Monthly Archives: December 2010

Weekly Links (12/3/2010)

by Stephen Rodgers

Hello everyone, and welcome to Friday! We’re back with a collection of links for you from around the web. Hang on to your hats, because here we go…

That’s it!  See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

Single Life Devotional

by Pastor Patrick Cho

At our last staff meeting, I shared a devotional with the Singles staff from Ephesians 5:2. The simple command that Paul gives in that verse is to “walk in love.” I suppose the command is simple enough, but the application is not as easy. I love how Paul doesn’t move on without first explaining what he means by that. He adds, “as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” In other words, walking in love is all about sacrificially giving of myself to others. This of course has many applications, but for our staff it at least means that we need to be keeping a watchful eye out for the various opportunities given to us to serve and love others. When we show up on Friday nights or Sunday mornings, we shouldn’t just be thinking of ourselves.

This means that love is sometimes inconvenient and uncomfortable. It requires dying to self, looking to others’ interests, and considering others more important that ourselves. Jesus did this for those who hated Him. How much more should we seek to love those we call brothers and sisters in Christ. This application, Paul says, rises up to God as a fragrant offering of praise. God is pleased when we become imitators of Christ (Eph. 5:1).

In contrast, in Eph. 5:3, Paul also instructs the church that there is an ungodly way of “loving.” He writes that “sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.” These are self-centered expressions of “love.” These sins do not serve others but rather use, abuse, and take advantage of others. This sort of thing is not supposed to be associated with Christ’s followers.

In summary, Paul calls believers to do as Christ did. The love we show others must not be self-centered, but others-centered. We should seek to be a blessing to others – to love them even if it costs us. This is a huge challenge to sinners who are accustomed to thinking primarily of themselves. It is a call to put on a complete change in mindset. Paul instructs his followers to put off selfish love and put on sacrificial love. As a staff, this is what we are going to continue to strive to do each week as service to our brothers and sisters and as worship to our Lord.

LBC Weekly SPARK – December 1, 2010

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Hello LBC family and friends!

I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful week and that you are walking in the Lord. With the holiday season comes a busy time for the church. Please read below about some of the things you’ll want to take part in and attend. Please take advantage of the opportunities God gives us to represent Him with those who do not know Him. Like we’ve said before, it is particularly during this time of year that those who are typically closed off to the gospel will be willing to at least talk to you about Christ. Let’s not let these opportunities go wasted.

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

Here are the announcements for this week:

  1. Flocks. We will not be meeting with our regularly scheduled affinity group Bible studies this week (i.e., Kids’ Club, Lumos Youth Group, College Life, Single Life) because of flocks. More information about flocks can be found at the church website. Come out to a flock and enjoy some refreshing fellowship! Be sure to download and complete the homework sheet so you can take part in the group discussion.
  2. Communion. Don’t forget that we’ll be taking communion together this Sunday as a church family. Please come having prepared your hearts to remember Christ and the cross.
  3. New Visitors Meet N Greet. This Sunday, immediately following the regular service, we will be having a Meet N Greet in Room 101. If you have come to Lighthouse within the past couple months, please join us for that time of fellowship. Pizza and drinks will be provided.
  4. Christmas Concert. Our Christmas Concert will be on Saturday, December 11 at 6:00pm. No tickets are required for entrance, but flyers are available if you would like to invite your family and friends. This is a great chance for them to hear the message of salvation, so be sure to invite them! As this is an annual highlight for the church, so you won’t want to miss it!
  5. Angel Tree. We will be participating in Angel Tree once again this year, which is a ministry to children of incarcerated parents. If you would like more information about how you can get involved, please talk to Joyce Kang.
  6. Softball at the Park. Want to get to know some of the people at church better? On Sunday, December 12, at 1:00pm, we will be heading to the park to play some softball and enjoy lunch together. If you are interested in participating, please contact Abram Kim. Don’t forget your cleats and mitts!
  7. Christmas Service. We will be having a special Christmas service on Sunday, December 19. This will be a chance for us to be reminded of why Christ came. We will not dismiss the children that Sunday for their Sunday School classes. Instead, we will have all the families worship together in our service. Nursery care will still be available.
  8. New Year’s Eve Fellowship. We will be having a New Year’s Eve Fellowship on Friday, December 31 at 6:00pm at the church. In order to allow parents to put their kids to bed early, we will have a countdown at midnight Eastern time (9:00pm here!). We’ll continue to fellowship and play after that until midnight Pacific time, when we’ll countdown again! =) While we celebrate the coming of a New Year, this will also give us an opportunity to reflect on this past year and worship together.

Living Theology #46 – Means of Grace Within the Church

by Garrett Glende

As we resume our walk through Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, we come to chapter 48, “Means of Grace within the Church.” The purpose of this section is to inform us of how God has blessed believers through the local church. There might be a little bit of confusion from the usage of the term “means of grace” because of the Catholic meaning behind it. While the Roman Catholics claim that these different activities within the church actually contribute towards one’s justification, the correct understanding of the term is that these means of grace are simply additional blessings in a Christian’s life. Grudem lists eleven different means and goes into some detail for each of them. We won’t have the space to go into each one fully, so I will just highlight a few.

(Here is the full list from Grudem if you were wondering):

  1. teaching of the word,
  2. baptism,
  3. the Lord’s Supper,
  4. prayer for one another,
  5. worship,
  6. church discipline,
  7. giving,
  8. spiritual gifts,
  9. fellowship,
  10. evangelism, and
  11. personal ministry to individuals.

Certainly, this is not an exhaustive list, as there are many ways by which God blesses those within the fellowship of the church, but these are the most prominent. And there are really none greater than the teaching of the word itself. This is the primary function of the church and it is how God uses the church to bless the world. Yes, you can read your Bible even if you do not attend a church, but it is nearly impossible to have the same impact on your life as opposed to having the word taught to you. We need to digest God’s truth in many different ways. One of the methods through which this takes place is by hearing the word taught from the pulpit. We need this to take place in our churches because the Bible is the only thing that can really cause change. The Holy Spirit working through the truths of God’s word is the sole instrument for sanctification in the lives of believers. We see this in Jesus’ prayer for his disciples, as he asks that they may be “sanctified in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). God’s word not only brings us towards holiness, but it also guides us as a lamp (Psalm 119:105) and grants us wisdom to make the best decisions (Psalm 19:7). If the word of God is central to the fellowship of the church, then there will be tremendous spiritual growth and people’s lives will be truly changed.

Another true blessing that God has given to us through the church is the company of fellowship. There is no other organization, group, team, or community that is able to provide the type of grace that comes from true Christian fellowship. It is a unique thing to have what really is a second family. Being baptized into the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:13) means that all Christians are now a part of the same body and the same family. We can now truly bear one another’s burdens, rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. We can come alongside one another and give an encouraging word. We can lift one another up in prayer together. All in all, we get to share our lives together! The Christian life is not meant to be lived alone. There are no lone ranger Christians. We need the rest of the church body to help us through struggles and be there next to us during the greatest joys. We need a brother or sister to confront us in our sin. And all of this happens because God has united us together through Christ’s death and resurrection and we are now able to love God and love one another. The fellowship found within the church is truly a rare thing.

It really is amazing that God has given us these blessings through the church, but the question is, do we take advantage of it? If you aren’t involved in a local body, then you’re missing out on all of these benefits! Yes, there is work to be done and a commitment to be made, but the rewards of church membership far outweigh the costs. Pastor Patrick has written a lot recently about this issue, so go and read his articles in the pastor’s corner section (they’re better than mine anyway). But I’ll assume many of you are already members of a local church and have committed to contributing to its life. So my question for you is, are you truly invested in it? Being a member of a church is not just about attending every Sunday and occasionally serving. It’s about being involved in the lives of your fellow brothers and sisters. It’s about making sacrifices for their sake and doing so in order that they would be sanctified and God would be glorified. We really must take advantage of every opportunity that God has given us to invest in the church. I believe the saying is true that “the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.” Also, since it is the Thanksgiving season, I believe we should spend some time reflecting on the ways that God has blessed us through the church. After all, these “means of grace” are all things that we hardly deserve. So let’s be thankful. If we had to make a list, I’m sure it would be quite long.