Double the Blessing

Our shepherds have determined that the Mandarin Family’s first Double the Blessing for 2021 will be used to bless our ministry partner, Leroy Swaby, and his work with the Negril Church of Christ in Jamaica.

Our evangelism/mission ministry leaders, Gary Eaton and Troy Regas, visited with brother Leroy just prior to the pandemic. Upon their visit, they discovered an active, hard working church who are doing much with little. They have immediate needs for Bibles, song books, tables and chairs. They also have a very old van in dire need of radical repairs or replacement. In addition to problems with rust, air conditioning and tires, not to mention an old engine, Leroy has to enter through the passenger side to get to the driver side to operate the van. Repairs will cost thousands, if they can be done at all, and a good used replacement van could cost over $20,000, due to import fees, taxes, etc. This van is a critical ministry tool for transportation and evangelism.

Simply put, Negril could use some help! We took up a collection last November to assist, and you generously gave a little over $3,000 in the heart of Christmas season when we were asking you to be generous on multiple fronts. We would like to add as much as we can to that amount. After all, a little can help a little, but a lot can help a lot!

You can double the blessing in any of these ways:

· Leave a check in the marked box in the foyer, designating the funds to be used for Double the Blessing.
· Mail a check.
· Donate online, via text to give, or via Zell. Again, please designate your donation for Double the Blessing.

I am excited to see what God will do through you!

-Mike Johnson

Growth Opportunities

The Mandarin Family works together to guide people into a growing relationship with Jesus. Our all-in pursuit of this mission helps us be a place to love and be loved. Loving relationships requires continuing growth.

That’s why we’re starting off 2021 with our 7-5-2 prayer campaign, where we are asking all Mandarin Family members to pray 7 times a week for your family, 5 times a week with your family, and 2 times a week with your spouse. We believe this pursuit of a new normal will change our prayer lives, it will change our relationship with God, and it will change our relationships with the people who matter most to us.

Another growth opportunity is our virtual Bible classes. One of the blessings of the pandemic has been tapping into technology that allows all of us to participate in a Bible class from the comfort of our own homes.

Right now, we are offering a study of Proverbs on Tuesday mornings at 10:30 and Wednesday evenings at 7:00. One of the cool things about Proverbs is that each class stands on its’ own as opposed to building on the previous class, so if you are out for a week here and there, you can rejoin without feeling behind.

On Sunday evenings at 6:00, we are engaged in a short study called, “Can You Trust the Bible.” This study will continue into early February, then a new study will begin. Our intent with Sunday night classes is to do relevant studies of no longer than four to six weeks. That way, you don’t have to make a long-term commitment to participate.

I encourage you to take advantage of these opportunities to grow and to help others grow.

-Mike Johnson

Get Fit

How are you doing with your New Year’s resolutions? Most polls indicate over half those who make a get fit resolution do something out of alignment with that resolution within the first three days of a new year.

Cultivating new lifestyle habits is not easy. If we’re trying to get physically fit, we need accountability. We need someone in our lives who has permission to challenge us to keep going when we want to give up. It helps to set appointed times to engage in the behaviors that will help us reach our goals.

In the Mandarin Family, we are renewing our efforts to Get Fit spiritually. The Apostle Paul says, “physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things” (I Timothy 4:8 NIV). Over the next several weeks, we will engage in specific training techniques to Get Fit. And out of all the habits in which we will engage, none is more important than prayer.

That’s why today, we are introducing a 40-day prayer campaign called 7-5-2. We are asking every Mandarin Family member to make a commitment between today and February 19 to:

· Pray for your family 7 days a week,
· Pray with your family 5 days a week,
· Pray with your spouse 2 days a week.

We need help to do this, so we’re providing you a wide variety of resources, and we’ll be offering consistent and positive encouragement as we pray together.

We believe that prayer changes things. In fact, we believe that prayer changes everything. Today I will be asking you to make a 7-5-2 commitment. Pursuing a new normal begins with this step. Are you ready?

-Mike Johnson

Cultivating Christ Followers in Our Homes

I am delighted that so many of you are already taking advantage of the wide array of resources in our Mandarin Home Garden! It’s wonderful to already be replenishing idea cards and pointer books.

Pointer books provide encouragement to be intentional about our faith in our current stages of life. They also address faith in the context of special circumstances. Some of the pointer books currently available address: Single Adulthood; Building a Strong Marriage; Intentional Parenting; Discipline with Young Children; Preparing Your Child for Adolescence; Launching Young Adults, and Influencing Grandchildren. There are also pointer books available for single parenting, grieving, addiction issues and sexual identity/gender confusion.

Idea cards create opportunities to discuss faith with your children and teens. There are also faith focused date night ideas for your marriage. Some of the idea cards topics include: Bedtime Parent Picture; Memory Minute; Blinded by Sin; Truth Treasure Map; Impression Points; and more. In addition, there are dinner and movie meal-time ideas for parents with their children and their teens.

You can access these resources on site at the Home Garden Center, located in the church foyer, underneath the painting. You also can go to mandarincc.com. and click on “Home Garden Center.” There you’ll find not only pointer books and idea cards, but also the Home Appraisal we did together a couple of weeks ago. We are keeping the Home Appraisal available so you can check your progress periodically.

Special thanks to Dakota Thornton and his team for researching these resources and providing a format to make them available to us. The Mandarin Home Garden is a great tool to help us work together to guide people into a growing relationship with Jesus.

-Mike Johnson

Welcome to the Mandarin Home Garden

I am pumped about our launch of the Mandarin Home Garden! As you know, our mission is working together to guide people into a growing relationship with Jesus. And a growing relationship with Jesus must be something that begins in a Christ-centered home. Hence, the Mandarin Home Garden is a resource to help equip you to cultivate a Christ-centered home.

The Mandarin Home Garden is filled with a wide variety of tools that are designed to help you be intentional about your faith in your personal life, marriage, and parenting. These tools will include, but are not limited to, ideas for family devotionals, discussions with your children and teens, and date night ideas for you and your spouse.

I want to emphasize that these tools are not limited to parents or married people. All of us have the responsibility to grow, and all of us have the responsibility to help others grow, especially the next generation. Whatever your life stage, you will find something of value in the Mandarin Home Garden.

All the Home Garden Tools will be found at the Home Garden Center in the Foyer and on the Mandarin Church of Christ website (mandarincc.com). Periodically throughout the year, more tools will be added to the Home Garden Center, along with an initiative to encourage you to continue cultivating a Christ-centered home.

Feel free to take Tools to give to friends and neighbors, or direct them to the Home Garden Center on our website.

Thank you to our world class youth minister, Dakota Thornton, and to his team for preparing the Mandarin Home Garden for this launch. I can’t wait to see what God does next!

-Mike Johnson