New Children’s Programs Starting in 2013

By Laurie Baiz, Director of Children’s Ministry 

As we gear up for the new school year, we begin to get excited about all of the great things that the fall has to offer – some cooler weather, a more consistent schedule, and the wonderful holidays. Many of you have begun to map out the day-to-day schedules between work, school, and after-school activities. As the calendar fills up, some may wonder if there is going to be a mid-week program offered for our kids at church. Well, the answer to that questions is, yes!

In the next few months I will be putting together two brand new mid-week programs. All of the details are not worked out yet, but here is a bit of information regarding the programs. Both will meet once a week and will be free to attend. The first program will begin in January and meet through the end of May for grades 1-4. The second program is for grades 5-6 and will begin meeting in March and continue to meet throughout the year. Both of these programs are going to be unique and tailored to their age groups.

This is such an exciting time for me and I can’t wait to have fun, watch the kids grow in God’s word, and get to know them better. It’s going to be a great start to 2013!

This Weekend's Message: Homosexuality: The Right to Marry?

To be against same-sex marriage in our culture is increasingly being equated with being racist or sexist. It is often equated with those who were against school integration and interracial marriage. As states vote on amendments, as protestors demonstrate, as celebrities and politicians take sides, the issue is coming to a boiling point.

How does God’s Word guide Christians to think about a tough issue like same-sex marriage? And then, how does God guide us on how to respond to this issue in our cultural context?

Dan Franklin

You Blessed 71 of Pacific Lifeline’s Kids

By Kirsten Grubb 

A huge thank you to everyone at LBF who helped send Pacific Lifeline’s children back to school with...

Confidence: “Thank you so much. You have helped my child start the school year with confidence and pride. Our family is so grateful.”

A smile: “The boys are thrilled with the things they got, and they can’t wait to take them to school. Thank you so much.”

New clothes: “Thank you for giving me and my sister a gift card to get clothes. We appreciate it all. Thank you very much and God bless you.” 

School supplies: “Thank you so much for Jacob’s items. Every day he adds more things to his Spongebob backpack and says he’s ready for school. He has been so excited every day.”

And backpacks: “Thank you for buying and having time to do this for me so I can have what I need to go back to school. I appreciate it. Thank you and God bless you.” 

Once again, I have been inspired and touched by the generosity and compassion of this church family. We helped 93 children this year – that is 18 more than last year! And of the 93 children participating in our back to school program, people from LBF sponsored 71 of them! When you are called to reach out, you reach out in generous, loving, and amazing ways!

While the quotes above convey just how deeply you have touched the lives of 71 children, I think this quote from one of our families does a great job of summing up the significance of LBF’s ministry to Pacific Lifeline’s kids:

“Thank you so much. Please tell the donor how much of a blessing they are. Alexa just went through everything and we had the perfect opportunity to talk about God’s love and how she can bless others.” 

Thank you for the many ways that LBF reaches out with God’s love to Pacific Lifeline’s families. If you are interested in getting more involved, please visit www.pacific-lifeline.org.

Christmas In October? Oh Yes.

By Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Worship 

Have you ever had the urge to burst into “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” in October? Are you tired of having to wait until December to sing “Joy To The World?” Well we have a great opportunity for you! In October we are starting rehearsals for our Christmas choir, which will be part of our worship services two weekends in December. The choir will be part of the worship team and will have the opportunity to lead our congregation in worship songs, both contemporary and traditionally Christmas. We are going to have so much fun learning this music together and it would be great to have you involved.

You are reading about this in September’s Scroll because we have music that we would like you to begin learning even before our first rehearsal on Wednesday, October 3. If you do not read notated music, don’t worry, we have ways of learning parts that won’t require that. Speaking of rehearsals, we will be rehearsing each Wednesday in October and November (except the Wednesday of the Harvest Party on October 31) from 6-7 p.m. in the Worship Center.

If you are interested in being part of our Christmas choir, we are looking for sopranos, altos, tenors, and basses. All parts are crucial so if you enjoy singing and can carry a tune, please consider being a part of this. (History has shown us that we are always in need of more guys for the tenor and bass parts. So men, step up!)

There will be a table at the front of the Worship Center with music folders and a sign-up sheet. If you are interested, please sign up at the table or contact our Worship Services Coordinator, Amanda Bixler @ 981-4848, ext. 241 or amanda@lbfchurch.com, so that we can plan how many seats and music folders we will need. I cannot wait to worship God through Christmas music with you.

This Weekend's Message: Homosexuality: Is God Bigoted?

In our current cultural setting, no issue is more emotionally-charged than the issue of how our culture responds to homosexuality. For the past decade, the issue has dominated the spheres of politics and popular culture. It seems like a new celebrity “comes out” nearly every month, and measures concerning same-sex marriage appear in each election year.

One of the reasons why this issue is so emotionally-charged is because there have been poor responses on both sides. Sadly, there have been Christians (and churches) who have acted ignorantly or spitefully toward homosexuals, alienating and dehumanizing them. Then there are other Christians (and churches) who have decided that the biblical teaching on homosexuality must be either culturally driven or antiquated, and so they have embraced homosexuality as a normal and acceptable activity. There are many questions surrounding this difficult issue.

This weekend we will not resolve all of them. Two questions will dominate this weekend’s message:
(1) What does the Bible say about homosexuality?
(2) How are we to respond to individuals who are impacted by homosexuality?

Dan Franklin

Continuing “Praying with Power and Purpose” From Titus III

By Julie Fachner 

Ladies, if you would like to go deeper with God and see your prayers become powerful, this is the study for you. We will pray blessings over our children, husbands, and homes. We will also cover areas we women struggle with. There will be prayer for hurts from our past insecurities and fears, that we all feel but do not have the “know how” to pray for.

If you feel stuck in your prayer life and want to see change, this is the study for you. We will also learn how to give thanks to our Father for the goodness in our lives and for bringing change, as we learn to seek His voice and pray! We will learn how to hold up one another in prayer and journal our bi-weekly time together, as we back up our heavenly requests with faith to see God’s goodness and change that can come about. Won’t you join us as we start this journey together?

Led by Michelle Flint and beginning Wednesday, September 26, we will meet every other Wednesday evening, from 7-8:30 p.m. in Mont Vista 1 & 2.

Faith Matters Class Asks, “What is the Church?”

By Don Thorsen 

Having just started September 9, the Faith Matters class for adults will meet on Sunday mornings at 9:30 a.m. in Mont Vista 1 & 2. The next topic of study is “What is the Church?” Perhaps, more appropriately, the question that should be asked is, “Who is the Church?” This is because we who are Christians constitute the church. Thus, in class, we will study what the Bible says about how Christians should live together as the “body” of Jesus Christ. We can often explain what it means to live as a Christian individually, but we cannot explain what it means to live as Christians collectively. According to the Bible, the church serves to build up Christians. In class, we will study how the church builds us up: individually and collectively, in the church and in society.

This Weekend's Message: Is God a Masochist or Pacifist?

If you stay current with the events in our world, I don’t have to tell you that across our globe many are in the midst of conflict and war. For Americans, the war in Afghanistan is mostly on our minds, but let’s not forget about the recently ended war in Iraq or what happened in recent times in Egypt or Tunisia or Libya – that some call the Arab Spring. Even more current is horrific killing of innocent people in Syria and just Wednesday the burning of the U.S. Embassy and killing of the U.S. Ambassador and three others in Libya. And finally, let’s not forget this threat of terrorism we have been living with for over ten years.

War, the threat of war, and the effects of war are all around us. What are we to think about this? What are we to do about it? How should a Christian think about war? How should a Christian react to war? 

This is what we will talk about on Sunday as we continue our series “American Christian or Christian American?” I hope to see you.

We will also have a baptism after third service. Please stay for that service as well. You will be blessed as you get to see and hear how God has changed the lives of people in our church. This will be an exciting time!

Gary Keith

A-B-C Your Way Through 26 Bible Verses

By Laurie Baiz, Director of His Kids Children’s Ministries 

As you already know, here at LBF we have put an emphasis on reading and getting to know God’s word everyday through our Bible Reading Plans. As we have been doing this together, it has been very beneficial and enlightening for our lives. This is an experience that we would also like our children to experience as well.

This fall the Children’s Ministry at LBF have put together a fun and wonderful way for your children in 1st-6th grade to participate in memorizing 26 Bible verses throughout the school year. All the children will be learning the same verses, but the 5th-6th graders have extended verses to make sure it is challenging for them as well. We will have tracking charts in the hallways, flashcards to take home, and small prizes will be given out each time they have reached the goals set. In addition to all that, the Children’s Worship Band will be playing a special song that will help them memorize their verses!

The Children’s Ministry is really looking forward to this fall session with all of the exciting things that will begin! I know that the Service Directors, volunteers, and myself are energetically looking to see your children learn and grow in the word of God.

What’s Your GodView? Exit 83 Explores God’s Mysteries

By Matt Sasso, Pastor of Student Ministries 

What comes to mind when you think about God? Who do you believe God is? How do you believe God interacts with you personally and with your world? These are questions we are going to be addressing in Exit 83. You see, every one of us has a “Godview,” whether we think about it or not. For many of us, it’s just a vague impression formed when we were younger. For some, it’s an image of someone against whom we have a strong resistance. For others, God is personal and mysterious, offering an adventure to anyone ready to pursue a relationship with Him. While we can never really know everything about God – because He’s that big and mysterious – the things we can learn about Him shape the way we respond to whatever life brings. That’s why author A.W. Tozer said, “What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.”

Week One (September 2) 
No matter who we are, we all have a Godview. And the way we think about God affects how we interact with our world. Many people struggle because they have a negative or distorted view of God. This first week, we will take a look at the life of one of Jesus’ closest followers who struggled with this very thing. In the end, we want to challenge students to begin to see how their view of God shapes the way they live.

If you are a parent of a junior high or high school student, grab a piece of paper for each of you and take three minutes to write down all of the things that come to mind when you hear the word “God.” Both of you be honest, and don’t just write the words that you think you should. There’s no grade for this.

Week Two (September 9) 
Many of us have a distorted Godview because we think God’s primary goal is either for us to be good or for us to be happy. While there may be some truth in those statements, if we see those as His primary goals, then we walk through life with remarkable and self-made expectations. Then, when those expectations aren’t met, our faith is shattered and destroyed. This week, we want students to see that following God is bigger than our expectations. Following God requires surrendering control.

As a parent you could ask your junior high or high school student, “When you think about the things you pray for or about, or the verses you hang on to, or even the way you perceive God, are those all based on your own personal happiness? How would our prayers and likes look different if we were more concerned about surrendering control?”

Week Three (September 16) 
The tendency for each one of us is to think we have God all figured out. But this week is about one simple truth – we don’t. This week we want students to see how the more they come to know God, the more they will realize they’ll never really know Him completely. There is always more of God to know. He’s that big, that mysterious, and that amazing.

At the close of this series, we hope your student will walk away with the desire to pursue a relationship with God and to know God more every day. As a parent you could ask your junior high or high school student, “What is mysterious to you about God? Is it comforting or frightening to know there are things about God we don’t have figured out? Why or why not?”

We hope that your student is challenged in their relationship with God.

This Weekend's Message: Fight or Flight?

Some of us have taken tests that reveal our conflict management style. It can be a helpful experience. Some of us respond to conflict by striking back with full force. If someone is against us, we decide that we are against them also. Rather than being punching bags, we decide to fight back. On the other hand, some of us respond to conflict by trying to keep peace at any cost. We will avoid, over-apologize, and keep silent if it will help the conflict to go away. As you read this, you can probably identify which extreme to which you lean.

Our conflict management styles can play themselves out in the way that we respond as Christians to the culture around us. Some of us experience the opposition of the world against Jesus (and his people), and we fight back. We start organizations and launch protests to protect our rights from the powers that be. Others of us retreat so that we won’t have to deal with the unpleasant aspects of the world that cause conflict and difficulty. We pull back from any level of engagement and just try to stay pure until either we die or Jesus returns.

Often we think that “fight” and “flight” are the only options Christians have to respond to the world around us. In this passage, Jesus gives us a completely different way to engage. He calls us to something that has much greater difficulty for us, and much greater impact for others.

Dan Franklin

LBF’s Mission: Why are we here? What are we doing? What’s it all about?

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor 

The time I first came to LBF, back in 1977, what captured my heart was the church’s desire to see people come to faith in Jesus and grow into mature followers of Jesus. Although this is what every church should be about, my experience in other churches didn’t always bear this out. But this is what I wanted to be about and commit my life to. I didn’t want to be part of a church that simply allowed people to come and be part of a social club or come and simply fill their head with knowledge without any responsibility to living the life.

What I found here was a group of people refreshingly serious about their relationship with Jesus. For me this clear and challenging focus on mission has changed my life. It has taken me out of the world of business and placed me into the world of church ministry – a change I could not have predicted as I simply wanted to be serious about my relationship with Jesus. And now as we have just passed our 41st anniversary as a church, it is my prayer that we continue to represent Jesus well and stay serious about our faith.

As our church approached its 41st anniversary, I felt it was necessary to review our mission statement. And so we did. In reviewing our mission statement we wanted to make sure that it would be biblically based, while at the same time reflect the uniqueness of LBF.

Our process started back in January and was a collaborative effort with both the elders and the pastoral staff. It involved a series of meetings and discussions about what the Bible calls us to be as a church. It also included an assessment of our current LBF church culture. We quickly learned that four themes came out of our meetings. First we learned that we desire a growing passion for God and His calling on our lives. Second, we learned that we have a desire to love and serve our community. Third, we learned that we want to see lives transformed by encounters with Christ and His gospel. And fourth, we learned that we wanted to discover and experience and live out a focus of grace.

With these themes in mind and through hours of prayerful discussion we captured LBF’s central purpose as follows:

     We exist to passionately pursue LIFE in Jesus and to lead our neighbors to do the same. 

We believe this best expresses what LBF is about and captures our uniqueness as a church. But what do all of these words really mean? Continue reading.