LIFE Groups Spotlight: DivorceCare

By Lea Lee, LIFE Groups Coordinator 

Names: Scott & Cathy Carter

Tell us about how you came to faith in Jesus Christ. I was raised atheist and after 25 years of marriage, I was devastated by divorce. My boss shared with me about Jesus and after months of struggling, I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. Cathy was raised Catholic and although she knew of the Lord, He was not at the center of her life. Cathy’s marriage of 26 years came to an end, and distraught and desperate for comfort, she immediately went to a bookstore and purchased a Bible. Thus began her beautiful journey with the Lord of love, trust, mercy, and grace.

Tell us about your family. We each have children from our previous marriages: Matthew, 30; Jenna, 28 and recently married; and Ryan, 26. We have seen so much healing in our families that had previously been torn apart by divorce.

Tell us about how you found LBF. Cathy’s aunt invited her to a Bible study and she quickly found love and comfort from women that would pray over her when everything felt so hopeless. Having never attended church, I tried a couple to see what it was all about, but was awestruck by the love I felt here at LBF from people I felt had no reason to care about me.

How long have you been leading a LIFE Group at LBF? We have been facilitating the DivorceCare group at LBF for about three years.

Tell us about your LIFE Group. DivorceCare is a worldwide, Christ-centered program to help people recover from the pain and devastation of divorce. It is a 13-week support program that includes group discussion, a workbook, and video series with phenomenal counselors, pastors, and people that have experienced divorce and have come through it with life experiences to share.

What are some of the discussion highlights you have had this year? The understanding if we make something other than God the center of our lives (spouse, children, etc.), we are choosing things that can change or deteriorate. When that happens, you will lose your orbit and spiral out of control. There is only one thing that is permanent! Your relationship with God.

What has been the most encouraging thing that has happened in your LIFE Group? To see wonderful people grow. To see them start off their journey seriously hurting and over time (not necessarily in 13 weeks), work through the middle of that pain and come out the other end stronger.

How would you describe the importance of the LIFE Group you lead? When we are married, we become one flesh. When we separate we do not simply go back to being separate individuals, we are torn apart. DivorceCare is a place where you can come to heal.

What would you say to someone that is wary about joining a LIFE Group? Don’t be afraid. We understand that this is a very personal and painful thing to go through, but we would encourage you not to go through it alone. Join us for DivorceCare! Our next 13-week session begins Sunday, January 5, 2014, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Call us at (909) 987-8804 for more info.

This Weekend's Message: And a Happy New Hope

I used to love to watch the TV show 24. I don’t think any show in history was better than 24 when it came to the cliffhanger. Each episode seemed to end at the height of tension. And then I would have to wait a full week to see the next part of the story (this is probably why so many of us enjoy watching TV shows on Netflix now). But it would always be worth the wait because it was important to me to see how the story ended.

We have just finished celebrating Jesus’ arrival on earth. Christmas is all about Jesus’ birth. But this is not the end of the story. In fact, His death and resurrection are also not the end of the story. The truth is that we are still waiting for the end of the story. We live in the mid-week, awaiting the conclusion of the story. The Christian story does not end with Jesus’ arrival or with His departure. The story is incomplete until He comes a second time.

This Sunday we will finish up the Christmas season by looking ahead to Jesus’ second coming. We will explore what it looks like to live now in light of what will be when He returns.

Dan

Financial Update (and Year-End Giving Info)

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor 

Last Year’s Surplus Last year, God blessed His ministry here at LBF with financial offerings that went over and above our planned budget and expenses. Our budget last year was $1,650,000. We received $1,689,930 – a $39,930 surplus. We are so grateful for God’s provision and the generosity of our church body.

Many of you know we carry a mortgage for the property and buildings. While our monthly mortgage payments are only 7% of our monthly expenses – a very healthy percentage – it has long been a priority of the Elders to pay down this mortgage note in an effort to become debt free. In light of this long-term goal, the Elders have decided to apply our surplus giving from fiscal year 2012-2013 of $39,930 towards our mortgage principle. This application of the surplus funds, combined with other gifts made to our debt reduction fund last year total $114,940. That amount will be applied to our mortgage debt reduction.

We see this as a huge blessing from God in His provision for this church. We are more than thrilled that we have the opportunity to reduce our debt by a significant amount. I hope you will rejoice with us in how God has provided for us this past fiscal year.

Some of you may be wondering why would we take the surplus from last year and apply it to debt reduction when our current giving isn’t funding our new budget? Good question. I encourage you to read on.

Current Year’s Deficit 

Each year the Elders gather and prayerfully create our annual budget. A measure of faith goes into building any budget as no one can predict the future, especially for a spiritual work of God. We are utterly dependent on His guiding and provision. And that’s exactly where God wants us to be. Our eyes are “fixed on Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2). He is the God that owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalms 50:10). Everything is His; we are merely stewards who manage what He owns.

It’s in faith we build and plan our budgets. And this planning too is of God. “For which of you desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost” (Luke 14:28).

Faith and planning come together in our budgeting process. And this leads us to our current situation. As we mentioned earlier, last year we had a surplus of giving. But this year we’re missing our budgeted income/giving goals. As a result, I’ve had conversations with people who are concerned for our financial health. I’m thankful for church family members who are genuinely concerned and are motivated to pray for our church. And while the four-month negative trend isn’t positive news – no matter how you look at it – we’re committed to not spending more money than we have actually received.

Approach to Budgeting 

How it is possible to spend less than we’ve actually received? It’s based on our planning and approach to budgeting. Our annual budget plan contains three levels of ministry funding:

1. Level 1 – Core Ministry. This represents ministry we will absolutely fund during the year. For example: funding given to all ministries – missions, kids, students, college, and adults. Also included are salaries, facilities, utilities, and administrative costs. 
2. Level 2 – Opportunity Ministry. This represents ministry we’d like to invest in this year, but doing so is dependent on our current progress towards funding our budget goals. For example: smaller one-time ministry project investments, equipment purchases, smaller building improvements, training opportunities, etc. 
3. Level 3 – Future Strategic Investments. This represents ministry we will only fund if giving is fully supporting the annual budget. For example: larger building improvements and equipment purchases, development of future ministry initiatives, further payments towards debt reduction, etc. 

If giving is not fully supporting the budget (where we are currently) we will not spend monies on Level 3 – Future Strategic Investments. Depending on the level of giving, we might invest some in Level 2 – Opportunity Ministry, but not at a rate that would jeopardize our ability to fund Level 1 – Core Ministry.

We believe God is using His ministry at LBF in powerful ways in the lives of hundreds of people. We continue to trust in and depend on God for His provision in our church finances. As a part of the family of LBF, we would ask you at this time to prayerfully consider what God would have you give financially. as part of your worship and being obedient to what God asks of you. It’s not about a tithe, it’s about responding to whatever God asks of each of us.

We thank you for your financial contributions, service, and prayers for Life Bible Fellowship Church. May God be glorified in all we are and all we do as we continue to passionately pursue LIFE in Jesus and lead our neighbors to do the same. If you have any questions about our finances, please don’t hesitate to contact me @ (909) 981-4848.

Year-End Giving

As the end of 2013 approaches, please remember the IRS laws regarding giving. In order for your giving to be included in 2013, all mailed checks must be postmarked no later than December 31, 2013. PayPal giving cannot be any later than 11:59 p.m. on December 31, 2013. Thank you for supporting our ministry here at LBF.

We Have a Place to Take Your Hurts, Habits, and Hang-ups

Celebrate Recovery is now at LBF 

By Phil Shahbaz, Pastor of Community Life 

Scripture is clear; we all have sinned. It’s because of our sin that we hurt ourselves and hurt other people. Most of the time, our sin comes from a place of pain. We then proceed to mask that pain through alcohol, drugs, pornography, and a large assortment of hurts, habits, and hang-ups. As a result, each of us needs repentance and recovery in order to live our lives the way God intended.

Life Bible Fellowship Church now has a specific program to help carry our burdens and point us to the cross. It’s called Celebrate Recovery.

Celebrate Recovery was created to help overcome our hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Overall, it is a faith-based recovery program based on the actual words of Jesus rather than psychological theory. The program’s aim is to lead “us through recovery, towards full Christ-like maturity, by way of the transformational power of the Holy Spirit.

You have likely heard of the 12-step program within Alcoholics Anonymous. This program has absolutely changed many lives and helped people on the road to recovery.

The 12-step points contained in AA point us towards a “higher power,” but remains vague about the nature of God, the saving power of Jesus Christ, and the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

There are seven specific features that differentiate Celebrate Recovery (abbreviated to CR below) from AA:

1. CR is based on God’s Word – the Bible. In scripture, Jesus taught what we know as the Sermon on the Mount, or the Beatitudes. He began the Beatitudes by stating eight ways to be happy. These eight “principles” serve as the foundation for God’s road to recovery, wholeness, growth, and spiritual maturity. 
2. CR is forward-thinking. Rather then wallowing in the past or focusing on painful memories, CR focuses on the future and depending on the power of Christ to make changes. 
3. CR emphasizes personal responsibility. The healing power of Christ can begin working on our mind, will, and emotions when we stop playing the “accuse and excuse” game of victimization. The program helps us face up to our own poor choices and deal with the things we can do something about. 
4. CR emphasizes spiritual commitment to Jesus Christ. Lasting recovery cannot take place without total surrender to Christ. We all need Jesus. The road to recovery begins and ends with belief in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. 
5. CR utilizes the Biblical truth that we need each other in order to grow spiritually and emotionally. The program is built on small group interaction and fellowship with a caring community. The program does not allow us to walk alone. 
6. CR addresses all types of hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Some recovery programs only deal with alcohol and drugs. CR deals with a limitless number of issues. Whatever you are struggling with, CR has a place for you. 
7. CR is a leadership factory. Because the program is biblical and church-based, it produces a continuous stream of people moving into ministry after they have found recovery in Christ. 

Celebrate Recovery is a ministry that changes lives in a dramatic way. Our hope is to see hopeless marriages restored and people set free from all kinds of sinful hurts, habits, and hang-ups. It is a dramatic program that will implement Christ-centered recovery at Life Bible Fellowship Church. Regardless of your struggle – whether it is alcohol, drugs, divorce, sexual abuse, codependency, domestic violence, sexual addiction, food addiction, gambling – there is now a place for you to take your burden.

The leaders of our Celebrate Recovery program are Lindsey and Jacque Williams and Steve and Brenda Johnson. They are products of Celebrate Recovery programs at other churches. They serve as living testaments to the transformational power of Jesus Christ. You can email them at celebraterecovery@lbfchurch.com or sign up online at lbfchurch.com.

You can also sign up through your K.I.T. card or stop by the Celebrate Recovery table on Sunday morning. No matter how you choose to contact them, what’s important is that you make the decision to make a change. There is a way. That way is through Jesus Christ. The Celebrate Recovery program at LBF will be here to help.

Hope, Peace, and Love – Then and Now

By Matt Sasso, Pastor of Student Ministries 

This Christmas, you are probably hoping that life will get better. We are hoping that life will look differently next year, even if we’re not sure how. We realize that no one person or group holds a solution, but we’re expecting something different, even if we’re not sure how that is going to work out. Words like hope, peace, and love have a new meaning this year, don’t they? We’re waiting to have hope, peace, and love in our lives, in our communities, and in our world, even if we’re not sure how it will all work out. And just like thousands of years ago, Jesus is the one who came to bring hope, peace, and love to our lives then – and now. Jesus taught us how to find hope, bring peace, and initiate love even when our circumstances are less than ideal.

This month in Exit 83 we want students to hear about what hope, peace, and love in our lives can look like. We hope that your student is challenged in their relationship with God as they see how placing hope in stuff and in circumstances often leads to disappointment. Learning to place our hope in God brings real satisfaction. We hope that they can be peacemakers this holiday season and gain a desire to experience love in action.

Children’s Christmas Choir Performs This Month

By Laurie Baiz, Director of Life Kids Children’s Ministry 

The Children’s Christmas Choir has been rehearsing for a month now and they are sounding great! We have a little more than 30 children this year participating and we are all excited to praise God during this wonderful holiday season. The children will be performing during all three services on Sunday, December 22. They will also be going off-site to Upland Rehabilitation and Care Center on December 22 to sing praises to God and share His glory with our community. We are all excited and looking forward to these great events!

This Weekend's Message: Joy to the World is Not Enough

In 1979 Magic Johnson played in his first professional basketball game. The game ended when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar hit a buzzer-beater to give the Lakers the victory. When this happened, Magic exuberantly jumped onto Kareem, hugging him and joyfully celebrating. After the game, Kareem took Magic aside to talk to him. To put it simply, he told him to calm down. He told him that he could not sustain that kind of celebration over a simple regular-season game. After all, this celebration would be short-lived. Another game was coming. Then another. Then another. The only appropriate celebration would be after a championship. But even then the celebration would be relatively short-lived. After all, the next season would soon be upon them. The celebration would end and they would have to move on.

This story serves as a sort of parable of the fleeting nature of joy. We all desperately want it. But even when we think we have it, we come to realize that the joy it short-lived. We get a promotion, but then the new workload settles in. We get out of debt, and then new bills and expenses begin to appear. We graduate, and then we struggle to find meaningful work. We find a spouse, and then we find it difficult to live in harmony. Joy – lasting joy – seems elusive at best and mocking at worst.

The Christmas story is a story about joy – lasting joy. The angels announce to the shepherds, “good news of great joy.” This Sunday as we get closer to our own Christmas celebrations, we will explore how the Christmas story relates to our quest for lasting joy.

Dan

Come to LBF’s Christmas Celebrations

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 15, join us at our normal service times for some exciting worship through music with an expanded worship music team, featuring our Christmas Choir. They will lead us in Christmas songs sure to inspire your heart and focus on the reason we have to celebrate! Sunday, December 22 is going to be another great weekend as our Christmas Choirs, both children’s and adults, will lead us in worship during the three Sunday services. We will praise God through traditional Christmas carols that paint the beautiful picture of Emanuel (God with us).

As we get to Christmas Eve, LBF will be having 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 elements 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.

Empty Seats

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor 

I just finished watching a new video released by Billy Graham called “The Cross.” Everyone who knows Billy Graham knows that he has singular purpose in life – to see people come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. Out of all the things that capture our attention on a daily basis, there is nothing more purposeful or life-changing than helping someone come to a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

As I watched this video my mind turned to our church. Our mission is to passionately pursue LIFE in Jesus and to lead our neighbors to do the same. I couldn’t help but ask myself, “How are we doing at that?” and “How am I doing at that?” Then I began to think about our three Sunday services each week. Sunday morning is a prime opportunity to live out both of those parts of our mission.

Anytime I’m on stage I can’t help but notice two things. The first is how wonderful it is to see each of you in church on Sunday. I know you’re there to grow in the knowledge of what it means to passionately pursue LIFE in Jesus. This is important and we will do well to come often to Sunday services. After all, until Jesus comes back, our job is to take every opportunity to learn and then take that learning into our life each day.

The second thing I notice when I’m on stage is all of the empty seats. Each Sunday the total of our three services is only about half of our actual seating capacity. And this causes me to ask a simple question – why? Why do we have so many empty seats?

Knowing that, like Billy Graham, we are to also be about people coming to faith in Jesus, I did a little research. Here’s what I found out. There are 39 different churches in Upland. The estimated population in Upland is nearing 80,000 people. If every church in Upland had attendance of 1,000 people (which it probably doesn’t), that would still leave 41,000 people not in church and quite possibly without a relationship with Jesus. I had to ask myself, “Do I really care about these people and their spiritual eternity?”

As the day went on I couldn’t get this out of my mind. Do I really care that quite possibly 41,000 people could go into eternity without Jesus and they live right here in our city? It wasn’t long before I started saying to myself, “I want to reach these people, they need to know Jesus like I know Jesus!”

I then asked God in prayer, “What do I do? What will it take to reach these people?” And God said to me, “Be an example and then ask the church to be involved.” So that is what I’m doing with this article. I want to see people come to faith in Jesus, especially as we approach this Christmas season with so many opportunities during December.

Would you join me in inviting people you know to church? If each one of us invited just one person who actually came, we would fill up to beyond our capacity. And this would be a good thing, don’t you agree?

We just launched a new teaching series about Christmas. You can read about it in Pastor Dan’s article on page 4. And this is a great time to take the opportunity to invite a friend or family member to church. Would you join me as I do this as well?

Each of those empty seats represents someone who needs to come to faith in Jesus. Let’s love people the way God loves people by partnering with Him and getting people to church. Wouldn’t it be great if each week the place were packed at all three services? That may not cover the 41,000 people out there, but then again, who knows what other things God may have for us as we passionately pursue LIFE in Jesus and lead our neighbors to do the same.

This Weekend's Message: Santa Claus is Coming to the Little Town of Bethlehem

In our Christmas Mash-up we are faced with two very different figures: Santa Claus and Jesus. For many around the world Santa becomes the giver of what we need. We make a list of what we want and think we need and Santa decides if we've been naughty or nice and whether we get our list or not. And at least for a short time Santa is our hero – a jolly ol' guy we just love because he gives us what we want. It's hard not to love Santa.

But what about Jesus? This is the time of year we celebrate His coming to this earth – God with us! We don't make a list at Christmas of what we need or want from Jesus. He doesn't slide down the chimney with a bag full of gifts to make us happy. And yet His coming provided for our real needs. And what He provides is not something that will wear out or something we will get bored with after a few weeks. The Christmas story shows us what our real needs are and how Jesus meets those needs.

I hope to see you this week as we learn what those needs are and how Jesus brings us presents that make a lasting difference in our lives. Be sure to invite a friend this week. Let's fill those empty seats as I give people an opportunity to invite Jesus into their lives!

Gary

Christmas Mash-up: Enhancing Combo or Watered Down?

By Dan Franklin, Pastor of Teaching 

Recently my son Jack has become very interested in Star Wars. He enjoys watching the movies, he loves to play with Star Wars toys, he frequently asks for Star Wars coloring pages, and he loves to have lightsaber fights. Yoda and Darth Vader are as common in his conversations as his two brothers are.

He is truly passionate about Star Wars. This newfound interest has coincided with another passion of his: Angry Birds. He loves to play Angry Birds games on our iPad. He has Angry Birds toys and Angry Birds are a frequent topic of conversation. So, with these two passions of his, you can imagine Jack’s exuberance when a new game was released: Angry Birds Star Wars. Not a joke.

For Jack, the only thing better than Angry Birds and Star Wars separately, is Angry Birds and Star Wars together.

This may seem like a leap, but this comical combination makes me think about Christmas. For those of us who are Christians, Christmas can feel like a mash-up of two separate passions. On the one hand, we love Jesus, we love nativity sets, we love “Hark! the Herald Angel Sing” and “O Holy Night,” and we love reading the biblical Christmas story with our families. On the other hand, we love presents, we love trees, we love songs like “Frosty the Snowman” and “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” and we love to watch “Elf” and “It’s a Wonderful Life.” And each Christmas allows us an opportunity to combine these two passions as we celebrate throughout December.

Here is the question: Does this combination enhance these two celebrations or does it water them down? In other words, is this more like combining chocolate and peanut butter or is it more like watering down a soda? In an effort to get the best of everything, are we in danger of burying something beautiful?

Now, I love presents and carols and Christmas decorations. This article is not intended to convince anyone to shun these modern Christmas symbols. But there is a concern here. If we really believe that the biblical Christmas story is about God meeting our deepest needs through the gift of his Son, Jesus, then it makes sense that we would do all that we could to emphasize that reality and guard against anything that would water it down.

In 2 Corinthians 8:9, the apostle Paul describes the message of the biblical Christmas story: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for our sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” The Christmas story is not about gaining presents, outspending each other, and experiencing warm fuzzies through family traditions and shiny decorations. This is not because these things are evil, but because they only address short-term, surface needs.

The story of Jesus’ birth, however, is a story about God meeting our deepest needs of forgiveness, hope, eternal life, and reconciliation with God. As much fun as our modern Christmas celebration is, none of us would think it wise to bury foods that meet our daily nutritional needs underneath a pile of cotton candy and pixie sticks.

This Christmas at Life Bible Fellowship Church, we will walk through a series called Christmas Mash-up. We will all be invited to celebrate the birth of Jesus, not only with songs and Scripture, but by reflecting and mimicking His sacrificial and hope-giving life in our own Christmas celebrations. Join us this month and consider inviting a friend, family member, or neighbor who needs to hear about the hope Jesus brings.

A Note From Pastor Gary

Read this letter to see what is happening with the finances at LBF. 

On Sunday I shared about our current financial status. Bottom line is that after the first five months of our current fiscal year, we are running a deficit.

I asked those who are not givers to start giving by applying our teaching on giving by first giving themselves to the Lord in prayer, asking Him what they should give, and then simply do what God reveals to them.

I asked those who are regular givers to consider giving more to help remove our current deficit.

I'm sure you join me in believing in the ministry of LBF and how it is helping people come to faith in Jesus and grow in that faith. LBF is the expression of the “bride of Christ” in Upland. It is making a difference of eternity in people’s lives. This ministry is is worthy of our support.

We don’t talk much about money at LBF, but when we do it is to bring a report to the church family and then to ask that each of us go to God in prayer and respond by how He is leading each one of us. I sent an email to our elders and staff asking them to do the same and to lead the way by being an example.

I want to ask you to go before the Lord and activate your faith by responding in the way He leads. In the 40-year history of this church, when we do that, God uses it to grow this ministry. I look forward to that once again.

Pastor Gary

This Weekend's Message: It's a Wonderful Life Savings

I love watching my kids open their Christmas gifts. They make gift lists in anticipation of the big day, and then they joyfully unwrap their gifts on Christmas morning. Whether it’s Legos or DVDs or toys, they launch themselves into their new possessions. It is as if their greatest dreams have been fulfilled. 

That lasts for a week or two. Then those sought-after presents seem like old news. New wish lists begin to compile themselves. It quickly become clear that the presents, which were such a focal point of desire, reveal themselves to be inadequate. New gifts seem like the only solution for the longing inside their hearts.

Those of us who are Christians typically say that Christmas is not about the gifts. However, the biblical Christmas story is about a gift. It is about a gift that is completely different than the gifts that we give and receive on Christmas mornings. The more we embrace this Christmas gift from God, the more we will find a new way to think about the gifts that we give and receive every Christmas.

Dan

Hope Matters Int’l Launched by Kiprops

By Carol Hawkins, Missions Coordinator 

We have some exciting news to share about one of our missionary families serving in Kenya and a new ministry they are developing. William and Michelle Kiprop are beginning a ministry called Hope Matters International. The purpose of Hope Matters is to promote community development through sustainable health, agricultural, and education programs among communities in Kenya. This will provide holistic care for physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.

Michelle grew up attending LBF and God put a vision in her heart to pursue medical missions in Africa after she went on several short-term trips there. In 2007, she moved to Kenya to do full-time ministry after completing her Masters of Science in Nursing and becoming a Family Nurse Practitioner. She fell in love with Kenya and with William, and they’ve been married since December 2007. In 2011 their son, Ryan, was born to bring added joy to their family.

The vision the Lord put in Michelle’s heart years ago is now becoming a reality. William and Michelle have worked very hard as they have prayed, planned, sought counsel, and prayed more in developing this ministry. Michelle is currently transitioning out of her role with Empowering Lives International as Hope Matters takes flight.

Hope Matters is a licensed 501(C)3 non-profit organization here in the U.S. and it is also a licensed non-profit in Kenya. This has required many hours of filling out paperwork and having meetings to make sure everything is legal and in the proper form. It also requires a board of directors both in Kenya and in the U.S. So William and Michelle have done their due diligence in making sure everything is in place and in order. I encourage you to check our Hope Matters’ website, which is full of pictures and information to help you see and understand the vision: hopemattersintl.org.

Hope Matters recently held an event at LBF to help spread the word and explain further about this amazing ministry. It was a wonderful opportunity for those in attendance to reconnect with William and Michelle, and also to hear about what’s planned ahead. Please pray for Hope Matters and all that’s needed: finances, staffing, future building project, and reaching out into communities with care and hope. This is an exciting ministry and many lives will be touched for eternity.

What Are Your Kids Doing on Sunday Morning?

By Laurie Baiz, Director of Life Kids Children’s Ministry 

This fall in Life Kids Children’s Ministry, new classrooms and curriculum began on Back to Church Sunday! These new programs have been going along great, but I wanted to take a moment to pause and highlight all the wonderful things happening on Sunday mornings with these new changes.

Starting on the preschool side, our nursery has changed the age grouping from birth to 18 months to birth to 12 months. Making this change has made the nursery a calm area for our new babies to come, get rocked, and be loved on. My hope is that the parents of the new young babies will feel comfortable bringing their bundles of joy in at an early age, so they get used to the nursery and then will not struggle with stranger anxiety as they get older. Having the nursery is a wonderful opportunity for parents to go to church and take a moment to truly focus on the message and God’s Word.

This Weekend's Message: A Tale of Two Christmas Stories

Recently I was at Disneyland and it was decorated for the holidays. As I walked around, I was struck with how elaborate the decorations were, and yet how utterly absent Christ was. There was a lot about peace and joy. There were a lot of ornaments and trees and snowflakes. The holiday mood was present everywhere I looked. It was a true Christmas celebration. It just happened to be one that didn’t involve Jesus.

I realize that this is not a new phenomenon. For years we have found ways to celebrate Christmas without Christ. But, absent the biblical Christmas story, what story are we telling? And, more importantly, what if the Christmas story that our society has embraced is tragically inferior to the original Christmas story? 

Don’t miss our services this Sunday as we being our series: Christmas Mash-Up.

Dan

Is the Service Starting Already? Kinda!

By Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Worship 

One of my favorite things about going to the movies is getting there early for the “pre-show” entertainment. I’m not talking about the movie previews; I mean the 20 minutes before that where there is the entertainment trivia, behind-the-scenes looks at movies, actor interviews, and learning how they do the special effects. It all just gets me in the mood to see whatever movie I’m there to watch.

You may have noticed over the last three months or so at LBF, you hear something coming from the Worship Center before the scheduled service start times at 8, 9:15, and 10:45. This is our “4B4.” The 4B4 is 4 minutes (roughly) of pre-service information that serves a variety of purposes. Some weeks the 4B4 is a precursor to the message, showing videos that tie into the theme of the passage that we will be focusing on throughout the service. The 4B4 may be announcements of upcoming events or ministries that we want to point out in a special way. The 4B4 may also just be for fun – an entertaining way to start the service and get your attention.

We realize that with getting kids checked in, getting a coffee refill, or just running late, not everyone will make it in for the 4B4, but for those of you in your seats and ready a few minutes early, we hope it serves as something to ponder as you prepare to enter into worship through music and the message, as valuable information for things you may be interested in, as entertainment, or even as a little motivation to get into the service on time each week. We hope you enjoy this little extension of our services.

This Weekend's Message: Devote Yourselves to Prayer

One reality will have the single greatest impact on your prayers (or lack of prayers). That reality is what you believe about God. Who do you think He is? Is He distant? Is He indifferent? Is He waiting to condemn? Is He a pushover? Is He a well- intentioned weakling? What is your god like? Your answer will drive your prayers.

Here is the good news. You are invited to embrace – and pray in light of – the true God revealed by Jesus. This Sunday at Life Bible Fellowship Church we will wrap up our prayer series by exploring the God to whom we pray, and responding to all that is true of Him. Don’t miss it!

Dan

Thanksgiving Serve @ Los Olivos

Sunday November 24, 2-5 p.m. @ Los Olivos Community located south of 13th St. on Campus Ave. in Upland 

By Russ Parker, Pastor of Administration 

This year we have an incredible opportunity to bless others and build friendships by preparing and serving a full Thanksgiving dinner for our neighbors in the Los Olivos Community. Our event will be held at the Los Olivos location.

The Los Olivos Community is in North Upland, located on Campus Avenue, just south of 13th Street. It was constructed in the 1940s and has been under the care of the Upland Housing Authority (UHA), providing Section 8 affordable housing to 96 families.

We’ve been invited by the UHA to partner with them in connecting and caring for residents of Los Olivos! What an invitation. UHA is already spreading the word and communicating our Thanksgiving Serve to their residents. They’re excited about our partnership.

Providing a cooked Thanksgiving dinner with all the fixings is a huge opportunity for LBF to serve with Love in Action! It embodies the values of Love in Action: moving beyond our church walls, engaging with our neighbors life-to-life, elevating the dignity of others, and partnering with other organizations to make a greater impact.

Our goal is to prepare and serve a full Thanksgiving meal for 300 people. We will need volunteers with serving hearts to help make this Thanksgiving Serve successful. We envision people planning and preparing the food; people helping to set up tables, chairs, pop up tents, and other logistics; people serving and replenishing the food; people engaging with kids; and people coordinating games and activities.

Would you help us serve this Thanksgiving? Bring a dessert this Sunday to church.

Would you pray for this effort? We want God to move powerfully through us as we bless families, and we want God to move powerfully in us as we come face-to-face serving those in need. May God stretch us out of comfort zones and may God be glorified as we live out Matthew 25:35-36:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

What is Operation Christmas Child? And How You Can Get Involved

By Jeff Crawford 

Operation Christmas Child brings joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes and the Good News of God’s love. This program of Samaritan’s Purse provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple, hands-on missions project, while focusing on the true meaning of Christmas – Jesus Christ.

This year, National Collection Week is Monday, November 18-Monday, November 25, and once again, we at Life Bible Fellowship Church and others are dedicated to be part of the process of God’s mighty hand at work in this ministry.

The ministry has two components:

First Component – LBF and its church family distributing empty green GO (Gospel Opportunity) shoe boxes, filling them, and returning them to LBF, which will then go from LBF to OCC to be sent all over the world.

Volunteers are needed at church to pass out brochures, boxes, and answer questions between Sunday services. We will need help moving the collected shoe boxes on Sunday, November 24.

Second Component – LBF is a Collection Center for other churches and organizations and will maintain a Collection Center for National Collections Week. Churches from all over the Inland Empire bring their OCC boxes to LBF. We load all shoeboxes into cardboard cartons, place them in a trailer, and ship them to a distribution center for further handling.

Volunteers are needed Monday, November 18 and Monday, November 25 to work at the Belleview House at LBF, which is designated as the Upland Collection Center for OCC. We will be collecting boxes from various churches, social organizations, and relay centers from cities all over our local geography. Contact Jeff Crawford @ (951) 205-3840 to get involved!

This Weekend's Message: God, It's Me...Again

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it? We can’t talk about prayer without addressing the obvious question – what happens when God doesn’t answer? Jesus has a surprising response to that – you keep asking. God tells us that when something causes us to pray again and again – with persistence – He notices. For many though, one of the hardest parts about prayer is usually holding out hope long enough to keep asking. This week we will be looking at the idea that if something is important, if something has captured our heart so strongly, then it’s something that you can’t let go. I hope to see you this Sunday!

Matt Sasso
Pastor of Student Ministries

What do Jesus Followers Wear? Part 2

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor

Last month in part one of this article, I talked about a very important decision that every Christ-follower must make. That decision is simply, “What will I wear today?”

Each day we choose what type of clothes to wear and this is an important decision. As I write this it is a cold and rainy day, so I chose to wear something warm. But I know that at the end of the week it is supposed to be hot again, so of course I will wear something different, maybe shorts and a T-shirt. The clothes that I choose to wear each day will affect how my day unfolds.

Knowing that we could all relate to wearing clothes, Paul wrote to the church in Colossae describing what they should “wear” when it comes to who we are as people. Last month I talked about the first part of this passage, in which Paul said that each day we are to put on compassion and kindness and humility and gentleness and patience. And in this article I want to pick up where I left off, looking at more things that Paul says we should put on.

Starting in verse 13 of Colossians 3, Paul goes on to say that Jesus-followers should “bear with one another and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”

Okay, so when I read these two verses I’ve got to ask, “How am I doing with living these expressions of passionately pursuing LIFE in Jesus?” Here are three more items of clothing to put on:

Bear With One Another – This phrase literally means “to hold up” or “to hold back.” God bears with us in that He holds back His judgment. When we bear with one another we hold back judgment, we don’t allow the desire to judge hinder our ability to keep the relationship close. Bearing with one another is putting up with others even when they fail or act differently from what you expected.

Forgive One Another – It is not enough that as Jesus-followers we simply endure grief and frustration and refuse to retaliate – we must also forgive. Failure to forgive leads to feelings of hatred in our heart, which will move us into greater sins. Forgiveness is a powerful healer as it opens our hearts to the love of God. The very moment we have a complaint against another person, Paul would say that we should forgive them in our hearts. Why? Because we are to forgive as the Lord forgave us.

Love – We can look at love as the overcoat we put on over everything else. This is the most important piece of clothing to put on because it builds perfect unity. When love rules in our lives, it unites so that there is a beauty and harmony in our relationships. Love is a product of allowing the Holy Spirit to rule our life – it is the first fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5. And the kind of love we are to have is a self-giving love that is more interested in the other person than having your own interest in mind. It is a love that is not dependent on the worthiness of the person being loved.

How are you doing at daily putting on these valuable and essential articles of clothing? If you’re like me, there is plenty of room for improvement. But whenever I consider what it means to passionately pursue LIFE in Jesus, I can easily look to these words of Paul as the place to focus on and apply to my daily life. The journey continues…

Read the Psalms in November...with LBF

By Dan Franklin, Pastor of Teaching 

This past July we finished up a year-long Bible Reading Plan at LBF. We wanted to do something formal to encourage everyone to taste and experience the benefits of God’s Word. Several hundred of you chose to take us up on the offer, and we had a great time reading and discussing what God was saying to us. This month you will have another opportunity to dig into God’s Word with your friends at LBF. For the month of November we are going to dig into the Psalms. Why Psalms? Three main reasons:

1. During November we will be talking about prayer each Sunday morning. The Psalms are prayers. They are songs being sung to and about God, and many also serve as personal prayers to God. They model to us what authentic prayer can look like. 
2. Reading one psalm each day will give us the opportunity to read and respond to God’s Word without getting lost in reading too much content each day. It will be a great way to put your toe in the water if you are not a regular Bible reader, and it will be a great way to slow down if you regularly read larger chunks of God’s Word each day. 
3. On December 1, we will follow up our “In Jesus’ Name” series and the Bible Reading Plan with a Deeper event that will springboard off the subject of prayer. This will serve as a great resolution to both the series and the plan. 

As you prepare to approach the Psalms, you can know that you will be exposed to a number of different kinds of prayers. Here are just a few:

This Weekend's Message: Hi God, It's Us

Have you ever had someone ask you to add your signature to a petition? Most of us have. A group of people are advocating for a change and, in order to communicate the urgency and significance of this request, they add as many people as possible to the request. After all, the more voices that are asking for the change, the more likely the request will be heard.

Scripture tells us that God hears every prayer. There are no secret words or special codes. God hears it all. At the same time, Scripture continually depicts a special power that takes place when God’s people gather together to pray. God’s heart responds in a special way when He is pursued in prayer by His people. Sometimes we avoid praying with others because we fear that we will say the wrong words or that we will become vulnerable by admitting our weakness. These are very real concerns, but when we set them aside and instead prefer to humble ourselves and approach God as a people, we experience a response from God that is otherwise unavailable.

This Sunday we will explore God’s heart toward His people when they pray together. You will be invited to see a side of God’s heart that becomes evident when He sees the hearts of His people gathered together and crying out to Him.

Dan

56° & Life Kids Midweek Starts Tonight

By Laurie Baiz, Director of Life Kids Children’s Ministry 

The midweek program for both 1st-4th grades and 5th & 6th grades will be starting up Tuesday, November 5. Although there are two different programs, they meet at the same time, which is 6:30-8 p.m. in the Worship Center.

Life Kids (which is the program for 1st-4th graders) offers a time for games, a Bible lesson, and a fun activity that they can choose. Each activity lasts for 5-6 weeks and then they can change groups and try out another activity.

For 56° (our 5th & 6th graders), the program has a time for the kids to be social and play large group games, then a Bible lesson, and a time to meet in small groups to discuss the lessons further. 

Registration for both midweek programs are online at lbfchurch.com. So sign up, invite a friend, and see you tonight!

Pray for Our Missionaries

By Carol Hawkins, Missions Coordinator 

Missionaries, or cross-cultural workers as they are called in some parts of the world, are people like us who have taken a big step to move to other countries, or they are serving in some way cross-culturally while living in the States. Some serve in countries where they have occupations that are not related to “church” and Christianity. They may serve as nurses, agricultural workers, business professionals, teachers, etc. That’s called “tent making.” Some of our missionaries are serving in this way. Others are training national leaders in order for them to reach out to their own people with God’s Word. Others are translating scriptures and training the nationals in literacy. And others procuring equipment for a hospital ship to care for physical needs in Africa. Missionaries have a variety of responsibilities and roles they fulfill as they serve the Lord and share His love.

It was such a blessing that several of our missionary families came to visit us this summer. I hope that you were able to meet them, talk with them, and get acquainted. Missionaries love connecting with their church family, and when they’re in the area they come and visit LBF and get to know you. Some of our missionaries have been part of LBF since our early days, while others grew up attending LBF, and some have connected with us in other ways. But they are all serving the Lord in various ways and in various locations and they’re part of the LBF family.

All of our missionaries need your prayer support. While serving in other cultures, they face the same problems and difficulties that you and I face, and often their main support system of family and friends are hundreds of miles away. As you can imagine, this can be very difficult which adds greatly to their stress as they minister in another culture.

One of our missionary families was recently robbed at gunpoint. That’s quite a frightening experience. Please pray for Scott, Tonia, and Emma Berthiaume as they deal with that trauma. We praise God that they are safe, but they have that whole ordeal to recover from emotionally. Another missionary family is dealing with cancer, another with a job and culture change, another has a daughter serving in the military in Israel, and another is looking to the Lord for a new ministry opportunity. And each of these families has the normal responsibilities of life they face each day as well. So I ask you to please pray for these precious families:

• Scott & Tonia Berthiaume 
• Joni & Norm 
• Steve & Eloise Hoke 
• Michelle & William Kiprop 
• Leigh & Barbara Labrecque 
• Pete & Mary 
• Daniel & Iuliana 
• Tom & Terry Velnosky 

This Weekend's Message: Will God Give Me Whatever I Ask?

When I was 9 years old my father became paralyzed from the neck down. As soon as this happened, I began to pray one prayer every chance I got. I prayed that my dad would be able to walk again. That was a prayer that never became a reality. For those of us who pray, our most memorable prayers are often those that go unanswered.

When our prayers go unanswered, we are left to wonder what is going on. Is God not listening? Is He upset with us? Is He indifferent? Is He unable to accomplish what we’re asking? Is He waiting for us to shape up and stop bothering Him with so many desperate requests?

This Sunday we will explore what is going on when our prayers are not answered. We’ll explore what unanswered prayers mean – and what they don’t mean – about God.

Dan

Charged

By Matt Sasso, Pastor of Student Ministries 

Ever wake up in the morning late, rush to get ready, leave your house forgetting something important, and in addition to what looks to be a challenging morning, you realize that you forgot to do something? This scenario has happened to me more than a few times, and one of the things I have forgotten to do is charge my phone.

Like many of you, I wish I could say that I could live without it for the day, but the truth is that looking at that remaining battery life and seeing it close to empty makes me nervous. I start to think about how long it will last, what are the only important situations in which to use it, and how I can conserve its battery life until I am able to charge it.

While that scenario is not the end of the world, there is something that many Christians forget to do on a daily basis. While many don’t like to admit it, many forget to pray. Prayer is a rich and meaningful part of the Christian life. There’s something significant that happens when we intentionally carve out time to connect with God through prayer. In many ways, it helps us stay charged.

The heart of prayer is that it’s our chance to connect with God in a way that goes beyond “help me, bless me, protect me, give to me.” When we move past these types of prayers, it becomes an opportunity to thank, have honest conversations, and even listen to God.

This month at Exit 83, we have been encouraging students to change their view and strengthen their relationship with God through prayer. We hope that each week your student is challenged to connect with God and that they are able to grow in their faith in deep and profound ways. Each week we encourage students to see how rewarding and necessary it is to connect with God on a daily basis through prayer. We hope that your student is able to join us each week as we grow in our passionate pursuit of Christ.

A Quilter’s Prayer Shows People That Someone Cares and God is at Work

By Rita Dixon 

Two years ago, a quilter made a quilt for a baby shower for a co-worker. This quilt was lovingly made, beautifully stitched, and presented to the family. The family loved the quilt, and the Quilter’s Prayer group rejoiced when the baby was born healthy and happy. Two weeks ago, this baby died. The Quilter’s Prayer group was devastated because many of the ladies knew the family. The group decided to make quilts for the baby’s mom and grandmother as an expression of love and caring. How short a life can be and yet, God is always there for us when devastation comes.

The 89-year-old woman in a nursing home 2,000 miles away from her niece is dying. She doesn’t know the Lord and there is no opportunity to visit her. A quilt was sent to her, showing her that yes, there is a God and that people care about her. We pray, “May God bless you and keep you. May God cause His face to shine upon you and give you peace.” Belief would be the greatest gift she can receive. A quilt was sent to her, showing her that yes, there is a God and that people care about her.

The neighbor of a church member, Betty, has a 12-year-old grandson with cancer. The quilt proved to be a blessing to the child and his parents, who were touched by the kindness shown. Betty says, ”Bless you all for not only making it (the quilt), but praying over it! Brings me to tears, as it will my neighbor’s family.”

One of the quilters gave her quilt to a gentleman who lived up the hill from her. He was a nonbeliever. He couldn’t fathom that someone he never met would make something for him. So much time and so much love went into this quilt. He would take it to the hospital with him. At his last trip to the hospital he told his wife, “Let me wrap you in my arms with this quilt. Whenever you think of me, wrap this quilt around yourself.” He passed away and yet the quilt remains to remind them of the love of God. he couldn’t fathom that someone he never met would make something for him.

The quilts are one of a kind, as are the people who receive these quilts. Our hearts go out to those who suffer, who are dying, and those who are facing cancer. We pray our quilts will show them that someone does care, that God is at work. He is our ever present help in trouble.

The Quilter’s Prayer group meets every Thursday night, from 7-9 p.m. in room 104. If you would like more information, please contact Rita Dixon at (909) 931-9322.

This Weekend's Message: Where Do I Begin?

Where do I begin? Have you ever found yourself asking that question as you face a task that is so challenging you didn't even know where to start?

There was a time when if my car broke down, I could open the hood and have a pretty good chance of figuring out what was wrong. But no more! Even though my truck is 12 years old, I open the hood and can't recognize the fuel pump from the alternator. Everything has changed and looks so complicated. Add to that the fact that my engine also has all this plastic cowling covering everything, I can't see it anyway.

But when I take it to the car repair place and they open the hood they don't see what I see – they see what needs to be fixed. They know where to begin. A little knowledge can go a long way when it comes to repairing a car engine. You can probably think of an undertaking that affects you the same way as well, and causes you to ask, "Where do I begin?"

But compare that to something you know and understand. In that situation you jump right in and get the job done because somebody taught you how to approach the problem at hand. A little instruction can make a huge difference. Knowing where to begin can be a big help.

When it comes to prayer, Jesus does that for us. This Sunday as we continue our series called "In Jesus' Name," we will look at what Jesus says about where to begin when it comes to prayer. He will give us a little knowledge about "where to begin." I hope to see you this Sunday. Have a great rest of the week.
Gary

Children’s Christmas Choir Starts Nov. 10

By Laurie Baiz, Director of Life Kids Children’s Ministry 

Do you have children that love Christmas? Do you have children that love to sing? How about children that love both? Well we are looking for those kids! This year we will have a Children’s Christmas Choir that will join the adult Christmas Choir to help our congregation worship God through wonderful seasonal songs.

Starting Sunday, November 10, after the 10:45 a.m. service, we will begin rehearsal with the kids. For six Sundays we will be meeting for about an hour to practice the songs and get them ready to sing for LBF. The kids will perform on Sunday, December 22 with the adult Christmas choir.

There is a sign up sheet on the elementary side of the Worship Center, which requires a parent’s signature, giving your child permission to participate in the choir. I am looking forward to hearing all of the children sing and worship during this special season! Any questions? Please contact Laurie Baiz at (909) 981-4848, ext. 242.

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World Bible Study

Strength, Wisdom, and Encouragement for Moms During the School Years 

By Donna Gaudy and Julie Fachner 

The life of a woman today isn’t really all that different from that of Mary and Martha in the New Testament. Like Mary, you long to sit at the Lord’s feet, but the demands of being a mother and wife and wearing all the hats that we women wear becomes hard. Like Martha, you really want to serve Him, yet you struggle with weariness, resentment, and feelings of inadequacy because of all that you need to balance, and you start to struggle.

We ladies all need “living room intimacy” with Christ that naturally overflows in “kitchen service” for Him. Then we can draw close to God, our families, and relationships with those around us. Sometimes as mothers we feel we are not godly enough or loving enough or doing enough. And yet, there is Jesus, right in the middle of your busy Mary/Martha life. We want to see Jesus help you grow as He extends the same invitation that He gave to the two sisters of Bethany! There will be a team of “Titus Women” who have had “life experiences” to help you grow in wisdom and knowledge. Some of our topics will be:

• Christian Parenting 
• Finding Balance in Our Day-to-Day Lives 
• Bringing Out the Best in Your Marriage and Your Children 
• Daily Tips and Cooking for Your Family 
• Becoming a Woman Who Pleases God 

If you have attended Mom-to-Mom or have children ages 6 and up, this is the Bible study for you. It is our desire to encourage moms to grow personally in their understanding of God and His Grace and how Christ can be a part of their everyday life.

This will be a four-year course. We will be going through four books by author Joanna Weaver. A 12-week session, which will meet every other week on opposite Tuesday mornings from Mom-to-Mom, begins January 21, 2014. There is a sign up list for those interested at the women’s ministry table on Sundays between services. Or you can sign up online at lbfchurch.com. Cost will be minimal and childcare will be provided.

Led by Julie Fachner and Donna Gaudy, you may contact them with any questions.

This Weekend's Message: Is Anybody Listening?

One of the current ways that people use the Internet is to post questions and to allow the online community to chime in. There are a number of websites that host these questions. A person can go to the site, post a question about car repair or parenting or technology or lawn care, and then await an answer. Some questions are answered right away, but other questions simply sit in cyberspace unanswered. The person posting the question waits. And waits. And waits. The longer a question remains unanswered, the more the doubts will arise. Did my question really get posted? Is anyone able to see it? Does anyone know the answer? Does anyone care enough to answer it? What is going on here?!

When we pray, we can have a similar experience. Most of us are just regular people. We don’t have the ear of presidents or kings or celebrities. We end up on hold when we call customer service providers. So we have to wonder if there really is a God out there who is concerned enough to hear our prayers and answer them. And when God doesn’t seem to answer immediately, the doubts abound about Him, about ourselves, and about the power of prayer.

When we pray, we want to believe that God is listening and that He cares. God invites us to believe this, but this belief is not based on who we are or things that we do. Instead it is based on who He is and what He does.

Dan

LIFE Groups Spotlight: Donna Stone

By Lea Lee, LIFE Groups Coordinator 

Name: Donna Stone

Tell us about how you came to faith in Jesus Christ. I was 12½ years old and desperate. I was living with my alcoholic mother and my tenth stepfather in a tenement in downtown Detroit. Every day was physical abuse and fear. My ninth stepfather and his cousin took me to church and the pastor spoke about fear and that faith in Christ would give me peace. I accepted Christ that day and was placed in emergency foster care within three weeks.

Tell us about your family. I am married to Bob Stone. We have three children, three grandchildren, and one grand doggy.

Tell us about how you found LBF. Gary Cisco, a friend from work, told me about LBF. I looked up the LBF website and liked what I saw. The first Sunday that I walked into LBF, I knew that I was home. That was 16 years ago. Gary just recently passed away and I am so grateful for the gift of my church family that he shared with me.

How long have you been leading a LIFE Group at LBF? This will be my second year.

Tell us a bit about your LIFE Group. My LIFE Group is funny! We laugh, tease, we love each other and hug…a lot. We have lively discussions that are so energizing. I have to say that the ladies in my LIFE Group are the BEST. Also, we share a great love for dessert!

What are some of the discussion highlights you have had this year? Replacing a complaining attitude with an attitude of thanks. Replacing a covetous attitude with an attitude of contentment. Replacing a critical attitude with an attitude of love. Replacing a doubting attitude with an attitude of faith. Finally, replacing a rebellious attitude with an attitude of submission.

What has been the most encouraging thing that has happened in your LIFE Group? How this study changed our thought process. It made us mindful of how our attitude impacts our witness, our walk with the Lord, our workplace, and our families.

How would you describe the importance of the LIFE Group you lead? We are a group of believers that want to grow as followers of Christ. We also want to grow in our relationship with each other.

What would you say to someone that is wary about joining a LIFE Group? You are missing out! You are missing the opportunity to connect and make life-long friends that will welcome you to any LIFE Group with open arms.

This Weekend's Message: Always Activated

Imagine the following scene. Two friends are eating breakfast at a restaurant before they head off to work. Suddenly, from another table, someone yells, “My husband is choking! Is anyone here a doctor?!” After a brief silence one of the friends says to the other, “You’re a doctor. Why aren’t you doing anything?” The friend responds, “My shift doesn’t begin for 20 minutes.”

Were this to happen, people would be indignant. If someone is a doctor, or a police officer, or a parent, they are never truly off-duty. They are always playing that role. Their shift may be over, or they may be trying to take a break, but they are always called to be available when they are needed.

When Jesus saves people, he activates them for lives of purpose, lives of using their gifts and abilities to serve him and his mission. And he doesn’t simply activate people on Sundays. Or during church activities. Or when they are not on vacation. God’s people are always activated, always participating in the great mission of passionately pursuing life in Jesus and leading their neighbors to do the same.

Dan

Youth Culture: Value Has a Number

By Matt Sasso, Pastor of Student Ministries 

While many teenagers still have a Facebook account, statistics show that many are using it less and for only specific purposes. It is no surprise that many teenagers are going elsewhere to connect on social media and at this point, one the most popular places for students to go is Instagram. I’m sure you’re aware of Instagram if your teenager is on it, but if not, here’s is how the app works.

You get an account and start following other users.

Other users follow you.

You post pictures to your account.

You and your followers comment or “like” each other’s pictures.

Repeat numerous times a day.

It’s a pretty simple process, but for many students, looking at the number of likes of their followers can cause them to compare their post with their friends’. While the idea of comparing your post to others’ seems trivial, this desire in teenagers’ lives today has sparked a new trend.

If you are one of those people who only look at the photo, you might be missing how teenagers are specifically asking for comments AND number of likes. This is done through the simple method of hashtags. What might seem like just another picture, below it, in the comment section, you will find #morelikesplease #like #followme #needmorefollowers #comment. This method is one way that students can add to the number of people following them and generate more likes for their pictures. So what does that mean?

When it comes to their social standing there’s a number attached to them – a ranking of sort. While popularity may at one time have been obscure and unquantifiable, it now has real time data. Today teenagers find their identity in the number of people that offer approval of what they post. While even adults are guilty of seeking this kind of approval, teenagers today base their value off a number and its consequences are definitely affecting them.

Before we seek to get rid of everything, there is one simple thing that you can do to help your teenager. As parents, it is important for you to know your teen and to know the insecurities they face. Like you, they have insecurities and what is important is to dig deeper into the impact this can have on your teen. We must never forget the importance of reminding them what the Bible says about their identity and where their value comes from. Culture has no problem attempting to answer that question for them, which is why God made sure that in Scripture we got the right understanding about who we are. We are made in His image. With intention. With care. With value. And with worth. Resting in that will guide your student in the right direction and allow them to live with more freedom and less insecurity than ever imagined possible.

The Burden of Prayer

By Dan Franklin, Pastor of Teaching 

While Jesus was on the earth, His disciples asked Him many foolish and misdirected questions. Many of their questions reflected shallow faith, self- consumed hearts, and ignorance of the big picture. But I think most of us are grateful that one day Jesus’ disciples came to Him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1). After all, who hasn’t felt daunted by the task of prayer? At one time or another, everyone has wondered how to pray.

Do we pray out loud? Do we bow our knees? Can we open our eyes? Do we address the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit? Or all three? Do we need to start with thanksgiving before we get to our requests? What requests are okay and what requests are selfish? What does it mean to pray in Jesus’ name, and what does it mean to pray according to God’s will? Should we pray all the time or should we pray at set times? Should we pray with others or lock ourselves in a prayer closet? These are only some of the many questions that can paralyze us as we approach the subject of prayer.

And then many of us feel guilty that we don’t pray more. Prayer feels like a burden instead of an invitation. And then we feel bad when we approach God in our desperate times. We feel like fair-weather fans showing up at the championship game after ignoring our team for the entire year.

But what if we thought about prayer in a different way? What if it was not a burdensome obligation, but rather a stunning invitation? The Creator and Redeemer of mankind has opened the gates of heaven so that His people can speak to Him, to confess to Him, to cry out for help, and to pour out our hearts. Why in the world would we need to be convinced to take advantage of this amazing invitation? We would not consider an invitation to the White House an obligation. We would not consider tickets to the Super Bowl as an obligation. When we view prayer as a burden, we respond foolishly to an unthinkably gracious offer from God.

Beginning on October 20, we will begin a message series at LBF called In Jesus’ Name. This series is the result of an elder-led desire to grow into a church that is marked by prayer. In the six-week series we will deal with a number of questions. Some will be as simple as, “What is prayer?” Some will be as complex as, “Will God give me what I ask for?”

Maybe you are at a point in your life where you desperately want to grow in the area of prayer. Maybe you are at a point in your life where you feel paralyzed at the thought of prayer. Maybe you are not sure if you believe in prayer at all. Wherever you find yourself, this series will answer questions, open hearts, and present an invitation to a deeper and richer relationship with God.

Harvest Party Needs YOU (and Your Candy)

By Laurie Baiz, Director of Life Kids Children’s Ministry 

Here we are, at the beginning of fall, and gearing up for our annual Harvest Party! This year the Harvest Party is Thursday, October 31, from 5:30-8:30 p.m.

The large red plastic containers marked “Harvest Party Candy” are located at the entrances of the Worship Center. You can bring your bags of WRAPPED CANDY to church and place them in these containers any time on Sundays.

Last year, thanks to all the LBF families that contributed candy, we had more than enough candy prizes for all the games! If every attending family brings two or three bags of candy, there will once again be plenty. Thank you in advance for helping make our Harvest Party a huge success by bringing in those bags of candy.

Volunteer sign-ups for games at Harvest Party are also open and running all month. We need YOU to make this event successful. Sign up for one of the two shifts, or both if you’d like, from 5-7 p.m. or 7-9 p.m. online at lbfchurch.com. When you check in for the Party that evening, we will give you your assignment unless you request a specific game or activity ahead of time.

This is OUR party and OUR gift to the community. Thank you for signing up early so that the party can happen as planned. If you have any questions, please contact Laurie Baiz at (909) 981-4848, ext. 242.

This Weekend's Message: God vs. Family

It’s not easy to be a single man or woman in our culture. If you are single today, you probably feel torn between too very loud and conflicting messages. On the one hand, you are told that your life doesn’t begin until you find “the one” and get married. After all, you’re nobody till somebody loves you. So, until you find that special someone, you are not able to live a full and meaningful life.

On the other hand, you are told that the commitments of marriage and family will squelch your freedom, so you should avoid all entanglements. As George Clooney told us in the movie Up in the Air, “Relationships are the heaviest components in your life...We weigh ourselves down until we can’t even move, and—make no mistake—moving is living.” This message can even cause those of us who are married to wonder if we have made a mistake by weighing ourselves down with the natural limitations that are brought about by family life.

As we read Scripture, both of these messages are rejected. Marriage is not the end-all, and marriage is not slavery. This Sunday, whether you are single or married, you will be opened up to what Scripture says about how our current status plays into God’s big mission for His people.

Dan