So, what do we do with Halloween? First, we shouldn’t merely accept it nor quickly dismiss it. The history of Halloween is muddled and unclear. As scripture is unclear on the matter, each of us must give careful thought to the question. The issue we’re dealing with here is one of conscience, which means the end product may differ from Christian to Christian. This also means we have to be careful when speaking to others whose consciences may be weak in this area (1 Cor 8). Ultimately this is an open-handed issue.

Let’s first cover a bit of the history of his sugar-coated holiday. (Disclaimer: The history of this holiday is long, complex, interwoven and often debated. This is my attempt at synthesizing my research and findings.)
There are signs that in the early 4th century the church had a day, the specific day is unknown, during which they celebrated the lives of well-known Christians. Several hundred years later on May 13th, 610 AD, Pope Boniface IV consecrated the Pantheon and established that day to specifically celebrate Mary and the martyrs of the Church.

The history of Halloween is long, complex and somewhat uncertain. Halloween, as we celebrate it today, can be traced back to pagan, Catholic, and relatively recent American roots. It is therefore difficult to pinpoint any one single source of this over-commercialized holiday, let alone a general consensus as to what it actually means.

Missio Dei is a latin theological term that means the “sending of God”. The term highlights the truth that mission is birthed from the trinitarian nature of God. God the Father sent God the Son, Jesus Christ (John 12:45,49;16:5). God the Father and Son sent God the Spirit (John 15:26;14:16,26). Now, God the Father, Son and Spirit send the church (John 17:18;20:21).

Today we turn three years old, Mars Hill West Seattle. Jesus has been good to us. Birthdays are occasions to celebrate the grace of God in giving life, nurturing growth, saving souls, transforming lives, healing scars, reconciling marriages, forgiving sin, and making worshipers. So today we’re not merely celebrating our life but the One who has given us life as his people.

This week I have the privilege and opportunity to travel to Ecuador to help lead, teach and participate in the first ever Latin American Acts 29 International ‘Church Planting Foundations’ conference. It will be a short, quick, and hard-hitting trip aimed at training, equipping and identifying indigenous church planters and movement leaders in Central and South America.

This past Monday we held our annual Fall Member Night. Unlike many church member meetings there were no votes on paint colors, no debates over carpet and no church discipline cases discussed. Rather, nearly 200 people showed-up as we unveiled our vision for the next season as a church. God’s presence was felt, the vision was embraced and we freely worshipped as God’s people.

By Pastor Adam Sinnett
This past Monday we held our annual Fall Member Night. It was a great night filled with vision, song and prayer. The primary intent of our time together was to address how we’re in a season of reinventing ourselves and, in many ways, relaunching as a campus.

The primary themes included:

Centrality of the [...]

This fall at Mars Hill West Seattle everything is changing and, at the same time, nothing is changing. While our worship of Jesus and participation in his mission remain the same, how we do that is changing. We need to meet. So, on Monday, September 28th at 7:00pm we will host an All Member Meeting for members of Mars Hill West Seattle. The evening will be filled with…

This week we dove into the theme of mission and unpacked it across the four acts of the story of God – creation, fall, redemption restoration. We saw that we’re not merely supposed to hold tight on our own and wait for God’s eventual new creation but actually begin to live and experience it now within Jesus’ redeemed community, the church, and as the church participate w/ God on mission for the spiritual, social and cultural renewal of the city that serve as a sign of the kingdom to come, until the perfect arrives. We defined God’s mission as his aim to make a people of His own from all tribes, tongues and nations through the gospel for his glory, our supreme good and the eventual renewal of all things. It’s that mission that he invites us to join him on.