Mars Hill Church | West Seattle » Pastor Adam Sinnett

Dedicating Children to the Lord at Mars Hill West Seattle

Pastor Adam Sinnett — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 08:08:26 +0000

Adapted from official MHC position statement written by Pastor Steve Tompkins

On Sunday, November 29th, we are holding our next round of baby dedications. Invariably, there are many questions about what it means to “dedicate” and why we do this. This brief article is meant to answer those questions, allay concerns and prepare for this great day.

As your pastors at Mars Hill West Seattle we strongly encourage parents to actively take up their biblical responsibility to raise their children in the knowledge, love and grace of God in Jesus (Deut. 6:6-7; 11:19; Psalm 34:11; 78:1-8; Prov. 1:1-8ff; 3:1-10; 22:6; 1 Kings 2:1-4). The following are seven points to understand about dedicating children to the Lord:

The practice of baby dedication is based on scriptural precedent, rooted in the Old Testament, in which Jesus was presented to the Lord in the temple as an infant (Luke 2:22-35).
The practice of baby dedication acknowledges God’s blessing on, concern and care for children (Isaiah 54:13; Matt 18:1-5, 10; 19:13-15; Luke 18:15-17; Acts 2:39; 1 John 2:12-13).
It is the parents who are doing the dedicating. It is a commitment parents make in their heart before Jesus and agree together to live out in their home. The dedication we perform during the church service is a public acknowledgement of that commitment.
Parents are acknowledging that their children are a gift from God (Gen 33:5; Psalm 127:3-5). As such they are a blessing, a great privilege, and a source of joy (Prov. 23:24-25)—and a lot of work too! Ultimately, we recognize that children are created by our Father in heaven, and as such, belong to him and are entrusted to parents as stewards to raise in Jesus (Exodus 13:2,12).
Parents are committing to, by the grace of God, serving as a positive example of what it looks like to follow Jesus, making it easy for their children to follow them as they follow Jesus (1 Cor 11:1), and not be a stumbling block to their children’s saving faith.
Additionally, the church leadership and community (elders, deacons, and members) commit to support and equip parents, by the grace of God, to fulfill their responsibility, and likewise be good examples to their children.
Lastly, it is important to highlight that baby dedications are not “dry” baptisms nor a replacement for baptism. Mars Hill Church recognizes believer’s baptism as being the only biblical expression of baptism. Baby dedication is not magic, nor a formula that manipulates God, nor does it place any sort of extra-special blessing or protection upon your children, nor does it secure or ensure their immediate or eventual salvation.

We celebrate “new birth” on November 29th. We’ll celebrate “re-birth” on Dec 13th.
More to come.

In Christ,
Pastor Adam

The Mercy of Giving Blood

Pastor Adam Sinnett — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:32:14 +0000

by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Extending mercy is an essential mark of the Christian life because it reveals we understand the mercy we’ve been shown by God through the gospel (cf. Mt 18:23-35). So essential is mercy to the Christian life that Jesus tells us its presence, or lack thereof, can be used to test whether true faith is present (Mt 25:31-46).

Acts of mercy offer help and healing of the effects of sin in all areas of life, including physical, social, economic and emotional (Lk 10:25-27). It is a demonstrable work that points to the greater spiritual healing offered in and thru the gospel.

Scripture is clear that no one is saved by good deeds, even merciful deeds, but by faith alone (Gal 2:15,16; Rom 9:30; Php 3:9). We do not have any righteousness of our own (Rom 3:10). In fact, even our best works are polluted (Isa 64:6). But, there is a connection between our faith and works. James, the half-brother of Jesus, tells us the inevitable sign of true faith in Jesus Christ is a life poured out in deeds of mercy (James 2:14-18).

The primary difference between secular deeds and Christian deeds is one of motivation. Christian’s are motivated by the gospel (1 John 3:16-18). We serve because we’ve been served by Jesus. We love because we’ve been infinitely loved by Jesus. We sacrifice for others because Jesus was scarified for us. We offer mercy to the undeserving because even while we were undeserving Christ offered us mercy (Rom 5:8). The only real, long-lasting, enduring motivation for pouring your life out in deeds of mercy is experiencing the radical grace of God offered to us in the gospel.

So, in light of this, on Sunday, Nov 22nd, 10:30am-4:00pm Mars Hill West Seattle will be partnering with the Puget Sound Blood Center to support “Give Life Before Giving Thanks” through the donation of blood. Each donation can save up to three lives. So, whether you call Mars Hill home or not, we invite you to join us in this collective effort to bring health, life and hope to those in our city with need. Walk-ins are welcome though appointments are recommended as space is limited. For more information, restrictions and to register go to our Give Blood page.

We give blood because there is One who gave his blood for us.

Thankful for the Mercy of God,
Adam Sinnett

Back from Ecuador | Casa de Libertad with Francisco Benfeldt

Pastor Adam Sinnett — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:14:55 +0000

by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Francisco Benfeldt is a good brother and new friend is a Guatemalan native who planted Casa de Libertad, a church on the outskirts of Guatemala City. Watch this video to meet Francisco and learn more.

Video: Francisco Benfeldt | Pastor of Casa de Libertad in Guatemala City

This is part six of six in the series “Back from Ecuador”.

To read other posts in this series click HERE.

Giving Thanks As We Approach Thanksgiving

Pastor Adam Sinnett — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 08:03:48 +0000

by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Thanksgiving is the perfect time to consider all that we have to be thankful for, especially for Christians. Jesus’ victory over Satan, sin and death (1Cor 15:57; 2Co 9:15; Ro 7:23-25; 2Co 2:14) has cleared the way for us to be in eternal relationship with God. This calls for lives of thanksgiving, not merely a holiday. I thought it would help to recount what is now true of all who live by faith in Jesus Christ in order to maximize our thanksgiving in this season. Consider this the appetizer.

In Jesus, we are adopted by God (Eph 1:5; Rom 8:15) as God’s children (Jn 1:12; 1 Jn 3:1,2). In Jesus, we are made friends of God (Jn 15:15) and saints (Eph. 1:1). In Jesus, we are complete (Col. 2:10). We are hidden with Jesus in God (Col. 3:3) and seated with him in the heavenly kingdom (Eph. 2:6). In Jesus, we are established, chosen and made holy (2Cor. 1:21-22). In Jesus, we cannot be kept away from the love of God (Rom. 8:35-39).

In Jesus, we are free from any charges against us (Rom. 8:31-34). In Jesus, we are assured that all things work together for good (Rom. 8:28). In Jesus, we are forever free from being ruined (Rom. 8:1-2). In Jesus, we have been saved from and forgiven of all our sins (Col. 1:14). In Jesus, we can go directly to God the Father through the Holy Spirit (Eph. 2:18), approaching him with freedom and confidence (Eph 3:12). In Jesus, we can find grace and mercy in time of need (Heb. 4:16). In Jesus, we are fully reconciled to God (2Cor 5:18) and can do all things through him who strengthens us (Phil. 4:13). In Jesus, we have been bought with a price and now belong to God (1 Cor. 6:19-20) and the devil cannot touch us (1John 5:18).

In Jesus, we have peace with God (Rom. 5:1) and are in one spirit with him (1 Cor. 6:17). In Jesus, we are God’s co-workers (2 Cor. 6:1; 1 Cor. 3:9), God’s temple (1 Cor. 3:16) and personal witness (Acts 1:8). In Jesus, we are chosen to bear fruit (John 15:16) as branches of the true Vine (John 15:1-5) and members of his body (1 Cor. 12:27; Ro 12). In Jesus, we are called to bring people together for God (2 Cor. 5:17-21), participate in his unfolding story of redemption (Mt. 28:18-20) and to be “sent” as Jesus was sent (John 17:18).

Given this, it is easy to see why Christians are called to be a thankful people (Ps 105:1; Ps 116:17; Ps 95:2; Col 3:15) and why thanksgiving should permeate the entirety of the Christian life. This month as we celebrate the day of Thanksgiving lets re-commit ourselves to living lives of thanksgiving.

Join us on Thanksgiving Eve, Nov 25th at 6pm, for a family-style service of thanksgiving, worship and pie-eating for his glory and our greatest good.

Thankful with you in Jesus,
Adam Sinnett

Back from Ecuador | Restore Brazil with Jay Bauman

Pastor Adam Sinnett — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:56:55 +0000

by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Jay Bauman has spent years developing relationships within Brazil as he served as the Executive and Worship Pastor of Crosspointe. A Acts 29 church in Orlando. Recently he moved to Rio de Janeiro and founded Restore Brazil to facilitate church-planting, social justice and cultural transformation through the gospel.

Video: Jay Bauman of Restore Brazil

Video: About Restore Brazil

This is part five of six in the series “Back from Ecuador”.
In my next post I’m going to introduce Francisco Benfeldt of Casa de Libertad.

To read other posts in this series click HERE.

Back From Ecuador | Compassion Connection with Steve Youngren

Pastor Adam Sinnett — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:51:49 +0000

by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Compassion Connection was our hosting organization in Ecuador. In this video you’ll meet Steve Youngren, founder and director of Compassion Connection, as he introduces himself, explains a bit of what they do and how you can help.

This is part four of six in the series “Back from Ecuador”.
In my next post I’m going to introduce Jay Bauman of Restore Brazil.

To read other posts in this series click HERE.

Back from Ecuador | Latin America and West Seattle?

Pastor Adam Sinnett — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:42:04 +0000

by Pastor Adam Sinnett

So, if you’ve been reading along with this series you may be asking, “What does Latin America have to do with Mars Hill West Seattle?” Good question. Glad you asked.

The answer to that question has three parts:

Gospel: The whole church is called to take the whole gospel to the whole world. (Mt 28:19-20) Therefore, this work is primarily one of obedience as we seek to see the gospel brought to all nations. (Acts 1:8) As a rich, developed, resource-laden country we are in a position to help see countless lives changed, transformed and saved thru the advancement of the gospel. Anything less would be disobedience. This was the first trip aimed at exploring how to deepen our involvement in church planting in Latin America.

Partnerships: One of my goals was to initiate conversation regarding potential partnerships with like-minded churches and organizations to which we send teams to aid in their local mission. Though we don’t believe in “short term mission” (because mission isn’t something you turn “on” and “off”) we are open to sending teams of people who are living on mission in Seattle to Latin America to help those who are still learning. This could also mean sending long-term missionaries out of West Seattle, which I pray for regularly. If you’re heart is burning as you read this, let’s talk.

Bilingual campus (?): Lastly, we’re in the early stages of considering what it would look like for Mars Hill West Seattle to go bilingual – english and spanish. Connections to churches and organizations in Latin America could help with this transition. Interested in helping out? Contact us at westseattle@marshillchurch.org.

This is part three of six in the series “Back from Ecuador”. In my next post I’m going to introduce Steve Youngren of Compassion Connection.

This is part three of six in the series “Back from Ecuador”.
In my next post I’m going to introduce Steve Youngren of Compassion Connection.

To read other posts in this series click HERE.

Back from Ecuador | Acts 29 in the Amazon?

Pastor Adam Sinnett — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:01:25 +0000

by Pastor Adam Sinnett

In my last post I discussed the primary objectives of Acts 29 International in Latin America. In this post I’ll explain the goals of our trip, introduce the Latin America leadership team, and recount some of the highlights of our brief, yet productive, trip that lasted a total of four days (with a day of travel on each end). It was a quick, hard-hitting, Spirit-led adventure.

Three Goals
Our trip had three main goals:

Lead, host and teach the first ever Acts 29 Latin American “Church Planting Foundations” conference.

Meet as a Latin American leadership team to pray, plan and implement a strategy for reaching the continent with the gospel through church-planting-churches.

Establish our first round of Acts 29 candidates from the, primarily, Ecuadorian applicant pool.

Leadership Team
The Acts 29i Latin America leadership team currently consists of:

Jay Bauman | Restore Brazil; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Steve Youngren | Compassion Connection; Quito, Ecuador

Francisco Benfeldt | Casa de Libertad; Guatemala City, Guatemala

Dave Bruskas | Mars Hill Albuquerque; Albuquerque, NM

Mike Gunn | Harambee; Renton, Wa | Mike serves as a consultant and trainer.

I’ll be introducing several of these men in future blog posts.

Evidences of Grace
There were many evidences of God’s grace throughout our trip but I’ll share a few of the highlights.

#1) I’ll begin on a personal note. This was my first time back to Ecuador since I lived there nine years ago. On the way down I took time on the plane to recount the many evidences of God’s grace to me in the last nine years, including graduating from the UW, seven+ years of marriage, two beautiful children, a three-year stint in corporate america, four-years on staff of Mars Hill Church, and two years spent leading Mars Hill West Seattle. Nine years ago I would have never dreamed I would be flying back as a pastor to lead a conference for potential Latin American church planters. It has been a good run so far with God’s fingerprints all over it. He has been faithful and given grace far more abundantly than all I could ask or think. (Eph 3:20)

#2) Another highlight was watching a pastor from the Amazon jungle fill out an Acts 29 application. It required a double-take. It was a small foretaste of heaven where all tribes, tongues, and nations will bow and worship before the throne. (Rev 7:9-12) Imagine paddling down the Amazon river and seeing a church sign with an Acts 29 logo on it. That’s something only God can do.

#3) The last memory I’ll recount was also the most powerful. On the last day of our trip we worshipped with three other area churches and prayed over the men who were feeling led to plant churches. This four hour service was filled with clear preaching, exuberant song, fervent prayer and, for many, tears of joy and repentance. Simply put, it was powerful. The gospel transcends culture, language, and economics.

This is part two of six in the series “Back from Ecuador”.
In my next post I’ll answer “What does Latin America have to do with Mars Hill West Seattle?”

To read other posts in this series click HERE.

Back from Ecuador: Acts 29 International

Pastor Adam Sinnett — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:26:51 +0000

by Pastor Adam Sinnett

I have the humbling and exciting responsibility of serving as the US Area Director for Acts 29 International over Latin America. Two weeks ago I, along with several other key leaders, traveled to Ecuador to help lead and teach the very first Acts 29 church planting conference in Latin America. Its taken a couple weeks to process my time there. This blog series will tell you a bit of the story. In this post I’ll explain a little about our work in Latin America. You can read my initial post titled: Off to Ecuador | Please Pray.

Primary Objectives

Acts 29i has four primary objectives in its work in Latin America:

Identify movement leaders: Our primary aim is to identify local movement leaders, not necessarily individual church planters. Movement leaders are men who God has used to plant many gospel-centered, church-planting-churches in a specific country, region or context.

Unreached people groups: As throughout the world, there are entire people groups and cultures in Central and South America who have never heard of the person and work of Jesus Christ. The whole church is to take the whole gospel to the whole world. (Mt 28:19-20) This is our mission.

Major urban centers: We believe the primary way for the gospel to spread and transform a culture is for it to take root, through churches, in major urban centers. From these urban centers the gospel inevitably and invariably spreads to outlying areas. Therefore, one of our objectives is to target key cities in Latin America for church planting and training.

Strategic partnerships: We know that we’re not alone in our passion to see reformed, gospel-centered, church-planting-churches spread throughout Latin America. For this reason, one of our objectives is to develop strategic partnerships with like-minded churches and organizations for the advancement of the gospel.

If you would like to get involved in the Latin American movement email sal.marino@marshillchurch.org. Please pray that God would identify key movement leaders, help us establish strategic partnerships and spread the gospel through the planting of church-planting-churches throughout Latin America.

This is part one of six in the series “Back from Ecuador”.
In my next post I’ll unpack how the trip went.

To read other posts in this series click HERE.

Halloween: Loving God & Your Neighbors

Pastor Adam Sinnett — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 08:01:51 +0000

by Pastor Adam Sinnett

Given the context of the previous three posts, I submit to you the following seven ways, which are by no means exhaustive, by which to redeem the holiday for the glory of God:

First, Halloween provides an opportunity to be missional. (Mt 28:19-20; Acts 1:8; John 20:21; Mt 11:19) Our God is a sending God who sent his Son to live, die and rise again for the forgiveness of sin and redeemed life with God. As God’s people, we too are now sent. That means we should be where the community is, doing what the community is doing. This was Jesus’ model and he was called a glutton and drunkard because of it.

Second, Halloween reminds us that Jesus created candy and taste buds so that we could understand what it means to “Taste and see that the Lord is good”. (Ps 34:8; Ps 119:103; 1 Peter 2:3) Candy and taste buds exist so that verses like these make sense. Without taste buds we’d be completely unaware of what it means to taste. Without candy, we’d be unaware of how strong this metaphoric language is. What is more delicious than your favorite candy? The most delicious of candy should remind us, in a very tangible way, of how truly good Jesus is.

Third, Halloween reminds us that Jesus created creativity and humor. (Gen 1:1,27; Col 1:15) We are created in the imago dei – image of God. Just as God is a creative God that enjoys humor, so we are creative and enjoy humor. Just as God has created all things, we are a creative people and Halloween provides an opportunity to express that shared quality with God.

Fourth, Halloween provides an opportunity to provide hospitality. (Rom 12:13; Heb 13:2) Scripture encourages us to remember that all that we have and possess is ultimately from God. Thus, we should share that which God has given us with others, which includes opening our homes and welcoming strangers. Halloween provides an opportunity to love your neighbors and welcome them to your home.

Fifth, Halloween provides an opportunity to practice self-control. (Pr 25:28; Gal 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:5-7) Scripture frequently lists self-control among the essential character qualities that Christians should possess and develop. To prove this is lacking in our culture, I submit to you the following statistics: the average American consumes 20 teaspoons of sugar per day (which is roughly 2-3 pounds of sugar per week, or 100 to 150 pounds per year). The average teenage male eats 34 teaspoons per day. America accounts for only 5% of world’s population but consumes 33% of world’s sugar. Halloween is a prime opportunity to exercise self-control in eating, in particular.

Sixth, Halloween reminds us that Satan and his servants also disguise themselves. (2 Cor 11:14-15; 1 Peter 5:8) Halloween may also serve as a reminder that our enemy rarely comes and knocks on our door dressed in a devil or witch costume. He is much more subtle than that. Thus, Halloween reminds us that our enemy also disguises himself and that we should be on the lookout for subtle ways in which he may be attempting to tempt or lure us to sin, which is his primary strategy.

Seventh, most importantly, Halloween reminds us that Jesus conquered Satan and demons. (John 12:31; Col 2:9-10; Col 2:15) God created two worlds, one visible and one invisible. Satan and demons are fallen angels that chose to follow their own pride instead of following God. They now stand accusing and condemning us, but they have been defeated. D-day has occurred, V-Day is ensured (i.e. the decisive battle has been won on the cross, victory is ensured upon Jesus return). The enemy knows this and attempts to take down as many with him as he can. However he has no power over those who are in Christ. Halloween is a great day on which to remember these central gospel truths.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Cor 10:31

This is part four in a four part series exploring Halloween.
To read previous posts click below.

Part three Halloween: To Trick or Not to Treat?
Part two Halloween: The History
Part one Halloween: The Issue