“Until we realize we are not competent to run our own lives, we are not competent to run our own lives” Pastor Steve quotes Tim Keller as he takes us into the belly of the fish with Jonah where Jonah begins his heart felt repentance to God. It is in God’s sovereign grace that He brings us to the end of ourselves where we can either become bitter or we can surrender, laying down our own ambitions and asking God to replace them with a new heart in Jesus.

Jonah Week 2 | The Repentant Prophet (Jonah 1:17-2:10)
preached by Pastor Steve Tompkins | 8.17.08

Listen right here by clicking the play button above. You can also listen to the audio or download audio on our Mars Hill Media site by clicking here .

Below I’ve included all of the Scripture references from Pastor Steve’s sermon. You may use them to follow along while you listen to the sermon and/ or they make for an excellent personal study in the Scriptures.

Jonah 1:17
17And the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 2:1-2
1Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, 2saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.

Jonah 1:3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went (down) on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord.
Jonah 1:5 And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
Jonah 2:6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever;

Jonah 2:4 Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight . . .
Jonah 2:3 For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me.
Jonah 2:5 The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head at the roots of the mountains.
Jonah 2:2 . . . the belly of Sheol . . .
Jonah 2:6 I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever

Romans 6:23
23For the wages of sin is death . . .

Jonah 2:4 . . . yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’
Jonah 2:7 When my life was fainting away, I remembered the Lord, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple.
Jonah 2:9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!”

Romans 2:4-5
4Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

Jonah 2:10
10And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Galatians 2:20
20I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

• Vision Nationals is teaming up with Mars Hill Sports to continue the MHC tradition of the Summer Softball Tournament. Plus, we’re announcing the addition of an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament to the line-up! On August 23rd, Softball and Ultimate Frisbee players from all over the Puget Sound Region will gather to compete in “Crushin’ for a Cause”. Funds raised from this even will benefit Mars Hill sports ministry and Vision Nationals’ newly established Life Medical Clinic in India. (80% of all proceeds will go to Vision Nationals). Click here for more information.
  Click here for teams to register

  Click here for persons wanting to help sponsors the event only

Shepherding A Child’s Heart Conference

• Dr. Tedd Tripp, author of the best selling book Shepherding a Child’s Heart, is coming to Mars Hill September 19-20th to lead an exciting conference on how to speak to and engage your child’s heart for Jesus. This event will be held at five MH campuses simultaneously, including Shoreline. Click HERE to register for this event and for childcare at Shoreline. Don’t procrastinate!! There is a cap on attendance and seats will be sure to go fast. Email shoreline@marshillchurch.org for more info.

MEMBERSHIP Applications

• Just because we’re not wearing T-shirts every Sunday anymore doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about all you folks that went through recent doctrine series and have begun the Membership Application process. Currently their are 82 of you with only 12 having finished the application and a few new members have recently been approved. If you need ANY help or have ANY questions please feel free to email shoreline@marshillchurch.org and we’ll work to help you through process as best we can.

NEW MEDIA SITE

• Check out our new media site! Click here to browse media in the new format that allows for much more advanced searching with thousands of songs, sermons, and teachings available for listening, watching, or download.

UPCOMING EVENTS

August 20th - Men’s Morning Prayer

• Come join us in prayer for our families, church, and community at 7am in the Shoreline offices. All men are welcome at this weekly event. Click here for a map and here for notes from last week’s meeting. Email shoreline@marshillchurch.org for more info.

Shoreline Wednesday Night Summer Barbecues

• Weekly from 6-9pm at Edmonds City Park through August 27th. These BBQs will be picnic style so bring your own meat to throw on the grill and food for the family. There’s fun for everyone including kid’s events for ages 3-9 from 7-8pm. Contact shoreline@marshillchurch.org for more info.

**For MORE UPCOMING EVENT INFO visit the Shoreline Events Calendar

SERVING NEEDS

WE NEED HELP!!! Despite the push for involvement and membership, many of our service teams are suffering from very low volunteer involvement. There is a current list of needs posted on The City (click here) or see our SERVING NEEDS PAGE for more opportunities.

Mars Hill Church Shoreline lives for Jesus as a city within the city of Seattle: knowing culture, loving people, and seeing lives transformed to live for Jesus. For more information, visit us HERE. For information on community groups go HERE. For information on other ministries go HERE. For info on membership at MH click HERE. For general questions, you may email us at shoreline@marshillchurch.org.

As Jonah flees from the presence of the Lord, he goes only one direction: Down.

Jonah 1:3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went (down in Hebrew) on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
Jonah 1:5 And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.
Jonah 2:6 at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever;

Jonah 2
1Then Jonah prayed to the LORD his God from the belly of the fish, 2saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. 3For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. 4Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.’ 5The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped about my head 6at the roots of the mountains. I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God. 7When my life was fainting away, I remembered the LORD, and my prayer came to you, into your holy temple. 8Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the LORD!” 10And the LORD spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.

Martin Luther [95 Theses] #1. Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ, when He said “repent,” willed that the whole life of believers should be repentance.

Tim Keller in “All of Life is Repenance:”
“In religion our only hope is to live a good enough life for God to bless us. Therefore every instance of sin and repentance is traumatic, unnatural, and horribly threatening. Only under great duress does a religious person admit they have sinned—because their only hope is in their moral goodness. . . . In religion we repent less and less often. But the more accepted and loved in the gospel we feel the more and more often we will be repenting. And though of course there is always some bitterness in any repentance, in the gospel there is ultimately a sweetness. This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. The more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God’s grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God’s grace and acceptance in Christ, the more you are able to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions of your sin.

Jonah 1 – God calls, we run, God pursues with sovereign grace. He brings storms to wake us up. He exposes our hearts and sin. He brings us to the lowest place where we come to the end of ourselves. There, in faith we exchange our broken rebellious lives for the life of God in Christ in us. “You are not competent to run your own life until you realize that you are not competent to run your own life” (Tim Keller).

The Christian life is an exchanged life:

2 Corinthians 5:21
21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Galatians 2:20
20I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Matthew 16:24-25
24Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Prayers for our Campus

Continue to pray for Gary Kingsbury’s recovery. Praise for his progress and for the health of his grandbaby.

Pray for the potential building in Lynnwood.

Pray for Pastor Steve as he prepares to preach on Sunday

Pray for the August 16th Vision House prayer night, that it would be well attended and that this project to house homeless single mom’s would be bathed in prayer.

Pray for Crushin’ for a Cause event to be well attended and to raise a ton of money for Vision Nationals’ new medical clinic. Pray for God’s blessing on the ministry of Vision Nationals as well.

Pray for wisdom and fruitful participation from our campus as we plan for Fall mid-week.

Pray for marriages on our campus. Especially separated spouses.

Although he wrote the book himself around 800 B.C., the prophet Jonah did not cast himself as the hero of the Story. Instead, Pastor Steve, points out that Jonah is a history lesson about the real Hero of the story, namely the living God. Through a collection of scripture and real-world examples Pastor Steve passionately reveals to us that just as Jonah ran from God’s presence, we also run from His presence and just as God pursued Jonah and brought him to the end of himself, so too, God in His grace, brings us to the end of ourselves in order to offer us Himself. Jonah is the good news of Jesus Christ for all especially those of us who find ourselves as great sinners on deck in the midst of God’s storm of pursuing grace.

Jonah Week 1 | The Rebellious Prophet (Jonah 1:1-17)
preached by Pastor Steve Tompkins | 8.10.08

Listen right here by clicking the play button above. You can also listen to the audio or download audio on our Mars Hill Media site by clicking here .

Below I’ve included all of the Scripture references from Pastor Steve’s sermon. You may use them to follow along while you listen to the sermon and/ or they make for an excellent personal study in the Scriptures.

Exodus 34:6
6The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,

Jonah 1:1-2
1Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2“Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.”

Jonah 1:3
3But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.

Jonah 1:4-6
4But the LORD hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. 5Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. 6So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”

Jonah 1:7-10
7And they said to one another, “Come, let us cast lots, that we may know on whose account this evil has come upon us.” So they cast lots, and the lot fell on Jonah. 8Then they said to him, “Tell us on whose account this evil has come upon us. What is your occupation? And where do you come from? What is your country? And of what people are you?” 9And he said to them, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land.” 10Then the men were exceedingly afraid and said to him, “What is this that you have done!” For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them.

Numbers 32:23
23But if you will not do so, behold, you have sinned against the LORD, and be sure your sin will find you out.

1 Timothy 5:24
24The sins of some men are conspicuous, going before them to judgment, but the sins of others appear later.

Jonah 1:11-15
11Then they said to him, “What shall we do to you, that the sea may quiet down for us?” For the sea grew more and more tempestuous. 12He said to them, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you, for I know it is because of me that this great tempest has come upon you.” 13Nevertheless, the men rowed hard to get back to dry land, but they could not, for the sea grew more and more tempestuous against them. 14Therefore they called out to the LORD, “O LORD, let us not perish for this man’s life, and lay not on us innocent blood, for you, O LORD, have done as it pleased you.” 15So they picked up Jonah and hurled him into the sea, and the sea ceased from its raging.

Mark 2:15-17
15While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the “sinners” and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?” 17On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jonah 1:16-17
16Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and they offered a sacrifice to the LORD and made vows. 17And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Genesis 50:20
20As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.

Romans 8:28
28And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Matthew 12:39-40
39But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

Matthew 16:24-25
24Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Vision House Evening of Prayer August 16th

• MH Shoreline and several other Northend chuches are hosting an evening of prayer, refreshments, and fellowship Saturday, Aug. 16th at 6:30pm on the Vision House Jacob’s Well property just off Ballinger Way in Shoreline. Parking is available at Aldercrest Learning Center: 2800 NE 200^th St. Shoreline, WA (shuttles will transport guests back & forth to the property). Vision House Jacob’s Well will include 20 supportive housing units for homeless mothers and their children, on-site child care, and counseling. For more information go to www.vision-house.org.

Crushin’ For a Cause Summer Softball Tournament on August 23rd

• Vision Nationals is teaming up with Mars Hill Sports to continue the MHC tradition of the Summer Softball Tournament. Plus, we’re announcing the addition of an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament to the line-up! On August 23rd, Softball and Ultimate Frisbee players from all over the Puget Sound Region will gather to compete in “Crushin’ for a Cause”. Funds raised from this even will benefit Mars Hill sports ministry and Vision Nationals’ newly established Life Medical Clinic in India. (80% of all proceeds will go to Vision Nationals). Click here for more information.

Shepherding A Child’s Heart Conference

• Dr. Tedd Tripp, author of the best selling book Shepherding a Child’s Heart, is coming to Mars Hill September 19-20th to lead an exciting conference on how to speak to and engage your child’s heart for Jesus. This event will be held at five MH campuses simultaneously, including Shoreline. Click HERE to register for this event and for childcare at Shoreline. Don’t procrastinate!! There is a cap on attendance and seats will be sure to go fast. Email shoreline@marshillchurch.org for more info.

MEMBERSHIP Applications

• Just because we’re not wearing T-shirts every Sunday anymore doesn’t mean we’ve forgotten about all you folks that went through recent doctrine series and have begun the Membership Application process.  Currently their are 82 of you with only 12 having finished the application and a few new members have recently been approved.  If you need ANY help or have ANY questions please feel free to email shoreline@marshillchurch.org and we’ll work to help you through process as best we can.

UPCOMING EVENTS

August 13th - Men’s Morning Prayer

• Come join us in prayer for our families, church, and community at 7am in the Shoreline offices. All men are welcome at this weekly event. Click here for a map and here for notes from last week’s meeting. Email shoreline@marshillchurch.org for more info.

Shoreline Wednesday Night Summer Barbecues

• Weekly from 6-9pm at Edmonds City Park through August 27th. These BBQs will be picnic style so bring your own meat to throw on the grill and food for the family. There’s fun for everyone including kid’s events for ages 3-9 from 7-8pm. Contact shoreline@marshillchurch.org for more info.

**For MORE UPCOMING EVENT INFO visit the Shoreline Events Calendar

SERVING NEEDS

WE NEED HELP!!! Despite the push for involvement and membership, many of our service teams are suffering from very low volunteer involvement. There is a current list of needs posted on The City (click here) or see our SERVING NEEDS PAGE for more opportunities.

Mars Hill Church Shoreline lives for Jesus as a city within the city of Seattle: knowing culture, loving people, and seeing lives transformed to live for Jesus. For more information, visit us HERE. For information on community groups go HERE. For information on other ministries go HERE. For info on membership at MH click HERE. For general questions, you may email us at shoreline@marshillchurch.org.

What comes to mind for you when someone mentions the book of Jonah? My guess is that from the back of our minds some cartoonish kids-bible/Sunday school type of image of “Jonah and the Whale” comes floating to the surface. What also might come to mind is the memory of some professor we heard, or book we read mocking the Bible because it contains the supposedly ridiculous story of someone being swallowed by a whale and living to tell about it. Beyond that many of us may know little about this book, and wonder how it could possibly be relevant in the 21^st century. Well for the next four Sundays we are going to unpack the four short chapters of this book at all our campuses while Pastor Mark is out of town. In Shoreline I will preach the first two weeks, and Pastor Jamie Munson will preach the last two Sundays. I believe we will see that the message of this book is deeply relevant to all of our lives in multiple ways. Let me briefly outline the story and then comment on its meaning.

Jonah was a prophet living in Israel around 800 years before Christ. God called him to go and preach to the great city of Nineveh, but instead he ran from God. He got on a ship heading the opposite direction. God allowed him to run, but pursued him by sending a great storm. Jonah ended up in the drink, and then in the belly of a great fish (as the text says). From there, at his lowest point Jonah begins to repent, and God miraculously preserves his life causing the fish to vomit him out on dry land. Jonah then obeys and goes to Nineveh to preach, and the whole city responds in repentance and God shows them mercy. At this Jonah becomes very angry revealing that what he really wanted was God to judge Nineveh rather than forgive them! As the book closes Jonah is still exceedingly angry, and God is still merciful and compassionate.

This begins to reveal the heart of the story. It is not the story of “Jonah and the Whale” but rather the story of a gracious, merciful, compassionate God who pursues rebellious sinners even when they run from him. This certainly includes the Ninevites who were among the most wicked people of their day, but it especially includes Jonah the prophet of God of the chosen people of God. Jonah was rebellious. We are rebellious. Jonah had the Word of God. We have the Word of God. Jonah ran from God. We run from God. We are Jonah. We are all Jonah. Jonah’s only hope was a compassionate, sovereign God who would pursue Jonah with love and grace. Our only hope is that God will not give us up in our rebellion and hardness of heart, but that in Jesus he will pursue us with grace and compassion that our hearts would be transformed to love and live for Jesus. God, ultimately Jesus, is the only hero of the book of Jonah.

Therefore, the message of Jonah is very hopeful and indeed deeply relevant to each of our lives in the 21^st century. As we dig into this book we will see the glory of the character and heart of the King of the universe, and by his grace we will be moved to worship him with the whole of our lives, expressing his grace and compassion through the gospel to those around us who are lost and wandering in darkness.

“Vision Nationals began when Jesus Christ called a young man from a Hindu family to follow Him.”

For over ten years Mars Hill has participated in this calling. As a church we’ve seen multiple churches planted in India, we’ve sent teachers to train new pastors, and we have been blessed by the stories of lives being changed, with the God in Heaven being glorified throughout it all.

Over the years Vision Nationals has seen the scope of it’s ministry grow. Master’s Fellowship, the church planting aspect of the ministry, has started hundreds of churches throughout the region. By God’s Grace, the number of Christians grew (and grew and grew). The need for more well-trained pastors was evident which prompted the development of the Leadership Training Program. Master’s College of Theology was then created to prepare people for ministry in a full-time environment. Two other ministries sprung from a desire to assist the orphaned - Master’s Home for Children (a home for the homeless children) and Master’s Public School (education for the children in Master’s Home and the surrounding area). Ashraya was created to help support widows in rural areas where access to necessities is limited.

And now their latest endeavor (all praise be to God) and the reason for this post … Life Medical Clinics. As a means to provide care and medicine to those who cannot afford it, Life Medical Clinics is the natural extension of a ministry that serves God and neighbor.

CRUSHIN’ FOR A CAUSE

Yes, we were getting to the crushin’.

Vision nationals is teaming up with Mars Hill Sports to continue the MHC tradition of the Summer Softball Tournament. We are also excited to announce the addition of an Ultimate Frisbee Tournament to the line-up! On August 23rd, Softball and Ultimate Frisbee players from all over the Puget Sound Region will gather to compete in “Crushin’ for a Cause”.

Funds raised from this even will benefit Mars Hill sports ministry and Vision Nationals’ newly established Life Medical Clinic in India. (80% of all proceeds will go to Vision Nationals)

Co-ed Slowpitch Softball and Ultimate Frisbee Tournaments for the day break down as follows:

SOFTBALL:
12 Team Maximum - 4 Game Guarantee
Round-Robin Pool Play seeded into Placement Brackets
$350 Entry Fee (corporate sponsors are welcome)
Prized and Awards for All Teams

ULTIMATE FRISBEE:
12 Team Maximum - 3 Game Guarantee
$100 Entry Fee (corporate sponsors are welcome)
Prizes and Awards for All Teams

Click here for teams to register <https://www.sporg.com/pom/registration?cmd=event_info&event_id=111392>

Click here for persons wanting to help sponsors the event only <https://www.sporg.com/pom/registration?cmd=event_info&event_id=111400>

CONTACTS:
For Vision Nationals, contact Lauren Hunter
(lauren.a.hunter@gmail.com)

For MH sports, contact Phil Hart
(sports@marshillchurch.org)

Questions? 206-423-9868

Justin Schaeffer led our devotional this morning on hearing and ACCEPTING Gods’ will for your life. This was a follow up to Pastor Mark’s latest sermon on Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer. See below for the notes from Justin’s devotional and Shoreline’s weekly prayer requests.

NOTES FROM 8.3.08

Our Purpose (Romans 15:30 paraphrased): I urge you brothers, by the Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in prayer to God the Father for the glory of the name of Jesus.

Our prayers will go unheard if we do not obey God’s word to us.

During Pastor Mark’s sermon last Sunday he concluded with 11 lessons we can learn from Jesus’ Gethsemane prayer. He posed them as questions for prayerful heart examination, meditation, and discussion.

#8 was “Do you pray to both hear and accept God’s will for your life?

1 Samuel 3:10 “Speak, for your servant hears.”

Ecclesiastes 5:2
Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.

Isaiah 51:1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord”

John 5:19-20 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.

James 2:2-4
You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Matthew 23-24 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

1 Peter 3:7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you[1] of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

From “The Making of a Leader” by Dr. J. Robert Clinton

Watchman Nee provides us with an excellent illustration involving inner-life growth in obedience. He sensed a need to begin printing gospel tracts and then prayed for the money to distribute them. God revealed that there were hindrances to his prayer. Many in his church were criticizing another believer and Watchman silently agreed with them. When he prayed further about the money, God spoke to him about this sin. God required that he go and confess his guilt to his sister.

Afterwards, I considered doing so, but, when coming face to face with her, I hesitated five times even though I wished to confess to her. It was because I was concerned that she, who had all along been admiring me so much, would then despise me. I said to God, “It would be all right if You ordered me to do anything else, but I am unwilling to confess to her.” I still kept asking God for the printing money, but He would not listen to my reasoning and insisted on my confessing. The sixth time, through the grace of the Lord, I confessed to her. With tears, we both confessed our faults and then forgave each other. We were filled with joy and from then on loved each other all the more in the Lord.

Not long after this event, a postman delivered a letter that contained fifteen U.S. dollars. The letter read “I am fond of distributing gospel tracts. Please condescend to accept.”

STRATEGIC PRAYER REQUESTS

• Continue to pray for Gary Kingsbury’s recovery

• Pray for the potential building in Lynnwood.
  • We have an in-house meeting today to discuss feasibility and a possible bid proposal
  • Bids are due Friday

• Pray for Pastor Steve as he prepares to preach on Sunday

• Pray for the second week of the Back to School Drive

• Pray for the August 16^th Vision House prayer night, that it would be well attended and that this project to house homeless single mom’s would be bathed in prayer.

• Pray for MH Shoreline VBS August 11-15th. Pray for Matt Grant as he ties up loose ends with logistics and planning; and that the gospel will be clearly presented and permeate the hearts of the children who attend.

• Pray for wisdom and fruitful participation from our campus as we plan for Fall mid-week.

“…our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us froma ll lawlessness and to purify fo himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” - Titus 2: 13-14

This past Sunday Mars Hill Shoreline kicked off it’s annual Back to School drive to help support the Shoreline School District by providing school supplies, backpacks, toiletries, etc… to students who otherwise couldn’t afford them. I had the distinct blessing of getting to pack my Volvo wagon up so full that I could barely fit in the drivers seat and deliver all of the supplies this morning to the Shoreline Center for Human Services which runs the Back to School Consortium that we are supporting. It was so awesome! They had designated a small office for the supplies and after our first trip in from the car it was apparent that the office was getting too full, so we had to pile everything else up in a larger room. We easily quintupled the amount of supplies they’d received and when I told them we still had another weekend to collect donations and that we’d raised $970 in cash donations on Sunday as well, the lady looked like she was going to explode she was so happy.

I can’t wait to see how our congregation responds next week!

When I pray for our body I often pray Titus 2 that our hearts would be consumed with ZEAL to do good works as Jesus’ possession. It is such a glorious grace to have been freed from all lawlessness and to be purified by His blood and it seams like such a natural outpouring of that grace for our church body to be zealous or eager to do good works in His name.

ALSO! Don’t forget that we’ll be hosting a prayer night for Vision House’s Jacob’s Well project as well on Saturday night August 16 @ 6:30pm. For the past 18 years, Vision House, a Christian non-profit in Renton, has successfully provided supportive housing to more than 520 homeless men, women and children. Plans are underway to build a Vision House in Shoreline to help homeless mothers and their children rebuild their lives. We’ll have a shuttle availble to get to the property where we’ll be praying. Park at Aldercrest Learning Center: 2800 NE 200^th St., Shoreline, WA.