This Weekend's Message: Be the Church

This Weekend's Message by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor

The Adventure Gets Personal
Acts 2:22-41
When someone asks you, “Can I ask you a personal question?” what is your first thought? Maybe it’s “Oh no what are they going to ask?” And then maybe you think, “Okay how can I answer this without revealing too much about myself?” Many times getting personal can produce uncomfortable feelings and responses from people.

Getting personal is what we will be talking about this week. Peter in his very first (and some say his best) sermon gets personal with the people he is speaking to. But what is so amazing is that while he gets personal with them their response is not one of being guarded or defensive but just the opposite. The people he got personal with responded by believing what he said. And that belief changed their lives forever.
This week as we continue to learn how to “Be the Church” we will look at how to get personal with those who need Jesus and how our getting personal can make a “forever” difference in their life. See you Sunday. Pastor Gary

Reflections: April 26, 2010

This Weekend's Reflection by Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Teaching & Worship April 26, 2010

The setting: The Sea of Galilee
The characters: The disciples and a “ghost”
The event: As the disciples are out on the lake they see a ghostly image who turns out to be Jesus. Bravely, Peter asks Jesus if He will call him out on the water. Jesus does, and Peter steps out on the boat onto the water. But his bravery was hollow as a simple glance at the waves around him causes Peter to lose faith and sink into the water. Jesus reaches out and saves him, and takes Peter back to the boat.

The setting: A campfire outside the palace where Jesus is on trial for his life.
The characters: Peter, guards, servants, bystanders, and a rooster
The event: When Peter is recognized as a follower of Jesus, out of fear and insecurity, he denies ever knowing Jesus. Not once. Not twice, but three times.
Later, after Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus redeems Peter by giving him the opportunity to express his true heart of love for Him.

Peter was not known for his ability to be bold in the face of adversity, and take a stand in critical moments for what he claimed to believe in.

But fast forward to Acts chapter 2 and we find a very different Peter than we have seen before.

The setting: The city of Jerusalem
The characters: The disciples, some fellow believers, and a hoard of people from all over the known world.
The event: After 10 days of waiting in the upper room of a house with 120 other believers, the Holy Spirit descends on each believer individually. With power unlike they have ever known before, the believers begin speaking in languages previously unknown to them. Enter Peter, who emerges as a confident leader. He steps forward and begins to address the crowd with the confidence of a tenured theology professor. He speaks of prophecies from scripture with a clarity and a boldness that would impress Billy Graham. And he confronts the people with the truth of what they are witnessing.

For some, there may be clear evidences of the Holy Spirit, like we saw on the day of Pentecost, that God is moving in their lives. For others, the change and the impact may be more subtle. As believers we have been given authority in the name of Jesus. We have been empowered by the Holy Spirit, and we have been commissioned to go make disciples. So clearly we should be looking for, and anticipating a move of the Holy Spirit in our life. It may require some waiting. It may not look how we think it will look, but through faith, and the evidence I have seen in scripture and moments in my own journey with God, I can say that the Holy Spirit is alive, giving Spiritual Gifts, and moving in power.

Tell us of how you have seen the Holy Spirit move. What are some ways that you anticipate a move of God in your life? What are some ways you are stepping out in faith under the power of the Holy Spirit?

Reflections: April 19, 2010

This Weekend's Reflection by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor April 19, 2010

The adventure has begun. On Sunday we started our adventure through the book of Acts. Although we had 76 men gone on our annual Men’s retreat on their own adventure, we started ours as we studied Acts Chapter 1.  The focus for the morning was learning about what the first Christians believed.  What we believe is an important point to consider. The truth is we may say we believe in something but if our belief (whatever it may be) doesn’t work itself out into our daily life then I think we should question whether we actually believe it.
In our study we learned that the first Christians believed in the reality of the resurrection and the coming of His kingdom. That belief changed their life on a daily basis. Believing in the reality of the resurrection and the coming of His kingdom should affect the way we live today. What do you think? How does your belief in the reality of the resurrection and the coming of His kingdom change the way you live throughout the week? Let’s talk! 

This Weekend's Message: Be the Church

This Weekend's Message by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor

I’m one of those people who like new adventures in life. I like to try new things especially if it involves the outdoors, cars or airplanes! When it comes to movies I also like adventure. One of my favorite movie series is Indiana Jones; The man with the fedora and leather jacket skirting around the world in search of priceless artifacts – What could be more fun?

I got thinking about all of this adventure because this week we start a new series through the book of Acts. I look at the book of Acts like this wonderful new adventure. The main characters are asked to spread the news of Jesus and his resurrection around the world but are faced with the uncertainty of how people will respond to this message. At every corner adventure awaits.

 

In our study we will learn about how the Christian church got started in Jerusalem and how it grew throughout the world. And in the process we will learn how to “Be the Church” of the 21st century. Our adventure begins as we start with Acts chapter 1. See you Sunday!

Reflections: April 11, 2010

This Weekend's Reflection: by Jeff Taylor Pastor of Teaching & Worship

Wii Made It!! Wii just finished our series on the foundational beliefs of the Christian faith as documented in our LBF belief statements. It has been a real treat for both Gary and myself to get to dive so deeply into these foundational topics in the Word and bring it to the body. We understand that some of the topics and points made have a lot of debate surrounding them, but our prayer is that we would all be open to what God want to speak to us through His Word.

 

As we said throughout the series, we want to encourage you to dive into the study of the Word of God. It does not require a theology degree, or even hours of research. There are so many resources out there which offer in depth information to help each of us understand, at our own levels. A couple of the resources that Gary and I have used for this series as well as others

are:

 

"An Exploration Of Christian Theology" by Don Thorsen Hendrickson Publishers Inc. 2008

*** This is the one we handed out to various church members who posted "Mii's" on the LBF Facebook page.

 

"Introducing Christian Doctrine" Second Edition by Millard Erickson Published by Baker Academic 2001

 

Share some of your reflections on the series and how God has spoken to you about your faith and living out what you believe. Here is a quick recap of the topics in the series:

 

TITLE: Wii Believe Sin the Bible

BIG IDEA: The Bible is the divinely inspired Word of God, inerrant in the original writings and is the final authority in matters of faith and life.

TEXTS: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:19-21

 

TITLE: Wii Believe in the Triune God

BIG IDEA: God is one in essence, eternally existing in three persons ­ the Father, the Son and the Holy spirit ­ they are co-equal in attributes, power and glory and equally worthy of all obedience, worship, praise and adoration

TEXTS: Matthew 28:19, Deuteronomy 6:4, John 14:6-7, John 5:23, Acts 5:3-4

 

TITLE: Wii Believe in Jesus

BIG IDEA: Jesus Christ was born of a virgin ­ he is fully God and fully man ­ and that having lived a sinless life, was buried following his crucifixion on the cross at Calvary ­ he rose bodily from the dead.  He is the only Savior through whom fallen man can find forgiveness and salvation.

TEXTS: Luke 1:30-35, 24; John 1:29, 8:46; Hebrews 4:15; 1 John 3:5

 

TITLE: Wii Believe that mankind is sinful and separated from God BIG IDEA: We cannot be "Good Enough". Humanity is lost and sinful and therefore needs to be saved. That salvation and forgiveness is made possible by the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the cross and comes to each person through personal faith in Christ, the Crucified One and that salvation is by grace alone ­ not by any good works.

TEXTS: Romans 3:10-23, 6:23; Ephesians 2:8-10; 1 Peter 2:24

 

TITLE: Wii Believe in the Holy Spirit

BIG IDEA: We believe that the Holy Spirit baptizes the believer into the body of Christ at Salvation and then distributes Spiritual gifts to each believer as He wills and seals the believer for the day of redemption.

TEXTS: 1 Corinthians 12:13; Ephesians 4:30

 

TITLE: Wii Believe Christians are called to walk by the Spirit BIG IDEA: We believe as Christians we are called to walk by the Spirit, not after the flesh so our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in all things.

TEXTS: Galatians 5:156-26; 1 Peter 4:11; Romans 12:1,2

 

TITLE: Wii Believe in the resurrection

BIG IDEA: We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the unsaved.

Those that are saved will be resurrected into life and those that are unsaved unto the resurrection of damnation.

TEXTS: Corinthians 15; revelation 20:4-6; Daniel 12:2

 

TITLE: Wii Believe He'll Be Back (Second Coming Of Christ) BIG IDEA: We believe that Jesus Christ will come again to this world to rule and reign in righteousness and that His coming again is imminent and that it will be literal, personal and visible.

TEXTS: John 14:1-6, Acts 1:11

This Weekend's Message: Wii Believe...He'll Be Back!

by Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Teaching & Worship
John 14:1 Don't let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father¹s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

This is an amazing promise. The ultimate, "I'll Be Back"! But when? How? What's taking so long? And what should we do in the meantime?

How, when, and in what order Christ will return is a topic that many people love to discuss and debate. But with all the predictions that we get from the news-stand-prophets, how should we consider the return of Christ and life until that great day?

Reflections: April 5, 2010

by Gary Keith, Executive & Teaching Pastor

Wii Believe...Death is Not a Factor

Easter 2010 - remembering and celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ. What about the resurrection? The resurrection says death is not a factor – that death does not have the last word – that what we do with our life matters – that our sins can be forgiven – that there is a strong and powerful place to put our hope. The resurrection says nothing will ever be the same again.

 

Do you believe this? If you do what difference is the resurrection making in your life today? How are you living your life differently because of the resurrection? If you don’t believe in the resurrection; why not? What is holding you back from believing in the resurrection? What other reflections do you have on the past week?  Share your thoughts! 

Easter Weekend: Wii Believe...Death is Not a Factor

Easter Sunday: 

Wii Believe...Death is Not a Factor
1 Corinthians 15

I think I’m on safe ground to say that no one alive today has ever seen a person who was once dead rise from the dead and come back to life again. And yet every person who calls themselves a Christian puts their entire faith in this one fact. The fact that Jesus Christ, a man who lived on this earth and was executed for claiming to be God, rose from the dead three days after he was buried in a borrowed tomb.
From any angle, believing in this story takes faith. It takes believing in something I’ve never seen. So why should I believe in the resurrection of Jesus? Is there any evidence? And if Jesus did rise from the dead what difference does that make in my life today? That is exactly what we will be talking about this Sunday, Easter 2010.
Remember, if you can attend either the early service (7:30 am) or the last service (11:15 am) that would be great and help provide seats for those additional people who will be with us Sunday. Also please note that the parking lot across the street from the church (the old Albertson’s lot) will be open for use on Sunday. And lastly, I would encourage you to invite someone to come with you to church on Sunday – it could be a life changing experience for them.
He is Risen!
Pastor Gary