January 8, 2015

Happy New Year to you and your family!  I wanted to check in with you and tell you myself that we are doing well.  This Sabbatical is just what we needed after 16 long months of surgeries and treatments for cancer.  Thank you again to our beautiful church, our Board and Denominational leaders for responding to our time of need.  We have already enjoyed benefits from the time off and feel ourselves “finding new strength” as a family.  Along those lines, this verse has always been close to me in times when I have felt spent: 

“Even youths will become weak and tired,

and young men will fall in exhaustion.

³¹ But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.

They will soar high on wings like eagles.

They will run and not grow weary.

They will walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:30b-31

Our trust is in the Lord!  That means we look to Him and discover daily encouragement and healing, and we don't have to look long for His presence with us…in short, we have hope because we have Christ.  We feel His strength, and the peace of His Spirit calms us.  Daily, whether we are strong enough to “soar” high, “run” or just “walk,” we are reminded of His goodness to us as we do these things in His strength.  Times of exhaustion are good reminders of just how reliant upon Him we are.  What a glorious crutch we enjoy.

I don't know how these words find you today, but if you are feeling “weak,” “tired,” and or “exhausted,” it is in placing your “trust in the Lord” that you will “find new strength.”  You will “walk” again, you will “run” again and you will “soar” again as you stay close to His side, trusting Him with the path in front of you…  He will not fail us…He loves us.

This coming Sunday, we have Dr. John Jackson, President of William Jessup University, as we continue our January series - “Little Things, Big Difference.”

We love you all and thank God for you.  There are so many good things happening with our church it’s difficult to mention them all, but I wanted to encourage all our men to attend the Men’s Conference coming up in a few short weeks.  This may be the weekend that you begin to see breakthrough.  We would love to see 200+ men pursuing God together.

We will see you in a few short weeks and thank you for all your prayers.  If you would like to follow me this month while I’m on Sabbatical, you can do that on Twitter @UncommonLifeBCH.

Pastor Craig, Becky, Seth, Hannah and Riley the dog

October 30, 2014

Trunk or Treat is moving!  The forecast for Friday night is for a lot of rain.  We faced the dilemma of canceling the event or finding an inside venue that would help us reach our community, so we are partnering with Sunrise Mall to join them in their candy giveaways.  We believe this could be an AMAZING opportunity to be out in the community with our event!  They are excited we are joining them and are giving us FOUR HIGH TRAFFIC areas to set up our tables and give candy away . . . and also to take pictures with our very own super heroes that will be present that night.  The time is 5-7 pm.  If you have volunteered for the night we will be contacting you (or possibly already have) for the changes.  Feel free to connect with Pastor Brent at brentp@baysidech.com or 916-726-2100.

We realize some of you have spent a lot of time and effort preparing your trunk decorations and costume, and we do apologize for the inconvenience.  Since we have no control over weather, we are trusting God’s leading in this change, and appreciate your support and prayers!

I’m so grateful for Pastor Brent and his Bayside Kid’s team for their leadership on this.  If you were planning to bring your family to get candy at Trunk or Treat come on over to the mall, we’d love to see you there!

For this coming weekend we are going to be extending our talk from last week about restoring balance in the presence of worry and anxiety.  If you would like, take a look ahead and read through Matthew 6:25-34 and Philippians 4:6-8.  I believe this is going to be an opportunity for healing and hope!

We look forward to seeing you this coming weekend as we gather with friends to catch up, worship, receive a challenge from God’s Word and be refreshed for the week to come.

Pastor Craig, Becky, Seth, Hannah and Riley the dog.

PS: We are growing again and so appreciate your patience with growing pains.  What great issues to work through! Also, Daylight Saving Time ends this coming Sunday, so remember to move your clocks back 1 hour Saturday night.

October 1, 2014

““Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? Didn’t they say, ‘The Lord brought us up out of Egypt’? But now the Lord has abandoned us and handed us over…” Judges 6:13

Last week we began talking about expectations in regards to hope, and it’s a helpful discussion for us to have.  One aspect I wasn’t able to bring out in this story has to do with what Gideon believed he knew about God and His people.  Gideon was convinced that God had abandoned them, but this was not true.  God had always been with them.  The truth was that God had given the Israelites over to their rebellion.  They rejected God; He did not reject them. This is an important key to this story.  Gideon is blaming God for his circumstances while the whole while Gideon is engaged in sin himself.  He points fingers at God when he should be pointing them at his own heart.  The crazy thing is that the real story was always available to Gideon if he had done a little research.  He could have consulted priests, prophets and the scrolls for clarification, but he didn’t and it cost him his faith.  Fortunately for Gideon, God had not abandoned him…He sought Gideon out to restore his faith.

The study of God’s Word is so critical to our daily walk with God, and truthfully, many of us are not as faithful to it as we could be.  It actually made me pause and ask the question of myself, “What part of the story do I think I know but actually have wrong?”  Study of the Bible is the only way to get the story right.  Let us not neglect our source!  If you need help in your study then seek it out…ask people for help, join a study, or get a version of the Bible you can read easily.  I am often asked what version I use, and I prefer the New Living Translation.

This week we are continuing our series “Unleashing Hope,” while wrapping up Gideon's story.  Take another look at Judges 6, 7 and 8 ahead of time.

We so look forward to seeing you this coming weekend as we celebrate God, catch up with friends and challenge ourselves with God’s Word.  We love you!

Pastor Craig, Becky, Seth, Hannah and Riley the dog

PS: Thanks to the team who designed and constructed our new stage design, and “yes” the pallets are fastened together securely.

September 23, 2014

Unleashing Hope!  It’s our new series and it hit like a thunderstorm this last weekend.  The response has been amazing, and it’s obvious this is God's direction for us at this time.  I am so grateful for those who took the challenges from Sunday seriously and are seeking God's help to recharge their HOPE batteries.  Without HOPE, we have so little, but with HOPE, we have so much.  Along with our new series we are launching many new Life Groups, which start this week.  My group started Sunday night and it proved to be a memorable evening—great teaching, prayer and meaningful talks about HOPE in our lives.  You can still join a group if you’re interested by calling the church office at 916-726-2100 and asking for the Life Groups ministry.

This coming weekend we are working into Week 2 of our series.  We will be talking about "Raising our Expectations."  We are studying out of the story of Gideon from Judges 6 and 7.  Take an early look at this passage and see how God speaks to you about raising your expectations. 

We want to thank all those who helped us with the lobby remodel.  I am continually blown away by the amount of work and the quality put forth for our church community.  So many people helped make it happen in big and small ways.  Thank you for all your efforts!  They make a huge difference in the life of Bayside. 

Do you have a friend or family member who could use a good talk about HOPE?  Invite them to come along with you this Sunday.  We promise to be nice to them.  We look forward to seeing you all as we gather to celebrate the goodness of God, catch up with friends and challenge ourselves with the inspiration of the Bible.

Pastor Craig, Becky, Seth, Hannah and Riley the dog

September 17, 2014

I Corinthians 13:13 - “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love…”

HOPE!  Honestly, think about life without hope.  It’s absolutely dismal!  It’s difficult to think about how a person goes on to the next day when there is so little hope for that next day.  None of us would choose that kind of life.  Not only do people suffer from hopelessness, but we are battered and bruised by discouragement as well.  Life is happening and it’s not often pretty.  Circumstances in our control and circumstances out of our control are part of each day and yet the verse above speaks to us about three things that remain for us as followers of Jesus.  Right in the middle of faith and love we find hope.  We have all kinds of reasons to hope and they are all found in Christ.

Church, we are starting a brand new series called “Unleashing Hope.”  This is going to be a powerful study about hope in our lives and how we can get more of it.  Hope drives us not just into the next day but forward into eternity.  This will not be a study of platitudes about hope…it will be a challenge to understand the role of hope and how we can remain filled with it. 

Do you have a friend or a family member who needs to hear about hope?  Anyone you know feeling hopeless?  Invite them to attend with you.  We are offering Life-Groups along with this study and I am hoping you will join one and bring your friend along.  Stop by the Life Group tables, in the courtyard, on Sunday, for details about these groups.

We love you and look forward to seeing you this coming weekend as we gather to celebrate the goodness of God, catch up with friends and challenge ourselves with the Word of God.

Pastor Craig, Becky, Seth, Hannah and Riley the dog

September 2, 2014

Wow! We celebrated 5 years last Sunday! What an amazing service it was, and the Luau was a blast. At the Luau we baptized 90!! There were lots of tears. The presence of God was so strong with us, and even with 55 beach balls no one got hurt during the in-service volleyball game. I want to thank the hundreds who made the weekend so special. It could not have happened but for all those serving us selflessly.

As we begin year 6, we all need to be thinking about how we will live brave. Part of that is the service we give to others. What will be your part? Not “if” you serve, but “when” will you serve? Where will you serve? We are now a church exceeding 1,100, and the amount of people it takes to staff our ministries is only growing as well. Please take a moment to consider where you will add value by serving. We always have a need in the Patio Cafe, Media Team, Children’s, Road Warriors, Guest Services (ushers and greeters) and the Connection Cafe. There are other places to serve, but these always have room for a few more.

This coming Sunday we are going to wrap up our series WE BELIEVE with part three of “Hope’s Arrival”. You can look ahead for this Sunday by reading Revelation 19:11-16 and I Corinthians 3:12-15. Come expecting God to speak into your life.

We are also looking for about 10 more homes to open up for our upcoming Life Group launch starting Sept 21. We will have our first signups this Sunday so people can join a group. If you are willing to open your home please contact Pastor Cheryl at (916) 726-2100.

We love you and can hardly wait to see you this coming weekend as we gather to celebrate the goodness of God, catch up with friends and open the Bible to learn.

Pastor Craig, Becky, Seth, Hannah and Riley the dog

August 29, 2014

5 Years! What an incredible ride we have had and on Sunday we are celebrating it. You will want to come early to our weekend service experiences. We have two this weekend (10:00 and 11:30), not our typical three. We are starting service off with a quick game of...well you have to see it to believe it, so I will let you be surprised! Of course we will worship, and I can't wait to share with you a message from the book of Nehemiah. To close we will be asking God...well you will see, but come anticipating for God to lead you in this.

Afterwards we head right over to the Luau! We will begin with 60+ children, teens and adults being baptized—that will be an awesome sight. There will be pulled pork sandwiches or hot dogs, chips, fruit and dessert for lunch (cost is now $8.00). We will have chairs, but it would be a good idea to bring your own lawn chairs and/or blanket. We’ll also have live music and games from a stage and for the children there will be water slides and swimming in our baptism pools once we are done. It’s going to be a huge day for our church as we enjoy being with one another and celebrating the goodness of God.

Hey, a quick heads up! Parking will be just fine on Sunday, but we will need to park next door on our Creekside property in the coral up front and on the grass in the back. Our Road Warriors will show you.

We love you and can’t wait for Sunday!

Pastor Craig, Becky, Seth, Hannah and Riley the dog