Church

We had a tremendous turnout for our recent Vision Night at Mountainview. We started hosting an annual Vision Night last year as a way of celebrating the previous year and outlining the goals and dreams that are on the horizon. What I will do over the next few posts is to recap what we shared. What Will We Do In 2015 To Further Accomplish Our 3G Mission? Launching a new emphasis on Family Ministry. People move to Highlands Ranch for the quality of life and family-friendly amenities. We believe that an effective family ministry emphasis is attractive to outsiders and provides members with the resources they need to grow a healthy family. One key feature of this was introduced in January: Faith Path. This is a tool to help parents shepherd the spiritual growth of their children.  We also released a new website designed for families: www.mountainviewparents.org. Increasing involvement in…

We had a tremendous turnout for our recent Vision Night at Mountainview. We started hosting an annual Vision Night last year as a way of celebrating the previous year and outlining the goals and dreams that are on the horizon. What I will do over the next few posts is to recap what we shared. Mountainview exists to Glorify God, Grow in Jesus, and to Go into the World. At the beginning of 2014, we introduced a revised mission statement that captured the values that have defined Mountainview and added an emphasis on doing all to the glory of God. Below are highlights of how our 3G mission was lived out in 2014. 2014 Highlights Over 30 people said “Yes!” to following Jesus. 14 people were baptized. Children are learning God’s plan for their lives. Kids Camp served nearly 200 kids. Students are being challenged to grow in their faith.…

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, They are precious in His sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world." I grew up singing those words and never knew the name Herbert Woolston - the man who wrote them. Born just before the Civil War, Woolston must have been a forward-thinking man. His lyrics crossed racial lines at a time when people were divided by their skin color - not to mention the law of the land. It's likely his words made folks just as uncomfortable as Jesus did when he opened his arms to children. It is easy to sing the lyrics to "Jesus Loves the Little Children" but it is much harder to actually practice them. If Jesus, who had no children of his own, cared for kids as deeply as he did ... what does that…

Every person has few habits. A few are stranger than others. Truman Capote, who wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s, wouldn’t start or finish a piece of writing on a Friday. As a rule, he never left more than three cigarette butts in his ashtray, placing any extras in his coat pocket. Franz Kafka, who wrote The Metamorphosis and The Trail, had a rather unique morning ritual. For 10 minutes he would do a series of swings, stretches, and body-weight exercises. That isn't so unusual or unique. However, he had the habit of performing those exercise while standing naked at the window. Habits dictate how we start and end our days. What happens in betweend determines the quality of our lives. Whether you believe Jesus is the Son of God or not, there is no doubt that Jesus has influenced history more than any other person. Follower or not, most of us…

1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8…