With summer in full swing, there is a good chance you have either gone somewhere or have plans to travel. Summer has a way of lending itself to getting out and going places. However, finding yourself in different places is not only reserved to summertime. Life has it’s way of taking us to crazy, fun and hard places. It’s comforting to know we don’t travel on our own; God is with us. This weekend, we are starting our new series, Oh! The Places We’ll Go. It’s a great reminder that no matter where we go, God is with us, whether it is the deepest depths or the highest mountains. It will be a great series, and remember, as always, be thinking of who you can be inviting. Let’s continue to be a church of “inviters.”

Sunday morning isn’t the only exciting thing that is happening this summer. VBS is kicking off next week, with the Sweet Life. There will be hundreds of kids on campus laughing, playing, learning and growing. As a matter of fact, we still need volunteers. So if you have some time off next week, we need people to lead groups for the kids. Contact Diane Jones, djones@marinerschurch.org if interested.

Our next Framily night is Sunday, July 26. After our successful “Campout” last month, we are ramping up for our next event. It will be an evening of music, games and live entertainment. Dinner will be served. Also, if you are looking for a women’s Bible Study, Women of Passion kicked off this Thursday. It is a great time to get connected with God and other women.

As you can see, a whole lot going on – so stay connected this summer!

Blessings,

Jeff

P.S. don’t forget: High School camp, going to Lost Canyon on Aug 3-7, and Junior High camp on August 17-21. You can find more info about these awesome camps below!

VBS is a week long summer camp for kids entering kindergarten through 5th grade this fall. This year the campus will be transformed as kids come and experience the SWEET LIFE! It’ll be an exciting week of games, drama, crafts, Bible stories, fun surprises and live music. Register online.

July 13-17, 5:30-8:30p, $60, Ocean Hills Campus

I think we can all agree that summer weather is here! As a church we have had so much fun already. From DadFest to our first annual Framily camp out, it has been so fun to connect as a community. This is a great week to invite your friends because as our series wraps up, we will look at the importance of Scripture in listening to God. We all know people that wrestle with listening to God’s voice, so this is an ideal week to bring them.

We are so excited for the rest of our upcoming summer events. If you have not done so already, make sure to sign your kids up for VBS. They will be bummed if they miss it. We are still looking for a few more adult leaders. Please let Diane know if you are interested in helping out. It is our goal to have this church be a place where families are welcomed and engaged as they make courageous decisions to follow Jesus.

Hope you all have a great time celebrating this 4th of July and we will see you Sunday!

Jeff

Everyday, the world promises to meet our needs, flooding us with messages. But with so much noise in the world, how can we really hear anything? In our new series, LISTEN, we’ll begin to distinguish the world’s voice from God’s so we can find out what it is we truly need.

Sun, 9 & 11a
during the weekend services
directions and service info

Well, I just got back from three days in Arizona, and wow, it was hot! I’m convinced there’s only one place that is hotter than AZ (you get what I mean here :). We are so blessed to live where we do – sorry to any Arizona natives. Many of you will be traveling for vacation this summer. As I like to say every summer, take time off to be with your family but try not to take a vacation from God and church. There’s a lot going on here and we would love for you to be with us.

This Friday it is our Framily Nights Kick off, a time to be with family and friends. We will be doing a camp out with a barbecue and fun games for everyone. We’ll also enjoy a movie and s’mores. So whether you want to come for part or all, you are invited…and bring a friend! Dinner starts around 6:30p.

This weekend we’ll be back in our Listen series, where we’ll once again be exploring what it looks like to hear from God. Blessings to you all.

Take care,

Jeff

Summer is finally here. We have shed a bit of the June gloom and warmer days seem to be kicking in. This is always an exciting weekend in the life of the church because we celebrate dads. We will have fun moments in the service and great activities on the lawn, including games for the kids, and most importantly, food. Everything on the patio will be centered around a fun lumberjack theme (trust me, I don’t know who comes up with this stuff, but it will be great). So if you can, please plan to stick around.

Also, next Friday is our first ever camp out. We seem to be caught up in an outdoor theme here, but it’s going to be fantastic. It will have everything you need for a great campout: food, games, and a movie. One of the games will be a fire building contest, so if you can, practice starting a fire with flint (maybe trying this at home is a bad idea). No matter who you are, we can’t wait to see you there. Even if you don’t want to camp out, come and have dinner with us.

Summer is a special time in the life of our church. Make sure as you set your calendar you put down all the great things we will be doing here.

Blessings,

Jeff

Dads. They show us that being a man is more than just eating your body weight in bacon. They help us build forts and our confidence. When life knocks us around, they pick us up and dust us off. Dads love us unconditionally through the trophies and the tears. Join us as we celebrate the fathers in our lives.

OCEAN HILLS
Sun, June 21, 9 & 11a
after services

I heard such great things about last weekend! Having Mike share about the history of El Buen Pastor and our partnership was such a blessing. I enjoyed spending the week with my family, but I always find myself missing you guys and this place. It is such a joy to be part of this community of people who authentically care about each other and enjoy doing life together – so I am excited to be back with you this weekend!

We have been talking about all the fun things coming up this summer and one event, happening in a little over a week, is Father’s Day. This is not a weekend we take lightly…we are going all out to celebrate the fathers in our lives! This may be surprising, but Father’s Day traditionally has been a low, if not the lowest, attended weekend for churches, and we believe that is not right. Fathers have a HUGE impact on our lives and deserve to be honored and poured into in order to equip them for the important role they carry. We invite you to join us on Sun, June 21, as we throw a big party – DADFEST – with good food, paintball hunting, lawn games, and activities for the kids! Also, our first FRAMILY summer event is coming up, and you don’t want to miss it! We are going to camp out on our lawn, watch a movie and make s’mores. Who doesn’t love the sound of that? Make sure to grab your friends and neighbors.

Lastly, in a few short weeks we will have around 350 kids running around our campus for VBS: The Sweet Life! We want to invite you to join us in three ways! 1) Invite- there are neighbors, school families, and friends that you know who would love a week-long camp learning about God’s love for them, and we ask that you would play a part in inviting them to VBS. 2) Serve- we are doing an evening VBS this year to open up serving opportunities to those of you who work. Even if you haven’t served before, consider it. There is so much joy in spending time with kids and seeing God work in their hearts. And lastly, 3) Pray – we would love you to keep this camp in your prayers. Pray that God would work in and through this week to reach the community and impact these kids’ lives!

As you can see, there are a lot of awesome things going on around here! Looking forward to seeing you this Sunday as we continue our series “Listen.”

Blessings,
Jeff

This weekend, the men of Ocean Hills heading up to the Men’s Retreat. Please be praying for them – that God will speak to each of them uniquely and that quality relationships will be made. Oftentimes, camp can have a profound impact on our lives, and we pray that is what happens to the men of Ocean Hills this weekend, as they find community and hear God’s voice.

Speaking of hearing God’s voice, we are moving into our new series LISTEN starting this weekend. We live in a world of overload, bombarded on all sides, from the phones that we carry, to the music we hear, to the TV we watch. The idea of finding quiet sounds like a nice concept, but in reality, it’s hard to do. The idea of hearing God’s voice amidst the chaos of life seems even more challenging. But isn’t that we want – to be able to hear from God, to recognize His voice and follow? That is what our new series is about: it’s learning to listen and hear from God. Join us this Sunday as we open up this new compelling series designed to draw us closer to God.

Blessings,
Jeff

What a great Sunday we had this past weekend. Nothing better than a good burger and a bluegrass band. But what made the day extra special was celebrating change in the lives of those who chose to be baptized. I love how we rallied around and celebrated with them. That is the body of Christ, our church family at work. It was also fun to tell some of the great stories of those who went down to Mexico to build a house. What a fantastic life changing/bonding experience for all involved. To see more pictures of the trip, go to our Facebook page.

This weekend we will be finishing our series, Reset. What we tend to forget is that God has called us to reset our lives when we follow Him. This Sunday, we will see what that looks like. As always, be thinking and praying about who you can invite. There are a lot of great things happening here at Mariners Ocean Hills, and you have people in your life who are looking for deeper relationships with God and others. Finally, make sure you check out our summer calendar (you can pick up a copy at the Welcome Center). There are many exciting things planned, and please mark them down so that you can join the fun.

Blessings to you,

Jeff