getting stuff done

I've been in a major mode of reorganizing my life recently. Constantly having emails, phone calls, meetings, lessons to prep and meetings to prep coming at me--in addition to trying to spend meaningful and intentional time with people can all become a bit overwhelming at times. I know you students out there aren't thinking about this stuff much right now because you're outta here for Christmas--but don't worry, come January you'll be back in the thick of it! (By the way, didn't someone say once that life's easier out of college? NB: you're on break and those of us post college types are still working away!)

Anyway, I've been reading through a book called Getting Things Done that has been tremendously helpful. It's allowed me to corral my stuff I've got to do and to start organizing it...and...well...getting it done! I highly recommend the book to anyone who wants to (or needs to) get better at getting done everything that comes your way in a given day. Anyone else have resourced they like for accomplishing all their "to do's" in life?

celebrating Jesus

Saturday night a bunch of us got together in the Ministry Center at church to celebrate Jesus' birthday! It was great to see everyone dressed up and to just get time to hang out and chat (and eat and drink egg nog--egg nog's my favorite!). I got to talk Cassie, Katie, John & Tim--all of whom I've never really had the chance to talk with before! KLIFE provided us with some great Christmas CD's that we gave away, so some people are going home with some great tunes to remind them about The Lord's Son this Christmas! Here's some pics of some of those who were there--I loved seeing Stephen and Austin squaring off during charades! (Stephen walked up all quiet and reserved and threw himself down on the floor and waved his arms and legs as soon as their time started--it was an awesome sight! He's agile like a cat!) As we hit finals these next couple weeks (Poly and Cuesta) and head for home, let's keep our eyes on Jesus, who broke into this world as a tiny baby to bring redemption and reconciliation!

first all-college email

Earlier I sent out this email to everyone on my college list. I got a bunch of failure messages back, so I didn't know if everyone acutally got the email, so here it is in blog form... (Keep in mind there were cool pics scattered throughout, so you'll just have to imagine, because I can't figure out how to rerpoduce that on the blog!)

OK EVERYONE!!

This is my first all-college email—woohooo!!

I just want to remind you all of a couple things about the Christmas Party on Saturday...

First don’t forget, we’re meeting at 6:00PM at church in the Ministry Center (you know, where college usually meets on Sunday mornings)

Next, don’t forget to wrap your White Elephant Gift for the gift exchange that night. Don’t spend money on this—remember, a “white elephant” (hwit-el-ê-fânt) according to the Oxford American Dictionary is “a useless possession,” so keep it cheap!

We’re going to have plenty of holiday goodies to eat like cookies, taquitos, chips and other great stuff plus great stuff to drink (Egg Nog is where it’s at! But we’ll have coffee, cocoa, cider, etc.)

We’ll have Christmas music, great times with friends and save your dough, without the dinner portion—we don’t need no stinking $5.00 (In plain English, that means the party is free!)

We’ve had a great response and a good list of sign-ups going—I can’t wait to get some time to get into conversations with everyone and to get to know you guys better! Even though this guy (Santa Claus)can’t make it, I think we’re going to have a great time celebrating the birth of our Savior as everyone gears up for finals. See you there!

In His Grip,
P. Steve

a lot like christmas

Thanksgiving is over, but the Holiday Season has just begun! Progressive Dinner it out, and quality time together is in! This Saturday, Dec. 3 is our College Christmas Party! We’re going to get together for an evening in the Ministry Center at church to spend the evening celebrating the birth of Jesus as we connect with each other, catch up with friends, sing some Christmas songs, and eat Christmas deserts and drink Egg Nog and apple cider before finals and Christmas break. If you haven't signed up yet, email kara@graceslo.org and let us know how many are coming with you. We're meeting at 6:00PM at church in the Ministry Center in semi-formal attire. Cost is $5.00. We've made some changes from the flyer so sign up before you do another thing!

turkey day...turkey bowl

I'm getting posts from Spain now that are wondering what happened a the Turkey Bowl--it's an international sporting event! What a great time! Just so you all know, the rumors are true, I was dragged through the mud by five (you know it TOOK five to take me out!) college guys. Just wait until next year!

Of course college took home the victory with a 10-9 score. It may only be a point, but it's a point! We'll have to see if high school has it in them to take on again next year. We had parents, grandparents and a few interested church folk who turned out to cheer our athletes on and to make the day even better. This was such a fun event from challenging each other on Sunday mornings (high school, we have to give it you that you took us down in the pre-game activity!) Then we got togehter back at church for the Thanks Gathering Dinner--a record numb er of college students turned out for that too--I'm guessing close to 50.

While Pastor Tim got to take the train to Southern California to see his family, we spent 8 hours on the road getting down to Long Beach to spend time with Lisa's family. Our boys struggled with the amount of time that we spent in the car and I'll just leave it at that. We had some great time together as a family and made a 31/2 hour trip home on Saturday in tiem to rest up for church Sunday. What a great Thanksgiving time--now it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

turkey bowl edition

SUnday, Sunday, SUNDAY! Turkey Bowl is coming this this Sunday! Waht can I say, we've got tto give to the highschoolers for coming back with some serious chutspa! I've been hearing everything from our guys saying we have to split up the guys and girls because the girls won't hang, to some of our ladies who are getting uniforms together and getting ready to kick some serious butt! We had 60 sign up on Sunday with a third of our group gone for the three day weekend--between us and the high schoolers, I think we're going to see a sporting event that's only beat out in size and draw around the world by the Tour de France, World Cup Soccer and the Superbowl (I'd say the World Series, but it doesn't have the mass appeal it used to). We're also setting a collge record with most everyone whose coming to Turkey Bowl coming back for the Thanks Gathering Dinner that night.

This is going to be agreat weekend right before our Thanksgiving break!

before lance...leMond

During LeMond was...Leonard. OK, so I'm reliving Junior High fantasies of riding with Greg LeMond and winning the Tour de France. Here's the good news, being that Lance Armstrong is around 1-2 years older than me, it's a good thing I went to seminary. I would have just been beat like everyone else! After a l-o-n-g break, I have literally been gearing up to take my bike out on the road again (By the way, you can see what my bike looks like if you simply look at the guy's bike behind Greg's behind). Cycling technology has left me in the dust, so I'm getting out there old school (Steel is real, baby!), but it's time to get out on the road again. I have my new shoes, helmet & gloves and even took my Battaglin in for an overhaul, so once I've got her back, it's time to hit the road! Anyone for a ride???

operation rescue

Driving around Pismo Beach when Lisa and I were here in SLO interviewing for this position, I was struck by how many signs there are on the street-side of the off ramp that boldly proclaim, “DO NOT ENTER! WRONG WAY!” Danger signs. The good folks at Cal Trans (Thanks Gregg!) have placed those signs there to tell us that we are in danger if we proceed any further along that course of action.

We’ve been investigating Mark’s claim that this is the Great News about King Jesus, God’s Son. Last week we talked about the reason Jesus came: He came to save rebels. All of us are rebels and thus, we are in danger. While the first part of the Great News about King Jesus, God’s Son is really very bad about ourselves, the second half of the story is that God had not only set up warning signs like Cal Trans (which He’s done), but that He actually steps in to rescue rebels like you and me.

How does God rescue rebels? Mark tells us Jesus has to die. (Mark 8:31) The ‘must’ here means “necessary for great certain ends.” It’s not just that Jesus will die, but he’s saying it’s necessary for him to die! Jesus had to die! Jesus’ crucifixion was not accidental. Jesus’ crucifixion did not take Jesus by surprise. Jesus’ crucifixion was not for us to feel sorry for the pain he experienced. The cross is so important to Christian believers because it is the lifeboat by which we are saved. This is how Jesus rescues people!

The first thing we see about Jesus dying is that God was angry. (Mark 15:33) Darkness was a sign of God’s anger and judgment. For example, we’re told in the book of Exodus that God sent darkness over Egypt so Pharaoh knew God was punishing for not letting His people, the Israelites, leave Egypt. You might not like seeing that the God of the Bible gets angry, because for us anger is usually somewhat unpredictable, wild, associated with a quick temper. But God’s anger is different—it is his settled, controlled, personal hostility to all that is wicked and sinful. A righteous God has a right, even a need to be angry with all that is evil, wrong and rebellious.
Isn’t it Great News that evil matters to God!! God does not turn a blind eye to wrong in the world. Rebellion matters to God. What Hitler did to 6 million Jews matters to God, terrorism matter to God, Sept. 11 matters to God, school shootings matter to God, Parents abusing their kids matters to God, rape matters to God, Cheating matters to God, Lying matters to God, selfishness matters to God, Deceit matters to God, adultery and sexual sin matter to God, greed matters to God. Not only does evil and sin, or rebellion matter to God, but he has the power to punish rebellion. This darkness Mark records shows us God’s anger and his punishment of rebellion.

That’s why Mark tells us that Jesus was abandoned. (Mark 15:24) At the heart of Mark 15 is the message that while many people died from crucifixion, Jesus suffered like no one else. As God’s Son, who had known a relationship with God from eternity past, He was abruptly and totally separated from God’s love and fellowship on the cross. God is punishing His Son. What Jesus is saying here is, “God why have you rejected me? Why have you thrown me out?”

Why is Jesus being punished? Why would God do this to His son? So we can be rescued! You see, the Bible says that between us and God is what is called ‘the record that stood against us.” (Col 2:14) God can see every moment of our lives—every thought, word, or deed that we ever have or will commit. Our sin cuts us off from God; We face abandonment; We are utterly forsaken. But this is what happens on the cross. As Jesus hung on the cross there was no barrier between him and God. Jesus always perfectly obeyed God, He always pleased His Father. While on the cross, Jesus took my sin upon himself. Not only that, but through the cross Jesus transfers His perfect record of righteousness to us giving us, not only a clean slate, but a positive account of righteousness with God!

Because of this, we can now be accepted by God through His Son! God was angry. Jesus was abandoned. We can be accepted.

hoedown 05!!

Wow! Or...I should say, "YEEEE HAWW!!" This year's Hoedown was a great time. I've never felt so good about looking so dumb in my life--I actually dreamt (or was it more of a nightmare??) about going the wrong way in the hand over hand pull all night on Saturday!

Many thanks to Christal and the rest of our leadership team who put so much time and energy into making this a reality. Thanks again to the Kokkonen's for hosting us and for cooking us up some great BBQ burgers. SO many people put out a lot of effort to make this event happen and I think it showed.

There were some of you who wondered if P. Steve would really get out there and dance--all I can say is, I was doing the "Funky Cowboy" as good (or bad!)as anyone out there! (I don't have any photographic evidence--did anyone get a pic to help me prove this??) If you have any pics from the night, shoot me an email so we can get them to our media team to put together a slide show of it all. I had a chance to meet a bunch of you and to hang out in way that's hard sometimes on Sunday mornings.

It was so great to see people interacting and laughing and getting to know each other out there on Saturday night--it makes me glad that we only have to wait a few short weeks until the Turkey Bowl on November 20th! I'm a little jealous of Alex and watching him walk away with that iPod, but now he can enjoy his music as he strolls across Cuesta's campus.

I never thought I'd say this (I hate country music!), but I can't wait to do this all over again! What did y'all think? What was your favorite part of the night? Did you meet anyone new? WIll you be there for the Turkey Bowl?

asking the question

It was only a year ago that every night I of the week I turned on the TV to find either an interview with Mel Gibson, or a show about The Passion, or the identity of Jesus. I walked into the Cal Poly Books store today and of course ran into The DaVinci Code (4 million U.S. readers!) the forth-coming DaVinci Code movie. This week's issue of Newsweek has Jesus on the cover! Taking all these things together, it becomes clear to me that our culture right now is very interested to know who this Jesus guy is and what he’s all about.

This past Sunday as some of our group was away on the Crusade retreat we continued to ask the question, "Who is Jesus?" Mark is defending his claim that he is writing the great news about King Jesus, the very Son of God.

Last week we saw that Jesus has the power and authority to teach and Jesus has power and authority over sickness.

Jesus has power and authority over nature. Jesus can tell mother nature what to do and she does it! (4:35-41) Think about this—these guys knew the the OT and Psalm 89:8-9, where it says, “O LORD God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty LORD? Your faithfulness also surrounds You. You rule the swelling of the sea; When its waves rise, You still them.”

Jesus has power and authority over death. Even death is subject to Jesus’ command. We block death out and avoid it. Jesus confronts death as its Lord and master. (5:21-43) For Jesus, raising someone from the dead is like waking someone up from sleep. This compels the question, "Can you trust Jesus with your own death?" Check this out, “Quiet, Be still!” and “Get up!” aren’t the most outrageous things that Jesus ever said…

Jesus has power and authority to forgive sins. Jesus has the wherewithal to heal your broken, rebellious relationship with God. (2:1-12)

A paralyzed man comes lowering down from the roof while Jesus is teaching! What’s shocking here? Not the paralytic coming through the roof—it’s Jesus' response that’s shocking—he says to the guy, “Son, your sins are forgiven”! Does Jesus totally not get it? The guy is paralyzed—why does he say “Your sins are forgiven.”?! How insensitive can you get? The issue is understanding what does “sin” is. Most people think of sin as not very serious. It’s naughty acts of fun. But according to the Bible, sin is ignoring God in the world he has made. It’s rebelling against him by living without reference to him. The Bible clearly links sin with death, and not just death here, but eternal death (e.g., Heb 9:27). That’s why sin matters. And we’ll be looking more at those consequences next week. All of us—including the paralytic have done it—we have all sinned! Sin is not treating God as God. It’s relational. It’s to use and ignore God in his world. It’s to ask Jesus, ‘What right do you have to forgive sin?’

SO, here's the deal so far in Mark, Jesus acts like He’s the ruler of God’s world. If that’s true there are some questions for us to ask ourselves…
• Do I recognize who he is?
• Will I recognize that he is my Lord and teacher, whether I like it or not?
• Do I recognize that he has authority over my death, whether I like it or not?
• Do I see that he has the authority to forgive my sin or leave it unforgiven?

These are good questions to ask because if Jesus is who he claims to be then it is a scandal that we haven’t lived under his authority, for he gives us each breath. If he is the king then we are guilty of treason. If you believe this, you have to ask, “Will I submit to him?”

littlefaith

I am always struck by the way Jesus addresses the dicsiples in Matthew 6:30. Jesus exhorts us not to be anxious about our lives--food, drink, our bodies and the like. Contrasting us with flowers and grass (which never worry in case you were wondering!), Jesus calls those listening "Littlefaiths." The orignal there really carries a connotation that carries the emphasis of almost a proper name. Jesus goes on to exhort us "Littlefaiths" to "seek first His kingdom and righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."

I am continually struck with the numerous ways in life and ministry that I live like such a "Littlefaith." The Lord wants to do so much more in us and through us for His Kingdom's sake than we can imagine! Let us seek His Kingdom and allow the Lord to add the rest!

Who Is Jesus?

This Sunday in college we began to explore Who Jesus really is. Recognizing that we each have so many questions on our minds--from the profound to the intensely personal--we have decided this Fall to focus our time together on Sunday mornings on the big questions of life such as:
• Does God exist?
• What is the meaning of our brief lives?
• Where do I belong?
• Can I know contentment and happiness?
• Where am I going?
• What about pain and suffering?

There's no better place to investigate these issues than by investigating the person of Christ Jesus. You see, the Christian faith claims to answer these questions. Yet so many still have questions about the Christian faith, because they've had experiences that lead them to wonder if Christianity is really just about boring lectures, or irrelevant ideas, or make believe stories. In the Gospel of Mark, we see that the Christian faith is about Jesus Christ and knowing Him. In fact, Mark opens his account of the life of this man, Jesus, saying that he is going to tell us the great news about King Jesus, the very Son of God! In the first verse of the book, he says, "The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God." Over the next few weeks we'll be putting Mark's claim to the test. What does he have to say about Jesus? What makes it news--what makes it GREAT news?? Is Jesus really King? The Son of God? That's what our time together will be all about this Fall.

It was great to meet another great batch of students this past Sunday! If you're still checking out churches, or even Christianity, I want to encourage you to check out the number of really good churches in the area. At Grace, we see ourselves as a part of a larger team working for the gospel on the Central Coast. At the same time, we're very excited about what God is doing in our midst here at Grace. It's fantastic the way young and old, rich and poor and people of diverse backgrounds gather together each week to hear God's Word and worship. We'd love for you to join us!

The Mystery of the Church.

What a great start to the year yesterday morning! I'm still pumped up about the way things came together! Pastor Tim brought a great message from 2 Timothy 1:13-14 about being a Truth-Driven Community. We need to remember that God has given us a message of His grace to retain, defend, preach and suffer for. By means of hte Holy Spirit, we need to believe this message inwardly and practice outwardly!

In college we had great worship--thanks to our worship band lead by Pat! You guys are incredible. Then we dove into Ephesians 3 where Paul explains the Mystery of the Church, that God includes all peoples in the Church to make Himself known to the whole world. This passage shows how God is forming an eclectic people to be His people—the Church. Race, social status, gender, educational level, looks all don’t matter to God—He has made and is making a people for Himself He calls the Church! He makes believers to be fellow heirs—anyone can be an heir to the King of All Creation and His unsearchable riches. He is forming one body—No matter who you are—cool or a nerd; rich or poor; smart or not; European-American, Asian-American, African-American, Latino; or man or woman—God is making everyone who trusts in His Son into one new unified people for Him! All who rely on Jesus for salvation and life can count on His promises to always be with us, to send One who comforts us, to see justice done in the world in the end, to know joy that surpasses understanding and to have confident access to the ear of the Creator and Ruler of the world!

As we endeavor at Grace College to celebrate, proclaim and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
among the college age community on the Central Coast and beyond, we provide a number of ways to connect with each other here at Grace College...

• Sundays—Connect with Grace’s college-age community through two entry points into our ministry Worship Service, @ 8:00, or 9:30 am, Sanctuary; The Source, @ 11:00 am, Ministry Center.

• Mid Week—Growth Groups--Growth Groups are small groups of 6-12 people who meet weekly for prayer, care and Bible study for 10 weeks at a time. Here at Grace, Growth Groups are a bridge for our college age community into the larger church body and to deeper community. The basis of our study is the Sunday morning sermon, which gives us a chance to ask questions and fully explore what we’re learning.

• Student Service Teams—For those students who are looking for a way to jump in and serve. These are lead by our Student Leadership Team. Grace College ministry has teams that serve in areas such as: Worship, Outreach, Events, Welcome, Media, Compassion.

I had a great time getting to know a number of new students as we met in the park after church--I can't wait to do it all over again this Sunday!

in the weeds

A couple weeks back things were incredibly hectic around the church office and one of our staff said she was "in the weeds." I immediately turned around and replied that I was in the weeds too! You who've been servers in restaurants know what we're talking about--you're so buried you just can't keep your head above water. I told my buddy Andre (who I worked at the restaurant with) that I was in the weeds on the phone that week and he just laughed--we hadn't used that line in 8 years. Great lines from good days! Of course the whole thing made me think how I got into BIG trouble with my manager for throwing away a strawberry garnish off of a drink and replacing it with a lime. I mean, how careless and wasteful--strawberries cost money! All this has me think about bad college jobs and funny work related expressions. What are some funny expressions you have from a job? What's the worst job you've had in college (if you currently work there, don't mention business names!)?

fall has begun!

This weekend we saw our Poly students return and got to meet a bunch of new freshmen returning to the area! Nearly 1,000 people decended upon Mitchell Park for church, food and fun last Sunday. When Pastor Tim called out to the groups, we herd a loud scream form the kids, some gutteral sound from our youth and an amazing roar from you college types! I couldn't believe how many of you I recognized from SLO Bound on Tuesday! Thanks for stopping by and spending Sunday with us in the park before school started. Don't forget this coming Sunday our college ministry will meet back in Mitchell Park again to have free Pizza in the Park. We want to get to know you, tell you more about Grace and let you ask questions about Grace, me, or Pastor Tim. We'll even have some footballs and frisbees and other fun stuff to throw around while we hang out.

As I spent a half hour in the dunk tank on Sunday (see right!) it reminded me of the way I often felt about the beginning of a new school year. You tense up every time someone throws something at you. Sometimes it plunges you underwater and you have to pull yourself back out and up onto the platform for another round. Other times you tense up to find what was being thrown at you wasn't so bad after all. As you all get into the groove of school this week (I know you at Cuesta have been in the college dunk tank for a few weeks now!), remember that you'll get used to the water and the more you relax and take what comes your way, the more fun you'll have. I'm totally excited to jump into the madness of college with you and to walk alongside you in your journey as you figure out who you are, who and what you will be and how you relate to the God of the Bible. Deus Vobiscum!

free food four in a row

As we talked with approximately 1200 new Cal Poly students on Tuesday, we invited them all to our Fall Kick Off this Sunday at Mitchell Park from 10:00am to 4:00pm. Come by andd get some free BBQ! If that's not enough, we also made a big deal about Pizza in the Park happening September 25, October 2 & 9. Who doesn't want free pizza?? So, as you can see Grace College has free food four (Sundays) in a row! It was great welcoming all these students to their new life in SLO for the next four years.


I also got a chance to welcome back many of our students who've been away for the summer on trips, working, or hanging out in their home town. Welcome back! I've anticipated this time for so long, I can't believe it's here and we're in the thick of a new year.


Next Sunday, as we jump to three services, Grace College moves to our new 11:00am time. I've talked to Pat and I know he's cooking up something special for worship that morning. This Fall we're going to be answering the question, "Who Is Jesus?" We're going to explore Christianity at it's very core. For those with questions about Jesus and Christianity we invite you to come investigate with us. For those who do claim to be Christian, we'll look on Jesus again with fresh eyes--beyond Sunday school images and media sterotypes. Don't miss out!

welcome to SLO!

Judging from the new faces I saw yesterday, we are in the full swing of students new and old flowing in to town for the Fall Quarter. Welcome to the Central Coast (again)! It's WOW week at Cal Poly this week and we're gearing up for SLO Bound--the downtown tour for new students tomorrow. Anna's done a great job getting things ready for our booth in Mission Plaza--thanks Anna! We're going to have a prize wheel, Grace College water bottles (yes, with our name printed on it) with goodies and info on upcoming events. Come by and check us out if you have time!

Ministry opportunity for this weekend... (please help?!)

Ok... It's shameless, and I know it, but I'm going to use the blog to solicit some help moving this weekend.

As you can see from my previous post, my wife and I bought a new old house. We are moving to the property (into an RV parked behind the house) this weekend and we need all the help we can get moving boxes and furniture!

I'm going to have a demo and construction crew running at the same time preparing forms for concrete, so if you know how to do that, you're welcome to join us on Saturday.

My wife is heading up the moving crew on Saturday, and the best way to reach her is by posting a comment on this blog, or by giving us a call.

Oh! And if anyone can cook up some meals that would be really helpful, too.

I apologize for using the blog for personal begging, but... Steve Leonard said it was a ministry perk. Trust me, in my flesh I despise asking for help, but the Lord has made it very clear that He wants to teach me humility through this home purchase. So, I've decided to be a quick study. I am officially going on the record to say "I can't do this on my own!"

By the way, thanks guys for all your help this Labor Day weekend. You know who you are...

This Old House

As some of you may know, my wife and I recently bought a house and are now facing a tremendous amount of repair and rebuilding. Not all of it is unexpected, but alot of it is.

This is going to be an exciting time for us. My wife and I are being drawn to depend on the Lord in ways that we haven't ever needed to before. Ok, to be honest, it's mostly me. I'm the one who is stressing out!

Perhaps as a sort of therapy, but hopefully as a forum for proclaiming God's greatness and provision, I have started a blog about the whole process. It's called "This Old House." I invite you to stop by, take a look at the pics, offer advice, and read my engaging and charming narrative as I spell out the gory (and glorious) details.

Thanks again to all of you who have been praying for me (and helping!) as I continue to tear away layer upon layer of this house, revealing more and more destruction.

Actually, this house is a perfect object lesson of how God pulls us apart to reveal our sin, and how He graciously begins to rebuild us.

Hey... that sounds like a great blog topic...

functional isolation

For a couple of weeks now I've been making a big deal about launching Growth Groups in college ministry this Fall. I know some of you are thinking through how this will fit into your already busy schedule and the various activities you're involved in. With a full schedule of classes, involvement in academic and on-campus clubs, a job to pay for school and some attempt at "having a life" besides, where on earth do Growth Groups fit in?

First of all we have to reckon with the Starbuck's Factor. We don’t want Grace College ministry to feel more like a crowd than a community. It’s too easy to come together on Sundays and then head off our separate ways. We need to connect with each other. We need a context where we can build friendships that are authentic and genuine. Even Starbucks, as they recruit employees advocate, "Create Community. Make a difference in someone’s day." Their employment opportunity cards proclaim, "When you work at Starbucks, you can make a difference in someone’s day by creating an environment where neighbors and friends can get together and reconnect while enjoying a great coffee experience." As we reach out to the college-age community here on the Central Coast, shouldn't we make a difference in people's weeks and days by creating environments where classmates and friends can get together and reconnect while enjoying an experience of the Living God through His living and active Word?

We also have to consider the iPod Factor. For Father's day last year I got a new 20-gig iPod. I love it! I listen to my favorite music. I listen to my favorite preachers and sermons. I listen to my favorite podcasts and interviews. You might even find me donning those characteristic white earphones while Matthias watches his favorite Veggies Tales (again!). Here's the thing. Lisa has teased me that she didn't realize my Father's Day gift was going to cut me off from her and those I father. Technology is great and opens up all kinds of doors for us. But it also isolates us from real human contact. For those in our college-age community, who spend hours text-messaging, writing papers on computers, surfing the net, listening to your iPods, instant messaging and the rest, it's essential that you prioritize and fight for time to get real with real people. The point is that our culture's priorities pull us apart from each other, but to live as God has created us ("Then the LORD God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone..." Gen. 2:18) we must pull ourselves together. It’s not a time issue; it's a priority issue.

Finally we have to factor in Borders and the Bible. (Sorry, that's the best I could come up with!) We all look for books about how we should do things. Phillip will be reading lots of home improvement books now that he and Jacquelyn have purchased their first house (Congrats!). I need a book on how to kill the gopher that's attacking my lawn (why do I keep picturing Bill Murray running around my front yard?). If we're going to know the best way to connect and to be a church, we have to look at the Bible. Check this out--did you know that God Himself exists in an eternal, life-giving, self-sufficient small group with Himself? It consists of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (John 17). God built the nation of Israel around a system of small groups (nation, tribe, clan, family, household). Jesus designed His ministry around small groups. He provided safe settings to discuss tough issues (Matt 9:10), he modeled truth to his disciples and they discussed what they saw him do and heard him teach (John 13:12) and He invited questions to explore issues (Matt 17:19). We also see the early church built on a foundation of large and small group settings (e.g., Acts 2:42-47, 5:42). Often, we see the large group and small group settings working in a complementary way in Scripture. That’s why we base our small groups on the sermon of the large group. We all hear the same thing, study the same thing and discuss the same thing.

As Donald Trump says, "that's the real deal." Too many of us, despite living around so many people, live our lives in functional isolation. If we are going to be a healthy community that effectively reaches the college-age community here on the Central Coast, we must have a context to build friendships that connect us like we see in Scripture. That's the goal of Growth Groups. That's the rationale of Growth Groups. Sign-ups begin next Sunday in the courtyard. Take the risk. Carve out the time. Jump in and connect through Growth Groups this Fall!