5 Family Members, 3 Continents - Oh My!

At the INFOdesk@baylife.org

• Practical Prayer Training – June 26 | everyone welcome – 1 pm Room 603
• Prayer Night – June 28 | 7 pm in the Children/Student Building
• Kids First Step Class – July 10 & 17 | Register in Children/Student building
• Welcome Lunch – July 17 at 12:30 pm | Register at the INFOdesk, childcare is available with pre-registration
• Baptism – July 23 & 24 | Register at the INFOdesk
• High School & Middle School Camp registration forms are available at the Family Ministry counter.
• We need people with sign language skills. Contact the INFOdesk for further information.  

Greetings Lifers,

From my favorite booth at my second favorite local Mexican restaurant, I greet you - warm salutations to you in this already beyond warm summer. Pray you are all well. I am on the brink of another day off from work (my Saturday is really Friday - I work most weekends). it's a busy month coming up for the Saunders clan - Eleanor and I head to Africa (Village of Hope, Pastor's Training Conference and a wedding of a friend over the course of 12 days) as our 2 youngest head to their Aunt and Uncle's in Illinois and our oldest spends 2 weeks in Costa Rica. 5 family members, 3 continents, oh my.  Be praying for us please as we travel.

This weekend at Bay Life we are uncorking an all too familiar theme - the fact that good things often give way to bad/hard to handle things. "Life was going along fine, and then all of a sudden..."and everybody can fill in their own blank. Why does this stuff happen? What is God doing in the midst of our disappointments? How does God want us to walkthrough the hard things we face? Come and hear the story of the church at Ephesus as they worked through (or rather, God worked on their behalf through) the incredibly difficult circumstances surrounding their formation some 2,000 years ago. We can all be encouraged by we have to learn from them.

Alright then - signing off and shipping out - see you this weekend!

Mark

1200 arms and 1200 legs ...

At the INFOdesk@baylife.org

• Practical Prayer Training – June 26 | everyone welcome – 1pm Room 603
• Prayer Night – June 28 | 7pm in the Children/Student Building
• Kids First Step Class – July 10 & 17 | Register in Children/Student building
• Welcome Lunch – July 17 at 12:30p | Register at the INFOdesk childcare is available with preregistration
• Baptism – July 23 & 24| Sign up at the INFOdesk or email cperkins@baylife.org
• High School & Middle School Camps registration forms are available at the Family Ministry desk.  

Greetings Lifers,

What has 1200 arms and 1200 legs, sounds like a jet plane taking off, has the raw energy of a nuclear power plant, and smells like a barn? If you guessed Kidapalooza here at Bay Life, you’d be correct (okay, they don’t all smell like barn animals – smiley face). If you haven’t been up here any night this week, you’ve been missing out on 580 plus kids and leaders having the time of their lives – games, LOUD singing, teaching time, awesome skits, and of course, the now customary “sliming” of an adult leader. Our Children’s Staff and volunteers are doing an amazing job!

Here’s why I mention it – the gospel will be clearly spelled out for these kids on Friday night. Potentially we could see dozens of young men and women find faith in Jesus for the first time. How many of us can trace our faith origins back to a camp or an outing like Kidapalooza? So here’s the deal – we need to pray for our vision to be realized, that these kids might become Christ followers who eventually make followers who make followers. It is “go” time, church – let’s all spend a moment right now in prayer for the young hearts that God is going to call to Himself this Friday night. Pray against distractions that would keep kids from attending and the fears that would keep them from confessing faith in Christ. The harvest is plentiful – may we see God reap!

Have a great weekend and do make it to one of our services on Saturday or Sunday – remember, we are committed to gathering, growing, giving and going.

Here’s why I mention it – the gospel will be clearly spelled out for these kids on Friday night. Potentially we could see dozens of young men and women find faith in Jesus for the first time. How many of us can trace our faith origins back to a camp or an outing like Kidapalooza? So here’s the deal – we need to pray for our vision to be realized, that these kids might become Christ followers who eventually make followers who make followers. It is “go” time, church – let’s all spend a moment right now in prayer for the young hearts that God is going to call to Himself this Friday night. Pray against distractions that would keep kids from attending and the fears that would keep them from confessing faith in Christ. The harvest is plentiful – may we see God reap!

Have a great weekend and do make it to one of our services on Saturday or Sunday – remember, we are committed to gathering, growing, giving and going.

Blessings!

Mark

Pastor

Bay Life Church

P.S.

Prayed for the kids yet?

The Life Groups/Connections office at Bay Life Church is currently accepting resumes for a full-time Administrative Assistant position. If interested, please submit a resume to jweaver@baylife.org.

Let Jesus Live In Us

At the INFOdesk@baylife.org

• Kidapalooza – June 13-17 | applications available at the INFOdesk or online
• Blood Pressure Screening – June 12 | after services in the Cry Room
• Welcome Lunch – June 12 | Register by June 5
• Chick-Fil-A cards at the INFOdesk | Missions Benefit - last day to purchase is June 5
• Men's Choir for Father's Day – June 19 | Meet on stage following any service on June 11 or 12 to participate

Greetings Lifers,

I know it’s a busy season – graduations, school wrapping up, etc., but I really need all Lifers on deck for this weekend’s services – I have much to say about our direction and future in my time with you on Saturday or Sunday. So please join us.

So I am reading a book (just started actually) that is challenging me to remember who I am in Christ and how I am to live my life with Him. I have taught you all to live like Jesus lived (and lives), but this book is saying that we need to let Jesus live in us, that Christ is in you and He will live the abundant life He has given you through you as you allow. It’s not a “He will help me live the life” thing, but a “He will live the life Himself” thing. I just need to get out of the way.

Like I said, I am just starting, but I like the authors point so far (he co-writes with another guy – their names are Dan Stone and David Gregory and the book is called “The Rest of the Gospel”). He uses 2 Corinthians 4:18 to set up for us the focus of life -

“...as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”

He argues that we all too often make the seen/temporary things of life the focus of life (how much money do I have, who loves me, how important am I at work?) rather than living for the unseen/eternal things (how can I honor God with my money, how much does He love me, how important is God to me?). The unseen (eternal) things coexist with the seen (temporal), but since we can’t see them, we tend to neglect them for what we can see.

But this should not be the case with those who have been saved by the grace of God through Christ. We are to live as Paul teaches the Romans in 12:1-2 (The Message)

1-2 So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. 

So here’s my question – is your focus on things you can see, or things you can’t? Are you well adjusted to your culture and unaware of your Savior? May it not be so for any of us. See you this weekend.

Free,

Mark

Mark Saunders

Pastor, Bay Life Church