Giving Up For More

Those of you that watch the news probably saw pictures or videos from the festivities that happened in New Orleans this past Tuesday. It was the annual Mardi Gras celebration of Fat Tuesday. Most people realize that Fat Tuesday has a connection with the ancient church practice known as Lent. Any of you from a good Catholic background either participated in Lent or had friends and family that did. If you grew up in a Protestant church or had no connection to church, Lent was likely more confusing and odd than it was spiritual.

At Silver Creek we tend to lean toward and strive to be innovative, relevant and energetic. Those aren't words that are typically used to describe Lent. So, when Silver Creek sets out each spring to tie into Lent in some fashion, it might be a bit of a surprise or confusing. In this blog, I won't take time to describe all that Lent has been over the centuries or even completely explain Silver Creek’s view of Lent. Here's a real brief description and reason for why we embrace this ancient practice. Lent provides a period of several weeks to deeply reflect on what Jesus' sacrifice on the cross means for us, typically connected with setting something aside in our lives for a time to motivate, encourage and remind us to reflect. At Silver Creek we focus more on what we're gaining through Lent, than what we are giving up.

Let me tell you briefly what we are offering this year to benefit you and help you gain something spiritually during Lent. Each week during our Sunday services, there will be a Reflection Guide that you can take home. The Reflection Guide will focus on the main theme of that Sunday's message, giving you scripture to read, thoughts to reflect on, and prayers to consider. Each week will have a new guide but each guide will be used for the entire week. In direct connection to the guide, the church will be open for Reflection Services during the week. Each service will contain times of audio and video guided prayer, scripture & reflection. It will essentially be the same content as the Reflection Guide but with the addition of community, communion, and interactive elements in a quiet, contemplative setting. The 25 minute Reflection Service will repeat itself six times during the week, three on each Monday and Friday evenings, starting on the hour and half hour from 7-8:30pm. Child care will not be provided so please plan accordingly to ensure that we are able to maintain a place for a reverent environment.

I know this might be a new experience and practice for many of us. If you've been sensing any desire to gain a deeper understanding of who Jesus is and/or what He wants to mean and be in your life, plan now to participate in these Reflective Services. They begin next week and will run through the 8th of April.

Looking forward to what God will do these next weeks,

Brent

Changing Our World

This past year we, as a church, have spent a lot of time thinking and dreaming about our passions. We have had to be strategic about what we do as an organization in order to make the most impact possible. We firmly believe that if people are functioning within their passions they will be productive, impactful and thrive. God gifts us with unique desires and abilities and it is our job to sort out and be open to how He intends for us to use those gifts.

We had two winter camps two weeks ago and at those camps our speaker, Paul Charles, was able to plant some seeds to encourage kids to Change Their World. They were encouraged to find ways to change their world at home, in their relationships with their parents and friends, in their communities and schools and in the global world. They were introduced to the idea of Charity: Water, an organization that is reaching thousands of communities each year and providing the means to clean water for drinking and sanitation. Our kids have come home looking for ways to impact and change their world. We know that at this time we are called to collaborate with Charity: Water. We know that we can and are making impact towards building wells for people that don't have clean drinking water. We support our kids and students in finding creative ways to help this organization and we are excited to see what God is going to accomplish through our people, in this coming year.

That being said, we also realize that Charity: Water is a ministry opportunity at Silver Creek and it is something that we are passionate about but it is not the church. As the church, we are also called to be passionate about our local community, to work with our Food Bank to impact Lynnwood and to provide ministries that will change the ways that people think about the church and God.

On April 17th, we have a unique opportunity to impact Lynnwood and our surrounding areas. Plans are well under way in bringing together a team to create a huge INVITE day at Silver Creek. We will be having three HUGE egg hunts and three FUSiON Family Productions. We turned people away last year because we didn't have the room to accommodate them in our two shows, so this year we are doing three. We believe that with effective advertising and incentive to step foot on our property that we will have the opportunity to not only entertain and engage our community but tell them about GOD by using our Family Production to speak into the lives of both children and adults. We want to be Jesus' hands and feet and allow people to see that Christians are real people with real passions. We want them to see that we aren't acting like Christians but we are living as Christians. We're doing life together, caring about those outside our walls, learning to possess Jesus' characteristic and knowing that we are doing exactly what Jesus has called us to do in our world.

Brent and I were discussing how Jesus drew crowds when he was in the peak of his ministry. Time and time again he performed miracles as a way of supporting and drawing a crowd. He fed thousands of people from the basket of a young boy containing two fish and five loaves of bread. He healed the sick and blind and he reached out to the outcasts in the community and showed that He loved them equally and cared for them. He invited children to take his time when religious leaders felt they deserved it. Jesus thought of people in a brand new and unique way. He challenged his followers to do the same and He was bold about how He got the attention of those he came in contact with.

We are called to live as He did and not be afraid to use any and all resources at our finger tips to reach those in our community and world. This April we hope that you will team with us at accomplishing that very thing. Leaving all perceptions of what a church should or shouldn't do and boldly reach into our community, loving on those that cross our paths and being true representatives of Jesus by following his example. We need your help to do this. Please prayerfully consider where you can serve and help with our April 17th Egg Hunt.

You are the church and we need you!

Pastor Elizabeth

Connectuary's Last Days

Recently during a discussion, someone mentioned to me that a building was constructed in the 80's. I responded, if that is the case the building wasn't really all that old, forgetting it's already 2011. Then I did the math. At best the building is at least 22 years old, or maybe even 31. Time always seems to go so fast. Days go by quickly, weeks fly by, each month seems almost over about the time it starts. Even when the month is 59 days long.

Connectuary is Silver Creeks revision to the traditional calendar. Combining January and February, challenging each of us to look for more ways to Connect with each other, during these first 59 days of the year. There are some great stories of people getting away on short vacations together, groups gathering for dinner, many conversations of coffee and board game nights (my personal favorite).

As we move into March and April we will begin to adjust our focus to reaching out, into our community and inviting people to discover what we've found to be true about Jesus and the help that Silver Creek can be in developing a life based on Jesus. The events we host will be huge, last years Egg Hunt/FUSiON saw over 900 people on campus. The spiritual implications will be enourmous as we celebrate Easter. There will be much effort and energy given by most of us to successfully invite our community.

All of the this effort and energy will leave little time for us to get together just to connect and spend time with one another. It's important that we use these last days of CONNECTUARY to make that happen. Even though I may sound like a furniture sales announcer, these are the final days, don't delay, make it happen today, deals like these won't last forever. Ok, maybe a bit dramatic and the deals thing was a little to much. But really, take advantage of these last days of February and spend some time with others from Silver Creek.

Enjoy the rest of your week and hope to see you Sunday,

Brent

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow!

It's not Christmas but for many of kids and students this weekend the winter wonderland they dream of will be a reality. About 40 campers and 20 adults are headed to Leavenworth for our two winter retreats, Escape and BreakAway. You might be staying here where the ground is clear but you can play a huge role in making the weekend a success. Here are some important ways you can be praying for the retreats.

• It's a winter retreat and there will be snow. That's great news for everything except the driving. Pray that God will keep our drivers alert and all the vehicles safe as they travel.
• Paul Charles, our ISA head coach and summer Intern is traveling back from Philadelphia to be our speaker. He will be challenging both camps with practical ways that they can be Changing Our World. Pray that God will speak to the hearts of all that attend.
• There will be lots of inner tubing and games in the snow. Pray for fun and safety as campers enjoy all that camp has to offer.
• Pray that all adults going will get plenty of sleep. Oh, who are we kidding, just pray that the adults going can function with little to no sleep.
• These camps are a part of our January and February focus on CONNECTUARY. We design camps to develop and strengthen relationships that will carry over to daily living, helping each of us become stronger in our lives with Christ. Please pray the Connections will take place.
  

We appreciate all your prayers and will praying for a fantastic Sunday morning at Silver Creek.

Pastor Brent and Pastor Elizabeth

Oh Baby!

Child dedication is a statement and a commitment made by the parents. A commitment to raise their child in a way that will instill godly principals and character in the child’s life. Parents that choose to have their child dedicated are saying "God we want to be the best parents we can be." "God we want You to make us and mold us into the parents our child needs us to be." Their commitment is to not only bring honor to Christ in the way that they live but that they will demonstrate what it means to live daily for Christ.

To the Church, the parents are saying, "we are going to do our best but we desire your help." "Please model for our child what it means to people of integrity, grace and mercy. Please volunteer to help in Children’s ministry, so that our child is equipped to become an adult that loves and serves God." As a church it's important we tell the parents with our actions that we will support them as they raise their child.

Child dedication is a special moment where the church and parents stand together, unity in their desire to bring up the child to love Jesus. Silver Creek cares about all individuals at every stage of life. At the same time we see the huge importance to begin training and teaching kids at a young age, how much Jesus loves them and desires to have a relationship with them.

Thanks for partnering with Silver Creek to help this happen for children.

Journey Together

We are continuing to talk about our church mission, our core values and some characteristics that we desire to be true at Silver Creek Family Church. We had a leadership retreat last year and over those days we talked about who we are as a church, what impact we see that we have on our surrounding community and what we feel God is calling us specifically to do as a church in the short term and long term.

We talked about the fact that it is critical that we are light in our community and that we are intentional about living out ministry in an engaging and authentic way. We discussed how our surrounding neighbors would respond if Silver Creek Family Church ceased to exist. What is the impact that we have and how are we being good stewards of all of the resources that God has provided.

Last week we talked about your stories and we have received a few and we still want to hear more. We want to know how the people, that are a part of this church family, have impacted your lives. We want to hear about ways that you have been challenged in living out our core values and how your perspectives of church or community may have been changed. We want to hear why you call Silver Creek your home. Click here and take a moment to tell us your story.

We discussed how our Core Values are a critical in helping us to understand the mission of the church. We described a natural process that individuals and the church encounter as they take these core principals and apply them to their lives. INVITE was the first step, people need to know they are welcome and wanted. They need to see that we have something they are looking for and many times that is realized when they come in contact with each of you. They see that you have something they might be looking for, they see that you are different from much of the world and they want to understand the hope that you have and where it comes from.

The second step is WORSHIP. Many might see worship as something you do during the music portion of our Sunday mornings but what we are talking about is living a life of worship. This entails allowing God into every area of our lives. It is acknowledging our need for God and his desire to be in relationship with us. It is choosing to honor God in all that we say and do. We do consider our Sunday morning experience an act of corporate worship. It is an opportunity to come together as a family, honor God, thank him for his unconditional love and experience time together with people that are walking along side of us on this journey.

Worship is also lived out in our daily lives. It is evident in the way we interact with a co-worker that is ungracious; it is seen in the ways we choose to interact with our kids on a daily basis, it is seen in the ways that we treat those that are in need. When we reach out to one of God’s children and love them in a real and tangible way, we are worshipping God, we are honoring Him and his desires for our life and we are loving his people. Worship doesn’t just happen on a Sunday morning, it happens in every moment and every decision of every day.

The third core value in the process is CONNECT. We feel that once a person is invited to Silver Creek Family and then is challenged to incorporate WORSHIP into their lives then they will be looking for connections to people. This step is critical to the ongoing development, accountability and growth of every believer. We are meant to be in community with one another and we are meant to have deep relationship with each other. Connect is accomplished through many avenues. We connect people through playing together. When healthy relationships develop, people feel less alone, are more likely to make wise decisions for their lives and new perspectives are realized. We start to see God’s characteristics lived out in those around us and we desire those to be true in our own lives.

We also offer a number of different CONNECT groups. There are all male, all female and couples groups that meet weekly. We feel that these are critically important to developing firm relationships within the greater community. It is a time to check in on each other mid week and encourage each other towards pursuing God’s best for our lives. Some groups are more in depth Bible Studies and some are more casual accountability groups. All are needed and critical to the growth of the church.

We are currently looking for more people willing to start up a group. This consists of providing a steady location and being open to adding new individuals as the need arises. If you think you would be interested in serving in this way, please send Brent or Elizabeth an email and we would be happy to talk to you about getting a connect group started.

If you can’t tell, you should know that we are excited about these Core Values. We don’t just put them on our website, talk about them in sermons and then let them drop. They are at the very core of who we are and what we are called to be. We have two more core values to cover in the weeks ahead but we challenge you to be thinking about WORSHIP and CONNECT this week. God has much he want to accomplish through you and we are praying that you are open to what those opportunities are going to be!

Where we are heading

We’ve been taking a little time out during our services to look at who we are as a church and where we are going. We looked at our history, we looked at the mission Jesus called not only this church to but the world wide church, which we are certainly a part of. We really want you to hear the story of Silver Creek, which each of you are clearly a part of. Your stories are what make our collective story possible. Our request was that you send us your stories. We still want to hear what God has been doing in your life and where Silver Creek might be a part of that. Even if you think we know it, please take a moment and send us a quick email. Your stories are essential, we will beg but we’re hoping you don’t make us.

This morning we want to begin to narrow our focus a bit around the mission that we talked about last week. The mission being to help people transform their lives to become more and more like Jesus. The Bible describes this as becoming a disciple. Becoming a learner of all that Jesus is and does and then allowing choices and actions to be transformed into the image of Jesus.

The Bible is packed full of descriptions, examples and directions for what a disciple looks like. We believe that Jesus narrowed it down into five key ideas, or major areas that guide us both as individuals and as a church. These five areas give us the clearest understanding for how we are to measure, gauge and guide all that we do as a church. We’ve labeled or identified these five ideas as our core values. Our look at the core values will be brief in these short talks. You can get a more in depth description by listening to our recent sermon series WHY, which you can find on our web site.

Here’s what is beautiful about our core values. We didn’t create them. We didn’t dream them up. They are laid out for us in scripture. What’s very convenient is that the core values give direction to transformed disciples of Jesus, and at the same time they give us direction, focus and guidance as a church. That means that what we are trying to accomplish as a church, is what also needs to be accomplished in our individual lives. There’s no awkward tension or battle to fight, there is no conflict surrounding something that is great for an individuals because it is also great for the church as a whole. We want the five core values to be lived out and evident in the lives of people at Silver Creek and in Silver Creek.

Our five core values are Invite, Worship, Connect, Serve and Train.

From our perspective and planning there is a natural progression or process that might occur in individuals as the core values impact their lives. We are going to walk you through that process as we explain these Core Values over the next couple of weeks. It all begins with Invite. An individual receives an invitation to begin a relationship with Jesus that will transform every part of their life. The invitation that an individual receives is most often from someone else that has already started to walk through life with Jesus. It’s not the job or responsibility of those that do the inviting to make a person receive or accept the invitation but rather to simply invite people to what we discovered to be true in our lives.

As a church we want to provide multiple avenues and opportunities for you to invite people you know to events and programs that will directly Invite people to know Jesus or help break down barriers that might prevent someone from receiving the invitation. When we bring in Taproot Theater, our students go to Wild Waves or we put on a Trunk or Treat combined with a Chili cook-off. Our goal is to create a non-threatening environment for you to invite people where they can discover that church isn’t a dangerous place, it’s not a boring place, it’s not a place that requires them to change, just in order to be here. We want to be about transforming the way people view church and this is a good place for them to be. We want to create a culture that will allow people to be open to what the church might have to say about life.

That in times of need or when people are spiritually questioning, they will consider Silver Creek a safe place to find answers. We also provide invite events that are exciting, fun and engaging where Jesus will be clearly presented. The best two examples of that are KidFest and our Easter Egg Hunt both are combined with FUSiON creating incredible mornings with lots of ways and reasons to invite people to attend. At FUSiON a life virtue, that was lived out and demonstrated by Jesus, is presented in multiple ways. There aren’t events or activities that we create or provide where someone new isn’t welcome. People can step into Silver Creek in really any thing we do.

We do however want to be strategic and intentional with events, activities and programs that we provide. We want to create the best chance for positive responses when you bring a friend to an Invite Event. If every time we announce an event, we say, “Don’t forget to invite a friend”, it becomes background noise and you’ll miss it and tune us out. However, because we will only encourage you to invite friends, neighbors and family when we’ve intentionally designed an Invite Event, you can know that when we offer an Invite opportunity that “it’s go time”. This is it. This is where we step up, find some courage and invite that person that we’ve been praying for.

As individuals we each should be looking for opportunities and ways to invite people to discover what we’ve found to be true in Jesus. As a church we want to be providing ways to help that process and creating natural entry and starting points for the people you invite.