We are pumped to announce our plans for Easter 2012.  We will be gathering at the Frank Jones Center on the Rt 1 Bypass in Portsmouth. And we'll be meeting at 10am - which means you may actually have to set your alarm to get there on time!  We are having a join celebration with our sister church, Christ the King, and we will actually be sending invitations to thousands of homes around the seacoast. Check out FinallyAlive.org for more information!

On a mission

We felt that coming off of the 40 days of prayer and fasting, this is an opportune time for mission. Jesus spent 40 days praying and fasting before he began his public ministry. So we're going to be inviting thousands of people to join us to celebrate his resurrection.  Then in May we will be intentionally and sacrificially serving the city - from opening up the underground for Children's Day to getting our hands dirty at REBUILD, physically blessing the city that we love. We'll also be picking up trash and praying for people on Market Square Day.  It's going to be a great Spring at Harbor Church!

Oftentimes at Harbor Church we talk about the need to look to God for everything - especially identity, security and approval. I found this blog today and wanted to share it for all of us that look to things other than Jesus for our approval.  Enjoy and be encouraged!

A Prayer about the “Approval-suck” in All of Us

We speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else. 1 Thess. 2:4-6

Heavenly Father, it’s not just apostles who need freedom from living for the approval of people; it’s all of us—it’s me. There no part of our lives more impacted by the destructive and disintegrating presence of sin than our relationships. We can’t serve people well if our need for affirmation or fear of rejection is greater than our love for you. I need your help in this matter all the time, including today. My anticipation is strong because your faithfulness is great.

As I look at my relational brokenness and sin, I can see how “people pleasing” plays out in two directions. On one hand, there are people to whom I attach my umbilical cord (metaphorically speaking) and look to them for life. Their praise is like an elixir of joy, sometimes more so than the gospel; and their disappointment or rejection can taste like a potion of self-contempt, causing me to withdraw, retaliate or medicate. Nobody deserves that much power over our hearts.

On the other hand, there are people whose umbilical cords I grab and plug into me, assuming the role of life giver. I take too much responsibility for them—spiritually, emotionally and otherwise. But you haven’t called us to be the 4^th member of the Trinity in anybody’s life. I grieve both of these patterns, Father.

Because the gospel is true, I can freely confess these things. Because the gospel is powerful, I have hope for change. Because the gospel is entrusted to me, I take this matter very seriously.

Lord Jesus, I don’t want to live as an “approval suck.” I want to love others as you love me—and as you love them. Teach me how to encourage without flattering others. Show me how to give feedback lovingly and receive it non-defensively. It’s because of your life of perfect obedience that I can be free from living as a poser, pretender, and performer. It’s because of your death for us on the cross that I can live with the absolute assurance of God’s everlasting approval and his constant kindness.

Holy Spirit, keep “gossiping the gospel” to my heart. Keep bearing witness with my spirit that I’m a beloved child of Abba, Father. Keep giving me the power to repent of all forms of living for the approval of people, a life-sucking snare indeed. So very Amen I pray, in Jesus’ life-giving and liberating name.

Blog by Scotty Smith.  Read the original at The Gospel Coalition.

A great drive

This weekend, Rhianon and I (and Hudson) took our annual Columbus Day Weekend trip to the White Mountains.  The rich foliage and beautiful views always make for a memorable time.  If you haven't been up there at this time of year, you've gotta go!

Anyway, on the drive north, we listened to a message through which God has spoken to us a number of times. Here's a confession - every time I listen to this sermon, I cry. Now, I'm not the crying type - Rhianon and I think I've got some crying phobia or something because it is very rare that I cry about anything. But every time I listen to this message, God breaks my heart. The message is by John Piper and it is about being a part of God's mission. I decided it would be a good idea to make it available to all of you and I pray that God speaks to each of you as he does to me.  You can listen to it by clicking here. You will not regret it.

A foretaste of things to come

I really want to get good resources in your hands all the time though. Much of my life and who I am becoming has been shaped by God honoring, Christ exalting, grace giving sermons like this one from Piper. But there have been a whole lot more.  In light of this, I'm going to be publishing a new sermon for you guys to listen to on the 11th of every month for the next year. I hope and pray God speaks powerfully to you and

11 members of Harbor Church recently attended Equipped For Mission, the Newfrontiers USA leadership conference in St Louis.  It was a great time and on the final day, we prayed for many new initiatives that have gotten underway, including for Ralph and the team that are hoping to go to Beirut.

Whenever I hear Ralph speak about going and serving overseas, I start to dream what life would be like for me and my family.  We’d probably take any opportunity we could find to have our neighbors over for a meal.  I would probably pray a lot every morning for divine appointments and for God to speak to me.  I would likely spend a lot more time reading my bible so I would be confident in the gospel and be able to share it with those that don’t know it.  I know that in every relationship I formed, I would be looking for ways to share the gospel with them.  I’m sure there are many aspects of my life that would change - I would be a missionary and I would live like one too!

What is a missionary?

The strange thing is, every Christian is a missionary whether they live in the Middle East or in middle America. Paul said that we are ambassadors for Christ that that God uses us to spread the fragrance of his grace to people around us! (2 Corinthians 2:15)  What is true of my “missionary life” overseas ought to be true of my missionary life here in Portsmouth.

This really challenges me.  New Hampshire is the least churched state in the third largest mission field in the world - strange but true.  If anyone needs to live a missionary lifestyle, it is us at Harbor Church!  There is a lost and dying world out there that is in desperate need of the gospel.  It’s not just “those people overseas” that need the gospel; our neighbors, family members, co-workers, gym-mates and fellow students that need to hear about Jesus.

Why don’t I always live like that, then?  Is it because I grew up here?  Have I been dulled by the darkness around me?  Or have I lost a sense of expectation for the supernatural to happen naturally in my everyday life?  Whatever it is, I believe God is calling me and each of us to shift gears, knowing that the days are evil and there are lost people that need to know their God.

Changing gears

Coming back from this conference, I have a fresh resolve to stand with wartime footing.  Each day is a battle.  It starts with a  battle in my personal life - to love and honor Jesus when no one else is looking.  But the other battle is the battle in the public.  Day by day we are walking with people that are blinded by the spirit of this age and don’t know the truth of God.  It is our calling as a church to humbly, lovingly, sacrificially, and passionately tell them about the humble King who lovingly, sacrificially, passionately laid down his life for them.  He died so that everyone who lives in darkness might find freedom in the light of his love and grace.

Today, you are going to a mission field.  Start today by thanking God that he has empowered you for this mission and then pray earnestly that God would speak to you and use you as a powerful weapon in His hand.  Let’s speak with great truth and love.

What are some examples of ways you live like a missionary that we can start doing today?  Leave comments below!