In case you were wondering what’s happening Easter weekend for us:

April 10th – Good Friday – Seder Dinner in House Communities

Each House Community will be doing their own Passover Seder dinner. It’s the dinner Jesus celebrated with his disciples before he went to die on the cross the next day. Invite friends – and if you’re not a part of a house community feel free to join up with any of them. Contact info@ihaven.org for more info.

April 12th – Sunrise Worship – Lunch w/the Victorians – Gardening w/the Girls

EDIT: Gardening w/Advent Girls is POSTPONED

>> Sunrise Worship [6:30am] @ Montgomery Hill Park, San Jose – Meet at the base where you can park your car @ 6:30am and we’ll hike up together. The parking lot is actually a shared parking lot with Evergreen Valley College. See link above for exact location.

After our sunrise worship to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, we’ll split off to connect and serve two groups of people that we’ve been friends with for the past few years:

>> Lunch w/the Victorians [11:00am] - The Victorians are the three Victorian homes located next to LPT. They are boarding homes that house persons who were formerly homeless and with mental illness. We will bring lunch over and spend some time together with our friends there. Meet in front of LPT [72 North 5th St., San Jose] @ 11am. We need at least 6-8 people to help with this – contact info[at]ihaven.org.

>> Gardening w/Advent [POSTPONED to MAY] - We have been connecting with a group home for girls who have a history with drug/alcohol abuse. We’ll be going over to help plant a small flower/vegetable garden in the back yard with the girls. We need at least 3-4 people to help with this – if you’re interested with this contact info[at]ihaven.org and let us know that you’re coming and are interested. We need “RSVP’s” for this one.

A few things to look out for:

SJSU Formula SAE Unveiling [THURS April 2nd - 5:30pm]
Our friend Ken is a part of the student chapter of the Society of Automative Engineers at SJSU and we recently hosted a small BBQ for the group a few weeks ago… feeding hungry students as they finish their project for their upcoming competition. They’ll be doing an unveiling on April 2nd @ Club Auto Sport [521 Charcot Avenue, SJ], 5:30-7:30pm. We got to see the beginnings, come check out the finished product. Contact Ken for more info [abigail_854[at]hotmail.com].

Learning Community: Healthy Marriages [SAT April 4th - 9am]
We will be restarting our quarterly learning community where we will  discuss having healthy marriages. Our heart is to equip couples to live well and nurture healthy family environments. Alan and Luanne Hom will be leading the discussion and childcare will be provided [RSVP w/Alan if kids are coming]. We’ll meet at the Hom home [3059 Silver Estates, San Jose] and begin at 9am – we will be having brunch afterwards. Engaged couples welcome! So bring your spouse, your questions and your appetite. Contact Alan for more info at alhom[at]sbcglobal.net.

DOJO Session #2 [SUN April 5th - 9:30am]
Check here for a summary of Dojo Session #1 and here for a summary of the Dojo. REMEMBER:

• The entire Bible points towards Jesus;
• The result of Jesus’ sacrifice – we become his SONs and DAUGHTERs;
• Share Jesus and ‘Why you believe it’ with 2 people [Philemon 6].

Meet @ 9:30am at Dave and Rachel’s house [923 Alegre Place, San Jose, CA 95126].

EASTER?
Click HERE.

Summer Softball League
If you’re interested in being in a recreational softball league this summer, Alan is looking for some recruits. Ask your friends, co-workers and the retired pro-baseball player neighbor that you know. Contact Alan for more info [alhom[at]sbcglobal.net].

Here’s an overview of what we covered at Dojo Session #1. And YES, we’re going to drop “discipleship/leadership training” and go with the simple name of “DOJO”. Why? Because the other name is long and boring. And this one communicates more simply what we’re trying to do. The Dojo is the place where students of the martial arts come and train. They receive instruction, practice their forms and prepare themselves to do battle in the real world. Sounds right huh?

Overview of Material:

• The Entire Bible Points Toward Jesus – The entire Bible [OT and NT] points towards Jesus’ life/death/resurrection AND his promise to return and redeem the world. As we read the Bible, we should look for how it paints a fuller picture of Jesus <Luke 24:44-46>.
• The Gospel = MANGER + CROSS + CROWN – The essential message of Jesus can be summarized by God coming in the form of man to sacrificially take upon himself the guilt/shame/death we deserve from our sin through his death on the cross. He did it because he loved us and because we can do nothing to save ourselves. And he promises to come back to be the final judge and restore people and creation to what he intended <Philippians 2; Ephesians 2:4; Revelations 21>.
• Result of Jesus’ Sacrifice: We become his SONS and DAUGHTERS – Jesus’ sacrifice restores our true identity [which was marred by sin/rebellion]… reuniting us back to the Father as his SONS and DAUGHTERS <John 1:12>. TRUTH: Because of Jesus, we are God’s beloved sons and daughters.

Questions to Ponder:

• What are the life messages we’ve accumulated from our fathers, mothers and earthquake events in life? [ie. I'm not worth anything. More money equals more security. I have to be perfect to be loved or respected. Failure is final. Others' opinions determine my worth/value.]
• How do these messages conflict with the message of Jesus? …with the essential message that we are loved not because of what we’ve done, but just because he does… that our salvation can’t be earned or bought… but is given completely by God as a gift of grace. Is there a conflict? If so, how?

Practice:

“I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ.” <Philemon 6>

The basic gist of this verse… share the good news so that you will understand how good the good news really is.

• Share the message of Jesus and why you believe it with 2 people [by the next time we meet for DOJO - April 5th].

This is how I want you to approach this – there’s no need to go out to the malls to share with strangers [unless you want to!]. Pray every morning, “God would you open an opportunity to share about you today.” And look… listen… for God to open a door. And when he does [and he will], share it. We all have people we regularly connect with [friends, family, co-workers, store-workers, mail/UPS workers, etc.]. When God opens the door, share with your friend about Jesus… why he means anything/everything to you. Why he’s so good… why the good news is such good news. Ask God to open doors and walk through the ones he opens.

Thanks folks – look forward to meeting back at the Dojo and practicing and preparing to live boldly in real life. QUESTIONS? Leave a comment on this post.