LBC Weekly SPARK – May 28, 2011

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Dear LBC church family and friends!

I just wanted to send a quick message with some announcements! Please read through the announcements below to find out what’s going on at LBC! =)

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

Here are the announcements for this week:

  • All-Church Photo. We will be taking an all-church photo tomorrow after service. If you park in the family spots just outside the front entrance, please move your cars after service to make room for the photo. Everyone else, please make your way out to the parking lot for the church photo once the service has ended.
  • Sunday School. We will not be meeting for Sunday School tomorrow because of the Memorial Day holiday. This includes children’s, youth, and adult classes.
  • Meal Ministry. We want to welcome little Micah Hong! Congratulations to Kent and Romi and praise God for a safe trip back from Korea. If you would like to help provide a meal for the Hongs during this time of adjustment and transition, please contact Lauren Wendler.
  • Knitting and Crochet. Several ladies are getting together to knit and crochet gifts for the people in Argentina. If you are interested in learning how to do this and want to help out, please contact Elizabeth Moser.
  • Super Flock. Our regional flocks are all done meeting, but we will have one last Super Flock on Friday, June 17 at 6:30pm. All the flocks are welcome to come and enjoy some friendly flock competition! Please bring $8/adult for food (kids 0-12 eat free!). Sign up in the foyer this Sunday after service.
  • FITS. The first Fun in the Sun Day will be on Sunday, June 26, from 11:30-4:00pm. Lunch will be served for $5/person (kids 0-12 eat free!). Bring your softball gear, sand toys, and sunscreen! It’ll be a great day of fellowship for the church family.
  • VBS. Vacation Bible School registration is still being taken by Josh Liu. The cost is now $170/child, and that is still a great deal for a five day program from 9:00am-5:00pm each day! Be sure to invite your young friends and family for this wonderful week of learning God’s Word. The theme this year is “God Always Wins!”
  • Summer Missions. This summer we have the opportunity to send out teams to Argentina and the Czech Republic. Please prayerfully consider how you can help send these teams. Please be in prayer as the teams diligently prepare for the fast approaching trips! Also, keep in mind that if you plan to support members of both teams, donations for the Czech team need to be sent to LBC San Jose and donations for the Argentina team can be given here at LBC San Diego. Please write separate checks for each team. Thank you for your prayers and giving!
  • Wedding! Please pray for Matt Zhang and Samantha Soohoo as they get married later tonight! Pray that God would grant them wisdom and strength as they begin married life together.

Perfect in Christ Jesus

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Colossians 1:28

Do you not feel in your own soul that perfection is not in you? Does not every day teach you that? Every tear which trickles from your eye, weeps ‘imperfection’; every harsh word which proceeds from your lip, mutters ‘imperfection.’ You have too frequently had a view of your own heart to dream for a moment of any perfection in yourself. But amidst this sad consciousness of imperfection, here is comfort for you-you are ‘perfect in Christ Jesus.’In God’s sight, you are ‘complete in Him;’ even now you are ‘accepted in the Beloved.’ But there is a second perfection, yet to be realized, which is sure to all the seed. Is it not delightful to look forward to the time when every stain of sin shall be removed from the believer, and he shall be presented faultless before the throne, without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing? The Church of Christ then will be so pure, that not even the eye of Omniscience will see a spot or blemish in her; so holy and so glorious, that Hart did not go beyond the truth when he said-

‘With my Saviour’s garments on,
Holy as the Holy One.’

Then shall we know, and taste, and feel the happiness of this vast but short sentence, ‘Complete in Christ.’ Not till then shall we fully comprehend the heights and depths of the salvation of Jesus. Doth not thy heart leap for joy at the thought of it? Black as thou art, thou shalt be white one day; filthy as thou art, thou shalt be clean. Oh, it is a marvellous salvation this! Christ takes a worm and transforms it into an angel; Christ takes a black and deformed thing and makes it clean and matchless in His glory, peerless in His beauty, and fit to be the companion of seraphs. O my soul, stand and admire this blessed truth of perfection in Christ.

1.28a

Weekly Links (5/27/2011)

People do not drift toward Holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated. (DA Carson, For the Love of God, Volume 2. HT: DG)

by Stephen Rodgers

We’ve got another batch of links for you today, so sit back, buckle up, and hang on…

There you go!  I’ll see you Sunday.

Pro Rege

Make It Count

by Hansol An

Even though I’ve realized it for some time now, I’m always amazed to reflect back on a year and realize how fast time has passed. In the beginning of the school year I wrote the first College Life article for the Beacon. In it I expressed some early excitement (and apprehension) about the 2010-2011 school year due to all the changes that were happening. All I can say is that it’s been an amazing year! The staff: amazing. The collegians: amazing. God: amazing, of course. No one knew what to expect but God has given us a year where I have witnessed the equipping and growth of so many in so short a time. The ministry has displayed tremendous servant-hood at every turn. Peter Lim, Johnny Kim and I can attest to the graciousness of this ministry, firsthand (thank you for the kind gifts!). I’ve seen how so many students are eager to serve one another as well. I’ve witnessed the discussions about what people have been learning. I know people are reaching out to those who are hurting. But what really amazes me is that these external actions are pointing to something more – the manifestations of what’s in the hearts of our collegians. To see them applying what they have learned, becoming doers of the word and not hearers only, is the greatest encouragement. The external fruit is nice but the prospect of what God is doing in the hearts of our collegians is the most exciting part.

Having attended a commencement ceremony this year brought back many memories of my own graduation and college life. It gave me a chance to remember where I was in my walk with Christ and how it could have all turned out so differently. By God’s grace, I can say that I am not at the same place, spiritually, that I was back then. How sad would it be if I was in exactly the same spiritual state? I have seen God work in my life and in my heart to live more for Him and less for myself. Though I’m very much still a work-in-progress I can safely (and gladly) say that who I am now is a testimony to a devotion to God and his desire for my life. That devotion was nurtured in college. That’s why I like to say that college is so formative. It’s not just myself either. Those that truly loved the Lord and made decisions for His kingdom before their own desires while still in college, are the ones I still see faithfully seeking His glory.

For the 20 graduating seniors (and for the rest of you collegians for that matter) my prayer is that you will be able to look back and say, “I’ve changed…for the better.” Sadly there are many who peak spiritually in college. In a way it’s understandable. All of your close friends are Christians. You’re going to church activities constantly. Your life is very much infused with Christianity. The danger here is that when you enter the “real world” you’ll lose your source of spiritual zeal, if that source is misplaced. It might be a good time to assess the source of your Christianity. If it’s the people around you, Lighthouse Bible Church or anything else other than Christ, you need to acknowledge that now. In John 14:6 Jesus makes a clear statement about the exclusivity of the source of our salvation. Luke affirms this in Acts 4:12.

Hopefully all you College Lifers have grown as much as it appears you have. You might feel like there’s so much time for you to address any shortcomings later. Time will only go faster and faster as you get older and you don’t get any of it back. Before you know it you’ll be looking back on your graduation ten years prior. How you look back on that time will depend on what you do with your life now. Live like you believe that Christ is the way, the truth and the life.

Peacemaker Chapter 10: Forgive as God Forgave You

by Cesar Vigil-Ruiz

Editor’s Note: You can listen to the class and download the handout.

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Colossians 3:13)

“Christians are the most forgiven people in the world. Therefore, we should be the most forgiving people in the world…God has given us an incredibly high standard to live up to when we have the opportunity to forgive someone. Fortunately, he also gives us the grace and the guidance we need to imitate him by forgiving others as he has forgiven us” (p.204-205).

You Cannot Do It Alone

What many of us forget when we come to the point where we should forgive someone is that we have the ability to do that in our strength. We tend to forget the primary emphasis of the Gospel: we cannot do anything good outside of ourselves, and are in need of God to help us when we cannot help ourselves. This will typically show up when we start to rewind and think over the many hurts we’ve experienced, harboring bitterness in our hearts for what so-and-so did to us. Yet drawing on God’s grace regularly will give us the grace we need to extend that kind of grace out to those who hurt us by forgiving them.

Neither a Feeling, nor Forgetting, nor Excusing

Forgiveness is not a feeling in any way, but a decision or act of the will we make, recognizing our dependence on God for grace, that it may lead to an attack on our thoughts that want to dwell on the hurt we experienced. It also is not forgetting, a passive act, but an active one made by a conscious decision and a purposeful course of action. Lastly, forgiving is not excusing, since it implies that someone did a wrong act.

Forgiveness is a Decision

When you ignore or are ignorant of true forgiveness, you show it in your great memory in remembering the many wrongs that have been done to you from someone, always ready to give a defense, not of the hope you possess within you, but of yourself and your “justified” unforgiving heart. The word “forgive” means to release or let go or to give favor to another person with no strings attached. This is something we do not and cannot deserve.

…forgiveness can be a costly activity. When someone sins, they create a debt, and someone must pay it. Most of this debt is owed to God. In his great mercy, he sent his Son to pay that debt on the cross for all who would trust in him (Isa. 53:4-6l 1 Peter 2:24-25; Col. 1:19-20). (p.207)

Now, when someone wrongs you, there is a debt owed to you, which you can either take payments on or make payments yourself. Making payments would be the preferred way, meaning you remove the penalty the other deserves to pay. This may come quickly, or it may take a period of time. This is when we would do well to remember the amazing grace God offers to us when He forgives us our sin. Isaiah 59:2 speaks of where we were: “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.” Not only does God forgive us of our sins, He actively chooses not to remember them anymore: “If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared” (Psalm 130:3-4). We must go and do likewise to others: “We must release the person who has wronged us from the penalty of being separated from us” (p.209). Forgiveness can be described in making four promises:

  1. I will not dwell on this incident.
  2. I will not bring up this incident again and use it against you.
  3. I will not talk to others about this incident.
  4. I will not let this incident stand between us or hinder our personal relationship.

The sad reality is that many have never experienced this type of forgiveness, and it is our duty to model Christlike forgiveness so that the other person may see the reality of God’s forgiveness that is offered to all who will come and believe.

When Should You Forgive?

Repentance should come before forgiveness. At times, there may be minor offenses that can be overlooked without seeking repentance. Yet when it is too serious to overlook, we are to (1) have an attitude of forgiveness, and (2) grant forgiveness. The first condition speaks more of having a readiness in your heart to live as if you have truly forgiven them, by not dwelling on the hurt you experienced. The second condition speaks on the repentance of the one who offended you, drawing in the last three promises mentioned previously. Christ maintained the first condition in praying on the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Once men and women have repented, full forgiveness was given and men are now reconciled to God. God is our God, and He is also our model to follow.

Can You Ever Mention the Sin Again?

“When someone has confessed a wrong and you have forgiven him, you should not bring it up again unless there is a very compelling reason to do so. Otherwise, you will rob people of hope that they can change or that you will ever give them another chance” (p.212).

What about the Consequences?

As God has shown over and over with the people of Israel, “forgiveness does not automatically release a wrongdoer from all the consequences of sin” (look at Numbers 14:20-23; Deuteronomy 32:48-52; 2 Sam. 12:11-14; 13:1-39; 16:21-22; 19:1-4). It could be that you would be the one to take down any walls that would come between you and the one who wronged you. There may also be times where you can forgive someone but cannot afford to take the consequence of the wrong that was committed, such as a loss of money. This could be a broad description of one who is habitual in their unrepentant life, who would need to be confronted with their continual sin-pattern. Once someone expresses repentance, you are to forgive sincerely and have the penalty of personal separation removed. This is the outgrowth of God’s forgiveness. It must be ours as well.

Overcoming Unforgiveness

God has given His Word, His Holy Spirit, and finally, His people in giving counsel and encouragement. Here are some steps to overcome forgiveness:

  1. Confirm Repentance
  2. Renounce Sinful Attitudes and Expectations
  3. Assess Your Contributions to the Problem
  4. Recognize That God Is Working for Good
  5. Remember God’s Forgiveness
  6. Draw on God’s Strength

Reconciliation and the Replacement Principle

Your relationship with the person you originally were in conflict in must be reconciled, and that your relationship would be as good, if not better, than what it used to be. To reconcile means to offer a chance for a repentant person to get your trust back, which you should not demand, especially when they have expressed their repentance. You must show your promises are not empty when they have demonstrated a repentant faith. This is shown in three ways:

  1. In Thought (replace negative thoughts of the other with positive thoughts)
  2. In Word
  3. In Deed

All this comes from God’s hand, and credit is given to those who only experience and express true repentance. God is behind this, and He will see to it that His people are not afraid of living out their lives as peaceful ambassadors in a fallen world. Hopefully, a commitment to the local church and the leaders of that church would be a primary emphasis for all of us to heed.

Caution: Humility – Bumpy Road Ahead

by Elder Mike Chon

In my last article we examined the dangers of pride in our life. I think it’s safe to say that pride is one sin that all of us struggle with in one form or another. And since pride is so powerful and so prevalent, God has not left us to ourselves to try to battle and defeat pride. God has given us Christ and the gospel as well as His providence of trials and suffering to continue to humble us and defeat pride in our lives.

The Gospel

If you are a believer, at one point in your life you heard the gospel and you realized that you couldn’t save yourself or earn your way to heaven. No matter how good we thought we were, we all needed to face the fact that each of us were sinners to the core and that we offended a holy and righteous God. Christ calls us to complete self-denial if we are to follow Him (Luke 9:23). In our salvation our pride, our self-worth, and our self-love were crushed by the Spirit of God. In a word, we were all humbled. We were humbled not by guilt, not by some virtuous act, not by comparing ourselves with someone else, but by the Spirit of God. Our self-love turned to self-hate, our self-worth turned to self-less, and our self-centeredness turned to self-death. The Holy Spirit overpowers pride in our life and convicted us of our sin and worthlessness before God.

But why do we still struggle with pride? We still have pride in our fallen flesh, even though it has been wounded it continues to live in us. That is what our sanctification is all about. John MacArthur said, “Sanctification is the triumph of humility over remaining pride.” So you want to know if you are growing and maturing in Christ? You will see the triumph of humility over pride in your life.

One way the Holy Spirit continues to subdue pride in our life is to remind us of the gospel. He reminds us of the contrite spirit that we had when our hearts and eyes were opened to our sinfulness and hopelessness. He reminds us of the atonement of Christ on the cross, who became sin for us so that we can be made righteous (2 Cor. 5:21). He reminds us that the only good that we do is because of God working in us (Phil 2:13). He reminds us that our salvation is completely and totally a work of God (Eph. 2:8). In these ways God humbles us and continues to subdue pride in our life.

Trials and Suffering

Not only does God’s truth help us to know the dangers of pride and gives us the ultimate example of humility in Christ, the bible also teaches us that humility is not learned only by the knowledge of the truth. No matter how much we may read on humility, it will ultimately never test us to live out that truth. So through God’s providence He will graciously bring us trials and suffering into our lives so that we will learn humility through experience. In James 1:2-4, we are instructed to respond with joy in our trials because it will perfect us; in 1 Peter 5:10, Peter himself learned that through suffering Christ would restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish him. The apostle Paul learned this as well in 2 Corinthians 12, when he prayed three times to God that a thorn in his flesh would be removed. And after pleading to God to remove it, Paul understood and confessed the reason why God would not remove it was so that he would not become prideful. The death of pride does not come easy. Humility is cultivated and learned by understanding the truth of God working in your life along with God’s providence that brings trials, suffering, and defeat which destroys our pride.

If we understand the importance of humility and the dangers of pride, we should embrace the truth and providence of God in our lives. If you have ever met someone who is humble, you know that they understand the depth of their sin in light of the cross, and have experienced trials, sufferings, disappointments, distress, and defeats in their life without ever losing hope in our sovereign and loving God.

In the next article we will examine some practical steps we can take to help in our battle with pride.

But Mary Kept All These Things, and Pondered Them in Her Heart

by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

From Luke 2:19

There was an exercise, on the part of this blessed woman, of three powers of her being: her memory-she kept all these things; her affections-she kept them in her heart; her intellect-she pondered them; so that memory, affection, and understanding, were all exercised about the things which she had heard.

Beloved, remember what you have heard of your Lord Jesus, and what He has done for you; make your heart the golden pot of manna to preserve the memorial of the heavenly bread whereon you have fed in days gone by. Let your memory treasure up everything about Christ which you have either felt, or known, or believed, and then let your fond affections hold Him fast for evermore. Love the person of your Lord! Bring forth the alabaster box of your heart, even though it be broken, and let all the precious ointment of your affection come streaming on His pierced feet.

Let your intellect be exercised concerning the Lord Jesus. Meditate upon what you read: stop not at the surface; dive into the depths. Be not as the swallow which toucheth the brook with her wing, but as the fish which penetrates the lowest wave. Abide with your Lord: let Him not be to you as a wayfaring man, that tarrieth for a night, but constrain Him, saying, ‘Abide with us, for the day is far spent.’ Hold Him, and do not let Him go. The word ‘ponder, ‘ means to weigh. Make ready the balances of judgment. Oh, but where are the scales that can weigh the Lord Christ? ‘He taketh up the isles as a very little thing:’-who shall take Him up? ‘He weigheth the mountains in scales’-in what scales shall we weigh Him? Be it so, if your understanding cannot comprehend, let your affections apprehend; and if your spirit cannot compass the Lord Jesus in the grasp of understanding, let it embrace Him in the arms of affection.

1.27p

Weekly Links (5/20/2011)

The point is, God wants you to know Him: wants to give you Himself. And He and you are two things of such a kind that if you really get into any kind of touch with Him you will, in fact, be humble – delightedly humble, feeling the infinite relief of having for once got rid of all the silly nonsense about your own dignity which has made you restless and unhappy all your life. He is trying to make you humble in order to make this moment possible: trying to take off a lot of silly, ugly, fancy-dress in which we have all got ourselves up and are strutting about like the little idiots we are. (CS Lewis. HT: Toby Sumpter via Trevin Wax)

by Stephen Rodgers

Well, given that Harold Camping has been all over the evangelical blogosphere as well as the secular media, I thought it would be a good time to take a few moments to review his life, predictions, and ministry.  If nothing else, this should bring you up to speed on what all the hubbub has been about, and give you a Biblical basis to respond the next time someone makes these kinds of claims:

  • DJP of Team Pyro fame has a series of articles that puts the whole Harold Camping fiasco in context.  His first post, Harold Camping is not a false prophet gets the ball rolling with an examination of the theological difference between a false teacher and a false prophet.  His second post, Harold Camping glorifies God: seventeen ways, explores a plethora of ways in which God is glorified in the midst of Camping’s false predictions.  And his final post, Harold Camping, the true Gospel, and hedged bets explores in what ways the behavior of Camping’s followers is actually an appropriate analogy for our loyalty to Christ (with an emphasis on “analogy”). (WEB)
  • RC Sproul Jr. has a post in a similar vein to DJP’s initial offering entitled Harold Camping: False Prophet? (WEB)
  • W. Robert Godfrey has a 5-part series exploring the history of Camping’s ministry and theology.  You can also just download a .pdf of the whole series. (WEB/PDF)
  • And last but not least, Douglas Wilson answers a question about how Christians should respond to their unbelieving friends and co-workers who think this is typical for Christianity. Like him, I have to go mow my lawn now. (VIDEO)

That’s it for now.  See you Sunday!

Pro Rege

Interview with Kaitlyn Tou (Youth)

by Grace Wu

This Beacon interview, we get to know a staff member — Kaitlyn Tou. She describes herself as “a lover of Christ, a wife, a nurse, and a definite sinner.” She is married to Chris, who also serves on youth staff.

How long have you been serving on youth staff?

I’ve been serving on youth staff for about 2 years.

What made you want to join youth group?

When I was a youthie, I was very encouraged by older believers at Church who spent time to teach me, hang out with me, and love me in Christ. So I wanted to be that kind of encouragement and light in the lives of our youthies, so that they too may come know to the saving knowledge of Christ and how awesome He truly is.

How do you see your gifts being used in youth group?

God has allowed me to teach, admonish, encourage, and love the youth. I am always humbled by how He continues to use a sinner like me to build His kingdom. Only by God’s loving grace and perfect will do I serve in youth, which also means if anything goes wrong, it was His will…  =)

What has been one blessing in the past month that you’ve experienced in youth group?

Being able to spend time with my small group girls outside of church has allowed me to get to know them more. Not only are they so very interesting and funny, but their convictions and struggles have encouraged me as a fellow believer in Christ.

What’s it like to serve with your husband?

Being able to serve with Chris is great! It’s like having your cake, eating it, then serving on staff with it…haha, sorry. But seriously, it is wonderful to serve on youth together. I love to see him get excited when interacting with them and teaching them, it spurs me on to be excited as well.

What is the most important lesson you wish you knew when you were a youth?

I wish I knew back then that God is the Savior, I wish I believed sooner that He died for me by paying the penalty on the cross, and that through His death and resurrection, I have eternal life with Him!

LBC Weekly SPARK – May 18, 2011

by Pastor Patrick Cho

Dear LBC Family and Friends,

I hope you are doing well and walking in the Lord! As the summer approaches, things are starting to pick up for LBC. VBS is right around the corner, the summer missions teams are preparing for their trips, and all the regularly scheduled activities like Bible studies and flocks are continuing. With as much as there is to do, we must always remember to sustain a position of dependence on the Lord in prayer. Let’s make sure that we don’t get lost in our busyness and forget the purposes we seek to achieve through our activity. All to His glory!

In His grace,

Pastor Patrick

Here are the announcements for this week:

  1. FLOCKS. Our regularly scheduled Bible studies will not be meeting this week because we will be meeting for regional flocks. For more information about flocks, check out the church website. If you want to know which flock to attend, you can contact Peter Lim (peterlim@yahoo.com).
  2. LBC BANQUET AND VISION QUEST. Don’t forget that this Sunday, May 22, will be our annual all-church banquet at 4:45pm, at the church. Signups are now closed. If you signed up but have not yet paid for the event, please bring payment with you to the banquet.
  3. MEN’S BREAKFAST. Calling all men! We will be meeting once again on Saturday, June 4 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. Please bring a breakfast item to share. Juice will be provided.
  4. 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.
  5. 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).
  6. 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. Missions support letters are also available on Sundays in the foyer. Be sure to pick one up for each team! Also, please keep in mind that this year LBCSJ is doing the planning for the CZ Missions team. If you are planning on supporting both teams, please write separate checks. Argentina support can be made out to “LBCSD.” Czech support can be made out to “LBCSJ” and mailed up to San Jose. Thank you for prayerfully considering supporting our teams this year!