Christmas- Potluck and Nativity Play

Dramatic Entrance:

 

This week at church we marked one of the most significant events recorded in the Bible; the entrance of the Savior to the world. John describes it as ” ..the Word became flesh.” In this amazing event the rescue plan of God went from being the promised plan on paper, to reality. Because of sin, we needed it. Prophets had foretold it, and the people of God anticipated it. When the Messiah finally appeared, His entrance was dramatic.

The miraculous movement of God surrounded his entrance. John the Baptist’s conception and arrival, angels appearing to Mary, and then in dreams to Joseph helping them understand what was taking place. Then the very night of His birth there were angel hosts who proclaimed that the time had come!

Christians all across the globe will in this week be thinking of that incredible time and celebrating. Some will follow family traditions that have been with them for a very long time. Others may celebrate with quiet reflection or prayer, and still others with singing and worship. No matter the manner of your celebration, be sure that Jesus Christ is in the center of everything you do!

 
Share in the visual preparations with our amazing church potluck dinner concluded by our ‘Christmas Play’ (video link soon to follow post production completion).  Merry Christmas, enjoy this season for the eternal value it represents.
 
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Wellspring Celebrates a ‘JOY-FULL’ Day

Yet another celebratory day in the life of Wellspring Fellowship Church; continuing to serve God and community in truly amazing ways. It was another reflective example of God’s love and grace shared with extended family and friends.

Many blessing to Andrew and Jessica Heath as they dedicated their daughter, Joy Susan Heath, as a public declaration before God and man acknowledging with gratitude that Joy is a gift from God; recognizing that they will always need God’s wisdom and help in raising her. With God’s help they will continue to meet the challenges to live as examples for Joy in following in the way of the LORD.

May goodness and mercy follow them all the days of their lives; and we pray that they will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.

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Response

 
What does it take to get a response?  Have you ever ignored a bill?  Of course not!  But maybe you have heard of someone who did or maybe  one got stuck toe the 10,000 credit card offers you get in the mail every day, and it got thrown away. Curious thing is, they will send you another one.  Should that one get ignored too, they will send out another one.  When it comes to bills, whoever it might be, they are amazingly persistent.  As they send out the new bills, the language tends to get less friendly.   Things like you have x,y, and z days to respond to this letter or we will ruin your credit score, put you in jail and sell your first born child. (maybe not exactly like that but you get the idea).  Thing is it usually does the trick and gets some sort of response.
 
Sometimes when we don’t really want to do something, it takes some kind of dramatic event to get us to respond. It takes a threat, or a consequence so significant that the pain of responding is now less than the pain of waiting. Our response to grace can sometimes be like that.  Sometimes we know what we should do, but we wait.  Sometimes we know how we need to get things fixed and restore our relationship with God, but we put it off.  Maybe we are embarrassed, or afraid, but often it is just that we are lazy. Do you need to respond to the grace of God?
 
This week we are finishing the sermon series “Jonah: Grace Unexpected”.  It is this week that we talk about what happened after the whole man eating shark incident:the incredible response. The response of a people who were mired in sin and violence, the response of God to repentance, and the response of a prophet faced with Grace Unexpected.
 
Hope to see you at church!
 
Pastor Chris


Thanksgiving Potluck, ‘Feast & Fellowship’

Our Thanksgiving Potluck was a week early for us this year in preparation for this year’s annual gathering, and what an event it was!  Filled with with fellowship, feasting and preparations and practice for Christmas plays all signify our upcoming holiday season with grace and style.  Take a peak at the days event shared by many, we welcome you to visit us Wellspring Fellowship Church.   A place that is inviting, authentic and genuinely warm.  Check us out won’t you?
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Thankful for Our Church!

Tomorrow we start off the Thanksgiving season early with our Thanksgiving potluck.  Every year we come together and bring our friends and feast honoring God for the blessings for this last year.  We are having it early because it is easier than switching our potluck day, and also so that those who cook have a little bit of a gap between the big meals!  Also as part of our Thanksgiving service we have an extended time of praise and testimonies.  It is our opportunity to publicly say thank you to God for all that he has done.    I hope and trust you are thinking about what it is you will give God the glory for tomorrow.  But I wanted to start off by saying thank you to God today for our church.
 
When I start thinking of all the reasons why I am thankful the list gets really long.  I try (sometimes more successfully than others) to keep this little encouragement relatively short. It would be impossible for me to think of all the reasons I am thankful but here are a few that rise to the top this morning.
 
I am thankful for the powerful team of leaders we have in this church.  Sometimes pastors feel like they are battling their leaders.  They feel like they are trying to cajole them into doing things.  Other times pastors feel like leaders see themselves as the gatekeepers, money holders, and voice of reason to restrain that overly passionate pastor.  Thankfully that does not in any way describe the powerful team of leaders we have.  In every ministry of the church the leaders we have are passionate powerful people who are excited to be doing what they are doing! I look forward to the interactions, board meetings, and coordination meetings, because I always come away from them feeling stronger than when I went in!  And God is using these leaders!
 
I am thankful for the spirit of our church.  You know when you come into a place you get a feel for it.  The ethos of a church is like the aroma of hot apple cider or freshly baked bread.  You walk in the door and you feel it you sense it, you taste it.  When we do the greet song every week, you really don’t want to stop.  And after church the buzz and fellowship, the laughter, is just awesome.  People are happy to be here.  They are not coming because they feel obligated or forced, and when guests come in, I can be confident that they are greeted, welcomed, and embraced as if they had been here for 20 years!  It is not accidental and we did just happen to fall into that, it is something you do every week.  It is so beautiful and I am so thankful for it.
 
I will end with this last one.  I am so thankful for a church that loves challenge.  Our church is not a pew potato church. We are not the sort to just sit back and be spectators.  When I introduced Vision 2020 and the flags on high mountain peaks, I did not get the response of “Dream on Pastor Chris” with a rolling of the eyes.  Instead people talked about how they could be a part of it.  How they could jump into it. They were thinking of what they could contribute. It was simply beautiful.
 
I could go on, but this is already too long.  I want you to know from your pastor.  From my heart to your heart, how thankful to God I am for this church.  I am proud (in a good way) to serve and thank God constantly for who you are and where we are headed together! 
 
Get your thanksgivings ready I look forward to hearing yours tomorrow!
 
Pastor Chris


‘Wellspring Shines in the Bright Lights’ (Part 1)

Wednesday night was bit unlike others as our Family Night ministries, including a wonderful homed cooked meal by Theresa Short and  Sue Surratt, participated in a video production effort to better share our church with others in the future.

Saturday we will conclude our video shoot as we focus on all of our many Sabbath ministries for all to see. Be sure to invite family and friends in support of this effort and to share a church that is totally on fire with a community in need.

Also, we will be launching our highly anticipated Wellspring Church Mobile App! The app will include audio and video, blogging, newsletter, social sharing, events, calendar, maps, tithing, music and more. How exciting. Yet another wonderful tool to share our church with our community!

It is so powerful to be apart of something so special and so real, be excited and encouraged with a church poised for growth in our Vision 20/20 quest.
 
Many thanks to Ron Finney of North Wood Productions for his time and talents for producing a view of Wellspring Fellowship
to share with our community- We are excited and encouraged to see the final video once complete.
 
See you all Saturday!
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Potluck’s at Wellspring Fellowship Church

Potluck is actually an event at Wellspring Fellowship that is savored by all.   Checkout some of our photos from yesterday, the on;y ones missing are you!  We are a non-denominational church that gathers every Saturday in Gig Harbor. If you don’t have a home church  and you are seeking a warm, genuine and authentic church to fellowship with that speaks biblical truth… well, you have found us.  Visit our ‘services/contact info’ tab for more details, location, schedules events and more.  We welcome and invite you to visit with us.
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Galloping ‘H’ Farm Pumpkin pickn’

Wellspring shares ‘Fellowship’ post our service Saturday afternoon at the Galloping ‘H’ Farm after an AMAZING worship service.  There was just something in the air (we know it as the Holy Sprit) and it was powerful!    All ages savored a glorious afternoon (hosted by Mark, Cindee, Jessica, Joy and Andrew Heath) as we faced difficult decisions of which pumpkin was suited best for our liking.  This presented many photo opportunities; share in our Joy and camaraderie with the warmth of Wellspring Fellowship.  Thank you team Heath!!!
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WFFL Party a Big Success (thank you Seahawks)

This past Sunday was a much anticipated day of fellowship for our church as we shared in the annual  WFFL (Wellspring Fellowship Football League) Party!!!  Much fun, food and fellowship was shared by all.  The highlight of the day was, of course, the conclusion of the Seahawks-Brocos game in OT. What a way to cap a steeler day in the PNW, one of the last summer-ish days for this season.  Enjoy a few shots of the day… you can almost smell the turkey!
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Unfathomable

We live in an age where mysteries are only temporary.  Science on the move has sought to answer all questions and discover the mechanism and the reason for all. In some peoples minds they have mostly solved every question.  That the scientific way of thinking dominates our minds is of no surprise.  It has been true every since the so called “enlightenment.”  It has after all been very helpful (as I take a break from writing and retrieve my coffee from the microwave).  Yet it is incapable of answering every question and sometimes our over-reliance on a scientific way of thinking takes us down the wrong road. 
 
Some mysteries defy our human efforts to contain them or describe them.  So it is when we seek to describe God.  Our God is incapable of being either completely being known (from where we are now) and fully describing Him.  He is unfathomable.   So we must first recognize that any attempt to systematically and accurately describe God will utterly fail and the best we can hope for is to some how put a frame around a mystery. 
 
When we talk of the Trinity, we humbly acknowledge and recognize that the best we have done is to create a construct that seeks to describe what has been revealed.  While we can proclaim with confidence a description Biblically warranted, we still cannot completely grasp how undeniably and radically different God is from us.  We are certainly made in His image, but we are merely a reflection of something more.  He has revealed that He is a unity and yet within this  unity He is a diversity.  We cannot grasp this or completely wrap our brains around how it can be.  Yet this is what God has revealed about Himself.  To say less is to limit God (even if it is just in our descriptions of Him) and take away from what He has revealed.  To say less because we are uncomfortable about our inability to grasp all He is, says more about us than Him! 
 
This week we will look at source of our faith, and with great humility we will do our best to understand who and how our one God is, as we explore the Essential of the Trinity.
 
Hope to see you at church,
 
Pastor Chris