Do You Really Know Yourself?

Did you know…

1. If all 600 muscles in your body pulled in one direction, you could lift 25 tons.
2. More than half of your body’s 206 bones are in your hands and feet.
3. Your eyes can distinguish nearly 8,000,000 differences in colors.
4. Your digestive tract is 30 feet long.
5. One cubic inch of bone can withstand a 2-ton force.
6. Your ears can discriminate among more than 300,000 tones.
7. The surface area of your lungs is 20 times greater than the surface area of your skin.
8. Your heart pumps more than 2,000 gallons of blood every day.
9. There are 1,300 nerve endings per square inch in your fingertips. The only parts of your body more sensitive to the touch are the lips, the tongue, and the tip of your nose.
10. Every day, blinking causes the eyes to be closed for a half hour.
11. In an average lifetime, the hair on your head grows about 25 feet.
12. The human skull is made up of 29 different bones.

You are an amazing creation, made in the image of God!

Now I don’t know about you, but for me it can be easy to take this life for granted. It’s easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself with others and feeling like you’re just not that great. But you are!!

Aside from knowing God, the best part of my life is my family. Nothing else even comes close to bringing me as much joy and happiness as being a part of family. It is hard for me to describe to you the utter euphoria of having my boys randomly look at me and say, “daddy, I love you” or “daddy, you’re the bestest daddy in the whole world”.

There is nothing as comforting as a wife that I have complete trust in; that loves me and our boys; a wife who is an example of godliness to everyone.
It is a beautiful thing to me to be a part of a family that is there for you and loves you, warts and all.

Even though I may not be famous or have a boat-load of cash, even though I will probably not be asked any time soon to be a stand-in for Brad Pit, I wouldn’t trade my life for anyone else’s!

God created me to be me and He created you to be you.

I want to encourage you today to take some time and look over your life and give God thanks for all the blessings that He has given you.
Remember, God loves you more than you love anyone on this earth! He is especially fond of you and is pleased with you. You can’t earn His love or approval, He loves you!

Zephaniah 3:17 (Amplified Bible)
17The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult [dance, spin, twirl] over you with singing.


Part of the family,

Pastor Willy

Star Trek

I recently enjoyed the new Star Trek movie out at Bridgeport Village at the IMAX Theater. WOW! What a great movie, tons of action. Now let me just say that I am in no way pretending to be some kind of trekky, but even I, a mere laymen in the world of Vulcans, Klingons and space travel galore have to admit that the Star Trek franchise has truly reinvented itself.

I got to thinking about this a little bit and it reminded me of the church… not that we are all going to travel at light speed any time soon, but the fact that the package has changed, not the story.

The church must reinvent how we package ourselves to be culturally relevant and attractive. The gospel never changes but the music should! The message should never be updated, but our style and methods have to be understandable to the culture that we find ourselves in.

It was really cool for me to learn some of the “back story” to Star Trek and I was very impressed how authentic they kept it. Tasteful use of some of the classic phrases that have become part of our culture, “Beam me up Scotty”, “I’m a doctor Jim” and “I’m giving her all she’s got” along with a few other well placed gems.
In a lot the same way I think that folks who come to our church are hungry to hear this life saving message that we all know by heart, they just want it in a way that they can understand!

Southside is a unique church in that we have the ability to reach folks in a non-traditional setting using non-traditional means. We can blow up a bottle of Diet Coke and we won’t even get in trouble for it!

One thing that never changes is how God has designed His church to work. Evangelism. The responsibility and the privilege rests on each of us. The same method that has been used for the last couple thousand years of reaching our neighbors with our personal story is still the best method today.

It just takes some men and women who are willing to tell their story. The audience is there… are you ready to tell them the one story that will lead them to their lives being transformed and their future with God coming to life?

Live long and prosper!

Pastor Willy

new web site

Hey Southside!!

Have you checked out the new web site (www.southsidenewberg.org)?

I want to point out a few new features to you that are quite frankly, the bomb.


Our site gets found mostly by folks searching for prayer in Newberg. As a result we have added a prayer request link at the top of the page. This is a really cool feature where you can send in a prayer request online and it gets to the elders for prayer. Try it out!

You can look at and sign up for community groups and do your giving online now too (well almost, we are still waiting for that to go through with PayPal, but soon).

There is a “what's happening” place on the home page where you can go to see what's going on at the moment.

There is a link to this blog and a new page "Just for Kidz".

It is a really cool site and it is only going to get better!

Sooo, I want to send a big, Thank You out to Jeremy and Jeff for working on our web stuff.

Be blessed as you walk daily in His Will,

Pastor Willy

Community Groups Summer of Love

The Summer of Love is upon us!!

Community Group sign ups have begun and this is your opportunity to plug in make new friends at Southside.

All of us need God and all of us need community. This summer, starting in June, community groups will begin their 12 week summer term and this will be a great place to get closer to God and to make some new friends.

We are calling this the Summer of Love because we are asking each group to do some kind of community service project at least three times over the summer!! We want to let our neighbors know that God loves them and so do we.

There are different kinds of groups that will be doing different fun activities so be sure to check out a catalog or look online (P.S. there are enough catalogues for you to take extra and give to a friend who might benefit from joining a group).

Community Groups are who we are! If you are at Southside you need to be in a group.

You can sign up to join one of these groups THIS MONTH ONLY. After the groups start you will not be able to join a group until new groups begin this fall. Sooooo, take the plunge and get in a group today!

Here are some quotes from folks who have been in a small group:

“Men’s small group was life changing; I got to grow up learning to be a man in a godly way with some of my best friends!”

“Community groups changed my life; I think everyone who wants to get closer to God and make friends should get in one.”

“If you want to get to know other people and even yourself better you should be in a group. Some of my best friends today are from people I met in a group… including my wife!”

If you are ready to go for it, here is a link where you can sign up online:
http://southsidenewberg.org

Remember, you can only sign up this month. Next groups will not start again for four months!

Sign up today!!

Pastor Willy

P.S. Pastor Evan and I are leading a group and we would love to have you!