Change is Good!

Mark Twain once said "the only person that likes change is a wet baby." While that's a catchy phrase, I've got to disagree with him. I like change. Maybe even more than I should (just ask my wife). But I don't see my desire for change as a bad thing. At all.

Gratuitous Cute Baby Shot. That's my boy!

You see, no one argues that a move for the positive is better, but we so often forget to call that what it is - change. When we get a brand new car - it's change. When we get a raise at work - change. Establishing that workout routine, having coffee with your new best friend, getting out and hiking in the mountains. It's all change from our normal, daily grind, and it's all good! 


Change moves us forward and makes us better people. 


It's this type of forward-propelling change that's happening at the Maple Valley Campus of New Life. Pastor Brandi and her husband Chuck are going to come on staff as Campus Pastor, and I couldn't be more excited!

About a month ago, when we did the backpacks giveaway and baptisms, I saw something incredible happening - the church being the church. We were meeting people's physical needs, baptizing new believers, building community, and working together to further God's kingdom. It was amazing! But that week, I worked a lot of hours at the church to make it all happen. When you add that to the hours I was working at my Mechanical Engineering job, it was setting me up to be an absent dad, and that is not who I want to model for my son, be for my wife, or be as a leader of the church. So I sat down with Pastor Ricardo and Pastor Troy to figure out the best way to make this sustainable. Emily and I wrestled with what the best thing to do was, and after a TON of prayer, we saw that stepping back so that someone else can take the lead was the best possible solution for all involved. 

That someone else is Pastor Brandi, and we couldn't be more excited! Seriously, spending time with her and her husband is like getting that new car, or that raise at work. Their hearts are on fire for God, they have a HUGE desire to be involved in the community, and they are crazy passionate about people!


In the interim, Emily and I will still be around. We will continue to serve at New Life Maple Valley, continue to pour out to our visitors and volunteers and leaders. We are thrilled for this change, and what it means for the campus!


This Sunday Pastor Brandi and Chuck will be at the Maple Valley Campus. Come say hi and introduce yourself at either the 9:15 or 11am services. We look forward to it!

God is Bigger!

Photo taken during a recent walk through downtown

I went for a walk a couple days ago, and - I'm being transparent here - was pretty bugged. It was just one of those days, nothing was wrong, but everything just rubbed me the wrong way. So I did something productive, and went for a walk outside. I took along our 7 week old baby, Isaiah, so he could get some outside time too.

It was then, 2.5 miles away from my house, in the middle of bustling downtown Seattle, that I was struck with something incredible - God is Bigger. Bigger than me, bigger than my son, bigger than the church, bigger than the things we let consume us. I looked up and saw an old, majestic church reaching high up into the sky, and in the background was painted a gorgeous textured blue sky. God's majesty goes so far beyond us, so far beyond the things that we experience on a daily basis! God is bigger! 

The irony of the situation was not lost on me. I'm holding our baby boy, whom I love dearly, ignoring the love my Father was trying to show me. It was in that instant that I was overwhelmed with how big God is and how much He loves and cares for me. I simply had to stop and be overwhelmed. I just sat still in busyness, letting the Spirit work in my heart, worshiping my Creator.

This blog post is a little different, but hopefully after reading it, you'll take a minute to stop and appreciate the glory of God. He's so far above our daily tasks, above any church building, above ourselves. The best thing we can do is come together and humbly worship our Savior.

May God bless you this week.

Phill Christiansen

We Remember 9/11 - Won't You Join Us?

10 years ago this Sunday, a terrible tragedy occurred on United States soil. It forever defined the trajectory of our nation; it caused people to fall on their knees and ask hard questions. This Sunday at New Life Maple Valley we are going to remember these events. It will be a historic time both for us as a church and for us all as individuals. It will be a somber but powerful time that offers hope; a time where we aren't afraid to ask the hard questions. It will be an amazing day!

A few things to know about Sunday:

• There will be a time that we recognize all First Responders, Civil Servants, and Military. If you know of any - whether or not they usually attend church - invite them to be a part. It will be a powerful time of recognition and remembrance.
• Invite everyone you know. This will be a very public event, one that reaches far into society. This will be a time where people will come and be shown the peace that can only come from Jesus. Powerful!
• Begin to prepare your heart and mind now. We believe that this day will be one that God uses to stir up people, both those that know Him now and those that don't. God is moving, pray for life change.

Services will be at the usual time: 9:15am and 11am. Won't you join us?

Simply Incredible!

We had an absolutely incredible last weekend here at New Life Maple Valley! Where to begin?

On Saturday, we had over FOUR HUNDRED backpacks get distributed to the community. It was incredible to watch the needs of so many people get met in a very real, practical way!

Our guests were blessed with doughnuts (lots, and lots of doughnuts!), coffee, friendly faces - of both the human and balloon variety. That's right, we had a balloon guy on site crafting the finest, most incredible creations I've ever seen in balloon form!

But we didn't stop there! The very next day, on Sunday after both services we baptized people. From young kids to adults, we had EIGHT people stand up and publicly declare their faith. Incredible!

It still gives me goosebumps to see children boldly declare their faith. Pastor Chad, the Children's pastor did an incredible job leading kids through the decision.

God is doing incredible things in this town! We are so honored and blessed to be a part of it. Want to come, be a part of the movement? Join us on Sunday! We have services at 9:15 and 11, we'd love to see you there! 

PS: I dare you to count just how many times I used the word incredible in this post. And yes, it was on purpose. :-)

Backpacks! Let's bless Maple Valley!

Pastor Phill rockin' the Pink!

Ok, so you've heard me talk about backpacks. You've caught the fever and you want to get involved, but you don't know how, or what? Perfect! You've come to the right place, I'll share every detail you need to know.

But first, if I may (and no one's telling me not to!), I'd like to share a bit of why we are doing this. After all, why on earth would 500 people willingly go out of their way, spend their hard-earned money, and fill a backpack with school supplies to be given away? The best answer I have for that is the life-changing power of Jesus Christ. New Life exists to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ, and one of the biggest hurdles people have when talking about Jesus are their physical needs. I'm a huge believer that it's only after a person's physical needs have been met that their hearts can be opened to hear the life-changing message of the cross. There are thousands of people right next door to us in the Maple Valley community that are hurting, and we have the opportunity to change their lives!!

So that's why. Now let's jump into the details of how it's all going down. We have three opportunities for you to get involved and help make this event a raging success:

• This Sunday, August 21st. After the 11am service, so at about 12:30, we will be heading out into the Cherokee Bay community to hand out 1200 fliers letting the community know what we're all about, and what we're doing. We are looking for about 30 people to help out with this.
• Thursday, August 25th at 5pm. We are going to gather a crew to go through the backpacks - make sure that each is appropriately stocked and loaded.
• Saturday, August 27th - The Big Day! This is when the community will come to our door step to experience the life changing power of Jesus Christ, meeting them where they need it most. This will be an absolutely incredible day, beginning at 10am. We will have coffee, donuts, balloon guys, music, and a super fun atmosphere. We'll go until the backpacks run out.

We are looking for about 30 people at each event to help out.

I'd love to have you come help us out for as many of the events as you can. As I said, this is all about being more than ourselves - we want to get out into the community and bless them! If you're able/willing to help out, or just have questions, email me (phillip.christiansen@nlchurch.com) and I'll get you signed up.

Hope to see you there!!

Volunteer Block Party!

Do you volunteer at New Life Maple Valley? Are you are one of the many wonderful people who selflessly help out on Sundays or during the week to make sure that our Campus is ready for visitors who come and check out Jesus? Have you ever helped out at New Life Maple Valley? Will you ever help out?

If you are, we want to celebrate you! Pastor Loran has been planning like crazy to make an event specifically tailored to make you feel special and honored. It will be an incredible time to hang out, connect with other volunteers, eat AMAZING food, play games, and bask in the glory of having the New Life staff wait on you.

If you're able to come, RSVP by clicking this link. It's TOMORROW, Wednesday August 17th from 6:30-8:30pm.

Hope to see you there!

New Life (literally!)

Hey all! Pastor Phill here, and I want to welcome you to the new norm - blogging weekly. Well, that's my goal at least, we'll see how I do. :-)

There is new life just springing up all over! For those of you that don't know, I am taking over as Campus Pastor after Pastor Garrett moved on to plant another church, and I couldn't be more stoked! Emily, my wife, and I have a burning passion for the area of Maple Valley / Covington, and we simply cannot wait to dive in! We have huge plans for this coming summer / fall, including barbeques, worship nights, small groups, serve days, and so so much more. Our heart is to get out in the community and get into areas that Christians aren't. After all, it's not the healthy that need a hospital, it's the sick, and it's those that hurt and need God that my heart burns for.

This fall is going to be an amazing time to watch God work through our small campus to make a HUGE impact on this community; I'm completely humbled, and absolutely stoked!

But wait, there's more! That's right, just like any good infomercial, I couldn't end with just one amazing thing.

As of one week ago, I am now officially a daddy. That's right, our very first child - Isaiah Jacob Christiansen - was welcomed into this world, all 20 inches and 9 pounds of him. We are just smitten with this little guy, and simply cannot express into words how much love we have for him. I have SO much more appreciation for God as my Father after experiencing just this little part of fatherhood. It's a journey, but one I'm so blessed to be a part of.

So, there is New Life (yes, puns intended) springing up all over the place! Won't you join us in this journey called life? We meet on Sundays at 9:15 and 11, and would love to see you there. If you've been coming for any length of time and want to get involved, shoot me an email and I'll get you connected right away. Don't forget, the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few. Let's band together to turn this town upside down for Jesus!

God bless you all.

Phill Christiansen

Grand Opening - Feb.13th

Hello Maple Valley!

If you haven't already, I expect in the next couple days you will find a an invitation from me, in your mailbox, inviting you to stop by New Life Maple Valley for the Grand Opening on February 13th. We're starting a new series called "Jacked Up" that points out how many of the people in the Bible that we put on a pedestal were really just normal people like you and me and, quite frankly, were pretty Jacked Up.

It's been so cool to see all the new young families in the area stop by to check out what's going on. We're having a blast and so are the kids! I'm sure this weekend is going to be crazy, so show up early for a good parking spot, grab a cup of coffee and meet some new people.

For more info visit www.NewLifeMapleValley.com

Services are on Sundays at 9:15am & 11am.

See you this Sunday!

-Garrett

BUSTING AT THE SEAMS

It's crazy to think that we launched New Life Maple Valley only three weeks ago...and already we're talking about adding a third service! Week 1 was packed and we had to put 30 people in the lobby just to make room. Then Week 2 we added a second service and they both filled up. Yesterday was Week 3 and once again, packed house!

What's even more crazy - We haven't even advertised in the community at all yet. God is up to something very cool in Maple Valley and this is a huge confirmation of the call we got to plant a church there.

Next week we will be sending out a mailer to the Maple Valley/Covington/Black Diamond neighborhoods and inviting them to come check us out for our Grand Opening on February 13th when we'll start a new series called "Jacked Up!"

We are praying and believing God for a great response to our mailer invitations. It is very likely that we'll have to add a third service just to make room for everyone. There are tons of ways to get involved and partner with us by joining a serving team - so if you're not connected yet, shoot me an email and I'll get you plugged in. You can email me at garrett.birkeland@newlifemaplevalley.com

In closing, I wanted to share a couple pictures that I took in our Boardwalk (birth - 5yrs old) area yesterday. We have such an incredible kids program and our volunteers ROCK. I especially love to see men serving in these rooms; there's a lot of babies that need a strong & positive male influence in their lives!

Can't wait to see what God has in store for us next Sunday! I'm praying for you all and so thankful for such an amazing group of volunteer church planters!!

-Garrett

Packed House for Launch

New Life Maple Valley has officially launched and it launched with a BANG! We had an absolutely packed house this past Sunday for our 9:15am service and then we all hung out and celebrated by watching the Seahawks game together on the giant 16ft HD screen.  There were so many people there and feedback was so great that we are immediately adding a 2nd service at 11am beginning this Sunday, January 23rd.

Please feel free to read any of my previous posts for more info on the Maple Valley Campus, but here's a quick summary of what's going on:

When: Sunday's @ 9:15am & 11am

Where: 27405 216th Ave Se, Maple Valley, WA 98038

What to expect: Fun & friendly people, age appropriate classrooms for your kids, loud music and a message that's relevant to your everyday life.

Here's a few pics from Sunday...hope to see you soon! - Garrett

Tahnee has her game face on - Go Hawks!

Great vibe - Nick & team rocking worship

Packed House - We had to add chairs in the lobby to seat everyone.

Kids having a blast in KidTown

Progress is Good

The Maple Valley Campus is coming along nicely and will be fully operational for our first meeting this Sunday, January 16th.

As mentioned in my previous blog we'll be having service at 9:15am and then turning on the big game after that on all three big screens including the giant 16ft Hi-Def screen!

Here's some pics of the auditorium as of yesterday...

Projector Works - Can't wait to watch the big game on that screen!

There's a chair waiting just for you!

Speakers Work

SEAHAWKS SUNDAY

That's right, this Sunday, January 16th is officially being deemed "Seahawk Sunday" at New Life Maple Valley.  What better way to kick off the inaugural services at our new campus than by cheering on the Hawks together?!

Here's the skinny:

• Come wearing your Seahawks fan gear!
• Normal church service starting at 9:15am. All programs including kids (birth thru 5th grade) will be fully operational.
• Starting at 10:15am we'll turn the Seahawks on in the main auditorium on ALL 3 SCREENS including the 16ft HD screen!
• Everyone is welcome so invite your friends, family and neighbors. 
• Parents, grab your kids after the 9:15 service and bring them in to watch the game with you - we welcome them! We want to give all our kids volunteers a chance to party and watch the game with us too.
• Free lunch - we'll provide pizza, sub sandwiches and some soft drinks.

We're going to have blast - invite everyone you know and I'll see you Sunday.

-Garrett