Vacation - the word can bring hope or fear depending on how past vacation experiences have gone.  It really only takes something as simple as a delayed flight to totally mess up a vacation, but then half the adventure is getting things back on track.

Our two weeks in Washington were filled with fun and family.  We even took a day to enjoy a jet boat trip up the Snake River to Hell's Canyon Dam.  It was a thrilling ride of over 100 miles each way and yes, I did sit in the back of the boat and get totally soaked!  It was nice since the sun was out in full force that day.  (One interesting point on the authenticated petroglyphs in the Hell's Canyon area: 80% of them include one person with antennae sticking out of his head!)

My immediate family (Dad, mom, four children and spouses) were all together in one place for the first time in quite a few years.  It was good to be together.  Debby and I also supported my mom and dad at the hospital in Seattle where my father was having cornea surgery - all went well.  We then went to Bremerton for our second week and Debby and I spent a good deal of our time working around her mother's place getting some things fixed and ready for another wet winter season!

We enjoyed the company of the Seniors group from our first church for a summer luncheon there at Debby's mother's house.  Those who attended were the 40 and 50 something couples who were the parents of our youth when I was the youth pastor!  It was a little sobering to realize that I am now the age they were when I was the youth pastor!  Oh, yes!  I also got to borrow my brother-in-laws motorcycle for a 325 mile ride around the Olympic Peninsula on highway 101.  Really!  Highway 101 does go clear up into Washington and around the peninsula!

I give you this brief summary of our trip to get to the point of reflecting on the value of getting away for a break.  It does not have to be a vacation.  A "staycation" can accomplish the same benefits.  On this vacation, I was thinking about how weird it felt to slow down!  That is probably not a good thing!  It did make me think of our core volunteers and how hard they work each Sunday morning.  I wondered how badly this effort might be affecting their ability to refresh on the weekend and prepare for another week of work and service.  I am praying for the success of our efforts to recruit additional volunteers to serve before, during or after our weekend services so that the load is lighter for all of us.  Wouldn't it be great to get to the point where our volunteers could work one service or maybe even every other weekend?!

For those of you who are already serving, "Hold on!  Help is on the way!"  For those who are looking for a place to help out, please stop by the Welcome Center at any of our weekend services.  For those of you who are new to Saddleback Corona I say, "Welcome!  Enjoy the service and consider it a gift from our volunteers to you."

See you on Sunday,

Pastor Dave

A couple of weeks ago a man at our church jumped in to help stack the chairs after the services and my wife approached him and thanked him for helping out.  I loved his response to her.  He said, "That is what people do when they feel at home."  I have thought about this since then and I have noticed some other people stepping forward to help out.  We are beginning to become a family together - a group of friends who are starting to feel connected. 

What surprised me this last Sunday was how right this place felt to me.  It was our first week in the building, but as the familiar faces began to come and help with set up, I realized that even though the size and shape of the room have their impact on "church," the real sense of belonging is with the people I am getting to know as we grow our new fellowship together.  And we had some new helpers this week - more people who are taking ownership and coming to help!

Everyone wants a place where they belong, a place of acceptance and warmth.  We want to be able to relax and let our guard down, without feeling vulnerable or uncomfortable.  As we continue to build a place of safety and acceptance, I believe that others will want to be a part of what we are doing.  I think it has begun to happen for those who have said to themselves, "This is my church."

So what do we do when we decide that a place is "for us?"  What changes begin to happen in our behavior when we begin to "own" a gathering place where we feel loved and accepted?  I would like you to comment on this below.  What do you think people "do" when they have come to a point where they are feeling like this place is their place - a place where they belong?  What will you do when you feel this church is your church.  I look forward to learning from your responses.

Dave

Wow!  We had an amazing day with Pastor Rick on Sunday as he spoke to us about spiritual growth!  Many new people attended and our part in Pastor Rick's Road Show was successfully sent to the three other Saddleback Campuses via satellite!

At 7:31 Sunday evening, I received an e-mail from the assistant principal at Centennial High School indicating that the construction project was moving forward and that power to the school would be shut off on Tuesday and would not be restored until late August!  Sadly, our time at Centennial High School is over for now.  With only six days to find a place to hold our services, I breathed the first (of many) prayers about this need right then. I also sent two e-mails - one to the school district office of the man who handles the rental of school facilities and the other to the principal at Corona High School, asking them for their help and for an update on our facilities request.

Monday morning found me driving to the business offices of the CoronaNorco Unified School District.  As I drove, I kept reminding myself that this situation was not a surprise to God and that He has a plan and a purpose in and for everything.  I was reminded that He causes all things to work together for good of those who love him and are called according to his purposes.  I was eager to see how He would work out a solution to our need.

As I met with the administrative director over the rental of district facilities, he called the principal at Corona High School and discovered that this school also has a construction project going on and will not be available any time soon.  He suggested that I consider Citrus Hills Intermediate as a possible location.  He called the school and asked if the facilities were available on Sundays.  Yes, it is!  However, there is another church using the school's multi-purpose room beginning August 24.  Until then, it is available for our use!

So, beginning this Sunday, June 22nd, we will be meeting at Citrus Hills Intermediate School at 9 and 11 a.m.  The school is located at 3211 South Main Street, Corona. We will be able to use this location until August 17th which gives us a little over 8 weeks to find a more "permanent" location. 

I invite you to do three things right now.  First of all, let's thank God for the 12 weeks that we were able to meet at Centennial High School.  We had a wonderful time getting started there and I have many very good memories of our beginnings at Centennial.  Second, let's praise God for the way that He has provided a place for the coming eight weeks.  It took almost 3 weeks to get approval for the use of Centennial High School and it took almost 3 hours to get the approval of Citrus Hills!  God was going before me each step of the way yesterday and I felt it!  Ask Him to continue to meet with us and bless our times together in this new location.

Finally, let's begin now to pray for the wisdom and insight that we need to find a location that will allow us to continue to grow stronger as we reach out to our communities in the Inland Empire.  I am certain that God already has a place for us.  Let's ask Him for a place that will be available for our use on more than Sunday mornings. Whatever it may be and wherever it may be, let's decide now to rejoice in God's goodness to us and His provision for our church.

Have a great day!

Pastor Dave

I keep hearing this phrase, "It is not about you."  Sometimes I hear, "Well, after all, it is not about me."  It sounds so good, but I wonder how many of us really believe that?  We have been hearing a different message all our lives:  "You deserve a break today."  "Pamper yourself."  "If it feels right to you, just do it!"  "You've worked hard and deserve this reward."  Personally, I hope I never get what I really deserve! 

Also, I have a little confession to make:  Some days, I still think it is about me!"  I know, pretty bad for a pastor right?  Here is my excuse:  "I am only human."  I am broken just like everyone I know.  Worse yet, I think I am in the process of being "gloriously ruined!"  Not just because my small group is working through Kay Warren's book Dangerous Surrender one chapter at a time, but also because leading Saddleback Corona is making me ask myself questions that I have not had to ask before.

Instead of someone else being responsible for the "look and feel" of the church I attend, now those decisions fall on me and the team that I lead.  So what do I want the personality of Saddleback Corona to be?  Church as usual?  Christianity lite?  Do I want to keep you busy with Christian stuff so that you don't wander off and get lost?  How about we focus on ourselves and just stick to providing a nice service that we all enjoy?  The answer to all of these questions is NO!

Here is what I want.  I want us to live in such a way that others can see that it is all about Jesus!  I want it to be obvious that it is all about living our lives for him.  We tend to become what we believe and the best way to see real change in our lives is to practice what we believe.  Are we doing that?  Are we making progress?  A good test of progress is to test for growth in the fruit of the Spirit in you life.  It is a subjective test, but just ask yourself some questions.  Are you more loving than 6 months ago?  Are you more joyful?  Do you have more patience in your life?  Do you experience more of God's peace in difficult situations?  And so on, through all nine fruit of the Spirit. 

If there is an increase in fruit of the Spirit, then you are changing. Not instantly, but changing. You are moving in the right direction!  Jesus said we would know others by their fruit (Matthew 7:20) and by what their lives produce.  Fruit is about taking the truth of God's Word and integrating it into our lives in such a way that others are drawn into a relationship with Jesus Christ.  That is how we bear fruit!  Bearing fruit is something Jesus wants us to do!  (John 15:16)

So how do we attract others to Christ?  How do we live so that they see it is all about Him?  Most of the people that we meet are on a quest for purpose and meaning in their lives. (and they do not yet know it is not about them)  Most of us have spent time trying to fill that "God-shaped whole" in us that the French philosopher, Blaise Pascal, wrote about.  God created us to know him, love him, and serve him.  Only a relationship with God can successfully fill the need in our lives for purpose and meaning.  Knowing God is our purpose for living.

But we don't stop at knowing God.  We attract others to God by living with such love, kindness, integrity, generousity, peace, and purpose (not to mention the rest of the fruit of the Spirit) that genuine seekers can't help but notice there is something different about us!  How we treat each other and how we include others into our "family" will show them the reality of God living in us, proof that we know God.  So when we gather, it is to grow stronger in our ability to live for God.  When we scatter out into the community, we are on a mission.  A mission of living our lives in such surrender to God's principles that others see how we live and ask us to give an explanation for the hope that they see in our lives!  (I Peter 3:15)

That is my dream.  I dream that together, we will grow our ability to live by God's principles in such a loving community that people who need love will be joining us in our work of serving the greater community.  As we serve our communities, we will win the opportunity to give them an explanation for the hope that they see in our eyes and in our lives.

I urge you to join me on this dangerous adventure.  It will cost you everything.  Ask God to set you free from comfortable things that hold you back.  Be willing to exchange all that you have for an eternal live of adventure with God!  It is all about Jesus!

• One person said that he sat down and wrote a letter to his extended family thanking them for all that they had done for him over the years.
• Another person said that she was going to pray daily for three friends that are not yet part of God's family.  She is afraid of talking to them about her faith, but she knows that if she starts praying for them, God will have that happen when the time is right.
• One couple said they were going to start praying together every night before they fall asleep.  They have not prayed much together before this. 
• One single man said he was going to make time every day to read at least one chapter in the Bible and then spend time praying.
  
• What decisions have you made about living differently?

I know that most of you have this figured out at this point, but for those who may be checking us out for the first time, here is the latest information on May 18th.  Due to a scheduling conflict at Centennial High School, we will be meeting in the homes of members and attenders of Saddleback Corona. We have 18 families who have invited us to meet in their homes to see the final sermon in the Dangerous Surrender series. 

Rather than see this as a "problem" we are seeing it as an opportunity to get better acquainted with each other.  So far, our young church has been focused on providing an excellent weekend service.  We have not had many opportunities to just hang out with each other and learn each other's stories.  I encourage you to take advantage of this chance to meet in our homes and get to know each other better. 

To find a host home near you, please contact Pastor Mike Bearden at MikeB@Saddleback.net, call his cell phone at 951-522-7033, or call the Saddleback Corona office line at 951-239-6633.  We will return to Centennial High School for our regular services at 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. on May 25th.  I look forward to hearing the stories of our weekend of church in the homes! 

Have a great week!

Pastor Dave

It is interesting to have a front row seat to the development and growth of a new church.  The experts say that it takes a long time to learn which people have a long term committment and which are short term.  As a pastor, I don't know who is in or out in the next year.  What I do know is that there are many people in the Corona area who do not know that Jesus is the only way for them to have eternal life.  That should motivate all of us to consider who we know that should be on our prayer list.  Whose life will we be building into with friendship and care.  Who are the people in our lives with whom God would have us share the good news of the gift of His Son. 

We have just completed a four week series that has challenged us to consider how we use our time.  It has made us review our priorities and reconsider what activities are the ones that will get the focus of our lives.  With a strong review of what we would want our legacy to be when our lives are over, we will now begin to see what changes we will make as we move into the future.  Will there be a change in how we spend our time?  Will there be more time spent on following God's call, or will we continue to be drawn to activities that are more about our own pleasure and comfort.

If we want to live a life of no regrets - a life that we know will bring a smile to the face of God, then we will need to live passionately, love completely, learn humbly and leave boldly.  Do we know what it means to be so connected to what God is doing in the world that we are able to follow his call and live the life he created us to live?  I encourage you to keep praying about these things and trust God to show you what your next step will be. 

Blessings,

Pastor Dave

I am often surprised by how God does things.  I like to think that I know what is going on around me and how things will work out.  God has this interesting habit of doing things the way he wants!  Some of the things that I have seen as "problems, mistakes or hurdles" have been the things that have done the most good for our volunteer team, our team leaders, and our new Regional Campus. 

I know that God has good things in store for us as we move forward - he promises this to us - and I need to keep that as the focus of my response to "the things that don't go the way I planned."  When thoughts of our new efforts in Corona come to you during the day, please take a moment to pray for our ability to really walk in step with God.  Pray that we will follow him closely as he leads us according to his own plan.  Pray that we will be focused on serving those around us and not on simply serving ourselves.  Pray that God will be honored and that new members will be added to his forever family.  Pray that our life together in community will bring a smile to his face.

I look forward to what God has in store for us as we begin the "One Month to Live" series this Sunday!

Blessings,

Pastor Dave 

As I pulled up to Centennial High School at 6 a.m. on Easter Sunday morning, the first members of the set up team were arriving.  It was a little cool, but it did not take us long to warm up once the trailer doors were opened! 

I am still amazed at how many items make up what is needed to provide for a Children's Ministry and Weekend Services.  It took nearly three hours to get it all in place, but at 9:00 we were ready to start our first ever Saddleback Corona church service.  In between there was a lot of hard work and the working out of many details.  Right around 8:30 people started entering the parking lot and began to make their way into the service.  The smell of coffee floating out of the Welcome Center might have had something to do with their migration toward the Performing Arts Center, but they came.  As the room filled up, so did the sense of anticipation and excitement.

There were a few glitches, but we were very pleased with our first services.  We had over 500 people show up!  We sang, we clapped, we began the process of becoming a new local body of believers.  We also had 43 people who decided it was time to become part of God's forever family?  We agreed that this makes all that we do together worth whatever it takes!  

After the services were over we began to identify the things that needed to be improved and the things that worked really well.  We had a lot of fun along the way and we even agreed that we will come back again this next weekend and do it all again.

How about you?  Would you like to join the fun of making this all happen.  We would like to get enough people involved so that our volunteers won't have to work both before AND after church.  With enough help, they can serve before OR after church.  Come join us in this effort and let's do it well together.  You can contact us at Saddleback.com/corona or at 951-239-6633.

Blessings,

Pastor Dave

Getting Saddleback Corona Regional Campus up and running for Easter has been an amazing journey!  In January I was able to direct half of my time toward Corona.  In February I went full time.  In late February, Cari Burnett became our Dirctor of Children's Ministry (CM) and she got right to work getting CM organized.  She had a sense of urgency because her date for giving birth to their third child was coming up fast.  That day arrived last Tuesday and now 9 lb. 3 oz. Madison has joined her older sister Jadyn (almost 4) and older brother Zackery (2 in May) as the newest member of the Burnett family. Scott and Cari are doing their part to grow the CM!  The Burnetts live in Corona

Just yesterday, we added Mike Bearden to our Corona team as our Pastor of Ministries and Small Groups.  Just in time for Easter!   Mike and his wife, Lee also have three children.  Kristina (11), Andrew (9) and Erika (6).  Mike has 17 years of vocational ministry experience and will be a great teammate at Saddleback Corona.  The Bearden family lives in Chino Hills.

During the time I have been working on the Saddleback Corona Regional Campus, I have personally visited 60 sites in search of a location for our church..  Time and again, I have had dreams fall to pieces for one reason or another - you can't believe how many things can stop your use of a building!  This is where God's timing comes into the story.  In late February I learned from a Saddleback member that Santiago High School was going to be available to rent.  When my wife, Debby and I arrived there the next day to check it out, people were coming out of the school.  It was Sunday and church was letting out!  Another church had already made arrangements to use Santiago.

I talked with one of the people leaving the building and learned that they had been at Centennial High School prior to coming to Santiago. We drove down to Centennial and the parking lot was empty!  That week I made arrangements with the school to use their Performing Arts Center (PAC).  Long story short, we were denied by the district staff.  Longer story shorter - they changed their mind when I went into the office and spoke with them. 

Why do I tell you this?  During all of that time I was driving from building to building, God had a plan.  He knew where we would be located.  He knew that a church had to move out of Centennial so that we could move into it!  He knew!  His timing was all set.  Easter would arrive with Saddleback Corona meeting at CHS.  I thought I had to have all of this settled much earlier than March 12th, which is the day we got our official approval from the Corona Norco Unified School District staff.

So, here we go! Tomorrow at 6 a.m. a dedicated group of resently recruited volunteers will show up and begin to set up all the items needed to celebrate Easter in a portable church!  At 9 and 11 we will have our first services in the PAC at Centennial High School.  We don't know who will come, but we know that God knows.  We don't know if our time there is long or short, but we know that God knows.  We know that the timing to move to our next home will be perfect, because it will be God's timing.  We know that he wants us to do our part and then trust him to do his part.  He really is in charge and he knows what he is doing.  The next time you think you know your schedule, remember God might have a better plan. He might be up to something in your life.  Why don't you come to 1820 Rimpau Avenue in Corona this Sunday morning and see what God is up to at Saddleback Corona?

And I hope to see you there!