Letter from Mark  Important Dates  Frequently Asked Questions Join a Bel Air Small Group Welcome back from the holidays.  It’s going to be an exciting 2008 as we continue to check off items on our to-do list.  First, we’ve completed and have begun to enjoy the benefits of the new site and advanced the mission!  Second, we have also given our Many Rooms small group ministry a face lift as we move one step closer to making Los Angeles the greatest city for Jesus Christ in the world.  The small group conference was a big success with people from churches throughout the city participating. Each year we ask every person at BAPC, young and old alike, to participate in a small group during Lent.  This year will be no different.  However the Many Rooms ministry which you have come to know and love is receiving an upgrade.  Some have jokingly referred to it as Many Rooms 2.0; but it’s even bigger than that.  This year these ‘many rooms’ are going to be all over town.  This is My Body, LA takes our Many Rooms ministry and adds an element where our small groups reach out to partner with small groups from other churches.  Many Rooms helped make BAPC feel small and has built a better community within the church.  This is My Body, LA will make Los Angeles feel small and will build a better community within the city.   This isn’t just a BAPC program but we will be partnering with other churches in the city with these three main goals in mind 1.                  Make friends in other churches 2.                  Engage LA together in a grassroots mission 3.                  Strengthen missional community within our churches We’re keeping with the same basic principle of Many Rooms.  During the six weeks of Lent (February 10 – March 23), both in the Sunday worship services and in our small groups, we will be studying Jesus' interactions at table in the gospel of Luke.  However, in addition to the small group experience you’re used to, we’re asking each group to partner with a group from another church and meet with them one to four times between Easter and the end of May.  Group pairs will agree on an outreach activity (or two) by identifying a need in their neighborhood or through a mission project supported by one of the two churches.  We hope that many of these group pairs will serve together on May 3-4 in conjunction with Big Sunday (www.bigsunday.org) so the impact of working together can be felt throughout Los Angeles. This is an exciting time and we need your help!  In the coming weeks, in each service, we will be asking for members of the congregation to consider leading a group and then we’ll work together to help everyone find a group convenient for them.  This Lent, form or find a This is My Body, LA Many Rooms Small Group; invite your friends (and someone really obnoxious too). It’s going to be another big year for us as we usher in This is My Body, LA.  The time is right for the followers of Jesus Christ in LA to step across lines of ethnicity, economics, and denominations to befriend each other, to link arms, and to engage our city with constructive service and witness to Jesus Christ.    Mark Brewer Senior Pastor