Oh Holy Night

I apologize for the quality of the image, but for those of you who missed on Sunday - this is one of Metro's favorite Christmas traditions, having Louis sing "O Holy Night" in it's original French - complete with the true and AMAZING translation of the poem - as it was actually written.

Louis preceded the song with a small history lesson of the song - which you can read about by clicking here.

Here are the lyrics that you cannot read behind Louis, as he is accompanied by Jenny Smith. As you can see, the widely sung version of "Oh Holy Night" lacks some of the power with which it was originally infused:

English Translation of Minuits, chrétiens / Cantique de Noël: (N.b. the English version of 'O Holy Night' is not a direct translation of the French.)

Midnight, Christians is the solemn hour

When God as Man descended unto us

To erase the original stain (sin)

And end the wrath of his Father.

The entire world trembles with expectation

In this night that gives to us a Savior.

Fall on your knees, await your deliverance.

Noel, Noel, here is the Redeemer,

Noel, Noel, here is the Redeemer!

The ardent light of our Faith,

Guides us all to the cradle of the infant,

As in ancient times a brilliant star

Conducted the Magi there from the orient.

The King of kings was born in a humble manger;

O mighty ones of today, proud of your grandeur,

It is to your pride that God preaches.

Bow your heads before the Redeemer!

Bow your heads before the Redeemer!

The redeemer has broken every shackle

The earth is free, and heaven is open.

He sees a brother where there was once only a slave

Those who had been chained together by iron, love now unites.

Who will tell Him of our gratitude

It is for every one of us that he was born, suffered and died.

Stand on your feet, sing of your deliverance.

Noel, Noel, sing of the Redeemer,

Noel, Noel, sing of the Redeemer!

Children's Ministry photos

Minh and Suzie took some great photos yesterday at church!
for more images of our kiddos, take a peek at http://metrochurch.smugmug.com/Youth

Christmas party fun

Pastor Steve tells the kids the Christmas story... Their suggestions
for animals that may have been at the stable: donkeys, dinosaurs,
sheep, elephants, mustangs, Pluto, Mickey...

Scenes from the nursery -Peace on Earth

Today is the sweetest day in the nursery... Every happy little person is having so much fun playing.
And they're playing TOGETHER!
We are calling it "Peace on Earth."

Haves and Needs - December 2, 2008

We're going to start posting some things here, every few weeks - things we have/things we need for our church family to see and share.
here are some that we know of now... if you are interested, you can either post a comment below - and we can have people get in touch initially that way... or email Liberty

ROOMMATE WANTED - FEMALE
"Patti and I are battling the times, by transforming our living room, into an extra room, and our dining room, into our living room. We now are looking for a nice female to share our place with. Utilities (internet, phone, cable, hotwater, gas), and rent will be $400/month. Patti and I are often out working, filming, or at Christian meetings of some sort, and are not often home. We are really easy going, and need someone who is the same.
Please forward to your friends, as we are looking for someone to move in immediately =*)"
Sandy Sunshine

TWIN BED AVAILABLE for FREE
Jay and Liberty have an extra twin bed... no mattress - available.
Let us know if you're interested.

an addition to our family!

This Thanksgiving Day, Marco and Hayley were blessed to have baby G join them!

If you're interested in bringing them a meal, send an email to Liberty.

lworth at metrochurch dot org

Praise God for another happy, healthy baby in our church, which seems to be growing, "from the belly up!"

Metro/Elements Family Fun and Christmas Party

METRO/ELEMENTS
Christmas Party


Sunday, *December 7th 5pm -8pm
At the Metro/Elements offices
1420 Arizona Santa Monica

Kids will have a special “Happy Birthday Jesus” party and potluck in the little chapel while the adults mix and mingle at the main party. Around 6.30-7pm, kids will present a song and the two parties will join for the telling of the Christmas story, some singing and an open mic Christmas talent portion.

COME! Bring a friend!

Sign up to RSVP at church on Sunday, or email Liberty Worth at lworth@metrochurch.org

Potluck signups will also be at the tables after church.

BRING:
Yourself, a little spiffy
A friend
A song, poem, story or piece of artwork to share and inspire
Your potluck item
An ornament to exchange

See you there!

Advent Conspiracy

We've got a Facebook page!

So after making a great case for it... Metro Calvary Chapel has moved onto the Facebook scene. Okay, not the "scene" - but we are there as a place to connect with each other... so join us!
look for us....

and post some of your fun Metro photos on the group's page, too!

For now, the group is "closed" so that members need to be approved or invited - that is to avoid random viewings of personal things that may be posted, but feel free to pass on or refer other people to our group page.

Retreat... Garbage junkies

Scenes from the retreat

Liz and William show off some hard won lip gloss (aka armpit gloss?) they won while playing "garbage"

Scenes from the church retreat

Costumes to (the very yummy!) dinner before the carnival... There were lots of animal sitings ... Some ladybugs, bumblebees, an elephant, a monkey, a peacock, a panda and frog. There was the gospel writer - Dr. Luke, Gideon, the Queen of Sheba, a Roman Centurian, David the shepherd and the one and only Tree of Life. There were both angels and demons present, though we all know who wins in the end!

Who Are Your Neighbors?

This morning I was reading in
Proverbs 27. Verse 10.
"Do not forsake your friend and the friend of your father
and do not go to your brother's house when disaster strikes you
better a neighbor nearby than a brother far away."

This reminded me of something that has been on my heart a lot lately.
A few weeks ago, I was home with my 2 year old son and 3 men came crawling through our back window... apparently to finish up a robbery they'd started earlier in the day when I was out of the house. I hadn't even noticed things were missing until after the police were in the house with me later. We were unharmed, and ran out the front of the house as the men ran out the back when I started screaming... but the experience shook up our family and really brought a lot of things to light.
The most important comfort to me over the days following the incident (besides my faith in God's protection and leading us to this home in the first place) was the comfort of my neighbors. By the end of the first day, I had 13 neighbors (many of whom I already was on a first name basis with, but also many new ones) come to check on me. I now have at least 6 of their cell phone numbers on my speed dial, and instructions to call if I ever need anything. When I got scared to walk into my house alone, my neighbors walked with me through the house and gave me hugs when I needed it. When I had workers come to give quotes on security systems and the like, my neighbors walked right up to my porch to make sure these were good people talking to me.
One of the police officers that first day said, "Don't give up on your neighborhood. It takes good people to make a good neighborhood."
He was right.
I've been thinking a lot about who my neighbors are. It really does take a village to raise a family in safety and wholeness these days, especially in Los Angeles.

When I need instant help, I can't call my family - they all live between 4 and 40 miles away. I need to call my neighbors. And I actually have church family pretty close, too. In a church our size, there are enough of us, that most of us have someone from our Metro family who lives pretty near to us. Wouldn't it be awesome if you knew that someone from your spiritual family lived a few minutes away and could help you out in a time of need?
To me, that is what being family is about. Finding those people and as we say in our family, "doing life with them"

We've made it very clear to the people that we meet - "hey, we have room in our life for new friends." This is LA, and one of the hardest things about LA is how often people move in and out of the city. There is a lot of turnover, and it's hard to find people who are committed to you. But if you look, you'll find them here at Metro...

here are some fun ways to break the ice at getting to form better bonds with your Metro family:
1 - go on the fall retreat!
2 - join a small group (sign ups are happening again soon! if possible, find one CLOSE to you)
3 - if you have free time, call the church office and volunteer to come help with a project
4 - join one of the prayer meetings that happen during the week
5 - find a service opportunity - lots of ministries need help
6 - ask someone to lunch after service

some fun things that we've done as a family as well...
-hosted parties and invited people over
-set up a standing weekly date with another family that whenever we're free, we do Saturday breakfast with each other
-get on facebook, and find some metro friends there
-introduce ourselves to people we've not met before at church "Hi. I haven't met you before..."

Here's to creating a family here... in LA ... the kind we can call on.

FALL RETREAT

This coming week is our annual all church Fall Retreat!
If you haven't signed up yet, but want to, contact info@metrochurch.org ASAP.
You don't want to miss this...

Staff interview - Vanessa Sokic

Vanessa and her husband Phil are our amazing youth group leaders here at Metro, read below to learn more about the friendly voice who answers the phones in our office!

What is your name and where are you from?
Vanessa Sokic, that's a hard question for me to answer. I was born in Texas, but was raised in Florida and Ontario, Canada.

How did you come to know Christ?
I grew up knowing Christ, but I never understood what it meant to walk daily with Him and to have a personal relationship with Him until April 2006. Although I knew what right vs. wrong was, I decided it was fine to take things into my own hands and ask for forgiveness later for many years. I heard a sermon on surrender and I learned that God would take care of all my problems. He would make me pure and that was when I hit rock-bottom. Since then, I feel like I have been on the fast-track for growing in Christ.

Do you have family? children? single? Married?
Yes, my husband of almost 5 years, Phil. and our three cats, Oreo, PingPong, and Two.

What is something really fun about you that we might not guess?

I can tap dance.

Closest friend at Metro
the other Vanessa...

What small group do you attend?
Phil and I lead the youth group on Friday nights and we were attending the Trabun's group for a year. I'm also a part of the women's Thursday night group.

Favorite Metro event
I love the all church retreats, and the weekly eventful staff meetings

What do you do for a career outside of church?

I moved to LA with the purpose of becoming an actress, but God obviously had other plans for now. That is still a passion that I hope to pursue... and right now I am in the church office full time.

If you could do one thing in the next 5 years, what would it be?
to go to Africa and to start a family, not necessarily at the same time

What is your favorite pair of shoes?
ooooh, my new pink pumps (ouch)

What ministry positions do you hold in and out of Metro?
My extended family is my first ministry. I am a Metro youth leader, women's Bible study leader and serve on the welcoming committee and I sing in worship, too. I also take seriously the ministry I have to my neighbors and friends who don't know the Lord.

Most encouraging verse in your life right now.
Isaiah 61:1-4
The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor.
They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.

Staff interview - Nicole (Niki) Woolsey

As a part of getting to build community together here on this blog, we thought it would be fun to interview some of the staff members here. Niki Woolsey is the new Little Kids Ministry Director at Metro and here are some fun things to know about her:


What is your name and where are you from?
Niki Woolsey. I was born in Northern California but, after 40 something moves, I'm pretty sure I'm from everywhere.

How did you come to know Christ?
I was so fortunate to grow up in a Christian home with parents who really nurtured me towards a true relationship with Jesus Christ.

Do you have family? children? single? Married?
I am married to Chris and we have 2 kids, Cassidy (2004) and Connor (2007).

How long have you been at Metro?
We have been going to Metro for 12 years (since '96)!

Closest friend at Metro?
Liberty Worth

What do you do for a career outside of church?
Mommy.

If you could do one thing in the next 5 years, what would it be?
Become a better wife, a better mom, and a better servant for Christ.

What is your favorite pair of shoes?
It's too hard to pick just one. Something high and sassy!

What ministry positions do you hold in and out of Metro?
Little Kids Ministry Director

Most encouraging verse in your life right now.
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." (Matt. 6:34)

Favorite place to travel to:
Anywhere! I'm easy to please!

String of Pearls

This week's sermon was about 1Thessalonians 3 - and Pastor Steve discussed temptation as:
1. lure, enticement to sin
2. our being put to the test
3. refining suffering in patience.

Pastor Steve also defined AFFLICTON as being - "Pressed upon, pressed together" - reminding us that we can trust God when He is the one applying the pressure.

The questions he asked that are great to consider in your quiet times this week:
How does God change us? (by trials, tests, and being proved) What is the test you are taking right now? How many times have you failed it? If Jesus and Paul learned through suffering, did you think that you would escape it as a follower?

These are tough things to consider, but we need to remember what this is about. I Thess 2:4 says, "We are not trying to please men but God, who tests our hearts."

In 1 Thess 3, Paul reminds the Thessalonians that this persecution was part of following Christ...
"We sent Timothy, who is our brother and God's fellow worker in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted"

As Pastor Steve taught about this, he said "God had in store for Paul a long string of trials to shape him. He suffered many things for Christ"... which brought to mind the image of a string of pearls.... quite literally a clam endures suffering and goes through discomfort in the process of creating a pearl.
When you look at this string of pearls, what might some of the pearls be? Look at each one individually - name the pearls of suffering that you know the Lord has placed in your life...
(ex. loneliness, betrayal, insecurity, a tough relationship...)

Now read:

James 1:2-4
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

and
Romans 5:3-5
we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

When we look at suffering with worldy eyes, it is hard to see purpose. But God's view is one of purpose. He knows why this suffering entered your little clam shell. He wants it to irritate you to the point of surrender to Him, so that He can create a thing of beauty.

Metro Open House

Metro's office has recently relocated to a new location in Santa Monica. The clean up and renovations are complete, and we would like to invite you to our Open House BBQ. This will be a great time for fellowship and to meet new people! We look forward to seeing you all there!

There is no parking in the lot, as we will be using the space for the gathering, but there are a couple spacious lots in the area. Follow this link to see the public lots just steps away from the office. http://parking.smgov.net/pdfs/Parking_Map_Apr07.pdf There is also parking on Arizona Ave. and on Santa Monica Blvd.

What? Open House BBQ

When? September 28 from 1pm-4pm

Where? 1320 Arizona Ave. SM (at the corner of 14th St)

What's for lunch? We will be serving delicious BBQ chicken and tri tip

How much does it cost? Only $5/plate

Please RSVP as soon as possible and pass it on!

info@metrochurch.org

A minute to refocus

Did you take 3 minutes to tell God how amazing He is this week? I mean, 3 focused minutes.
Read this aloud to the Lord and focus for the following 3 minutes on your own words of praise.

"Bless you, Lord Jesus.
you are amazing.
I love you and I am in awe of you.
You alone are worthy to be praised.
Nothing else compares to you.
My entire life is in your hands
and I bow at your feet, my king."
(now take 3 minutes.)

Now, take a deep breath.
on the inhale, attach the words
COME LORD JESUS
and on the exhale, attach the words
COME, HOLY SPIRIT.

(there, doesn't that feel better?)

10 minutes of prayer

It was Sunday morning.
Driving to church, I was praying and getting into a place of prayer and I realized that I didn't pray as much as I would have liked to this past week. People and situations came to mind... things that need real, dedicated prayer... Richard and Jeff both had major surgeries this week. There are marriages and families in great need... the Rodriguez' twin boys are having hearing tests, Vanessa's mom is having more chemo this week, my own father is in a continual battle with cancer.
And though I did pray for each of those situations and many more, looking back, I wish I'd prayed more for each of those... truly been able to talk and listen to God about each of those at length.

As you look back at your week, which one situation comes to mind that you wish you'd dedicated more time to praying about?
Take 2 minutes right now to lift up that situation to God.

which was the second situation that came to mind?
Take 3 minutes to pray and talk to God about that.

I'm sure many other situations come to mind.
Don't get overwhelmed by all of them.

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

- write down a list of the things that are on your heart that need prayer.
Take 3 of them to focus some time on.

See if any verses come to mind as you focus in prayer about the situation.

And leave the rest to God. and He will give you REST.


P.S. If you don't know a lot of verses, I'd encourage you to buy a Bible Promise Book to use while you are praying. The $2-3 investment, is well worth the payoff of having the Word of Life ready at your hand.
A great way to work scripture into your prayer life is to journal. One one side of your page, write the things on your heart and mind. Across the page, find scriptures to write out - at length - that address your situation. You'll be amazed to find how applicable the Bible truly is.

New Communion Procedure

This week at church, we tried out a new way of handling communion.

Our communion was distributed in the front of the auditorium by our elders and as you came forward, the elder read your nametag and said, "Christ's body, broken for you, 'Caroline'" etc.

What did you think about the way we handled communion?

Sermon application - Thessalonians 1

This week, Pastor Steve's message was entitled, "Living what you believe", as he began his new series on Thessalonians ("Living in the Last Days")
text:

1 Thessalonians 1
1 Paul, Silas and Timothy, to the church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ: grace and peace to you 2 We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers.
3 We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

As I was listening to the sermon, I took feverish notes, very excited to think about how many ways this sermon and passage of scripture could be applied to questions about our own lives.
Steve highlighted the points at the beginning of FAITH HOPE and LOVE. ... Funny, Paul touches on that later in 1 Corinthians 13... These are so key... and I realized that as we look at the above passage and listen to the sermon from this week, we can use the following questions and insert our own situations to make the questions especially applicable.

For example, what is going on in your life?
Are you under stress? relaxed?
Are you a parent? Are you single? Are you a student?
Think of your current circumstance and apply it to the blanks below, and see just how personal this gets.

1 - Faith, Hope and Love... What do these look like in our circumstances?
What does faith look like in the context of "______________"
What does hope look like in the context of ______?
What does love look like in the context of___________?
(Pray about the answers, wait on God for the answers...)


2 - If I don't have a hope that endures (about _______), where am I putting my faith? ("The ability you have to labor in love, is going to be affected by your hope and faith")

3 - (verses 7-9) - Everyone was talking about the Thessalonians faith, hope and love.
Is anyone saying that about me in this situation, ___________? Why? Why not?

4 - Pastor Steve mentioned Paul's desire for this church to become a mature church. To labor in love is a mature thing to do. As Steve put it, "Those of you who are parents understand that there are things that you do for love that you would not do for money"
What is the Lord asking you to do (as you grow in maturity) - that you would not do for money, but you would do for the love of Christ? What might you do in love in ___________(said situation) that you would not do for money?


5 - When we place our hope in Christ, our faith in Him, and are filled with love, it is not hard to trust Him.
What are you holding onto in your own hand that you might be able to let go of if you really allowed yourself to trust Jesus? (If you hold things in your hands, they become areas in which God does not have control)

6 - verse 6 - They became imitators of Paul and of the Lord.
Who are you imitating in _____________?
(Make sure it is God!)

7 - verse 6 - "in spite of severe suffering... you welcomed the message with joy."
Have you received God's word in affliction? with joy? This becomes an example.
"Your identity is NOT: your past, your failure, even what you did last night. Your identity is HIM."
What are you assigning to your identity as _____________ that is not of God?

8 - verse 8 - "the Lord's message rang out..."
How do you share your faith in_______________?

And a few final quotes from the message,
*"If you are living for this life, you are probably hopeless. If you are not living for heaven, you are not really living. Heaven is real. We need to live for it. It should cause us to live differently"
9 - If you were living for heaven and not for this life, how would your current situation with _________ be different?

Nametag Sunday

We all know that it's hard to wear a nametag and not feel totally uncomfortable, but we also come to church eventually hoping to find people that not only know our names, but can share our lives and walk with us as we seek the Lord.
This Sunday is "Nametag Sunday" - we're all doing it, so can you. We feel weird wearing them, too, but we want to know your name and we want you to know ours.
So be prepared to smile, write your name and meet some of your Metro family.

New Bulletin Board

Check out the fellowship hall at the entry of our church auditorium for our new Metro Family Bulletin Board!
We will have a place to list jobs, roommate requests, haves/needs.

see you Sunday!

Our Pastor, Steve Snook

What do you do at Metro?

Senior Pastor, founded Metro in 1989.

Tell us about yourself.

I have been married to Tamara since 1987. We have three children:
Stefen (1989)
Canaan (1992)
Kylie (1994)

Favorite Things:
I love being with my family
Any activity with Tamara is amazing
Dates with my daughter and reading together
Riding dirt bikes, surfing, and golf with my sons

How did you come to know Christ?

Saved in 1968 as a young boy, but as 12...

Do you have a life verse?

Romans 8:28 (my dad and grandfather's also), Proverbs 3:5,6 and Matthew 6:33

Welcome, Metro Family...

and so we begin... with a simple desire to encourage, inform and become a better family...
This is our new metrochurch blog.

It's our desire to use this forum as a place to share what is on the heart of the church leaders and pastors... to introduce leaders and elders, share about ministries and missionaries, communicate what is inspiring our walk as a church.