This past weekend the call went out to “Celebrate Differently” in order to stand in the gap for the poor, the marginalized and those that have no advocates in our community. It was beautiful to see our church respond with such excitement and fervor. The patio was full of families gathered around Christmas trees (yes, in the first week of November) choosing how to serve our community.

The response on last Sunday’s launch weekend was larger than all six weeks of the campaign in previous years. We had more people than ever choose to serve – a 40% increase – by picking serve opportunities through our “Serve Tree.” Your financial generosity and commitment to our outreach efforts has also been amazing, and I’m quickly beginning to understand that in order to build a great church, we must have the foresight to help build a great city. This six week “Celebrate Differently” Outreach campaign has come at an interesting time in our country. At a time when our nation is divided down the middle, how are we to respond as the church? It is easy to get caught up in the emotions of either side, but I’m reminded of the Sunday message from a couple of weeks ago where Nehemiah tells the Israelites to go and celebrate in the truth that “the joy of the LORD is your strength.” The people had started to mourn and grieve after listening to the Word of God for six hours straight because they were sad that their identity as the children of God had been taken from them for so long. But Nehemiah would not let them stay in their grief, they had great reason to celebrate. And so do we.

It is because “the joy of the LORD is our strength,” that we will continue to Celebrate Differently. Over the next five weeks, we have an opportunity to make an incredible impact in a variety of ways in our community. I’m excited to see how God will bring transformation to our lives and the lives of those we serve.

See you on Sunday,
MaherOnFire

HSM is heading to Saddleback Lanes for a night of hanging out at Del Taco and then Cosmic Bowl! You don’t have school the next day, so it’s the perfect way to start the long weekend. More info and register here.

COSMIC BOWL AND DEL TACO
Thu, Nov 10, 7:30-10p, $10 for bowling & shoes
Bring $$ for food at Del Taco depending on your appetite!
Drop off and pick up students at Saddleback Lanes

I can already feel it. Things are about to get moving at a pace we’re ill-equipped to handle. We’re already growing tired of our pumpkin spice obsession, longing to exchange its orange hues and fall tones with hints of nutmeg for peppermint flavors adorned in green and red. Already. It’s here. The low-level anxiety of what we can’t avoid causes in us a uneasiness we aren’t quite ready to take on this early in the season.

But, before we get to that state, before that predictable moon-sized marketing asteroid locks into its gravitational collision course, streaking through the outer atmosphere, and crashing into our laps with thunderous explosions and bright, blinding lights, we’ll need to consider something for the sake of our humanity. Because we could lose it — our humanity, that is. For so many of us, we feel like we’re barely keeping things together. We wonder how that became OUR job. The pressure is immense. The tasks are many — almost all of them are worth our time, effort, and energy. We take on so many critical things. We do good work. We try hard. We expect a lot from ourselves. We feel that pressure.

But, what if all the things we’re doing for the sake of other people, can potentially cause us lose sight of those people? This Sunday, we’ll step headlong into one of our DNA standard bearers at Mariners MV. We’ll talk about our church in our communities. We’ll give a picture of how, in the early stages of peppermint, inflatable snowmen, and temporary exterior lighting, we can maintain our humanness. We call it “Celebrate Differently.” Every year, I forget how much I need it. It’s a great weekend to bring friends who wonder about the kind of stuff we do here: locally and globally. We’ll give you a chance jump in, step up, and go big in a number of really practical ways. Don’t miss it.

See you Sunday,

Jeff