Saddleback Irvine

Here are the dates and times for our Easter services at Saddleback Irvine:

Sat, Apr 11
4:30 PM

Sun, Apr 12
9:00 AM 
11:00 AM 
4:30 PM

Please note:
There will be Children's programs available at all four Easter services. 
There will be no Youth (Junior/Senior High) programs at the Easter services.

Ok, that was a reference to a quite famous Beatles song.

If you haven't heard Pastor Erin say it recently, let me reiterate something.... The Saddleback Irvine Campus has thrived this past year because of the faithful service of all of you! What a blessing it has been to serve alongside all of you.

We're excited to launch a third Sunday service at Irvine (4:30 PM beginning Easter Sunday, April 12). God is allowing us another opportunity to reach more people in the community that do not know Him.

Yes, we're making announcements to recruit more volunteers... we're placing ads in the weekend bulletin. But what I've found to be most successful is a personal ask. Similar to sharing your testimony, people get more excited about serving when they hear how fulfilling it is in your life. My question to you is this, "Who can you invite to serve alongside you?" Your small group members? The new friend you sit next to during services?

Another blessing which I'd like to share with you is that three different people privately told me that they'll do "whatever it takes" to make the Sunday 4:30 service a success. I love Saddleback Irvine!!!

Saddleback is really excited to announce the opening of our 4th regional campus this Easter!

The campus will be centered in Laguna Woods Village, which is the largest and most well known retirement community in Orange County. It will be lead by Pastor Rick Bradford with the assistance of Ron Ferrante and Joe Marchione. These three guys will be able to ‘bring’ Saddleback to this community with future hopes of having the residents find ways to invest in the next generation at our Lake Forest campus (about 15 minutes away) and with hopes to decode the model of how these types of retirement community regional campuses could pour into the local churches around them.

This service is available to LW Village residents and their guests only.
 
Help us pass the word along and be watching for details on www.saddleback.com under the ‘Saddleback Campuses’ section.
 
If you’re interested in helping Rick, Ron, and Joe establish this campus please email Rick Bradford at RickBr@saddleback.com
 
We’re all very excited and appreciate your prayers!

I just wanted to share with you some cool stuff I saw last Sunday.
I think I may do this every week.
Actually, it would be cool if you shared too. Please comment!

1. We had 11 people get baptized! I love hearing the stories of how people came to a decision about Jesus and why they wanted to be baptized.
2. The message HIT people - God was on the move. Brandon did a fabulous job. People loved seeing Stearns on stage at Lake Forest (that's our guy!).
3. Fresno Pacific brought their (basketball???) team to church - so cool, at least for the people sitting in front of them.
4. I had a great meeting with Derek and many of our deaf congregants regarding next steps for making it an official ministry. They were so receptive and positive.
5. I cannot tell you the joy I have when I see our leaders and teams enjoy one another. You guys love each other!
6. Dan S. is on fire for the Motel Outreach - heck, he has a BINDER.
7. I heard Ron H. gave a hilarious interview with Cody regarding his mustache.
8. Linda A. is ENGAGED! WHOOHOO - congrats!
9. Susan F. was finally back at church after her medical treatments - she shared with me how POWERFUL this campus, the data entry team and her small group have been in her life. Ask her what real fellowship looks like - she experienced it.
10. A young man in need prayed to receive Christ during the 9am service - gave him a FSWG kit and a bag of food.
    
11. We had our highest attendance on a non-launch or RW weekend - 1130. Please pray for our search for a new facility - any leads, email me.
12. We ran out of bulletins.
    
13. We ran out of space.
14. Cody is not allowed to interview me impromptu with a video camera on stage anymore.:)
    
15. There definitely is a hole in the baptismal.
16. Can you believe it has almost been a year? March 23rd is our 1 year anniversary! (we will be celebrating it on Sunday, March 22nd).

What amazing generosity Saddleback Irvine showed with the bags of food that were donated! Donations like these show the true heart of the Church and the people in it.  And distributing these food bags is a tremendous opportunity to show God's love to people that are having a tough time in life and are far less fortunate than us.

 

We want to deliver the donations to the Motel quickly and are planning to do it this coming Sunday March 1st after 2nd service.  We will meet at the back of the Church (Irvine) at 1 p.m. sharp.  I would encourage people to carpool as we will caravan to the Motel.  The Motel is called Evergreen Royale on Center Street in Anaheim. Near the intersection of State College and Lincoln.

 

Also, if you are planning to help with the breakfast services we are doing in the future, this is a great way to get the layout and meet some of the people we will be ministering to.

 

If you can help, please reply back to me as quick as possible so I can put you on the list.

 

Thank you and God Bless You!

 

Dan Smith

Saddleback Irvine Motel Ministry

dan2mary@cox.net

All Irvine ministry team leaders, co-leaders, emerging leaders, we are gathering this weekend to connect, eat, pray and discuss where God is leading us as a campus.

Feb 15, 12:30-2:30pm
Free Lunch
In the Cafe

Last time, we talked about our serving values and I gave you an assignment: focus on ONE value you could grow in this past month. I have a confession on how it went for me.

Make sure we know you are coming so we can get enough food! RSVP on our events calendar. See you on Sunday.

Erin

Many of us can recite the Lord's prayer, so the real challenge is trying to LIVE the Lord's prayer. Since we live in the Irvine area I know you join me in wanting to see our community become more like the Kingdom of God, and I believe this new series has the power to do that.
 
Last week we started a 7 week series on the Lord's Prayer. What was your take away? Let’s go one step further: Who in your life would benefit from your “takeaway”?

 

Here’s a challenge for me and you: Invite them with you this Sunday.

 

If you won't see the person in time, don't forget you can always use our online invite a friend tool found at www.saddleback.com/irvine.  
 
This weekend's message?

Pastor Rick will be dissecting the section "Your Kingdom come and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven". There will be some big 'take-a-ways' this weekend.   
 
Remember we can't become who we need to be by remaining who we are, so I'll see you Sunday!

Here was an email sent from Joe, one of our CR leaders about the first few weeks of this new ministry here at Irvine:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had our third night last night and had close to 30 people again and even a couple of regulars were missing. We had a very powerful testimony from one of our sisters from Lake Forest and it spurred  a great night and triggered some very deep sharing in our groups.

 

We had 14 men in the men’s group and 12 in the women’s. The great part of this is 90% of the participants are from our very own body of believers on Sunday. Jack and I left last night in awe of how great and powerful God’s spirit is and I am sure the people left feeling the same way.

 

The security person is great, the fellow that comes to help out from the city helped set up tables and checked to make sure we were ok all through-out the evening. The new worship leader John helped us out with was great.

 

Lake Forest gave us more signs and materials and Pastor John Baker told me after we are running for a little bit him and his wife Cheryl will come and give their story. I cannot express to everyone how awesome this experience has been. I can see and feel the growth - our leaders are ready to serve!  

 

Thank you again so much!!

Our Student Ministry Director, Leo and his wife Stacy just had a new addition to the  family -  Skylar Grace!

Skylar was born on Saturday December 27th at 3:26pm, weighing 6lbs 12oz and 18.5inches long. She has a head FULL of hair and such beautiful blue/gray eyes.

If you would like to help out with some meals, contact Sue at susanlips@hotmail.com.

Back from the holidays and worshipping together in our worship room at El Camino School.

I took this pict from my phone during our 7pm Christmas Eve service.

Looking for a simple way to bless others?

1. Bring a few dozen cookies either baked or purchased to ONE of the four Christmas services. We are doing a Christmas Cookie potluck for everyone joining us this week. We will be supplying Hot Apple Cider, Egg Nog to compliment the treats! Let us know if you can bring some by before a service you are attending: Jenniferd@saddleback.com or 949235.4979.

2. Bring some canned food (no glass or expired please) as well to help restock the Second Harvest Food Bank which is very low on food. We will have drop off signs at either Welcome Center at every Christmas service. Teach your kids the value of generosity with this simple act of kindness.

Thanks!
Erin

There are a lot of important details that go into having Christmas services. Here is a sample of some of the key questions or decisions that I have had to make over the last few weeks:

1. Who is responsible for picking up the poinsettias?
2. Should we have donuts still on Sunday morning or go with our cookie potluck concept?
3. Should we have santa ornaments on our church Christmas tree in the cafe venue? (Hmmm, probably not).
4. Would you, your wife and your new baby daughter like to be in our live Nativity scene as Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus? (LOL, you serious? Oh, you are. Um, too busy sorry).
5. Will the AC be stuck on for the Christmas Eve Services as well (NO, we will have heat!)?

Aaaahhh and you yourself have your own list of TO DOs for Christmas I am sure. These are not bad things. But I have noticed a temptation creeping into my heart - it is the temptation to simply "get through" rather than "celebrate" the special season. Yep, the confessions of a pastor. Can anyone relate to this? If so, here is something that helped me and our team.

We did something in Orange County that is almost scandalous - we took a walk.

Actually, we walked with a purpose. We assembled some goodie bags, prayed and walked into our neighborhood with 250 invitations to Christmas services.



We met some nice people, got a little exercise and were reminded why God placed us here - to celebrate and extend the hope that Jesus offers. Phewww, I needed that.

If you are drowning in your holiday details, stop, grab an invitation, make a call (or send a digital one from our website) and invite that friend, neighbor or coworker. It may be just what you needed.

I really appreciated the message by Doug this weekend. Not only was it relevant but we all walked away a bit richer (at least a penny a piece).

Do you REMEMBER yesterday's message or has the chaos of daily life, the throngs of shoppers, the caucophony of Christmas paraphenalia or the "optimistic" news of the economy making you FORGETFUL?

His message, "A Change of Celebration", used coins as memory devices to REMEMBER all the reasons we have to celebrate this season. We are forgetful people, so God wants us to REMEMBER all that He has done for us, especially by what He did as the purpose of Christmas.

Maybe this will jog your memory to CELEBRATE!

Penny - PAST... Our past is forgiven!

Nickel - NOW... We have God's Spirit!

Dime - DETERMINED DESTINY... We have a home in heaven!

Quarter - 25% Growth... We have the power to grow!    

See - I knew you remembered...

The Second Harvest Food Bank needs some help. We are collecting healthy foods through the end of December. Please, no glass containers or expired foods. Bring food by the campus Tues-Thurs, 8am-3pm or on Sunday mornings. We will also need someone with a truck to take the donations across the street to Heritage Park.

For more information or to help with delivery, please contact Terri at terri.goggin@att.net.

As your campus pastor, I just wanted to let you know that I love braggin about what God is doing in you and through you. Your stories of life change and authentic steps of faith make my role a privilege to serve with you. I thank God for this community of beautifully broken people who have found hope in Jesus and love sharing that hope with others.

May you find God's peace and hope regardless of your circumstance - He is most deserving of our gratitude even in the midst of life's transitions, tensions and tragedies.

Ephesians 5:17-20 (NLT)
17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, 19 singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. 20 And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

This past Sunday we held a Ministry Fair so that people could see what volunteer opportunities exist at Irvine as well as sign up to serve.  (Enjoy the photo of it in action.)  
 

If you did not make it Sunday, that's okay... you can stop in the Volunteer Central room any time on any future Sunday to check out the ongoing serving opportunities.  Heck, stop in Volunteer Central just to enjoy the atmosphere and appreciate all the donated furniture while consuming candy leftover from Halloween.
 
Why was it a success?  Because over 50 people signed up for ministries that were not previously serving.  These 50+ people made a decision to put others first.  Additionally, five people who had been volunteering in ministry took their next growth steps and offered to lead existing ministries.  Praise God!
 
Thanks to all the volunteer effort to pull of the Ministry Fair and the ongoing Volunteer Central.

By now, you’ve probably heard about it during the weekend service, or you read about it in the Orange County Register - Pastor Rick’s new book is released and it’s terrific. The Purpose of Christmas has a great evangelistic message as Pastor Rick reminds us of what Christmas is all about.

Pick up your copy of the book in the Small Group Central room at the Saddleback Irvine Campus. And, encourage your small group to do the three week study during the first three weeks of December. What a great way to get into the Christmas spirit, and also to invite un-saved friends and neighbors to your group to just discover the real meaning, or “purpose”, of Christmas.

A companion CD is also available, with 11 Christmas songs as well as five meditations from the Christmas message that formed the foundation for the Purpose of Christmas book.

Here are the prices for the Purpose of Christmas book and other materials:

• Books $10.00
• Study guide $7.00 (Saddleback small group Host price $5)
• Small group study DVD $15.00 (Saddleback small group Host price $10)
  
• Music CD $12.00

Last weekend, Doug Fields spoke while Rick was tending to the family health crisis of Jaimie Warren. He spoke on "Something About Love" and how one word has come to his mind through all of the 40 Days of Love readings and the messages so far in this campaign.

The word was sacrifice. The key to becoming more loving is choosing to sacrifice.

He proceeded to share about four areas in our life we need to make sacrifices to love like Jesus and with the depth of relationship we long for.To do so:

1. I must sacrifice time (Mark 5.21-24)
2. I must sacrifice superficiality (Luke 19.5-6)
3. I must sacrifice my agenda (Mark 5.30-34)
4. I must sacrifice pride (Mark 5.38-39)

These all resonate to me. But time is huge. I marvel at my fear of not being able to do what I want to do when I want to do it. Anything that slows down my daily allotment of time and how I plan for it to be used can quickly be viewed as an inconvenience or a messy distraction from the "real thing" I want to be doing. But when I live in that mentality, it rarely delivers a sense of joy or fulfillment that I made my day count.

As we learned earlier, we need to "Let Love Be Your Highest Goal." (1 Cor 14.1). Jesus seemed to make loving people, the most important thing about his day. His life was simply one activity of sacrifice at a time culminating in his ultimate sacrifice... his death on the cross.

For love to be my highest goal with my time, I am learning to see time as a stewardship issue. Its God's time... not mine. He doesn't exist or need time, it is for me to use and practice love. This way of thinking is helpful for me to see "timely distractions" as an opportunity.

Which one of these four do you want to grow in your sacrifice to love more?

We celebrated Saddleback Irvine's 6 month birthday with cake, sharing God stories, handing out awards to volunteer leaders and of course, FOOD! We had an amazing team making several trips to Baja Fresh with the great turnout.



We talked about how God has used Saddleback Irvine so far, looking at the principles in John 15 as the reason God has blessed us with so many life transforming stories so far. It's God's work, He just chooses to use us as we try to be faithful.



How has God been able to use Saddleback Irvine these first 6 months?

1. We are committed to serving God with humility. (John 15.5)

        Some of the "fruit" God has given has been 70 baptisms, 97 first time and 33         re:commitments to Christ, 56 have attended Class 101, 88 Irvine small groups, 300         volunteers and our growing weekly attendance (up to almost 1000 last week!)

        And the stories of life change are everywhere - thank you Lord! We can do nothing         without you.

2. We are committed to fulfilling God's purposes. (vs. 7-14)

3. We are committed to friendship with God by loving one another. (15-17)

4. We are committed to making God known through Saddleback Church in the Irvine/Tustin area. (1 Thess 1.8)




We affirmed our amazing volunteers in 6 categories:

1. Dedicated Leaders - they show up rain or shine
2. Loving Leaders - they serve with a huge heart of compassion
3. Replicating Leaders - they expand the ministry by equipping others
4. Logistical Leaders - organizational and administrative geniuses
5. Behind the Scene leaders - serve selflessly and without seeking praise from people
6. Visionary Leaders - they see potential solutions and mobilize to solve it

On behalf our of our staff, the volunteer team and all of Saddleback Church, we are amazed and encouraged by all God has done so far - what is God going to do in the next 6 months?

Hey Friends!

Pastor Rick is capturing stories of how the 40 Days of Love campaign is having an impact in people's lives. Share with us any LOVE STORIES you have so far!

Where are you seeing love in action in your life
or in your group?

What small or big steps are being taken to be more loving in the group?

PLEASE LET US KNOW:
Respond here and we will get these to Pastor Rick!

I love that we are a church in the heart of a neighborhood. Many of you even walk to church on Sundays since you are so close! Others of you ride your bikes - how "GREEN" of you! It also frees up parking for first time visitors - thank you.

Well, your campus pastor is finally getting with the program. I am going to try and bike to work 2-3 times a week so hold me to it... all while balancing a Diedrichs coffee in my hand.

Erin's Green Machine!

In order to continue growing in our ability to connect with more people with the great news of Jesus, we need to expand our methods of effective communication.

If you are under the age of 30, you probably are already on Facebook and for those of you who aren't, thats ok! You can stay up to date by our website, this blog, our email distribution list, our weekend services, word of mouth or try out Facebook. Whatever works for you.

The apostle Paul was a master "bridge builder" in adapting to the community he was trying to reach - connecting with people from his cultural heritage [jews], gentiles [non-jews], kings, philosophers in order to help them find Christ. [See 1 Cor 9.19-23]. He took the time to learn how to respectuflly approach each individual by speaking where and how they would be most comfortable to understand the gospel.

How do I use this information?
If you have a Facebook account, add us as a friend!
Click here to find our page.

1. Tell you friends who are on Facebook to check the church out for themselves.
2. You can get brief, very fast updates on needs, events, opportunities at Saddleback Irvine.
3. You can post comments, share stories or ask questions.
4. If inappropriate content is written, I can delete it and remove the "friend" from the list to keep it friendly.
5. We can post videos, pictures and other material very quickly and easily.
   

And this is a little experiment as well, if people don't like it and it isn't helpful, we'll just remove it.

Check it out!

Here are some ideas to help you form your 40 Days of Love small group with friends, coworkers or neighbors.