Join us as we celebrate the holiday season with Oak View families at our annual Oak View Christmas Tree Lighting event! We’ll have festive food for sale, a hot chocolate bar, live music, kids crafts, and more! This will be a safe and fun night to build relationships in the community. More info here and register.
OAK VIEW CHRISTMAS TREE LIGHTING
Thu, Dec 15, 5-7p
17241 Oak Lane, HB 92647
During the Christmas season, we celebrate that God saw us when we were far off and sent us the greatest gift; His Son Jesus. This gift compels us to love and care for the poor and marginalized among us. As a church we are committed to caring for the thousands of people in our community experiencing poverty and crisis this season.
OAK VIEW CHRISTMAS PARTY & HOLIDAY STORE
Sat, Dec 17, 9a-3p (volunteer shifts vary)
Oak View Family Resource Center
17261 Oak Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92647
HSM is throwing a SnowBall. This is our Christmas Party for high school students and there are a few things you need to know. The theme is Thrift Store Prom… but there is an added catch: you can only wear white.
Formal dress is encouraged. Dinner will be served and there will be plenty of Christmas and Winter Themed activities all night. No Ball is complete without photos, music, dancing, and…snow. Find out more and register.
HSM SNOWBALL
Sat, Dec 17, 6-10p
location given upon registration
Our 3/5 Marines and their families are looking forward to another joyous Christmas celebration at Mariners! Our annual Military Christmas Party begins at 1p, but we are in need of volunteers starting at 11:30a to help in the areas of meet & greet, Santa photos, gifts, children’s crafts, raffles, and food service! We would also love for volunteers to bring their favorite holiday dessert! Find out more and register here.
MILITARY CHRISTMAS PARTY
Sat, Dec 17, 1-6p, Community Center
Volunteers should arrive at 11:30a.
Blue Christmas is a worship service to bring hope to those who have experienced relational, emotional, physical or material loss this year. Join us for a night of reflection, prayer, Scripture and music that affirms God’s presence and comfort. Find out more and register.
CARE AND RECOVERY BLUE CHRISTMAS
Mon, Dec 19, 6:30p, Chapel
What gives you joy? This time of year, one thing that brings me joy is Christmas lights! I love turning off the lights in the house after everybody has gone to bed and just sitting by the glow of a lit Christmas tree. I love decorating the outside of our house so when we drive up, it’s this beacon of light, reminding me (and our neighbors:) of the joy of Christmas. Incredibly, those same lights became the source of a wonderful battle between my wife, Holiday, and me last weekend as we struggled to put them up. In an instant, one of my greatest sources of Christmas joy became a total joy robber. I was ready to pull them all down, pack them back in the boxes and be done with it.
What gives you joy? What steals your joy? I’m guessing my life isn’t much different than yours. There are moments you’re experiencing the fullness of Christmas and moments where you feel empty and are fighting to rediscover it. Is there joy that can transcend not only the nominal circumstances of life like battling over Christmas lights, but the deeper issues of our soul: loss, grief, loneliness, abandonment, disease?
Join us this weekend as we continue our journey to Christmas together, remembering that God is With Us, bringing the hope, joy, peace, and love that we are all truly desperate for and will never find in this world apart from Him. This is the way we’re really going to experience the truth and fullness of what Christmas has to offer and it’s what the world is desperate for. Invite your friends, your family, and your neighbors to join us as together we find Christmas and joy!
Peace,
Kyle
Last Sunday, we kicked off our God With Us series to lead us through the Christmas season. We talked about HOPE—the hope that comes from knowing Jesus—and putting our hope in Him this Christmas, rather than the tangible things of the world. I am so grateful that even in the midst of the pain, loss, chaos, and so much more many of us might be experiencing this holiday season, we have a God who loves us so much that He sent us the greatest gift, his Son Jesus. I am grateful that we can put our hope in Him and in His love. And I am grateful that it doesn’t stop there! We get to be a part of bringing this hope to our community and to the world!
We are in the midst of Celebrate Differently, where we as a church are committed to caring for those in need around us and putting the love of Jesus on display in our community. It has been amazing to see your generosity in response to the opportunities we have put in front of you. We will be giving over 700 gifts to children and parents in need this Christmas! We have already collected hundreds of food items to stock the food pantry at Westmont Elementary! And just this past Saturday we had over 40 volunteers at Westmont to prepare the food pantry and paint the library! The principal was in tears at the end of the day, full of gratitude, because we as a church are committed to meeting the needs of those families. It is a beautiful thing to see YOU being the hands and feet of Jesus in our community. And Celebrate Differently isn’t even over yet!! I want to remind you of a few upcoming opportunities to Celebrate Differently with us.
Email me mbannister@marinerschurch.org to sign up to volunteer at any of these Celebrate Differently events! As we continue the Christmas season, what a privilege we have to bring HOPE to the people we serve and come in contact with. May we be “holders of hope” for those that might feel hopeless this season. Join us at one of these events and bring HOPE to a family in Oak View.
Imagine singing Christmas carols in English and Spanish as we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our neighbors in Oak View…
Imagine looking into the eyes of a parent as you help them select the perfect Christmas gift for their child…
Imagine wrapping that perfect gift for an Oak View parent to take home to their child for Christmas…
Imagine the huge smile on the kids’ faces as their parents walk out of the Holiday Store with a bag of gifts selected just for them…
Imagine YOU being the answer to someone’s prayers for God to provide for their family this Christmas…
Imagine our community in Huntington Beach feeling loved and knowing the HOPE of Jesus because YOU were willing to show up…
Now let’s go be “holders of hope” together!
Monica
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
– JOHN 1:4-5
I remember being at a summer camp, in one of the long “lodges” that housed all the boys. The lodge was divided into smaller “cabin groups” headed by an eagerly enthusiastic leader with a nickname like “otter” or “rover” or something nonsensical like “sk’doop.” In any event, Rover and his counterparts would tell us that one of the unbreakable and infallible rules of camp dictated that no one would be permitted to pull pranks on people within the cabin or in other cabins. We always nodded and then immediately determined how far we could push the no-pranks rule. What we found was that there was only one acceptable prank — something that wouldn’t get us into trouble, but that would ultimately achieve at least a small measure of prank-success.
What we all knew was that one of the unavoidable requirements for a successful prank is the vulnerability of the person being subjected to it. Never was a person, or a group of people, more vulnerable than when they were in the bathroom. So without fail, someone, upon arriving at the knowledge that a few people were in the bathroom, would determine to shut off all the lights, leaving the people in the bathroom in total darkness. Depending on the age of the victims, people would either scream in fear or issue threats of retribution that were exceedingly disproportionate to the crime itself.
Out of the darkness came chaos. The two went hand in hand. Where there was dark there was a longing for the light — a determined effort to get out of the upheaval of the shadows and into the peace, the calm. So the victims would find their way to the light switch, occasionally tripping and saying words that also challenged the infallible camp rules. But, we all knew what no one denied — we needed the light.
At Christmas, we celebrate the arrival of a light into our all-to-frequent darkness. This Sunday, we’ll take a look at the peace that comes with that light in week 3 of our Advent series. It will be a great weekend to invite a friend.
See you Sunday,
Jeff
What a great time we had at the Tree Lighting on Sunday night. (Just another reason I love our church!) Thank you to all who showed up and those who volunteered to make it happen. It was so fun hearing comments from people coming to Tree Lighting for the first time. “What a fun church we have!” was just one of the many fun things I heard. I totally agree. You are the reason it’s fun. So, thank you!
Not only are you fun, but you are making a difference. I love the response you have shown through our outreach opportunities to serve Thanksgiving meals and purchase Christmas gifts for those in need in our community. You have been incredibly generous. It is a great picture of what our church is about. Thank you.
We have a few things coming up. First, our Men’s Breakfast is this Saturday at 8a. My dad is speaking. He is a great guy with a great story and testimony. It will be fun having him here. I will probably be a little uncomfortable because it’s my dad, but if you have Saturday morning free, please join us.
Then, this Sunday after each service, we will be packing 20,000 meals to be sent to Africa for those who are struggling with hunger. If you can, plan on spending 30 minutes after the service working on this amazing project. To think we can make a difference in people’s lives all the way around the world who are starving and wondering where their next meal is going to come from is pretty remarkable.
Finally, I want to make you aware of what December means for us as a church financially. You may not know this, but 25% of our budget comes in during the month of December. That is why our year-end offering is so important to the life of our church. We are able to do some great ministry because of your generosity and God’s blessing. As you respond to the amazing gift of Christmas this December, please prayerfully keep in mind all of the opportunities God has for us as a church in this coming year.
As always, I love doing life and ministry with you.
Merry Christmas,
Jeff
P.S.: Christmas Eve Service times are 3 & 5p.
Come hang out with men from Mariners HB and hear an encouraging message, enjoy the “best breakfast in town” and get to know other guys from Mariners HB. For more info or to register, click here. Email menofhb@gmail.com with questions.
MEN’S MONTHLY BREAKFAST
Sat, Dec 10, 8-10a
Surf City Church (2721 Delaware Street, Huntington Beach)
*Meets 2nd Sat of every month