I’m just home from our denomination’s annual pastor’s conference, and I feel refreshed and blessed. What a grace that Life is part of a healthy, missional family of churches!

This Sunday is going to be great – it is our annual family business meeting (emphasis on the “family”). Ordinarily we do this immediately after our worship gathering, but this year we are going to do part of it during the service as well. It seems appropriate as we give thanks for all God did in 2009 and look ahead to where he is leading us in 2010 to make this part of our worship. It’s going to be great - hope you can be part of it!

Lord bless you guys, and we’ll look forward to being with you this weekend -

Tim
Mt 6:33

Hey friends –

Thank you so much for your generosity toward those in need in Haiti! I love that our church is always ready to step up and act like the church.

I was invited to post some thoughts about this tragedy on a new blog at my alma mater. I know many of us are wrestling through these questions too -

Earlier this week a friend and I were talking about the tragic earthquake in Haiti, and he asked me how God could allow suffering of this magnitude to take place. In the face of the tremendous pain and loss we see going on there, any attempt to answer that question feels hollow. Yet the question persists: if God is good, how can he allow such suffering and evil in the world? My answer went something like this . . .

(Click here for the rest of the article)

Love you guys, and love doing life with you. Lord bless you -

Tim
Mt 6:33

Hey friends!

I wanted to give a really big thank you for sharing the joy on the release of my book! Sunday night was a blast, and I’m continually blessed as I reflect on it. Your excitement, kind words, prayer for me – in a nutshell, knowing that you, my church family, are proud of me in this – is worth a ton. Special thanks to Dee and her team in putting the night together, and to all those who brought food. Good times!

Love you guys, and love doing life with you. Lord bless you -

Tim
Mt 6:33

Hey friends!

Lots of very good stuff this Sunday:

• Mozambique – The money we raised during the Advent Conspiracy made a BIG difference in Africa. Details and stories . . .
• Vision – We anticipate God doing some very exciting things in and through us in 2010 – you need to be part of making it happen! Up, In, Out, Together . . .
• Book release party – I wrote a book! On Sunday we’ll celebrate, and pray together that it blesses a lot of people. Thanks for sharing the joy!
• Food – We’ll be sharing a meal after worship on Sunday - sign up with Deanne to bring something (deannefunk@gmail.com).

Love you guys, and love doing life with you. Lord bless you -

Tim
Mt 6:33

Thank you for the plethora of responses to last week’s challenge to do hard things (“Jefe, what is a plethora?”). That post clearly hit a nerve (in a good way). I love that we are a church that doesn’t want to just play at Christianity, but live it!

Along those lines, last Sunday we began our series on Life’s vision for 2010 by noting that before we ask the question of what kind of mission God has for me, we need to ask what kind of me God has for his mission. Am I becoming the person God intends me to be? Am I available to God – in terms of my character, my time, my relationships – in a way that will allow me to be part of the action?

These are the three questions we posed (out of Romans 12), and I want to invite you to continue to take these to God in prayer this month as you look forward to 2010:
1. What is my plan for spiritual growth? (v. 1-2)
2. How will I use my gifts? (v. 3-8)
3. How will I grow in community? (v. 9-21)

This Sunday we will continue our series by looking at what we see God doing with us in the coming year, and what our response as a church family needs to be. Good times!

And two upcoming events:

• Next Thursday is our homeless dinner, and in addition to food we want to provide gently used jackets, sweatshirts, and long sleeve shirts to our guests. If you have any to contribute can you bring them to worship this Sunday, or contact Risa at pinkytink55@yahoo.com.

• And Sunday the 17th after worship we will be having a little book release party and family dinner. Sign up with Deanne to bring something (deannefunk@gmail.com).

Love you guys, and love doing life with you -

Tim
Mt 6:33

I recently came across a book for teenagers called Do Hard Things. I didn’t read it (personal rule: after one’s hairline begins receding one should not read books written for teens), but the book grabbed me all the same. The premise is simply this: *We were made by a big God to do big things in God’s big world, so it’s a tragic mistake to live small.* The problem, though, is that living big is not safe, nor is it is easy. But it’s better. So do hard things. (Can I get an amen?)

You have chosen to be a church planter. And not just that – you have chosen to be part of a church community that wants to reach out to the least reached group of people in our city (young adults) and minister to the needy in our own city (not downtown). And that joyfully gives away large sums of money to care for orphans in Africa and Mexico, help the world’s poorest people develop businesses, and educate pastors to start churches in a country most of us will never visit. And you are part of a church that is actively praying for the privilege of sacrificing to see a new church started in 2010 in Vegas! And that is crazy enough to believe that God will use us in seeing 1000 churches planted around the world before we’re done!

You could be doing something easier, but you’re not. You are doing hard things, and I commend you for it. (And seriously, do you want to go to your grave knowing you lived a comfortable Christian life or knowing that you changed the world?)

January is vision month, and beginning with this weekend, we will be talking about doing big, gnarly, important, hard things. Don’t miss it!

Love you guys, and love doing life with you -

Tim
Mt 6:33

A quick reminder:

Thursday at 4pm is our annual Christmas Eve service. I look forward to this service every year – it’s a fun and sacred time to focus on Christ amid the rush of presents and turkey.

4030 Spencer St., #105
Torrance, CA 90503

(Sunday we’re back at our normal time, finishing our series on the Advent Conspiracy.)

May God bless you richly this Christmas season!

Tim
Mt 6:33

This week we heard an exciting story out of the orphanage we partner with in Mozambique. Through the kindness of our friends there, a notorious local witch left her practice and came to faith in Christ.

Commenting on this, Alex Viana writes the following to Life’s global outreach team:

Many wonder how to reach the lost in places like Mozambique. Some ask “Isn’t it more important that we send missionaries to places like this and have them preach the gospel to the natives?” Others ask “Why be holistic in your approach to reaching the lost? Is giving them food, a place of shelter and medicine as important as the gospel?” These are all good questions and very legitimate; sharing the gospel is VERY IMPORTANT, but how does the “good news” of the gospel land in ones heart when there is so much illness, worry, fear and a growling stomach? How much better is it to live out Gods love to those first by unconditionally accepting them, feeding them and demonstrating Christ compassion and care BEFORE we present the Gospel?

. . . What we are doing by supporting the Melanie Center isn’t just a nice “humanitarian” gesture for those less fortunate than us, it’s MUCH more than that. Every dollar we give buys a meal for the children and a meal to share with a community, a place to go to and be loved, a few pills of medicine that brings physical healing. When a stomach is filled, a hug and smile are shared, and you can genuinely see, feel, smell and touch the presence of God in a place like the Melanie Center…then my friends… we have a heart that is ready to truly hear the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ.

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' (Matthew 25:37-40)

What we are doing for “the least of these” my brothers and sisters, we are doing for the Lord. The things we are praying for, the work we do has ETERNAL ramifications!

Thank you everyone for living out what you believe. I’m truly blessed by each of you and consider it pure joy to minister with you.

To God be ALL the Glory,

Alex Viana

I would add my thanks to this too – thank you for being the church, not just playing at it.

Lord bless you friends, and we’ll see you this weekend –

Tim
Mt 6:33

One of our core values at Life is that we are a “devotional” people, living with the conviction that nothing is more important than a love relationship with Jesus. This value has been in full swing over the past eight weeks as we’ve studied and practiced the Lord’s Prayer. Representative of the comments I’ve received is this one:

“Using the Lord’s Prayer as a model definitely changes your perspective. It hones your focus and guides you to pray as Christ instructs. It has helped me get away from rote praying or ‘check the box’ praying that has become a habit. It is such a simple, straightforward example. Kinda embarrassing that I forget He provides us with such simple solutions.”

How do we sustain a life of devotion, and carry into everyday life? Jesus tells us it’s all about our focus. This Sunday we will be wrapping up the series with this teaching.

Another of our core values is being a “missional” church. We don’t exist for ourselves, but for the good of the world. For the rest of December our teaching will coincide with our Advent Conspiracy project, which by the way is off to an excellent start. Our motto this Christmas: Worship Fully, Spend Less, Give More, Love All. The Advent Conspiracy is a radically, refreshingly different way to celebrate Christmas, and I hope you’ll jump in. Guaranteed you’ll be blessed.

Lord bless you friends, and we’ll see you this weekend –

Tim
Mt 6:33

When I was initially getting into ministry one of the very first messages I gave had the very long title: “If the Christian Life Isn’t an Adventure You’re Doing It Wrong.” I still wholeheartedly believe that – now more than ever!

Jesus once said, “My Father is at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” God never stops – he is always at work in us and around us! And in numerous places we are told that God chooses to do his work through us. We are God’s “fellow workers,” “partners,” “ambassadors,” “sent ones.” “As the Father has sent me,” Jesus said, “so I send you.”

I often talk to believers whose walks with Christ have become boring, and I say this without accusation – they are doing it wrong. You are invited to join God in his work, which (some of you know this to be true) brings serious purpose, excitement, and yes, adventure into your life. Every (yes, EVERY) day you have the opportunity to join God in his work, if only you are paying attention, prayerful, and courageous enough to jump in.

If you are bored, you have only yourself to blame.

Long before I was a pastor I committed to ministering to at least one person every Sunday. I would pray before I arrived at church, “God will you direct me to at least one person today who has a need I can meet.” And fifteen years later I am yet to have a Sunday where that hasn’t happened.

Are you bored? Maybe Sundays are a good place for you to start. Pray that God will use you. Pray that God will give you the opportunity to give a word of encouragement to someone, pray with someone, be a listener, teach someone, make someone feel welcome. Do you go out to dinner after worship? Invite a new person or someone you don’t know well to come with you. If you are prayerful, alert, and gutsy enough to step out there, I guarantee you will be used by God. (And when you get good at that you can pray the same prayer on Mondays . . .)

And by the way how cool was JusticeNOW this past weekend? Worshiping with others and making a tangible impact on the local and global poor – this is at the heart of what the church is about. Thanks to everyone who prayed and participated!

This weekend we’re back in our series on Learning to Pray. Jesus is our teacher, and I’m loving the stories I’m hearing of what we’re learning.

Love you guys, and love doing life with you. Lord bless you –

Tim
Mt 6:33