November 9 Coffee Church Highlights

By
November 12, 2014
Inspiration, Ministry
Leave a Comment

A special shout out to all of our veterans at North Creek!  I have such a high respect for people who serve our country and protect our freedoms!

Sunday was a good day to be at church!  I really appreciate all of our people who show up early, serve in various capacities, and are such kind people to rub shoulders with!

Want to go on a missions trip?  Our next one is to El Salvador in April.  You can find all the info you want at www.coffeechurch.com!  Registration deadline is December 18, so it’s time to get your questions answered!

Calling all volunteers!  We are having a huge Christmas party to honor you on December 5.  All the info you need will be sent directly to you, but mark the date on your calendar because you will be SO bummed if you miss it!

Also, this month we are filling our food crate in the foyer for local food banks and families in our church who need some extra help.  Please bring your food in during the month of November.  High need items are: Canned and dry beans,  all varieties and sizes!  Brown and white rice,  soup & chili varieties, cereal, oats, crackers.    Hygiene items are always a plus too.

We have made up some ground in our giving from a drop in the summer months, and we are asking you to help us end the year in the black.  We are roughly $10,000 away right now assuming that we meet budget in November and December.  We’ve ended in the positive every year since we started North Creek and we’re planning to stick with that strategy!  Thanks for being a faithful church!

It’s supposed to snow tomorrow!  Sounds like a good reason to build a fire and get the cocoa out!

We will be having our Christmas Celebration service on December 21.  We will not be having a Christmas Eve service this year, so plan on being with us that Sunday to celebrate the birth of our Savior!

We ended last week with Gina’s memorial service.  Chris preached it and did an absolutely beautiful job.  We also had incredible music, a touching eulogy and a special gathering to say goodbye.  We will miss her so much, but it is in these moments that we are most thankful for eternity.

I hope to see you all on Sunday.  We are loving the series His Name Is.  After diving into the book of Mark in conjunction with our sermons, I feel like I am learning so much more about Jesus.  So good!

Be blessed this week!  And stay warm!

November 2 Coffee Church Highlights

By
November 4, 2014
Ministry
Leave a Comment

It was nice to see everybody on Sunday! This was a trying week with several tragedies to walk through in the lives of people we love. It is always a blessing to see the smiles, hug some people, and be with other Christ-followers in the midst of the good and the bad.

On a sad note, we lost one of our own since my last blog. Gina Large passed away very suddenly late Tuesday night. She is a wife and mother to two great kids, so your prayers are needed for them this week. Her family attended our Hazel Dell campus, but visited Battle Ground regularly as well. The memorial service will be Thursday at 2:00 pm at the Hazel Dell Campus (www.coffeechurch.com).  You are welcome to come and celebrate her life. And thank you to everybody who jumped in to provide meals over the next several weeks!

Then on Wednesday, two of our youth staff from our Battle Ground campus were in a very scary car accident. We are so thankful that they are alive and healing! Would you pray for a quick recovery for Nate and Jessica? They have some significant bumps, bruises, and a fracture to deal with and we are believing that God can make this process quick and miraculous!

On a positive note, Sunday services were awesome! Great sermon series as we navigate the book of Mark, with great worship to accompany our praise. We are blessed with a group of people who have amazing talent partnered with beautiful hearts.

Our small groups are going SO WELL!!! We picked a difficult study guide that requires real work, but people are rising to the occasion and learning so much. I have never been more proud of the people of North Creek than I am as I watch them dive into the Bible. We may not understand all of it, but by doing our best to know it, we allow God to use it when He needs it. You just never know when something you have read years prior will suddenly be brought to life through the Holy Spirit.

I have been praying even more than usual for many of you. As you deal with loved ones in the hospital, death, and grief, I know that the God of Hope is near you. Lean into His love and it will help you navigate whatever you will face on this earth.

In addition to everything else, would you consider making your church attendance a priority for you and your family? We live in a culture where we “just need a day off” or “there’s a game on”…I get it. But eternity is a bit closer for me this week and it’s clearer how temporary this earth really is. Our kids need to be in the house of God…we need to be in the house of God. Ringing in my ears are the final words with Gina that I will ever have…On what would be her last Sunday in church, I asked her how she was doing and she said, “I’m better now. Better that I’m back at church and back with Jesus.” Little did she know that “With Jesus” was about to get more real than she could ever imagine.

On what ends a very weighty week, know that Mark and I love you. We love being your pastors, we love the coffee dates, we love growing alongside of you, we love your hearts to give and serve, we love this story that we all get to be a part of.

And as always…be blessed!

October 28 Coffee Church Highlights

By
October 28, 2014
Ministry
Leave a Comment

I hope this week is one filled with the grace of God in your life.

Since my last blog another school shooting has been written into our history.  And again, the tragedy falls upon Washington state.  I know you’ve been praying for the families involved, but would you add The Grove Church (as well as all churches in Marysville, really!) to your prayer list?  Our long-time comrades in ministry pastor there and they are definitely on the front lines this week.  Out of all of the conversations we get to have this week, none compare to the difficult ones they are facing.

School shootings have a way of making me so angry at the devil.  He is taking our kids with a violence that is earth shaking.  It makes me get up in the morning with a new sense of determination, prayer, and disgust for all things that defile Jesus’ name.  Would you do me a favor as a Christian?  Live well.  Live with discipline, on your faces before Jesus, in boldness, with unrelenting spirits founded in Christ.  Our youth just desperately need godly parents.  They need examples.  They need to know that Jesus changes things.  They need to see that in us.  Shed off that sin you are STILL dealing with and become the leader that the generation under you needs you to be.

On that note, Sunday we dove into the book of Mark in our current series His Name Is.  Such good stuff as we wade through Mark!  I am so proud of North Creek for stepping up and taking the challenge of Bible study this semester of growth groups.  We are hearing so many good stories coming out of it and we know there will be more.  He is at work within us!

I’m also very encouraged because I see people taking steps of obedience in their lives.  I KNOW God is going to show up in the midst of these stories with a power that is amazing and, dare I say….EPIC!  It’s going to be so good!

We need new volunteers!  We are especially looking for people who want to work with toddlers once a month.  Our Tiny Town is bursting at the seams…young church problems…and we need more people to block the entrances.  Just kidding.  We need people who believe that pouring the Bible stories into the youngest of our kids will develop a love for Jesus in their hearts!  Is that you?  Sign up at www.coffeechurch.com on our volunteer page.

We could also use some more musicians on the worship team.  I offered my skills, but apparently taking a few piano lessons 30 years ago didn’t make the cut…. If you have more ability than that, fill out a volunteer app as well!

Well, the only way to change the world is to change yourself, so go do that.  Give, serve, speak, read, laugh, love….DO something that looks a lot like Jesus!

 

October 19 Coffee Church Highlights

By
October 21, 2014
Ministry
Leave a Comment

I really hope you are having a great week!

It is amazing to have so many people in our church reading the book of Mark. I spent Sunday asking people what they were learning in the book of Mark and it flowed into many profound conversations.  Such a gift to be diving into the Bible together.  One common theme in our conversations is that we feel overwhelmed by the Bible.  I say that is a good thing: God wrote the Bible….of course it will take us all of eternity to fathom Him and His Word.  Our job is not to always understand it, but to immerse ourselves in it and allow God to bring to light what we need at the right time.

I continue to have conversations with people in our church about financial obedience.  It seems to be a theme that God is laying on a lot of hearts at this time.  A common thread that people keep saying is that they KNOW they should be tithing, but they just haven’t DONE it.  If that is you, I am sincerely praying for you!  This is simply a spiritual stronghold and in the name of Jesus it needs to be broken.  We cannot serve two masters and if you aren’t giving, your master is your money.  Unfortunately, there is only one way to break this stronghold in your life and that is to take your money and physically separate it from yourself by giving it.  There is no other way than your own decision and action.  God will not be commandeering your checkbook and doing it for you.

On that note, one of the ways that Mark and I stay faithful in this area is automatic withdrawal of regular amounts.  We don’t forget, we don’t make excuses…it just leaves our account and we budget accordingly.  By the way…that’s what I call “bottom of the barrel” giving.  We also pray about how and where to give more!

Our youth groups had their leader’s retreat this weekend and it was a phenomenal weekend!  Would you pray for the Grays and the Marbreys as they lead our youth?  Such a tough job in our society and they need your prayers and encouragement.  Janel came home the other night to flowers on her porch from the parent of a teen.  When I saw that I thought, “Yep, that’s the kind of church I want.  One that loves and supports their spiritual leaders!”  Way to go, North Creek!

We are looking for some more workers in our Tiny Town environment at both campuses.  If you are interested in serving once a month in that area or another area, would you jump online at www.coffeechurch.com and sign up to volunteer?  It’s one of the best ways to get to know people!

By the way, if you are one of our volunteers we are planning an awesome Christmas party on December 5.  You’ll be spoiled, you’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll wish the whole world could be a North Creek volunteer….( That’s another great reason to sign up to volunteer before then.)  Mark your calendars and more info will be coming soon.

Well, I’m pretty excited.  I sense a change in the air ahead of us and it’s all good…depth in our relationships with each other and with Christ….life change that alters our futures and the futures of our children…freedom from the rut we tend to run in…obedience followed by the richness of being in right relationship with our Holy King….

Let’s go change the world…by starting with ourselves!

Faith Without Works

By
October 17, 2014
Ministry
Leave a Comment

In our modern-day Christianity, we seem to have created a gospel around Jesus’ love and believing in Him as the sole proprietor of being a Christian. Yet, all too common problems in the church today are lack of attendance, a lack of commitment, a lack of finances…all signs that we are spending our time and resources outside of our Christianity and relying on our faith alone to be our source.

Our actions and our deeds are often that which is lacking in our reverence towards Christ.  While His love and our belief is essential to our foundation as a Christian, I am also compelled by the weight of the fact that we will become unsettled in our Christianity if there is not an accompanying lifestyle to go along with our title of “Christian”.  In James it reads:

Faith and Deeds

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

18 But someone will say, “You have faith; I have deeds.”

Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20 You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? 21 Was not our father Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24 You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone.

25 In the same way, was not even Rahab the prostitute considered righteous for what she did when she gave lodging to the spies and sent them off in a different direction? 26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.

 

I talk to many Christians who feel they have a dead faith and my line of questioning is always the same…how is your Bible reading?, your prayer life?, are you fasting?, are you tithing?, are you serving?, who are you discipling?, what are you DOING?…Bottom line, the word Christian is simultaneously a NOUN and a VERB.  There is no life in faith without works, just as works without faith gets you little more than gold stars.

If you are finding yourself bored in your faith, I have awesome news for you…You’re doing it wrong.  If you truly live according to His Word, both in faith and in action, you will be soaring in a life of adventure, living on the edge of your seat at every moment.

Start with simple obedience to what you know you need to be doing and it will grow into opportunities beyond your wildest dreams.

Buckle up.