From Pastor Mark

Solomon, the author of Proverbs, was one of the richest and wisest men who ever lived. 1 Kings 3:13 says that he “will have no equal among kings.” At our beck and call, through the pages of the Bible, lies a wealth of directives that he gave us to walk on the correct path and think appropriately about our world. We literally can be personally mentored by a millionaire every day of our lives.

I look forward to the next series as we look at some of what Solomon had to say about wealth, seeking God, and living the “good life”. Join us for the next four weeks as we dig into the book of Proverbs.

We were talking yesterday at staff meeting about our upcoming second campus. It’s ironic, because on paper, we don’t look ready at all to tackle another campus. For all practical purposes, we are just fine where we are at for now. But here’s the problem…we still feel the need to go forward.

Kris said a profound thing in the middle of this conversation. “It’s just like Noah. It wasn’t raining when he was told to build the ark. But then it did.”

That’s my knew mantra for the next season, “But then it did.”

My prayer for the next season of North Creek Church is, “Lord, may my faith be large enough to see what you see. May a flood of people who need Jesus walk through our doors and be changed by the love of Christ. May our story for 2010 be, “But then it did”.

First of all…Jesus rose from the dead! He’s alive and He’s still working in people’s lives. Everything else is so insignificant compared to that!

On that note – today was AWESOME!!!

We had many guests this morning and most of our regular attenders came as well. We had our best attendance ever at 240 people! We used almost every chair that we own, so it’s a good thing that we just got some more donated. I absolutely loved the energy of a packed church. That is the reason why people need to have good church attendance as a regular part of their lives…it exhilarates the body of Christ when the house is full!

Quite ironically, last night I said that I wanted 100 people in the first service and a total of 240 for the morning. Guess what we had??? 100 in the first service and 240 total…I totally should have said higher numbers…

Starting Point concluded it’s 10 week classes today. THANK YOU to Pete Torres for being a great leader! Also, a big thank you to Will Sherland and LeeAnn Brentano for co-leading. God will use your time and energy to grow lives, bring healing, and ultimately strengthen the Church as a whole. I pray that you are blessed!

One of our guests came this morning because he watched the building being painted and was impressed with the workforce and the outcome. Come on!

I also learned today that our worship leader has allergies and that becomes a problem when the pastor’s wife puts very strong flowers on the stage. Sorry about that, Marcus! I love you and I will be happy to move my flowers for you anytime.

The Kid’s classes went off without a hitch. Great job from the check in area to the teachers! I asked several of the kids if they enjoyed their classes and everyone said, “YES!!!!” They also went home with Easter Eggs and Silly Putty.

Another guest commented on how everyone at our church smiles all of the time. It’s either Jesus or the coffee. Might be the combo.

Speaking of coffee, our coffee bar was HOPPING this morning. Between the lattes for sale and the complimentary coffee, I estimated that we made 250 cups of coffee today! We also downed creamer like it was water. I laughed when a first time guest came in with a “real” coffee mug and said, “Well, if you’re going to come to the Coffee Church, you better be prepared!” Love it!

My daughter, Delaney, wore bunny ears all day. It made me laugh everytime I saw her. Kids are cute!

Mark prayed for people publicly today for people to accept Jesus. Please keep praying for people – not just to make the decision, but to live out a full Christian life. It’s so worth it!!!! My prayer is that Easter Sunday is not a one-day event, but the beginning of a time of growth for lives and our church. God, build your house!

It was a good day to be at North Creek!

This week our friend’s church plant closed it’s doors. They started the same time we did (2006), so you can imagine the emotions that go along with one dream ending and looking to the next season of ministry. We are committed to praying for everyone involved as they move on.

With the sadness of their story, comes some blessings for our story. We will be inheriting some of their valuable items to help us further along our church. Here’s what we now own:

12 passenger Dodge Van…faithful, but ugly…sounds like it will fit in nicely…Our youth pastor and kid’s pastor passed out when they heard that we have an official church vehicle.
50 cup coffee maker – a personal thing on my prayer list for the decaf crew. Our small pot is too small and our large pot is too large. Who drinks decaf anyway????
Stages – Heavy duty stages that we could potentially use at our next campus.
Cushioned Folding chairs – 20 of them…awesome! We need more chairs and this will come in handy. There are also 20 non-cushioned ones as well.

So, we’re pretty excited! God has interesting ways of blessing North Creek, but we’ll gladly take it!