by Pastor John Kim

Single Life represents the ministry at LBC that focuses on providing opportunities for those who are single adults to gather for fellowship and mutual edification. It is a challenging period of life for many who are uncertain as to where the future will lead but there is one thing that really can take place and that is the cultivating of spiritual growth. Regardless of educational, vocational, or relational status, there is one thing that is quite certain – growing in the grace and truth of God must be foundational if anything else in life is going to be purposeful and meaningful. As we often are reminded that all of life is to be lived to God’s glory (1 Corinthians 10:31), there is never a stage of life where we are justified in thinking that somehow we are given some kind of entitlement to live for ourselves. If the love of Christ truly controls us (2 Corinthians 5:14-15), then it should visible affect the way we live, starting from our heart motivations resulting in a life that exudes the reality of the Lordship of Christ.

It is no surprise that for many single adults, life is filled with a lot of change and upheaval. The pursuit of further education, seeking to land a decent job, and the hope of maybe finding a spouse can cause a lot of stress and anxiety, even depression. Many churches struggle to even have ministries that focus on single adults due to the transient nature of this stage of life.

So we are quite thankful that for the past few years we have been able to see the Single Life Ministry at LBC grow. It has not been without its struggles as there has been difficulty in keeping things consistent, but this past fall has been greatly encouraging as we have been able to find more focus in what we do.

Friday Night Light takes place weekly on Friday evenings as we spend time in growing in God’s Word and having opportunities to fellowship together. There is a staff that has committed themselves to serving each Friday by fulfilling various roles such as the praise team, new visitors, setup, refreshments, and others. Our theme has been “Getting to Know the Holy Spirit” as we have been studying what is often a neglected theme in many churches: the person and role of the Holy Spirit. It has been very encouraging to hear how many are learning and growing in their understanding of how the Bible describes the Holy Spirit and we look forward to continuing the study in the new year.

Friday nights have also provided many opportunities for the singles to just hang out together as we have a time after Bible study for various activities. We have a refreshments station where the staff organizes various treats each Friday for people to enjoy. There are staff that are available for counseling or to ask questions regarding the message. We also have ping pong and foosball for those who would like a little recreation. Many just spend time talking in the sanctuary as well, and it has been very encouraging to see more interaction as we have had many newer people join us on Friday nights.

We recently started accountability small groups where those who have the desire to have more personal accountability and interaction sign up to be committed for the term, which goes until June 2010. It is a great opportunity for people to not only get connected but to also have a smaller group of fellow believers that come alongside to provide encouragement and support in pursuing spiritual growth. I believe this is a very significant ministry that provides greater depth and ministry that goes beyond the surface. This of course takes cooperation and willingness for each individual to be willing to be open and vulnerable and it often takes some time for this to develop. But once it does, it does bring a lot of encouragement to the group and many are able to develop a stronger sense of belonging to the church family.

Each year we also have our annual spring retreat where we gather over at Pine Valley Bible Conference Center for a weekend together. Last year was a wonderful time as Pastor James Shin of Cornerstone Bible Church came to minister along with his family. The centrality of the gospel was clearly communicated as James addressed the motivations of the heart and many of our singles were impacted in a profound way. This spring we are looking forward to again having our retreat on March 19-21, 2010 at Pine Valley and this time we will be having Pastor Nam Park of Immanuel Bible Church come to preach. I would encourage all the singles to set aside this weekend as it will be a wonderful opportunity to grow as well as have fellowship with one another.

Please continue to pray for Single Life, that the ministry would be faithful to present the truth of God and that the love of Christ would be manifested genuinely and sincerely to all who come.