As we near the end of the Luke sermon series, here's a glimpse at the first new series we'll have done in over two years: "God's Work, Our Witness." The new series will begin at the end of November.

Did you know? In the early days of the church, Pastor Mark used to type up the sermon notes and then go run off copies at Kinko's (when it was still called Kinko's). The church had just moved out of the Driscolls' living room into a rented church youth group room and was still under 100 people. And how'd they make rent payments for the church space with such a small (broke) congregation that was tithing with cigarettes? (See below.) Well, suffice it to say, Grace's car had to take a few hits for the team, literally. Hear Pastor Mark tell the whole story in the above video.

Pastor Mark has told bits and pieces of the story of the church's early days in countless sermons, notably this one from the Nehemiah series:

And our first offerings—I say in my first book—one of our offerings early on when we had like 40–50 people or something, was $137 and there were actually some days where we had cigarettes in the offering baskets because I’d yell at the indie rockers. They’d be like, "Alright. Nine cigarettes for me. One for Jesus." That’s all they had, so they tithed off their cigarettes. You’re thinking, "Well, the American Spirits are a kind gesture." We’re not gonna pay the light bill. I guess I can go out and smoke till I have cancer and die, which may be the only way outta this ministry I’ve gotten myself into. But that’s how it was in the early years.

Stay tuned for more videos and interviews with people about how God's worked in their lives through Mars Hill for the last 15 years. For more about this series, visit the series' brand-new page.