Singles Raise Money for San Diego Fire Victims

I am so sorry for not blogging over the past few weeks - it has just been so busy around here. I have been studying the bible with many people as well as dealing with some difficult business stuff.

I did want to let you know that the GLB Singles Ministry hosted an auction to benifit the San Diego wild fire victims. This auction raised over $2000 to help many people that are still displaced from their houses in the recent wildfire. People sold jewelry, furniture and other stuff - even a yoga session to raise money for those that really need it. Thank you so much, Justin and Heather, who came up with this great idea. It is awesome to know that I am a part of a giving fellowship!!

Not only was this a night to give but it was also a night of fun. There was lots of food and entertainment including a new song that our very own Elias wrote and preformed (see the video clip below). Being together with the ministry always helps me to realize how lucky I am. It was a night that we will all remember for a long time!!

Thanksgiving

But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you.

Jonah 2:9

This past weekend, many of the small groups had their Thanksgiving parties. These parties were a way to thank God for all He has done in our lives as well as an excuse to invite many friends over to hang out with disciples. Our group decided to join up with Elias' group and together we had an incredible time! We ate great food, incredible fellowship, pool, domino's and karaoke! Most exciting was the fact that 11 of our friends and neighbors joined us for this night of fun!

As the end of 2007 is in sight, we have much to be thankful for. Some include forgiveness of our sins, awesome friendships, a life with a purpose, many baptisms, discipling, small groups and much, much more. Above all, the greatest thing we can be thankful for is our relationship with God! God has given each one of us more than we deserve! The holiday season is a perfect time to tell others how thankful you are about your relationship with God.


As a personal note, Marge and I want to let all of you know, the members of the GLB Singles, how thankful we are to have you in our lives. You have helped us to grow in our relationship with God and have inspired us to dream again. Thank you so much for allowing us to be a part of your lives!


I can't wait to see what God will do in 2008!

Great Sundays in the GLB!!

Sundays are exciting in the GLB! Today, Joel Landi preached an awesome lesson called "The Power of One" from Ephesians 4. It was incredible!! Equally exciting was seeing Joel use his gifts for God by playing base guitar for a Creed song. Hey, is that Elias singing Creed????

It is also very exciting to hear of new people getting baptized on a weekly basis. Today, the teens added a new sister, a brother was added to the marrieds group earlier this week as well as a sister in the campus. Come on God!!!!!

Later in the day all of the Leaders of the GLB Singles went up to Signal Hill to thank God for all that He has done and for many more people to become disciples before the end of 2007! Thank you God for the life that you have given us!!!! Here are some pictures of our prayer time:

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A Unique Calling For Our Singles

Please read this article about the Vancouver Church of Christ Singles Ministry. We have only just begun dreaming about what the Singles Ministry can do!!!!!

Santa Barbara Mission Team Launched

The L.A. church's North Region has launched a mission team to UC Santa Barbara and Santa Barbara Community College with a newly hired staff ministry couple and four enthusiastic campus students from the Orange County and East Regions. Also, on this mission team is our very own Armando and Elena Munoz!

We are so proud of Armando and Elena for listening to God's call and for setting the example for all of us that we are to have the conviction to go anywhere and do anything for God! The Munoz's have helped out singles ministry in many ways. They have lead the Cerritos small group and have had a big impact on many!

Let's all thank the Munoz's for their example, faith and love for God. It is an honor for the GLB Singles Ministry to be a sending ministry. I know that Armando and Elena will change the lives of many in the new Santa Barbara Sector! Let's pray for them to have a big impact in their new city!

Please express your thanks to them in the comment section below.

Whose responsibility is it???

Evangelizing the Greater Long Beach will be a big task! And who should do the work? Many times it is wrongly thought that "leaders" are responsible for the evangelizing our city. God's plan was quite different. In Acts 8:1 it says:

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles where scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

Acts 8:4 goes on to say:

Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went.

The bible shows that the people were scattered without their leaders (the Apostles). When the people were separated from their leadership, they all continued to evangelize wherever they went. Evangelism was who they were! They did not depend on their leaders to tell them or make them reach out to the lost world. They did it because it was their conviction. Disciple = Evangelism!

It is important that everyone help in the evangelizing of the GLB. There should be no difference between the leader, the assistant leader, the young Christian and the older Christian. Every disciple must have the same responsibility and commitment to seeing the GLB evangelized! When we all share in the work, it will create a unity in the Singles Ministry that will shine. Knowing that we are all on the same team helps me to have faith that we can make a dramatic difference in the city we live in!

Questions for thought:

• How is my evangelism doing?
• Do I feel like I am motivated to share my faith? (If no, why not?)
• Who am I currently reaching out to?
• When was the last time I had a friend out to Church, small group or a devo?

It's our Anniversary!!!!

Today is our anniversary!! Marge and I got married 5 years ago at the Cabrillo Marina in San Pedro. We met while leading the singles in the Peninsula Sector, and at that time, we had no idea how God would use our lives to serve Him. I am even more in love with her today than the day we got married. Marge is an incredible woman of God that I am so thankful for. Thank you, Marge, for all that you do to love me, love the ministry, and most of all, love God! I couldn't do it without you!!

Our theme for our 6th year is "Faith". We are praying for faith to grow to the next level and for the ministry here in the GLB to flourish. We don't know what the Lord will do with our lives from here, but one thing we are determined to do, is to put it all in HIS hands.

Outdoor Regional Singles Midweek

Last Regional Singles Midweek was incredible. The power went out on the whole block of the Chinese Church where we usually meet so everyone drove down to Cerritos Park to worship there. Joel Landi preached the word and showed us all through the Bible that God wants each of us to find out what our God given gifts are and use it. He inspired all of us to use what God has given us to glorify Him. Marge and I are fired up to have the Landi's here as partners in the Gospel. We have so much to learn from them!
Not only was the lesson great, but the fellowship was awesome!! Some disciples went down to the water to pray and the rest stuck around to fellowship - no one wanted to leave!
I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone in the GLB Singles ministry. Thank you so much for all of your love and hearts to serve God. You guys bring so much joy to Marge and I. We love you with all of our hearts and believe in this ministry a ton. Thank you also for helping us to believe again that God will do miracles through our lives. The singles ministry is the place to be!!!!!!!!

Dedicated to the Re-Building of the (GLB) Wall

The other night, my d-group had a discussion about Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the wall. We all discovered that there are many simularities to the story of Nehemiah and what has happened here in our ministry. At the end of the discussion, each person committed to the rebuilding of the GLB Singles wall. Here the notes of what I shared that night:

Nehemiah 1:3-4
Nehemiah heard of a problem – the wall of Jerusalem had been broken down.
He wept, mourned, fasted and prayed.

Seeing the distruction stirred his heart to action!

Nehemiah 2:2 ½ -3
He was afraid but asked anyways because he knew that God was calling him.
So he asked and the King let him go.

Nehemiah 2:11-20
Nehemiah when around to all the different parts of the wall to see the damage and then reported to the people what he saw.
The peoples response was “Let’s start building”
These people, I am sure, already know of the problems – this was not new news.
The amazing thing was Nehemiah did not have to look far for the people to help him – the people that he needed were already in place – they just needed a dream implanted in their hearts.
Even opposition could not stop them – they just said that God will bring them success.
They really believed this!!!!

Chapter 3

Each person was given a part of the wall that was his responsibility.
It kept on saying “next to him” was _______ and next to him was _________.
The wall would be built by everyone taking a responsibility for their section of the wall.
This was the plan that God would bless!!

Nehemiah 4:1-6
More opposition came so the people prayed to “turn their insults back on their own heads”
They again put their trust in God.
And in vs 6 the people were still working with all of their hearts.

Nehemiah 4:7-12
Now the opposition started to affect them and for the first time there started doubting.

They claimed that the laborers started giving out and they started to believe that the wall could not be rebuilt.

Our perspective is what will make the difference!

Its all about our perspective. Negativity and doubting = no faith!

Nehemiah 4:13-23
Nehemiah pulled (vs 14) everyone in to meet to regroup, reenergize, reunify and rethink through the plan.
Vs 14) He told them:
“Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome and fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters, your wives and your homes.”
They came up with a new plan and from that day on, they carried it out. ½ the people would work while the other half would guard.
When the trumpet would sound, they would all join there to fight – but really believing that God would be the one fighting.
So they worked with all they had, so much as to never even change their clothes or shower.
They were dedicated to continue the rebuilding!!!!

· We must regroup, re-energize, reunify and rethink the plan.
· We must remember the Lord, who is great and awesome and fight for our brothers and sisters!!!!!
· We must get back to everyone being responsible for their part of the wall
· We must rededicate ourselves to the rebuilding of the wall!!!!!

Welcome to the GLB Singles blog!!

I would like to welcome you to the first posting of the GLB Singles Ministry blog. The purpose of this blog will be to keep everyone up to date on the great things that God is doing in our lives as well as an avenue to document my thoughts, lessons, stories and other things.

God has done incredible things in our ministry!! It has just passed the year mark that Marge and I were asked to lead the GLB Singles Ministry. In that year, God has shown us more than we could ever ask or imagine. We have seen so many people grow in their faith and love for God. The 4 not-so-small groups that we started out with have now turned into 8 small groups with many new leaders raising up and listening to Gods call. We also now have small groups in the downtown Long Beach area that we kicked off with our "777 Day" where everyone came together to evangelize downtown for an entire day. It was an event that we will remember for ever.

God has also brought to us much fruit!!! 7 baptisms and 1 restoration!!!! Here are the pictures of our new brothers and sisters so that we can be reminded of God's power:








Let's all keep praying! And please stay tuned to this blog to see what else God is doing in the GLB!
Love you all,
Mike Gross