Begin this Christmas season with a morning of celebration at our annual Women’s Ministries Christmas Brunch! Invite someone special to you to join you this year and hear, Women of Faith, author and speaker, Angela Thomas.
Saturday, December 7, 9:30a – 12p, $35pp
Tickets go on sale Sat, November 2 (after the service), and online Tue, November 5.
Visit the website for details.
We’ll enjoy brunch on the lower patio and then go out together to serve our community. Contact Barb Egbert with questions.
Saturday, November 2, 9a-12p, HB offices (2124 Main Street)
“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.
Fall is upon us! Kind of. At least the air is a little brisk in the mornings and night.
But to be sure that you have the full fall experience, we’re hosting TRUNK OR TREAT night this Sunday, 4-6:30p! Don’t miss this. It will be awesome. Your kids will love it–so will your kids’ friends. If you don’t have kids, then come and just act like one. Dress up, sugar-load, and enjoy a safe and encouraging environment of games, food, and fun.
See you Sunday!
caleb
Can you feel the excitement?! Right now, (as you read this), our campus is being transformed into one of the best fall celebrations in OC–Harvest Carnival! It’s our annual community celebration where kids in costumes come from all around Orange County to play games, ride fun rides, eat tasty food (& candy!), and listen to great music. It’s our opportunity to share the gift of relationship with our friends and neighbors, and the joy we find in Jesus and one another. You will not want to miss this night of fun. So be sure to come, and invite a friend to join you.
Are you loving our weekend series, The Outsider’s Guide to Jesus? How have you been responding to God’s voice this week – with a Zechariah-like posture of disbelief that says, “God can’t…He won’t…”? Or, with a posture like Mary, believing God can and will do what He says, but wonder…how will this happen?
So many questions are stirred up when the promises of God collide with this world, and seemingly contradict the circumstances of our lives. This weekend, we’ll dive deeper into these questions, and look closer at what it’s like to follow Jesus and trust God’s voice and promises in our lives–even when it doesn’t seem to add up. It will be a time of encouragement, as we navigate this world together with Jesus, finding hope and truth even in the most desperate and confusing circumstances. There are people in our lives – friends, family, neighbors, classmates, co-workers – who are searching for the message of truth and hope…the message of Jesus. Invite them to join you this weekend as we become the community God designed us to be. Looking forward to seeing you guys…
Peace,
Kyle
What an exciting journey we’re on together traveling through the Gospel of Luke! I love the perspective he offers as an ‘outsider,’ examining the life and teaching of Jesus, reinforcing the certainty of what we hope for. It is amazing to see the relational vibrancy of our church in this season as we invite friends and neighbors to experience the gospel in community. What joy it must bring Him to see so many of you jumping into deeper, honest relationships together, serving one another in tangible ways, and experiencing the fullness of life as He intended.
As I see God at work growing and changing our church community, building His Church, I’m praying for you all. I pray that you would stand firm in Jesus and His voice would be the loudest in your life. There is a very real enemy that is seeking to destroy the beauty of what God is building in and through us.
Bring your friends and join us this weekend as we continue in the Gospel of Luke, and consider how we respond to God. Let’s continue to fight together for the gospel revolution that God is stirring through Mariners.
Peace,
Kyle
Learn more about this ministry to women in the sex industry. Our training will be followed by Outreach to local clubs, 7:45p-12a (ages 21+). For more info and to RSVP, contact divine@marinerschurch.org
Moms and moms-to-be, let’s meet together for a great walk and time of sharing. Meet on the lower patio at the Central Library (Bring your kiddos of course). Contact Hillary.
Tuesdays, 9:30a, Central Library, HB
Join other women from the community for a night out hosted by The Fish 95.9! Enjoy music by Selah and Johnny Diaz. Dinner is available for purchase in the Mariners Global Cafe before the event.
Click here for event details and how to receive two free tickets!
Friday, October 11, 7 – 10p
in the Worship Center, Irvine Campus
We are excited about inviting you to our prayer movement, where we’ll look beyond ourselves to God for the bigger part of who He is and all that He wants to be in us! Find out more.
Wednesday, October 2, 9:30 – 11:30a