Thursday, June 23, 2005

Random Reflections

I was reading in Psalms this morning and was struck by the call of Psalm 107 to give thanks and to celebrate the redeeming work of God in our lives.

1 Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever!
2 Let the redeemed of the LORD say so,
whom he has redeemed from trouble
3 and gathered in from the lands,
from the east and from the west,
from the north and from the south.

We often ask the question in our Ministry Staff meetings here at Grace, "Where is God at work at Grace Church?" It is always a time of encouragement and celebration. As we share, I find myself lifted out of the day to day tasks and troubles. My vision of the big picture of God's mighty hand at work in people's lives is renewed. Maybe that's why the Psalm writer concludes his psalm by saying

43 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things;
let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD.

May we be wise today and reflect on the ways in which we have seen and experienced the richness of the Gospel. Let's hear the urging of this psalm to reflect on the Lord's unfailing love for us. I would love to hear where God is at work in our midst...

Pastor Steve

Wednesday, June 22, 2005

The Blues

I'm finally getting caught up to the 21st century and making my first blog attempt! It looks like it's been a while since The Source blogged anything, so it's time the newbie gave it try! For those of you wondering who this guy is on The Source blog, I'm the new Adult Ministries Pastor here at Grace and I get to oversee The Source--a ministry that celebrates, proclaims and lives the Gospel of Jesus Christ among college-age people on the Central Coast and beyond.

We just saw all our Cal Poly students take off for the summer and we have just welcomed back our Out of Towners and welcomed in our new Freshmen class (Seniors a mere week ago!). As I shared on Sunday, I think the Lord has given us a real "kairos" moment--a critical moment of opportunity--at The Source this summer. With our eyes already turning to the fall and the return of many of our students, we are trying to capture this summer to provide opportunities to connect and to go deep with each other.

Here's a few happenings in our ministry to get our summer rolling...

- Starting this Sunday 06/26, we're launching into the second half of the book of Acts--we're going to follow the spread of the Gospel in the early Church and be challenged by God's Word about how we celebrate, proclaim and live the Gospel as college-age people on the Central Coast

- We're going to a SLO, Blues Game on Friday, July 1. $6.00; We're meeting at SLO Stadium in Sinsheimer Park at 6:30 for the game at 7:05 pm; (Bring your money THIS Sunday to sign up!)

- We're gearing up for our All Church 4th of July Picnic @ Meadow Park, 11:30-3:30. This is a great place to dive in and serve!

My question as I write is this... Are you out there after our long silence? We want to stay connected even though it's summer. I'd especially love to hear from those of you who are home for the summer. Are you still checking up on us? Any Freshmen readers?