"Ships & Storms"

Finally! The long awaited storm has arrived!

This past Sunday was the 1st week of our new series: "Ships & Storms", which is a 5-week plunge into the book of Jonah.

I've seriously been anticipating this series for at least 9 months. (Yes, 9 months...and it feels like we're finally giving birth:)

It's gonna be unbelievable. Why? Because it's such a gospel saturated story!

The reason the series is called Ships & Storms isn't because the title "Jonah and the Whale" was already taken by every Sunday school class in the known universe.
Rather, we called it Ships & Storms because of the role the ship and the storm play in the story of Jonah. (I know. Genius.)

SHIPS are the vessels we take in our attempts to flee from God as we seek freedom and meaning in life apart from him.
STORMS come to save us from ourselves.

God-sent storms come hurling at us, not as punishment, but as a merciful intervention. God hurls his tempest to lovingly strip away our false hope, which will eventually sink, so that we may be truly free and possess a lasting hope in the one true Savior, Jesus Christ!

In most movies and stories, storms are what people get rescued FROM...

However, in the upside-down realm of the gospel, STORMS do the saving! STORMS rescue people from SHIPS.

Ahoy.

"BIO" my story. His Glory.

This series is utilizing one of the greatest tools we have in ministering to others...our story. Over the last few weeks we've had some of our staff upfront sharing their life story/journey with the HSM...and it's been legit!!!

Here's a few reasons WHY "BIO" has been awesomely awesome!

1) No prep for me. (Before you call me a lazy bum let me throw out a disclaimer: I've needed a break from speaking AND this list is in NO particular order of importance or significance...Ok, I'm glad I got that out:)

2) It gets the staff involved.

3) Students get to know these OLD people and realize that they're not that different or perfect as they once thought.

4) The power of God's Grace is manifested in the stories of men and women, who've screwed up, sought repentance, and are now living redeemed and restored lives. That's just plain powerful!

5) What's happened in the past could've been used to destroy my friends, but God had a better plan that has brought these people here to this place, this church, at this specific time, to be used by Him, for His glory!

...and that too is just straight out powerful!

"Project Runway"

We're surrounded by it.
Everywhere we turn, everywhere we go, we’re all desperately trying to look good.
Do you feel the pressure to fit in? Do you feel like no matter what you do, you never quite measure up?
What is it that we're all so frantically seeking? For the next four weeks, we'll discover the truth about who we truly are and what it is we’re really longing for!