Easter 2008 Saddleback Irvine

Many of you have kindly harassed me for being a blog slacker so I am filling some posts that should be here. This one is fairly important.

Saddleback Irvine Launch! Leading up to launch, we had throngs (no not thongs) of people show up with palms up for Easter saying "How can I help?" - we weren't sure how many people would come so we were pumped when 4:30pm Saturday night, March 22nd, cars actually started to pull in... Saturday 6:30pm as well. And when Sunday morning hit, we were spilling people into the hallways, had parked cars on the grass off our back lot and fire codes were probably stretched a bit. It was awesome.



Pastor Rick preached a powerful message on how to have faith in Jesus (via video feed), our great band led us in worship and tons of our volunteers made sure people felt welcomed and encouraged.

Ephesians 3.20 came to mind as our staff collapsed from emotional, physical and spiritual exhaustion... "Now glory be to God! By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope."

Well He did. We had 1,830 people show up including kids, over 50 people made decisions to give their lives to following Jesus Christ and 50 others wanted to join or lead small groups. The timeless message of God's gift of grace never gets old. All I can say is WOW GOD.


After the services, Joy's extended family, who had come to the 11am service stuck around for Easter lunch. Even Momma and Poppa Kerr were representing the Norcal side of the family by being here over the weekend for the church launch, Easter, Mom's 60th birthday and 39th wedding anniversary. It was great to have all the support and community over the weekend from family but I was so tired afterwards... I ended up taking a nap after I ate:). What a weekend... now next week.

Preview Service Tomorrow at El Camino

Well - its finally time. I am so proud of our team (from lake forest and irvine). They have had a "whatever it takes" attitude. No task is too small, no detail too insignificant. Long hours, lots of manual labor and lots of driving/unloading.They have been humbling me to check my own heart - I want to serve like that too!

Our first preview service at the new Irvine campus is tomorrow. At this point, it will be a good test run and fairly bare bones but enough to get a sense of how the weekend experience will be like. Most importantly, we have had a ton of prayer for the last few months leading up to this so it should be a blast.

(BTW - CLOCKS AHEAD at 2am SUNDAY - YEP, we lose an hour of sleep!)

If you are in the area and want to check it out...





Preview Services Saddleback Irvine, March 9th
Sunday - 9am, 11am
Children's program Infants - 1st grade available
4782 Karen Ann Lane
Irvine

Easter times for Sat and Sun March 22-23: Click here

Marvelously Made

God says we are marvelously made.

Joy and I have a new appreciation for this (Psalms 139:1-6, 13-16):

"God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I'm an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I'm never out of your sight. You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you're there, then up ahead and you're there, too— your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful— I can't take it all in!

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day."

We are praising God for the life He is shaping in little Baby Kerr!

Yep - we are PREGNANT!

Baby Kerr arriving Sept 30th, 2008.

More Irvine Campus Picts Here

http://regionalteam.blogspot.com/

No - These Aren't Going in My Home

Thanks to Dillon and Eric here, our (4) 58" Plasma Screens are being installed in our new campus facility.We will also have a center projected image near the band. This is what we will be using to watch the Lake Forest message in our worship room and in our cafe worship venue. Is it OK to learn about God and worship with coffee nearby - hope so, I think Jesus would like Diedrichs. OK... maybe I am projecting here.

Yep I Have Arrived

I had always wanted a corner office...and a window view to match.



Our new office space for Saddleback Irvine. A converted portable classroom at the El Camino site. We have cubicles, tables and chairs coming tomorrow. Sweet.