Greetings from the Santa Barbara International Christian Church! We had another fantastic week! Dennis preached part two of becoming Mighty Warriors of God. He spoke on the significance of prioritizing the word, worship, and walking with God. Dennis stressed the importance of eagerly examining the scriptures everyday and to love God with our lives because the Bible is our foundation. We had four visitors at service, which was encouraging to see disciples harvesting the fruit!
While the sisters were at midweek service on Wednesday, the brothers were at their Mighty Men of God (MMOG) meeting. This week the brother’s gathered at the Sloan’s apartment for a BBQ and lesson on how to become pure men of God. This was a time of fellowship, prayer and breaking of the bread, just like the first century church demonstrated in Acts 2:42!
This week was the first week of classes at Santa Barbara City College (SBCC). The campus ministry was excited about going after the harvest this semester! The church had many bible studies going on we were excited to teach the men and women about God and His purpose for their lives.
The singles ministry gathered Thursday evening for the free drive-in movie night at the West Wind Drive In. We watched a double feature “Home” and “Avengers: Age of Ultron”! It was a great time of fellowship with the family and Stephanie, Dara’s co-worker who joined us too! Before the movie started, some disciples threw the football and spent time together. While watching the movie, there was a full moon and many stars visible to remind us of God’s amazing creation.
Friday night, the Santa Barbara and Ventura church had a combined devotional at the Swann’s house. Both Javier (from Ventura) and Dennis preached powerful sermons. First, Javier preached on how to find and make a warrior for God’s kingdom by having quiet times, prayers, sharing our faith, and fellowship. Javier emphasized that God believe we can do more and that we must go beyond our borders of our current campuses. Dennis preached on living and embracing your purpose for God. He emphasized that our purpose is to make disciples. If you are on the vine, you will bear much fruit. Dennis also mentioned that when we encourage others, we will be encouraged in return. As disciples we find joy in our salvation, and because of that God commands us to share the good news with the world!
On Saturday evening, some of the Santa Barbara disciples joined the City of Angels region churches for a pure dance for the singles in North Hollywood. This was a great opportunity to fellowship with other brothers and sisters from other branches of our church. It was like a mini Global Leadership Conference (GLC) reunion!
To finish our good news, an amazing opportunity happened back in July when our leaders Dennis and Corinna Sloan went on a family reunion in Louisiana. There they were invited to preach and run their family’s sunday church service. Dennis preached to approximately 40 family members about seeking God and making the Word of God their standard. The sermon sparked great interest in many of Corinna’s family members, specifically her cousin Oleviya, who lived in Baton Rouge,LA. Now she has been studying the bible virtually with Corinna! We don’t have a church in Louisiana yet, but hopefully we will someday soon! The movement is always moving!
Article Written by Laura Lewis