Mountainview Family News

Mountainview Family -
 
Tonight is the Night! IT'S TRUNK OR TREAT!
The costumes are pressed and the trunks are full of all kinds of treats for your little tricksters! So grab your neighbor and stop by anytime from 6:30 - 9pm right in our parking lot. 

We will also be serving up some heaping helpings of popcorn, elephant ears, hot cocoa and more! We can't wait to see you!

Nehemiah ~ Week 2
I'm excited to share with you another chapter from Nehemiah's life this Sunday. If you want to be caught up, read in Nehemiah 2:4-8 and 17-18 about what it takes to be a DO. IT. person.

101 ~ KNOW
Since this Sunday is the first Sunday of the month, we will be offering 101~KNOW. It's an opportunity for you to KNOW us here at Mountainview. Meet some of our staff, have a little lunch with Pastor Tom and learn what we are all about. It give us a chance to KNOW you, too.

If you're interested, CLICK // here to register. If you can't make this Sunday, you can register for another upcoming class.

We have a lot going on, we always do. But we know that being busy, even when we're busy doing church, is no substitute for deep relationships. My encouragement to you is to find a place to BE. Whether it's a men's study group, women's Bible study or young mom's group, Common Threads quilting group, or even worship team! Find your place. Be yourself. Belong. Grow. Serve.


See you Sunday,
Pastor Tom 

A Note From Pastor Tom: October 24, 2014

Mountainview Family-

Nehemiah ~ DO. IT.
This week we are starting a four part series from the book of Nehemiah. I urge you, in the next couple of days, to sit down and read the book of Nehemiah. I’m praying that we are challenged, encouraged and inspired through this series, “Nehemiah ~ DO. IT.” Nehemiah was saddened by the state of the destroyed Jerusalem walls. He decided to do something about it. He began to rebuild the walls and lead the people.When opposition arose and enemies attacked, they sought the Lord for help and overcame the obstacles. God helped them build the walls so the Jews who were still in captivity could return to their homeland.

Elder Nomination
As I shared with you last weekend, one of the most important things our church members do is nominate men for our Eldership. Our elders provide spiritual and organizational direction for our church. We need you to nominate men who possess the spiritual and moral character outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-16. Nomination forms are available at the Welcome Center. Please prayerfully consider the members responsibility of nominating the leaders of our church. For more information or to have any questions answered please CLICK // to contact Mike Pflaum.

Trunk-or-Treat
On October 31 from 6:30 to 9:00pm we will be salt & light in our neighborhood. What we would like you to do is bring your whole family for a night of decked-out autos, free candy, snacks and fun! We would also like for you to consider bringing your vehicle, decorating it and passing out candy to the Trunk-or-Treaters! For more information or to sign up please CLICK // to contact Vicky Brunelle or CLICK // here to register on our website.

4 Ways 2 Practice Generosity
33 days to Thanksgiving and 61 days to Christmas! This is our third year in focusing our fall generosity to a few things. Our challenge to the Mountainview family is to PICK 1 and practice genuine generosity there. Wouldn’t it be awesome to have 100% of our church members participate in one opportunity to practice generosity this fall? Are you ready to choose one? Here are your options, along with dates:

Operation Christmas Child: October 19 & 26 - these are boxes sent to children across the world. You and your family can work together to fill a box that will be sent to a child somewhere in the world. You can also sign up to volunteer to collect, sort and pack these boxes. Mountainview is a collection site for East County.

Missionary Christmas Cards: November 2 & 9 - you can make our Mountainview missionaries feel blessed around the holidays by sending them a card. Mountianview will provide the cards, the addresses and the postage. All you have to do is write an encouraging message on a card and sign it.

Giving Tree: November 23, 30 and December 7- through a referral process and the partnership with our neighborhood schools we will purchase gift items for families needing Christmas hope! If you have a family that you would like to refer, CLICK // here to email Debbie Heltborg.

No One Left Behind: November 16 & 23 - this is our Mountainview ministry which brings hope to the impoverished in our community. Winter can be hard for those living on the streets. We want to support the efforts of this ministry by collecting comfort items during these couple of weeks. If you have questions, CLICK // here to email Terri Johnson.

I’m reminded each day of how messy we Christians and churches can be! Yet, God is still at work in people and places. He’s not finished with us and in some ways His  work in us has just begun. I urge you to draw near to God in all aspects of your life!

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,
according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in
Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

                                                                                 Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV

Blessings!

See you Sunday,

Pastor Tom 

Sparkling New Website

Good Monday to You!

Surprise! I was surprised too. If you've attempted to go to www.mvcclive.com in your browser, then you’ve seen a whole new website. For a few months we’ve been in the process of updating, changing and developing our new church management software and website. For the past month we’ve been working hard to launch our new website and management system. There were roadblocks which caused a delay in changing our URL links. Guess what? They figured it out and the new website went LIVE sometime in the middle of the night. So, we have new church management software. It is called, “My Mountainview”.


My Mountainview makes it easy to join the community by using our online church login system.

Here's what you can do in My Mountainview...


Once you have created your account and logged in, you can:

• Update your personal profile (add a photo, contact info, social networks)
• Manage your privacy settings
• Access the church directory (but you must opt in)
• Register for events
• Set up your online giving
• Access your giving records
• Access and manage your groups

Getting registered and logged in is simple and quick! Here's how to create your account...
CLICK // REGISTER NOW

• provide your name and email address
• create your own password
• click 'create an account'
• check your email inbox for a confirmation email
• click on the link shown in the email

If you have questions, please CLICK //  here to email our staff. 

Blessings to you, 

Pastor Tom

A Note from Pastor Tom

Mountainview Family-

We have some great opportunities for you to be involved!

WORK!

CLEAN UP DAY AT MOUNTAINVIEW & HIGHLAND ELEMENTARY
We have a unique opportunity to work together and shine a light in our community by sprucing up both our church grounds and our local neighborhood elementary school. We will mobilize from Mountainview at 8:30 am TOMORROW (Saturday, Oct. 4th). Grab your whole family, your tools, your gloves, your servant’s heart, and bring them all! If you are unable to work outside, there are some non-physical indoor opportunities at Highland.  

PLAY!

LET’S GO BOWLING!
Have some fun this weekend with the whole family. The Africa Short-Term Mission Team is sponsoring a bowling fundraiser at AMF Century 20 Lanes in Portland on Sunday (Oct. 5th) from 2-5 pm. The cost is $10 per person.

Two Ministry Efforts for Which You Can Pray!

CHURCH OF THE CITY
A new church plant called Church of the City will be launching their first official gathering this Sunday evening (Oct. 5th) in the Portland inner city area. Russell Clum, who spoke at Mountainview in June while we were gone for our adoption, is the lead church planter. They are excited to see how the neighborhoods of central Portland can be transformed when the Gospel flourishes. Please pray along with me for Russell, for his launch team, and for the people who will be hearing about Jesus for the first time.

OUR MINISTRY TO THE IMPOVERISHED
No One Left Behind is one of our church ministries reaching out to the impoverished people of Gresham and East County. The number of people being reached through this ministry is increasing weekly. Will you pray along with me for the people being reached to experience real hope and life change? Will you pray for the leadership team of this ministry? Will you pray for the relationship between the impoverished, our church, other churches, the citizens of Gresham, and our city government? Pray that we can work together to affect lasting life change in the impoverished community.

Don’t Miss Gathering at Mountainview this Sunday!

You are personally invited to gather with us at either 9:00 am or 10:40 am to be inspired and rejuvenated by our worship, prayer, learning, giving, communion, service, and fellowship.
This Sunday we will wrap up our sermon series called SMALL THINGS / BIG DIFFERENCE. We’ve learned together about our THOUGHTS and our WORDS. This Sunday we will discuss some equally important small things - our HABITS. Paul summarized it best when he wrote, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15 ESV)

Can you relate?

I look forward to seeing you this weekend!


Blessings,
Pastor Tom 

A Note from Pastor Tom

It's the weekend!

By now kids are back in school and the new routines are in place. Although our oldest has only started kindergarten, I've still found myself looking forward to the weekend.


Speaking of weekends, I have a few pieces of info to share:


1) What a great way to celebrate our church last weekend! I LOVE MY CHURCH weekend is an encouragement to me. I heard so many of you share the same sentiments. Thanks for being here, thanks for bringing food to share, thanks for eating the food, and thanks for celebrating our church family together.

2) Starting this weekend, we will be looking at how small adjustments can make a big difference in your life. Have you ever heard of the Trinidad Scorpion Moruga pepper? This small pepper has been tested to have over 2 million scoville units of heat! It is true that small things can make a big difference. What if we made some small adjustments in our thoughts, our words and our habits? Do you think it would make a difference? I hope you'll worship with us either at 9:00am or 10:40am on Sunday morning.

3) Save the Date:
October 4th from 9am-1pm: Highland Elementary Community Work Day
October 5th from 2pm-5pm: Let's Go Bowling (Family Fun)
October 12th: Missions Sunday
October 18th: "A Stitch in Time" at 9am (Women's Conference)

I’m excited about all I see God doing in the life of Mountainview. I was especially excited as I watched nearly 250 men, women, students, and kids find a place to GROW on Wednesday. Our halls and rooms were full between Wednesday morning’s studies and the evening studies. Let's watch and see what God does through us individually and as a church!

See you Sunday! Have a great weekend!


Pastor Tom

A Note from Pastor Tom

Good Morning Mountainview Family,

Listen to what Paul said about the church when he wrote to the Church of Ephesus about husbands and wives:

"...Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish." (Ephesians 5:25-27 ESV)

In a book entitled, The New Testament Church: Then and Now, Leroy Lawson makes the argument that every Christ follower ought to see their church as the most important church in the world. Here are a few of his reasons why:

• You meet God in your church.
• You become excited about life in your church.
• You learn to care about others in your church.
• You grow into Christlikeness in your church.
• You prepare for the future in your church.

I LOVE MY CHURCH and I think I'm on the staff at the most important church in the world.

Tomorrow, we are celebrating Mountainview Christian Church . I LOVE MY CHURCH Sunday is set aside for us to celebrate YOU, our church family and to celebrate the work God is doing in us and through us. I want to celebrate with you the amazing things God has done.

We are trying something different...a "potluck" continental breakfast during synergy time between worship services. Bring your favorite pastry or fruit dish to share and help us celebrate our church.

This is how the morning looks:

9:00-10:00 Worship
10:00-11:00 Food, Fun and Sharing
11:00-12:00 Worship

So, we need 9:00 worshipers to plan on staying later than usual and the 10:40 worshipers to come early. We hope you will take this opportunity to meet someone new or reconnect with old friends as we snack together and celebrate what God is doing at Mountainview.


See you Sunday!

Blessings!
Pastor Tom 

The Mountainview Top 5

Here are the top five things you need to know:
1. Wallace and Mary Kamau from Nairobi, Kenya, Africa are with us this weekend. They will be meeting with our church leaders, hosting a dinner on Saturday night, and sharing from the stage during both worship services on Sunday morning.

You are invited to “A Taste of Africa” dinner tomorrow evening, the 6th at 6 PM in the Family Life Center. If you haven’t already signed up, please click here to email Liz Gardner. 
I know you'll be blessed by the Kamau's on Sunday morning. Mountainview has affected more life change than I ever realized. I know you'll be encouraged and hope you'll be here.

2. We have an overwhelming list of opportunities for you to experience GROWTH this fall. Starting this Sunday we will be promoting these opportunities in the foyer. I would like to see 80% of our church family BELONG to a GROW group this fall.

Will you consider what you might commit to? 

• The Women are studying the books of Philippians and Colossians.
• The Young Moms and Dads will be doing a six-week parenting class.
• The Men are taking a look at David and the book of James.
• Financial Learning Experience will show you practical tools to manage your finances.
• The Marriage Ministry will be offering a six-week class called "The Art of Marriage".
• Another parenting class about how to talk so kids will listen and how to listen so they will talk will be offered on Sunday evenings.
• "Divorce Care" and "Grief Share" are great support groups for people who have experienced either divorce or grief, especially from the loss of a loved one.
• "Boundaries" helps you develop healthy boundaries, addresses codependency and teaches when and how to say "no".
• The Restoration Ministry is providing several shorter "Life Change" groups throughout the week such as, "Avoiding Mr. Wrong", "Men's Issues Group" and Men's & Women's "Genesis Process Groups. 

3. I LOVE MY CHURCH on September 14th. Simply said, we want to celebrate YOU, our church family. I continue to be amazed at the way you let God use you to change lives. 

We are trying something different...a "potluck" continental breakfast during synergy time between worship services. Bring your favorite pastry or fruit dish to share and help us celebrate our church.

We hope you will take this opportunity to meet someone new or reconnect with old friends as we snack together and celebrate what God is doing at MVCC.

4. It is with sadness and excitement we inform you that our Children's Intern, Jonathan Veliquette  has accepted an Elementary Director position at a church in Southern California.

Jonathan and Sierra have both grown up at MVCC, where they have been active leaders in our youth group and consistent volunteers in our children's ministry. They have been very faithful in their internship while they finished at Multnomah University.

We have an opportunity to send this young couple on to their first full time ministry position. Will you join me in praying for the impact God is preparing for them to make? Would you also be praying as we search for a Children's Pastor to join our team?

We will celebrate their work at MVCC on Sunday, September 14th.

5. Finally, I am excited for everything we have lined up the next several months. Maybe you've been "barely" connected through the summer. We are intentionally providing multiple opportunities for you to "reconnect" with your church family. I hope you'll start this Sunday. As always, if we can assist you in BELONGING, GROWING or SERVING please let us know.

Blessings!

Pastor Tom