Art of Relationships Series at Mariners Church

Relationships can often feel more like the art of war rather than the art of love. Join us as we learn what God’s Word says about navigating this important topic in our series, Art of Relationships.

Sundays: 9 & 11a
Thursdays: 7p (college/young adult)

Join us for VISION NIGHT as we connect with one another, celebrate what God has recently done in our church community and hear from Pastor Jeff Maguire as he shares the vision for our upcoming year! RSVP here or search “vision” on our website.

VISION NIGHT
Sun, Feb 28, 5-7p
Dinner 5-6p, Program 6-7p

The LORD said to Moses, “Give these instructions to the people of Israel: The offerings you present as special gifts are a pleasing aroma to me; they are my food…”
NUMBERS 28:1-2 [NLT]

Last night, when my oldest was dropped off after his Junior High Life Group, he walked into the house clutching the remaining half of an In-N-Out hamburger. I asked how the life group went that night. His reply: “It was so great. We got In-N-Out on the way home.” No kidding. I’m sure he was jealous of us though: we had a fully balanced four food groups meal while seated at the dinner table. While I tried to conceal the fact that he got to go out to dinner after his life group from his brother and sister, the truth was unavoidable. The aroma of that most revered of all burgers wafted throughout the house as if it were carried upward on the dreams of children — the very substance of Peter Pan’s happy thoughts.

God speaks often about aroma. If you’ve been reading in Daily Walk Bible, there is no shortage of animals being brought and offered on the altar to God. God, who needs nothing, who is fully self-sustaining, declares that whatever is brought to him and subsequently burned on the altar is “a pleasing aroma” and that those offerings “are [His] food.” This seems like a strange declaration. God is not a pre-teen boy: a black hole of infinite food gravity endlessly crushing and assimilating planet loads of dinners by the second (incidentally, that’s how we view our son’s appetite).

Consider for a moment what God must mean, then. The offerings given, the pleasing aroma, and the sacrifice of valuable things must do something important for the offerer. Think about the person in your life who loves to cook. They likely enjoy the taste of what they make. But, by and large, the reason why they love to cook has far more to do with the idea that everyone else — those hosted — enjoy the taste of what they make. Cooks long to hear people asking for seconds, mmm-ing, and begging for a recipe that is always declared to be “so easy (Which, we all know is a complete fabrication. “It’s easy for you,” we say. It’s easy for Michael Jordan to dunk a basketball, too.).” Or, consider a musician you know. They do love their own music, but they really love it when other people love their music. To offer a song to someone that causes them to dance or sing along does something for the musician.

What God may be saying, at least at some level, is that our offering, our sacrifice does something to us within our own hearts. Something good. God is saying to the people who make their offerings that he enjoys it, that they are good, and pleasing. In that sense, offerings are always intended to be made under the banner of joyful generosity. Mariners is a generous church. I’m grateful for where God, through your generosity, is taking us. I’m eagerly anticipating the next season of life and ministry together.

See you soon,
Jeff

“When they started their night, they appeared one way. When they returned, they were different, better. Clearly, something magical had happened” he said.

I hoped he wasn’t exaggerating.

He reassured me. Whatever happened on that night with those couples — the ones he observed — was detectable on them. When they dropped off their kids for child care prior to the last Mariners MV Date Night, all the observable pressures that weighed upon them were no different than our own: bills to be paid, schedules to keep, people to impress, carpools to sort out, lunches to be packed, friendships, in-laws, old issues, new issues, insecurities to try to bury, and  jealousies to silence. But, something must’ve happened, because upon their return to pick up their kids,  they appeared to be different. The old pressures surely weren’t lifted. They didn’t win a bag of money as a door prize to help deal with their debt. There was no counseling “a-ha” that helped them to reconcile a deep wound from either of their pasts. But, they were different nonetheless.

Mariners Date Night is no marriage overhaul. It’s brief and lighthearted. It’s time spent elevating the importance of that one most important of all human relationships — the relationship we have with our spouse. We don’t make anyone confess anything into a microphone. We don’t spend two hours in a Bible study. We don’t do counseling. Amanda and I will talk briefly about one or two things to tune up your marriage. Then, we send you out. Mariners MV will watch your kids (until 9:30pm).

On Friday, February 12th we’ll host a Date Night. A number of people, looking for a different take on Valentine’s Day have told us that this Date Night has become their Valentine’s dinner. Doors will open at 6:30pm. There will be plenty of great hors d’oeuvres. Amanda and I will share a few thoughts before sending you out on your date. Don’t miss it. Let us know you’re coming and whether or not you’ll need child care by registering here. Perhaps after a short date night you’ll  come back a bit different, too. Maybe it’ll even be “magical.” Who knows?

See you soon,

Jeff

Join the men of Mariners Church Mission Viejo for breakfast and a special guest speaker. Learn about Men’s Ministry and see how we encourage and challenge one another to be the men God calls us to be! More info here or search “breakfast” on our website.

Sat, Feb 13, 8-10a, Upper Room, $10

Come as you are for this nine-week study about God’s promise of hope through His son, Jesus, and the life we are called to live as His children. No cost. Bring your Bible and a journal. More info here or search “women.”

WOMEN’S STUDY
Thursdays, Feb 18-Apr 14, 6:30p-8p, Upper Room

I’m not much of a baseball person. I do like going to the games, though. Eating overpriced bad-for-you food with forty thousand of my closest friends and then having the freedom to toss the food wrappers and empty cups on the floor in front of me is about as good as it gets. But, I have a really hard time watching it on television. Baseball, the sometimes stately and other times ornery grandfather of all American sports traditions, will start soon. Within the next few weeks, teams will start gathering together for spring training with the intent of getting all team members on the “same page.” It’s about making sure that everyone is prepared for what is coming in late May: the start of the season — when it all counts.

Some players, I’m sure will be overjoyed to be back on the field. For others, it’s just more practice: more drills that have been done and redone countless times. Yet, it’s out of practice that freedom to play comes more naturally and with greater aptitude. In other words, hitting baseballs and running bases, and working out in the gym enable a greater likelihood of success when real opponents are faced.

Lent, like baseball has a spring-training air about it. Lent is a season of spiritual practice. Spiritual practices, or disciplines, prepare and free us. Lent is the 40 day run-up to Easter. It involves a heart-preparation and a tuning in to God. It is a time to free ourselves from things that have mastery over us by fasting (going without certain things) from the little comforts we deem to be necessities. It is a time to identify with Jesus’ ministry, suffering, and journey toward the cross. It is not, as some have come to know it, a second shot at unfulfilled New Year’s diet resolutions. It is not a way to garner spiritual brownie points or later-to-be-used indulgence credits. The Lenten season starts next week at what is called “Ash Wednesday.” As such, Mariners MV will hold an Ash Wednesday service at 7pm on February 10th.

For people in a number of Church traditions, Ash Wednesday services may be familiar to you. For others, like myself, who grew up in churches that eschewed such practices on the belief that things that felt like “ritualistic” were either irrelevant or perhaps harmful, we have often overlooked the power characterizing such gatherings. We’ll sing. We’ll hear a brief teaching from the Bible. We’ll respond by receiving the mark of the ashes upon our foreheads (an identification with our own mortality and a traditional symbol of our need for a spiritual u-turn). Then, we’ll make personal commitments to surrender some things during the next 40 days that may have mastery over us (traditionally called a “fast”).

Everyone is welcome. For people with kids younger than kindergarten age, child care will be provided.

See you soon,
Jeff

Begin the season of Lent with worship, reflection, and preparing our hearts for the journey to Easter.  Search “Ash” on our website or click here for more info.

ASH WEDNESDAY SERVICE
Wed, Feb 10, 7p, Worship Center