As a church family, there are many ways we strive to be the hands and feet of Jesus, and to bless our community during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. We need your help to make it happen. Learn more about these important serving opportunities in Data Entry, Patio & Event Support, and many others!
For Huntington Beach Campus, please contact Monica.
For Mission Viejo Campus, please contact Maher.
So much more than sugar! Dress as your favorite superhero (real or made up). Best costume wins a prize!
Games, fun, our annual pumpkin bowling experience, and a few super surprises. Bring a friend for a super event you WON’T want to miss.
Friday, November 1, 7-10p, $5
Upper Room at MV
Volunteers needed at upcoming events as we love and care for our Marines at Camp Pendleton.
2/5 MILITARY FAMILY DAY Tue, Nov 5, 1-5p, Camp Pendleton
29 PALMS CELEBRATION Thu, Nov 21, 5-8:30p, Palm Desert
Questions? Contact Emma.
“In these days he has shown his favor and taken away my disgrace [shame] among the people.” Luke 1:25
Elizabeth says these words after many decades of shame. The Bible describes Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, as people who were righteous in every way. They had the right pedigree. Zechariah, a priest, served the people in a clearly righteous capacity. Yet, they had no kids. Different than our world today, people living in the first century in the Mediterranean, could not possibly understand how someone righteous couldn’t have any kids. Having kids marked God’s favor. The inability to have offspring marked God’s curse. Zechariah and Elizabeth were righteous, old (also a sign of honor), but they were without kids. They had come to know this constant public shame as their “normal.”
But, what is normal anyway? For so many of us, normal is simply how we have come to expect things to be. Normal is the less-than-ideal way things are. Normal is what we have come to accept as the de facto condition of our lives. Normal is our way of explaining that, while we may have the experience of pain, suffering, or shame, it is somehow legitimized by the fact that it is always there. Normal can become (in its most insidious form) the condition of shame and despair we believe God intends for us to have.
This past weekend, we saw that God hears us and longs to grant us His favor and lift us from our shame. Clearly, we don’t always understand His timing, nor His means. But God, as we read from the Gospel of Luke, is unveiling His intention to enter into our shame with us. This weekend, we’ll continue in our series: THE OUTSIDERS GUIDE TO JESUS. It will be a great opportunity to invite people who have questions about Jesus, who are uncertain about the Bible, who are tired of their normal lives.
See you Sunday,
Jeff
P.S.: This weekend is PUMPKIN FEST. I’m told that, in addition to $5 pumpkins, there will be a giant slide, and a patio full of treats. Bring a friend.
Games, rides and treats for the whole family! Pick out the perfect pumpkin for $5 each.
Sunday, October 27
after both services
If you’re interested in volunteering, please contact Kim.
Life Groups are partnering with Families Forward to collect cleaning supplies for local families in financial crisis. Return 10 qt. bucket(s) to the patio before or after weekend services through Sunday, Oct 27. Items needed: 32 oz. spray bottles, boxes of baking soda, white vinegar, sponge/scrub pads, cleaning cloths and/or rubber gloves.
Questions? Contact Maher.
All pumpkin, all the time. Bring a pumpkin, dress like a pumpkin, carve a pumpkin, bowl with a pumpkin – it’s a real pumpkin fest.
Entry Fee: One friend, bag of candy to share, pumpkin, or all three!
Purchase a pumpkin after morning church services (the Sunday before) and bring it with you!
Tuesday, October 29, 7-9p
Contact Hilary with questions.
Open to all high school students.
Medical and non-medical volunteers are needed to assist in a free clinic to those without access to critical services.
Sat, Nov 2, 7:30a-4:30p
$20, Mission Viejo
The “Compass” is back! Over the past few weeks our communications team has been working feverishly to streamline all the ways in which Mariners’ information is conveyed. What that means for us: better web design, smoother communication, easier interaction, and the reintroduction of the hotly anticipated Compass note.
Last week, Doug Fields introduced us to the Gospel of Luke. Luke begins his gospel without fairy tale fluff or mythical fantasy. He talks about conveying to his benefactor with certainty the things that he has been taught about Jesus. In so many ways, Luke’s gospel is for us. It’s about regular people who weren’t eyewitnesses to Jesus, trying to understand if he really is who he says he is. That’s why this series, THE OUTSIDERS GUIDE TO JESUS, is such a great one to include friends who have “been taught” or who have heard things about Jesus, but aren’t yet fully convinced about him.
When people encounter Jesus, they find that he calls them to a life of adventure. And, while we really do like the idea of adventure, we’re a little scared off by that idea. To make the point, Doug gave us the image of three different kinds of bikes (Perhaps you remember that video of the father helping his kid to take his first bike ride).
For a lot of us, we choose a tricycle kind of faith where life is unmistakably safe. It’s a life filled with predictability with very little challenge to our present way of living. Others of us choose a “big girl/big boy bike” with training wheels. It’s the kind of faith where life is full of a lot more motion and activity. The training-wheels-faith has the illusion of being fully adventurous without any of the risks associated with adventure. But there was one more model: a real bike without training wheels. It’s the kind of faith requiring trust. It’s a faith that Jesus calls his people to choose. It’s a faith where there is more freedom and more danger than all the others. But, it’s the kind of life we were intended to have. It’s the life of fullness we have been seeking.
Over the next several weeks, we’ll encounter Jesus calling people to follow him. We’ll see the way in which Luke talks about God’s intention to “enflesh” Himself amid people who suffer shame and grief, pain and abandonment, and loneliness and isolation. Regardless of what people think about the Bible or whatever impression they’ve been given about God, it is very difficult to argue about the goodness of Jesus and His ministry in the world. I’m excited to continue in that journey with you this Sunday.
-Jeff
P.S. Don’t forget that October 27th is our 2nd Annual Pumpkin Patch here at Mariners MV (after each of the Sunday services). Plan on treats, games, $5 pumpkins, and making new connections. It’ll be a great time to invite your neighborhood friends to join us.
A night for all of Mariners Church to sing, pray and respond to God as one church.
Sunday, October 13, 5p
Irvine Campus, Worship Center