This is the first in a series of posts by the Mars Hill campus pastors looking at how God has moved across Mars Hill Church during 2009. Pastor Bubba Jennings is the campus pastor from the Ballard campus.

We serve a loving and gracious God, who loves us so much that he sent his Son, Jesus, to die on a cross for our sins and rise from the grave, conquering Satan, sin, and death (John 3:16). Though we were headed down a path of death and destruction, those who have faith in Jesus are now redeemed and made alive in Christ (Ephesians 2:5). In response to this amazing grace and work of redemption, we are sent on mission to glorify God by sharing the hope we have in Jesus with those who don’t yet know him.

From Rebels to Worshippers. From Spectators to Participants.
In the past year, this has been evident in a variety of ways at the Ballard campus. More and more people have become unsatisfied with simply going to church, and are now striving to grow in their understanding of what it means to be the church—a redeemed community on mission for Jesus. Worship has been more passionate, giving has been more faithful and generous, and repentance has been more consistent. Fewer people are consuming and treating the church like a hotel; instead, more people are contributing and seeing it as their home.

Baptisms
Specifically, we’ve seen nearly 350 people get baptized—100 in the last two months—including several kids, whose parents baptized them after being baptized themselves. Some of these people were baptized immediately after becoming Christians. Others finally wanted to publically profess their faith in Jesus. Many of these folks have had amazing stories of redemption, including one guy who met with Pastor Jamie and heard the gospel through a Muslim translator and trusted the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Marriages
As is often the case at Mars Hill, we’ve seen over 100 people get married this past year. One couple, who started attending Mars Hill earlier this year, was living together when they first started attending. The gal became a Christian, which initially upset the guy because he thought she would love God more than him. However, soon after that, God saved him, too. They attended a Considering Marriage Seminar together and became convicted about living together, so they separated. They attended the premarital class and counseling sessions and grew tremendously. During their last counseling session, the guy told Pastor Phil that his hope and prayer for her during their marriage was that she would always love God more than him—the one thing he had once feared.

Repentance, Redemption, & Healing
We’ve also witnessed many people, through the power of the Holy Spirit, turn from sin, repent, and be redeemed. Dozens of people have met with a pastor, deacon, or volunteer after a service to confess sin and pray for forgiveness. In some cases, God has convicted people not to have an abortion, not to commit suicide, or not to get a divorce. People have also been miraculously healed of cancer and other diseases. Others have experienced healing from years of physical, emotional, and mental abuse, including rape and molestation.

Community
God’s redemptive work is also happening in community. In the past year, over 150 people have participated in a Redemption Group, in which they’ve learned to apply the gospel to the sins they’ve committed or the ones committed against them. One woman who was in counseling about her severe past abuse had been recommended by her counseling pastor to attend a Redemption Group. Intimidated by the prospect of sharing her story in a group, she quietly avoided the opportunity to sign-up for a group. The following quarter, the pastor encouraged her again, and though still nervous, she decided to take the risk. God met her there in the Redemption Group and she experienced life transformation, made new friendships with understanding women, and even hopes to lead a Redemption Group herself one day.

New Leaders
The vision of planting 100 campuses and 1,000 churches in the next 10 years to see thousands become disciples of Jesus increases the need for more leaders in all areas of ministry. We’ve been blessed to raise up two new pastors—Pastor Joel Brown and Pastor Matt Jensen—at the Ballard campus this year, as well as hundreds of deacons, Community Group and Redemption Group leaders and apprentices. There are currently almost 1300 members at the Ballard campus—350 just from this past year with 375 more in the process. The members of Mars Hill are the core of the church and the goal is to raise up hundreds of more leaders.

Serving our Community
The 130 plus Community Groups in the Ballard area have started to own the mission of reaching their neighborhoods. Many groups—like one in Greenlake that cleaned up a park, planted some trees and shrubs, and painted a mural—have used MicroMissions funds to serve their neighborhood. Others have participated in the work that’s already being done in their communities by joining neighborhood councils and associations.

The U-District & International Work
Evidences of God’s grace can also be seen outside of the Ballard area. The increase in generosity at our campus contributed to the launch of the U-District service at the University of Washington’s Kane Hall, which now has close to 400 people who attend. We also sent people to help launch the Federal Way campus, which has already added an additional service. And we continue to have an ongoing relationship with four church plants in Acts 29 Network in the U.S. and Canada and the folks at Vision Nationals in India.

What is our legacy?
One of the questions we must continue to ask ourselves is if the Ballard campus were to disappear, would anyone miss it? Would anyone care? Have we as a campus created a legacy of loving people the way God loves us—humbly, sacrificially, and faithfully?

The truth is there are literally thousands of people in our area alone who don’t know Jesus. Thankfully, God chooses to use people like us to make himself known and to demonstrate his love and grace. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we’re called to continue worshiping Jesus, giving generously of our time, treasure, and talent, and living on mission to glorify God and love our neighbors, so that more people will know Jesus.

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In last week’s sermon, Pastor Mark Driscoll looked at four different worldviews and contrasted them with Christianity. These first two clips look at atheism and the old lies of the New Spirituality.

The Bible is All About Jesus

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These historical facts are very important but they aren’t most beneficial unless we proceed from the historical to the theological. What do they mean? What is God doing? What is God accomplishing and achieving through the birth of Jesus? Why did Jesus come? Those are the theological questions that interpret the historical facts. For that I’ll give you a word: incarnation. It’s a Latin word that means, “in flesh.” So we’ll do a little bit of seminary now. Incarnation, in flesh.

Now, Larry King was once asked, “If you could interview anyone in the history of the world, who would it be?” He said, “Jesus Christ.” Good answer. When they asked Larry, “If you could ask him one question, what would that be?” Larry said, quote, “I would like to ask him if he was indeed virgin born. The answer to that question would define history for me.” Larry King is right, not often, but in this occasion. [Laughter] And Larry King says, “I want to talk to Jesus and I want to know if his mom really was a virgin, that would define history.” Larry’s right. That’s the issue. If so, he is unlike anyone and everyone who has or will ever live.

And we mean by that, incarnation, in flesh. It is the Christian doctrine that God, who is spirit, took upon himself human flesh and came as the human being, the Lord Jesus Christ. It comes from John 1:1 and 1:14. “In the beginning was the Word,” that’s the second member of the Trinity, one God, three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit. “In the beginning was the Word. . . . And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” if you jump down to John 1:14. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He was with God in the beginning, John 1:1. Jump down to verse 14, the Word, the one who was eternally face to face with God the Father, he was with God the Father and he was God and he was Creator God. He was there in the beginning where Genesis says all was made. The one who is the second member of the Trinity, face to face with the Father, eternally existing as God, became a man, the man Jesus Christ. That’s what incarnation means.

The second member of the Trinity entered into history. The Creator entered creation. God who is spiritual took upon himself human flesh, became a human being, entered into life on the earth among us. That’s what it means to call him Immanuel, God with us.

Now, in saying this, I know that it raises a number of questions and I want to answer I think the seven most common questions. I wrote a book, Vintage Jesus, that answers all of these and more, but I’ll give you a short summary of the common questions about Jesus’ incarnation and incarnation in general.

To read the read the rest of the sermon, go to the sermon page.

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If you’re unfamiliar with Dr. Sproul, we highly recommend you check out his podcast and radio program, Renewing Your Mind, or any of his number of books.

You can see the first part of the interview over at The Resurgence.

The Resurgence

Resources to equip leaders to live for Jesus, teach the Bible faithfully, and reach their cities with the gospel. Visit theresurgence.com for more.

You can watch the sermon in it’s entirety or get the transcript in the Mars Hill Church Media Library.

Mars Hill Global

New campuses, new churches, leadership training, and free resources for churches everywhere. In partnership with Acts 29 and Resurgence.

You can view this sermon in its entirety in the Mars Hill Media Library.

Acts 29 Network

Pastor Scott Thomas leads the Acts 29 Network, which exists to start churches that plant churches. More information at the Acts 29 website.

In light of the Raymond Jessop and Yearning For Zion cult, Pastor Mark addressed the question of whether or not polygamy is Biblical.

Various cults, aberrant sects, and perverts make the case that the Bible does mention polygamy and so it is biblically acceptable. However, they fail to acknowledge that the Bible speaks of human sin from beginning to end to show the evil horrors of sin. Therefore, just because something is in the Bible does not mean that God approves of it, as is the case with the rapes, murders, and adulteries reported throughout Scripture.

There are many biblical and practical reasons why polygamy is sinful and harmful.

You can read Pastor Mark’s response in it’s entirety over at The Resurgence.

Giving at Mars Hill

For more information about giving to the church–why and how–visit our secure giving page and check out Pastor Mark’s Generous series.

Pastor Mark’s latest column for the Washington Post’s On Faith column is now up. The question posed to him was:

Is there good without God? Can people be good without God? How can people be good, in the moral and ethical sense, without being grounded in some sort of belief in a being which is greater than they are? Where do concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, come from if not from religion? From where do you get your sense of good and evil, right and wrong?

In response, Pastor Mark points to Imago Dei, the Biblical teaching that God made man in His own image.

Even those who do not believe in a god, or worship Jesus as the only God, cannot altogether erase the deep imprint of right and wrong because God stamped it on their very nature so that, despite being marred by sinful rebellion, it cannot be denied or ignored. In fact, we each appeal to this moral law every time evil is done against us; we appeal for something more than merely the survival of the fittest, where might makes right and morality is determined by those holding power. Therefore, we image God by respecting all of human life, particularly the weak, oppressed, sick, elderly, poor, unborn, and racial and cultural minorities because God values them as his image bearers.

You can read “Why Bad People Do Good Things” in it’s entirety at the Washington Post.

The Bible is All About Jesus

The Doctrine series explains the centrality of Jesus throughout Scripture and the life of Mars Hill. Full-length sermons & 15-minute episodes.

3. God Is Omniscient
Number three. She says that God is what we’ll call omniscient, which means all knowing. She says, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” What she says is, “My God knows everything. My God knows that I’m young. My God knows that I’m poor. My God knows that I’m pregnant. My God knows that I don’t have a lot of resources at my disposal. My God knows that my reputation is going to be destroyed. My God knows that my life is going to be difficult and complicated. My God knows.”

Friends, this is where your view of God is so incredibly important. So incredibly important. Some say, “Oh all religions teach basically the same thing.” No they don’t. No they don’t. See, pantheism, panentheism, vague spirituality—God’s not a person, he’s a force; he doesn’t pay attention to you, it’s just an energy that endows you. See, our God is personal. He’s alive. He’s living. He’s personal. He thinks, he feels, he speaks, he loves, he knows. God knows every hair on your head, the Bible says. God knows every longing of your heart. He knows every day of your life. God knows it all. And do you know what, he pays attention. There are a lot of people, but God knows everyone by name. And he pays attention to the exact circumstances of their life. And he’s a Father who is attentive in detail to all of his sons and daughters. That’s what she says.

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