Jeff

Bring your friends and family for a sled run, homemade chili bar, hot chocolate, photo booth, and more. To volunteer or if you want to bring chili, contact Kasaundra, kdomen@marinerschurch.org

Sun, Dec 6, Mission Viejo Campus
5p, Patio Festivities
6p, Program in the Worship Center

Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you…
DEUTERONOMY 4:23

I am frequently distracted. I have to use a series of timers, calendar alerts, and alarms to keep me aimed at any task at hand. I’m guilty of starting many things with good intentions and never finding my way to seeing any of them all the way through. I forget things. Sometimes, I forget the unforgettables. I do, however, find some solace in the company of my fellow forgetors.

At the risk of oversimplifying the Bible a bit, one way to understand the nature of the relationship between God and his people is as follows:

God remembers his people. God’s people forget him.

God is constantly in loving pursuit of people who fail to remember his work of the past. When people forget him, they wander away. They make choices they’ll later regret. They seek out weaker gods that promise everything and deliver nothing. So, God says, “be careful not to forget” — as if it would be easy to do so.

To look at the Hebrew Bible, we see a God who apparently loves to give his people a ton of seemingly bizarre festivals and rituals. All of these are simply ways of retelling the story of God’s ongoing rescue and restoring power and love. These practices help the people to remember their God. People who can remember, can be thankful.

To be thankful is a rather obvious instruction for this weekend. So instead of re-hashing the list of things for which you are thankful, consider creating a simple, annual ritual of remembering this holiday weekend. Before the chip-n-dip, before the football games, after the clean-up, before bed, whenever. Pause. Remember. Tell the story of God’s love and rescue — even when the light of that memory may have faded to a mere glimmer. Stoke the fire of that small spark and remember. Then, you may find a deeper thankfulness than you knew was there.

See you soon,

Jeff

Invite family, friends and neighbors and join us for an evening of giving thanks, reflecting on the year and worshiping God together. Contact Kasaundra, kdomen@marinerschurch.org with questions.

THANKSGIVING EVE SERVICE
Wed, Nov 25, 6:30p, Worship Center
childcare available for infant-3 yrs