by Pastor Patrick Cho

Dear LBC Family and Friends,

I hope you all enjoyed Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday! What a great weekend it was at LBCSD! Everything was such an encouragement from the delicious breakfast to the musical performances to the children’s skit. Thanks to everyone who made the weekend so amazing! More than anything, praise God for all the new faces who came and were able to hear the gospel message. Let’s continue to pray that God would work in people’s hearts and bring them to saving faith.

There are still a lot of things going on around Lighthouse, but before we get to the announcements, I wanted to continue on in our series through The Trellis and the Vine, by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne. Chapter 4 is entitled “Is Every Christian a Vine Worker?” If the work of the vine involves proclaiming God’s truth in disciple making ministry, is this something that is only left to religious professionals? Or is this something in which every believer needs to be involved?

The authors address this question by presenting a few pointed truths. The basic premise is that the Bible does not describe different classes of disciples – those who give all to live for the Lord and do His work, and those who don’t. They write, “The call to discipleship is thus a call to confess our allegiance to Jesus in the face of a hostile world; to serve Him and His mission, whatever the cost.” This call is given to anyone who would confess Jesus as Lord.

The main passage the authors consider is Ephesians 4 where Paul instructs the church to speak truth to one another (v. 15). This is a wonderful passage to look at when considering what it means to be a part of God’s church. In vv. 11-12, Paul instructed the Ephesians that God appointed leaders in order to train believers to do the work of ministry. All believers were to be involved. It was not left to a special few. This work is what eventually brings the church to maturity and fullness in Christ (v. 13). The particular way this work needs to be done is by strengthening in faith to combat false teaching (v. 14) and speaking truth to build up the body (v. 15). As the different parts of the body are committed to this ministry to one another, the body builds itself up in love (v. 16). The authors conclude, “This can only mean that God wants all Christians to be speaking to each other regularly, urging and encouraging each other to stick with Christ.”

This does not mean that we all need to take turns preaching from the pulpit. The pulpit is not the only place that God’s truth is proclaimed. It should be proclaimed by you in many contexts to many people. It is proclaimed in evangelism as you steer everyday conversations to spiritual topics and as you help people understand their need of a Savior. It is proclaimed in the encouragement you give to each other by taking advantage of opportunities to talk about God’s Word and pray for one another. It is proclaimed in your hanging out when you make the most of the gathering by sharing with one another what you are learning from God’s Word instead of allowing the time to go by wasted on frivolous things.

Consider the implications of having an Ephesians 4 mindset. If you are not actively involved in building up others by speaking truth to one another, the church’s growth will be stunted. Most people see the relationship between pastors and “lay people” as feeders and those being fed. Their main concern each week is, “Was I fed God’s Word?” Certainly, this is a good concern because you should be receiving a healthy portion of God’s Word each week, and the ministry of the pulpit is vital and necessary. But Paul reminds us that this is not where it should end. As important as the pulpit is, it is not sufficient. Every believer needs to be proclaiming God’s truth to evangelize the lost and edify the saints. Once you have been fed God’s Word and blessed by it, you need to seek to feed others and be a blessing. Growth will not happen otherwise. As we see the fullness of Christ as our goal, let us all run hard at achieving it in His strength.

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

Here are the announcements for this week:

1. FLOCKS. Don’t forget that this is flocks week, which means all our regularly scheduled midweek activities will be taking a break. This includes Kids’ Club, Youth, College, and Singles. Our regular Bible studies will resume next week. In order to prepare for flocks, you should complete a sermon response form. These can be downloaded from the flocks website. If you don’t have a flock and would like one, please contact Peter Lim (peterlim@yahoo.com).
2. WOMEN’S SEMINAR. This Saturday is the women’s seminar that will be at the church from 9:00am to 12:30pm. If you are a lady, come out for this special time of teaching and fellowship. Breakfast will be served as well. Please RSVP with Christine Cho by Wednesday to reserve your spot (christinescho@gmail.com)!
3. COMMUNION. This Sunday is the first Sunday of the month, which means we will be taking communion during our morning service. Please come having prepared your hearts for this time. In particular, if you are currently in a relational conflict with another member of the body, please make every effort to be at peace with one another in preparation for this time.
4. ANNIVERSARY WEEKEND. This weekend marks Lighthouse Bible Church’s 12th anniversary as the church celebrated its inaugural Sunday on May 2, 1999. In honor of this special weekend, we will be having a special cake and punch reception after Sunday School. Please stick around for this time of fellowship.
5. SISTER CONNECTION. Signups for Sister Connection will be taken for the month of May until the end of the school year. College Life sisters will either be paired up with a Single Life or Grace Life sister. If you would like to participate, please email sisterconnection@gmail.com or you can sign up after church or during affinity groups with Christine Cho/Mabel Tse (Grace Life), Andrea Lem/Jane Liou (singles) or Grace Lee/Deborah Wong (collegians). The last day to sign up is this Sunday, May 1!
6. MEN’S BREAKFAST. Calling all men! We will be meeting once again on Saturday, May 7 from 7:00-9:00am for breakfast, fellowship, and prayer. All men are invited to attend in order to further study what the Bible says about manliness.
7. TMS GRADUATION. As you may have heard, Pastor J. R. Cuevas of LBCSJ will be graduating from The Master’s Seminary on Sunday, May 15, at 6:00pm, at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley. We are planning on having a small party with refreshments afterwards. If you are interested in driving up to support Pastor J. R., please let Pastor Patrick know as soon as possible.
8. LBC BANQUET AND VISION QUEST. On Sunday, May 22, we will be having our annual all-church banquet at 4:45pm, at the church. Signups are now being taken by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz on Sundays in the foyer. The cost for the banquet is only $35/adult ($100 max/family). Children 0-12 eat free! Don’t miss this annual tradition as we look back on the Lord’s faithfulness to the church this past year. We will also use this evening to recognize our high school and college graduates, so you won’t want to miss it!
9. MEMBERSHIP CLASS. Our next membership class will be on Saturday, June 4, from 9:00am-12:00pm, and Sunday, June 5, from 1:00-4:00pm. Attendance at both classes is required. Please talk to Pastor Patrick for a membership application or for more information.
10. VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL. VBS will be from June 20-24, from 9:00am-5:00pm each day. The theme for this year is “God Always Wins!” and every year it is a very special time for our kids. Registration is currently open. Talk to Josh Liu for more information (liu.joshuac@gmail.com).
11. SUMMER MISSIONS. Please be in prayer for our summer missions teams as we prepare to go to the Czech Republic and Argentina this summer. The dates for the Czech trip are June 26-July 16, and the dates for the Argentina trip are July 6-21. There is a lot of work that needs to be done, so please keep the teams in prayer.