Authentic

Our revolution series comes to a close this Sunday with a look at Revolution in Authentic Spirituality.  The text for the morning in Proverbs 31.10-31.  The wife in this hero's song is presented as the perfect picture of how to live a life of wisdom.

Our morning starts with the song "Revolution" followed by a conversation about how people have seen others as examples of what it means to live a life of wisdom.  After a moment to greet each other we'll be heading into a time of worship through song.  We continue our worship with the giving of our gifts and then a powerpoint that simply asks the question "Spiritual?"  The message begins with a bit of help from the dictionary (or lack there of) on what it means to be a spiritual person.  

After the message we again turn our hearts toward God in song and then he dismisses us into the world to do his work.

Washington Week

As we get into the final week of primaries what better time to talk about a Revolution in Washington?    The text this week is from Proverbs 16.10-15.   We'll be looking at the attributes that God looks for in a good candidate.

Our service starts out with a focus on revolution and then we get a little flavor of a presidential debate.   Out of that moment we will head into praising God in song.   From songs to continued praise with the giving of our gifts.   

The message opens with a bit of YouTube fun looking at political ads.  You can check one of them out here.

We will close our service with song.

Make sure to check out the helpful voter info in the bulletin.   If you haven't registered to vote you can head to the table in the courtyard where we have all you need to get into the american political process.

See you Sunday.

It's a Job Sunday

Revolution in the Workplace is where we are heading this Sunday. We go back to the wisdom of Proverbs, this time to learn about the ant in Proverbs 6.6-11 .  As we'll discover in the 21st century there seem to be two basic ways to look at work--one of which may be represented by the book at the left.  Which if either of these two views should we be going after?

The Seven Dwarfs get us off to a start with a bit of  "Hi Ho",  then an introduction to the topic of the day and worship through song.  Our offering comes next (our corners offering is for forgotten man ministries).   The next thing we get to hear is a man on the street interview about people's attitude toward their work.  This will bring us into the message for the day--which will start by looking a lot of things on stage.  Our service concludes with singing and receiving God's blessing.

Just a reminder that after the services there will be a job fair and that beginning April 20 our church administrator, Jim Johnson, will be teaching on ROLES--a way of discovering what God is calling us to do in the world of work.

Understanding Christians and Culture shaping

Andy Crouch does a great job of giving insight into different ways of looking at culture.  The Youtube is a part of a speech that you can find complete at the Fermi Project's Website

Sometimes You Wonder

I was reading the story of the Exodus a while back and was struck by the story of the 10th plague.  When the firstborn of the people of Egypt are killed by God's angel of death I've always seen in the reaction of the people of Egypt grief, but this time in reading the story I saw something else.  The texts reads,  12.33 The Egyptians were urgent with the people to send them out of the land in haste. For they said, "We shall all be dead."   This is not the most flattering picture.  The picture is not of grief but of fear for their own lives--it seems to be a very self-centered reaction.   In their response I can't help but see myself in times of trouble, focusing on myself rather than others and their needs (or for that matter as long as I'm OK I don't have to worry much about those other folks).   

The reactions of the Egyptians seem to put them at odds with the picture that God has of creating a covenant community where Jesus tells us that they will know we are his disciples by our love (John 13) and the early community of faith where they sold their goods and possessions and gave to each one as he had need (Acts 2).  This last picture of the Egyptian people at the end of plagues that showed God as superior to the gods of Egypt leaves me wondering if God was seeking to show that not only is he superior to the gods of Egypt, but also his community is superior to the community built by these gods.

A Bit of Medical

Just wanted you to know that Linda and I are in Florida for some more medical follow up to her cancer last fall.  We've got a good friend and doc who is overseeing her follow up medical stuff and he lives in Ft. Lauderdale.  We'll be doing 2-3 hours a day of treatments from Monday - Thursday, then we'll sneak in a day of fun before flying back on Saturday.

New Movie--Worth Checking out

It's called "The Cult of Sincerity".  Watch the trailer below.  You can check out their website too.

Job Fair

 On Sunday April 13 after the services we will be having a job fair for those looking for work.  If you are looking for work or you know someone who is you can invite them.   The Job Fair is part of the revolution series.  On the 13th we'll be talking about Revolution at Work.

Revolution in the Bedroom

We're continuing our revolution series this week looking at Proverbs 5  The service starts out with a reminder that we are part of a revolution.   We move from there to focusing our attention on God through song.   Offering and announcements come next.  We have a new corners offering this month:  Forgotten Man Ministries, this ministry reaches out to those in prison.  After the offering we'll hear the text and then watch a bit about storm surges, after the video we'll look at God's revolution in the bedroom.   The service will close with song.

A note to couples:  as part of the Revolution series the youth group is sponsoring a date night for couples at EverGreen.  On April 25 from 6-9 p.m. we are offering free child care so you can get out and enjoy an evening together.  You can sign up for this childcare at the information center.

China

The Onion jumps into the China debate in its usual unique way:


China Celebrates Its Status As World�s Number One Air Polluter