With the exception of his letter to the Romans, the Apostle Paul closed every letter that he wrote with a prayer for the grace of God to be with the recipients. Sometimes it was as simple as “Grace be with you,” (Gal. 6:18, 2 Tim. 4:22). Sometimes it was a doctrinally rich prayer like he prayed for the Ephesians: “Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible,” (6:24). Regardless of the words used, “more grace” (James 4:6a) is always a beautiful and timely prayer.
May “grace upon grace” (John 1:16) be yours today.
Update from Pastor Mark
Howdy Mars Hill,
As we come to the close of our Best Sermon Ever series, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate everyone that has come to serve our church in the pulpit this season. I pray that these friends have been a great blessing to you, as they have been to me over the years. Grace and I appreciate all of you that have been praying for us and our family during this vacation. I know that many continue to be curious where we are at in this season, and I look forward to giving you an update on what God is doing in my life when I am back on the 24th/31st. I love you and miss you, Mars Hill.
Softball Game and BBQ | Everett and Shoreline
The people of our Everett and Shoreline churches enjoy a day of fellowship.
This past weekend, Mars Hill Everett and Mars Hill Shoreline met for fellowship, food, softball, and flag football. Pastor Aaron Gray, lead pastor of Shoreline, shared this:
Our barbecue with Everett was a great success! More than 200 people came out to enjoy some food, fellowship, and some friendly competition. Even though Everett whooped Shoreline pretty soundly (29–3), we still had a good time. Plus, I’m happy that we even scored the three runs that we did because their team was stacked with guys (ringers!) who played professional baseball.
Everett slaughters Shoreline in a friendly competition.
Pastor Ryan Williams, lead pastor of Everett, had a trophy made for the victorious team.
More pictures are available on Mars Hill Shoreline’s Flickr account.
Donation Update | Washington Wildfire Relief Fund
Thank you so much for your generosity! As of the end of last week, $43,036 had been raised for victims of the devastating wildfires. Please continue to give as the Lord leads you. Remember that every dollar is going to support, aid, and help the recovery of victims in Eastern Washington. Go here to give today.
Check our Pastor Sutton Turner’s recent blog post to get an idea of some of the specific ways yours dollars are helping the victims of the wildfires.
Staff Chapel | Pastor Drew Hensley
During the summer, the support staff at Mars Hill have the opportunity to learn from several of our gifted lead pastors during Staff Chapel. This week, Pastor Drew Hensley, lead pastor of Mars Hill U-District, taught from Colossians 1:15–23 on placing all of our hope in Christ and nothing else.
Best Sermon Ever
We are half-way through the annual Best Sermon Ever series at our churches. We hope you were encouraged by Tope Koleoso’s teaching on living by faith. You will most certainly be challenged and encouraged by Dr. Jack Graham this weekend as he shares his best sermon ever: “A Glorious Church.”
Only two weeks remain in this series and the following speakers will complete this year’s Best Sermon Ever lineup:
- Dr. Jack Graham is the lead pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church, one of the largest churches in the United States. Through his church, he has a radio program that is broadcast across the globe to an audience in over 78 countries.
- Dr. Larry Osborne joined us for the Best Sermon Ever series last summer. He is lead pastor of North Coast Church in Vista, California, and helped pioneer the multi-site church movement.
Back-to-School Supplies Drive | Ends This Sunday!
Paul tells the Colossians to “walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time” (4:5). The current “time” is back-to-school season and we want to use that as an opportunity to love our communities well. Our Back-to-School Drive will continue through this Sunday, August 17. Please bring any and all school supplies to your church by this Sunday to bless a school in your community. You can read more details here.
Sponsor a student for camp today
Time is running out on your opportunity to sponsor a student to go to summer camp. RED’s high school camp is less than two weeks away. 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. We invite you to change a student’s life by sponsoring them to go to camp this summer. Follow this link to take advantage of this opportunity.
Check out this video to get an idea of all that our students will experience this summer:
Short-Term Mission Trips to Ethiopia
If you are interested in going to Ethiopia with Mars Hill in 2015, we need to hear from you soon. Fill out this form to receive updates as they become available. You can read about current plans for these upcoming missions here.
2014 Resurgence Conference | Update
The Resurgence Conference has always been born out of our love of Jesus and the church, and the desire to support efforts to grow leaders to grow churches. Unfortunately, we have decided to cancel this year’s conference due to some recent changes involving our speaker line-up and some other challenges we believe would make it difficult to provide the quality of conference people have come to expect. Anyone who has already purchased a ticket will be receiving a prompt refund.
Pastor Mark continues to focus all his energies for the next season on the well-being of Mars Hill, while learning, growing, and serving his family well. His relationship with Jesus, his family, and our church family are his priorities.
Important dates
- Aug 17: Final day of the Back-to-School drive
- Aug 24–31: 1 John: Love One Another series launch
- Aug 26–29: RED senior high summer camp at Washington Family Ranch (Register here.)
- Sept 11: Vision Breakfast (RSVP here)
- Nov 13: Vision Breakfast
- Dec 24: Christmas Eve
By Pastor Mark Driscoll
By Resurgence
By Pastor Seth Winterhalter
Rainier Valley: A woman from the shelter across the street visited the church for the first time last week. As she took communion, she pulled Pastor Ed Choi aside and told him what a blessing the service was. She explained that she was three days sober, and she was ready to recommit her life to God. Pastor Ed prayed with her, and she said that she would be back. Praise God that he is changing lives through Mars Hill.
Shoreline: One of Shoreline’s deacons was asked to move out suddenly by his landlord last week. He spoke with Pastor Aaron Gray who had just taught at Staff Chapel about prayer. Pastor Aaron shared with him regarding the section on asking God to provide for daily needs. As they talked, the man realized that he sometimes struggles to believe that God will provide for his needs. He believes that God can/will give good gifts to others, but struggles to believe that truth for himself. They prayed together, and Pastor Aaron encouraged him to humbly yet boldly ask God for provision. The very next day, the landlord called back and extended his lease for another year.
All content included in this post, including video and audio communications, is protected by United States and international copyright laws and subject to the terms and conditions located at marshill.com/copyright.
