Rooted provided the support and connection that this group of newly married couples, engaged couples and singles needed as they walked through the challenges of life.
We are amazed at those of you who jumped in to serve and give for the first time this weekend! Sometimes the first step can be the most intimidating, but through your courage and generosity, we have seen God work in mighty ways. To those of you who have continued to serve and give, thank you! We are seeing people serve as much consistently in this season of COVID-19 as they have in our past Outreach Weekends. Your faithfulness, selflessness, and service is allowing us to meet the needs of people in our community and world. So thank you. Online you’ll find ways to continue partnering with us through giving and serving and tons of opportunities to jump in, even in your own neighborhood!
We are amazed at those of you who jumped in to serve and give for the first time this weekend! Sometimes the first step can be the most intimidating, but through your courage and generosity, we have seen God work in mighty ways. To those of you who have continued to serve and give, thank you! We are seeing people serve as much consistently in this season of COVID-19 as they have in our past Outreach Weekends. Your faithfulness, selflessness, and service is allowing us to meet the needs of people in our community and world. So thank you. Online you’ll find ways to continue partnering with us through giving and serving and tons of opportunities to jump in, even in your own neighborhood!
Speaking of your neighborhoods, we cannot wait to launch Mariners in the Neighborhood soon! Our teams of staff and volunteers will be bringing Mariners Church to you in the cities of Tustin, Laguna Hills, Orange, Anaheim, Costa Mesa, North Irvine and Santa Ana. Be watching for your opportunity to reserve a spot—each venue has an attendance limit to ensure the experience is safe and fun for everyone. Invite a friend to join you, come with your family, we look forward to seeing you.
If you are most comfortable worshiping at home, or meeting with your life group, continue doing so! Wherever and however you’re tuning in and watching with us each weekend, we are honored you chose Mariners as your home.
The ways in which we are working, entering the world, or responding to the world at this time are all different. The same is true for how we experience church—everyone is in a different place of how and where they are worshiping in this season. However you’re joining us each weekend we are so grateful.
For those comfortable to expand your circle to safe, in-person gatherings, we are launching Mariners in the Neighborhood, where you can gather in spacious, outdoor venues to view our streamed worship service with others in your area THIS SUNDAY.
For those that aren’t quite ready, we will continue to offer Mariners Online and Mariners Hosted at Home. We know that God is moving wherever you’re worshiping him and we know that we are nothing without our people, whether they’re gathering in our neighborhood venues, in their backyards, or living rooms.
If you would like to attend one of our neighborhood gatherings this Sunday, July 12, you will need you to RSVP to secure your spot, as we are limiting gathering sizes. Face masks are required and physical distancing should be observed.
Church, we love you and are praying for you as we navigate this season together.
Kalei believed she wasn’t anyone until she became a wife and a mother. After years of disappointment and heartache following her own plan, she realized that God has her best interest in mind and decided to trust His plans instead.
When Evie was six, I coached her soccer team and I loved it. One game in particular reminded me how to live as a Christian. We were called the Soccer Rockers and it was a blast. The kids and their parents were great. Evie’s favorite game that year was the game we played when the other team forfeited. The opposing team did not have enough players at the game on time, so after being sure the referee understood that our team won no matter what was about to happen, I offered a few players from my team to the other team so that all the girls could play for fun. I pulled the kids aside and said “no matter what happens now, you have won this game. You have won. So, let’s go work on our plays and have some fun.” The kids had so much fun playing. Some of them seemed to play with more confidence, not less. Some of them seemed to play with more passion, not less. The burden of was removed because they had already won.
This is how the Christian life is supposed to be lived.
We live for Christ not to be approved by Him, but because we already are. We live in response to the great news that we have already won, that Christ’s victory is our victory. We are not playing to win. We can play and enjoy and even be more aggressive because we have already won. We live in response to the reality that Christ has already secured our salvation and identity through His gracious work for us. Many preachers have said something similar to Warren Wiersbe who wrote: “Remember: you are not fighting for victory, but from victory, for Jesus Christ has already defeated Satan!”
Dane Ortlund wrote the following in his refreshing and encouraging book, Gentle and Lowly: the heart of Christ for sinners and sufferers:
There are two ways to live the Christian life. You can live it either for the heart of Christ or from the heart of Christ. You can live for the smile of God or from it. For a new identity as a son or daughter of God or from it. For your union with Christ or from it. The battle of the Christian life is to bring your own heart into alignment with Christ’s, that is, getting up each morning and replacing your natural orphan mind-set with a mind-set of full and free adoption into the family of God through the work of Christ…
Jesus’ final prayer on the cross was, “It is finished.” And it is. Our God declared “Let there be light” and there was. He yelled out, “It is finished,” and it is. Our forgiveness and standing are secure because of the finished work of Jesus. We don’t have to live for victory. We can live from it.