My friend once posed an energetic question to a few of us standing in her kitchen. She asked, in the midst of all of the things she was struggling to maintain and all the expectations she felt: “Don’t you guys wish you just be in a coma for a few weeks!?… Like, you could rest and recharge and no one could expect anything of you.” I don’t think she realized what she was revealing in that moment. After a stunned silent pause, followed by a curious laughter, we started to consider the depth of what she was saying. She was actually asking, as if it made complete sense, if we would rather suffer a serious medical trauma than have to continue in the demands placed on us by our everyday lives.

In truth, I find there are more and more people than I could’ve ever imagined who feel similarly. You might know them. You might be one of them. But, the story is the same. It sounds like this:

“I have no excuses. I don’t want to dodge any of my responsibilities. But, I don’t know how much longer I can sustain the amount of pressure I feel. And (perhaps more insidious), I’m not sure I’m allowed to feel like this.”

These are people in need of a “reset.” This weekend we start a new series of the same name (Reset). It’s for people who are struggling to keep everything together. It’s for people who wish there was a way to start things over and to do it (whatever “it” is) differently. Consider inviting people who may be feeling this way. Moms, co-workers, family members, students, fathers, and friends all tend to fall into this category from time to time. In truth, we all need a reset in some way or another. The ongoing story of God in the Bible is about His determination to put things that are out-of-sorts back to the way He intended them.

There is no more powerful representation of this kind of work than in baptism. This weekend, people will be baptized during our service. It’s a beautiful picture of the life-reset God gives to people who choose to follow Jesus. Baptism isn’t for perfect people. But, it is for people who want to put on display the truth of what God has done and is still doing in their lives through Jesus. It’s the best demonstration of an “Easter’d Life” — a life radically and unmistakably impacted by the resurrection power of God we talked about at Easter.

If you’d like to be baptized, email Wendi Kato to let us know. We’ll make sure you know what it all means beforehand.

It will be a great Sunday. I can’t wait to kick off this new RESET series with baptisms.

See you Sunday,
Jeff

Rooted provokes questions and conversations and offers beyond-what-is-comfortable group experiences designed to give you a glimpse of your story in God’s story. For more info and to register, click here.

Rooted groups – all ages and life stages
(groups kick off April 12 & 15 in the Upper Room)
Sundays, April 12-June 14, 9-11a
Sundays, April 12-June 14, 11a-1p
Wednesdays, April 15-June 17, 6:30-8:30p

Join us as care for our community by beautifying this school with some gardening. If you’re willing to let us borrow some tools, we’d greatly appreciate it! For more info, contact Danielle Libring, Danielle.libring@railpros.com

Sat, Apr 18, 8a-1p, La Paz Intermediate School 
25151 Pradera Dr, Mission Viejo, CA 92691

Christine Caine uses her own dramatic life story to show how God rescued her from a life where she was unnamed, unwanted, and unqualified and rescued her into a God-filled and faith-fueled life. For more info and to register, click here.

Thursdays, Apr 16-May 21, 9:30-11:30a, MCMV Lobby, $25
Childcare available: $40 for the first child, $20/additional child

I’m looking forward to celebrating Easter with you! We’re celebrating the revolutionary life of Jesus and the miracle of His resurrection. Jesus brings dead things to life. We believe He has the power to resurrect lifeless marriages, break the chains of addiction, bring healing to broken people. In a sense, we celebrate Easter every Sunday. We would love to see you back for any of our regular Sunday services at 9 and 11a. Next weekend, we will begin our new series called: Reset. In it, we’ll ask: “What would it look like if we could get a whole-life do-over?”

Thanks so much to those of you who are volunteering in our kids’ ministry this weekend. Your response has been unbelievable. You make our church great! There is still opportunity to serve on Saturday night at 5p. If you’d like to do so, contact Rachel Runyon by email: rrunyon@marinerschurch.org

Jeff

Join us for the annual Peep Roast Saturday following the 5p service on April 4. Questions? Kim, kalexander@marinerschurch.org

Our next baptism is coming up! If you are interested, be sure to attend the Baptism Class on Sun, March 29 at 12:45p in the Upper Room. Ages 8 and up are welcome to be baptized. RSVP Kim, kalexander@marinerschurch.org

Sun, Apr 12, 9 & 11a, Worship Center

Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!” – John 12:17-19

I remember when my friend, Jacob Grosz, got a Nintendo Entertainment System. He was the first of all us. Everyone had an Atari 2600. But, everyone wanted a Nintendo. Nintendo broke the mold. There were new sounds. The colors were more vibrant. The controller had two buttons — not a paltry single button like the fake-wood-paneled-Atari. There were video games that could be paused (Of course, games couldn’t be saved, however. It was all to common to hear of some kid, moments before rescuing a princess, or slaying a dragon, or destroying the enemy base whose mom would inadvertently shut off a paused video game during some kind of clean up, resetting it to the beginning… level 1. Untold hours of meticulously advancing the game pausing only to visit the bathroom and perhaps, eat…  lost in a single moment…  a solitary depression of the power button). To have a Nintendo was to rewrite a childhood. Jake had a Nintendo. Everyone knew it. It was too big a secret to be kept hidden.

There was something… bigger than a secret… news…  that traveled with some of the faithful Jewish pilgrims who had made their way to Jerusalem during the Passover festival. It was a story, an unbelievable one. Apparently, a teacher who came from the first century equivalent of a trailer park, had managed to raise someone from the dead. This was news that couldn’t be hidden. Jesus, the one who had brought his own friend back to life, was the one whom they were certain would make all their political and social dreams come to fruition. They tossed palm branches under his feet. They shouted praises of acclamation. They called him king. They shouted “hosanna” (rescue). The Pharisees observed the phenomenon of his following. They said something, then that they can’t possibly have fathomed: “…the whole world has gone after him.” These religious elites proclaim a truth out of desperation that they wish weren’t true. The man, heralded as king, didn’t act like their version, their impression of a coming king. He associated with the common people. He included people who were shunned elsewhere. He violated all the holiness and purity codes that kept people from each other. He taught with uncommon authority. He challenged the power brokers and proclaimed an inverted kingdom of power.

In truth, neither the crowds, energized by the news of his miraculous power nor, the Pharisees, enraged by the size of his following, got what they were looking for. For the crowds, he didn’t give them a military conquest of Rome. For the Pharisees, by their own admission, Jesus was the much anticipated king over Israel and the whole world. And yet, beneath all of their own agendas and intentions, there lingered a story about the man who could give life to those who were dead. That is a triumph of epic proportions. This weekend, Doug Fields will take us into the heart of Palm Sunday — the day of Jesus’ triumphal entry.

See you Sunday,
Jeff

So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God
 has joined together, let no one separate.” – Matthew 19:6

Last weekend, I learned the value of getting one night away with Amanda. We went to the widely traveled tourist hotspot of West Covina along with the rest of the Mariners MV staff. We went to a marriage conference. We got a hotel room which included a complimentary breakfast buffet. Incidentally, we ate our money’s worth of that buffet. I found out just how many pieces of breakfast meat is one too many. There were no kids. No whining. No spilled chocolate milk. No “he pulled my hair.” It was quiet. It was beautiful.

I’d never been to something like it before. Sure, I’d been to a number of conferences. But, I’d never been to one dedicated to my own marriage. What I learned, beyond all the helpful and insightful tips about communication and mutual support from Doug Fields and Jim Burns, was that we needed the time together. It wasn’t Hawaii. It wasn’t Paris. It wasn’t a trip to Napa. Though all those things are awesome places to visit, we didn’t need those things. We needed us.

I’m looking forward to next year’s conference. But, even more specifically, I’m looking forward to our next time away to be together.

This week we’ll continue our series: PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. I’m excited about what God is doing in our midst.

See you Sunday,
Jeff