Romans 6:8-11
Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9) For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10) The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11) In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

On our blustery Easter Sunday in West Seattle a few weeks ago, Shauna and I sat at the 11:15am service celebrating Christ’s resurrection. The sanctuary was decorated beautifully, the music was stimulating, the message encouraging. But the baptisms…wow! What a powerful display of God’s ability to powerfully change our messy situation and yet personally know us, love us, and transform us from the inside out. The testimonies so clearly pointed the audience towards God’s redemptive work.

As we sat there worshipping God’s goodness, his defeat of death and his ability again and again to change lives, I didn’t think it could get any better…then the spontaneous baptisms began. We watched families walk forward, brother baptize brother, and then quite a few children that we have grown to love through the children’s ministry. My heart overflowed with joy as we saw each child outwardly profess the personal relationship they have with their Abba, even at such a young age.

In particular, one almost 9 year-old girl we’ve watched grow these past years both physically and spiritually, who we have known since she was 5, when Mars Hill was still only in Ballard. We’ve watched her go from knowing no Bible to memorizing the books of the Bible, then memorizing Scripture, and now in West Seattle children’s ministry asking insightful questions during our time together. She sings worship songs with every part of her body and we have been through so much Scripture together that I believe she truly knows who her Savior is. And we got to watch her be baptized!

What an honor and a privilege to see moms and dads walking their kids forward and watching a few dads do the honor of baptizing. Praise Jesus for a church body that values the teaching of truth to children from a young age. Praise the Lord for dads who pastor their kids and moms who teach and nurture kids, pointing them toward their Creator, their Savior, and their friend. It has been, and continues to be, my privilege to witness these special moments with our many children at West Seattle.

This winter marked the beginning of a new ministry at Mars Hill Church | West Seattle. 4th and 5th grade children were given the opportunity to participate in the very first midweek program designed especially for their age group.

With much prayer and anticipation we launched “45” with a plan to help parents equip to walk in the spirit and in truth.

In the midst of an economic downturn, we thought it appropriate to spend some time helping the children see what God has to say about the subject of compassion. Biblical compassion is something we all should experience as we seek to abide in Christ and walk closely with Him, and we showed the kids how Jesus exemplified this for us. Travis and Danielle Ness are the fearless leaders of “45” and they led the children on a journey through the life of Jesus from Luke 10, and the parable of the Good Samaritan; to the way Jesus showed compassion of the woman at the well in John 4.

James tells us in James 1:22 to “…be doers of the word, and not hearers only…”, so in that spirit the “45”, students planned and executed the first annual “45 Food Drive” to benefit the Regina House food and clothing bank in Southpark. Over the 8 week program the children collected over 500 pounds of food, not to mention the clothing donations and money that was donated.

The children learned what it really looks like to be Jesus to the community, not out of a false sense of piety or a desire to earn favor with God; but rather out of a regenerated heart that seeks to worship God in spirit and in truth.

With the above in mind, Mars Hill West Seattle 4th and 5th graders will be coordinating a food drive at all West Seattle services on Sundays, February 15th ,22nd, and March 1st. All donated food and financial contributions will be used by Regina House as they work to provide nutritious food to hungry people in this community. Each year Regina House distributes food and clothing to over 10,000 families.

I encourage you to prayerfully consider giving towards this effort to meet peoples’ basic felt needs. Not out of guilt or a “have to” mentality; but out of gratitude for what Christ has done for us, and a desire to experience more of Jesus, more joy, and glorification of a Holy, merciful God-through giving to others (1 John 4:11-12).

For more information on Regina House Food and Clothing Bank, click HERE. To provide a financial gift click HERE.
Contact westseattlekids@marshillchurch.org with any questions.

A NEW DRAMA PROGRAM @ WEST SEATTLE

AUDITIONS WEDNESDAY, DEC 17th

On Wednesday evening, January 14th, West Seattle Children’s Ministry is excited to be launching a new program aimed at attracting children from the surrounding community to MHC|WS to hear about Jesus.

Caraway Street is a program that uses a large set, actors, and puppets to tell children about Jesus as well as teach children who already know Jesus about living a cross-centered life.

Caraway Street will run during the Wednesday night Equip activities in the Multi-Purpose room downstairs starting at 7pm. Actors/puppeteers will be asked to serve on a bi-weekly basis, with a scheduled practice during the off-week.

We are actively recruiting 8 actors/puppeteers (2 groups of 4), 2 directors, 2 stage mangers, 2 props makers, and 2 sound engineers for the 2009 season. Please feel free to ask any questions you have by using the contact info at the bottom of this post, as your question will likely help me answer the questions of many who might be interested.

We will be holding auditions on Wednesday, December 17th at 6:30pm at the West Seattle Campus. Also, everyone please think of ANY Mars Hill members who you think would be great as a Caraway Street performer or producer and forward their names to me.

If you are not interested in serving in this capacity, please be in prayer that the Lord will bring just the right people to this program so that we can reach West Seattle children for Jesus.

Contact Info:

o:206-816-3766
c:253-682-7865
shan@marshillchurch.org

As we continue to seek out ways that children’s ministry can reach out into the local community to love people and see their lives transformed for Jesus, West Seattle put on our first ever bike rodeo which is designed to help neighborhood kids and their parents learn more about the rules of the road that bicyclists are expected to abide by when sharing the streets with you and me.

Though the children that participated definitely came to the event just looking forward to have fun piloting their bikes through the 8 traffic safety obstacles and the 3 skill obstacles, there was also a very healthy dose of learning involved. They learned, for instance, that it is important to always start out from a stop with their foot high up on the pedal (also known as a “power start”), and they learned the correct direction to ride when riding with traffic. Young riders also mastered the trick of looking over their shoulder for cars without swerving into the lane of traffic…a feat not easily mastered by all.

When finished with the often taxing traffic safety portion of the course, riders attempted to navigate the grueling obstacle course and finished off the day honing their racing skills at the “Slow Race” (last one across the finish line without swerving out of their lane or putting their foot down wins). For the older kids, our own Gary Ashley put on a clinic on how to best utilize the BMX trick aspects of your bike…he had us all amazed as he taught some boys some tricks that looked impossible, and the boys had begun to get the knack by the time they went home.

There were refreshments (Hotdogs and Strawberry-Lemonade) which were graciously donated by a generous parent, and plenty of prizes (including a great trick-bike with all the bells and whistles) to win in the raffle. Each child received a red ticket when they registered and ran through the course, and after each group there were prizes awarded. We prayed ahead of time for the Lord to bless our attendance with people from the surrounding community that we could love with the event, and He was faithful as usual. We had a few neighborhood kids, and eventually their families, to get to know…and a boy from a block away who had no bike was the proud recipient of the great one we raffled off (I think the fix was in).

So, the weeks of planning and preparation paid off-all for His glory and fame! Praise Jesus for the work He’s doing in West Seattle and that we are privileged to be a part of it. I’m looking forward to another awesome Bike Rodeo next year so put it on your calendar and grease up your chain.

Come out Saturday, August 16th to E.C Hughes School north parking lot at 7740 34th Avenue SW in West Seattle for a day of food, fun, and prizes as we learn about bicycle safety and practice our bicycle skills!!!

Bring you bicycle and enjoy a free hotdog and drink, free bicycle safety instruction in our road safety course, and try out your riding skills on the obstacle course!!!

We will be starting at 11AM and ending at 3PM, so feel free to come by any time during the day and enjoy the festivities!!!

No registration is necessary…contact Shan at shan@marshillchurch.org or 206-816-3766 for more information.

Mars Hill Church and the West Seattle community have a lot of great activities for children this summer, all of which are opportunities for children to invite school friends and neighbor kids to come with them. Programs like the Vacation Bible School (pending improvement in church-wide giving, we will be holding a VBS July 28 – Aug 1 at E.C. Hughes Park) are traditional places children invite their non-Christian friends and they are great places for children to meet Jesus for the first time, but remember to think outside that box and help your kids learn the importance of developing genuine relationships and really striving to love others (Matt. 12:31). Community events offer Christians a unique opportunity to invite those with whom they are building relationships to something that does not have an inherent “string” attached in their eyes. Is there a family in your neighborhood who has declined invitations to attend MHC or an event there? Try inviting that family to Annual Admiral 4th of July Parade or another event that you can all just hang out and visit. I think it is important that children see in our actions that we really believe Jesus when he said that loving our neighbor is the second most important thing besides loving God.

Are you interested in being involved in reaching the children of West Seattle for Jesus? Mars Hill West Seattle Children’s Ministry has an exciting summer planned, including VBS in July, a bicycle rodeo in August, and the Launching of Caraway Street program in late Aug. to early Sept. We have a very few volunteers so far to facilitate these plans! Please consider helping us by giving of your time and talents this summer…your decision to respond to the promptings of the Holy Spirit to give sacrificially could mean that some child and, Lord willing, his entire family meeting Jesus THIS summer! E-mail westseattlekids@marshillchurch.org NOW and we will get back to you about how you can help.

Then it all happened again on August 1st, 1981. At 1 minute after midnight a new station was launched with the intent to broadcast yet another way to experience music….namely music videos. As “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles echoed its phonographic sounds into homes all across America, a new age was born. By lunch time, an estimated 500,000 TV sets were tuned to the revolutionary channel and, once again, it was soon hard to remember that we used to have to wait until a specific program was broadcast to see our favorite pop bands “Whip It” or engage in a “Thriller”.

And so, we at Mars Hill West Seattle find ourselves on the cusp of yet another technology-driven revolution. Mars Hill Church will be utilizing the technilogical breakthroughs available in the 21st century to reach more people than ever with the message of The Gospel this Sunday. Though, at first, it will surely be somewhat of an anomalous experience for many; the fact is that, in time, we will be hard-pressed to remember a time when the ONLY way we could hear Pastor Mark was to drive from Kent, or Alki, or Bothell, or Edmonds, or even Kirkland to a dimly lit warehouse in Ballard where we would strain to see him all the way up at the front of the huge room, then squint at our Bibles as he preached.

The day may come, in fact, that we may chuckle and shake our heads at the days when we couldn’t travel instantly from anywhere on earth to be challenged by the Holy Spirit and God’s Word as a Mars Hill pastor preaches live (well, he’ll be a flawless hologram of course) in the new, 1 million square foot outdoor auditorium in the Mars Hill Church eco-bubble on the moon.

So you might want to think twice before you click “delete” on all those MH Vodcasts you’re downloading, because someday some rich, counter-cultural kid who refuses to “sell out” may pay you a fortune for your retro Mark Driscoll.