becoming who we are ...

As a prisoner for the Lord, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:1-6

we're five weeks into this Ephesians series ... what an amazing journey for our community ...

our prayer is that God speak to you this week ... that He would remind you of the call on your life ... that you are blessed, you are chosen, you are adopted, you are forgiven, you are alive ... you are called ... and God will never change the way He sees you ...

and may you live a life worthy of this call on your life ... may you live who you are ...

Picnic & Ultimate Frisbee ...

just a reminder ...

this tuesday night at Enterprise Park ... on the field above Kid's Kingdom ... picnic and ultimate frisbe ... show at at 6 p.m. ... bring your own picnic ... bring your family ... bring your girlfriend ... bring your mom ...

Poem from Sunday night

I posted it here.

ashley's story ...

last week at the Stirring, we talked about how God pursues us ... when we least expect it and when we least deserve it ... we were dead, but God makes us alive ... here's one of our stories ...

ephesians ...

hey stirring community ...

a couple weeks ago, we began a new series 'becoming who we are' ... we're reading through the book of Ephesians ... I believe God has so much to say to us over these next few weeks ... let's keep pressing into Jesus ...

and I pray that you, being rooted in love, may grasp how wide and how long and how high and how deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge ... that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God ...

Ephesians 3:17-19 ... we're praying for you ...

adopting sofia ...

on Sunday night, we began an eight week series in the book of Ephesians ... becoming who we are ...

what is so awesome about this story is that Dan and Alyssa would travel across the world to get to this one girl, Sofia ... that they would spend so much time and energy and money to bring this one girl home as their own ...

and what if God pursues us with that same passion?

becoming who we are ...

this sunday night, we begin a new series 'becoming who we are' ...

most Christians still believe that following Jesus is about what you do ... but it's just not true ... following Jesus is about who you are because of what Jesus Christ has done ... and yet we get this so confused ...

so many of us spend our entire lives trying to do all the right things to please God and everyone else ... and it gets so exhausting ...

so over the next few weeks, we want to create space for God to speak to us and shape us and remind us who we are ... and when God speaks and we get a glimpse of who we are in Jesus Christ, we will never be the same ...

see you Sunday night ...

Couples night

Saturday May 31st
Ralph and Pricella's house (2602 Yana Dr.)
6:30-8:30pm
Bring a food dish to share
Childcare available if RSVP
RSVP to Ralph and Pricella 222.2432

This is a great way to connect with other couples at the Stirring.

newcomer's gathering ...

if you're new to the Stirring or you just feel new to the Stirring, don't miss our newcomer's gathering this Friday night, May 23rd, at Dan and Alyssa's house ...

just show up, hang out and meet our team ... and eat dessert ... check out our website www.thestirring.org for directions to the party ...

Let's try to help the White's

Jared and Amanda White are in need of a low cost apartment or in-laws quarters so they can save money for a year long mission trip to Ukraine, working with orphans. They need to move out of their current apartment (Simpson married housing) by May 31st, because Amanda just graduated from Simpson. They're looking for a place to stay for about 8 months so if you have any leads, give them a call! Thanks.
(530) 917-7911

mother's day ...

tuesday nights ...

so, we played a little Ultimate Frisbee last night ... the conditions were perfect ...

light winds ... cool summer air ... steak on the barbie ... and my wife packed me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich ... homemade jelly ... perfect ...

we're playing Tuesday nights at 6 pm for the month of May (and maybe longer) ... we're meeting on the upper grass at Kid's Kingdom ... see you next week ...

Stirring Kids

just wanted to say thank you to our Stirring Kids team ... you guys are amazing ...

I am convinced that our 'Greatest Call' is to our children ... Jesus always welcomes the children ... to Jesus, they are not a second thought ...

if you get a chance, thank Bethany Hardy, Emily Branca, Cassie Cable and the rest of the Stirring Kids team ... thank you for showing God's love to our children ... they will never be the same ... and my wife and I will forever be grateful ...

and thank you, Jeremy Coverdale, for this amazing photo ... you are such a huge and creative blessing to our church ...

Abby Will @ Yaks

hey everyone ... just wanted to remind you about tonight ...

Matt and Abby Will, our missionary's in South East Asia, are spending a week with us ... I spent a couple hours with them this morning ... amazing ... they have such a passion for justice and ending poverty ...

if you're interested, Abby will be speaking tonight, friday, May 2nd, about 'women in poverty' at Yaks @ 6:30 p.m. ... you're all invited ... if you get a chance to meet and encourage Matt and Abby while they are in Redding, that would be awesome ...

ultimate frisbee & picnic

so, it's that time of the year ...

Ultimate Frisbee and picnic ... next tuesday night, May 6th, @ 6 p.m. at Enterprise Park (above Kid's Kingdom) ... 

I'll bring the frisbee and you bring the picnic ... bring your own picnic (BYOP) ... bring your family or your girlfriend and don't forget a blanket ... see you there ...

please comment if you are interested ... I'm not playing Ultimate Frisbee all alone ...

Thoughts on last week

Sorry this is late. Anna and Leah had some great thoughts about last week at the Stirring. Let me know if I missed your thoughts.

The terminal

The conference is officially over. Amazing. Nate and I are both moving to a remote village in Honduras for two years to start up a clean water project and plant 4 churches. It will be cool. Someone tell our wives. Meghan is speaking till we get back.
If that doesn't pan out we will be home tonight at 11:30pm in Sac...that get us home at 2:30am. At least we aren't acclimated to east coast time! It's gonna feel like 5:3oam.
We are gonna be fresh at the Stirring!
Can't wait to see you all...keep blogging.

spiritual gifts & questions

hey guys, we're just sitting in this hotel room in Orlando ... dan lance and I flew out for a 'church planting' conference called Exponential ... so far, speakers Andy Stanley, Ed Stetzer and Alan Hirsch (the shaping of things to come) ... it's been provoking ...

this coming Sunday night, we'll be talking a bit more about spiritual gifts ... that God has given each one of us unique spiritual gifts ... healing, prophecy, discernment, service, mercy, teaching, leadership and many more ... and God calls each one of us to bring our gifts to encourage, strengthen and provoke the family ...

so, what are your questions when it comes to spiritual gifts? what would you like to hear more about? if you have any thoughts, weigh in ...

and don't forget love ...

Dudes responding...this blog is blowin' up!

I asked the dudes to step up the blog love at the Stirring and they have responded like crazy: Aaron, Derrick, John, Juan, Kendall, Paul, Sean, and Tyler have all recently created blogs.
I think it's pretty crazy that in 2.5 months we have 37 Stirring peeps with blogs and an average of over 50 individual visits to our blog a day!
I love the direction a few of the blogs have moved to in serving needs. Go check out Amy and Chris' blog.
I'm hoping that this community gets larger and larger and that we find all kinds of creative ways to become family. Keep the blogs comin'!

we are family

all right, we're 3 weeks into this series 'we are family' ... 

we've talked about God's heart for family ... we believe that God is calling us out of a dark room into family ... that God is calling us out of hiding into this messy, imperfect family that bears His name ... 

and not only that, God is family ... the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit ... God has always been family ... God has never been alone ... and that we cannot fully reflect God's image by ourselves ... together as a family, we bear the image of our God ... as we love and forgive and sacrifice together ... amazing ...

we've talked about family responsibility ... that as we mature in family, we are called to carry weight ... it's so easy for church to become a chair ... we come and sit and sing and leave ... and that's it ... 

we realize this is America ... and for many, this series is uncomfortable ... for most people, church has and always will be a chair ...

but for those who are serious about living the way of Jesus, it's time to become the family God has created us to be ... to step into our unique family calling ... to come out of hiding ... to sacrifice ... to make the time ... to get out of the chair ... to become fathers to the fatherless ... to carry weight ... to put God on display in every way possible ... 

we are family ...