What is The Weekly?
For a few months now we’ve published a weekly update for church members on The City, our internal social network. Starting this week we will post a version of this update as a new blog post, so that more people can take part in witnessing what Jesus is doing in and through Mars Hill.
Dear Family,
“So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” This verse in 1 Thessalonians (2:8) is a perfect text to describe what we want our church family to look like: learning about Jesus (sharing the gospel of God) and loving like Jesus (sharing our own selves). We pray that you are encouraged and enriched in your relationship both with Jesus and with others.
Celebrating Changed Lives
We are still celebrating all that Jesus did a couple weeks ago across our churches through Pastor Mark’s sermon on the Ethiopian eunuch from Acts 8! We heard this great story and wanted to share it with you.
Two teenage step brothers from Mars Hill Rainier Valley were baptized that Sunday! Both young men have been involved with RED student ministry and have started attending church Sunday mornings on their own. One of them was saved recently and wanted to be baptized that morning and the other was saved after hearing Pastor Mark’s message. Please pray for these young men to grow in learning about Jesus and loving like Jesus.
Short Term Missions Trips | Ethiopia
We’re finally ready to send teams on short-term missions trips to Ethiopia. Beginning in early 2015, each of our churches will send teams to visit the evangelists we support. These will be led by the pastors and leaders who went to Ethiopia earlier this year. Check out this blog post to learn more and sign up for this life changing opportunity.
Staff Chapel | Pastor David Fairchild
Pastor David Fairchild, lead pastor of West Seattle, taught our Staff Chapel this past Wednesday. He brought Top Pot donuts and then taught from John 13, focusing on the “one another”s in Scripture. He reminded the staff that by God’s design, when Christians love one another we proclaim to the world that Jesus is the son of God.
Members’ Meetings
Several of our churches have already had the opportunity to meet together as a local family for their members’ meeting this June. We pray that they have been encouraging and helpful to you. If you haven’t had yours yet, make sure that you have your church’s meeting date and time on your calendar. The following churches had their meetings this week:
Ballard
Pastor Scott Harris shared this about their evening:
“It was encouraging to hold our members’ meeting Wednesday night and see so many committed to Jesus and serving in Ballard. Through this season we have learned a lot and want to continue to grow in our expression of love for all the saints. We want to ‘fan into flame’ the gift of God in every believer. God has blessed Ballard with 66 baptisms this fiscal year, with 35 happening from Easter till now. Thank you Lord Jesus.”
Shoreline
Pastor Aaron Gray had this to say:
“Our members’ meeting was such an encouragement to me. I love seeing the members of our church throughout the various services on Sunday, but it was particularly enjoyable for me to get to see so many gathered together at one time. We enjoyed some delicious desserts, we sang and praised Jesus together, and then I shared with our local body what God has laid on my heart for this next season. While still being relatively new to Mars Hill Shoreline, this felt like a definitive moment for us as a church where I really was able to step forward and share my heart openly with our members. God is so good!”
Sammamish
Pastor Alex Ghioni had this to say:
“Our members’ meeting was really a family meeting where we talked about our year in review, some perspective for the present, and some vision for the future. Afterwards I had many encouraging conversations with our family members who spoke passionately of their love for our church and our pastors. We’re looking forward together to becoming a strong loving church that adorns the gospel.”
Portland
Pastor Tim Smith had this to say about their time together:
“This week we gathered the whole Mars Hill Portland family together for a night of celebrating what God has done in the previous year and looking towards a bit of where we think he’s leading us in the year to come. It was amazing to recognize many ways he is building the church and thank the literal army of volunteers and leaders who love and build our church. Our prayer for the coming yeas is twofold: that we would grow to love and care for one another more deeply and that many more would experience the love of Jesus through us.”
Sponsor a Student | Summer Camp
RED Summer Camp is less than two months away for junior high and senior high school students. Each year, hundreds of students have the opportunity to hear about Jesus, make new friends, and make some of the best memories of their life. Some of these students come from families that can’t afford the cost of summer camp. We invite you to change a student’s life by sponsoring them to go to camp this summer. Follow this link to find out more.
We Want to Hear from You
We wanted to hear back from each of you about what you like and what you’d like to see more of in this weekly communication. Click here to tell us your opinion.
Fiscal Year End | June 30th
As a reminder, the church’s fiscal year ends at midnight on June 30. Our prayer is to end FY14 strong so we can best prepare for Mars Hill’s participation in the work of God and mission of Jesus in FY15. Please pray for our church family during these next few weeks as we end FY14.
Important dates
- July 20–July 27: Best Sermon Ever Series Launch
- Aug 4–6: RED Junior High Summer Camp at Great Wolf Lodge (Register here.)
- Aug 26–29: RED Senior High Summer Camp at Washington Family Ranch (Register here.)
- Aug 30–Sep 14: Fall Series Launch
- Oct 28–29: Resurgence Conference 2014
- Dec 24: Christmas Eve!
2015
- Jan 2–12: Spring series launch
- Apr 5: Easter 2015
By Pastor Dave Bruskas
By Mars Hill Church
By Pastor Bubba Jennings
Bellevue: Reminded of Pastor Mark’s call to pray for friends who don’t know Jesus, a couple was praying for their co-worker when he unexpectedly called them. He asked what they were doing, and they told him that they were going to church. The coworker came with them and during the service, felt the weight of his sin and need for a Savior. His co-workers brought him forward for prayer at the end of the service and the coworker met Jesus.
Sammamish: An elderly woman and her middle-aged son told Pastor Alex Ghioni that they were Catholic and normally attended a church down the road. The son said that he has been podcasting Pastor Mark for a couple months. Even though he’s never read the Bible, he’s finally started to understand it after hearing pastor Mark preach. Listening to Pastor Mark’s sermons has finally opened up the Scriptures for him and he’s hungry to hear the Bible preached.
Everett: A man and his family recently moved to Everett from Minnesota. The man planted a church with Acts 29 about four years ago, but over the last year has felt Jesus calling him to Mars Hill Church and Mars Hill Everett in particular. He handed off his church to one of his elders and has moved to Everett to intern and serve Jesus.
