Community will be a source of hurt in your life, but it also is your source of true healing. This is a challenging reality. People hurt people, but people are also our healers. Don’t withdraw or isolate. God’s Presence is our home, and we encounter God’s Presence through one another. “You are the body of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 12:27) “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there I am in your midst.”
Serve Joyfully and Give Generously
This is from New Life Church. Pastors Matt & Heidi Messner
While mine is touted as one of the first words a child learns, we also see from a very young age, children often have a generous spirit…wanting to engage in the world around them, sharing in and with others. Yet we tend to grasp onto things more and more tightly and determine what is mine and what is someone else’s as we grow, often having the mentality “what’s mine is mine and what’s yours should be mine.”
M: As adults, generosity is a challenge for us. We hold to what […]
Installation Service – This Sunday
Dear Friends:
Happy New Year! After over twelve years in California, it was nice to not have to travel this past Christmas. The weeks have been flying by since we moved back to the Puget Sound area.
Heidi and I are excited to invite you to our installation service as the new Lead Pastors of New Life Church in Everett.
For nearly twelve weeks we have been serving as “Interim Lead Pastors”, but this past weekend the church made the following announcement: “As your Pastoral & Leadership Team, it is with joy and anticipation that we stand in agreement with the decision of […]
The Path of Blessing
How to live a “blessed life”, based on Psalm 1.
Develop a rhythm of delighting in the Word of God.
Read the full manuscript here: Full Manuscript
21 Days of Prayer and Fasting
As we begin the new year together, I want to invite you to join me in prayer, fasting and the intentional reading of God’s Word.
Most Christians practice some form of Spiritual Disciplines or Devotions. “Devotions” are not meant to be something we do as an obligation. Even the word “discipline” carries some negative connotation for most people. I used to feel like I had to do my devotions in order to please God. Yet how much is truly enough to qualify for giving God 100%? I always felt like I wasn’t doing enough, and my obligations and priorities were competing […]
A Leap of Faith
2022 was a pivotal and unforgettable year. Heidi and I knew that it was time to uproot and relocate our lives to be near our children for the next season of life. At the time of our decision, we had a great church, no grandkids, a beautiful house, many friends, and a community we loved.
It was a step of faith. With faith there is the fear of the uncertainty of the unknown. Yet through prayer and patient testing, we discern and test our feelings and decisions. For a while it was like standing at the open door of an airplane […]