Easter Sunday

The whole world needs Easter in 2023!  Every grandparent should bring their grandchildren to an Easter service this year. Sometime in the future our grandchildren will have to contend with loss, loneliness, and grief as their loved ones pass away. Why not make it a priority that they celebrate Easter this year to lay a foundation for their own mountain-moving faith.

How many people are struggling with grief right now? Help is available if everyone could just reconsider the claims of Jesus Christ.  Because Jesus has good news for us.  My dad used to continually say, "What if death is not the end but instead, is just a beginning?".  He had almost died during his birth in New Meadows, Idaho on February 14th, 1932.  This contributed to his thought that he was living life backward. He used to say, "What if this life is just the kindergarten for the real thing after death that would last for Eternity?". 

We all miss someone, and Easter is a time to balance grief with the greatest news ever announced. The Kingdom of heaven is coming and its power begins right now as we follow Jesus Christ.

I miss my dad, Pastor David Gerszeyne, Elling Halvorson, Connie Wahlin, Jack Tuttle, Jean McVay, Gary Carlberg, John Eaton, John Hosley, and the list goes on and on. I don't do any of them good if all I have is sorrow on Sunday.  But we have more than just discouragement this Easter, we have a promise of eternal life.

Great praise music from our amazing Easter band. A garden of flowers and waterfall all around us as we worship.  Tiny kids carrying flowers to the altar, a dramatic replacement of the first Easter in all of its excitement and beauty, a powerful positive message for 10 minutes- which will be my last Easter sermon. Dynamic worship will be led by Seattle Opera soprano Ellaina Lewis, and our worship leaders- Eliot Stone and Chelsea Maitland- harmonizing new tunes that glorify Jesus.

It’s going to be a great event and you are invited at 10:30 AM this Sunday . Either in-person or online.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

P.S. Don’t forget Maltby Cafe cinnamon rolls and a spectacular Easter Egg hunt for the children.

So let's celebrate this Easter!

Join us for Palm Sunday this Sunday at 10:30 AM for what I am calling “Practice Easter”. Hi, this is Pastor Tim White here asking you to join in this Sunday morning, either online or in-person.

Easter is at the center of life for any Christian Church. There can be no Christian church without recognizing this accomplishment of Jesus Christ. We would not be involved in the church without our own Easter experience. How do could we help our family and friends for Christ’s triumph over death in our lives without Easter?

The first Palm Sunday was an event that Jesus scripted to remind the people who he was and how God is King. Many churches take a leap of growth in numbers at Easter that is greater than any other time. So, they have a “practice service” so the people can sing praises straight to God. The Sunday School teachers get ready to inspire kids. The greeters, the ushers, the pastors practice Easter on Palm Sunday. Why?

This Palm Sunday we will conclude our series from Nehemiah on Rebuilding. We complete the acronym for REBUILD, with the letter “D” for discipleship. Life begins when we become a disciple. This concept will change our lives if we have the kind of experience God wants us to have on Palm Sunday.

Because Easter is our Super Bowl, we want to get it right. I know for me after losing a loved one, I need Easter. I think we can say, the whole world needs Easter in 2023. So why not join us?

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Do the Dishes

During a visit to see my sister in Los Angeles a few years ago I had the privilege of partaking in a meal called Iftar- which is a meal consumed after sunset to break the fast during the month of Ramadan. My sister's church had partnered with the local mosque to invite people to sign up to be hosted by a family observing Ramadan, and who was willing to host people for the meal of Iftar.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. During this time, those practicing Ramadan fast, pray, and reflect individually and with their community in the Islamic faith- and at the end, they celebrate together. 

At this Iftar dinner my sister, her husband, and myself were welcomed into the home of a family who was from Turkey and received incredible hospitality and delicious Turkish food. We laughed together, learned about Turkish culture, what Ramadan is about, and just got to know each other. It was beautiful and memorable. At the end of our dinner together we sat and talked and shared about what each other believes about God- not to convert each other- but actually just to know each other better. We listened to each other's story, each other's heart, each other's life. This family sang a song together and actually asked us to sing a worship song as well. My brother-in-law and myself- being worship leaders- we sang the song, "All the Poor and Powerless".

Why am I telling you about this significant experience in my life? 

Because I learned that night what it means to love a neighbor just to love them- with no agenda. And to be loved back, with no agenda. 

I had a choir director in high school who used to say to us all the time, "Do the dishes, just to do the dishes." And what he meant was, don't do something to receive something back. Do the dishes without expecting a 'thank you', or a favor to follow what you've done- just do the dishes to do the dishes. 

Love people because you love God. Serve people without agenda. 

That's what Jesus did. Jesus loved and loves us with a desire to draw us closer to Him so that we would know deep, life-changing, radical love. The kind of love we can only find in Jesus. What joy. What good news.

This Sunday Pastor Mark will be preaching through Nehamiah 5, teaching us about what the heart of a leader looks like- and how it reflects God. He says in his summary,

"Everyone created in the image of God is a leader. God invites us all to pursue biblical leadership in our lives by stepping aside and letting Him lead our lives so that God's Kingdom can be established on earth as it is in Heaven." 

Join us this Sunday online or in-person and we'll learn about the "Heart of a Leader", together. 

See you soon,

Chelsea Maitland 

Innovation

Have you ever heard of the Marshmallo Challenge?  Look it up! It is an amazing insight into creativity and innovation. I love to study innovation because it teaches us to think outside the box. Thinking outside the box is important because God is outside the box.  No theologian, or tradition, no council can box God in. God is so much more than our little minds can capture. We have to listen, study scripture, history, science, and  humanities to begin to understand the revolutionary ideas of God. Throughout our lifetimes we have so much to learn and put into practical growth to really follow Christ.

The ideas we have about God are not God. Any idea, thought, or concept never was and never will be God. They may be helpful symbols that point to God, metaphors, analogies, allegories, images, but they are not God as God is. They will inevitably conflict with one another and be fallible, as every symbol eventually fails at actually being the thing it is supposed to represent. The symbol is never thing being studied it is only a representation of something else.

The Marshmallow Challenge is a study of practical innovation.  A team-building activity in which teams must compete to build the tallest free-standing structure out of 20 sticks of spaghetti, one meter of tape, one meter of string, and one marshmallow. It emphasizes group communication, leadership dynamics, collaboration, innovation and problem-solving strategy.

The interesting thing about this group exercise used for students in MBA programs around the country is that when given to kindergarten kids they are almost twice as successful as the MBA students.

To my point God has a lot to teach us about innovation because sometimes education reduces innovation instead of increasing it. The book of Nehemiah has a lot to teach us about innovation that we will be able to use immediately in our rebuilding projects.

Let's invite God to teach us about innovation this week at 10:30 am.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Relationships

Empower

Believe

Unity

Innovation

Leadership

Discipleship

Unity in Action

As we continue with the sermon series REBUILD TOGETHER, our focus this week is on unity. We see unity throughout the book of Nehemiah. However today we will look at three examples in which unity was displayed. In chapter 3 unity is displayed when the people of Jerusalem gather together to build the wall. No one was left behind in the work; the priests, the goldsmiths, the district leaders, sons, daughters, even the perfume makers. Everyone joined in and got their hands dirty. They were all united by the work of building the wall. 

The second display of unity is seen in chapter 4 where the Jews experienced opposition, threats and intimidation from individuals and other groups of people. Instead of giving in to fear and discouragement, Nathan rallied the people and encouraged them to take up arms and protect each other. They chose to love and protect each other from hatred they were experiencing. 

Lastly, we see unity displayed in chapter 4 when all the people gathered as one to listen to the word of the LORD. They were united in worship. Their worship then resulted in celebration and sharing food with those who didn't have any. This is what I like to call transformative worship. A worship that leads to justice and action; where the weak and vulnerable in the community are seen and cared for. 

We can learn a few things from the display of unity in the book of Nehemiah. First is that unity is a verb not just a beautiful idea that we hope for. The Jews were united by action i.e. building the wall, protecting each other and worshiping together. Therefore let us pursue unity through action, by building the Kingdom of God instead of being divided by different ideologies that breaking our society apart. 

Secondly we learn that God is present when His people are united. Today more than ever the world needs to experience God's presence. In His presence we find love, healing and hope. These are all things we are looking for today. 

Lastly, unity is a tool for evangelism. Jesus prayed in John 17 that through our unity the world would know Him.

Let us seek to be united so that Jesus will be lifted for all the world to see!

See you Sunday,

Pastor Mark Nsimbi

Believe It to Receive It

I believe in God the Father who is all powerful. He is the creator of the universe and designed us with love. He has sprinkled us with smiles, ideals imbedded in our character, and hope infused in our DNA. 

I believe that God intended us to love flowers and trees, mountains and lakes, animals and blue sky. But most of all to love other people. Including tiny children bursting with giggles, young people on the edge of their adventure, and vulnerable families- precious in their potential. I sense God made us to enjoy characters, grumpy people, and masterpieces that require extra grace.

I believe the Holy Spirit is with us. For times when life is tragic His spirit does not quit. Oh there are lots of mysteries. And I believe God and science are not enemies. Science is simply God’s footprints- wondrous, fascinating, beyond our imaginations.

I believe in Jesus Christ. God’s only begotten Son. Who heals us with his sacrifice, loves us more than we can ever know, and presents hope for the most troubling situations. Jesus brings the dead back to life in Eternity. We will be surprised at all those who had more faith than we recognized because they were dancing with Jesus in tender friendship.

I believe that God is good. Yes, in the times when life does not make sense. Even when life seems bad God is good. He is reaching out to us with his outstretched hands wanting to hug us, cry with us, and laugh with us.

I believe in miracles! Times where God infuses our faith with daring and resolve. Moments that seem ridiculous because we take a stand for what is right. Committed together willing to hope that something good can come out of facing the impossible odds and trying beyond what makes sense. Bound in the friendship of the journey and at peace because we are together with Him.

I believe in you. God has called me to be a friend to you. To pray for you, encourage you, pull for you from the deepest part of my heart. I want to celebrate you, to listen to you, and laugh with you. Until someday at the dawn of an eternal morning we stand together with all of our families- all people- with our hands quivering, our breath quickened at the dawn of an eternal party with Jesus Christ. Yes, I believe, and I invite you to believe with me because there is not a better way to live.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Radical Bravery

 Hello Church!

Chelsea Maitland here. A few years ago I had the privilege of witnessing radical bravery in the midst of fear- and it came from an 11-year-old girl. It was one of the most significant ministry experiences I have had to date, and I want to share it with you because this type of boldness in the Holy Spirit is accessible to you too.

I was leading worship at a middle school summer camp. It was everything you imagine a middle school summer camp to be- full of joy, creative games, and all kinds of dancing and singing. The kids were phenomenal worshipers- but what caught me off-guard was that they actually started to lead me in worship. They were so fully immersed in these songs about following Jesus, becoming aware of the Holy Spirit, and asking God for miracles, that it caused me to engage in deeper, more intimate worship with the Lord.

One evening we started singing "No Longer Slaves" by Bethel- and during the chorus I called out to them, "Sing this to the face of fear." As they sang the words "I'm no longer a slave to fear/ I am a child of God" I started to notice a shift in the body language of one of the students. She seemed scared. 

The worship set ended and we found that this student was having a panic attack. Myself and a couple of other leaders stayed with her as the other students went to their next activity- and we found that this particular panic attack was spiraling fast, and was lasting a long time. As time went on we saw that she was staring off into the distance at something that we couldn't see. As she wept, she described a presence that she found terrifying- so we prayed. We prayed that in the name of Jesus this presence would leave this little girl, we prayed that she would know that she is a child of God and we prayed that this presence would know that too. We prayed that in the powerful name of Jesus, when we said amen, that it would leave. 

We said "Amen" and nothing changed. I was mad. I walked up to my piano and started singing "I raise a hallelujah in the presence of my enemies" and sang it from a posture of frustration at God. I asked God, "Why won't you rescue this little girl from fear?". 

Just before we were about to take her to the hospital, I watched this child walk right up to whatever this figure was- this presence that was causing her crippling fear- and say, "Be gone in the name of Jesus- I am a child of God!".

She fell to the floor and cried tears of joy, and tears of relief because it was gone. 

You see if God had answered my prayer in the way I asked God- which was that this scary presence would leave when I said "Amen", this child would not have had the opportunity to claim her own worth in Jesus in the presence of her own enemies. In the presence of fear. 

The Holy Spirit empowered her to do that, all on her own. 

That type of rescue- radical, claiming-your-worth, deliverance from fear- is available to you too. 

Come hear Pastor Mark take us through chapter two in the book of Nehamiah on Sunday. It's another story of God empowering us through God's Holy Spirit to be bold in the midst of fear. 

Peace be with you friends,

 Chelsea Maitland

When you were a child, you do something that all did.  Feeling that everything was mysterious we would operate on false expectations. Do you remember when hiding was easy? You just covered your eyes and no one could see you. And nobody should have a money problem as long as you had your piggy bank. There were enough coins in your piggy bank that you buy someone a house or vacation- it didn’t matter for you. Those types of false expectations stick with many of us through our lives.

One false expectation that sticks with people is what I call, "no time for reality".  We have so much stress in our lives that we believe that if we work our projects hard enough that we can perfect that project at the very first attempt at it.

This false expectation causes people to be stuck because after one or two failures it’s all over for them.  They give up because their false expectation led them to make a poor choice to give up.

Everything in life requires continual rebuilding.  When we send a human mission to land on  Mars we have to build, analyze and rebuild.  No one is going to develop one attempt, and then quit.  It has taken every mission since John Glenn orbited the earth in an aircraft to get as far as we have. But we’re not there yet.  So we plan on rebuilding our attempts continually until we get there.

And so it is in our church and our lives.  We need to constantly rebuild.  There is a book in the Bible on rebuilding and it is called Nehemiah.  We’re starting this series this Sunday. Why don’t you try it.

Your friend for the rest of my life,

Pastor Tim White

Aligning Our Heart With God's Heart

Happy Friday, Church!

This Sunday Pastor Mark is diving into the book of Esther to help us unpack the spiritual gift of fasting. His sermon summary is so beautiful I thought I'd post it here for you to read. Before I do that let me share with you a special memory I have of the first time I ever fasted.

I went to a private Christian school here in Washington for middle school and high school- so we often had chapels and very youth group-like events. One of those events they called the "Hunger Drive"- it was an all-night event where students stayed for worship, games, and other activities, all while fasting. In the morning we'd go door-to-door to collect non-perishable foods to bring to the local food bank.

During the worship service that night I remember we were singing those 90's camp-worship songs. And at the time, I just felt like I was singing into the abyss. Until we got to the song, "Here I Am to Worship" (remember that one?). We got to the chorus which says,

"Here I am to worship

Here I am to bow down

Here I am to say that you're my God

You're altogether lovely

Altogether worthy

Altogether wonderful to me My Lord"

As these words fell out of my mouth I suddenly understood I wasn't singing into an abyss- I was singing directly to the Lord. How precious that felt then - and how precious it feels now. I love what Pastor Mark says in his summary below, "Fasting is a powerful spiritual discipline that helps align our hearts more closely with the heart of God."

May you know that God is just waiting for you to tune your heart to him- to listen to him- because God is always speaking, always pursuing you, and always present.

Here is what Pastor Mark says,

"The primary goal of fasting is to draw nearer to God. Fasting is a powerful spiritual discipline that helps align our hearts more closely with the heart of God. Once the pri­ma­ry pur­pose is firm­ly fixed in our hearts, we are at lib­er­ty to under­stand that there are also sec­ondary pur­pos­es in fast­ing.

We will only focus on two of the many secondary purposes of fasting. First, we fast in order to be transformed in our character and become more in tune with God. Second, we fast when we are seeking a breakthrough or direction. God gives direction and clarity and does the impossible when we humble ourselves and seek him through prayer and fasting.

In the book of Esther, we see the Jewish community gathering together to fast for three days. As a result, God gave Esther confidence to approach the king who responded favorably, and the Jews were saved from being exterminated. Through fasting, Esther and the Jewish community in exile witnessed God doing something that was impossible in the eyes of man, but only possible in the eyes of God.

In light of this, we want to rebuild our church, but we cannot do it by our own strength or abilities. We want God to be the foundation and director of this vision that He has given us. We cannot rebuild our church unless the Lord rebuilds it Himself. So, we want to kick of our vision to REBUILD together by turning to God in prayer and fasting and ask Him to direct our steps as we embark on rebuilding His church together."

See you Sunday,

Chelsea Maitland

Meaningful Relationships

Hello Church!

This Sunday we will have the privilege of hearing from Allison Coventry about the spiritual discipline of meaningful relationships. Allison is a gifted speaker, pastor, and leadership coach and we get to hear her preach from 1 John 1. The following is a small taste of what we will get to learn from Allison on Sunday.

Allison says,

"Finding meaningful relationships is often complicated. We may be surrounded by all kinds of people and still experience loneliness. The letter of 1 John talks about how three relationships work together in a way that brings joy and meaning.

The first is your relationship with yourself. This means knowing you are loved, seen, and cared for just as you are. No shame. No hiding. No filters.

The second is your relationship with God. This means knowing God loves you as you are. Jesus gave his life for you. God loves you just as you are. Your true authentic, vulnerable self — which includes what is broken and in need of healing.

The third is your relationship with others. This is about spending time with others. Be real and vulnerable and open with others who are real and vulnerable with you.

We love because God first loved us. The key to meaningful relationships begins with God’s love and then grows through our generously sharing it with others.

Here are some reflection questions as we prepare for this message Sunday:

- What has been difficult for you in experiencing meaningful relationships?
- What practices do you use to make your relationships more meaningful?
- Where do you feel stuck in your relationships?
- Do you have any relationships that have gone sideways? What might God be inviting you to do?
- How do you remind yourself that God loves you just as you are? How do you receive God’s love?
- What practices do you use to “walk in the light”, unfiltered, open, honest, and vulnerable with God and others?
- Who can you reach out to and connect with this week?

- Who in your sphere of influence can you intentionally reach out to so they experience love and care through your words and actions?"

Join us this Sunday for a transformational perspective on meaningful relationships. 

See you there!

Chelsea Maitland