Winter Camp is Just Not a Normal Experience

By Matt Sasso, Pastor of Student Ministries 

We’re standing in line at McDonald’s on the way home from a weekend at winter camp. Joey, a 7th grade boy, is in line in front of me. “Hey Matt,” he says. “How many double cheeseburgers can I get for $20 dollars?” “Um…18,” I say. Joey then turns around and says exactly what we all think he will, “I’ll take 18 double cheeseburgers please.”

Camp is just not a normal experience; I think that is exactly what makes it so good. Each year winter camp is often one of the highlights of our students’ year. It’s a weekend where they get away from home, stay up late, and have some of that independence they are desperate for. For many it’s a weekend filled with a lack of sleep and good ol’ camp food, and at the exact same time it’s a week where they encounter God in a way they might never have before.

Every year at camp I watch our middle school and high school students worship in amazingly authentic ways, engage with God’s word, and have deep and insightful conversations during small group times. It is wonderful!

The lesson that I learned from Joey that year was, we can’t order 18 cheeseburgers everyday. Camp is one those times that we order 18 cheeseburgers. It is one of those weekends that we can’t replicate in the midst of our everyday lives.

If you are the parent of a junior high or high school student, I want to encourage you to consider sending your son or daughter to camp this winter. Sign up in the youth room (also known as The Garage), by calling me @ 981-4848, ext. 233, or by emailing matt@lbfchurch.com. We can’t wait to see you there!

Camp Info: 

Jr. High Winter Camp is at Ponderosa Pines Christian Camp, from February 1-3, 2013. Cost is $170 per student.

High School Winter Camp is at Forest Home Christian Camp, from February 8-10, 2013. Cost is $185 per student.

This Weekend's Message: Our Only Hope

HOPE – Hope is an essential part of our life that all of us need. I think the Christmas season brings this idea of hope to the forefront of everyone’s thinking. I remember when I was a kid I would make my wish list, give it to my parents, and then start hoping. Right up to the moment I opened that last present my hope was always alive. If I got what was on my list, of course my hope was realized. If I didn’t, then my hope was disappointed. As a kid, most of the time my mood on Christmas day was determined by whether my hope was fulfilled or not.

This Sunday we start a new series called “Exclusive Gifts for Everyone” as we celebrate advent. As you can tell we will be talking about hope. What is hope and where should our hope be placed? These will be the questions we try and answer. I HOPE to see you Sunday!

Gary

Celebrate Christmas With Us at LBF

By Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Worship 

Christmas time is almost here and we love to celebrate the Savior’s birth here at LBF! You can join us in a variety of settings and celebrations throughout the month of December.

On Sunday, December 9, join us that morning at our normal service times for some exciting worship through music with an expanded worship music team, including a bunch of vocalists and a horn line playing great Christmas songs you can really get into!

December 16 and 23 are going to be exciting weekends as well, with our Adult Christmas Choir and Children’s Choir leading us in worship during the three Sunday services. We will praise God through traditional Christmas carols, as well as some special music that you won’t want to miss!

As we get to Christmas Eve, LBF will have three services this year, beginning at 7 p.m. with our Family Christmas Eve Service. This service is a great place for families with kids to come, sing some fun Christmas songs, hear a great Christmas story, and wear your pajamas to church! (Blankies are highly recommended also.) So parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and friends, get in your jammies, grab those blankies, and bring the kids up for a fun night of Christ-centered Christmas fun.

Our second Christmas Eve service will take place at 9 p.m. This service will be a Contemporary Christmas Service with communion, Christmas carols done in a contemporary style (think Mercy Me, Steven Curtis Chapman, Third Day, and Chris Tomlin) as well as some special music numbers to help us all consider the true sacrifice and gift that we received in Jesus. There is no childcare for this service.

The third service will be at 11 p.m., and will be a traditional Candlelight Christmas Eve Service with communion and a reflective time of worship through acoustic-style Christmas carols and special music numbers. There is no childcare for this service.

We hope that you will join us during the busy Christmas season and that God blesses you with the knowledge of his presence and love for each of us, which was demonstrated by the sending of his son.

This Weekend's Message: All Together Separate

There are many books are movies that present a bleak view of the future. Books like 1984 and Brave New World present a vision in which individuality is squelched in favor of uniformity. Everyone must look the same, act the same, and think the same for the purpose of keeping society running in a well-ordered manner. In these grim visions of the future, there is no room for diversity.

Some people believe that within Christianity there is no room for diversity. After all, all Christians are required to have the same beliefs and the same morality. Don’t all Christians have to act the same, think the same, and worship the same? The big question behind this view is this: Is Christianity – and the God of the Bible – the enemy of diversity? The even bigger question is this: What does the Trinity have to do with making room for diversity?

Dan

Reaching Out: LBF Global | Update on Summer Missions

By Carol Hawkins, Missions Coordinator 

Going on a short-term mission trip is life-changing for those who participate as well as for the many lives that are the recipients of Christ’s love. In July, Helen Wood, one of our high school students, went on a mission trip to share the love of God in Italy. I thought you’d be interested in hearing about her experience.

Helen was part of a team from Liberty University. They traveled to the town of San Lorenzo Di Arzene, which was their home base, and they were able to work alongside a small church there. Their goal was to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with children and adults in different communities in the area.

Each morning the team would go out and put flyers in mailboxes inviting the people to the church. The law forbids them from handing these invitations to individuals on the street, unless they request one, but it is legal to put the flyers in mailboxes. They are also allowed to talk with people when they’re approached.

The afternoons were spent in the park reaching out to the children. There were many different ways they reached out – through puppet shows, dances, singing, story telling, making balloon animals, and using wordless bracelets (which is a great way of telling the salvation story). Through all of these methods, they were able to share the story of God’s love and redemption to people who desperately need to hear it.

In the evenings the team would go to the plazas in the center of the different cities and have conversations with people who were interested. Many people in that area are atheists and do not know the truth that God’s Word teaches. They think religion is for old people and not relevant to their lives. Helen and her teammates were able to have conversations with many people in the evenings and share God’s truth with the help of an interpreter. Through the various ways of ministry, five people came to faith in Christ. Praise God!

And seeds were planted in the hearts of many others. We know that God will use His word in drawing others to Himself.

God used this experience to bless and encourage Helen. She was able to see the hand of the Lord at work through her in touching lives in a different culture. Her team members bonded well and were able to work together in reaching out in Italy. I’m so grateful that LBF was able to help Helen with some financial and prayer support for this trip. Your gifts make a difference and are impacting lives for eternity.

Missions Lunch Reception 

On November 11, we had a missions lunch reception where Joni Brinkley shared with us about her many years of experience on the mission field in the Middle East, telling us about what the Lord is doing around the world today in touching lives for Christ. Joni and her husband, Norm, were our first missionaries that LBF sent out more than 30 years ago. Today, Joni is training men and women as they prepare for the mission field and Norm travels overseas frequently in training nationals in other countries. I hope you’ll plan on joining us.

Update on VBS Project 

I just received word that the packets our VBS kids put together for Mercy Ships have reached their destination of the Africa Mercy, which is currently in the port of Conakry, Guinea. For the next 10 months the ship will be serving the people in that area. So the packets that began in Upland, California, will now be given out in Guinea. Wow! That’s exciting to think of them now blessing people halfway around the globe.

And the word I received was: “This is a HUGE blessing to the patients.” Thanks again to our VBS kids for all their help in putting those packets together! You are a blessing!

Thanksgiving Serve Recap

No doubt most of us have grateful hearts for how God has blessed us. We are grateful and we are thankful for God’s provision. We can give thanks to God and we can give to others. So this Thanksgiving we wanted to express our gratefulness by giving to others. But we also wanted to take it up a notch –take it to the next level –and as a result, we wanted to serve others. We went to be with people we give to, showing them love and serving them. We took our gratefulness to God and expressed it back to God by loving our neighbor.

How did we do this? We partnered with GAP Food Bank in Rancho Cucamonga. GAP literally handed us over the keys to their food bank…. and we used their location to bless the families they support. We collected foods for 400 Thanksgiving dinners  –frozen turkey and all the fixings –and then Saturday, November 17, the Saturday before Thanksgiving, we organized and distributed these Thanksgiving meals.


 

Thanksgiving: Coming Together to Put “Love in Action”

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor, and Russ Parker, Pastor of Administration 

Two men were walking through a field one day when they spotted an enraged bull. Instantly they darted toward the nearest fence. The storming bull followed in hot pursuit, and it was soon evident they wouldn’t make it. Terrified, one guy shouted to the other, “Hey, send up a prayer, John. We’re in for it!” John answered, “I can’t. I’ve never prayed in public in my life.” “But you must!” begged his friend. “The bull is catching up to us.” “All right,” said John as he was breathing hard, “I’ll say the only prayer I know, the one my father used to repeat at the table: ‘O Lord, for what we are about to receive, make us truly thankful.’”

Are you laughing? I hope so.

If the month of November is remembered for anything, it would be Thanksgiving. You know it’s that time of the year where we eat way too much turkey and sweet potatoes and cranberry sauce.

In the past, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, we traditionally held a Thanksgiving Love Feast. This is a time when our church family and others come and enjoy a Thanksgiving-type meal together. In light of our new mission statement, we will be changing the focus of this event. Instead of our church coming together and enjoying a meal, this year we will go out into the community and serve the poor or those less fortunate. We will enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday by putting “Love into Action.”

And we are going big! Each week GAP Food Bank feeds 400 families who are struggling to keep up, pay the rent, and provide for the their families. This year we are taking up the challenge to feed 400 GAP families a Thanksgiving meal – turkey and all the fixin’s. We are challenging our church to provide these 400 Thanksgiving meals, but we’re not going to stop at giving and providing these meals. We are going to take over GAP Food Bank (literally we are getting the keys to the facility) and run the entire operation where we organize, pack, and give out these 400 meals, blessing these needy families. We desire to show our thankfulness to God for his provision and goodness by giving back and blessing others – that they might also be thankful. It’s going to be quite the undertaking, but we know you, LBF, will rally to help people in our community. The Saturday before Thanksgiving, Collecting Food + Distributing Food = Loving Our Neighbors.

 Our hope is to bring into some people’s lives in our community the words of Jeremiah who said: “I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the Lord never ends!” Lamentations 3:19-25 (NLT)

As we approach another Thanksgiving, I pray that we will be able to bring some hope into the lives of people who need it the most.

This Weekend's Message: The Tie That Binds God

Many of us have worked in environments that used organizational charts. These charts help bring clarity about who is in charge, who answers to whom, how conflicts are resolved, and how decisions are made. The idea is that there needs to be some foundational idea behind making an organization work the way it should, instead of spinning out of control.

The doctrine of the Trinity teaches that God is not an individual in isolation, but rather a community of persons. He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. So, crude as this question may sound, how does this community of persons work? Is there an organizational chart, outlining clear procedures for decision-making? Does the Godhead function like a military with a chain of command? How does this whole thing work?

Dan

Mosaic’s Next Chapter

By Matt Sasso, Pastor of Student Ministries 

As I often look at the Bible, I see a story – a story where God is communicating His love for His creation.

Over the past few months excitement has been building in me as I step into the next chapter in the life of Mosaic college ministry here at LBF. Working with students over the last eight years, I have become very passionate about this stage of life, and having students see God communicating His love for them.

As this next chapter begins, I am looking forward to several things. The first is being a part of a community that is known for its love for one another. In the gospel of John, we see Jesus stating that our love for one another will mark or show whose disciple we are. My passion is to lead a community of college students that accept and love one another. The second is to lead a group of young men and women to serve their community and show others the love of Christ. Over the past few months I have seen a group of students in the ministry become passionate about sharing this love not only with our church, but also with the community. Thirdly, I am excited about seeing this ministry connected to the whole church. I love seeing generations of people serving, worshiping, and learning together.

As this next chapter begins, these are just a few aspects of what I am looking forward to. My hope is that you pray with me for the ministry of Mosaic and its future.

Does The Trinity Matter?

By Dan Franklin, Pastor of Teaching 

“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the 

fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Corinthians 13:14 

Simplifying the Complex 
Whenever I have to explain something to my son, I am faced with the challenge of simplifying the complex. Sometimes I joyfully find myself cutting through the complexities and giving good explanations on questions about marriage or death or racism or other tough subjects. Other times I find myself stumbling along, trying to use words and ideas that make sense to a child.

Giving simple explanations to my kids has made me realize how often I accept certain ideas without understanding them at their most foundational level, without asking why I believe them or whether or not they even make sense. In the end, it is hard to embrace something when you don’t understand it at its most foundational level. A surface understanding only allows for a surface-level embrace.

Un-simplifiable? 
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most complex and confusing ideas ever posited. One God and three persons?! How can three be one? How can one be three? How can Jesus be equal to the Father and yet distinct from the Father? The Trinity is such a confusing idea that some consider it an outright contradiction. Others follow the adage, “The Trinity is the most mysterious doctrine in the Bible, and thus best left alone.”

The doctrine of the Trinity, however, is so core to the Christian faith that throughout history it has been considered a watershed issue. While Christians disagree on church structure and end times events and spiritual gifts, the Trinity is not a take-it-or-leave-it teaching. To deny the Trinity is to deny a central tenet of the Christian faith and a foundational reality about God. Throughout history men and women have chosen death rather deny that God is Triune.

Does This Really Matter? 
Many Christians affirm the Trinity, but don’t necessarily see the practical importance of the doctrine. We accept this confusing idea that there is one God and three persons, but it is only a surface acceptance.

However, it seems unlikely that a doctrine worth dying for wouldn’t have a practical impact on how we live and think and act. The fact is that the Trinity is not simply a theoretical doctrine. Far from it. The Trinity provides the basis for the nature of God, that he is not an individual in isolation, but a community of persons. It provides the basis for the nature of mankind, that we are created in God’s image as relational beings.

And it provides the basis for relationship, that we can be one as the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one.

The implications of the Trinity are so far-reaching that when we ignore it, it is to our own peril. We end up living with an inferior view of God, of humanity, and of the great work of salvation that God has accomplished. But when we embrace the Trinity, we are set free to live and love in ways that we never would have thought imaginable.

In November, we will spend three weeks prayerfully and carefully approaching the biblical teaching on the Trinity and its implications for our lives. Invite someone to join us!

This Weekend's Message: The Deep Truth of God

Probably the most mysterious and confusing teaching in the Bible is the doctrine of the Trinity. It has a way of defying analogy. How can the one and only God be Father, Son, and Holy Spirit? How can three be one, and how can one be three? Isn’t this a straightforward contradiction?

When we ignore the doctrine of the Trinity, many harmful things happen. For starters, we feed a habit of suppressing our natural questions about God. Also, we choose not to pursue a reality that will bring us joy and understanding. On top of these, we practice a pattern of separating our faith from our daily lives. The harmful impact of ignoring what the Bible teaches about God will have far-reaching effects in our lives, whether we realize it or not.

We are going to dive into the doctrine of the Trinity, starting this Sunday. Come ready not to solve a riddle, but ready to explore the identity of the God who created you and loved you enough to rescue you.

Dan

Adoption Awareness Month Focuses on Foster Care

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor 

Each year, November is recognized as National Adoption Awareness Month. While all adoption-related issues are important, the particular focus for this year is the adoption of children currently in foster care.

There are activities and celebrations across our nation during this month that bring awareness to the needs of orphans and how to go about meeting those needs. We are privileged to have a member in our church that is active in promoting adoption. She is living what she believes as an adoptive parent herself.

The needs for adoptive parents are great. There is an estimated 130,000 orphans in the United States alone. Many of these children are in foster care and are moved around from home to home on a regular basis. These children need a stable and caring home with people who will love them as a person made in the image of God.

If you have ever wanted to know more about being a foster parent or an adoptive parent, I would suggest a couple of things. First, please contact me and I’ll get you in contact with the member in our church who is an adoptive parent. Second, check out an organization called “Hope for Orphans” at hopefororphans.org. This website is a great place to find resources and information, and has a ministry focus. If you have any questions feel free to email me at gary@lbfchurch.com.