Well, the end of summer is fast approaching and I have to say that I feel like it just got here. But football is starting, the kids are going back to school and hopefully the weather will be cooling down too with fall right around the corner. What an amazing summer we’ve had at our church – from Framily Nights, to VBS and pancake breakfasts, to building a house in Mexico and summer camps for our youth – just to name some of the things we’ve done, God has been good.  And capping it off with Youth Sunday last weekend was extra special.

As we move into fall, there are so many things starting back up here at Mariners Ocean Hills. The theme I’m seeing throughout is community and relationship. Rooted kicks off in September and offers the opportunity to grow in your relationship with God and find your purpose. We are also having six Community Nights. The evenings will start out with dinner followed by a great speaker and time together where we’ll learn ways to invest in our relationships. We are also hosting a marriage conference on October 9-10. Headline speakers include Dr. Emerson Eggerichs (Love and Respect) and Bob Goff. It is a great opportunity to fine tune your marriage. Lastly, Men’s and Women’s Ministries are starting up their Bible studies again, so there is a lot going on!

Finally, I have some wonderful news that is mixed with sadness. As you know Jon Ramsay has been a part of our church for the past two years. He was our Worship Pastor until he was stricken with a brain tumor. Over the next year Jon worked to regain his strength and started a part time position with Outreach. Like many of you, we have been praying for Jon’s healing over the past year and a half. God has done incredible things with Jon and he is doing incredibly well. In fact, he is doing so well that he feels like he can move out and tackle more in life. I am so excited that Jon has gotten to this place, where God has used him and healed him in such an amazing way. And with that healing, I always knew we may risk the fact that Jon would move on. We are at that point. Jon will be going to work for an organization called “I Like Giving.” I Like Giving inspires people, organizations and churches to live generously. We will miss Jon and Deanna and their amazing family. Join us this Sunday as we say goodbye to them. We celebrate them, and all that God has done and will continue to do through them.

Blessings,
Jeff

Are you looking for a place to serve? We are looking for people who would like to serve and care for the moms of our church. Our MOPS Ministry (Mothers of Preschoolers) is looking for childcare workers to help care for kids on Fridays, Sep 25- Dec 4, 8:30-11:30a. It is a paid position. If interested, please contact Diane Jones djones@marinerschurch.org

I love all that is going on at our church. It seems like every week I get an opportunity to let you know about more amazing things that are happening. This week we will be focusing on two important values for our church: relationship and youth. First of all, this Friday is our Date Night. It’s a fun time to have some appetizers, listen to a great speaker give a brief twenty minute talk (to get you thinking), and then go out for two hours on your own. It’s a night where we watch your kids for $10. You can’t beat that. Don’t forget it’s also a great night to invite a friend. And, if money is tight, let us know and we will have your $10 taken care of. Relationships matter at Ocean Hills, and we want to provide an environment where you can grow in your marriage or dating relationship. Come even if you don’t have kids. You will love the speaker and the food.

Another important value we have at Mariners Ocean Hills is our youth. We have a heart to reach the next generation. Join us this Sunday and hear all of the great stories that God is writing on the hearts of our junior high and high school students. This is a time to celebrate the youth in our church family and let them know we are behind them. God did amazing things in their lives this summer and you will not want to miss hearing their stories. And because it will be warm, we will be serving root beer floats on the patio.

From all of us here at OH, we hope and pray you are having a great summer.

Blessings,

Jeff

I hope you are feeling rested as we enter our final weeks of August. Fall is just around the corner, yet there is still some time to enjoy this season of rest! I know having my family all back together (my son got back from playing baseball up north) has been a great conclusion to this summer. We have a ton of fun things planned for the fall at Mariners Ocean Hills, but we still have some events coming up at the end of this month! One of these is Date Night. We know date nights can be few and far between with the busy schedules of life, yet we also know actively pouring into our relationships is imperative for healthy marriages. So we are planning a date night for you! Join us here for appetizers and a short talk and afterwards, head out for two hours on a date, while we take care of your kiddos. You can register here.

Also, I wanted to give you a heads up that we are having student ministry weekend next weekend (Aug 30) which is going to be awesome! God is moving in the lives of these students, and I am so excited to share with the church all that’s been going on and celebrate His goodness! There will be baptisms following the service, so this is a weekend you want to be a part of.

Like I mentioned before, we are planning a lot of great things for the fall. From weekend services, to BBQs & bands, to ministries launching up, to Rooted kicking off – we are excited to pour into connecting in community. Doing life alone is not something God wants for us and we aim to be a church where people can find that connection and walk through life together. So as we enter fall, we would love to invite you into community, but even further than that, invite people to join you as you connect. Be thinking of someone you can invite!

Blessings,

Jeff

We had a great Sunday this past weekend, from partaking in communion, to a fun pancake breakfast. It had that feeling of “this is what Church is all about.” IHOP even emailed me to ask for the recipe for our pancakes. I told them it is a closely guarded secret, so they will just have to come next year to experience it for themselves. Thank you to all the great volunteers who made the day happen. Please remember we are always looking for help on the weekends, so if you see someone doing something, and think, “I’d like to do that,” then let us know, and we will get you plugged in. We need you. What if once a month you decided to “sit one and serve one?” Meaning, you decided you were going to enjoy one service by sitting in it, and then enjoy the next service by serving in it.  Pray about it. We’d love for you to jump in.

We have another Date Night coming up at the end of this month, which you do not want to miss out on. It is going to be such a great night. We will have tasty appetizers, a speaker, and two hours for you and your spouse to go out and spend time on a date while we have an engaging program for your kiddos here! These nights are so fun and are a super inexpensive date night for you guys, so mark your calendars and RSVP here.

This Sunday I will be continuing in our series Oh! The Places We’ll Go. Do you remember how as a kid you would ask if you could sleep with the light on because you were afraid? What if we could learn how to “live life with the light on,” and not be afraid? Well, that is what we are going to learn about this weekend. We hope and pray you are having a great summer, and we look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Blessings,

Jeff

We believe education is an important part of child development and that all children should have the supplies and help they need to succeed. Join us as we collect back to school supplies for children living in low-income situations in San Juan Capistrano. Take a supply list from the patio this weekend (or visit our website), shop with your kids, family or friends and bring the supplies back to Mariners Ocean Hills at the drop-off bin on the weekends of August 9, 16 & 23.

Invite friends to come out and play on the Ocean Hills lawn for summer playdates! All events are free, no registration required. Open to preschoolers – 5th grade. Parents are required to stay with children. For more info, click here.

Bounce House
Thu, Aug 20, 10:30a-12p

Well, summer is in full swing and part of that is trying to get away and travel (which I was able to do last week). That is why we felt Oh! The Places We’ll Go is the perfect name for our summer series. We all find ourselves on a journey to different places in life, either figuratively or metaphorically. This week we will be looking at the journey in our relationship with God. Do you ever feel like your relationship with God can go up and down as life goes up and down? Like life is letting you down, so is God letting you down? This is something we all struggle with. We want our walk with God to feel more secure than that, more stable. This week we will find out how our perspective on life can really impact our relationship with God.

Not only am I looking forward to being back this week, I am excited for our final Framily event! This Sunday we will have a pancake breakfast after each service. Join us for gourmet pancakes, live music, and entertainment for the kids. One of the things I love about our church is the community feel we have, so you won’t want to miss out. Also, we are in the midst of a School Supply Drive. There are many families in our area who do not have the means to obtain backpacks, pencils, pens and other school supplies. We are hoping to ease the pain for parents who cannot afford all of these products. So if you can, pick up a supplies list (or view it on the website), grab something in the store and donate it this Sunday.

Blessings to you,

Jeff