CANCER SURGERY UPDATE. The waiting to get a surgery date turned out to be longer than I would have imagined. When I first started praying about possible dates, I had a hunch that it would be mid to late October. Well, after a flurry of phone calls the past couple of days, the UCSF surgical team told me that both of my surgeons were available on October 21. My local doctor had already advised me to take whatever date they offered because coordinating these things in today’s environment is highly complicated. I realized how right he was as I talked with the scheduling department. Even though that’s only short notice, I feel such relief. 

I trust God’s timing, and I look forward with faith to how He’s going to show His goodness and favor to our church and me during this time. I am incredibly grateful for your support through prayers and encouragement in this journey toward a healthy outcome. I am walking forward in God’s strength and with the courage that comes from so many years of seeing Him work on my behalf. 

Please continue to pray for the Thompsons and all that we will need to think through to get all our “ducks” in a row. And that we will know peace even if things don’t go according to plan. Please pray for our staff – I love how supportive they are – as we walk through the changes to our schedule to accommodate my recovery period. Just like my chemo/radiation treatments changed our rhythms, this surgery and recovery will do the same. And if you’re like me, you celebrate what God did and look forward to what He will do in the life of our church family in this season.

SISTER’S CLOSET. One of my favorite community events we offer is Sister’s Closet, and it’s coming up October 9 from 9:00am-12:00pm. This is a time where women and teenagers can come and shop for free to augment their wardrobe for the Fall and Winter seasons. My heart is so moved each time we offer this event as I watch many women and girls shop with joy on their faces as they peruse the wonderful clothing items, shoes, and accessories donated by the generous women of our church. What an opportunity to bless others out of the blessings we’ve been given. It’s a joyful and even tear-filled frenzy. If you would like to help with set-up or tear-down or during the shopping, please contact Mare. She will help you find a way to serve the women of our community and church who need our support. 

FALL FAMILY FESTIVAL. One of our largest community service projects each year is FFF. This year’s theme is Animal Adventures. We’re going to spread out and utilize as much of our facility – indoors and outdoors – as possible to create a fun and irresistible environment where families can come relax and play together. We’re doing our part to make sure our FFF is safe for the community who will attend and for our volunteers. 

FFF is such a FUN event, and we’re eagerly looking for a whole army of volunteers to help make sure that every family who attends will feel welcomed, have fun, and leave with all the candy they could ever have imagined. You can sign up to serve on our website or by contacting Mare or John. So many families in our community get their first real contact with our church through this event. That makes FFF a high-impact investment as we get to have a personal touch with the families of our community. 

LIFE GROUPS FALL LAUNCH. We’re entering a new season with a time of clarification as we launch our small groups. 2021 has been a key time for us to sharpen our focus as a church to be more intentional in our approach to discipleship and be clearer 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 small groups to be intentional in sharing life with each other. Therefore, we are going to call our small groups – LIFE GROUPS. If you're going to become part of a LIFE GROUP or want more information on what it means, please get in touch with Laura or Mark, and they 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. 

This SUNDAY we will continue our RADIATE LOVE series based upon the New Testament book of 1 John. John writes to correct error that had seeped into some of the second-generation church teachers in the region of Ephesus. He writes to encourage the Followers of Jesus in that region to exemplify the words of Jesus when He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, everyone will know that you are My disciples if you love one another.” This week’s message is about Staying on Track. This is where John warns his readers to be aware of false teaching being spread in his day. I believe you’ll find it very relevant to the false teaching, or FAKE NEWS, that can get us off track in our day. I hope you’ll read 1 John 2:18-27 and let God speak to you before Sunday. I believe that will make your church experience even richer! 

Here are the links you’ll need to be fully prepared for Sunday’s Service:

• Message Notes and Study Guide
• Weekly Spotify Playlist
• Children's Ministry
• Student Ministry 

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

New Paragraph