6-20-10 Listen Watch Video
Order of Worship

Dear Friends,

Annual Conference begins this week in Redlands for our lay and clergy delegates.   With Rev. Martha and I both away this Sunday, we’ve arranged for two familiar faces to lead the congregation in worship: Rev. Charles Hoffman, our former Sr. Minister for fifteen years, will return to the pulpit, while Rev. Melanie Silva will serve as Liturgist.  Rev. Chuck and Rev. Melanie’s leadership in worship this weekend will be yet another reminder of the strength of our past and the promise of our future together.

Last Sunday we celebrated the culmination of our “From Strength to Strength” Capital Campaign.  To date, we have received pledges of nearly $1.2 million dollars.  We anticipate that in the coming weeks we will see that total rise as pledge cards continue to be returned.  If you have yet to submit your pledge to this important campaign, you may bring your cards to worship this Sunday and include them in the offering plate (cards will be available in the pew pockets on Sunday); if you are unable to attend worship, you can always mail your card to the church office at any time.  A heartfelt thanks to all who have submitted pledges to date, and especially to Rodney Lappe, our campaign chair, and the entire campaign team!

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Mark

We have an exciting summer in store for us.  Make sure you check out all of the possible events to be a part of!  Click Summer Calendar.   Download a Summer Permission Slip 

UMYF: United Methodist Youth Fellowship.  Join us in the Youth Room for games, snacks, announcements, refreshments, program, singing, and a time to share your joys and concerns.  All incoming 7th grade-2010 Graduates are welcome to attend.

“DAB” Day at the Beach: District Beach Days include all of our San Diego District Churches joining together on the lawn north of the parking lot at La Jolla Shores.  We enjoy the beauty of the beach, fellowship with district friends, beach volleyball, card games, surfing, swimming, and lots of fun!  If you would like to sign up for a “DAB” call or email Rebecca to sign up by the Monday before the event.

Breakfast in the Youth Room:  Take a break from video games, tv, or simply doing nothing and come and eat breakfast and hang out with your youth group friends in the Youth Room.  If you would like to attend a scheduled breakfast call or email Rebecca to sign up by the Monday before the event.

If you have any other questions about upcoming summer activities please feel free to call or email: 760-753-6582 or Rebecca@encinitaschurch.com

6/13/10 Listen Watch Video
Order of Worship

Dear Friends,

The TLC Network used to broadcast a regular show called, “In a Fix.” The show would stage dramatic “interventions” on the family handyman or woman whose do-it-yourself home repair project had gone terribly wrong.  Whenever the best home improvement intentions lead to disastrous results – such as gaping holes in ceilings, gutted kitchens, three alarm fires (and strained marriages) – the “In A Fix” team would sweep in for the weekend and turn a small repair job into a major renovation.  By the end of the weekend, the remorseful, repentant homeowner would return to his home amazed and grateful to have been rescued from the mess he had created. 

According to Luke, Jesus stages a little home intervention of his own one day, sweeping into Simon’s house for more than a few minor repairs.  While having dinner with Simon the Pharisee, he undertakes an extraordinary remodeling and restoration project on a nameless street woman – “a sinner,” as Simon calls her – granting her forgiveness while she anoints his feet with tears of joy and fragrant ointment.  Meanwhile, Simon, in all his self-righteousness, is in a serious fix of his own – unable to comprehend such reckless, unconditional, undeserved love, and unable to perceive that his own proud, self-sufficient life is fraught with serious defects.

This Sunday, as we culminate our “From Strength to Strength” Capital Campaign, we are reminded by Luke that the church exists to rescue and restore all of God’s people – not only the nameless sinners whom no one knows, but also the Simons among us who, by all appearances, have no need to be rescued.  Together, these make up that eclectic collection of people we call the church which, from what I can tell, is the only place in the world where both are welcomed, and both are healed.

See you Sunday,

Rev. Mark

6-6-10 Listen Watch Video
Order of Worship

Dear Friends,

If someone were to ask you where God is to be found, how would you respond?  Would you send them to a particular place, with a specific address?  Or would you point to a particular group of people and say, “You’ll find God among them.”  Would you send them to a quiet stretch along Moonlight beach, or to a long set of steps that lead high up into the Himalayas, or to the wide-open solitude of the desert, or to the crowded Western Wall of Jerusalem.?  Where is God to be found?

The truth, of course, is that God can be found in all such places.  Each of us can likely name a place, or a circumstance from our past, in which we experienced the presence of God in real and powerful ways.  Maybe it was at church, or on a retreat, or in your living room, or in a distant, unfamiliar place. 

This Sunday, Luke tells us a story about the day Jesus showed up in a powerful and memorable way.  In a little town called Nain, Jesus raised a young man from the dead.  To the casual reader it might sound like just another miracle story in the Bible, but for Luke, it was not the miracle itself that caught his attention.  Rather, it was what all the people of Nain were saying afterwards: “God has visited us.”

Sometimes the real miracle is not that God chooses to visit us, in both extraordinary and ordinary ways, but that we actually recognize it when it does indeed happen.

I’ll see you Sunday. 

Rev. Mark