Pastor Mark’s recent sermon on Acts 9:10–17 challenged us to think about who God is calling us to go to and share the gospel with. This is not always an easy thing to do, as we saw with Ananias. In light of that, pray like the Apostle Paul did in Colossians 4:3–4: “that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ . . . that I may make it clear” and go.
Summertime and Softball
Click on the graphic above for more game details and pictures.
Last Saturday evening, two Mars Hill churches came together for a night of food, fun, and fellowship. West Seattle hosted their annual Summer Kickoff Picnic at Lincoln Park. Upon hearing of the event a few months ago, Pastor Ed Choi, lead pastor of Rainier Valley, challenged West Seattle to a friendly game of softball.
The event provided opportunities for the congregations of the two Mars Hill churches to laugh, compete, and bond together. The idea that we are one church in many locations was lived out on the field and around the BBQ on Saturday evening.
Members’ Meetings
Our churches have had the opportunity to meet together as a local family for their members’ meeting this June. We pray that these meetings have been encouraging and helpful to you. The following churches had their meetings this week:
Rainier Valley
Pastor Ed shares with family members.
Pastor Ed Choi shared this:
It was really encouraging to see many of our members come to the meeting to celebrate God’s goodness and faithfulness toward Mars Hill Rainier Valley. Close to 60 percent of our members attended the meeting, for a total of 87 people. Many of our members appreciated Pastor Bubba Jennings coming and sharing his thoughts about the current state of Mars Hill Church. I was really encouraged to see our members excited to be part of Mars Hill and willing to be part of God’s work in and through his church.
Tacoma
Pastor Bubba invited Pastors Ed Choi and Aaron Gray to give an update on their ministries. Both were trained as Lead Pastor Residents at Tacoma and sent out from there.
Pastors pray over Pastor Joel Brown as he enters the Lead Pastor Residency.
Pastor Bubba honors Tim Chavira as “Volunteer of the Year.”
Pastor Bubba Jennings had this to say:
As Mars Hill Tacoma met for our members’ meeting, the Holy Spirit moved through the body bringing humility, unity, and joy. We celebrated Jesus together and remembered all that God has done at Tacoma this past year, including helping us purchase, renovate, and move into our new home, add three new worship services, see the leadership across the church double, welcome 93 new members, dedicate 47 babies, and celebrate 25 students’ professions of faith and about 120 baptisms for the year. Overall, it was a joyful time to repent, forgive, and rejoice in Jesus together.
Phoenix
Pastor Ryan Welsh had this to say about Phoenix’s members’ meeting:
At our members’ meeting last Sunday, we experienced and recognized what Jesus is doing in our church. We installed nine deacons and remembered all the amazing things that have happened in our first eight months, not the least of which was 39 baptisms since our public launch in January. We also spoke of the difficult financial place we are in right now, with a new and very young church that meets in the heart of the city. I was proud of the maturity and unity of our church family. We are truly blessed to have such great men, women, and children worshiping and being a part of the family at Mars Hill Phoenix.
Church Family Update Video
Pastor Sutton recently recorded this month’s Church Family Update in Spokane. Enjoy!
Staff Chapel
Last week we had to make the very tough decision to transition a number of people off of staff from our ministry support departments, as well as some staff at a few of our local churches. These are all faithful people who served and worked hard for the church, and we regret that we had to make these changes. If you know any of them, please reach out to offer your prayers and support during this transition, and please continue to pray for the church as we navigate through a tough season.
At this week’s Staff Chapel, we had the opportunity to invite these friends back so that we could honor them and pray over them. It was a meaningful time of worship and reflection as a church family. We are so thankful to have had the opportunity to show these staff members how deeply we care about them and appreciate the contribution they have made toward Jesus’ mission at Mars Hill. While they may no longer be on staff, we love them and they are still a part of our church family.
Sponsor a Student for Camp
RED Summer Camp is less than two months away for junior high and 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 lives. Some of these students come from families that can’t afford the cost of summer camp tuition. We invite you to change a student’s life by sponsoring them for camp this year. Go here for more information.
Check out this video of what our students can expect his summer:
Global FAQ
Some of you have had questions about Mars Hill Global, so we put together a page of frequently asked questions. We hope these answers will help clarify any confusion you have about Mars Hill Global and the work that Jesus is doing through our church.
Fiscal Year 2014 Ending
As a reminder, the church’s fiscal year ends at midnight tonight. 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. If you would like to give a gift above and beyond your tithe to Mars Hill, please go to marshill.com/give.
Important dates
- June 30: Last day of fiscal year 2014
- 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 Mars Hill Church
By Pastor Mark Driscoll
By Pastor Ryan Kearns
Ballard: There were 40–50 Campus Crusade for Christ (CRU) students at the 9 a.m. service. They had just arrived in Seattle for a summer project and wanted to attend Mars Hill. Their leaders told Pastor Scott Harris afterward that the message from Pastor Mark was exactly what they needed to hear: “It was perfect!” They were all encouraged to start their project after coming and worshiping with the Ballard family, and they also encouraged the church.
Tacoma: Two young ladies from a local college have attended two weeks in a row and are getting connected to a Community Group. One of the them said that she was surprised a church of our size cared about her and that Pastors Joel Brown and Bubba Jennings remembered her.
