Praying for Rapid Expansion of the Gospel + Sunday Morning Resources

TCC • January 21, 2022

I am so grateful for your passionate response to the message on Earnest Prayer from Sunday. I believe that God wants to answer the prayers of His people when they pray sacrificially and selflessly for the rapid spread of the Gospel message. Wow, imagine what God could do through a group of people who commit themselves to pray for the eternal well-being of others. Even as we celebrate our 30th birthday on March 6, we believe that God is not finished with us yet. He has an even better future in store than the past we’ve walked together. 


Let me invite all those who call Twin Cities Church “home” to join us in our mission of simply making ourselves available to pray for the rapid expansion of the Gospel message of Jesus. If you missed Sunday, please watch the message and then respond and let me know your commitment to join with us by participating in our 2022 Church Prayer.


I have a new update about my cancer status. When I had surgery in November, the surgical team discovered that I still had living cancer cells in my tumor – even after chemo/radiation. They were able to cut them out and give me a positive thumbs up that they had gotten all of it. The problem is that Esophageal cancer has a strong propensity to recur, and when it does, it’s usually not curable. I had an appointment in early January with a UCSF oncologist who told me that I fit the parameters for an immunotherapy treatment that was successful in fighting this cancer and had just been approved for my cancer in August 2021. He said, “It’s my recommendation that you begin this as soon as possible.” 


Kimberly and I then consulted with my local oncologist, who agreed wholeheartedly that I could begin the treatment this past Wednesday. It’s a year-long treatment of immunotherapy infusions. I will receive the medication intravenously twice a month for sixteen weeks and then every four weeks for the next eight months. The goal is to get my immune system to recognize the cancer cells as an enemy and attack them naturally. Will you please pray for God to use this to show me His favor and bless me with His promise that I will “see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living”? Thank you. I love you more than words can describe.


Here are some upcoming opportunities to SHARE LIFE and SPREAD HOPE to our family and community. 


STUDENT MINISTRY Parents, you are invited to join our Student Ministry Team on Wednesday, January 23, 6:30-8:30pm. This is an excellent opportunity to hear the vision for rebuilding our Student Ministry to have a dynamic impact in the lives of your students. You’ll get to have dinner served as well, so no cooking that night. Also, just throwing this out – If you’ve ever felt a tug to serve with students, this is a great time to join the team. You’re invited to come as well and let God speak to your heart about getting involved with a great group of young people who need adult influence and mentoring. Please contact Semeria or John.


LIFE GROUPS are open NOW for the winter/spring semester. 2021 was a time for us to sharpen our focus as a church to be more intentional in our approach to discipleship and spiritual formation. Our goal is to be clear in our vision to engage together to lead as many people as possible into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. We have four pillars to build on – Share Life, Strengthen Faith, Serve Others, and Spread Hope. The Share Life pillar includes our relationship with Jesus and how He calls us to Share Life with Him and each other. The natural outflow of that is that we want our Life Groups to intentionally share life with each other as they follow Jesus together. If you are ready to check out a LIFE GROUP or want more information, please contact Mark or stop by the SHARE LIFE table in the lobby this Sunday, and we will help you get connected. Our goal is that we will all find a place where we can know and be known, love and be loved, serve and be served, and celebrate and be celebrated as we grow to become more like Jesus.


EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES. We have several part-time jobs open right now for the right person who not only wants to work but wants that work to make a difference in the lives of others. Here is the link to see the current job openings. If you’re interested in any of these positions, don't hesitate to get in touch with the person listed. We look forward to having you join our team of motivated servant leaders.


The next DRIVE-THRU FOOD DRIVE collection day to support Interfaith Food Ministry is Friday, January 28, from 8:00-10:30am. Please bring your non-perishable foods to the church, and we’ll make sure all the food gets delivered to Interfaith. This is a huge help to the resource-challenged in our community. We’re also receiving specific items to help Hospitality House. Here’s how you can find out what they most need. Just bring items from this list with your food donations. 


THIS SUNDAY, we continue our series HABITS: Small steps, big change. We’re going to cover another Keystone Habit that can hugely change your life. It’s Extravagant Generosity. We’ll consider some of the barriers to generosity and how we can take small steps to become generous people with all God has given us. I’m excited to see how God uses Sunday in your life and mine.

 

Here are the links you’ll need to prepare for Sunday’s Service: 


   

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

New Paragraph

By TCC March 6, 2026
Life doesn’t always go the way we hoped it would, does it? Disappointment, loss, conflict, unanswered prayers — suffering is a very real part of the human experience. But as painful as it is, our suffering isn’t necessarily meaningless, nor is it beyond God’s ability to use for good. This weekend, our founding pastor, Ron Thompson, will explore how God meets us in hardship and how the Holy Spirit can use even our trials to strengthen and shape us to become more like Jesus. I look forward to learning alongside you. Please remember that this Sunday is Daylight Savings time and we will be springing forward an hour. We’ll see you bright and early and we will have coffee ready. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday.
By TCC February 27, 2026
I’m still overwhelmed by last week’s baptism service, where 40 of our brothers and sisters in Christ went public with their faith. It was a powerful reminder of the transformative work God is doing in our church community. Speaking of community, this Sunday, Pastor Mark will be sharing about the transforming power of doing life in community. More often than not, the deepest change happens through relationship. God works in and through His people to heal, strengthen, and grow one another into the likeness of Jesus. This weekend will remind us why God intends for us to do life together in Christ. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday.
By TCC February 20, 2026
This weekend we’re continuing to explore the role that the Holy Spirit plays in real, lasting transformation. We’ll talk about the core changes that God does within us, both in the moment of our surrender as well as the fruit of our continued surrender to His love. If you’ve ever wondered what it looks like to actually live in step with the Spirit day-to-day, not just on Sundays, this is a weekend to be here. We’ll also be celebrating baptisms in both services! Baptism weekends are, without a doubt, my favorite weekend and you won’t want to miss it. If you’ve been considering baptism, it’s not too late to participate. We have one more baptism class today (Friday) at noon at the church. Even if you can’t make that class, you can still get baptized. Just show up 30 minutes before either service and meet near the baptismal. I can’t wait to celebrate with you. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday.
By TCC February 13, 2026
This weekend we’ll continue our How We Change series by exploring the person and power of the Holy Spirit — because if lasting change is possible, it won’t come from willpower alone. It will require God’s presence and power at work within us. This is such a broad (and often misunderstood) topic that I’m inviting my friend Dan Prout of Sierra Ministries to join me for a live conversation. Here are a few questions we’ll explore together: What does it actually mean to be “born of the Spirit” — not just improved, but remade from the inside out? What is an appropriate way for believers to think of and relate to the Holy Spirit? What does our “part” look like — how do we cooperate with the Spirit without slipping into either striving or passivity? And what can we do when we feel dry, stuck, or unchanged? If you’ve ever felt unsure, curious, skeptical, or hungry for more — this weekend is for you. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday.
By TCC February 6, 2026
In our current series, How We Change , we are learning how to take hold of the life that is really life. We’ve already explored the power of our thoughts and our practices, but many of us have felt the same discouraging pattern: we can hold it together for a while… and then something gives, willpower fades, and we find ourselves right back in the places we hoped we’d leave behind. So, this week we’re naming the tension we all feel: what if the change we long for requires more than willpower, insight, or better habits? According to Jesus, if we want to experience true and lasting change, we need to be “Born Again.” That is a loaded term in our culture, carrying decades of assumptions and conflicting ideas of what Jesus meant. So, this weekend, we will go back to the original conversation and seek to understand what Jesus meant when He said we need to be born again. If you’ve ever tried to “fix yourself” only to end up back at square one, then this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday.
By TCC January 23, 2026
The first step to true and lasting change is to change our minds, but it’s definitely not the only step. There’s a huge difference between thinking a new way and actually living a new way. That’s why information alone doesn’t transform us and why willpower alone tends to be insufficient to the task. If you’ve ever felt discouraged by the gap between what you believe and how you live, this week will put language to that struggle and point toward a pathway forward. We will also equip you with a tangible tool to help you take an honest look at how you’re currently being formed. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday.
By TCC January 16, 2026
Last weekend we talked about a simple but important truth: you are being formed. Not just by big moments, but by the steady rhythms of everyday life – what you give your attention to, the voices you trust, and the patterns you repeat. So, the question isn’t whether you’re being shaped, but what’s doing the shaping and where it’s leading you. As we discussed last week, we don’t want to live a life shaped by the pressures of the world, but by the transforming work of the Spirit from the inside out as He helps us renew our minds. Which raises an important follow-up question: how does that happen? How do we renew our minds so that we can know and live out God’s will for our lives? That will be the focus of this weekend’s conversation. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday.
By TCC January 9, 2026
This weekend we’ll continue our How We Change series with a simple but important truth: you are being formed. Not just by the big moments, but by the steady rhythms of everyday life — what you give your attention to, the voices you trust, and the patterns you repeat. The question isn’t whether you’re being shaped, but what’s doing the shaping and where is it leading you? But there’s another way: a life shaped not by the steady pressures of the world, but by the transforming work of Spirit from the inside out. If you’ve been longing for real and lasting change, come join the conversation this weekend. Also, we’d love for you to join one of our Bible reading plans so we can read Scripture together as a community. You can choose a plan that takes you through the entire Bible, or a plan focused on the New Testament. Click here to join the plan of your choice. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry Can’t wait to celebrate with you!
By TCC December 26, 2025
As we come to the final Sunday of the year, we’ll pause to do something sacred: remember . Together, we’ll look back and reflect on the many ways God has been faithful to us, celebrating the stories, milestones, and blessings He has poured out on our church family over this past year. It’s a moment to give thanks and to recognize that every good gift truly comes from Him. We’ll also gather around the Lord’s Table and celebrate communion, our tangible reminder that while we are grateful for what God has done, the best is still ahead. Because of Jesus, we don’t just look back with gratitude, we look forward with hope. We have eternity with Him to look forward to. Year-End Gift As we close the year, we’re also inviting those who feel led to give one final financial gift to help us finish the year strong. Every gift — large or small — helps us care well for our church family, support our ministry partners, and honor the staff who serve so faithfully. Your generosity enables us to continue being a church marked by gratitude, faithfulness, and generosity. Click here to learn more about our Year-End Gift or to give now. I am incredibly grateful for all God has done in and through Twin Cities Church this year, and I can’t wait to see what He has in store for us in the New Year. See you Sunday. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry Can’t wait to celebrate with you!
More Posts