MBCC Blog

Where is the Love? - worship video

Here is the video that we used this past Sunday based on John 17:1-11.  For all the videos be sure to subscribe to MBCC's YOUTUBE account.

A Note from JerMark

TomKat.  Brangelina.  Bennifer. For years now, the entertainment press has combined the names of celebrity couples to shave valuable seconds off reporting time and give us all a handy way to refer to our favorite couples over coffee. However, the name combination phenomenon is not strictly reserved for the A-listers. Here at MBCC we have our own couple worthy of the name game - Jerry Lunsford and Mark Vernon, or, JerMark.

As many of you know, JerMark are in the process of adopting a newborn and we are all eagerly awaiting the arrival of a little one into their loving arms. They have set up a website (www.jermark.net - natch) as well as a toll-free number (1-866-JERMARK) for information on their adoption enterprise.

The following is a note from the happy couple regarding their process and the next steps. Please check out their website and let's continue to love and support them as they become the JerMark family!

Hi Everyone. 

As many of you know, Jerry and I are planning to adopt a newborn.  We are working with a licensed, non-profit agency, the Independent Adoption Center (IAC), to go through an "open adoption."
    
As of November, we were officially certified as "ready to adopt."  It has been quite a process of in-person interviews, home visits, surveys, references, medical tests, and criminal checks.  Now, however, that is all behind us and all that remains is to find a baby in need of parents.  In most cases the mothers approach the adoption agency when they are pregnant and state their wish to give up their child for adoption.  In other situations, birthparents learn of this option through personal networks – churches, doctors, friends, families, etc.  They may then approach us directly, and we will put them in contact with our agency to ensure they receive the proper counseling and support they will need in making the decision to place their child up for adoption.

So we wanted to share our write up with you our church family, in case you are aware of any birthparents who may have an interest in going through this process.

Feel free to contact us if you have any questions. Thank you!

Mark and Jerry

You can also Download their Adoption Letter and or drop them an eMail.

WMWJA - What meetings would Jesus attend?

Greetings all,

Happy Monday to you all.  Okay, maybe Jesus wouldn't be as concerned with facility issues and classes about a particular church in his day, but who knows how he would react today . . .

We are pretty sure we are moving in some good directions here at MBCC, so we press on trying to be the discern God's will and vision for the church, our roles in it and how we manifest God in the world.

For this reason, I would encourage, prompt, poke you a bit to engage in the life of MBCC in a couple of specific ways.  I mentioned these in last week's eZine, but Leslie and I need to get some more folks confirmed for the following two events.

ONE - Consider getting more involved at MBCC.  If you are committed to finding out more about the Christian faith, have some questions or generally want to find out more about MBCC, you really should attend the three-week series, "Embracing You Inner Bobblehead" lead by Leslie Veen.  From the announcement, " . . . we will be holding three weeks of classes on what it means to be regular attenders of MBCC, how to get more involved in the life and community here, and how to become a member."  [READ MORE]

TWO - If you were at the Town Hall after service two weeks ago, you heard my PLEA for folks to put on their "creativity hat" and be part of the Facilities Task Force that will help think about a fiscal solution to help us stay in and expand our current location.  As they say, no ideas are off the table at this stage so if you are interested, please eMail me with questions and or a commitment to come.  We will be having our first meeting on Saturday, May 3, from 8:00-10:00am at Sundance Coffee on Third Street (Between 20th and 21st).

If you have any questions, please feel free to drop us [leslie] [bruce] a note!

Laters - Bruce

we need you!

For Pentecost in a couple of weeks, we will be filling our worship space with the spirit of the day, including the phrase..."I will pour out my spirit on all people"... in as many languages as I can get.  So, if you speak any language other than English and want to help out with this endeavor, translate this phrase and send it to me at agkkaiser@gmail.com

Thanks! 

Embracing Your Inner Bobblehead

Things are really hopping at MBCC. For several weeks now we've had well over 100 people in our Sunday morning worship services. Among those faces are long-time attendees (well, as long-time as we can get in a highly mobile society). But we've also noticed a large number of newer faces sprinkled in as well. This makes us very happy. We like to welcome new folks into the craziness that is Mission Bay Community Church.

To extend that welcoming spirit even further, we will be holding three weeks of classes on what it means to be regular attenders of MBCC, how to get more involved in the life and community here, and how to become a member. If you would like to explore these topics, please mark your calendars and plan to attend. Attending the classes does not commit you to any hard and fast decision. We would simply like to explore these topics and help those who are ready to join in the craziness at a deeper level to do so.

Here are the important details:

Sunday, May 4, 2008 from 12:30 - 2 pm
"Who You Calling a Bobblehead?"
Explore what makes MBCC what it is and why people are drawn to it.
Light lunch provided.

Sunday, May 11, 2008 from 12:30 - 2 pm
"Set Your Head a Bobbing!"
Find ways to be involved in the life and ministry of MBCC.
Light lunch provided.

Sunday, May 18, 2008 following community potluck until 2:15 pm
"Add Another Head to the Roster"
Discover if membership at MBCC is right for you.
Bring something for the community potluck.

To learn more about these classes or to RSVP you attendance at them, please contact Leslie Veen at leslie at veen dot com.

MBCC: calm in the chaos

Just got this note from someone who used to attend MBCC.

Hi. I moved back to XXXXXXX  just under a year ago after doing some traveling and being a vagabond for about a year. I heard you moved to a new place? How is the ministry going?? I think about you folks pretty often and I should say thank you for being there. It was my comfort place away from home. It was a big breath of fresh air every week to gather and worship, even if it was just for the morning, in such a busy, hectic life in the city.

I get notes like this and all the struggles about stability, longevity, etc. become worth it. For those of us here and now, our call is to continue to be a place where folks find some calm in the midst of chaos.

Sometimes we get it right.

is God in art?

On Saturday, some of us went to see Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life, 1990-2005 at the Legion of Honor.  It was a huge show, with almost two hundred photos, and it was so busy.  I was surprised how many people wanted to see art on such a beautiful Saturday. 

The photographs spanned all kinds of photography.  Family portraits were hung next to images documenting wars which were hung next to celebrity cover shots. 

I was in my element.  I love looking at art... and everywhere I looked, I saw God in her photographs.  There was a pair of photos of Annie's partner Susan Sontag's collections, one of shells, one of stones.  A testament to the beauty and variety of creation.  She had been to Rwanda in 1994, either during or just after the genocide.  There was a picture of bloody hand and foot prints, evidence of the massacre of dozens of children in a school.  I saw God weeping, suffering, along with God's children who were tragically murdered.  There was a portrait of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis (though without a label, it wouldn't have been identifiable as such) during Demi's first pregnancy.  It was the most beautiful testament to the beauty of a partnership that brings a child into the world that I have ever seen in art (okay, I exaggerate, but it was incredible).  To me, God was there too.

In art museums, I am notoriously slow.  So, though I started with some of the other MBCC folks, by the end, everyone (besides my faithful husband who is used to my museum pace) was long gone. 

And I always long to hash out art with other folk...

So... if you have seen this show, either with some of us on Saturday, or on your own... what do you think?  Was God present in this artwork?  Were their any theological images?  It is even possible to read the work that way?  Comment... start a discussion.  Or just email me... agkkaiser@gmail.com.

May Book Group: Founding Faith by Steve Waldman

The MBCC Book Group
DATE: Friday, May 2, 2008, 7:00-9:00
LOCATION: The Miner's (Dog Patch)
BOOK: Founding Faith: Providence, Politics, and the Birth of Religious Freedom in America by Steve Waldman.  Book is available at MBCC for $17.50.
FACILITATOR: Bruce

NPR Interview with Steve Waldman

In the past MBCC'ers have gathered around a meal to have some conversation about some great books.  We have touched on all sorts of topics from in the hopes to broaden our understanding and experience of faith. 

Other recent books we have read:

• Take This Bread: A Radical Conversion by Sara Miles
• Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart Eerdman

closing Lent Meditation

To close, I wanted to include a little something about metaphor and language, since we have been sharing the many, many ways to describe, discuss and relate to Jesus.

"To be a human being is to interpret, to think of 'this' and 'that,'to make judgments concerning similarity and difference, to think metaphorically.  To be a believer is to follow the way of the parables and Jesus as parable, to live with the tension  between the kingdom and the world, never identifying the one with the other while aware of the transformation of the world by the kingdom.  Whether as human being or believer, we never overcome the distance between ourselves and the world; the main difference between a 'secular' and 'religious' perspective is the degree of tension between ourselves and reality.  Religious people are less comfortable in the world, aware of the difference between things as they are and things as the ought to be; they are conscious of the metaphorical 'is and is not.'  A deeply metaphorical perspective such as that based on parable demands a way of being in the world characterized by a high degree of tension, relativity, iconoclasm, and change."

Sallie McFague, Metaphorical Theology: Models of God in Religious Language, pg. 66

Lent Meditations... Maundy Thursday

It was just before the Passover Feast. Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love.

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus. Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, are you going to wash my feet?"

Jesus replied, "You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand."

"No," said Peter, "you shall never wash my feet."
      Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no part with me."

"Then, Lord," Simon Peter replied, "not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!"

Jesus answered, "A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean. And you are clean, though not every one of you." For he knew who was going to betray him, and that was why he said not every one was clean.

When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

John 13:1-17

iPhone Savior finds MBCC

MBCC's 2008 Easter Card featuring the Mii Jesus, was picked up on the iPhone Savior blog post, Bay Area Church Creates Mii Jesus To Promote Easter Sunday Service.

There have been posts popping up all over the place regarding this year's eCard.  I have tried to pull a few that have some content behind them. There are many more that are just forwarded posts.  Here are a few that have some commentary.  Also, be sure to read the comments.  Fascinating!

MBCC Members and Friends

• Ryan
• Daniel

This list will be constantly updated as time allows.

• on Digg
• http://kotaku.com
• http://forums.gametrailers.com
• http://alexschwindt.typepad.com
• http://www.eurogamer.net
• http://videogametop10.com
• http://www.wiiwii.tv
• http://gonintendo.com
• http://whatifgaming.com
• http://www.fragland.net
• http://www.ludology.org
• http://truemors.com
• http://www.joystiq.com
• http://www.petpeeving.com
• http://www.popmatters.com
• http://nintendo-wii.blogscene.net
• http://www.ps3forums.com
• http://boardreader.com
• http://forums.tidemedia.co.za
• http://www.gamegrep.com
• http://mcdevzone.com
• http://www.g4tv.com
• http://www.thecomicforums.com
• http://currentchristian.com
• http://branthansen.typepad.com
• http://www.mywii.com.au
• http://message.snopes.com
• http://www.thetanooki.com
• http://www.gamernode.com
• http://forums.e-mpire.com
• http://www.360voice.com
• http://lonewolf-csu.livejournal.com
• http://www.gamervision.com
• http://factorygirl.org
• http://www.gaxonline.com
• http://www.alittleleaven.com
• http://www.nintendowiifanboy.com
• http://forums.tidemedia.co.za
• http://forums.e-mpire.com
• http://withashout.net

PODCAST

• http://www.australiangamer.com

Lent Meditations... Holy Week

God gives us gifts; He showers us with them throughout all our lives. The Bibe says that every good and perfect gift comes from God. There are gifts that are easy to recognize, like family (hopefully), friends, a job perhaps, and most of all that Jesus died for us. These tell me that God cares about the big stuff in my life.

 

I have always been reluctant to ask God for what I consider "frivolous" things. Back where I used to live, there was never any parking by our apartment. We paid for a parking pass which didn't give you a spot but let you park without getting a ticket. One day, I was trying to find a spot. I was so fed up with it, and I was venting to God. Just as I pulled into another aisle, there it was, the best parking spot available! I was so ready to pass it off as chance, but I had to stop and think that God can't get much more direct than to answer my prayer very obviously while I'm praying it. I think all too many times I attribute things to chance or luck while all the time discrediting God for the gift he just gave me. These gifts show me that God cares even about the "dumb" little things in my life.

 

Then there are gifts we don't even know about. Like maybe someone just ran a red light that you would've crossed, yet you left your house a little late because you couldn't find your keys. We usually have no clue about gifts like these except maybe every once in a while. One night I was driving home late, and I had just got on the freeway. There was a car behind me, and within a few minutes he lost control of the car. If I had got on the freeway a few seconds later, I would have been in a bad accident (luckily the other driver was ok). Again, my first reaction was that I was "lucky", but on second thought, maybe it was God.  These gifts show me that God protects me and orchestrates things in my life even if I'm not aware of them.

 

Finally, God gives us the gift of hardships. Have you ever asked for patience? If you have, then you probably know (and possibly regret!) that usually to become more patient, you have to go through things that make you mad and impatient so that you can grow. In the same way, hardships force us to grow. When I was 12, my friend died. I surely didn't think of that as a gift then, and I am still hesitant to.  But from this produced in me such faith in God and a maturity in me. I had to rely on God though desperate sadness, and I learned to cling to hope in the bleakest of moments. This has helped me in other hardships after the loss of my friend that I might not have fared so well if I didn't have that foundation. Paul says that we are to have joy in suffering, and though I never want to leap for joy during my hardships, I know that there is hope in the midst of them, which gives me peace. I believe that God cares about my growth as a person, and he helps make me grow by allowing me to go through hardships. It might not seem like a gift, but the results do in retrospect.

God gives us so much! What are the obvious gifts he gives you? What are the seemingly small gifts? What are the things that we attribute to luck or chance? What has He produced in us through hardships?

- Jennifer Sterrett

oakland art murmur

Altared Bodies

                   

Friday April 4 • 7-9 pm
                                        Begins April 4                                      

Four Interplay artists: Reena Burton, Kelly Williams, Abby King Kaiser and Amy Shoemaker, celebrate the beauty of the body as they create altars out of real, live, breathing, dancing bodies as a part of the Oakland Art Murmur. For one night Interplayce will become a temple for worshiping the sacredness of all bodies. Join us as we play with themes of honor and homage, sacred and secular, redefining the purpose of the body and the image of the altar.

                  

Venue:
                    InterPlayce
2273 Telegraph Avenue (at 23rd St.)
Oakland,                      CA 94612

                  

www.interplay.org

                  

InterPlayce is the center of the InterPlay universe. The offices for Body Wisdom, Inc. are also located here. The building is at the corner of 23rd and Telegraph, one block north of West Grand. It is just a few blocks from the 19th Street Downtown Oakland BART station, and on several convenient bus lines. On-street parking is always available at night and metered during the day. It is also easily accessible by several of the major freeways. Click here for a map.

like pretty pictures?

Lisa and Abby like to go look and art and want you to join them!  We will be seeing Annie Leibovitz: A Photographer's Life at the Legion of Honor on Saturday, April 5th at noon.  We will meet outside the museum, on the steps before going in to purchase tickets.  Tickets are $15 for adults and $11 for students with ID for this special show.  RSVP on the facebook page (it will be an event) or at agkkaiser@gmail.com and we will look for you! (There is also an exhibit on the Dead Sea Scrolls that should be interesting...)

Mission Bay is on youtube!!!

Visit us at www.youtube.com/missionbaycc!  Miss any of the videos that have been used in worship?  Want to share them with folks you know?  Now you can!  And please, let us know if you are interested in contributing videos to worship... email me at agkkaiser@gmail.com

Lent Meditations... Holy Week

An excerpt from "A Brief Statement of Faith" Section 10.1-10.2 in the PCUSA Book of Confessions...

"In life and death we belong to God,
     Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
          the love of God,
               and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
     we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
          whom alone we worship and serve.

We trust in Jesus Christ
          fully human, fully God.
     Jesus proclaimed the reign of God:
          preaching good news to the poor
               and release to the captives,
          teaching by word and deed,
              and blessing the children,
          healing the sick
              and binding up the brokenhearted,
          eating with outcasts,
          forgiving sinners,
          and calling all to repent and believe the gospel.
     Unjustly condemned for blasphemy and sedition,
     Jesus was crucified,
          suffering the depths of human pain
          and giving his life for the sins of the world.
     God raised Jesus from the dead.
          vindicating his sinless life,
          breaking the power of sin and evil,
          delivering us from death to life eternal."

Lent Meditation--Day Thirty-Eight

a couple songs that make me wonder who Jesus is everytime I hear them...

Personal Jesus by Depeche Mode

Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone who cares
Your own personal Jesus
Someone to hear your prayers
Someone whos there

Feeling unknown
And youre all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I'll make you a believer

Take second best
Put me to the test
Things on your chest
You need to confess
I will deliver
You know Im a forgiver

Reach out and touch faith
Reach out and touch faith

Your own personal Jesus...

Feeling unknown
And youre all alone
Flesh and bone
By the telephone
Lift up the receiver
I'll make you a believer

I will deliver
You know I'm a forgiver

Reach out and touch faith

Your own personal Jesus

Reach out and touch faith

One of Us by Joan Osborne

If God had a name what would it be?
And would you call it to his face?
If you were faced with him
In all his glory
What would you ask if you had just one question?

And yeah, yeah, God is great
Yeah, yeah, God is good
Yeah, yeah, yeah-yeah-yeah

What if God was one of us?
Just a slob like one of us
Just a stranger on the bus
Trying to make his way home

If God had a face what would it look like?
And would you want to see
If seeing meant that
you would have to believe
in things like heaven and in Jesus and the saints
and all the prophets

Trying to make his way home
Back up to heaven all alone
Nobody calling on the phone
'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome

Just trying to make his way home
Like a holy rolling stone
Back up to heaven all alone
Just trying to make his way home
Nobody calling on the phone
'cept for the Pope maybe in Rome

Like a Prayer by Madonna

Life is a mystery, everyone must stand alone
I hear you call my name
And it feels like home

Chorus:

When you call my name its like a little prayer
I'm down on my knees, I wanna take you there
In the midnight hour I can feel your power
Just like a prayer you know Ill take you there

I hear your voice, its like an angel sighing
I have no choice, I hear your voice
Feels like flying
I close my eyes, oh God I think Im falling
Out of the sky, I close my eyes
Heaven help me

(chorus)

Like a child you whisper softly to me
Youre in control just like a child
Now I'm dancing
Its like a dream, no end and no beginning
Youre here with me, its like a dream
Let the choir sing

(chorus)

Just like a prayer, your voice can take me there
Just like a muse to me, you are a mystery
Just like a dream, you are not what you seem
Just like a prayer, no choice your voice can take me there

Just like a prayer, I'll take you there
Its like a dream to me

Monika Jo

Easter 2008 - Come and follow Mii

Easter in San Francisco 2008 
Mission Bay Community Church
11:00am, Sunday, March 23, 2008

Light lunch and Easter Egg hunt for the kiddos to follow!

Come and spend the morning with the crew at MBCC as we celebrate, remember and embody the hope and new life offered in Jesus, the Christ.

If you have never been to MBCC or have been thinking about a good time to invite a friend or family member, Easter is always a pretty safe time.  No big pageants, live camels or pyrotechnics, Easter is just an authentic time to gather for fellowship, learning and exploration!

Feel free to RSVP or invite folk using the FACEBOOK EVENT.

ABOUT THIS YEAR'S POSTCARD
This years "postcard" once again was designed by Debbie Yoon.  For those of you who are not video "gamers," this year's postcard is in reference to the worldwide craze that is Nintendo Wii.

Lent Meditation--Day Thirty Seven

An excerpt from The Peasants of Solentiname,  an illustrated interpretation of scripture.  The Resurrection Matthew 28:1-10 "Olivia: 'And afterwards he appears before them and shows them he is alive.' Ernesto: 'And he goes on showing us he's alive, us, gathered here twenty centuries later; he's present in the midst of us.' William: 'The important thing is that he's alive wherever there's community.'" Jesus is alive. abby king kaiser

Lent Meditation--Day Thirty-Six

Jesus tells his disciples that whatever you have done for the least of these-the hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, imprisoned-we've done to him. Jesus equates himself with the lowly of the earth.

That's a silly thing to do! Why do that? Well, because Jesus is the ultimate community organizer. He wants everybody to be involved in the process. He overturns the tables of those who make the system more difficult than it needs to be. He heals whatever it is that is keeping people from knowing true community, whether that be blindness, or pride, or shame, or excessive wealth, or leprosy, or ignorance and he invites us all to get involved in this new community effort.

Jesus knows us well enough to know that we won't invite the poor in to have dinner with us, so he becomes the invitation. He tells us that those we would deem to be unacceptable are in fact accepted because they are his flesh and blood.  He is the invitation to the marginalized and the oppressed that simply says 'Come! All are welcome!'. He is the invitation in the hand of the widow and the orphan that reminds us of the invitation we received when we were far from God.

Derrick Weston