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Monthly Archives: April 2015

Oh, so many good things happening right now!

Congrats to Bradley and Alyson who had their first baby girl, Luna, last week!  We are so excited to be a part of their story and their lives.  They will be amazing parents!

As most of you know, Andrea, our Kid’s Director over at Hazel Dell, broke her ankle a couple weeks ago.  She was able to get surgery fairly quickly, which will bring her back to us faster.  Thank you to so many of you who have jumped in to help their busy family!

Hazel Dell was a packed house on Sunday morning, Battle Ground had a great service and the men of the Deaf Church were away on a retreat this weekend, while Dawn preached here at home.  Always busy, but aren’t we blessed to have a community of people who love Jesus?

Our hearing church is going to a men’s conference as well on May 15-16.  You can find all the info at www.coffeechurch.com.  It’s going to be a great couple of days with my incredible husband, so if you’re a man, you should go!

We got to go to the Brizuela’s for lunch on Sunday.  They are from El Salvador, so let’s just say the food was pretty incredible!  Their company was even better as they have a deep love for Jesus and His Church.  Thanks for the wonderful afternoon together!

We are looking towards the future with great expectation of what Jesus is doing in our church and in people’s lives.  We spend most of our time asking God how we can reach more people with His love.  Would you pray with us?  Wipe the board clean and begin to dream for what a church could do in full force for our community!  I believe there are ways of doing church that haven’t even been thought of yet.  That being said, our foundation is worshipping Jesus, which is non-negotiable!

We’d love for you to be involved in volunteering at North Creek.  It is a great way to get to know some people and invest into valuable lives!  You can sign up online today and we’ll get you plugged in quickly.  At North Creek, we really just want you to do one hour a month within our church, and then find ways to serve in our community as well.

If you’d like to help with the earthquake in Nepal, we support Convoy of Hope as a church during seasons of disaster.  You can find them at www.convoyofhope.com to make a donation.

We love you!  We love this church, we love the adventure that God has called us to and we are so grateful that He is in control!  Being a part of a church is a beautiful mess and everyday we are humbled to walk alongside His people and His work.

Be blessed this week!

 

 

 

 

I just received some pictures from our Easter service and wanted to share them with you!  Such a fun morning to come together at Prairie High School to celebrate our Risen Savior.  Thank you so much to Wayne for taking these!

Our El Salvador missions team has been working hard all week ministering to children and youth thousands of miles away.  I wanted to share some pictures of their work.  Thank you for praying for them!  We look forward to hearing about their trip when they return.  Also, our Deaf Church missions team heads to Mexico this week as well, so be praying for that team.  We are excited to be a church that impacts the world!

Happy Easter!  What a day we had at North Creek Church!

Our hearing campuses went MOBILE to Prairie High School, while our Deaf Church took over our Battle Ground Campus.  We ended the day with 515 people in attendance and about 20 people accepting Jesus.  We are PUMPED!

Our service at the school was a packed house with kids everywhere.  Our volunteer team was ON POINT and it was smooth as butter!  We learned a couple of lessons on the fly doing mobile church, but all in all, I was so impressed with everyone.

Thanks to Eddie for donating Stumptown coffee for the morning…so good!!!  Our people might have been a little shocked not to be able to bring coffee into Prairie’s auditorium.  At the Coffee Church, people REALLY like their coffee… Thank you for being good sports about it and honoring the school.

We haven’t been a mobile church in 7 years, so it was fun to go back to our roots.  The majority of our launch team is still with us, so we were reminiscing as we pulled out our rolling boxes and trailer.  God has been so faithful all of these years and starting a church has been a beautiful lesson in faith.  I wouldn’t change this journey for anything!

We spent a lot of time praying for our friends who are pastors last week.  We hope that Monday morning finds you encouraged in the Lord.  We honor you, not for the number of people in your service, but for your diligent work for Jesus.  He is proud of you, not for the crowd, but for your work to the “least of these.”

Our El Salvador missions team celebrated Easter in another country yesterday!  They spent the weekend learning skits and lessons as they will be doing ministry all week.  Add them to your prayer list!  It’s very hot, they are working hard, and they are away from their family.  However, we are sure they will have an amazing time in the midst of the challenges!

Well, come to church next week.  Easter always reminds pastors of the power of the local church.  There’s nothing more important about yesterday than every Sunday.  Jesus shows up in worship and preaching week in and week out, day in and day out.  If we, as the body of Christ, understand the importance of coming together often, inviting our friends, and approaching the throne with great expectations, it is then that we will see a mighty move of God in our communities.  I can’t wait!

I am ending with some thank you’s today.  I hope you are blessed this week! 😉

 

Thank you!

Pastor Mark – You are a truly remarkable mix of humility and authority.  I am constantly in awe of how God crafted you to lead us all.  I love you and am proud to be your wife and partner in crime…I mean ministry….

Matt and our worship team – EXCELLENT job leading us to Jesus with music.  Absolutely beautiful and heartfelt from start to finish.  We hope you enjoyed the whole 10 minutes of the service that you got to sit down!

Andrea and the Tiny Town/Nursery team – Mobile church is hardest for your ministry and you all knocked it out of the park.  That was almost 50 toddlers to wrangle and teach about Jesus, which you did with grace and patience.  Next time we will get you more walls….

Vanessa and the Kid City team – Such amazing creativity that you brought for our elementary kids this weekend!  We appreciate the incredible effort you put forth, not to just talk at our kids, but to help them learn in a variety of ways!

Chris and the tech team – While everybody sees the benefits of your ministry, nobody sees the details it takes to seamlessly pull it off.  The environment you created in the auditorium was remarkable.  Thank you for working tirelessly to make it all happen.

Stephanie and the usher team – We added some tricky elements into our regular service and you took on the challenge with ease!

North Creek Church – Whether you were scheduled to volunteer or not, I watched you greet, serve, and give without question.  Christ is your center and I see Him pour of you daily.  Thank you for being imperfect people who are just willing to be the hands and feet to the Gospel.  We love you!

Happy Easter!  We are busy gearing up for our service at Prairie High School this weekend and we look forward to you joining us.  Today I wanted to use my blog to host an amazing poet in our church, David Hinshaw.  We are constantly blessed by David’s love and grace and I hope you will be too!
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Easter is no doubt the most joyful event on the Christian calendar.  A few years ago, I collected some of the major events and themes of the Easter story and organized them into verse.  My prayer is that this poem will be a source of blessing and encouragement to each one who reads it.  Thanks…David

Resurrection Sunday

 

Long ago and far away on a mount called Calvary

He was nailed to a cross where He died for you and me

They placed Him in a tomb and soldiers blocked the entry way

But He was nowhere to be found, on the morning of the third day

 

The greatest day in history is the morning of the third day

God revealed a mystery on the morning of the third day

They arrived at His tomb and found the stone rolled away

He had conquered death and doom, on Resurrection Sunday

 

Why is it that you seek the living ‘mongst the dead

You will not find Him here, for He has risen as He said!

 

He preached to captive souls and set their spirits free

He ascended to God’s throne and returned victoriously

He told family and friends, peace be unto you today

For He had risen from the dead, on the morning of the third day

 

What a grand and glorious morn, when He rose from the grave

What a triumph over sin, which no longer could enslave

What a wondrous day for man when the Truth, the Life, the Way

So defeated Satan’s plan, on the morning of the third day

 

Oh the day whose magnitude shook the world’s foundation

Oh the dawn that gave new hope to every tribe and nation

Oh the morn when saints rejoiced and sinners fell to pray

When Salvation’s plan was sealed, on the morning of the third day

 

The greatest day in history is the morning of the third day

God revealed a mystery on the morning of the third day

They arrived at His tomb and found the stone rolled away

Jesus conquered death and doom, on resurrection Sunday!

 

Why is it that you seek the living ‘mongst the dead

You will not find Him here, for He is risen as He said!

 

D.R.H.