This blog is going on vacation

Hey everyone,

Something I’ve been pondering some time is the usefulness of this blog.  It certainly was extremely valuable in the early days of EAST, but now with most of the same content being at our regular website (suncrest.org/east) or on my personal blog, I’m not convinced this is something we need to utilize.  I’m not killing it altogether because we may down the road discover that indeed we can use it for a great purpose.  Until then, this blog will go on hiatus.

In the mean time please check out my personal blog over at www.digdoug.org and certainly check the Suncrest site regularly for updates.  My personal blog is a space where I write about things in life, leadership and other various topics.  I will also write things that are specifically for our tribe at East.  If you would like to subscribe by email just CLICK HERE.  If you use a RSS reader and would like to subscribe via that CLICK HERE.

As we turn 1, I will be reflecting over at digdoug.org on how I’ve seen God at work and looking forward to another powerful year.

Thanks for reading!

doug

Welcome the newest member to Suncrest-East

Lydia Faith was born on September 15th at 3pm.  Weighing 7 lbs 8 oz.  19 1/2 inches long.  Mom and her are both doing great!  You can catch a short video of this beautiful girl over at my personal blog: www.digdoug.org.

Video note about this weekend

Fire Drill!

GO! Children’s Ministry and Student Life Ministries consider it an honor to serve the families of Suncrest.  Not only do we strive to serve the spiritual and emotional development of the kids, but we strive to do so in a SAFE environment.  This is why all kids/students, age 0 – 12^th grade will participate in a fire drill this Sunday, August 23 at the end of the 9:30am service.

What will this look like?  We will simulate the theater’s fire alarm with whistles, and all contributors will evacuate their theaters with the children/students.  Every class will proceed outside to ONE destination point. This destination point is found at the front of the theater on the sidewalk that separates the parking lot down the middle.  The classes will meet approximately halfway down this sidewalk.  (Familiarize yourself with this sidewalk as you arrive at church.)  At the end of service bring your family ID card to the destination point and pick up your child(ren).  For this drill the kids will have all of their personal belongings with them.

IN THE CASE OF A REAL FIRE/EVACUATION, it is IMPERATIVE that all parents stay in the adult worship and evacuate according to the given directions.  DO NOT RUN TO FIND YOUR CHILDREN!! MEET AT THE DESTINATION POINT.  This is so important because the contributors will have their attendance sheet and if one child is missing, the firemen will be notified immediately and will re-enter the fire to search for the child.  Again, MEET YOUR CHILD AT THE DESTINATION POINT!

We appreciate your flexibility this coming Sunday.  We’ll see you on the sidewalk!

Julie

Ladies Luncheon

All ladies are invited to get together for lunch at the Oriental Buffet (across from Meijer on Rt. 30 in Merrillville) on Wednesday August 12 at 11:45. This is just a time to visit, no agenda or meeting. Purely social :+) Please RSVP to Lynn (msgardens[AT]hotmail.com).

Loving your neighbor with shoes

If you were at Suncrest-East yesterday, you know I mentioned that our work/business can be a catalyst to loving our neighbor.  TOMS shoes does exactly that.  Blake Mycoskie created TOMS shoes to wed a business with a cause.  For every pair of shoes you buy from them they give one away to someone who needs them.  Go to www.tomsshoes.com to learn more and definitely check out the video below.

A Heart for Prayer

I had coffee with a leader from East this week who reminded me of something that was slipping.  This “thing” was slipping of course unintentionally, but it’s importance was noticibly lacking.  The “thing” that was lacking was a heart for prayer before our gathering each week.

When we launched 10 months ago, we made it a point to pray each and every week 30 minutes before the gathering started.

We prayed that God would use us.

We prayed that people would come and find the hope, peace and love that only Jesus provides.

And no matter what was going on that morning, whether we were running late, or new people were already present, we stopped and prayed.  A simple act of stopping what we were doing to pray placed our dependence back on God and away from ourselves.

Every week I am astounded at how well prepared we are.  Sure there are things that slip through.  And yes we have a Sunday here and there where we run behind.  Yet, through it all we pull it off.  If we are not careful, we will think that it is indeed “we” who are pulling it off instead of God.  Don’t get me wrong.  Our preparation and planning are an important part of being used by God to change lives.  Yet, our dependence on Him is where the real fruit comes from…it’s where the real life change that people talk about comes from.

Ultimately it’s a matter of trust.  Trusting that even though we have one more thing to take care of, praying to God for his help is more important.  Trusting that when things are running late, we need God more than ever.  Trusting that at times there’s a bit more going on below the surface than we may realize and seeking God’s grace and help are what we need the most.

So I’m asking that if you are a present for Sunday morning setup in any capacity, to come to the lobby at 9am to join us for prayer.  I’m recommitting myself to make it a priority.  Will you join me?

Oh and if you aren’t a part of setting up but would like to join us, you are more than welcome!  We would love to have anyone who wants to pray with us.

Great Sunday

What a great Sunday! Summer is in full swing (shall we tell the weatherman?) and even though a lot of our church family was on vacation, What a great Sunday! Thank you, East Campus, for your amazing hearts.  It is such a pleasure for me to watch our Contributors investing in the lives of children each and every week.  There is some really good stuff going on in GO!   When you’ve got the Team GO! crew  leading worship to kids from 4^th grade down to age 2 (and they all participated!), our preschool kids learning of God’s amazing power, and  such a faithful and dedicated group loving and caring for each baby as if he/she was the only baby in the world, I couldn’t help but smile this Sunday!

Another reason I couldn’t stop smiling?  After service I had the privilege of speaking with FOUR people wanting to contribute at East.  FOUR!  That is awesome!  These four folks are going to share their gifts with all of us to be used by God to change lives, because that’s what happens, doesn’t it? When we put ourselves out there to serve in some way, God comes alive – to those we serve and inside of us.  If you would like to jump in and serve, whether it be as a greeter, with set up and tear down, preparing communion, investing in students or with the kids, or on the worship team, WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU!  Not only will you be sharing your gifts, but you will be sharing a lot of laughs, making some friends, and blessing so many.

Thank you, Angela, Jessica, Doug, and Nelsy, for sharing yourselves with all of us.  It is hearts like yours that make Suncrest such a special place!  I’m still smiling!

-Julie

Suncrest-East’s Baptism at the Beach

Those who were baptized were Naomi, Micah, Adrian, Ethan and Ty.

Baptisms at the Beach this Sunday

Join us at the Dune’s State park beach for a celebration of baptisms.  We are going to have the baptisms at 2:30 but many will be gathering before that to just hang out.  Hope you can come and celebrate with us.  If you have questions don’t hesitate to ask.

doug

(doug.gamble AT suncrest.org)