Once we are clear that “there is a God—and it is not us”, then the great question of our lives kicks in. In every new challenge or crisis, each time to take our next step of obedience, we consciously or unconsciously ask the same question: “Can I trust God—can I really trust His will and way with this situation or area of my life?” (whatever it is). Someday we will realize the right question, the bigger and better question all the way along was really: “Can God trust us?” So… How big is your God? Do you look at life through the grid of getting and grasping your resources and power, or tapping in to His? Join me this weekend for a look at the only miracle story of Jesus (apart from His resurrection) that all four Gospels record—and what it teaches us about God’s most crucial equation in our lives.

Jesus gave His disciples a powerful mandate in Matthew 28:19-20. His words to the disciples (and to us) are so expansive, so radical, so transcendent—so much bigger, and broader, and higher, and deeper that if you call Him Lord—you will start thinking in terms of not just your tribe, but every tribe. Not just your camp, but every camp. Not just your people, but every people. And what is inspiring to me is just how many people in our community have bought into the world-impacting, selflessly serving, servanthood embodying vision of Jesus (Way to go, Damascus Road!). Last weekend and this weekend we are celebrating the actualization of the words of Jesus through us. Join us this weekend as we look at the Lord’s work through Damascus Road in India and Africa.

There is no greater buzz you can get from anything else than being on mission for Jesus!

This week is our opportunity to celebrate all that our children have been learning in our Children’s Ministry teaching this summer, on the theme of Jesus Rescues!

We will dive into one of the stories our kids learned, the story of the Prodigal Son – a story about the intense drive for independent, indulgent living that we all have. But at some point, like the Prodigal Son, we all find out that we need more than just ourselves and material resources to live a sustainable, satisfying life. We need each other, and, most of all, we need the Father who waits to rescue us from the pig-pen where our illusion of independence dumps us.

There is nothing like riding your bike into a valley and feeling the air get suddenly cooler, or smelling a patch of honeysuckles; hearing a water fall before you see it; or seeing a bear lumbering through the woods with nothing between you and him.

Freedom!

Life didn't start out the way anyone would've hoped or planned. The baby couldn't have been born under worse conditions… Nobody wanted him, Actually it seemed like it was even worse than that… It really did seem like everybody was against him. He wasn't the first baby born with all the odds stacked against him that's true... that's one of the heartbreaks of the world we live in.

I wished I could say that that was the worst of it, his birth and from there things got better… but they didn't. Before he even could walk those in charge tried to kill him and his dad, mom and he barely made it out of town alive… Running!

Life wasn’t easy for the Original Outlaw… neither is it for us. Let’s go on a journey of adventure, danger, risk, and see where it takes us together. You ready to ride?

Paul Foss
Director of Outreach

We conclude our journey of seeking, discovering, and finding our lost lines by looking at how Scripture exhorts us to live our lost lines within the context of a community (as promised, I will talk a little about the myth of the American cowboy!). The theme of a deep sense of love and community is at the heart of the ensemble Jesus put in place for the world to find and live their lost lines. In a world marked by so many divisions, what if the community Jesus founded got passionate about finding and living our lost lines, walking in unity and in sync with our Line-Giver, giving sacrificially, serving joyfully, and loving selflessly? Join us this weekend as we explore and catch this greater vision.

Over the last three weekends, we have been journeying through this idea that a lot of people in our country and our world are living a different story from the ones they were meant to live. We have considered the claims of Christ against that of many others. And we looked at how God is broadcasting our lost lines in a nonstop global simulcast. This weekend, we will look at how do we actually go about discovering and inhabiting the story we were meant to live. The Bible gives us lots of clues and we will look specifically at four things we need in our lives if we are to unearth and live out our lost lines.

You are also in for a treat this weekend. My brother-in-law, Daya Rao, who is a well known Christian artist in India will be worshipping with us (some of you may remember him from his previous trips with us). Come early so you don’t miss this.

We continue this weekend in our series on discovering and living our lost lines. Our lost lines have not changed. The Line-Giver has not changed. And what is amazing about our Line-Giver is that He is so extravagantly generous. He will not withhold the lost lines from someone who has been hard-hearted and rejected Him. He will not turn away anyone who may have adopted a wrong set of lines. He keeps broadcasting the lost lines in a global nonstop simulcast. And Jesus makes it very clear that there are four types of reaction people have when they receive their lost lines (and only one of them leads to a fruitful, abundant, and meaningful life). Join us this weekend, as we learn how to tune into this global simulcast.

Last weekend, we learned how each of us is living a story. And for many of us, the story we are living may not be the story we were meant to live. So we live fractured lives. The good news is that there is a Line-Giver. The Line-Giver had grand plans for the first humans, for us. He had these awesome lines for them, for us. But the first humans decided to abandon God’s script and adopt their own—one of sin and rebellion. As the consequences of living this alternate script unfolded, it fractured the community God had in mind with humans. The lines humans chose broke the relational community between God and them and between each other. Join us this weekend as we learn more about this Line-Giver and how we can find our ways back to living our lost lines.

We are starting a brand new series this weekend, Lost Lines. Everyone is following a script. Each one of us in our town, in our nation, in our world, is living a story. And that story has been shaped and molded and fashioned by many things.

I care very deeply about whether we are living the right story. A lot of people in our country and our world are following a different script, a different story from the ones they were meant to live. The influence of these stories is subtle, clever, and devastating to the human soul.

And throughout history (and now through God’s Word, prayer, and His community), God keeps reminding people about their lost lines. Join us as we embark on a metaphorical journey to find and inhabit our lost lines. When we do, it invades our hearts, renews our minds, transforms our souls, and we get to enjoy a more purposeful, rewarding, and satisfying life. A life in tune with the one God wants each of us to live.

It is perhaps the most famous chapter in Scripture, rivaling Genesis 1 (Creation), Luke 2 (Christmas), and Matthew 5 (Christ’s Sermon on the Mount). At a wedding, you will or have read this chapter of the Bible sitting alongside people without faith or with a different faith. How do we explain it? How do we understand it? How are we to live by it?