Posts Tagged: "NWLife Church"

NWLife Weekly Conversation—Adrian and Amanda Duarte

Here is our fourteenth NWLife video podcast featuring our weekly conversation.

Today’s theme: What it’s like for a biracial couple raising three black sons in America

Pastor Angela and I sit down with our friends Adrian and Amanda Duarte to hear their story. This amazing couple is raising three sons and a foster baby.

The video begins and ends with some words from one of our students, Kyle Wabusya (who has the most wonderful sense of humor). Pastor Kyle and our worship team also lead us in worship today.

I hope you’ll take 27 minutes and join us for some church today!

Zechariah 8

Boys and girls will fill the public parks, laughing and playing—a good city to grow up in.

Do the problems of rebuilding seem too much? Is anything too much for me? Not if I have my say.”

We’ve come through a hard time; the streets were dangerous; you could never let down your guard…

But things are changing.

Sowing and harvesting will resume, vines will grow grapes, gardens will flourish, dew and rain will make everything green.

My people will get everything they need—and more.

You’ve gotten a reputation as a bad-news people, but I’m coming to save you.

From now on, you’re the good-news people. Don’t be afraid.

Keep a firm grip on what I’m doing.

And now here’s what I want you to do: Tell the truth, the whole truth, when you speak.

Do the right thing by one another, both personally and in your courts.

Don’t cook up plans to take unfair advantage of others.

Don’t do or say what isn’t just.

I hate all that stuff. Keep your lives simple and honest.

NWLife Weekly Conversation—Louise Hoy’s Story

Here is our twelfth NWLife video podcast featuring our weekly conversation.

Today’s theme: Survivor

Shari and I sit down with our friend Louise Hoy to hear about her devastating and incredible journey. She is a survivor, a woman of faith, and has great wisdom to share.

We also have a few of your #BringingMeJoy short videos included in today’s video podcast! And, the podcast closes with Pastor Kyle leading us in Hillsong’s “Cornerstone.”

“To all who mourn… he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. They will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.” —Isaiah 61.3

Frederick Buechner said, “The grace of God means something like: Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn’t have been complete without you. Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid. I am with you.”

brian and shari for post

 

NWLife Weekly Conversation—Nick And Emily Schmal’s Story

Here is our eighth NWLife video podcast featuring our weekly conversation.

Today’s theme: God’s Redeeming Work.

Pastor Angela is talking with Nick and Emily Schmal as they share their story of loss, heartbreak, and redemption. When I heard Nick talk about how God promises beauty for ashes, I cried. This conversation is so very encouraging—I hope you’ll take 25 minutes to listen in.

We also have a few of your #BringingMeJoy short videos included in today’s video podcast! And, the podcast closes with our band leading us in worship with Hillsong’s King of Kings.

worship for post

Finally, a reminder of something I hope you all will… Read More

NWLife Weekly Conversation—The New Norm

Here is our sixth NWLife video podcast featuring our weekly conversation.

Today’s theme: The New Norm.

Today, we are inviting you to participate in receiving communion with your church family. Pastor Andy, along with Georgia Carlton and Sean Flaherty, will be leading us as we take the bread of life and the cup of the new covenant together.

I hope you will  gather your family to watch the video (if you have little ones who don’t have an attention span for the entire video, at least bring them in for the worship song and communion).

Bailey Thorpe sings an opening song in today’s episode—and Bailey and Shaun Jones sing How Great The Father’s Love just before Pastor Andy leads us in communion.

In our conversation, Sean Flaherty shares his story of loss and addiction and struggle to adjust to… Read More

NWLife Weekly Conversation—Unprecedented

Here is our third video NWLife podcast featuring our weekly conversation.

Today’s theme: Unprecedented… unknown territory.

We all find ourselves in this unprecedented situation, none of us have experienced anything quite like it before. It is unknown territory. In today’s video podcast, Pastor Angela and I listen to Suan sharing his story of escaping Burma and traveling a long and difficult road to the United States.

Most of us know Suan as the… Read More

NWLife Weekly Conversation – In This Together

- - Life With God, Video

He has shown you what is good and told you what he requires of you: To act with justice and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. —Micah 6.8

For the next so many weeks, as we suspend having in-person services during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be offering a weekly conversation in the form of a video podcast.

This first one is a conversation between… Read More

Those Times When You Think You’re Being The Blessing And Then You Realize It’s The Other Way Around

God has entrusted the Church to keep the soul of childhood alive, to safeguard our candor and freshness… Joy is the gift of the Church, whatever joy is possible for this sad world to share… What would it profit you even to create life itself, when you have lost all sense of what life really is? —Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest

Sunday is NWLife’s annual Toy Give. Over 500 presents will be wrapped, labeled, and stacked. Hundreds of kids in our community will receive a gift at the party… and there will be prizes, a dancing panda, food, pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and a few surprises too. It’s one of those events that makes your face hurt because you smile so much.

snow at toy give for post

The Toy Give is a lot of work and we put out the call for “all hands on deck.”

We give and serve in various capacities—and at the end of the night we are all janitors… stacking chairs, vacuuming floors, taking out the trash, cleaning bathrooms, etc.

It’s one of those times when you think you’re being the blessing and then you realize… Read More

My Favorite Thing About Together Nights

God has entrusted the Church to keep the soul of childhood alive… Joy is the gift of the Church, whatever joy is possible for this sad world to share. —Georges Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest

Our church does a thing called Together Nights. This year, we had three Together Nights spread out over the months of March, May, and June. The idea behind them is to gather our people (from multiple Sunday service times) together and expose them to something valuable that they wouldn’t normally see or hear. Our guest speakers this year included Scott “The Painter” Erickson, spoken word and hip-hop artist Propaganda, and Pastor April Carter. SCOTT PROP APESAnyway, it’s always easy for us to celebrate celebrity. We all tend to do it and it seems to come naturally to us. But having these unique, gifted, exceptional guests wasn’t my favorite thing about Together Nights.

My favorite thing was celebrating … Read More

Advent Day 14: Those Times When You Think You’re Being The Blessing And Then You Realize It’s The Other Way Around

Tomorrow is our church’s annual Toy Give. The presents are wrapped, labeled, and stacked. Nearly 500 kids will receive a gift at the party… and there will be prizes, a dancing panda, food, pictures with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and a few surprises too. It’s one of those events that makes your face hurt because you smile so much.

snow at toy give for post

The Toy Give is a lot of work and we put out the call for “all hands on deck.”

We give and serve in various capacities—and at the end of the night we are all janitors… stacking chairs, vacuuming floors, taking out the trash, cleaning bathrooms, etc.

It’s one of those times when you think you’re being the blessing and then you realize it’s the other way around.

The children, and their families, (who many, if not most, are facing… Read More

I Go To A Church That Gives Away Bicycles

I go to a church that gives away bicycles. Here’s a little background on that—a few lines from our recent Vision Day message at NWLife…

God is FOR THE PEOPLE

The cross means life FOR THE PEOPLE

And God wants his church to always be FOR THE PEOPLE

Look, we have too much work waiting to be done—we don’t have time to waste being all political or afraid or selfish. What I’m talking about here is doing stuff: Real stuff. Hands dirty, hearts breaking, brows sweating… behaving like we give a damn—because we follow Jesus who was, is, and will always be FOR THE PEOPLE.

This thing called church is not for profits, it’s not for power, it’s not for popularity…

What’s it about then?

It’s about… Read More