Mars Hill Church | Olympia

The Valley of Vision | Openness

Steven Mulkey — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:33:23 +0000

Every week I post a new prayer from the Valley of Vision, which is a collection of puritan prayers. Our prayer for this week is about being open to the filling of the Holy Spirit and the love of God in Christ. On Sunday Pastor Mark preached to the women of our church on how to be holy and respectful. This prayer supplements that sermon by drawing us to be filled with the Holy Spirit and open to the His leading.

You can purchase the book here if you would like.

Our prayer for this week is Openness

Lord of Immortatlity,

Before whom angels bow and archangels veil their faces,

enable me to serve thee with reverence and godly fear.

Thou who art Spirit and require truth in the inward parts,

help me to worship thee in spirit and in truth.

Thou who art righteous, let me not harbor sin in my heart,

or indulge a worldly temper,

or seek satisfaction in things that perish.

I hasten towards an hour

when earthly pursuits and possessions will appear vain,

When it will be indifferent whether I have been

rich or poor,

successful or disappointed,

admired or despised.

But it will be of eternal moment that I have mourned for sin,

hungered and thristed after righteousness,

loved the Lord Jesus in sincereity,

gloried in his cross.

May these objects engross my chief solicitude!

Produce in me those principles and dispositions

that make thy service perfect freedom.

Expel from my mind all sinful fear and shame,

so that with firmness and courage I may

confess the Redeemer before men,

go forth with him bearing his reproach,

be zealous with his knowledge,

be filled with his wisdom,

walk with his circumspection,

ask counsel of him in all things,

repair to the Scriptures for his orders,

stay my mind on his peace,

knowing that nothing can befall me

without his permission, appointment

and administration.

South Sound Digest 2-6-12

Steven Mulkey — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 23:26:45 +0000

Sunday Recap

For the past two weeks we have had attendance numbers for our two Sunday gatherings at almost 500 people and if this trend continues we will, by God’s grace, be at over 600 by Easter. That means over 200 more people, names and faces, men and women who need to be greeted, cared for, invited to lunch and to community group. These are two hundred more people to call onto the mission for Jesus glory in the South Sound. So I ask you, how are you going to be a part of the mission of Jesus to seek and save the lost? How is God calling you to step out in faith and show the love of Christ to someone?

Every Sunday we have a greeting and connect time during service, which is placed there for you to connect with someone you don’t know. Every Sunday after service we have community group leaders, elders and deacons available for prayer and so I ask you, are you ready to pray for someone on Sunday? Get ready for God to use you in someone’s life on Sunday; he has called all of us instruments in his redeeming hands.

Our Sunday attendance was 478, and giving was strong, hank you to everyone who is giving generously, sacrificially, and regularly to Mars Hill Church.

Our annual Women’s Retreat is happening this Friday and Saturday. If you were impacted by the message on Sunday and want to go deeper with other women than you should be at this event. Deacon Jen Schmidt will be teaching, here is the sign up form. Please sign up right away as we need to inform the conference center how many will be attending. Scholarships are available so don’t let cost be a factor for not attending.

Calendar

Monday – 2 community groups are meeting.

Tuesday – 6 community groups are meeting.

Wednesday – 7 community groups are meeting.

Men’s Leadership Training 6-7:30am at the Tumwater office space

Discipleship Class 7 – 8:30pm at the Tumwater office space

Thursday – 6 community groups are meeting.

Best of Olympia 2012 is happening this Thursday at the 4^thavenue Tavern in Downtown Olympia. This is a great way to meet key business owners in the city and celebrate with our city what is going well.

Friday – 4 community groups are meeting.

Women’s Retreat starts this evening, sign up here!

Saturday – Don’t forget to invite your friends to church, we have 7 more weeks of the Real Marriage series.

Sunday – Real Marriage week 5 “Taking Out The Trash”, services are at 9am and 11:15am at Marshall Middle School.

Doctrine Class 2-4pm at Flood the Sound Church, if you missed previous classes you can still come and participate.

Counseling in Community 4-6pm at Flood the Sound Church, if you missed previous classes you can still come and participate.

Mars Hill Students 7-8:30pm on Sunday nights the students of Mars Hill Olympia gather to sing, pray, fellowship and hear teaching at our office space in Tumwater.

2915 29^th Ave SW Suite B Tumwater WA 98512

Community

Community groups are the way you stay connected to the church throughout the week. Mars Hill Olympia is a church of 500 moving to 700 and you will not know everyone in the church, but you can know a small group of people and do mission with them. On Sunday you gather with the people of God to sing, pray, serve, and hear the word preached. Monday through Saturday you are sent out into to the South Sound to seek and save the lost and welcome people into the kingdom of God.

If you are not in a community group you should join one this week, check this list and contact a leader on The City.

If you are in Centralia/Chahalis this week stop by Dicks Brewery, which has a tasting room that is open every Friday night from 3-7pn. This is a great way to support a local business and get to know some new people in the community.

Prayers

Pray for our Elders and Deacons at Mars Hill Church, that they would lead well and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Pray for our partnerships with local churches like ECC that we would be working together to advance Jesus kingdom in the South Sound and see more people come to know him.

Pray for Seth and I as we work on finding a new home for Mars Hill Olympia.

Pray that we would see those far from God brought near through our faithful witness to Jesus in the South Sound.

As always I look forward to hearing how God has been at work in our church, our city and in your lives this coming Sunday.

For Jesus Glory,

Pastor Steven

Missional Prayer

Steven Mulkey — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:30:46 +0000

Today at 10am I opened up the day of session at the state capital in prayer. Having been the lead pastor at Mars Hill Olympia for 3 years I have prayed to open session multiple times, each time I pray I think through what I say and why I am saying it. Praying in a political context is always tricky:

It’s not a church service so I am not calling anyone to repentance etc.
It’s a mixed crowd that may not be friendly toward Jesus or the Gospel.
They have rules in place on how I am to pray and things I am not to say.

With those things in mind why should I be praying to open session at all? Here is how I think through this. If I am called by Jesus in Matt 28:16-20 to make disciples of all the nations than I need to be present and visible in my community. If I am to be all things to all men as 2 Cor 9:19-23 commands than I need to be present with as many men as possible. James Davison Hunter in his book “To change the world” argues that the single greatest thing we can do to change the world around us as Christians is to be focused on making disciples everywhere we go in whatever context God has placed us in. To have a faithful presence of the gospel in everything we do both in word and deed. We are not disengaged from culture, we are so engaged that the world cannot get away from power of Christ that is in us.

So, having the opportunity to pray at session enables me to have a faithful presence with politicians and lobbyists. My goal is to be a blessing and pray for them; they need prayer, we all need prayer. Hopefully, as I get to know people in the government I will have opportunity to tell them about Jesus. What I don’t want to do is abuse the invitation and make my prayer more than what it needs to be. I want to have a faithful presence in my city and culture, showing Jesus in everything thing I do.

I prayed something like this:

“Heavenly Father, thank you for these men and women who serve faithfully for good of the people of the state of Washington. Give them wisdom and discernment to lead well, give them physical strength to endure long days and nights. Enable them to govern that state well as good stewards. In Jesus name, Amen.”

Short and to the point, they have work to do; I have work to do for God’s glory and my joy. How has God called you to have a faithful presence in the City of Olympia and the south sound? In what ways today can you be faithful to represent the reality that the kingdom of God has come in Jesus Christ? Step out in faith today and see God work through you, let his strength be perfected in your weakness.

Pastor Steven

This Sunday: Men and Marriage

Steven Mulkey — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:28:53 +0000

When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. (1 Corinthians 13:11 ESV)

What does it mean to be a man? Is it about the car you drive, the job you have, or the clothes you wear? Is it about having freedom? Is it about instilling fear?

Paul said, “When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child ; but when I became a man, I put away childish things” (1 Corinthians 13:11). When we look at the world around us we see that many of the problems come from men acting like boys, abrogating their responsibilities. To be a man means to take responsibility, it means being tough for your family and tender towards your family. Come this Sunday to Mars Hill Olympia to learn about what it means to be a man. Services are at 9am and 11:15am.

Pastor Steven

South Sound Digest | Volume #2

Seth Winterhalter — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:34:57 +0000

Sunday Recap

The church is not a building where people gather to worship, it is the people of God gathered to worship Jesus in spirit and in truth. This Sunday we gathered in the Gymnasium of Evergreen Christian Community to worship Jesus. The staff at ECC was very generous to let us use their building for our services so if you know anyone at ECC be sure to thank them for their generosity.

Also on Sunday we had some amazing volunteers show up early to setup and shovel snow. In particular Joe Plahuta, who runs our facility team, came on Saturday night to prepare the location and then came back Sunday morning to coordinate the crew. Thank you Joe for your example of Christ-like servant leadership. The next time you see someone helping setup or teardown for Mars Hill Olympia be sure to thank them for making sure our services happen. Praise God that we have men and women zealous for good works at Mars Hill.

Our Sunday attendance was 373, giving was $3,464, which means we’ve raised $34,997 toward our January goal of $45,334. Thank you to everyone who is giving generously, sacrificially, and regularly to Mars Hill Church.

Calendar

Monday – 2 community groups are meeting.

Tuesday – 6 community groups are meeting.

Wednesday – 7 community groups are meeting.

Men’s Leadership Training 6-7:30am at the Tumwater office space

Discipleship Class 7 – 8:30pm at the Tumwater office space

Thursday – 6 community groups are meeting.

Friday – 4 community groups are meeting.

Saturday – Don’t forget to invite your friends to church.

Sunday – Real Marriage week 3 “Men and Marriage”, Services are at 9am and 11:15am.

Doctrine Class 2-4pm at Flood the Sound Church, if you missed previous classes you can still come and participate.

Counseling in Community 4-6pm at Flood the Sound Church, if you missed previous classes you can still come and participate.

Community

All Community Groups are back up and running this week after many of them were unable to meet due to the weather.

If you are not in a community group you should join one this week, check this list and contact a leader on The City.

If you are in Shelton this week stop by Taqueria Las Palmas. It’s a fantastic Mexican restaurant. Every time I go it’s like being transported to Oaxaca. Here is the link to the review on Yelp.

Prayers

Pray for our Elders and Deacons at Mars Hill Church, that they would lead well and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Pray for our partnerships with local churches like ECC that we would be working together to advance Jesus kingdom in the South Sound and see more people come to know Jesus.

Pray for Seth and I as we work on finding a new home for Mars Hill Olympia.

Pray that we would see those far from God brought near through our faithful witness to Jesus in the South Sound.

As always I look forward to hearing how God has been at work in our church, our city and in your lives this coming Sunday.

For Jesus Glory,

Pastor Steven

Changes for this Sunday

Seth Winterhalter — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 17:59:19 +0000

As I write this message 250,000 people are without power. Crews are working overtime to restore electricity to people. When we look at the south sound there are about 1 million people that don’t know Jesus, that know nothing of the power of the Holy Spirit.

At Mars Hill Church by the grace of God, we never cancel Sunday services. Seth and I have been working overtime over the past few days to find a place for us to meet. Here are the details:

1. Marshall Middle School is closed.

2. We have checked and rechecked every location in Olympia, Lacey, Tumwater to run services. Only 1 place was open.

3. Evergreen Christian Community has graciously agreed to let us hold services in their Activity Center!

4. We will be holding services at 9:00am and 11:15am.

5. Both services will be family style, no child care will be offered. Both services will be approximately 80 minutes in length to accommodate for having children in the services.

6. Tell your friends that Mars Hill Olympia will be meeting in the Activity Center at Evergreen Christian Community on Sunday.

Here is the address:

1000 Black Lake Boulevard SW
Olympia, WA 98502

It’s across from the Black Bear Diner right behind the Bank of America building.

God has provided for us a great opportunity to both hold services and develop a deeper relationship with another local church.

Pray that many would come to services this Sunday, that they would come to know Jesus, that marriages would be healed.

Rejoice that our God is with us and for us, for His glory and our joy.

May Jesus glorified and lives be changed as we gather to worship this Sunday at Evergreen Christian Community Church.

Pastor Steven Mulkey

New Songs for Real Marriage | The Church

Steven Mulkey — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 16:00:49 +0000

Last Sunday we started a new sermon series called Real Marriage. This series is a campaign that we have opened to any church that would like to participate. Along with a brand new sermon series we are also going to be playing some new music at Mars Hill Olympia. Our hope and prayer is that God would use the Real Marriage sermon series to heal broken lives and struggling marriages and draw those who are far from him to his son, Jesus. This coming Sunday we will be playing a new song called The Church by Elevation Church in South Carolina. When I look for music to sing on Sunday I look for songs that give the church a corporate voice, I want the people of God to sing together about their love for Jesus and passion for people to know him. This song does just that, it is a powerful anthem for the church to sing. Join us this Sunday as we sing this song at Mars Hill Olympia, services are at 9am and 11:15am at Marshall Middle School.

For His Glory

Pastor Steven

Here is a video of Elevation Church singing the song.

Here are the lyrics

Verse 1:

We are the church the world is waiting for

we’ve got a love the world is desperate for

we will lead and take to your streets

chorus:

now’s the time for us to riseand carry hope and let love shine

and show this world that mercy is alive
now’s the time for us to rise

and carry hope to hopeless eyes

Verse 2:

we’re not afraid. we will abandon all

to hear your name on lips across the world

we will run in the wake of your love

bridge:

fill our hearts with your compassionlet our love be active here

Stories From the Front Lines | #3

Seth Winterhalter — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:43:42 +0000

Every week we receive, on average, eight to ten request orders from our military service members or their family members living and stationed around the world asking for resources to help build their faith and help them in their ability to make disciples. We send out a variety of books written by our various Mars Hill Church pastors including Pastor Mark Driscoll, Pastor Brad House, Pastor Bill Clem, Pastor Justin Holcomb and Pastor Mike Wilkerson as well as books by other pastors and writers that we pray will be helpful in their spiritual development while also serving as tools for evangelism and the discipleship of others. Just the other day we received this reply from a soldier who received a resource package:

All the resources that I received I handed out to people in my unit and I still have people asking me if I have some more. The one thing that the people in my unit were the most grateful for was the ESV Bibles that were sent. They only had access to the little Bibles that the Army provides and were very happy when they received them. A few of them were new believers that had not owned a Bible before. Thank you!

Sergeant Brent, Army

The Mars Hill Military Mission is able to put thousands of dollars of resources into the hands of our soldiers who use them as tools to plant and sow seed for gospel transformation. All of this is done by the generosity of thousands of donations from people who want to be a part of this vital mission. Every donation, big and small, helps people like Brent and Tim to be resourced as they serve as agents of reconciliation.

The books are powerful yet accessible. Most of our personnel have a background in the Roman Catholic Church but most are biblically and theologically illiterate. I have given out many of the books I have received and I’m looking forward to the conversations they will initiate.

Chaplain (CPT) Tim, Army National Guard

This weekend we’ll be shipping out over twenty-two orders that have recently been sent in. Each box contains a handful of books and if requested, a hard drive, filled with thousands of hours of preaching and teaching. Join with us as we continue to resource our service members who not only serve our country tirelessly but serve our God faithfully and desire to see the people around them know King Jesus. We encourage you to give today to keep the Military Mission funded and resourced by clicking on this link to give:

https://marshill.com/give

If you are or know of a service member who is in need of resources, please direct them to this link and have them request an order today:

http://bit.ly/MHMMorder

You can also stay in touch and up to date with us by following us on Twitter and Facebook.

Winter Classes Begin this Sunday

Seth Winterhalter — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 19:44:42 +0000

This past Sunday, Pastor Steven talked about the various classes that will launch the week of January 15th, along with the Real Marriage teaching series. Please take advantage of these opportunities to learn about Mars Hill Church, grow in your faith, develop as a maturing Christian and make new friends. The list of classes is below. The Sunday classes (Doctrine & Counseling in Community) will be held at Flood the Sound Church in West Olympia with childcare provided. All other classes will be held at our Tumwater office in the Mottman Center without childcare. We will contact you to confirm more details once you register.

Doctrine Class

Learn the foundational elements of what a Christian believes and start down the path of membership at Mars Hill Olympia.

Sundays | 2:00pm-4:00pm | January 15th – February 26th

Location: Flood the Sound Church (West Olympia)

Childcare Provided

Counseling in Community

Learn how to lead people from just good advice towards gospel rootedness and transformation

Sundays | 4:00pm – 6:00pm | January 15th – March 4th

Location: Flood the Sound Church (West Olympia)

Childcare Provided

Discipleship Class

Learn what it means to receive your identity from Jesus instead of from your job, lifestyle, possessions, etc.

Wednesdays | 7:00pm – 8:30pm | January 18th – February 29th

Location: MH Olympia Office (Tumwater) (No childcare)

New Songs for Real Marriage | Narrow Road by Hillsong LIve

Seth Winterhalter — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:00:40 +0000

On Jan 15th we will be launching our biggest sermon series ever, Real Marriage. Along with this new series we will be singing new songs at Mars Hill Olympia. This Sunday Hold Fast (one of the bands at Mars Hill Olympia) will be playing “Narrow Road” by Hillsong Live. Here is a link to a video of the song. I am really looking forward to seeing God use this song at Mars Hill Olympia to give voice to our corporate walk with Jesus. Psalm 119:105 says that the word of God is “a lamp unto our feet and light unto our path.” This song speaks of the word of God as his love towards us. His word and his love are not just for us individually but for us as a church corporately. I believe that this song will be an encouragement to those who are new to our church and to those who are regular attenders.

Here are the lyrics

VERSE 1:

We walk on this narrow road
Now restored as one we walk
In Your hope
And though
Darkness fills our path
Fear won’t fix its hold on us
For we know

CHORUS:

Love will shine before us on our path
And guide our every step within the dark

VERSE 2:

We bear tidings of Your hope
Freedom from the sinner’s plight
Through Your love
Our eyes set upon this task
Truth in hand as one we walk
We advance

CHORUS 2:

Love will shine before us on our path
To guide our every step within the dark
To know You is our only cry
Knowing You our only cry
Knowing You our only cry

BRIDGE:

Lord here we are with humbled hearts
To see your will be done
Let love shape us to Your own design
To bear our Maker’s sign

CHORUS 2:

Love will shine before us on our path
To guide our every step within the dark
To know You is our only cry
Knowing You our only cry
Knowing You our only cry

Enjoy the song and if you are in Olympia join us on Sunday to sing it either at the 9am or the 11:15am service.

Pastor Steven