Keeping Relationship as Our Focus For the Christmas Season

Hey Everyone,

The Christmas season has kicked into full gear with all the advertising, work parties, Christmas music on the radio, kids programs at school and all the hooplah surrounding this time of year. I've been pondering that really the core message of this celebration is real relationship with God and one another. It's interesting how Christmas often surfaces our pain around broken or dysfunctional relationships alongside the anticipation or hope of finding joy by being with those we love. So in the midst of all the activity and busyness of this time of year, take some time to reflect and get in touch with the longings of your heart, even allowing the pain around broken or superficial relationships to bubble up. It is a chance to listen to our heart cry for a deeper relationship with Jesus and those around us. Isn't quality time connecting heart to heart far more satisfying than being preoccupied with getting stuff, and filling the void in our hearts with more superficial activity as a means of avoiding or covering over the pain? Create some white space during this season to just 'be' with Jesus, and those you love, simply enjoying their presence!

We are meeting this Sunday at Beth Brown's place in Bowness at 4301 A 70 St. N.W.  We'll start with lunch at 12pm, so bring some food to share. We may watch another of Carl's dvd's from the Engage series as we explore, discuss, and learn together how to be friends with our neighbors, co-workers, and naturally converse about Jesus and how He is at work in our lives without all the baggage around the words 'evangelism', 'Christianity', 'religion', and even 'church'.

We also want to do a little planning around our Twinkle Christmas Party on Sunday December 16 @ the Boys and Girls Club in Bowness, #36 - 7930 Bowness Rd. This is an opportunity to invite friends and neighbors and have some fun together. I will forward everyone an invite that you can print off and handout to folks. The suggested cost is 10$ an adult and kids are free. The money goes to the artists putting on the play. They ask for 300$ for the evening, so we just want to cover our costs. From all reports the play is interactive and fun with a great Christmas message without being religious in language or preachy at all....so our 'non churched friends' will not feel 'cornered', and the event is at neutral setting on purpose. We want to create safe spaces for people to connect, and you never know what can happen from there. So get the word out to your friends asap!

See all of you who can make it on Sunday and let us know if you can make it.

Tim and Esther

Learning to Be the Church Gathered and Scattered

Hey Everyone,

We really enjoyed connecting with all of you who could make it on Sunday. We had a deep time of remembering the sacrifice made by Jesus, our soldiers, and others, so that we can live a life of freedom both now and forever! We also had some powerful moments of remembering some 'painful' events in our lives and allowing the Holy Spirit to come and minister more healing and freedom.

On a side note, what an amazing come back victory for the Stampeders over the pesky, and never say die Rough Riders! We will be watching the Western Finals on Sunday between the Stampeders and B.C. Lions at 2:30pm. Any of you are welcome to come to our house and observe how avid a football fan Esther is:--)

We are slowly finding a rhythm of regularly connecting with each other, God, and our neighbours. We are aiming to have one regular gathering a month all together where we practice some form of worship, prayer for our neighbours and the nations, discussion around the Bible, God stories, sharing our needs both spiritual, emotional, relational, and practical, ministry to each other, some eating of food and of course fun. This is not to say that we have to squeeze all of this into any given gathering. Sometimes the focus will be one or two of these practices such as worship and prayer or teaching and other times the focus will be on just hanging and having some fun.

Once a month we are aiming for the guys to get together and the gals to get together. In these smaller settings we want to have fun around our common interests such as cooking, beer and wings or football as well as go deeper in being vulnerable with where we are stuck or struggling to grow. These two gatherings a month are what we call the Church Gathered. We will be participating in the ageless practices that Jesus followers have engaged in no matter what the culture, the age, or period of history. (You can look at Acts 2: 42-47) The end goal is that Jesus is the center and the focus of why we gather. The other reason for church gathered is that we need to help each other grow in what it means to be apprentices of Jesus in His character and calling. We cannot grow as Jesus followers in isolation. By the way if you haven't signed up to receive the Mosaic posts, you should. Trang has been sharing cool stories of how Jesus has been connecting her to people through cooking and hiking. She then shares how she is naturally sharing Jesus with them and how these friends are inviting others to come. Go to www.themosaicnetwork.net  to sign up to get the posts.

The other aspect of church is being the Church Scattered. This means connecting and loving our neighbours where we live, work, study or play. We want to support one another in this. So once a month we are attempting to have a gathering where we can invite our friends to connect with each other and have a party! Over time as we see who is spiritually curious and who the Father is drawing into the Kingdom, we hope to have gatherings where we can intentionally invite our friends and neighbours who are interested to have conversations about Jesus and His Kingdom. This does not mean we can't invite friends to our Church Gathered Community Events. In fact it gets fun when the lines get blurred.

With these intentional rhythms in mind, we want to give you a heads up on different ways of gathering over the next month:

• This Sunday Nov. 18th we are gathering as guys and gals. For the guys, we want to connect over beer and wings at Seanachie's Irish Pub 5909 Signal Hill Ctr SW @ 6:30-8:30pm. It is in the West Hills area. Rumour has it that the gals are going to be gathering at Amy's for some chocolate fondue from 6:30-8:30pm....guys we might have to crash that party. Let Joel or Amy know if you are coming. IF you want to watch the Western Finals, you are welcome at our place. Just bring your favourite beverage and snack to share, and let us know you're coming
• Nov. 25th is Grey Cup Sunday and no official gathering though rumour has it that the Brauns are having a neighbourhood Super Bowl party. Linda or Rob let us know what you are thinking for this.
• Esther and I will be away from Nov. 25h to Dec. 2nd celebrating our 25th...Yes, its hard to believe, but its true!
• Dec. 2nd could be another guys and gals gathering. Joel and Amy will let you know if this is on. We should start a FB page for this or Joel I can add you as an author for the Close2Home blog site if you want. Joel and Amy will you let everyone know if this is a go.
• Dec. 9th we'll meet @ Beth Brown's from 12pm - 3pm for a church gathered time. This time we want to start with lunch together so bring some food to share, and hopefully Emily can make it:--)
• Then Dec. 16th @ 6:30pm we are having a Community Theatre night at the Boys and Girls Club in Bowness @ #36 7930 Bowness Road. The show is called Twinkle. It is not churchy and only goes for 45 minutes with Christmas theme. We hope to have some food as well. I've included the e-card below which you can use to invite friends. It will cost $300 to put it on and we will suggest $10 an adult with children coming free. It is family friendly and a chance to invite our neighbours and friends to connect. Start getting the word out and inviting friends.

Have a great week everyone and shoot up some prayers for me for a successful hunt as I head out Thursday and Saturday with a good friend....hoping for a bull elk or mule buck:--),

Tim and Esther

What's Next For Church - Harvest Time?

Hello Everyone,

This morning the crisp fall chill in the air was a reminder that the seasons are a-changing! Esther and I have been sensing that what has been happening in the natural is a reflection or indicator of what season we are moving into as a community. Fall is about taking in the harvest and giving thanks for the harvest. So we believe this is a season of harvest. There are people around us that are ready to come in to the Kingdom! We've been reflecting on the words of Jesus from John 4: 34: "My food," Jesus said, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look as the fields! They are ripe for harvest!"

This summer we tasted of this harvest when we saw a number of young people say "Yes" to Jesus at camp. We believe this was an encouragement from God that we are entering a season of seeing some friends and family around us say "Yes" to Jesus.

So with that in mind, we want to meet this Sunday and ask the questions: 'What Next for Church?' and 'How do we be and do church in this next season?' These questions flow out of the 'Why Church?'  question. Simply church is about relationship/community/family on mission together- so we want to ask, 'How we can go deeper in our friendships to help one another grow as followers of Jesus?' and 'How do encourage, equip, and go with each other on the mission of seeing people come into the Kingdom?"  The cool part of simple church is that we can turn the rudder of the schooner and change direction without much effort. We want to get our sails up and point our sails in the direction that the wind of the HS is blowing!

We don't want to just go through the motions of 'doing church' where we do the same thing getting the same results; which is pointless. Where we need to re-calibrate our compasses to point in the right direction of God's purposes for church, we want to do so. Where we need to re-tool for the journey, we want to do so? Where we need to re-align our resources of time, energy, and money, we want to do so? We may use the SOAR tool to draw this out. If you are curious what SOAR is, you'll just have to come and find out.:--)

So come prepared to dive in on the discussion around the above. The end goal is we want to come away with some practical steps of how we gather, when we gather, who we gather with, and where we will each put our time, energy, and money towards being missional community together!

We will meet @ the Schultz abode at 10:30am this Sunday! Bring food to share for the feast as we connect around the table together celebrating who we are in Jesus.

Love,

Tim and Esther

Serving Our Neighbourhoods Together

This Sunday churches all across the city are banding together to serve their neighbourhoods in some practical way. It struck me a couple of weeks ago, after listening to Mayor Nenshi on the news encouraging all of us to donate a few hours to cleaning up the trash around our communities, that this would be an easy thing to do. It doesn't require a lot of organization, and is a practical way to demonstrate that we love our neighbourhoods.

So this Sunday we will gather at the Schultz residence at 10:30am. We'll a time of worship and prayer, a short Bible reading on serving, and then go do it, weather permitting. If you would like to join us in serving our community of Bowness, you are welcome. You never know what surprises God will have in store for us! You are then welcome to come back to our house for lunch. Bring enough food for yourself and to share around.

An early hurrah to Joel and Amy who will be celebrating their wedding anniversary next weekend. Way to go guys.

If it is rainy, we'll go with plan B.

Love,

Tim and Esther

Finding God in the Midst of the Collisions of Work, Play, Kids, and Community

One of the given conundrums of life in the Western World is that everyone is busy. We all have noble or good intentions to get together with people we have a natural affinity for, to spend more time connecting with God in prayer and reading the Bible, to be more active and get in shape, to spend quality time with our kids, and the list could go on and on. If we are honest, we all feel overwhelmed and live in survival mode hoping to make it to the weekend. Then on the weekends there are a whole other set of options of what we could be doing with our time. There are kids sporting or relational activities, chores to catch up on, and even church. Unless we all become hermits, or go live in isolated communes in the country, or in monasteries, which even then doesn't negate all work or activity, we will wrestle with the centrifugal pull of being busy. Living a full life of significance, service, and fulfilling relationships is a good thing. Living a stressed, reactive, scattered, and anxious life is not God's intention for us.

So the three questions I want to leave with you to ponder are Why are we busy?; What are the right things to be busy with?; and How do we make the choices of what we are to be busy with? Jesus was busy doing the right things. He didn't sit around twiddling His thumbs, or sit in the lotus position meditating all day. Yes, He did take time to be alone with the Father to be fueled for the full life He lived. Take some time to ponder John 5: 16-23; 36-40, and reflect on how Jesus made decisions about what to be busy with. He didn't let other people's agendas determine what He did and didn't do. He didn't let the values of what the world considers to be most important drive His decision making (status, money, bigger and better possessions, pleasing people).

When it comes to church, we are to be the scattered church in who we are and how we live at work, with our families, and with our neighbors. This is where we spend most of our time in a week. We also want to practice the regular rhythms of being the church gathered. These are times to come together to be encouraged, to be trained how to live the Jesus Way when we are out there, to carry each other's burdens, and to worship Jesus. We don't want the running of and or amount of 'church meetings' to compound our busyness, yet as Hebrews 10:23-25 says, we don't want to give up meeting together, but spur one another on to love and good deeds.

So this Sunday we will be meeting at the Schultz digs at 10:30am. You are all welcome. If you want to stay for lunch bring something to share. Please RSVP by Sat. if you can make it.

Have a great weekend seeing what the Father is doing and joining Him in that.

Tim and Esther

Soccer and Serving in the Hood

Esther and I have been fumbling and bumbling along for the last 10 years trying to learn what it means to have authentic relationships with our neighbors in Bowness, and how to serve our neighborhood with no strings attached. The door that we have tripped into is through a passion and skill we have for coaching soccer that is so natural and easy. Through doing what we love, we have had the opportunity to find some cool friends who are 'not yet Jesus followers' and other Jesus followers who also have a value for loving our hood.

Every spring from April to June for over 10 years we have had the honor of coaching soccer in Bowness. It has become a natural rhythm in our yearly cycle. Through soccer and even hockey in the winter we have connected with some of the families from Bowness. This has spilled over to having barbies together, going camping together, being in each others homes, and us receiving as much from our neighbors as we give to them. My dream is to go on a 'soccer missions trip' in a few years with my present team and some parents where we get to serve and connect with other kids that love soccer in a developing country.

To do this we have had to learn to say 'no' to other good invitations and activities that would consume our time and energy, and that could keep us from having time to 'be present' with people in our hood. This has also led us to the choice of keeping church 'simple'.  One of the main distractions we have found to building relationships with our neighbors is the reality and trap of busyness.  In our past lives, we found ourselves so busy with church or 'Christian meetings' that we had no time for more relationships. This is true for many Christians. With work, kids activities/school, and then getting involved with running church or church meetings/relationships, people have no time for being with their neighbors.

Real relationships take time to build, especially with the trust necessary for folks to let you in to their lives, and for us to have the credibility or equity to even talk about Jesus. We now can say that we have some friendships with folks where the relationship is not conditional on whether they choose to follow Jesus or not. We like them and they like us. They serve us as much as we get to serve them. In the course of natural conversation we have been able to talk about what Jesus has done for us.

So we want to encourage all of you to let Jesus show you how to connect with your neighbors, and how to serve your neighborhood.  It can be alot of fun and natural as we just simply serve or get involved through our areas of interest or expertise or through opportunities to love our neighborhoods. We long to see communities of Jesus followers and yet to be Jesus followers loving and serving each other in their hood!

Thanks Beth and Emily for diving in and serving with Steph. at the Bowness party put on by the Boys and Girls Club last Friday night. You guys rock! Real community is shaped around having a common mission or task that you do together! When we work together on a common task we bond, and get to closer to one another.

This Sunday we will meet at Beth's place at 10:30am. Her address is 4301A-70 st. NW. If you want to stay after to eat together bring a lunch along. We will be going through and discussing another of the teachings from the Engage series as we learn how to live a missional lifestyle together.

An encouragement for all of us is that Jesus is already at work in our neighborhoods drawing people to Himself. We just need to have our eyes open and obey when He gives us the nudge to partner with Him.
Our neighborhoods are our parish where we get to be pastors- caring for people, and missionaries- bringing the Good News of Jesus and His Kingdom to folks!

Love,

Tim and Esther

Spring in Calgary!

Hello All,

As I'm writing this, the snow is trying to melt after the fresh dump we received last night! With the arrival of spring, we who have lived in Calgary for awhile know that we can expect at least one or maybe two significant snow deposits before we finally get into spring. Makes it interesting for those of us planning soccer practices, or for planting gardens. Oh well, we know the farmers are happy as they needed the precipitation for their fields!

Hope you all had a great Easter/Spring break with family!

We plan to meet this Sunday at the Schultz residence at 10:30am. Come prepared to share something for worship such as a song, a story of God working in your life, a scripture, and such! We will then listen to another of the teachings from the Engage series by Carl Medearis and Jay Pathak leading into some discussion and application to our lives. If there are any prayer needs we want to support each other in prayer. Then of course any of you are welcome to bring your lunch and and hang out afterwards.

See all of you who can make it on Sunday!

Tim and Esther

Close2Home Schedule for Sunday and Spring Break

Hey Everyone,

Spring break is under way, and some of our community have already hit the road. Doug and his kids are off to New Zealand for three weeks, and Jonathan is in Spain and France on a school trip with some of his friends and classmates...so if they come to mind pray for safety in travels.

This Sunday we will be meeting at our place at 11:00am. It will be a potluck so bring some food to share. Last week we talked about inviting some friends to join us. So depending on who is coming, we will adapt our time together. We are going through the Engage series by Carl Medearis and Jay Pathak, a Vineyard pastor in Denver. This week's topic will be Two Paradigms for Sharing Your Faith.

Congratulations to Joel and Amy on the purchase of their home in Ranchlands. We're thrilled for you guys. We also look forward to the Kingdom Adventures God has in store for you there as you become friends with your neighbours.

FYI, I'm in the midst of the beginning stages of planning a ministry trip to India for the latter part of October. We will be visiting some Vineyard communities that I coach in the foothills of Himalayas. If you are interested in going let me know.

Due to spring break and Easter, we will not be meeting for a couple of weeks after Sunday's gathering.

Peace on you all,

Tim and Esther

Happy St. Patty's Weekend

Yes, for all those of you who are of Irish decent, or for all of us wannabees, this Saturday is St. Patrick's Day...so get out and have your green beer and dance to an Irish jig. Perhaps we should try this out on Sunday as a form of worship:---)...anyone want to lead us.

This Sunday we'll be meeting @ 10:30am at Beth's place at 4301A - 70st NW in Bowness. We'll be sharing God stories from the week, praying for one another, and continuing on in our Engage series. This week's subject is called Know Nothing.

There was a cool story that happened right after we prayed for some Bownessian youth last Sunday...but I won't steal Emily's thunder...so we'll keep you curious till Sunday, where you'll just have to come and hear for yourself.

Bring some food to share and hang out after if you like. If you would also rsvp us by phone, text, or e-mail if you are coming that would be great.

Well that's all for now,

Tim and Esther

Serving In The Hood

Would love to hear the responses and take aways for those of you who were able to make it to Simply Jesus this last weekend. Will spend a little time doing that this Sunday.

We as a family really connected naturally with Carl and loved the way he presented who Jesus is, and how Jesus is at work all around us drawing people to Himself. We are not here to peddle the religion of Christianity, but to be and speak of the Good News of Jesus. The truth of the matter is that we don't have to try and convince or convert anyone. That's God's business! We simply need to be prepared to tell our story of what Jesus means to us, and what He has done in our lives. It helps to know the parables Jesus told and weave them into our conversations as stories that illustrate what Jesus and His Kingdom are all about. So here's a challenge to read through the Gospels and become so familiar with the parables that you can re-tell them in your own words to someone else!

This Sunday we will be meeting at our place at 10:30am and beginning the Engage series done by Carl and Jay, a Vineyard pastor in Denver, when they spent 9 weeks in a trendy bar in Denver doing Q & A about Jesus. This is a tool that will help us connect to what Jesus is already doing in the lives of those we live around, work with, recreate with, or go to school with. It is also a tool for helping us learn how to converse about Jesus with those who are turned off to Christianity, but open to Jesus.

We also want to talk about how we can serve in our neighborhoods together. Something is percolating with youth in Bowness bubbling up out of the Boys and Girls Club. Stephanie now works there, and Emily has been blessed to start something. Not sure exactly what God is up to, but we want to partner with Him.

Bring some food to share and hang out after if you'd like.

Mike's hockey team the Sabres are in the playoffs this weekend. If you want to see a different side of Esther you should see how fanatical and competitive she gets when cheering for her son's hockey team:---)...so shoot up some prayers for the eardrums of our fellow fans. I think I've gone partially deaf from sitting beside her at some of these games. On a more serious note, we would appreciate your prayers as we continue to build friendships with our 'hockey community' and very shortly 'soccer community'. Over the years we have built a trust with some of these folk who live in Bowness, and we know that God is at work. We simply want to care for them, and see community form around them where they experience Jesus for themselves.

Peace on you all,

Tim and Esther

Celebrating Family Weekend

Hello All,

This weekend is family day weekend. It looks like the weather will be fine, so get out and do something active as a family. Go skating, skiing, take a walk, play shinny on a pond or even try snowshoeing! If you have grandparents around, spend sometime enjoying their company. So there's the pep talk for the day.

On Sunday we will be meeting here at the Schultzes for house church. If you are coming please let us know in advance for our planning. You are welcome to hang out over lunch, but if you plan to do so bring a main dish and drink to share with everyone.

Next Sunday we'll be meeting at Beth's place. We'll put out an e-mail with her address next week.

The following weekend is the Simply Jesus conference on March 2nd and 3rd. This is a great event to bring your family as we'll have something for the kids. As well, we encourage you to invite a friend or family member who is a seeker. Our main speaker Carl presents Jesus in such a natural and attractive way that anyone who is open to discovering what Jesus is really like will feel comfortable. So this event is a chance to continue the dialogue that you may have been having with some friends, family, neighbours, or co-workers about your relationship with Jesus. Carl is funny, down to earth, and has some really amazing stories of finding Jesus in the most unlikely places. It will be like having a chat with a friend over coffee. He really addresses the notions and tainted perspectives that folks have about Jesus based on their negative experiences with overly zealous condescending Christians or the fear based approach to Christianity and church. You can still register at www.themosaicnetwork.net

Have a great weekend,

Tim and Esther

Milestones in Our Lives

Today is the 49th birthday of my gorgeous wife and soul mate, Esther Yvonne Schultz! She surely doesn't look or seem that old to me. Like a good wine, she has aged well. Choosing her to be my wife was one off the smartest decisions I've ever made. Hard to believe that in one more year I will be able to say that I'm married to a 50 year old woman. Though Esther isn't much for a lot of hooplah or drawing attention to herself, I want her to feel special. She is throwing a party Friday and all you lady folk have received an invite. There will be some ladies from the community at the party as well. If you can't make it, no worries. Feel free to phone her or come on Sunday as we'll celebrate her life with some prayer and cake. If any of you feel inspired and want to make a cake let me know. If I don't hear from anyone on making a cake, I'll buy one.

To top it all off this year we will be celebrating 25 years of being married. Wow, it sounds like we are so ancient...though we don't feel that way. To think that if kids had arrived a year after getting married, we could be grandparents by now. We truly do not take this milestone for granted as we know that some of you have suffered the heartache of divorce and gone through some painful relational stuff! It really has been the grace of God.

Here are the gathering opportunities for the next few weeks:

• This Sunday we will gather at 10:30am at our place-if you are coming and want to hang out over lunch bring a main dish to share with all. For those of you that were there last week, remember the one or two things that you wanted to practice this week in answering the question: How can I make a difference in learning to live from the heart? We shared these things with each other so we could be accountable for following through. Boy have my kids been keeping me accountable for what I voiced. Talk about mutual accountability that you can't hide from:--)
• Next Saturday there will be a Worship Circle at Mac and Jo's place starting @ 6pm. Bring a main dish and desert or salad to share as we eat together as part of our time. Their address is 2163 Country Hills Circle NW
• Sunday is the Super Bowl: For any of the men or ladies that like football you are welcome...bring some wings, or munchies and your favourite beer!
• Monday, Jan. 30th is the last day to get the early bird deal for the Simply Jesus conference on March 2-3. So go to www.themosaicnetwork.net to register and pay online. Keep praying for this event as it will be a wonderful opportunity to be encouraged and equipped.

Love,

Tim and Esther

Gathering In Bowness

Hope you are all surviving this cold snap of the last week! Wouldn't it be nice if we could all jump on a plane together and head off to Cuba for the week. Hey, not a bad idea if one of us wins the lotto in the next week or so.

Congratulations to Stephanie on her new job posting right here in the hood at the Boys and Girls Club! We know that Jesus has some cool stuff in store for you as you connect with kids and their families here in Bowness. Hope you and your mom can join us this Sunday.

This Sunday we will gather at Beth's cozy home right here in Bowness at 10:30am. The address is 4301A - 70st NW. Phone # is 403-237-8477. We look forward to worshiping Jesus, sharing the highs and lows of our last week, digging in to the Bible, and praying for one another. If you are coming and want to stay for lunch please bring a main dish and salad or desert to share with all.

A reminder to get your registration in for the Simply Jesus Missional Training Event by Jan. 30th if you want to get in on the early bird deal. Momentum is growing for this, and you will not want to miss hearing Carl and all the cool stories of how he has seen Jesus at work in the Middle East, and in America in mosques, bars, and with folks we would have considered our enemies...stories of the Good Samaritan in our day! You will be deeply encouraged, and the Holy Spirit will stir faith in you. Some of his stories make you laugh, and some will make the hair on the back of your neck stand up!

The cool thing is that what Carl shares is not just for the 'jedi type' evangelists but a way of talking about Jesus that is real, natural, and attainable for all. The main sessions are family friendly for kids ages 5 and up. We'll also have some of our local friends share how they are living a missional 24/7 lifestyle with the poor, oppressed girls off the streets, youth, through the arts, in their neighbourhoods and work places, and are seeing Jesus communities form around tribes on the margins of our culture. There will be forms of worship that are Celtic, Vineyard, and even some Next Gen. stuff. We will pray for the sick and see how God might show up!

So go to www.themosaicnetwork.net and sign up this weekend! Get the word out to your friends as well!

Love you all,

Tim and Esther

A Happy New Year to You All

A Blessed, Joyful, Healthy, and Peaceful 2012 to you all,

It's been so nice to unwind, get together with family and friends, play games, eat great food especially chocolate, and celebrate the coming of Jesus.

We will be gathering at 10:30 am this Sunday at our place for the first gathering of the New Year. We want to reflect back and give thanks to the Father for all that He has done for us in 2011. We will do this through a prayer exercise called the Examen in which we share our Consolations (Highlights) and Desolations (Low-lights) of the past year. We then want to pray for one another in pressing into God for some things on our hearts for 2012.

If you haven't registered for the "Simply Jesus-Missional Training Event our Mosaic Network is hosting on March 2-3rd, do so before Jan.3o to take advantage of the early bird registration of $49...there is a family rate as well. The 3 main sessions are family friendly. Duane and Laura will have a team of folks from YWAM mentoring kids 5 and up as they create an artistic master piece right in the sessions. We highly value the family worshiping together and 'family on mission together'. We want to see youth and kids soaking in God's presence and becoming a part of sharing Jesus in natural and supernatural ways. To register go to www.themosaicnetwork.net and click on the Events tab!

The motivational speaker we are bringing in is Carl Medearis. He's a man who walks the talk, who is down to earth, and will inspire you to become involved in what Jesus is doing here and around the world. So invite your friends as well and help us get the word out!

There will be break-out sessions on how to live out justice, reaching youth, arts and beauty as a way to communicate the Good News of the Kingdom, starting missional communities where people belong before they believe, becoming ' healed up and whole' apprentices of Jesus through authentic community, and such. We want to hear stories of how people are coming into the Kingdom, share some tools that may help us in sharing Jesus with are friends, neighbors, and family, and leave with a couple practical actions steps to live out.

Love,

Tim and Esther