Following God's Purposeful Mission + Sunday Morning Resources

TCC • September 1, 2023

Last Sunday was one of the BEST in almost three decades for Kim and me. Words don’t seem to be able to convey the deep feelings we felt as we experienced the love, encouragement, and gratitude from so many people. Twin Cities has always been a place where we express our heart, and Sunday was no exception. 


Thank you for loving us as we are with acceptance and grace. Thank you for the heartfelt words you expressed on the “Well Done” notes, on social media, and through emails. Our cup overflows with joy! If you missed Sunday, please watch the entire service soon because I hope that everyone gets to hear the words of gratitude I was able to deliver even though it was an emotional day. 


Kim and I keep being asked, “What are you going to do now?” That is not an easy question to answer. First, after September 10, when we commission and install Pastor Eric as our new Lead Pastor, I will have a new title – Founding Pastor. I teasingly said on Sunday that I don’t know what that means so maybe I’ll spend my time founding things. That day will also begin a period of lengthy sabbatical away from Twin Cities. 


There are three reasons for this sabbatical. First, I need time to rest. My closest friends say that I have an over-functioning sense of responsibility. Even though I am clear in my mind that this is God’s church, and I am His under-shepherd, I have felt the responsibility of Twin Cities for nearly 32 years, and I just can’t shut that off like you would a light switch. It will take time. I need to rest and heal from the journey I’ve been on the past two years ever since my cancer diagnosis on April 20, 2021. I am not the kind of guy who rests. That is my job for the foreseeable future. I also need time to spend with God as His beloved child, not as pastor. My therapists tell me I need time to grieve and move toward being the healthiest I can be. I need time to reset. 


Second, Pastor Eric needs to be able to spread his wings and lead without feeling he must please the OG (Old Guy). Pastor Eric has had a period when God has been at work in his heart to prepare him for this new season. He has energy, ideas, and a vision for our future that is going to be just what Twin Cities needs for the next leg of our journey together.


Third, you need time to be with Eric and hear his heart and allow your hearts to become one with his. This is a good thing. Up until now you you’ve been attached to my heart. Now it’s time to attach your heart to Pastor Eric’s heart. Friends, you can love me and Pastor Eric. You can be loyal to both of us. It’s okay to have your affections attached to another pastor. 


This weekend we continue our series called Transition: New Season. Same Mission. Pastor Mark will help us take a fresh look at our mission statement – We are engaging together to lead as many people as possible into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. 


Please pray for Pastor Eric, Cathy, Ethan, and Grayson as they move their home from Costa Mesa to Nevada County. We want them to know how much we love them – even if we’ve not met them. They are in So Cal right now to load their stuff in a U-Haul and make the trek on Sunday over the Grapevine, and up I-5 to our lovely area. Pray for them in this journey.

 

Here are the links you’ll need to prepare for Sunday’s Service: 


 

Joyfully living on mission in intimacy with Jesus and others,

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A Message to the Watchmen + Sunday Morning Resources

By TCC • October 23, 2026
Think about the people whose lives intersect with yours: your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, even people you encounter in the ordinary rhythms of life. Some of them may be walking through difficult circumstances, wrestling with questions about faith, or quietly drifting away from God. What if God has placed you in their lives for a reason? What if you have a responsibility toward them that goes beyond simply being a good friend, neighbor, or coworker? This weekend, as we continue through Acts, we’ll listen in on Paul’s emotional farewell to some people he had poured years of his life into. His words are deeply personal, surprisingly challenging, and raise some important questions about the responsibility we have toward the people God has placed in our lives. I believe this is a message every follower of Jesus needs to hear, and I hope you’ll join us! Church Work Day | Saturday, 9:00am–noon Our Fall Family Festival is just around the corner, and we’re getting ready to welcome thousands of our neighbors! We could use your help sprucing up the church property this Saturday from 9:00am to noon. Bring a pair of work gloves and a willingness to pitch in. Whether you can help for an hour or the whole morning, we’d love to have you join us! Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday,

In ________ We Trust + Sunday Morning Resources

By TCC • October 16, 2026
We all want a little security in life. We work hard, save what we can, plan for the future, and do our best to protect the things that matter most to us. And there’s nothing wrong with any of that. But have you ever stopped to consider just how much of your peace depends on things going according to plan? It’s easy to say we trust God when life is comfortable. But what happens when something we depend on becomes uncertain, or when following Jesus threatens something we’ve worked hard to build? This Sunday, as we continue through Acts 19, we’ll encounter some people who were forced to wrestle with that very question. And I suspect their story will challenge us to examine our own hearts as well. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday,

Why Trying Harder Isn’t Working + Sunday Morning Resources

By TCC • October 9, 2026
Have you ever found yourself frustrated because, no matter how hard you try, you keep falling into the same old patterns? Maybe you’ve made promises to yourself, set new goals, or even asked God to help you change, only to find yourself right back where you started. What if the problem isn’t that you’re not trying hard enough? This weekend, as we continue our journey through Acts, we’ll discover something about the Christian life that’s easy to overlook, but makes all the difference. And if you’ve ever wondered why lasting change seems so difficult, I think you’ll find this passage particularly relevant. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday,

Working Through Discouragement + Sunday Morning Resources

By TCC • October 2, 2026
Paul always seems almost superhuman. He gets beaten, threatened, run out of town, and somehow just keeps going. But when he arrives in Corinth in Acts 18, we get a glimpse of something we don’t often associate with Paul: fear and discouragement. After everything he’s been through, it appears even Paul may be wondering how much more he has in him. Then Jesus meets him in the middle of that discouragement and gives him a promise that gives Paul the encouragement he needs to keep going. This weekend, we’ll look at what Jesus says to Paul in that moment, and why that same promise still matters when we’re tired, discouraged, or unsure we have much left in the tank. I hope you’ll join us Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday,

Contempt or Compassion? + Sunday Morning Resources

By TCC • September 25, 2026
This weekend, as we continue our journey through Acts, Paul steps into a city filled with competing ideas, misplaced worship and people searching for something more. Sound familiar? What stands out isn’t just what Paul says, but how he responds to people whose beliefs deeply trouble him. He doesn’t mock them, avoid them, or write them off. He moves toward them with compassion, listens carefully, finds common ground, and points them toward Jesus. That raises a challenging question for us: When we see people looking for hope in all the wrong places, does our conviction move us toward them or tempt us to look down on them? Paul shows us how to hold firmly to truth without losing compassion for the people we’re trying to reach. I’m looking forward to unpacking that together this weekend. Drive-Thru Food Drive — Today, 8:00–10:30am Today we have a simple opportunity to help combat hunger right here in Nevada County. Bring non-perishable food to the church anytime between 8:00 and 10:30am for our Drive-Thru Food Drive. Find more information here . Missed One Church, One Mission? Last week, churches from across Nevada County gathered to worship, pray and consider what God can do when His Church serves together. If you weren’t able to join us, you can watch the gathering here . Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday,

Are You Listening? + Sunday Morning Resources

By TCC • September 18, 2026
This weekend we’re continuing through Acts 16, where Paul, Silas and Timothy discover that following the Holy Spirit doesn’t always mean going where you planned to go. The Spirit speaks in different ways, and sometimes what He says isn’t what we expected or wanted to hear. So how do we learn to recognize His voice? How do we discern what He’s saying? And when He speaks, how do we respond in the way of Jesus rather than simply reacting out of our flesh? That’s where we’re headed this weekend. I hope you’ll join us! One Church, One Mission — Tonight at 6:30pm @ First Baptist Church, Grass Valley I hope you’ll join me and our brothers and sisters from across Nevada County tonight for One Church, One Mission . This will be an opportunity for us to dream about what God can do in and through His Church when we stop competing against one another and start uniting around our shared faith and calling. I’m excited to get to be a part of this, and I hope you’ll join us tonight at 6:30pm at First Baptist Church in Grass Valley . I’d love to see you there! Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday,

What Does Following Jesus Cost? + Sunday Morning Resources

By TCC • September 11, 2026
Last week, we were reminded that Jesus is enough. You don’t have to earn God’s love, prove yourself worthy, or clean yourself up in order to belong. This truth brings incredible freedom. But freedom in Christ doesn’t mean we can simply do whatever we want. Jesus set us free so that we can follow Him, and sometimes following Him costs us things we value. Eventually, following Jesus will collide with something we don’t want to surrender. This weekend, as we continue through Acts, we’ll wrestle with a question every believer has to answer for themselves: How far am I willing to follow Jesus when obedience becomes costly? Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday,

Is Jesus Really Enough? + Sunday Morning Resources

By TCC • September 4, 2026
Last Sunday, we gathered as a church family for our All-Church Picnic and had the privilege of celebrating 68 brothers and sisters as they went public with their faith through baptism! Sixty-eight stories. Sixty-eight eternities forever changed. Sixty-eight people declaring that they belong to Jesus. I’m still smiling thinking about it. And in a beautiful way, that celebration sets us up perfectly for where we’re headed this Sunday, where we’ll grapple with the question: Is Jesus really enough? Most of us know the right answer. Of course He is! But if we’re not careful, we can unintentionally add things to our faith that God never intended. The early church grappled with this exact question in Acts 15, and the answer they arrived at was wonderfully simple and incredibly freeing. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday,

Mixing Gods and Missing God + Sunday Morning Resources

By TCC • August 28, 2026
This Sunday, in Acts 14, we’ll meet a crowd that sees God do something incredible... and totally misunderstands what they’re seeing. But before we sit in judgment, the truth is we’re not that different. We all come to Jesus with ideas about what will make us happy, secure, and whole. The danger is that instead of allowing Jesus to challenge those beliefs, we simply try to fit Him inside them. But Jesus didn’t come to play a supporting role in the story we’re already writing. He came to be Lord of our lives. This Sunday, we’ll wrestle with a simple question: Am I allowing Jesus to be Lord of every part of my life? Also, remember that this Sunday afternoon is our annual All-Church Picnic & Baptisms ! Join us at Pioneer Park beginning at 4:00pm for food, games, and time together, followed by baptisms at 7:00pm . Our cooking team will be grilling up the main course free of charge. We just ask you to bring a side or dessert to share . It’s going to be a great Sunday together. See you there! Learn more and sign up. Here are some helpful resources to get you ready for the weekend: Message Notes and Study Guide Weekly Spotify Playlist Children's Ministry Student Ministry See you Sunday,
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