stevemarkle.com

What’s koinonia? It’s defined as Christian fellowship or communion with God or with fellow Christians; said in particular of the early Christian community.

A sense of community. Do we really understand and experience that in our lives today?

I remember growing up in a neighborhood where we actually knew our neighbors. We actually hung out in the summer evenings and had neighborhood whiffle ball games on a nightly basis until it got too dark to see and someone’s mom brought out popsicles.

Of course there’s a key element missing in the community I just described. That is the Christian element. While we should be experiencing community in our neighborhoods and we should have friends who are not Christians, the koinonia that we can experience as Christians is much deeper. When you have a relationship with Christ in common with someone, it can automatically take your relationship to a deeper level of fellowship.

I also remember as a child that after my family had come to know Christ, we developed a new set of friends through the church. We didn’t forsake the old friends, but there was this set of Christians that we loved to hang out with on a regular basis. These friendships grew deeper and became very meaningful to our family.

Of course, life seemed to move at a slower pace in those days. I’m afraid we’ve lost a sense of that Christian fellowship that we grew up with. This is why it’s crucial for everyone in the church to be a part of a small group. If we don’t schedule time together these days…it just doesn’t happen like it used to.

Koinonia is something we obviously are thirsting for. I see it reflected every Sunday morning in our lobby. Our service begins with a mostly empty auditorium because of the buzz of Christian fellowship in the lobby. People are talking, making connections, drinking coffee and they don’t want to stop. It’s great to see koinonia happening…we just need a little more!

Acts 2:42 - (The Believers Form a Community) All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper ), and to prayer.

I’m stoked as I begin preparation for our new series which begins this Sunday and takes us right up to Easter Sunday. We’re spending 4 weeks on the most famous verse in the Bible…John 3:16.

Don’t miss the kick off of this series…this week at 10:30 am.

Starbucks is shutting down all their stores nationwide to retrain their baristas. The quality of their product depends upon the drink masters…so this is a good deal.

But what about all of us wanting our evening pick-me-up?

Do you think it’s any coincidence that Dunkin Donuts is selling Latees for only 99 cents today?

Story here

Some random thoughts in no particular order…

We had a great service this morning. The message on sex seem to go over pretty well. I went for 45 minutes…I’m usually about 30…but we planned ahead for it. There was a lot to be said. If you missed it, as always you can listen on our website or go to iTunes and search for “Steve Markle” and download the podcast. Great crowd and energy today…there was a buzz in the house today.

Zac and I moved the Bowflex to the basement storage room…out of the future baby’s bedroom. A true sign of the times…we are now 4 months down, 5 to go. We’re getting the room ready to paint…now which color? We hope to find this out in a few weeks.

I’m helping to coach my daughter Tori’s softball team. This afternoon they had an indoor winter workout session. I’m really looking forward to having some quality time with her…coaching a group of girls should be a good experience for me

Speaking of baseball, my son Zac has tryouts Monday-Wednesday this week for the Forest Park JV Team. Baseball is the sport he is passionate about. I’m just praying he is relaxed and does his best. We’ll see…

I’m looking forward to our John 3:16 series which starts next week and takes us up to Easter. Read more about it here.

God seems to be bringing us more younger single adults & college age to LCC. I think it is probably time for us to launch a life group specific to this demographic.

Besides sports, I don’t watch much TV…but I’m missing a new season of 24. It’s a nice escape from reality. Due to the greediness in Hollywood, we gotta wait til ‘09. At least our family enjoys watching American Idol together. So far, I’m picking David Archuleta to win it all.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.   Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.

4 Quick Thoughts for today:

1. Am I trusting God today with ALL of my heart…or just 65% or so?
2. Am I depending on my own amazing ability to understand and analyze everything situation in my life?
3. Am I seeking his will or am I seeking my will and asking him to bless it?
4. If it doesn’t seem like God is showing me which path to take, whose fault is that?

Ok…got your attention? This Sunday at LCC, I am speaking on “the god of Sex.” Sex has definitely become a god in our society. We’ve bought into so many lies of Satan on this subject. As we wrap up the current series from Genesis, I am going to speak very candidly about this topic. We normally have our elementary kids in the service, but we are providing an optional children’s class during the service this week…you’ve been warned! If we can’t talk openly about this topic in church, then where can we? Come ready…invite a friend!

One of the new families in our church previously attended Seacoast Church in South Carolina before moving up to NoVa.  They said that I was very similar in my speaking style to Greg Surratt, the pastor of Seacoast.  They also said that our church reminded them of Seacoast about 10 years ago…when it was much smaller.  They are one of the fastest growing churches in America now…over 8,000 per week.  I have to admit I like when we get compared to a church like that

We had a great Sunday yesterday…it went too late to post last night.

• Great worship service…a lot of laughs…we looked at the story of Abraham & Sarah laughing at God when he told them they were still going to have a son…at ages 100 & 90.  You can always listen online if you missed it.
• Incredible time last night here at our home with our new members class.  We had 15 adults here for the class and we had a fantastic time of fellowship as we shared more about our church.  God has brought some great new families to our church over the past few months.  Sherri and I truly enjoyed hosting this event.
• My body ached last night by the time it was all over…that feeling that I used to have after the old school marathon days with Sunday night church services.  Of course I was energized for the class…it was just the crash afterwards…good sleeping!
• I’m excited to go get a copy of the Washington Times today.  There’s supposed to be an article about LCC in the Culture section.  Be sure to get your souvenir copy.
• Looking forward to some family time today as the kids and Sherri are off school for the holiday.

The Washington Times does a weekly feature on an area church and pastor…The Capital Pulpit.  This coming Monday’s paper will feature an article about Life Community Church, a transcript of a recent sermon, and my mugshot.  So, go out on Monday and buy a copy of the Times.  I’ll have to get an extra copy for my mom’s scrapbook