January 27-Encourage: In The Bible (Bilingual)
February 3-Encourage: At The Pearl
February 10- Guest Speaker & Worship Leader: The Skotdals (Jenny’s parents)
February 17-Equip: In The Bible
February 24-Equip: At The Pearl (Bilingual)
March 2- Dr.Chang
March 9-Send Out: In The Bible
March 16-Send Out: At The Pearl

Sorry that I couldn’t make it to church last Sunday but I was really struggling with sickness and fatigue. I hope to be better and ready to go this week. I did however enjoy sharing one of my favorite podcasts with you. As a church leader it’s strange to always be responsible for what is shared on a Sunday and it’s nice to hear other pastors and speakers from time to time. I guess the reality is that I need to be fed from different sources. I’ve really gotten into podcasts as a supplement in my quiet times. I would like to encourage you all to keep your eyes and ears open to good Bible-infused content that you can add to your life….whether it be books, radio, podcasts, dvds or whatever other sources. Feel free to share those resources with me and I’ll publicize them for you. I do however want to caution that you always challenge what you’re hearing, be mindful of the content and do the work to make sure it falls in line with the Bible’s teaching. It can be easy to be led by smooth talkers and “famous” names. The two podcasts that I listen to the most are Mars Hill Church (Seattle)-Pastor Marc Driscoll and Mosaic-Pastor Erwin McManus. Start there if this is new to you. Mars Hill is a little heavier as it is infused with a lot of scripture and Mosaic is a little lighter and pop-culture infused. 

Last week Victor X shared a great video with us and these were the accompanying questions. Take a look at them and give them some more thought. If you feel like it, leave a comment…it could just be your thoughts on the video or you could leave an answer to some of the questions (use the number to let other readers know what question you’re answering).

1. What do you believe about God`s involvement in our daily lives?
2. When you think about God, when you hear the word God, what images come to mind?
3. What or who has helped shape the images that you have?
4. Where is God?
5. Why do you think people, including some writers of the Bible use human physical references like hands, feet, eyes, and he to describe God, when other Scriptures state that God is a spirit and has no form?6. Is God compassionate, truthful, loving, and forgiving or is God compassion, truth, love, and forgiveness?
7. What about Jesus?
8. What does it mean for you to be in or out of tune with the song?
9. Are you in tune?
10. Can you believe in God and be out of tune with the song?
11. Does it work the other way around?
12. What is more important to Jesus - what we believe or what we do?
13. Do you believe that if you live the way Jesus taught us to live, being in tune with the song, that you will have life in its fullest?

If you weren’t at the service last Sunday you missed out on a special night where we put love into action. In our Christian lives it can become easy to say the right things but where we struggle is walking the walk. In 1 John 4:7-21 the Bible teaches us that God loved us a lot and therefore we must love others. In fact, it says that if we claim to love God and don’t love others our faith isn’t worth anything. During the service we took some action steps and had a bit of a love-fest…we shared compliments, encouragements, hugs, hand shakes and we even handed out a few little gifts. God moved in the room and we felt the love.I want to encourage you all to keep putting this into practice in your daily lives. You can write someone an encouraging email, hug someone at work who looks down, give someone a surprise gift just to say you’re thinking of them etc. If we are to be a community that claims to love God then we need to be a community that loves others. 

The last two weeks Chris and Lydia have shared about what God has been teaching them this summer. Now it’s time to hear from the rest of you Pearlers. What has God been teaching you this summer?

I personally want to thank the members of the worship team for stepping up and giving us all a look into their hearts. It was so great to hear from each member and learn a little bit about how they connect with God through worship music. Their committment to leading us every week is very much appreciated and God has really blessed them with amazing talent.–Chris

Last Tuesday 2 of our small groups (The women’s Peace group and men’s War group) got together and had an awesome time of fellowship, food and games. The guys were able to enjoy some of the women’s fabulous cooking. We were also very privileged to have 2 of the Doulos team attend and share with us some interesting facts about living on the ship.
D=Doulos! (although some are backwards!) Small groups are sooo encouraging!
(posted by Leigh)

This blog will be a place where we hope to share thoughts and ideas about our faith and our church. In the future look for sermon discussion, poetry, personal stories, and whatever else people may write. We hope this will become a place for community building, learning and sharing.