Kim and I spent some time reflecting on our 29 years of living in Western Nevada County and leading Twin Cities Church. What an amazing journey this has been as we’ve walked together in this mission God laid on the hearts of us and the founding families who listened to God’s call. We began with a clear goal in mind and that was to build a church that was based upon two passages in the Bible. We call them the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

God has called us as a church to make much of Him as we love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and as we love our neighbors as we love ourselves. That’s the Great Commandment. In other words, we are to glorify God and Love Everyone Always. In the video Kim and I just shot, we talked about how God has placed us here as His people and His Church so that our world can see a visible representation of His likeness. Therefore, we must ask ourselves this question wherever we are: Is the way I’m talking, or acting, or promoting, or protesting, making God look good? Do I make God look good? Our goal is to make much of Jesus – to be His ambassadors in this world.

I think we make God look good whenever our lives are characterized by the Fruit of the Spirit combined with our relentless passion to extend compassion to care for the widows, poor, and under served in our world.

Second, God has called us to engage together to lead as many people as possible into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. That’s the Great Commission. We have a mission to go into the world, make disciples of all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and to teach them to obey all of Jesus’ teachings. As we entered 2020 (do you even remember January) we immersed ourselves in a series called Practicing the Way of Jesus. In that series we talked about how Jesus called us to follow Him as an apprentice, which means that we are making it our goal to BE WITH JESUS, BECOME LIKE JESUS, and DO WHAT JESUS DID. Folks, this is what we are all about as a church – helping people take steps in that journey so that in all we do we glorify God.

Isn’t that exciting!!!

I know we are living in a time of tremendous uncertainty, deep angst, competing realities, and divisive politics that has us wound up in knots and anxiety. I know we want solutions and answers. I know we want clarity and results. But, what I know is that no person or politician or pundit can give us the security and hope we are looking for. We can only find rest in Jesus. He is the source of the flourishing our world is searching for. So, I’m more resolved than ever to focus on what we can do to live as His ambassadors in our world so that when people see us, they see Jesus. As I look at my life, I realize that I have so far to go to reach that goal consistently. Let’s pray and give each other bucket loads of mercy and grace as we move in Him together. Let’s make much of God!

Let me invite you to make plans to attend on campus this week as we continue our Uncommon Sense series. We’ll be focusing on Proverbs 3 and talking about the “Promise of Wisdom.” I think you’ll find this study on some of the most famous of Bible verses inspiring and full of Hope.

One way you can be inspired through our series on Proverbs is to make it a goal to read it. Proverbs has 31 chapters so I’m inviting you to join me and make a commitment to read one chapter per day. For example, today is October 8, so you would read Proverbs 8. Just read the Proverb that corresponds with the day. Let’s grow in wisdom together.

Now that we’re in the Orange category concerning COVID-19 restrictions, we can have 200 people per service here at TCC. That opens a lot of seats for you to come join us! If you’ve been waiting to attend a service, let me encourage you that if you aren’t in the category of being vulnerable, at-risk, or sick, that we will have space for you. It’s such a joy to see and talk with folks who haven’t been on campus since March 15. Each person, without fail, has thanked us for the way we’ve cared for our people during this COVID-19 logjam through the online services, extra devotionals, care calls, and opportunities to serve our community. And then they will look around and say, “But, I’ve missed this and am so glad to be back with God’s people.” I feel the same. I hope you’ll come back when you feel it’s safe for you to do so.

We plan to add live music back in as soon as possible, but until we do, our Worship Arts Team will keep recording quality and inspiring song sets each week that will allow us to engage in worship together. We will still have the outdoor venue available for those who want to have more space and freedom.

In case you’ve not heard, we’ve now added an opportunity for families with children. Let me encourage our young families that we have space for you and to keep checking the website for new activities. Please make sure to register your kiddos on our website before you arrive. Our Student Ministry Team has already moved to a format on Wednesdays from 6:30-7:30pm at the church that will allow our students to engage. They are having their gatherings on Wednesday evenings with Junior High on one end of the building and High School on the other. Students are also meeting at 10:30 on Sundays for connect time and donuts, and then they attend the 11:00 service together. Make sure to encourage your students to be here because they need community in ways they may not even be aware.

Let me ask you to help us by respecting the needs of others during this time. We’re still going to be the best neighbors we can to each other and to those in our community. New people are coming each week, and we want to be at our best so that they see the love of Jesus in our actions and attitudes. Our goal is to still be a safe place for people to check out the claims of Jesus Christ and choose to follow Him with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength. Folks, people still need HOPE and that comes from knowing God and walking with Jesus, so let’s keep inviting our friends to a place where hope is found – where people can come meet Jesus.

I’m extremely pumped about our new look for Fall Family Festival for this COVID-19 year. You can look at our website and see the plan John Fairchild and Mare Dibert put together. I love the vision and dream behind our Drive-Thru Fall Family Festival experience this year. We’ve served our community 15 years now by offering a safe, fun, candy-filled experience for families each October 31, and even with the COVID-19 restrictions in place, we believe we can offer a fun and safe time this year as well. There are three things we need that will be essential to pulling this off: candy, volunteers, and invites. Please drop your candy off at the church or order from your favorite online retailer and have it shipped directly to TCC. You can sign up to serve online or at church and go ahead and use our website link to invite your friends while you’re at it. 

The deadline to register to vote in California is October 19, 2020. I can’t emphasize strongly enough how important each vote is, and I want to encourage you to register if you aren’t. Here is the link to online registration, which is probably the safest way to register during COVID-19.

If you would like to register using a paper voter registration application, you can pick one up at your county elections office, library, Department of Motor Vehicles offices, or U.S. Post Office. It is important that your voter registration application be filled out completely and be postmarked or hand delivered to your county elections office at least 15 days before the election.

During this time when it’s impossible for us all to be on campus together, please make sure to stay engaged online if you can’t be here with us either outside or inside. Our services will continue to be streamed live at 9:00 and 11:00am, or you can watch them on demand any time you want right from our website or APP. Here’s an idea: When you’re watching online, please invite your friends to join you. If you haven’t downloaded the TCC APP, just go to the APP store and search for TCC GRASS VALLEY and download it today.

Our outdoor venue is for people who want to have more freedom in their experience. We have tents and fans outside. Each week we’ll continue to adapt and flex as we expand that opportunity at both 9:00 and 11:00am. Make sure to notice the air quality if we’re still having smoky skies. In case you’re wondering we’ve picked 201 (Purple) or higher as our safety threshold for our outdoor venue. If it’s over that, we‘ll all meet inside. You can check that online. 

Joyfully living everyday life on mission in intimacy with Jesus and others,