Operation Christmas Child Update

On behalf of Samaritan’s Purse and Life Bible Fellowship Church, a true thank you to the church body who packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child! Because of you, children around the world will hear about the gospel and experience Christmas.

We collected 725 shoeboxes that were delivered to Samaritan’s Purse on behalf of Life Bible Fellowship Church. These boxes, along with the 15,121 other shoeboxes collected at LBF from the Inland Empire, made for a grand total of 15,846 shoeboxes delivered via trailer for Operation Christmas Child!

These gifts will bring smiles to children’s faces and meet some of their physical needs. Pastors and missionaries from these local regions will also share the greatest gift of all - the Good News that Jesus Christ brought to humanity through His birth and His resurrection.

Finally, we would like to personally acknowledge and thank each of you who gave your time to ensure the success of this ministry, from distributing shoeboxes during each service, to packing a shoebox, to working at the Collection Center by packing shoeboxes into cartons and to lifting those cartons onto two trailers.

The list is extensive, as of Collection Monday, November 23, there were 61 volunteers, which included the youth groups from LBF and Moreno Christian Assembly, and a local Boy Scout Troop.

Thank you to:
Robin Crawford
Debbie Hutton
Tom De Koster
Cathy Kendall
Kathy Nauertz
Eric, Kirsten, Adam & Olson Grubb
Jeff & Nadine Dice
Helen Davis
Rob Vance
Bob Palmer
Dave & Myrle Pentz
Paul Barnhold
Joe & Debbie Ulrey
Glenn Hamilton
Gary, Laurie & Julie Root
Erik Jacobsen

Without all of your assistance, along with many others who volunteered and gave of their time, this project could not have been accomplished.  I hope that you were truly blessed by this experience as I was in sharing God’s love.

Thanks again for all of your help!

Jeff Crawford

Reflections: November 29, 2009

Once you read the Christmas story in either Matthew or Luke and compare that with our own celebration, you are quick to notice that the two experiences are very different. Today we explored Christmas through the eyes of Mary and Joseph, and found that their story is a story of trust. Mary had to trust God, Joseph had to trust Mary, Mary had to trust Joseph, and Joseph had to trust God.

 

Trust - I believe trust is a major theme of the story of Mary and Joseph. The challenge today was to look at our own lives and ask the question: Where in my life is God asking me to trust Him? Is God asking you to change something in your life? But are you uncomfortable doing that or you don’t understand why He would ask you to change? Where in your life do you need to trust God? Does it seem impossible? Are there outlandish things that God is asking of you? I'd love to hear your thoughts on this subject of trust when it comes to a relationship with God.

Reflections: November 22, 2009

This week's "Reflection" by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor

God's grace truly is amazing - it is like nothing we have ever experienced in our other relationships on earth. Grace is something we can give mental assent to, but it is difficult to embrace in the core of our everyday life. How can it really be true that there is nothing we can do to make God love us any more or any less?

 

If that is true then what's our motivation? It seems to leave the door open for us to live any way we want. If we sin, we sin - don't worry, grace will cover it. So why not just sin all the more and expect that grace will cover us? What's our motivation to live a life in obedience to God? I'd like to hear your thoughts in answer to that question. Just click on the link below and let's talk.

Reflections: November 15, 2009

This week's "Reflection" by Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Teaching & Worship

As I continue to reflect on this issue of trusting that the grace of God is enough, I keep coming back to what it says in 2 Corinthians 12:8 where God tells us, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." My unwillingness to admit my need and my weakness affects far more than just the grace that I am missing. My unwillingness to admit that I need help keeps me from going to God in times of need. It keeps me from seeking Godly wisdom, so I just go with what I think is best. It keeps me proud, so I keep people who God may want to use to demonstrate His love and grace to me at arms-length. In my desire to live life to the fullest, I sabotage that by believing that I can make that happen.

I want to encourage all of us to do the very difficult thing of admitting that we are not all we need. We are not strong enough, smart enough, or good enough to get through life with the kind of hope, joy, peace, and love that we desire and is possible through the grace of God.

Today, will you go before God and admit your weakness and your need for His grace? It is there waiting for you with no strings attached.

Reflections: November 8, 2009

This week's "Reflection" by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor

FREE – Okay, so as believers in Christ, we are free from the bondage and power of sin, but what does that look like in our everyday life? Knowing it and living it are two different things. 

 

What did you think of the three key words that Paul uses in Romans 6? Do you remember what they were? I have to know something, I have to consider something, I have to offer something

 

Do you think those three words will help you this week in living as a free person? How do you think they will make a difference when you are tempted to sin?

Reflections: November 1, 2009

This week's "Reflection" by Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Teaching & Worship

How does the idea of doing something out of importance rather than performance produce freedom in your heart?

Ephesians 2:8-10: God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can¹t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

What are/have been areas that you have felt you need to "perform" for God? Bible reading? Quiet times or prayer? Going to church? What does this passage from scripture do to your purpose for doing these things?

And be sure to come next Sunday as we discuss further this idea of freedom through grace!