Elder Update

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor 

The LBF Elder Board is an important part of the leadership team of the church. The elders are involved with the important task of guarding the doctrine of the church, praying for the sick, and overseeing and caring for the people of LBF. Each elder on the board serves for a maximum of four years before taking a year off for rest and renewal. This directive is part of our by-laws and we have found it to be a healthy and important policy to follow.

This month Jason Gaudy is in that position and will be taking a time of rest and renewal from the elder board. I’m so very grateful for Jason and his love and passion for this church family. He has served well as an elder and even though he is taking time away from the board, I know that his love and passion for LBF will not change.

When you see Jason, I encourage you to give him a big hug and a word of thanks.

This Weekend's Message: Love Interrupted

An older married couple offered these words of advice one day to a young newly married couple just starting out:

Your love is priceless and needs to be guarded. Selfishness, pride, lack of forgiveness, and inattentiveness are but some of the many thieves capable of stealing away your love. In a sense, your marriage is like a treasure chest forming a protective case around your love – preventing it from being stolen. 

As I read this quote I quickly thought, “How true!” Up to this point in our series called “Pure Pleasure,” the couple has experienced many good things about love. No doubt it has been pure pleasure. But this week something creeps in to interrupt their love for each other. We can all learn from their experience, whether we are married or not. Come this week to see how we can guard our love like a precious treasure.

Gary

LIFE Groups Spotlight

By Lea Lee, LIFE Groups Coordinator 

Last month we started a monthly LIFE Group Spotlight, highlighting a specific LIFE Group at LBF and their leaders. Below is an interview with Scott Carter, who leads a LIFE Group with his wife.

Names: Scott & Cathy Carter

Tell us about how you came to faith in Jesus Christ. My wife, Cathy, and I actually came to faith in Jesus in a similar manner, through the pain of divorcing from long-term marriages. I was raised atheist by my parents and grew up not believing in God. After 25 years of marriage, the woman I had grown up with no longer loved me and filed for divorce. I was devastated. It was my boss that had the courage to share with me about Jesus. After months of struggling, I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior while attending a service here at LBF. Cathy was raised Catholic and although knew of the Lord, He was not at the center of her life. Cathy’s marriage of 26 years came to an end as she was told that there was someone else in her husband’s life and that he no longer wanted to be married to her. Distraught and desperate for comfort, she immediately went to a bookstore and purchased a Bible. This began the most beautiful journey with the Lord of love, trust, mercy and grace.

Tell us about how you found LBF. Cathy was invited to join a Bible study here at LBF by her Aunt and quickly found love and comfort from women that would pray over her when everything felt so hopeless. Cathy was overwhelmed by the love shown to her by complete strangers when she would come to Sunday church services. Often crying throughout the service, she was given support through prayer, touch, and love. I had never attended church before. I tried a couple of churches 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. Who was I that you would care? It was so foreign to me. But I kept coming back to see what it all meant and eventually fell in love with you.

This Weekend's Message: Love Fulfilled

Last Summer, I had been strongly anticipating the theatrical release of The Dark Knight Rises, the third installment of Christopher Nolan’s amazing Batman movies. Expectations were high. After two fantastic movies about Batman, how would this third one complete the story, wrap it up, put a bow on top, and blow us all away? The answer is...it didn’t. The movie was not bad, but to many of us it felt like a major letdown. It just didn’t live up to the hype. While I did not leave the theater wanting my money back, by no means did I leave with my expectations fulfilled.

That said, how rare is it for us to feel fulfilled? Product after product, experience after experience, promises us fulfillment, but leaves us still wanting. It is an empty and disappointing feeling when we are unfulfilled. But it is a wonderful and exhilarating feeling when we are fulfilled.

In the first two scenes in Song of Songs, we saw a man and a woman longing for each other. There has been anticipation, excitement, pursuit, affirmation...but not fulfillment. This week, we will finally see their love come to be fulfilled. And as we do, we will get powerful, biblical insight into how we are invited to Love Fulfilled.

Dan

Men's Retreat

By Steve Mylar, Director of Business Operations 

Join us this year for our annual men’s retreat at the beautiful and inspirational Forest Home Conference Center! We anticipate another fantastic time of teaching; worship; fellowship; an abundance of absolutely amazing food; and a myriad of recreation options, including ziplines, a trout pond, a game room, a climbing wall, the sky trail, hiking, and mini golf.

Save the dates of April 12-14, 2013. 

Registration will only be taken online this year and payment must be received when registering. If you require assistance to register, please stop by the Men’s Ministry table between Sunday services.

Accommodations: 
Deluxe – $260
Standard – $230
Economy – $180

Contact me, Steve Mylar @ (909) 921-7987 or steve@lbfchurch.com with questions or for more information. Register online now. We are looking forward to seeing you on the mountain top in April!

Passionate Pursuit, Part One

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor 

I would like to spend some time this month and next month talking about what a passionate pursuit of LIFE in Jesus looks like. If we are going to live out this mission in our daily lives, we need to take some time looking at some real life expressions of passionately pursuing life in Jesus. How does this transformation take place? How can we see the difference between a person who is passionately pursuing life in Jesus and someone who is not? What are the core qualities that offer evidence that someone is passionately pursuing life in Jesus?

Here is a list of 12 items that we can look at and maybe gauge how we are doing at passionately pursing life in Jesus. I’ll list six of them this month and the other six next month.

A person who is passionately pursuing life in Jesus…

1. Has an undiluted devotion to Jesus. To me devotion suggests something deliberate, even premeditated. Devotion involves a determination that a person will organize his/her life around Jesus – His character, His teachings, His unique grace and forgiveness. I also believe that this devotion needs to have intentional times of renewal and refreshment on a regular basis to be faithful to the ways of Jesus. 
2. Pursues a biblically informed view of the world. This begins by working at knowing the Bible well, which will include its contents and directives. Those involved in a passionate pursuit of life in Jesus cannot simply live off the Sunday morning teaching of the pastor. He/she must hide God’s Word in his/her own heart so that it becomes a lamp to his/her feet and a light to his/her path.
3. Is intentional and disciplined in seeking God’s direction in life. Look closely at the letters written by the Apostle Paul and you will see a person who is intentional. Paul is a person who associates the Christian life to a battle and Christians to soldiers who are disciplined and ready for battle. And then at other times Paul likens the Christian person to athletes who need training and discipline to run the race well. No person who is passionately pursuing life in Jesus is comfortable with spiritual passivity. It means developing life-habits in alignment with Jesus and replacing those that are not. 
4. Worships and has a spirit of continuous repentance. Worship is a lifestyle not a Sunday morning experience. Each time we say “yes” to God, we are worshipping Him. Each time we say “no,” we need to repent. When we say “yes,” we are elevating life to an eternal perspective focused on God and His purposes. And in the process, we come away redirected and renewed in our efforts to live and serve God. 
5. Builds healthy human relationships. Being faithful to friends; if married, affectionate, attentive, and servant-like to a spouse; and if a parent, patient and nurturing to children is part of building healthy relationships. For relationships to flourish a person must be quick to admit when they are wrong, to forgive when offended, and to offer support when someone is in need. This also involves doing all they can to be at peace with everyone. 
6. Knows how to connect with the world where the Christian faith is not understood. Most likely some personal choices and convictions on living in a passionate pursuit of life in Jesus will not appeal to those outside the faith. But those who watch and observe the life of someone who is passionately pursuing this life will see them as a person who brings stability, hope, and energy to life. There are of course times when a person of faith will be despised, but hopefully there are more times when they are valued as an asset to the world. This person will make important contributions to the greater community, including those that bring justice and relief to struggling people. 

Okay, there are the first six ways that passionately pursuing life in Jesus might work its way out into our everyday life. What do you think? Does this make sense to you? Is it on target?

Feel free to dialogue with me via email at gary@lbfchurch.com. And next month we’ll look at six more. God bless you and have a great month.

Read Part Two here.

This Weekend's Message: Love Pursued

Too many times, the pursuit of love between a man and a woman ends at the wedding. While it is wonderful when this pursuit results in marriage, it is sad when the pursuit ceases upon the exchange of vows. What was once passionate and exciting often becomes routine and mundane.

How do we avoid growing cold and distant? How do we keep the pursuit alive? And what does the growing and sustaining love pictured in Song of Songs tell us about the love of Jesus, the ultimate bridegroom?

Dan

Children’s Mid-week Programs Starting Soon

By Laurie Baiz, Director of Children’s Ministry 

Many of you may have noticed the changes happening on the elementary side of Children’s Ministry. We have given room 102 & 103 a fresh coat of paint and a new look. This new look fits our theme of shapes, and the worship area will now be called The Cube – Shaping Hearts for Jesus. There will be some other exciting things coming soon as well.

One of the new things coming is a new midweek program for our 1st-4th grade students and a different midweek program for our 5th & 6th grade students. These will be two different programs designed to fit the needs of today’s young people. For the younger kids we will start out with worship, a group message, and then break into groups with different activities that the kids can take part in. The older kids will begin with a social time, fun activity, and then settle in for a group lesson and small group discussion.

Both will take place on Tuesdays, from 6:30-8 p.m. LIFE Kids (1st-4th) will begin on Tuesday, March 12 and 56° (5th & 6th) will begin Tuesday, March 19.

 I am currently looking for some fun, energetic people to help make these programs fantastic for the kids! If you would like more information, I’d love to talk with you as soon as possible, so email laurie@lbfchurch.com. I am very excited about the new changes and programs that are coming up and can’t wait for the adventure to begin!

Not That Into the Relationship?

What Exit 83 is Talking About This Month 

By Matt Sasso, Pastor of Student Ministries 

Every one of us has experienced it at some point. At one time, we were really into a relationship – whether it was a friendship or a dating relationship – and now, well, not so much. We’re just not that into it anymore. So we walk away or we let the relationship die. But what happens when that relationship you’re not that into anymore is the one you have with God? You were really into Him at one point. You were feeling connected, directed, and close. Now it feels like nothing. How do you deal with it?

There is a natural ebb and flow to our relationships, isn’t there? Times when we feel really close to someone, and times when we don’t. The reasons vary, but there are times when we’re just not feeling that into a relationship. But what happens when these feelings occur in our relationship with God? And when it does, why is it so difficult to admit it?

When you’re not that into a relationship, you have a choice – to stay or to go. God has made it very clear in the Bible that He’s not going anywhere. He’s in. We, though, are the ones who struggle with the choice, and that struggle sometimes involves fighting our own feelings and perceptions. It’s a fight that we have to be willing to face and a decision each of us has to make. While it may feel like it, God isn’t going anywhere. In these times we have to fight our own tendencies to pull away.

This month we want students to see that they have the choice to choose to strengthen their relationship with God, and that every week there are caring adults who want them to know how much God loves them.

This Weekend's Message: Love Requited

There is a good reason why so many of the most famous love songs are about heartbreak. These songs resonate with many of us because they reflect our personal experience. Each of us can think of a time when we expressed our love to someone and ended up feeling rejected. Love can be risky and the pain of heartbreak can be intense. Sometimes the rejection we experience can paralyze us from taking the risk to trust another person with our heart. We end up holding others at arms-length because we don’t want to repeat the pain of our broken hearts.

As we begin our journey through Song of Songs we will be invited to take the risk to love. And we’ll be told that, while love is risky, requited love is worth the risk.

Dan

God-given Sexuality: A Lost Conversation

By Dan Franklin, Pastor of Teaching 

Sex permeates our culture. It shows up in advertising, on TV shows, in the lyrics of mainstream songs, on the Internet, in locker room conversations, and in women’s magazines. Our culture has become entirely casual about the subject of sex. It is no big deal to talk about it, and it is no big deal if everyone is experiencing it. Sex outside of marriage is no big deal, pornography is no big deal, and one-night stands are no big deal. Sex in our culture is casual and personal. Our bodies, our choices, our business.

Sex is so casual in our culture that it is a topic of conversation just about everywhere. Except church. 

Somehow it seems impolite or inappropriate for Christians to talk about sex. Perhaps we avoid it because we think that if we talk about it, then people will think about it. And if people think about it, then they will be more likely to want to do it. This might be fine for married couples, but we know that the biblical ethic is that sex is reserved for marriage. So our solution is to talk about it less.

The solution, however, is not working. From this past year, statistics showed that only 3% of Americans wait until they are married to engage in sexual intercourse. The statistics are better amongst evangelical Christians, but it is still only around 20%.