Hi Everyone,

Sorry that this information is going out so late in the week. As mentioned last Sunday, we will not be at Ed's house this Sunday (July 31), and we are instead meeting at the following address.

POOL PARTY THIS SUNDAY! So bring your bathing suits. We will be grilling out, playing in the pool, and playing some kids games. If anyone has cornhole, that would be a welcome addition!

5340 Reasor Ct.

Virginia Beach, VA 23464

Click here for the map

This is where we will be meeting for the near future, so don't show up at Ed's wondering where everyone is. It is my (Mark's) parents' house and where we are currently living.

See you there!

-Mark

The World is on God's Heart

Friends,

Below is a note from one of the Colonial group's leaders, Jeff Scott, about Larry & Enol Paul who are overseas missionaries from VBCC.  Please read & consider partnering w/ the Pauls in prayer.  We believe that being a Christian means being a World Christian.  God loves the world, and people who take on Jesus' yoke learn that love from him.  Its why he gave up his son.  Its why being his hands, feet, and voice in our own neighborhoods is a crucial part of who we are.  And its why we encourage you to take initiative to know, pray for, and financially support the cross-cultural missionaries that our church sends out.


From Jeff:

Greetings to everyone from both the Silina and Colonial groups,

I wanted to let everyone in on an opportunity to share in the ministry of the Paul family.  They are a chapel missionary family serving in the Philippines.   I met Larry and Enol Paul in a small group that I attended a few years ago.  They have two sons (Richie (age 5) and Brayden (age 2)).  Getting to know Larry and Enol personally, I was able to understand their call and their desire to help advance the gospel.  As God spoke to the Paul family he spoke to my family as well.  Valerie and I have partnered with the Paul family over the last two years.  By partnering, we were able to see how challenging it was for a missionary family to raise up enough support to live off of.  We have seen God’s faithfulness carry the Pauls through several hardships (illnesses, living arrangements, varying occupations). I learned through their example what it means to really venture out and live by faith. We have also been able to share these experiences with our daughters.  It is cool to see my girls intercede for the Paul family during our nightly prayer time.  

The Pauls are working with Wycliff Bible Translators. They are currently serving several missionary children at a Christian Academy.  Recently the Pauls have lost a lot of financial support.  They are discouraged but they continue to keep on with what God has placed on their hearts. 

If you would like to get involved with international missionary work and have not been called to leave the states, I ask you to consider partnering with the Pauls (or other chapel missionaries).  I know that they are counting on me and other people in the body to represent them while they are not present.  In Galatians 6:2 it says to “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”

You can partner with Paul family by simply replying to this email to say that you would like to receive their monthly newsletter.  I know that they would be surprised and greatly encouraged to see an influx of people requesting to receive their monthly updates. Please pray for Larry, Enol, Richie, and Brayden.

Thanks,

Jeff

Poetry for Worship...

Recently Joe led us in worship using some of the poetry he had written. We encourage you to offer your different expressions of worship & allow us to worship with you through poetry, visual art, lyric/song, etc.... maybe a journal entry (look at the Psalms, in many ways, that's what they are & not always simply bright skies but gray cloudy ones with promise of sun behind them...) or maybe something created by someone else that has spoken to you... Anyways, think outside the box and if you have something you think could possibly speak to someone else and serve as an act of worship & lead others in worship, then let a leader know so we can try to incorporate into our time together...

Here's Joe's poems:
You are the God of Jacob
The King of Israel
The one who parted the red sea
The one who loves yourself and me
To you there is no time
There is only now and always
The one who forever was
The one who speaks and it does
I long to bring you something that is worthy
To be a part of a generation that does
A generation that loves
What will people say?
Who cares because I have you
Life is good, my body fails me
But still you are faithful

Here, Here is the God of David
O looked and looked but couldn't find you
You were waiting for me to stop
To stop with my own might
When things seemed black as night
I wanted a sign
But you were right in front of me all the time
So I utter words with no audible voice
Songs of rejoice and praise
"MY GOD LIVES AND HE SAVES!"
Some men look for peace of mind
Or maybe just a tower to clim
I have a high priest who talks to his father
About me and says "He is mine."
He makes those see who once were blind
Looks through the mask we put up of just being fine
Kind and merciful is the priest
Whose seat is at the right hand of Elohiym

Why is our view of God so fricken narrow?
It wasn't Moses who killed the son of pharaoh
He made Annanius fall over dead
Turned an entire river red
But still cares to know the number of hairs on my head.

Sign Up For Food!

Don't forget that this Sunday is Group Group and we need you to sign up for a potluck dish. Follow this link to sign up.

http://www.luckypotluck.com/potluck/GroupGroup

Also, we are going to need a few able bodies to help us set up the room before everyone arrives on Sunday, so if you can come 30 minutes early, contact Mark or Robb to let them know.

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Easter Sunday: Silina Group Info

It's here! We've been ramping up to this weekend with our Easter/Resurrection series. So, here's the lowdown on what's going on...

Friday: Good Friday service at VBCC at 6:30 entitled Feel the Passion of the Christ. Using the arts and other vehicles to look at the emotions surrounding this event.

Sunday: Easter! Don't forget to be inviting friends & neighbors to church for Easter.
We will be having group as usual. We will celebrate communion followed by a "love feast". We will also have an Easter Egg Hunt!!! That's right... for kids of all ages! With all this we will spend time celebrating the Risen Savior and the work accomplished through Him!

So...

Potluck: Everyone bring something for dinner in true potluck fashion... none of this organized potluck mumbo jumbo. :o)

If anyone would be willing to help provide individually wrapped candy for the Easter Egg Hunt, drop it off at my house by Saturday.

Looking forward to celebrating with each of you!

for His glory,

ed

Group Group Potluck

Hi Everyone. As you probably already know, on May 1st we are bringing the two groups (Silina and Colonial) together for what we have officially dubbed "Group Group". It will be a great time of food, fellowship, reflection and looking at what's next. We will be at the Virginia Beach Community Chapel, we will get started at 5pm, and YOU are invited to bring food!

Here is a handy site called Luckypotluck.com that we are using to organize food. Follow the link below and sign up for an item (or 2 or 3). You don't have to log in, just put in your first name and what you are going to bring. You can look at what other people have signed up for and choose your dish accordingly, thereby avoiding having nothing but green been casserole.

Sign up for food here:

http://www.luckypotluck.com/potluck/GroupGroup

GROUP GROUP Details

When: Sunday, May 1st @ 5:00 PM

Where: Youth Lounge area @ Virginia Beach Community Chapel

What: Potluck, Fellowship, Updates, Worship, Etc.

Who: YOU

Well, This Is Embarrassing...

We figured we'd give you a chance to both help us out and to have some fun at our expense!

Check out this link for further info:

Embarrassing Moments!

The deadline for entry is April 1 which means whatever you do must be done before that deadline only giving you a few days to take advantage of this offer. Come up with your great ideas of how to embarrass us and put them into action! Have fun with this! :o)

Love,

Ed & Whit

Colossians 1:9-10

Here are the two verses for this week. We will regroup tomorrow to decide if we need a catchup week or some sort of incentive!

Colossians 1:9-10 NASB

9. For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10. so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;



1 - 10 all together...
Colossians 1:1-10 NASB

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints; because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.
For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

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Group Group This Sunday: Meeting changes and info...

Well, it's been a long time coming but... Group Group is finally here. That is to say, all of our small groups will be meeting together as a large group THIS SUNDAY.

Here's the specs:

Where: at VBCC in the Youth Lounge

When: 5:00 PM

What: Large Group Dinner and Worship Gathering

Who: You!

Mark needs some guys to help lug some tables upstairs to set things up for dinner at 4:30. Contact him if you can get there early to help.

Sarah is coordinating food and can use some volunteers to help supply food... the more the better. Contact her if you can help with bringing food for me... I mean, us to eat.

Looking forward to worshipping together with all of you.... and pass this info along to others just to make sure we've got the bases covered and as always encourage others to fellowship as well...

PS: Keep an ear out for a possible upcoming camping trip/retreat and musical trip to Winter Jam. Ryan's gonna help facilitate these events...

Colossians 1:5-6, 7-8

Well done to those who were quoting the first 6 verses of Colossians last week. Let it be a challenge to the rest of us to keep up.

Just to catch us up, here are last weeks verses (5-6)

5 ...because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel6 which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;...

And here are this weeks verses (7-8)

7 ...just as you learned it from Epaphras, our beloved fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf, 8 and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.

You can do it! Verses 7 and 8 are pretty short, giving us all a chance to catch up if we have fallen behind.

Memorize, Memorize

Here are verses 1 - 4 of Colossians. The Silina group is trying to have these down by this Sunday.
See you then!

Colossians 1:1-4 NASB

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.
We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for all the saints;

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Memorizing Colossians

To show some comraderie with our fellow group at the Esperat house, and because it's a great thing to memorize scripture, we are encouraging everyone to memorize Colossians together. Two verses a week should be a good challenge for us all.

Since we hadn't really decided what version we were going to use for memorizing, we will call this the first week. Here are the first two verses. (NewAmerican Standard Bible)

Colossians 1:1-2 NASB
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father.

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Our responses to Ephesians 5: 1-2...

In response to looking the imagery and calling of verses 1 & 2 of Ephesians 5, we offered some practical actions/looks at what it would be instructing us to do.

- Be available

- Welcome interruption

- Setting aside money you were going to spend on personal pleasure to meet someone else's practical need

- Giving time to someone who is going through something

- Not necessarily having an answer to someone's issue but spending time with them praying, going to the One who is the answer... Doing this not just in the moment but over the course of time with them...

- Forgive quickly

- Providing anonymous or unrecognized acts of service

- Have dinner with neighbors

- Keeping up with one another's lives...

How might we help to motivate and hold one another accountable? or even do these things as a family/group?

Therefore, as dearly loved children be imitators of God and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Bible Reading Plan

It's not too late... Start now... Start with February and join us in reading through the Bible this year. This is a great tool that actually I have felt has added freedom in accountability and direction in reading the Bible, which is something I believe we all testify to as being valuable and necessary for our health and life...

Super Bowl Party, Sign Up!

It's time for a reunion, and we thought Super Bowl Sunday would be a great time!

Details...

Who? Silina Small Group, Colonial Small Group, and anyone you want to bring with you!

When? Sunday, February 6th at 5pm
(Kick-off is at 6:30pm, but we'll start partying early!)

Where? The Montgomery's home off of Little Neck Road
912 Lois Circle. Virginia Beach, VA 23452
H 757.340.3132 or C 843.597.3271

Please comment on this post with what type of food you'll be bringing to share! Respond by next Sunday, the 30th, so we'll know what else to buy to make sure we have a full table of dinner and munchies for everyone. Donna has two ovens and a grill that will be available to anyone.

Packers or Steelers? Predictions? :)

See you then!

Ephesians 4: 17-32 - Questions you brought to the table...

We recently looked at the second half of Ephesians 4. You were asked to come up with questions with the text in mind. You all came up with some great questions and we had some good discussion time. Though, as we often do, we had to cut it short.

Here are the questions you all came up with. I'd encourage you to look these over and walk through the scriptures and these questions further. It may seem like a long list, but you can break it up over a couple of days or scan through and pick out questions that hit you. May it be a tool though in your time/walk with God.

In no particular order:

• Do I seek approval from "gentiles"/unbelievers above God?
• Do I envy the way of the "gentiles"/unbelievers?
• Am I proud of the new self, longing for it to be the only thing residing in me?
• Am I truly ready to put aside the old self? Have I resolved to?
• Do I have methods of discipline, support, & accountability to aid me in this?
• How am I actively putting aside the old man?
• (Eph 4: 25-32) Is this easy/pleasant in the moment?
• Is it worthwhile in the end? Do I truly believe it?
• Who am I not being Christlike towards?
• What were my old ways?
• Am I ready and willing to live this way and give up my old ways? Am I committed for life?
• What examples do I have of my old ways and how they have changed by the work of the Spirit?
• Am I supposed to turn my left cheek to those who are not believers and do bad things to me?
• Am I ever tempted to say mean words in anger, be bitter and angry? What helps in these times to behave rightly?
• Why is it so easy to back to the old ways?
• What actions do I need to take to be made new again & to live in true righteousness and holiness?
• What specific ways am I living for my own pleasure or self gratification?
• What are some other scripture passages this reminds me of?
• What might life look like or how would it be different if my attitudes were made new and I put on the new righteous and holy self?
• Using this list of actions as a litmus test, do I think I'm living more like a gentile or a child of God? What would my friends, family, coworkers, or others say?
• Am I accomplishing verse 29? If not, how can I do this? What about us as a group?
• Why does it say, "Do not give the devil a foothold"?
• Give 3 reasons why I should not live like the gentiles.
• What change should occur to those who have Jesus?
• What is the new self?
• What should be done in place of falsehood?
• What's the benefit of no longer stealing?
• What should replace unwholesome words and bitterness?
• How can we help each other in accountability to not be impure or live as the gentiles?
• Is what is coming out of my mouth helpful & uplifting ?
• How can we help each other to get rid of all our rage, bitterness, malice, etc.?
• How have I been giving the devil a foothold?
• What things do I still cling to that would be considered part of the old self?
• What are things that have caused my heart to harden & how can/has Christ overcome this?
• Why do I hold onto grudges sometimes?
• How do I grieve the Holy Spirit?
• What non-physical things have I ever stolen from others?
• Have I fully put off the old self? Am I truly living in the new righteous & holy self?
• Am I still allowing deceitful desires to corrupt me?
• Am I forgiving others as Christ forgave/forgives me?
• In anger, do I sin?
• Do I build others up according to their needs?
• What am I struggling to put off?
• Do I feel separated from God? Why do I feel like this?
• My new self is created to be like God. In what ways can I work out my salvation towards this end?
• What does it mean to be made new in the attitude of God?

t crossing, i dotting

A little bit of housekeeping for the group that meets at Ed's house:

Sunday night timing...

• We continue to aim for a 5 PM start time on Sunday evenings. Help us make that happen!
• The goal for wrapping up the meeting is 6:45, and we are commited to going no later than 7 PM.

mmm. Food

• Continue coming ready to eat after the meeting. Ryan and Dawson made us venison chili last week. It was delicioso.
• If you want to get on the schedule for helping with food, email Sarah as she is keeping that schedule.

Kids Kids Kids

• We plan to start a rotation, having one person stay in with the kids each week, not just to keep them in line but also to do some activities and teaching with them. We want it to be a beneficial time for the kids too! More on this soon.

WELCOME WELCOME

Welcome to our online bulletin board. Hopefully you read the blurb at the top explaining the labels.

Please sign up for email updates on the right side of the page. It is very simple and you can unsubscribe anytime you like.

Starting now, the Silina group (Ed's house) won't be sending out our updates directly through email, but posting everything here instead.

Also please add your comments below the posts to make it more fun and interactive.

Mark