This week we look at "play" because life is more than worship, work, and rest! H. L. Mencken, a fierce critic of the Christian faith once said: "Christians, are people who have a deep, foreboding fear that somebody, somewhere, might be having a good time.” Nothing could be further from the truth. What does "play" teach us about God and about ourselves?

As part of Sunday morning we are using the LIVE resource courtesy of the YouVersion Bible app. The "LIVE Event" includes Scriptures, links to this week's sermon slides, additional Bible readings, and articles that you may find helpful. 

For a copy of this morning's LIVE event click here.

This week we look at "sleep". This is a pretty important topic! Just think -- over the course of your lifetime you will devote over a third of your life to sleep! Is it possible there is more to sleep than sleep?!

As part of Sunday morning we are using the LIVE resource courtesy of the YouVersion Bible app. The "LIVE Event" includes Scriptures, links to this week's sermon slides, additional Bible readings, and articles that you may find helpful. 

For a copy of this morning's LIVE event click here.

This week we look at rest... in fact we will learn: lazy is the person who does not seize the opportunity to rest!

As part of Sunday morning we are using the LIVE resource courtesy of the YouVersion Bible app. The "LIVE Event" includes Scriptures, links to this week's sermon slides, additional Bible readings, and articles that you may find helpful. 

For a copy of this morning's LIVE event click here.

This week we orient ourselves to our series as we answer a simple question: Is there a bigger picture that we are missing? This week Mark lays a foundation for navigating "the rest of life" that will serve as our guide for the rest of this series... 

Click to download a PDF of this week's slides.

As part of Sunday morning we are using the LIVE resource courtesy of the YouVersion Bible app. The "LIVE Event" includes Scriptures, links to this week's slides, additional Bible readings, and articles that you may find helpful. 

For a copy of this morning's supplement click here.

This week we introduced our summer series with a "10 minute" infomercial that we did not record... Here is the gist of it!

Look at the pie chart on the left. This is a picture of the hours we spend sleeping, eating, driving, working, surfing the web, watching TV, and exercising...  (you can read the article here or follow this link to a google query to access more articles). So what are we to make of the :"normal" life we all share in common? Does God care about the activities that fill our normal lives? Is it possible that there might be an organic interrelationship among our weekly activities of work, rest, sleep, play, friendship, worship, reading, ETC? Is it possible that there is a big picture that we are missing that will create a life-giving framework? One approach is surely unacceptable: it is not our task to simply and unthinkingly "baptize" the ordinary and call it good. Instead, we have the opportunity to embrace a radical alternative -- to possess an extraordinary perspective on the ordinary that is informed and inspired by the promise, power, and presence of God in our lives. ETC - the rest of life is our summer series that will explore these themes...

This summer we are also offering seminars that will support this series and give us an opportunity to experience and discover that embedded in our ordinary is the opportunity to learn, discover, overcome, and thrive. We will be offering summer seminars on personal finance, creativity, culinary design, fitness, nutrition, fitness, personal performance (learning what habits allow us to thrive), discovering your strengths, and how to study the Bible. Check back here on July 5 to sign up online. These seminars have limited capacity and will fill up fast!

This week we recognize dads and grads. As we do so we recognize that learning never ends and we wouldn't want it any other way. To stop learning is to stop living.

Click to download a PDF of this week's slides.

This week we recognize dads and grads. As we do so we recognize that learning never ends and we wouldn't want it any other way. To stop learning is to stop living.

Click to download a PDF of this week's slides.

Let's be honest about the normal life of following Jesus. This week we look at the struggle with sin every follower of Jesus contends with. Resigning to defeat or declaring unchallenged victory are false alternatives. Paul's transparency introduces us to a NEW that is filled with hope to overcome the daily challenge of our sin.

Click to download a PDF of this week's slides.

Click here for a link to the LIVE event resource from Sunday

Last week (May 24) was Pentecost... this is the birthday of the new community of Jesus' followers that we call the Church. As a "belated birthday" observance Mark teaches on the ministry of the Holy Spirit. His goal was to teach clearly so as to remove confusion and to inspire expectation for the fullness of God's presence in our lives. Have a listen and see if he was successful!

Click here to download a PDF of this week's notes.

This week was a family Sunday. For us this means that everyone (the young and the old) join us for the entire service. This week's theme: "No matter what happens, we can sing to God". This was great day! The morning included worship, a rap-battle, and a great reflection from Lorissa.

Be patient... the audible file will be posted on Tuesday! Until then we are keeping last weeks 
message posted... but we are posting this week's notes.

Click here to download this week's notes.

This week we return to Romans 6 with an honest look at the struggle every one has with sin. The Apostle Paul has a surprising solution for us. We can either have a spirituality that is based on rules or we can enjoy a spirituality where God's Spirit actually leads us forward in God's grace and towards obedience. Obedience does not arise from solely from our own efforts but from the gracious activity of God's Spirit     

Click here to download this week's notes.

This week we take a break from Romans to celebrate the gift of women to the world. This week Mark reflects on the theme: What every man (and woman) can learn from Mary based on Luke 1.26-38. Turns out there is a lot we can learn! Have a listen!   

Click here to download this week's notes.

This week we look at God's plan for NEW! in Romans 6. New means we are not just forgiven... we are free. God's "reign of grace" not only delivers us from sin it propels us towards new life! Let's explore this together.
Click here to download this week's notes.

God promises that we can enjoy a NEW life in Jesus.
A NEW  life that did not exist before...
A NEW life, that we may have known about, but we now welcome for the first time.
A NEW life that begins anew regardless of how stale and broken our life has become.

NEW is an exploration of Paul's letter to the Romans, chapters 5-8. Here we discover how
God makes us new. Along the way we will discover afresh His unimaginable promises,
His unconditional grace, and His unrelenting love that gifts us with resilience, vitality, and
liberty to live the life that God created us to enjoy.

This week we look at God's plan for NEW! in Romans 5.12-21. While there are some difficult challenges in these verses we quickly learn that this is the story of and for all of us! Let's explore this together!

Click here to download this week's notes.

God promises that we can enjoy a NEW life in Jesus.
A NEW  life that did not exist before...
A NEW life, that we may have known about, but we now welcome for the first time.
A NEW life that begins anew regardless of how stale and broken our life has become.

NEW is an exploration of Paul's letter to the Romans, chapters 5-8. Here we discover how
God makes us new. Along the way we will discover afresh His unimaginable promises,
His unconditional grace, and His unrelenting love that gifts us with resilience, vitality, and
liberty to live the life that God created us to enjoy.

This week we begin our exploration celebrating the new life offered to us through Jesus that Paul outlines in Romans 5.1-11. 

Click here to download this week's notes.

This week we follow up on last week's Easter message and ask: "So what?!" What's the big deal about the resurrection of Jesus? What does it mean and why does it really matter?! Well it matters a lot because if the tomb of Jesus is full then our faith is empty and we are "dumb as nails" for believing. Join us as Pastor Mark reflects on the meaning and promises of the most important holiday for followers of Jesus!

Click here to download this week's notes.

This year's Easter message is a reflection on Peter's opening words in his letter to churches in Turkey. Peter writes: "because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation" (1Peter 1.3). This begs the question: what can I expect? Join us as we seek to answer this question in light of the resurrection of Jesus.

Click here to download this week's notes.

This week's message:

This week we reflect on the lessons Jesus' last week can teach us about our own faith and relationship with God..Jesus' last 6 days challenges our faith, our worship, our understanding of God, our pride, our secret compromises, our patience, and our submission to the lordship of Jesus. Along the way we learn that authentic faith must ask God the hard questions of life...

Click here to download this week's notes.

This week's sermon:

This we continue our Life Expectancy Series as we begin to tackle topics now that we have laid our foundations. This week we continue our topic, What about work?!

This week we discuss the question: "Does my job really count?" Many of us wonder if our work is truly significant. The truth is most jobs are not going to change the world. But every job can influence, impact, and change lives. How can we be sure of this? Have a listen!

Click here to download this week's notes.

This we continue our Life Expectancy Series as we begin to tackle topics now that we have laid our foundations. This week we continue our topic, What about work?!

This week we discuss the question: Is our work job #1? As we explore the answer we look at 3 Scriptures that frame our understanding for our vocation. We then consider the question that haunts a lot of people who love and want to serve God: "What if I have never felt called to a job or career?" How Mark answers this question might surprise you.

Click here to download this week's notes.

This we continue our Life Expectancy Series as we begin to tackle topics now that we have laid our foundations. This week we continue our topic, What about work?!

This week we look at another story Jesus told about an employer who hires laborers to work for a day. Some he hires first thing in the morning; some mid-day, and some a few hires before "closing". The great surprise is that everyone is paid the same amount regardless of how many hours they worked! matter what time during the day he hired them!. This struck Jesus' audience as unfair and unjust as it strikes us today. This week we discuss our work, our wages, and our value...

Click here to download this week's notes.