Good morning Surgeons,
We're continuing our Strapped Series of messages this morning, talking about Choices and investing in the kingdom of God. Special music this morning will be Simple Man by Lynyrd Skynyrd. SAW and the Men's Breakfast this month were both a great success, thank you Terry Forrester! At lunch today, Selma Nunes is leading a lunch meeting on teams and outreach opportunities at the Beach Shack immediately after the service. Remember that we don't take up an offering but offering boxes are available in the back of the room - or online! We have some amazing things ahead, keep praying for God's wisdom and leading for the Surge in general. Next week, we're wrapping up Strapped with a series of FAQs that will be informative and enlightening! Have a great week and we'll see you soon! ~The Surge
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Good morning Surgeons!
We are continuing our Strapped series, with a message on savings and investing with God's perspective. Special music is INXS, New Sensation! Other announcements: Team meeting immediately after the service today with Selma Nunes, at the Beach Shack. If you're interested in outreach, plugging into the Surge, or have great ideas, please come! Our SAW concert last night was a great success, these will continue to be the 3rd Saturday of the month. Next Saturday is our Men's Breakfast at Terry Forrester's place, starting at 8:30am! We'll be continuing our Strapped Series next week with a message on Choices, don't miss it! Thanks, ~The Surge  “I hear you teach Sunday School ,” Jim ventured as he helped himself to the potatoes. We both were visitors for Sunday lunch at his sister’s farm. “I try,” said I. Jim grinned, “Well, that’s good. Now, I’ve got a question. Doesn’t the Bible tell us to love one another?” “It does.” “Well, I’m trying to love people where I work at the Post Office.” “Mmm-hmm.” I can be a good listener when fried chicken is around. “It’s good to cheer up people, isn’t it?” “Mff!” Jim proceeded, “There’s one girl, she’s married and so am I. But I keep showin’ her my love. Isn’t that what the Bible says to do?” The chicken traversed my tonsils. I wiped my mouth. “If I understand you right, no. The Bible says just the opposite. Like, ‘don’t desire your neighbor’s wife.’” Jim protested that he was just trying to spread love, that everyone should be more lovin’, and that his coworker was loveable. Our hosts tried basic diversions: the weather, dogs, Uncle Edgar’s car. Jim, however, persisted in pressing for approval for his many activities. “Don’t the Bible say we should be enjoyin’ life?” His brother-in-law translated, “He means honky-tonkin’”. I recall there was tasty chocolate meringue pie as the conversation lurched to a close. After Jim excused himself from the table, his sister rolled her eyes and sighed, “That Jim, he’s a rascal.” Driving home, I thanked God that by means of fried chicken in my mouth He had prevented me from approving sin. Two blessings in one stroke! What a mighty God we serve! I was wondering if I could avoid saying other stupid things by keeping my mouth full. Then a rather disturbing question intruded. Don’t I come to the Bible much like Jim? I want confirmation, not correction. I want comfort, not challenge. Just like Jim. Over the next few days, I roughed out some ways that might make my Bible reading less biased toward confirming orneriness. Let me preface this list by saying I applied and continue to apply these attitude adjustments to me, not to others. But I recommend these attitudes.  A few minutes of Bible reading should challenge my views and habits. If I’m not challenged, I haven’t been paying attention. “All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right.” (1 Timothy 3) This is broad language. Focus. The first correction must be log removal; I surgery: teaching me, showing me what is wrong in my life, and correcting my faults. I urge against correction as a goal or practice for Bible study in a group. But I realize this: I need correction. If correction doesn’t come from my personal Bible study and reflection, then how is God going to correct me? The two main ways left to correct me are painful: reproach from other people, and humbling life events. Emotions surrounding a decision easily overwhelm. Christian leaders such as Ignatius of Loyola and John Wesley have advised against turning to scripture in times of decision. We see what we want to see. However, my life is full of decision! I might end up not studying at all. Thus, to move toward a more nearly objective state of mind and because I am a nerd, I do the following in a time of decision. Before opening the book I take trouble to formalize a testable hypothesis, its complement, and a significance level for evaluating what I find. I take time to appreciate God, and often find my anxieties quite overwhelmed. It may be useful to review my situation as if someone else was experiencing it.
An essential exercise in time of decision is to open myself to actions I should take if research contradicts my assumptions and hopes. I want to be more open than the guy we kids studied Sunday. In Matthew 19, a rich guy comes to Jesus, asking, “What should I do to assure myself eternal life?” The rich guy was keeping the commandments. So Jesus challenged him to go to the next level: “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give all your money to the poor; then you will have treasure in heaven. And then come, follow Me.” The young man went away sad because he was very wealthy. When was the last time you went to the Bible for confirmation, and got a challenge? When was the last time you opened the Bible expecting admonitions to do more, and instead got comfort and encouragement?  Good morning Surgeons!
We're continuing our "Strapped" series, with a message on blessings this morning. Special music will be Lee Brice and "Hard to Love." Team Meeting Next Sunday Join Selma Nunes at the Beach Shack after Service...Sunday, April 11th Looking for a place to plug in? Hungry for delicious Beach Shack goodness? Thirsty to sit outside now that it isn't snowing anymore? Longing to talk about your passion and how that will connect with other folks at the Surge? Join Selma for a brunch after our April 21st service to talk through options to plug in! God is doing amazing things and we need your help! It's not too late to download Emily's book! Or experience it firsthand in a small group! Next week, we'll continue our Strapped series, with a message on Change. Our next SAW concert at the Barn is happening on Saturday, Apr 20th, opening act starting at 7pm, main concert beginning at 8pm. Upcoming Men's Breakfast, hosted by Terry Forrester, 8:30am on Saturday, Apr 27th. Stay safe and we'll see you this weekend! ~The Surge 
Good weekend Surgeons!
Hope you are doing well! We're kicking off our Strapped Series this weekend, with our first message on Accountability, and letting money play a proper role in life instead of taking over everything. Special music is "I Will Not Bow" by Breaking Benjamin. Our team is back from El Salvador! Come and hear Selma Nunes tell us about the cool things God is doing! We're meeting tonight at 5pm at the Barn, 1988 Kirby Road, McLean, VA 22101 to talk about exciting things for the future! If you like the Surge and want to go with us on an amazing adventure, this is a great meeting to be a part of. We'll talk through what's going on, answer questions and eat delicious pizza! Emily Lawyer wrote a book! It's fantastic! You should go and download it! It's free! Download it here! http://www.thesurge.cc/resources.html or http://www.exponential.org/ebooks/enoughalready.html Our next SAW concert at the Barn is happening on Saturday, Apr 20th, opening act starting at 7pm, main concert beginning at 8pm. Men's Breakfast, hosted by Terry Forrester, 8:30am on Saturday, Apr 27th. Next week is message two of Strapped... about blessings and how to deal with debt - it's going to be fun! Thanks, ~The Surge If there were an award for the most infrequent blogger, it'd be me. Sorry y'all. What can I say, college makes me lax on deadlines. But this time, I have exciting things to share!
I spent my spring break (2 weeks ago) in Huntington, West Virginia at Marshall University. My college ministry, Chi Alpha, sent students around the country and around the world on incredible spring break mission trips. I had the amazing opportunity to spend mine at Marshall, where a Chi Alpha was just started. My school, the University of Virginia, has the second largest Chi Alpha in the country (somewhere between 500 and 600 students), so we went to Marshall to help get their Chi Alpha (now about 15 students) motivated to grow. The week was spent mostly doing evangelism and prayer walking through the campus. We would go up to students and start conversations about faith. It was awesome. I thought I'd be terrified to do this (I was actually), but God totally eased my fears. Most students were eager to share their opinions, no matter what they were. I got to share my faith and testimony with students all over the religion spectrum. I thought I had to plan every word of the conversation before I started it, but the Spirit completely interceded in many cases, and I was left dumbfounded as my words didn't even seem to be my words. I was talking about Jesus and it just felt right. After our conversations, no one fell to the ground and confessed Jesus as Lord, but opening up those conversations definitely planted some seeds. Who knows what will come of it all, but talking about Jesus all week reminded me of my true purpose. It just made sense to spend my time talking about life in Christ - what else could I do with that much significance?? I left the week with a new realization of the need to spend time in the Word each day. I almost couldn't get out of bed from pure exhaustion of the week, unless it meant I was going to read from the Well of living water. That's the only thing that got me up. Talking to people about Jesus is exhilarating, but it's exhausting without the King Himself being our strength. I also found that I have a heart for campus ministry. College is a pivotal time for everyone who goes through it - someone told me once that you either get closer to God in college or further - there's no "staying the same". I totally understand that now that I'm living it. I know I've asked this before, but would you mind praying for college students out there seeking for the Lord? They're the next generation and we need Jesus to pour into them so that they can pour into others, too. This is exciting stuff, folks! -Amanda |
Our Writers:At The Surge we love doing things together... that includes writing a blog! Here are a few of our main contributing authors: Greg JohnsonJesus++ Anna Mari GreenEnjoys being busy and trying lots of new things. But she loves Jesus, her family, good food, photography, and travel Dwaine DarrahOur fearless leader, and Lead Pastor at The Surge. His experience in counter terrorism with the CIA prepared him for ministry and he likes dogs and babies even more than E does. EE (short for Eric Reiss) is the XO / Wingman at The Surge and likes dogs, music, Mexican food, his wife Karen and his daughter Evangeline... not necessarily in that order. Archives
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The Surge Community Church
Meeting Sunday Mornings at The State Theatre in Falls Church, 11:10am! Rebroadcast Available Sunday Evenings with SurgeOnDemand, 7:00pm! |