Tag Archives: encouragement

Annual Read: Reflection, Week 3

dailymessage-compass

Our hope is that you have decided to join us in reading through God’s Word this year! Each week, we want to encourage you in your reading by offering some thoughts for reflection. If you have not started reading with us, it is not too late! You can jump in anytime! There are still copies available at the bookstore, if you stop by after service, or get an e-version.

Daily Message, Reflection Week 3
As we have been reading Genesis, we see stories of God initiating interaction with His creation, and even His patience with them as they disobey, rebel, and run from Him. God ultimately cannot have His creation ruled by sin, it would destroy itself. Therefore, He acts out of love in attempts to rescue and restore. Continue reading Annual Read: Reflection, Week 3

A Note From Jeff Pries

MessageFrom-OH

From all of us at Ocean Hills, we hope that this past year has been a blessing for all of you, and we pray that you will have a sense of God’s leading in your life this year. As a church it has been quite a year, and we are excited for all that God has in store in this next season. This past weekend we started our new series called Heroes. In life, we all look for heroes and at the same time, we have a desire in one way or another to be heroic. The Bible is full of heroes, some are obvious, some are incredibly unlikely. Either way, we have a lot to learn from the many courageous men and women in the Bible. This series will inspire us to live in new and courageous ways. I can’t wait to experience this with you!

And, don’t forget to pick up the Daily Message, our 2014 annual read. What a great commitment to make in the new year!

Blessings,
Jeff

A Note From Caleb Anderson

MessageFrom-HB

Did you know??

Did you know that almost half of American New Year’s Resolutions are about relationships? (After dieting, exercise, self-discipline…)

Did you know that the top regret a person has toward the end of his/her life has to do with broken or neglected relationships?

Did you know that researchers have indicated for years that the primary driver of happiness and longevity of life is correlated to the quality of one’s relationships?

Our teaching series called A Beautiful Mess starts this Sunday, January 12. In it we’ll explore how being more intentional about your relationships will change your life–friendships, dating relationships, marriage, parenting…

Even if you’re heart-broken, burnt-out on relationships, or just not the “touchy-feely” type, A Beautiful Mess is still for you…and for your friends.

Bring someone who’s hurting. Bring someone who’s confused. Bring someone who just wants a date. I believe God will speak to us all and will heal hearts and lives.

We were designed to do life TOGETHER!

See you Sunday…

caleb

A Note From Jeff Maguire

MessageFrom-MV

I look up at your macro-skies, dark and enormous, your handmade sky-jewelry, Moon and stars mounted in their settings. Then I look at my micro-self and wonder, Why do you bother with us?
PSALM 8:3-4 (MSG)

Somehow, in all of what God has made (and is presently sustaining), he BOTHERS with us — with me. We live in a world where we are constantly being reminded that we are mostly bothersome. Even more honestly, we’ve become trained that other people are mostly bothersome to us. Somehow the God-given dignity inherent in all people loses its primacy the moment we get a little annoyed. This is the reason flight attendants, restaurant servers, families slowly pushing a double-jogger stroller on a sidewalk, and inattentive drivers lose their “human being credentials” when we get annoyed… bothered. They are an obstacle to our real, true, full experience of life.

Yet, God chooses to “bother” Himself with us. If there is anyone capable of causing annoyance, it’s us. We are perpetually needy. We are always unsatisfied. We live under the belief that we need and deserve more. But, God chose us. He still chooses us everyday. He willingly chooses to listen to us. He chooses to continue to give gifts. And, when the rest of His majestic creation continues to treat us like we’re somehow in the way of their full experience of life, He welcomes us in His presence, treating us as though we were “a little lower than the angels” PSALM 8:5 (NIV).

This Sunday, we’ll begin our series on relationships called “Beautiful Mess”. All those people we love (and someday hope to love) — the ones that drive us crazy — they’re the ones who help to create both the beauty and the mess of being together. It is my hope, that at least in some small way, that reality — that God finds us worthy enough to bother himself with us, will sink in. Because, it is in the experience of being deeply loved that we are able to love deeply, transforming the mess (however messy it is) into beauty.  Be sure to include someone in need of relational hope or help.

Looking forward to being together this Sunday,
Jeff

A Note From Jeff Maguire

MessageFrom-MV

We spent New Year’s Eve at a neighborhood party of families like our own. All the parents hovered over a table of hors d’oeuvres, eating pot stickers and potato skins, tiny chimichangas and hot wings, all the while remaining unswerving in our commitment to make 2014 the year we eat only “jicama and tofu.” Our kids jumped in a rented bounce house in the dark, periodically reminding the rest of us that it may not have been the safest unsupervised decision (one kid got a visit from the tooth fairy on New Year’s Eve as a result of a collision).

But, it IS the new year. Now, the New Year’s resolution mania is gaining momentum. Even in the face of incredibly dismal success rates (one study reported that only 8% of people are successful in achieving their resolution goals), people still make them. People want a chance to start over, to make things new, to improve. Over and over again, studies indicate that people with clear plans, achievable goals, and accountability see monumental increases in chances for success.

So, consider this very unsurprising resolution from the pastor: read the Bible. I know you nearly fainted from the shock of that idea — a pastor… the Bible. Reading the Bible won’t give you “sculpted” abs, it won’t help you come into money, and it won’t grow back any hair you lost in 2013. But, it will rightly orient your heart toward God. If the notion of reading the entire Bible is too daunting, start with reading a portion of it. If you’re following along in the Daily Message (available at the Global Bookstore), read the entire daily read or just one part of it. If you’ve never read the Bible, read a little. If you’ve read a little, read a little more. For the mobile tech savvy, download the free YouVersion Bible app and start this reading plan called “Discipleship Journal’s Book-at-a-Time Reading Plan” (it follows the same breakdown as the Mariners Daily Message Bible). You can do it. We can do it.

Yesterday, on Day 1 of the plan, we read this: “…You thrill to God’s Word, you chew on Scripture day and night. You’re a tree replanted in Eden, bearing fresh fruit every month, Never dropping a leaf, always in blossom.” Psalm 1:2-3 [MSG]

Might that be our experience of living in God’s Word during 2014.

See you this Sunday,
-Jeff

A Note From Kyle Zimmerman

MessageFrom-IR

Happy New Year! Have you been enjoying this season – spending time with one another and taking advantage of the unbelievable weather we’ve been having? Hopefully you’re finding time in the midst of it all to rest and listen to what God might be inviting you into this year. I believe He has incredible plans for our church and community, and I’m looking forward to living out this year with you all.

This weekend, we’ll be kicking off the new year with a special guest you’re not going to want to miss as he challenges and aims us at 2014 together. And have you been enjoying the Daily Message? I love that we’re reading through the Bible together. And if you haven’t jumped in yet, pick up a Bible in the bookstore this weekend and join us! I know God wants to speak to us through His Word to bring comfort, wisdom, and encouragement – strengthening us to fearlessly follow Jesus together.

Looking forward to seeing you all this weekend…

peace

kyle

A Note From Caleb Anderson

MessageFrom-HB

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Here’s a free New Year’s Resolution tip:

Don’t settle just for goals. Create systems!

Goal: I want to participate in Mariners’ annual Bible read.
System: I’m going to wake up each morning at 6:30a and read in the chair in my bedroom for 15 minutes.

Goal: I want to eat fewer carbs.
System: I’m going to shop on Mondays and plan my meals for the week.

Clear, practical steps take you from vision to reality.

Here’s a clear, practical step for you: be at church on Sunday. And start thinking of your friends who are in relationship turmoil (dating, marriage, parenting…). We start a bold new series called “Beautiful Mess” Jan 12.

Blessings to you in this new year. It will be a good one. God has our church on a good ride!

caleb

A Note From Kyle Zimmerman

MessageFrom-IR

The much-anticipated Christmas season is coming to a close – trees, lights, decorations will come down, and the aftermath of parties and presents will fade as post-Christmas and new year sales start to dominate the voice of culture. The world will stop listening to and singing the songs of Christmas as the joy and wonder of the season fades away until next year. But does it have to? As followers of Jesus, maybe this is the time that we (the Church) continue to live out the truth and hope of Christmas in a world that so desperately wants and needs the healing and freedom that only Jesus can bring. Let’s continue to fearlessly become all of who God designed us to be as His children, and look for opportunities to love and invite people into the fullness of a relationship with Jesus and His Church.

I’m excited for this weekend as we gather again to remember and celebrate who God is and all He has done. This is a perfect season to invite friends and neighbors still wondering about the depth and truth of Christmas. And as we’ve talked in our weekend services throughout December about the importance of giving, I know many of you are still prayerfully listening about responding to God financially. I’m praying and believing that as you listen, God will speak and invite you to trust Him more, and as we all respond courageously, we will put the abundant love and kindness of Jesus on display throughout OC and the world.

Peace…

kyle

A Note From Jeff Pries

MessageFrom-OH

We hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. It was especially fun being with all of you who joined us for Christmas Eve services – it really is one of my favorite services of the year. There is a small part of me that gets a little sad because it’s now time to start taking down all of the marks of Christmas – the trees and the ornaments. But of course, we hold onto the fact that the gift of Christmas, Jesus, is with us always. Christmastime is a lot about family. I love that we are family and can celebrate together.

Blessings,
Jeff

A Note From Caleb Anderson

MessageFrom-HB

I hope you had a merry and meaningful Christmas!

As you read this, I’m probably in a comatose state–having preached 7 times in three days. But that’s okay, I love it! I love it because of what God does. He brought hundreds of new people, many of which prayed new prayers of faith and commitment. God is changing lives in our community, and not only do we get to witness it–we get to play a part in it!

So, I’m grateful as we close out 2013. I’m grateful for my family, for our friends, for our church, and specifically FOR YOU.

I thank my God every time I remember you… Philippians 1:3

You help to make our church what it is–in big and small ways. And my prayer for you in this new year is simple: That God would take you further and deeper into His love.

May God bless you.

caleb

P.S.: Remember, if it’s Sunday, our church is meeting together. Same service times: 8:30, 10:00, 11:30a.