At Springfest this year The Grove church held a small raffle for a 32″ flat screen TV just to say thanks to the community. We had a wonderful time in Allied Gardens and over 85 people registered to win the TV. Our church had a great time volunteering together to serve the community by keeping the food tent clean, managing a carnival game booth, and helping to pick up trash. It was a fun time and we had about 30 volunteers from The Grove helping out between Friday and Saturday. We had many great conversations at the park. It was a neat time for our church.

The winner our raffle was Daisy from El Cajon. When I called her she said, “well I believe in God, and I believe I’m a good person, and I’ve been thinking of coming to church… it’s never too late right?” Of course it’s never too late! She said a HUGE thank you to the church and that we helped make her mother’s day even better this year. Well you’re welcome Daisy! If you see her at church, make sure you say hello!

I wonder if people had their ears on Sunday. I wonder what would happen in our families if every dad in the house would take this seriously… Just put God first! Imagine if that were to happen. Imagine what would happen if dad’s and moms would lead their family in prayer times and bible studies? Wow. I can remember when I was a kid my dad would try to lead bible studies, it worked for a couple of weeks, and then stuff always came up, I don’t remember what it was. But I am sure it was very important.

What we fail to recognize is that there will always be something else. There is an enemy that would love to see our families crumble and we fail to recognize that the Devil’s schemes are real and when you don’t want to lead your family in prayer or when the kids are acting up or when you’re mad at your wife, that is exactly when we need to dig down deep, cry out to the Lord for creativity and his presence and then JUST DO IT.

The message on Sunday hit home for me, I mean I don’t have any kids, but I know that if I am going to overcome the things in our family’s history that have kept our family from moving forward, I will need to take the lead in my family and put God first. My wife loves to follow me when she knows that I am being led by the Lord; when she can see that presence of God working in my life.

So do you struggle to lead your family to the Lord in prayer? Do you struggle to be the spiritual leader in your home? Maybe working hard all week and camping once a month has been the easy part- maybe it’s time to take it one more step and start leading in prayer, ministry, and bible study devotions. Just a thought. But if we want our families to be a success in the Lord, it’s what we need to do!

This is a hilarious video that demonstrates a huge reality for MOST Christians. Do YOU pray like this? Maybe. I guess I have at times. So the question becomes, how do I grow in my prayer life? How do I move away from doing all the talking and start listening. Watch the video and if you want to grow in your prayer life–> Send me a message: nathan@sdgrove.org

We should feel a sobriety and a reverence in contemplating the reality of what Jesus did for us when He submitted Himself to the tortures of man and subjugated Himself to be ravished by our sins. The sins of the world were heaped upon him until he literally became a curse, causing Father God to have to turn his head from His beloved son. This forsaken feeling was the worst pain imaginable as Jesus felt the radiance of the affection of His Father turn away for the first time, replaced by the despair and emptiness of human depravity and sin.

Praise be to God that this was not the end of the story!!  Jesus defeated the power of death and sin when he rose again through the power of resurrection. This is the reason for celebrating Easter–the event that establishes Christianity.

Of course we can’t have the Resurrection without the Cross (by putting emphasis on the resurrection by no means should we minimize the wonder of the cross), but tragically  the reality of many Christians never moves beyond the cross into a resurrected life. Intellectual assent is given to the Resurrection but their life experience remains at the cross, constantly giving Jesus their sins but hardly feeling the weight of them removed.

The Apostle Paul spoke of being in this place of frustration in Romans Chp. 7–you know, the chapter that talks about being enslaved to sin and doing what you don’t want to do; not doing what you know you should. He said, “I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”

Many sermons have been spoken that never move beyond this question and emphasize the struggle of the law of sin and death that we wrestle, saying even Paul struggled with it. But Paul although Paul struggled with this, he did not stay in that place but experienced a greater reality of God’s saving grace. “Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!”

Jesus delivers us from the reality of Romans Chapter 7. This is Gospel! We cannot do it by our efforts, by brow-beating ourselves, even by religious disciplines. Instead, when we find ourselves in this place of bondage and receive the gift of repentance, we turn our eyes toward Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Paul summed up what he was talking about in Romans 7, saying, “So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.”

He continues the conversation from this point, offering the answer for redemption of even our flesh: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.  For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son…So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you ARE NOT in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you…And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”

Herein lies the answer for being set free from a carnal Chrisitian life into true spiritual freedom: the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. This is the very power of resurrection. When the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us the impossible happens in us and all around us. Paul wrote an essay to the Church to emphasize this important point:  The helplessness and depravity of our sinful condition, and how impossible it is to change it on our own being invaded by the miracle of resurrection and that we are raised into a new life in God just as Jesus was raised from the dead.

This is really good news!! As we switch our focus from our ability and look towards God’s ability we can develop more of an attitude that says, “Yeah, I’ve got issues, but look what God’s going to do!” Armed with this new attitude we’ll be walking in the miracle of resurrection power before we know it! ~~

Musings from a Worship Leader this Easter

By: Jean Glaude

Easter is the largest church day in America, and for good measure. I believe it is the most important day of Christianity, more important than Christmas and Pentecost. Without Easter, Christmas is pointless. We are simply worshiping a man, born under extraordinary circumstances, who claimed to have supernatural knowledge and died with all the other “religion starters.” Without Easter, Pentecost is impossible. It was after His death and resurrection that He sent to us our Helper, the Holy Spirit. And it was only after this resurrection that He was given authority and power over death, thus bringing Life into our mortal bodies through the cleansing and regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.

Because Jesus Christ rose again, after laying His life down, we can do the same. By laying down our sinful lives, we, too, rise again as new creations able to overcome because He overcame. Also, we become instruments of His glory, because whereas we were once blind, we now see. We once were dead, but now we are alive. The redemption of His children screams His glory because salvation is His gift offered to us. It was nothing we did. True conversion extols His greatness. God is the author of our faith, and He is the perfecter. He will never let us go. Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God interceding for us- Romans 8:33-34. Christ stands next to the Father and intercedes on our behalf. He declares that we are His! He died, He rose, for us! He is proclaiming, “They are MINE! Satan gets no hold, and has no right to them. I paid for them, I have paid the ransom that they would be redeemed unto me! They are MINE and I will NEVER give them up.”

What does this have to do with worship on Easter? Everything! What is worship anyway but acknowledging the insane Love that was bestowed upon us to be sons and daughters, co-heirs with Christ. This Love tore the veil and gave us the opportunity to declare God’s glory through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, of who we were formerly dead. Easter is not the week to remember what Christ has done, but another week to do so.

What that means is you will not see a show this Easter. I will not be memorizing encouraging lines that stir the emotions of the crowd. Instead, I will be proclaiming what God has done, like we do every week. I will be living in His Love, like I have the privilege to do every day. And I know that through this, Jesus will be exalted and He will draw men to Himself. So let’s pray that we are a church that opens ourselves to the Holy Spirit, so he can do His work through us.

With Much Gratitude,

Jean Glaude

Community is something we value at our church. It is something we talk about regularly, and it is something we hold as an ideal. Unfortunately, like many of our ideals in life, it can be harder to do than to say. I know I struggle with this idea of community within our church here in San Diego because I am so busy! How can I open my life any more to more people? It can be a challenge! I think God has and continues to challenge me in the area of priorities. I mean, could I be more open to the community of God here at The Grove? Yes. But this might mean that I need to say no to some other things, that are still good, just not a priority. We value community, do you? Do you really value what others mean in your life? Do you value that in your church? We value community by our involvement IN the community! Do you go to home group? Offer to help? Invite people to lunch at your house? It’s a lot to ask, I know. I struggle. But if we value community, then we will do these things, with a smile. See you at church on Sunday!

The brutal beating and murder of 32-year-old mother of five, Shaima Alawadi left my heart feeling sorrowful. What made it even more grieving is that she was a Muslim. Reportedly a note was left telling her Iraqi immigrant family to “go back to your own country.”

This murder occurred in El Cajon and is something we should pay attention to. We have a responsibility as God’s people to atone for such violence. This is a function of a priest and an intercessor (of which we are all).

There was an interesting law given the Israelites by God concerning if someone was murdered in their land. It is found in Deuteronomy 21–

“If anyone is found slain, lying in the field in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, ² then your elders and your judges shall go out and measure the distance from the slain man to the surrounding cities. ³ And it shall be that the elders of the city nearest to the slain man will take a heifer …Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near, for the Lord your God has chosen them to minister to Him and to bless in the name of the Lord; by their word every controversy and every assault shall be settled. ⁶ And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley. ⁷ Then they shall answer and say, ‘Our hands have not shed this blood, nor have our eyes seen it. ⁸ Provide atonement, O Lord, for Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel.’ And atonement shall be provided on their behalf for the blood. ⁹ So you shall put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you when you do what is right in the sight of the Lord.”

In this passage a principle can be seen: their must be atonement for blood spilled in our land, and we as citizens of the land need to take responsibility for it even if we had nothing to do with it.

When I think of atonement I think of “at–one–ment”.  Acts of sin separate us from God and his blessing. Applying the blood of Christ Jesus’ atoning sacrifice brings peace again and “one-ness” with God and his blessing. This is the greatest atonement.

Acts of sin also divide people. As Christians, we play a vital role in bringing justice to situations by being obedient to God in what He asks us to do. The first definition of the word “atonement” in the dictionary is: “satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends.” By being faithful we can experience “at-one-ment” in our relationships and community around us; God commands us to first right a wrong with our brothers before even bringing Him an offering!

There are two postures that Christians can take: 1) viewing ourselves as separate from the world so as to judge it and expect God’s judgment upon it; or 2) viewing ourselves as both a citizen of heaven and earth and taking on the role of a priest as we take responsibility for the sins around us.

The second attitude is to take the posture of Jesus in His earthly ministry. He did not come to condemn the world but to save it and ultimately took all the wickedness and perversion upon Himself as He offered His body on the tree. This is intercession, not in the sense of taking anything upon ourselves (Jesus did that), but standing as Abraham pleading with God before Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of the people.

One drop of the blood of Jesus is more powerful than all the blood that was ever spilled on our land. But it must be applied. Please join me in this prayer:

“Jesus, we are so sorry for the brutal beating of Shaima Alawadi. We ask that you would cleanse that stain with your blood. You made atonement for our sins once and for all. Please provide atonement, O Lord, for Your people in San Diego, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of us our allow any curse upon our land. May your presence redeem the situation and bring peace to her family. Be with her children, be with her family; let not hate enter their hearts but soften their hearts and lead them to forgiveness. Bring comfort and healing. Show us if there is anything you would have us do to reach out to them as members of their community and the Body of Christ. Amen.”

news article:  http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/26/beaten-san-diego-woman-iray

Ps. 8:2-4  ”When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?”

Temporal Distortion from Randy Halverson on Vimeo.

There is a fine line between religious asceticism (someone who practices extreme self-denial) and fasting that is pleasing to the Lord.

What is that line and what should the core focus of fasting be?

The line that we have to be careful of crossing is when our faith becomes intermingled with what we are doing rather than what Jesus has done/is doing for us. You know, when we put too much emphasis on our works to please God or change things about ourselves.

The Bible addresses this in Colossians 2:20-23, saying, “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ’Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’ (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.”

After reading this passage a question may arise:  why do we fast if  it has no value against fleshly indulgence?

Answer: Because fasting brings us closer to Jesus and through union with Him we die to the beggarly elements of the world. Being severe on ourselves does not invoke transformation, Jesus does. If we keep this focus in our fasts it is like putting rubber bumpers in the gutters of a bowling lane–we are sure to knock down most of our pins when we send our ball skidding down the lane!

The disciples of John the Baptist, who were very sincere in their devotion to God through spiritual disciplines, did not understand why the disciples of Jesus were not fasting. They asked Jesus, “Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus said to them, “The attendants of the bridegroom cannot mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them, can they? But the days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. (Math. 9:13-15)

What does this passage tell us? That there will be seasons of celebrating the presence of Jesus when we shouldn’t fast and other times when we will fast with the intention of deepening our intimacy with Him. Our hunger for God (or lack thereof) invokes a longing, even a mourning to be possessed by more of God.

Jesus said we would fast, it is a spiritual discipline that should not be brushed under the carpet. But our focus in fasting should always be drawing close to Jesus. He is our end; He should never be the means to our own end.  It is a tragic thing when fasting or Jesus are used as a means to get something that we want, even good things, like spiritual purity.

Sound shocking? It really is about refocusing our attention to relationship and understanding that as we commune with God we will be transformed, but the transformation is not that which we are pursuing. Every religion in the world and self-help program are focused on becoming something- possessing spiritual attributes and admirable character, becoming “god-like”, whatever their god may be. The problem is this focus on ourselves is prideful and self-centered.

Yuck. Ouch. Good news??–Our God is a living God and as we draw near to Him, He will deal with the big “ME” at the center of our being, change our appetites, change our very nature. Holy Spirit will confront our spiritual pride and affirm us as His son/daughter. Our joy will be made full in Him and His grace rather than our perfection as a person. We will begin to cut off the things that cause us to sin out of our love for God and His people rather than to be respected as a spiritual person.

As we step into a season of fasting as a community, let’s keep the right focus and anticipate the manifest presence of God in our midst and new life released through the power of resurrection!

We are excited to announce a new young mom’s growth group for mom’s with young children!! We would love to invite mothers with kids age newborn to grade school.

Our vision is to give young moms a chance to get together once a week for fellowship, devotions and activities so that we can deepen our relationships and be encouraged in our faith. Moms can also invite their friends that don’t go to this church.

We will be meeting on Wednesday mornings- 10:00 – 11:30, starting March 28th.  This will for 10 weeks.

We will be meeting at the Grove Church, and yes, of course child care is provided! We will be doing a craft followed by devotions. We will be using the book “MomSence”, which gives practical advice as moms assess their skills, embrace their mothering instincts and to bring hope, contentment, joy and confidence in their roles as mothers.

The class will be lead by Nancy Matthews, Cheryl Boney and Yvonne Castelli. Between us we have raised 14 children and have 20 grandchildren. We all love being moms and especially love being grandmas. We want to come along side young moms and encourage them in this journey of motherhood, to instill confidence in their roles as mothers, and help them develop the skills needed to confidently raise their children.

Cost- $10 per week: $7 for craft, $3 for day care.

Looking forward to seeing you there!!!