Alpha

This Week's Recommended Books

Stop Dating the Church!: Fall in Love with the Family of God
By Joshua Harris

Joshua Harris calls on all Christians to abandon the habit of “church-hopping” and puts forth a persuasive argument for commitment to the local church

Alpha Overnight Recap

This past weekend, approximately 70 of us participated on the Alpha Overnight. What a wonderful time!

I had the privilege of giving two of the talks (Who is the Holy Spirit? and Who is God? Who is Man?). Robin came up on Saturday and gave the What Does the Holy Spirit Do? and How Can I Be Filled with the Holy Spirit? We had fun together, enjoyed meaningful discussion, and many were touched in powerful ways by the Holy Spirit. At least three people turned from their sins and trusted in Christ! The Bible tells us that the angels in heaven rejoice when just one sinner repents (Luke 15:7,10 – page 874). How much more when there are three!

I look forward to seeing all of you tonight at Alpha as we look at the Bible’s perspective on suffering and evil in the world.

-Mark Mitchell

This Week's Recommended Books

Knowing God
By J.I. Packer

J.I. Packer’s best selling classic reveals the wonder, the glory, and the joy of knowing God.

Alpha tonight

Well, we’re at Week 6 of Alpha.  Tonight we’ll be discussing, “How Does God Guide Us?” and I’ll be giving away one of my favorite books, Knowing God.

We’re looking forward to seeing you tonight for dinner.  We’ll be having Chicken Caesar salads with croissants.

See you soon!

-Mark Mitchell

New photos added!

This Week's Recommended Books

God’s Big Picture
By Donald Whitney

In this excellent overview, Vaughn Roberts shows how the different parts of the Bible fit together.

Alpha Week 4 - Why and How do we Pray?

Weren’t we so well served by our guest speaker, Zak Jones!  This young man who grew up at Covenant Life Church and is now in the Pastors’ College, challenged me and all of us with his transparency, relatable illustrations, and joyous faith.  His story of God’s powerful answers to the prayers of his mother for his older sister, sparked faith for prayer in our discussion group. 
One guest commented before the message that he came with several pressing questions on prayer.  After the talk, he said each question had been directly addressed and clearly answered. 
Zak began by explaining that most prayer grows out of knowing our need for outside help.  Most of us could relate.  He then defined Christian prayer as—to the Father, through His son Jesus, with the help of the Spirit.  Wasn’t his story helpful about the dejected civil war soldier getting direct and immediate access to President Lincoln through the President’s son, Tad? 
Did you have time to share prayer requests with your group?  John Wesley said that “prayer changes things, beginning with us.”  Come back next week prepared to consider how prayer may have changed things. 
Remember, while Alpha is a “Homework Free Zone” if you want to go deeper in the subject of prayer, or any subject taught at Alpha, take the list of Bible references with pages numbers that is passed out each week and look up some of them in your Alpha Bible.
What questions do you have about prayer that may not have been addressed or fully answered by the talk or discussion time?  Please consider submitting those on this blog or writing them out on the Questions Card.

-Mark Mitchell

New photos added!

New photos added!

This Week's Recommended Books

Prayer: Conversing With God
By Rosalind Rinker

Author Rosalind Rinker offers this small book for those who wish their prayer lives to be more effective.

Alpha Week 4

Tonight is our fourth week of the Alpha Course and our focus is on prayer. Specifically, the topic is “Why and How do I Pray?”

Have you had any prayers answered in your life?  We’d love to hear your stories.

The menu is Parmesan Crusted Chicken, noodles, and salad and we’ll be giving away another great book.  We look forward to seeing you there!

-Mark Mitchell

New photos added!

Alpha Week 3

It’s hard to believe we’ve already completed three weeks of Alpha! I hope you are enjoying your experience as much as I am. What a joy is has been getting to know many of you personally and hearing of how you’re benefiting from Alpha.

Well… last night we talked about how one can be sure of their faith? We drew attention to three essential bases of genuine faith – the Word of God, the work of Jesus, and the witness of the Holy Spirit. We concluded by highlighting the importance of both repentance of sin and faith in Christ. Finally, we showed that a genuine faith is always demonstrated in action, illustrated through the story of Jean Blondin walking a wheelbarrow on a tightrope over Niagara Falls.

How were you affected by last night’s talk? Did anything change in your understanding of faith? If so, what changed?

I’d love to hear from you.

-Mark Mitchell

This Week's Recommended Books

How Can I Be Sure I am a Christian?: What the Bible Says About the Assurance of Salvation
By Donald Whitney

Donald Whitney investigates what the Bible has to say about the assurance of Salvation.

Tonight at Alpha - Week 3

Tonight is our third week of the Alpha Course and our focus is on faith. Specifically, the topic is “How can I be sure of my faith?”

How would you answer this question? I’d love to hear your perspective as well as how it may have changed after tonight’s talk.

The menu is Mac and Cheese with a great salad and I’ll be featuring another very good book tonight. I look forward to seeing you there!

-Mark Mitchell

New photos added!

This Week's Recommended Books

Jesus Among Other Gods
By Ravi Zacharias

Author Ravi Zacharias explores Christ’s answers to some of the world’s universal and most nagging questions, which he then compares to the answers of the founders of Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam.

The Case for Faith: A Journalist Investigates the Toughest Objections to Christianity
By Lee Strobel

Lee Strobel takes readers along with him as he investigates the claims of the Bible concerning Jesus and inevitably makes the case for Jesus as the Christ.

New photos added!