Child dedication gives families the opportunity to make a commitment before the church to raise their child in a Christ-centered home. If you would like to have your child dedicated, you must attend this class to participate in our Child Dedications on Sun, Apr 10, during services. More info here or search “dedications” on our website. Contact Susan with questions, shulse@marinerschurch.org

CHILD DEDICATION CLASS
Sun, Apr 3, 12:45-1:30p, Mission Viejo Campus

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners…
– 1 TIMOTHY 1:15

There are a lot of reasonable justifications for the way I’m playfully mocked by my friends and family. Among the most abundant sources of material for their ridicule is my frequent attempts at finding MacGyver-like solutions to my everyday problems. I’ve “repaired” a toilet with a hair rubber band and a paper clip. I once built my own high-definition television antenna out of some old coat hangers and some spare parts. While it did look a lot like some kind of medieval torture device, it worked… Sort of. I made a car cell phone holder out of a large black binder clip. I don’t mind showing that one off.

In all of my tinkering, my aim, though seldom achieved, is to find the simplest solution to the problem ahead of me. Amanda, the wiser of the two of us, is quick to point out that the simplest solution usually costs around $4.99 in one of the bargain bins at TJ Maxx. But, where’s the fun in that? I’d rather spend four hours on any given afternoon and $32.86 in parts purchased at Home Depot than to concede to the power of “the Maxx.”

When I look closely at the Bible, I’m amazed how complicated I can make it. Admittedly, it is full of things that are indeed confusing. However, the biblical authors occasionally — as if they are struck with an acute awareness of their audience — attempt to make clear in the simplest of terms, some of the things onto which we ought to hold dearly. The apostle Paul gives us such a handle in his letter to his young apprentice, Timothy. Signaling to his audience that such an idea is ahead of them, he boils it down: “Here is a trustworthy saying…” Then, he continues, “…Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

In our sophisticated and thoroughly post-modern world the idea of Jesus “saving sinners” is a kind of passé notion, abandoned in the dusty fields of the tent revivals of the late 19th century. It almost seems as though we’re more apt to overly complicate this sentiment than to embrace it. The reason Jesus came — the essence of his ministry, his death, and his resurrection was a rescue. It was then, and it is now, the culmination of God’s work to bring people to the fullness of the life they were intended — to pull them from the experience of being stuck and liberate them to a whole, full, and abundant life. The idea of being “saved” is so much more than merely avoiding something undesirable after death. It is about the participation in God’s kingdom kind of life now and forevermore.

It means that old secrets and present shame are addressed with tenderness and compassion, ultimately left behind in the newness of a resurrection-life. It means that oppressed people can be unshackled from their oppressors, their addictions, and their fears. It means that our hard-wired need to find an object worthy of our worship is rightly directed to the one thing worthy of our hearts.

So, as we approach Palm Sunday and next week, Good Friday and Easter Sunday, consider who it is that may need to hear about the simplicity of God’s rescue mission. Are there neighbors who have given up on the church, who are maybe afraid of it (us)? Are there family members who have come to believe that Jesus most likely came to rescue people who didn’t need his help at all? Are there some people who are longing for a pathway out of a life that they can’t seem to find? Invite them to join you. This weekend, Doug Fields will be teaching — aiming our hearts toward Jesus this Easter.

See you soon,

Jeff

Yesterday, I watched a YouTube video of some people, mostly young men, freerunning through a variety of urban landscapes. It really is a stunning display of kinesthetic brilliance. Every movement is a confluence of explosive power and surgical precision. A banal plaza takes on a whole dimension of danger as the runners take to it. Planters become launch pads. The span between buildings becomes a place to showcase otherwise invisible wings. A twenty-five foot drop is merely the fastest way to the bottom floor of a building — staircases and elevators are for the amateurs. Every frame of the video is stunning and every moment a reason to cease breathing. The answer to the question:  “How is freerunning (or as it’s sometimes called, parkour) supposed to look?” was right before me. It was a display of virtuosity and control that was unmistakably brilliant.

Yet, the internet is also full of videos featuring imitators who lack not courage, but ability. Yes, there is a bit of schadenfreude within all of us – a not-so-admirable longing to see people suffer just a bit. We don’t want long term pain, nor harm. But, any person attempting to show off by jumping over a trashcan from the unstable platform of a plastic lawnchair may be begging to suffer a momentarily bruised ego. These imitators (at least in the videos that have captured their shortcomings) attempt something that is not executed in the manner it was intended. They demonstrate that there is a long way, often, between where we intend to be and where we actually are. That difference, in the case of failed parkour, is comically painful.

Even the rest of us, those who will never attempt a backflip from atop a fire hydrant or test how well we fly by throwing ourselves out of a second story window, understand the principle at work. In our relationships, like all things, we grasp how things are supposed to work. When they don’t work in the way they ought —  when the reality of the way things actually are is different than the way we imagined them to work, we experience pain:

When a girlfriend stabs us in the back… When a father’s love isn’t fatherly… When resentment and bitterness become the texture of what was once a marriage of intimacy… When sons and daughters run away… When fists and words poisonously laced with anger are wielded not with carelessness, but with cold skill… We hurt… because that (whatever that is) isn’t the way it’s supposed to be.

We need healing from those things. This week, we’ll wrap up our ART of RELATIONSHIPS series with a particular focus on healing and mending the brokenness of our past. We’ll acknowledge that it is God who mends broken things (like us). We’ll call on His power to accomplish the work we cannot do on our own. So, don’t miss this week. Bring friends who are in need of supernatural help and healing. Come eagerly expecting, hopeful God will work in the restoration of people in our midst – that things will become, if only by a degree, a bit closer to the way they were intended to be.

See you soon,
Jeff

Do you love to worship through singing? We are looking for individuals to join us for the adult EASTER choir! Contact Aaron for more details, aflores@marinerschurch.org or search “choir” on our website.

EASTER CHOIR REHEARSALS
Wed, Mar 16 & 23, 6-7:30p, in the Worship Center

Rooted is a personal journey with the goal of deepening your connection with God, His Church, and your purpose. More info and register.

ROOTED SPRING 2016
Rooted groups (all ages and life stages)
Sundays, April 10-June 12, 9-11a or 11a-1p
Wednesdays, April 13-June 15, 6:30-8:30p
Rooted Celebration is Friday, June 17 at 6p

Do you love the power of story, love to write, film, or photograph? Or maybe you have an eye for editing? Help us share the stories of God’s transformational power through the people of Mariners Church by joining the Story Team. For more info, email debbiegardner@live.com

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
JOSHUA 1:9

In my house, on nearly every morning someone forgets something essential on the way to school drop off: a lunch, a water bottle, shoes (Yes, we have been several blocks down the road before one of my kids might shout: “Oh no, I don’t have my shoes!”), a backpack, a jacket, a phone, keys, and so on. There are countless things that can be forgotten on the way out the door and into whatever adventure the day may hold.

God’s people, moving into the land of promise, are not merely reminded that God is with them. They are “commanded” to be “strong and courageous” BECAUSE “the Lord your God will be with you.”  In other words, the people may forget a lot of things. They may forget a cell phone charger, a granola bar, or a few bucks for the day. All of those things do matter. But, the most critical thing, the one thing that they must not under any circumstances forget is that they are to be “strong and courageous.” Later, in the passage, the Bible will reiterate this command, bolstering it by adding the word “very.”

Apparently, the work ahead will not be easy. It will be good. It will be beautiful, ultimately. But it will challenge our capacity to endure fear and loneliness. It will confront within us the very things we hoped to avoid. The journey forward will be through trial and difficulty. We won’t merely be able to make it if we forget to take with us, that great courage that overcomes.

This is our future as a church community. There is a great future ahead. Make no mistake — there will be detractors and naysayers. There will be critics and cynics. There will be those who make no effort to understand. And there will be us… those who have signed on for an adventure of epic proportions.

I’m grateful for our church. I’m grateful for the courageous many who make up our church community.

See you soon,

Jeff

Join us as we continue our relationships with our faith partner in Mexico, building into their community. Older children welcome. Cost is $40/adult and $20/student under 16 years. More info and register.

MEXICO FAITH ADVENTURE
Sat, Mar 5, 6a-9p, Antorchista Mexico
Meet at 6a in the parking structure, 1st floor at Mariners Mission Viejo

In the future, when your son asks you, “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. Before our eyes the Lord sent signs and wonders—great and terrible—on Egypt and Pharaoh and his whole household.”
DEUTERONOMY 6:20-22

I, like so many of us, overuse my phone. I don’t need it to do everything it can do. Nevertheless, I choose to use it too much. I use the navigation feature to get me to places I’m already familiar with in hopes of shaving precious seconds from the trip, discovering an unknown route that circumnavigates all the riffraff stuck in traffic. I recently downloaded a new navigation app that enables me to change the voice of the trip narrator. Granted, nearly all navigation apps do this, but this one is a bit more unique. Yesterday, I drove from our house in Mission Viejo to an appointment in Irvine while the voice of Morgan Freeman told me where to go. Because his voice was released as part of an upcoming action movie promotional campaign, the navigation felt like it had the seriousness of international espionage.

The journey from my house started with this call to action: “There are those who would like to see you fail on your journey. That’s not going to happen on my watch.” When I had to go through a roundabout, Mr. Freeman’s regal and important voice led me onward with: “At the roundabout, take the second exit… for freedom.”

“Yes,” I thought to myself,  “this drive through suburbia and my upcoming meeting —  they were about freedom.” Suddenly, I felt like the whole balance of global security rested on my ability to get to Irvine (It is worth noting that one of the other voices available for download is Colonel Sanders. His voice didn’t have the same kind of gravitas as Morgan Freeman, though it did make me briefly consider all eleven of the herbs and spices in his original recipe.). The intent  of something like Morgan Freeman helping me on my journey through all the pitfalls of my perilous commute was to give my drive an ironic sensation that I was living in the midst of story that was bigger than myself —  that I was part of a something with implications I could not possibly fathom. It worked. It’s pretty fun. It is, however, hard to explain to the police that I was violating the basic speed laws… for freedom.

As we’ve been reading in the Daily Walk Bible, the Israelites are making their long journey out of Egypt… for freedom. Moses instructs his people to tell the story to future generations who have not known the captivity of the past personally. The story of freedom is reason behind the necessity of obedience: “What is the meaning of the stipulations, decrees and laws the Lord our God has commanded you?” tell him: “We were slaves of Pharaoh in Egypt, but the Lord brought us out of Egypt…”  In other words, when it feels like a boring commute, rather than a journey of staggering importance, remember that this is part of a bigger story in which God orchestrated a path to freedom from captivity at his expense. Obedience, then is merely the way in which we live as God’s newly freed people.

Today, the context of the story has changed, but the message hasn’t. We’re a community of people WHO HAVE BEEN moved from captivity, into freedom. And, we’re also a community of people WHO ARE BEING moved from captivity, into freedom. The Bible tells us that the journey behind us and the journey ahead are as perilous as they are glorious. So, we tell the story of freedom. We live the story of freedom. We invite people longing for freedom to join us.

This Sunday night at Vision Night, we’ll get a primer on what God, the bringer of freedom, intends to do with our church in the next year of ministry. We’ll eat together. We’ll celebrate what God has done. We’ll eagerly anticipate what he’ll do in the future. Let us know you’re coming by clicking here so we can make sure we have enough food, childcare, etc. If Mariners is the place you serve and lead, or if you’re curious and passionate about our church, join us. For those of you who might miss your version of the Super Bowl, set your DVR to record the chunk of the Oscars you’ll miss. Catch up during the commercials and feel free to judge everyone’s poor fashion sense without missing anything… for freedom.

See you soon,

Jeff