Church Irrelevant, Boring - Not For Our Students

There is a whole generation of young people that think church is irrelevant and boring.
Not our students.

We had SSM (Saddleback Student Ministry) host and lead our weekend service two weeks ago.

Our goal was to highlight how God is working in the lives our students and help our people get involved to invest in the next generation. Well, the student band was unbelievable. They had no problem playing with the crowd, encouraging them in praise and worship and having fun. We all had a blast but it just shows how talented and passionate our students really are... all for the glory of God.

Leo, our highly talented SSM Director, shared ways to get connected, encouraged people to be unafraid of students and love them by getting involved.

Surprise, surprise - We had several people sign up to serve in SSM! It also gave me time to teach SSM at the 11am service so I got to know our students, and they me. BTW, our volunteers that serve already in there are fan-tastic.

After some reflection, I realized that we need to regularly do this. It communicates to our people and to the next generation - we value, we trust and we invest in students.

And we should, it's biblical... 2 Tim 2:2.

Read more...

Leo Helps Students Realize Real Hope

Leo gave me the privilege of sharing with our students about HOPE. Specifically, helping their friends find HOPE in Christ rather than in POPULARITY, POSITION, PRESTIGE, other PEOPLE. This was my favorite graphic used in illustrating what Leo placed HOPE in before finding Jesus - being so POPULAR that he would be on the Tyra Banks show. Thankfully, someone cared enough to help him find REAL HOPE.



Here were other examples from Leo's life to help illustrate how HOPES in anything else besides God can't deliver the way He can:

HOPE IN OUR CAREERS/FUTURE



HOPE IN A PERFECT RELATIONSHIP:



HOPE IN POWER/GOVERNMENT:



Which is why God has called us to overflow and share the reasons for our REAL HOPE in Him.

Romans 15:13 (NLT) I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 3:15-16 (NLT) Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.

Read more...

Addressing Rick's Larry King Interview on April 6th

Here is a statement from Rick's media rep regarding the Larry King Interview in case you have people asking you. This is from Kristin Cole:

"I’m providing this to you in an effort to clarify statements made by Pastor Rick Warren during his April 6th appearance on CNN "Larry King Live." Several comments he made during that interview have caused confusion which I would like to clarify on his behalf as media representative for Saddleback Church.

Throughout his pastoral ministry spanning nearly 30 years, Dr. Warren has remained committed to the biblical definition of marriage as between one man and one woman, for life -- a position held by most fellow Evangelical pastors. He has further stressed that for 5,000 years, EVERY culture and EVERY religion has maintained this worldview.

When Dr. Warren told Larry King that he never campaigned for California's Proposition 8, he was referring to not participating in the official two-year organized advocacy effort specific to the ballot initiative in that state, based on his focus and leadership on other compassion issues. Because he's a pastor, not an activist, in response to inquiries from church members, he issued an email and video message to his congregation days before the election confirming where he and Saddleback Church stood on this issue.

During the King interview, Dr. Warren also referenced a letter of apology that he sent to gay leaders whom he knew personally. However, that mea culpa was not with respect to his statements or position on Proposition 8 nor the biblical worldview on marriage. Rather, he apologized for his comments in an earlier Beliefnet interview expressing his concern about expanding or redefining the definition of marriage beyond a husband-wife relationship, during which he unintentionally and regrettably gave the impression that consensual adult same sex relationships were equivalent to incest or pedophilia."
---
Kristin U. Cole
a. larry ross communications

Hopefully this helps you if you are encountering people in your life confused by the Larry King interview with Rick this past Monday. Please be praying for him as he preaches all weekend long!

Peace,
Erin

Read more...

Special Prayer Time tonight @7pm, Sback Irvine

Just wanted to let you know a few of us will be gathering at the parking lot for prayer. Pastor Erin and others will be praying for the community, Saddleback Church and our specific four Easter Services. Come out and re-live our "Prayer in the Parking Lot" experience before we launched the campus!

Time: Friday, 7-7:45pm,
Location: Saddleback Irvine, El Camino School Parking Lot
Address: 4782 Karen Ann Lane, near corner of Walnut/Yale

Read more...

GOT 45 MINS TODAY? 2PM, IRVINE CAMPUS OFFICE

We are distributing invitation cards and goodie bags to 300 of our immediate neighbors today at 2pm inviting them to our Irvine Easter services. We don't knock on doors (though you can if you'd like) - we just leave them a treat and an invite.

We did this for Christmas as well. If you have about 45minutes, we (well, Erin) would really appreciate the help! (and forward this to someone who may want to help!)

Maybe see you at 2pm today!

Read more...

Invite Friends to One of Four Irvine Easter Services

Read more...

Some Verses...

I was really challenged this morning in my devotional by these verses from Psalms. God is never done with us. There are always areas in our lives that can be refined by Him. I pray that these verses would encourage you to find the joy that comes through obedience to God!

Psalm 119 1-8
1 Joyful are people of integrity,
who follow the instructions of the Lord.
2 Joyful are those who obey his laws
and search for him with all their hearts.
3 They do not compromise with evil,
and they walk only in his paths.
4 You have charged us
to keep your commandments carefully.
5 Oh, that my actions would consistently
reflect your decrees!
6 Then I will not be ashamed
when I compare my life with your commands.
7 As I learn your righteous regulations,
I will thank you by living as I should!
8 I will obey your decrees.
Please don’t give up on me!

Read more...