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Our weekly newsletter filled with news, updates, and inspiring stories of how God is working in the Bay Area.

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Our weekly newsletter filled with news, updates, and inspiring stories of how God is working in the Bay Area.

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God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5 NLT

God loves family and wants nothing more than for us and as many as possible to be in his great family!

This is what Margo and I love so much about the BACC – we aren’t just a church, We Are Family! This weekend all across the Bay Area married couples will be gathering together to celebrate Couples Night Out! It is a moment for couples to come together, relax, enjoy relationships, and talk about how to build our marriages and families. When we build a family the way God wants us to, our families can make a huge impact and change lives in our communities and beyond. For today’s edition of The Good Stuff, we want to highlight just a few of the great families in Silicon Valley.

Family Impact

Tom and Connie Schaffernoth love family and do everything they can to include others. They have raised their kids (Joe, Nathan, and Elizabeth) to have the same passion for family, and they have together “adopted” others like Vince and Sheree Lin to be a part of their clan. Their enthusiasm spreads to their neighborhood as well.

A few years ago, they met their neighbors Nick and Norma Stoliar through sharing the experience of having recent knee surgeries. It did not take long for the Stoliars to become family as they started coming to church and seeing just how great the family of God really is. This led to both them and their mother, Trish, changing their lives and being baptized.

Even in the midst of the pandemic, the Stoliars and Schaffernoths teamed up with the Hollands and others to pull in more neighbors, like the Andersons. Many BBQs, Chick-Fil-A’s, and Bible studies later, Grant Anderson was baptized and welcomed into the family. (We all know BBQ and Chick-Fil-A are a part of any recipe to change lives!)

When we have a love for family, that love is contagious and spreads through our neighborhoods having more impact than we can imagine.

Generational Impact

Family impact also reaches through different generations. Mike Mount decided to change his job and move from Sacramento to the Bay Area 25 years ago so he could use his talents and experience as an attorney to build the church and this community. At that time he didn’t know the ripple effect that it would have on his family and others.

Mike and his wife Monnie’s family now includes four generations of Christians spanning from Mike’s mom to the Mount’s granddaughter, Dakota, who was just baptized 2 weekends ago. It is a living example that shows the truth of scripture.

When we dig down deep by obeying the Word of God, he is able to build our families on the rock and they can weather all of the storms life brings. (Luke 6:46-49) Just as the pandemic began, I was inspired to join Mike and help one of his old neighbors, Marcos, change his marriage and family. Even years after the Mounts moved away from their Half Moon Bay neighborhood, Marcos remembered the inspiration of the Mounts’ example and knew where to go when he needed help for his family.

Community Impact

Finally, good families are what change communities. E-Life is a family affair for the Motameds. In fact, when the Motameds first came to E-Soccer over 17 years ago, it did not take long for them to become a part of the E-Life family. As their son Nicholas grew so much through his participation in E-Soccer, they were hooked. Since then, they have tirelessly and passionately spread the impact to families in their community and beyond.

Nicholas has become a coach and is now serving every Saturday in the Foster City E-Soccer program along with being a part of and bringing friends to E-Social. Ali and Margaret have led countless numbers of parent support groups and have recently started hosting E-Gardening with their friends, the Gajewskis. My wife Margo and I are always inspired by the energy and impact the Motameds bring to their community.

When it comes to family, I am so grateful to be a part of what God is building here in the BACC. In the immortal words of Jim Harbaugh, the former coach of the San Francisco 49ers, “Who’s got it better than us? Noooobody!” Till next week.

Written by

Scott Colvin

Scott Colvin is an evangelist at the Bay Area Christian Church. Scott ran cross country for the University of North Carolina. Some say he's still running to this day.