LIFE Groups Spotlight

By Lea Lee, LIFE Groups Coordinator 

Continuing with our monthly LIFE Group Spotlight – where we highlight a specific LIFE Group at LBF and their leaders – here is an interview with Curt and Karla Eyster.

Names: Curt and Karla Eyster

Tell us about your family. Karla and I met at Messiah College and have been married 17 years. We have 3 great kids who keep us busy and are walking reminders of God’s faithfulness: Alyssa (14), J.J. (6), and Kaleb (4).

Tell us about how you came to faith in Jesus Christ. Both Karla and I grew up in the church and were raised by Christian parents. We each accepted Christ at a young age and have continued on a fantastic faith journey ever since, including many twists and turns, challenges and blessings.

Tell us about how you found LBF. We moved back to California in 2011 and visited LBF early on in our search for a new home church. When we learned about the heart and mission of this church and saw how the children’s ministry welcomed our kids, we knew that this was our new home.

How long have you been leading a LIFE Group at LBF? We’ve been with our group a little over a year now.

Tell us a bit about your LIFE Group. When we approached Phil about starting a new group, we began to pray right away for the families that God would bring into our LIFE Group community. God is good and He connected us with five great families with young kids. It’s a lively group with kids from 12 weeks to 6 years old and they keep our two sitters hopping.

How would you describe the importance of the LIFE Group you lead? As new members of the church, we knew from past experience that the best way to get connected was by joining a LIFE Group. In a large congregation, it’s easy to get lost and you lose out on so many of the benefits of the local church community. Both Karla and I can attest to the spiritual growth and encouragement that comes through LIFE Groups.

What would you say to someone that is wary about joining a LIFE Group? We would highly encourage them to take a chance. The rewards of being in community with people who genuinely care about you and your family are tremendous.

This Weekend's Easter Message: Great Expectations

No one can live without hope. That means that everyone has hope. Everyone. You, me, and every living person. Your hope may not be conscious or purposeful, but you have hope that better days are in your future. If not, you wouldn’t be able to function.

So, this Easter, the question to ask is not whether or not you have hope. You do. This Easter, the question is whether or not the hope that you have is a hope that is worth having.

Dan

Reaching Out: LBF Global

Ministry in Brazil 

By Carol Hawkins, Missions Coordinator 

I’m really excited to share with you about the ministry we have the privilege of participating with in Brazil. Lives are being changed and we get to be part of it!

For a number of years LBF has partnered with Vine House Church in supporting outreach ministry along the Amazon River, including helping support a pastor and his family who are serving there. Pastor Carlos Rangle ministers to two village churches along the Amazon where he shares and teaches God’s word. He also reaches out to the indigenous people living in the interior near Nova Olinda. It’s really encouraging to realize that people who have never been exposed to the Gospel message are now hearing and receiving God’s truth and are growing in their relationship with Christ. Pastor Carlos has expressed his gratitude to LBF for being part of his ministry.

Through the Amazon ministry, there are now 85 house churches in the region with more new villages being involved outside of Novo Olinda and in Sao Paulo De Olavencia. Last year LBF helped with the purchase of a home in this area, which is meeting a need for the pastor and his family as well as providing a place where the people can meet.

Several years ago LBF purchased a boat to travel along the river, and we continue to support some of the expense of operating this boat today. As you picture the Amazon River in your mind, remember that it is extremely difficult to travel from village to village due to the dense jungle. The river is the only way to reach people living there. The boat is vital to bringing the message of God to hundreds of people who might not otherwise hear. And these believers in turn are teaching others and multiplying the family of God.

Join me in praising God for this life-giving ministry that is happening in Brazil and that LBF gets to be part of. God’s word continues to spread throughout the Amazon region, and lives are being changed for eternity. Thank you LBF!

Passionate Pursuit, Part Two

By Gary Keith, Lead Pastor 

To read Part One, click here.

The mission statement of LBF is simple but profound. It is “to passionately pursue LIFE in Jesus and to lead our neighbors to do the same.” But what does it mean to live in a passionate pursuit of Jesus? Is it about Sunday church attendance? Is it about my life away from Sunday church? Is it about both? Is it about something totally different? Just what does a person who is passionately pursuing LIFE in Jesus look like?

These are important questions to look at and answer if we are going to live out this mission statement. Last month, in the February issue of The Scroll, I covered six items that can be considered important expressions of what it means to passionately pursue life in Jesus. (If you missed last month’s issue, visit lbfchurch.com > Resources > Resources to download it.) This month I want to share a few more.

A person who is passionately pursuing life in Jesus…

7. Is aware of a personal “call” for daily life. This person has learned that it’s not about me but about what has been entrusted to me and what can be offered to others. The person who is passionately pursuing life in Jesus knows that they have been given a mission. And this mission in life goes beyond what job a person has or what vocation provides for their needs. They see a high calling in that while they do the job God has given them, they know that their life is to reflect Jesus and they make decisions that are consistent with that life. They take this pursuit into every part of their life.

8. Is merciful and generous. The amazing Barnabas is our model. We first meet him as the church’s best example of generosity. We see him taking risks when he welcomes Saul of Tarsus to the circle of believers in Jerusalem. It’s Barnabas who observes a very young church trying out new styles of church life. And rather than stopping or hindering these new styles, he encourages and even applauds them.

Barnabas mentors Saul on their first missionary journey and yet he lets go of his leadership position when Paul is mature enough to find his own way. We also see Barnabas stand up for John Mark who needs another chance to rebound from an earlier failure. Yes, we can learn from Barnabas what it means to be generous and merciful and full of encouragement.

9. Appreciates that suffering is part of faithfulness to Jesus. “Consider it all joy when you suffer,” writes James. “He has given you the privilege to suffer for him,” writes Paul. I once read “Everything I know that’s important, I learned in suffering.” Suffering comes from many sources – including our own stupid mistakes. But whatever its source, the person who is passionately pursuing life in Jesus rarely complains, is not looking for pity, and does not become bitter at God. But rather, they listen, they trust, they offer their own experiences for the benefit of others. They know that Jesus suffered and that part of being a Christian means they are not surprised by personal suffering.

10. Is eager and ready to express the reasons for their faith. While not everyone has the spiritual gift of evangelism, everyone has the responsibility to evangelize. Not because they have to or because they are told to, but because they want to. They want others to experience what they have experienced. They don’t want anyone they know to miss out on knowing what they know about Jesus. The person that is passionately pursuing life in Jesus even prays for opportunities to arise in the most natural of ways so they can communicate their devotion to Jesus.

11. Overflows with thankfulness. Some of us (me, for example) needed to learn the value and importance of thankfulness. For many the default response is to simply receive – to take – as if we are entitled and deserve the generosity of others – including the generosity of God. But for the one who is passionately pursing life in Jesus, they walk through the day noticing things to be thankful for. And then they give an expression of thanks for whatever and to whomever is the source. And they reserve their most generous thankfulness to God for the grace given to them on a daily basis.

12. Has a passion for reconciliation. This might be the highest characteristic for those who pursue Jesus. They bring people together. They hate war, violence, and division caused by race or economics or ideology. They believe that being peaceable and making peace trumps all other efforts in one’s lifetime. They desire to express truthfully the claims of Jesus in a way that when conflict comes, it’s about Jesus and not them.

It is here that we see Jesus living in others. You see His eye on the one others have ignored. You see Him lifting the fallen. You see Him elevating the insignificant one. Jesus is an example to every exploitive and arrogant person and shows His followers the way to really care about people. Yes, people have this natural tendency to be something other than what Jesus models, but those who are pursuing Him seek out God’s power and become involved with reconciliation.


What now?

So take a look at the six items I mentioned last month and combine them with the six for this month and make some intentional movement to grow in those areas you have the hardest time with. Let’s be people who move towards this new expression of passionately pursuing life in Jesus not only as individuals, but in community. And may we grow in bearing a resemblance to Jesus and embrace real LIFE – the kind of life He offers.

This Weekend's Message: Great Expectations

I have never met anyone who believed that they had unrealistic expectations. I’ve met people who have high expectations or low expectations or strange expectations, but I have never met anyone who acknowledged that their expectations were not reasonable. We all think that our expectations are reasonable. This applies to our expectations for our families, for our jobs, for our government, and also for God.

And when our expectations aren’t met, we find ourselves dealing with disappointment. Have you ever been disappointed with God?

Have you ever felt like He let you down? Right now, are you hesitant to trust God because He hasn’t met your expectations?

This Sunday, Palm Sunday, we will get to experience the story of some people whose expectations fell flat at the feet of Jesus. And then we will discover that unmet expectations can be the best gift that God can give us.

Dan

The Beautiful Trade

By Matt Sasso, Pastor of Student Ministries 

Have you ever had to do research for a class paper? I have had to a lot while in graduate school. Sometimes you start out with your topic, thinking that you know exactly what you are going to write about. But then, after you start reading some books and digging into the research, you realize that you actually know very little about the topic and have to start from scratch and just learn. In times like these, you have to trade what you think you know for what you don’t. And it’s the same when it comes to following Jesus. Sometimes we have to trade what we think we know – about Jesus, about what is best for us, about what we think about others – in order to fully participate with God in what we don’t know.

The book of Mark is the shortest of the four Gospels, but it’s packed with the message that Jesus wants us to trade what we know, what we think, and how we see others for something better. It’s a beautiful trade, because not only do we exchange something for something different, we exchange our lives and our perspectives for something better. It’s a message that’s at the heart of the Easter story, but it’s shown through Jesus’ interactions long before the crucifixion and resurrection. I hope that this month your student is encouraged to trade what they know for something better.

Want to Serve? 

Exit 83 volunteers are the backbone of our ministry. Volunteers create a safe place where students feel accepted and cared for, as they are encouraged to grow in spiritual maturity. Volunteers are able to talk to students about their lives and offer advice. They serve as an example of Christ’s love in the lives of students. If you’re interested in helping us serve students better, please email Matt Sasso.

Why Should a Guy Go to the Men’s Retreat?

April 12-14, 2013 

By Steve Mylar, Director of Business Operations 

You can expect to be refueled mentally, physically, and spiritually!

Let me answer this by asking a different question: why wouldn’t a guy want to go?

Here are the reasons/questions I hear most: I’m not a camper; no sleeping under the stars for me. I don’t eat camp food. I won’t know anybody. What kind of guys will be there? Do we have to hold hands and sing Kumbaya? It will be boring. What are we actually going to be doing?

Having been to several retreats, and having a great time at most of them, I tend to forget that these are real and valid concerns. So let me respond to some of them.

First, let me say that getting away for the weekend from all of the busyness of life has been wonderful for my mind and my soul. The men who attend come from all walks of life and are all at different places in their walk with Christ. One can choose to connect with others or to find peace in solitude (I find there is a healthy combination of the two that can be achieved). The camp itself is amazing. Forest Home hits a home run every time with its beautiful location, venue, abundantly delicious food, and myriad of recreational choices. Over the course of the weekend we will have five main sessions with teaching and times of worship. We will meet separately with just LBF men 2-3 times and break up into smaller discussion groups. We won’t force interaction or make anyone share anything they don’t want to. During our free time there is a plethora of activities such as rock wall climbing, ziplining, hiking, trout pond fishing, miniature golf, horseshoes, etc. To accommodate your tastes and financial situation, the rooms come in three different “flavors:” Deluxe, Standard, and Economy. They are comfortable, clean, and all include a bed/bunk with mattress. Think of Deluxe as a shared motel room (bedding and linens), Standard as a shared cabin without bedding/linens (bring your own/sleeping bag), and Economy as a shared room with shared bath without linens.

In a nutshell, we’re just a bunch of guys who have decided that taking time to reconnect with God, learning how to be better followers of Jesus, and having a great time of fellowship is highly needed and desired in our lives. And we would like for you to join us!

Most guys often need a personal invite to be the vehicle to get them to go, so if you are a guy who is going this year (and you should!), think about the guys you should invite. And do it! Register online at lbfchurch.com > Men’s Retreat.

This Weekend's Message: Love Protected

Car alarms. Back-up files. Guard dogs. What do they all have in common? They all protect things. And what do we protect? Things upon which we place great value. If you were only able to protect one possession, what would you choose? And to what lengths would you be willing to go in order to ensure that protection?

Dan

How to Eliminate Guilt

By Dan Franklin, Pastor of Teaching 

Our study through Song of Songs focuses on love, sex, marriage, commitment, and a number of other significant themes. For many, these themes are exciting, instructive, and life-giving. For others, these themes can be painful sources of guilt. For those who are divorced, hearing about God’s value on marriage and commitment can bring guilt and regret. For those who have had extra-marital sex, hearing about God’s sex ethic may feel condemning. This series – which we hope will bring joy and healing – has the potential to bring pain.

Certainly, this is not the only series that has the potential to bring shame and guilt to people. There are certain things that God calls “sin.” If we proclaim and teach God’s Word, people’s sins will be exposed (at least to themselves). Does the church, then, become a place of guilt and shame and condemnation? Are we destined to walk out of church services feeling devastated and defeated? I certainly hope not. When we face guilt, we universally want to get rid of it. Every human being is passionate about guilt elimination. This desire to remove guilt has resulted in two main paths that we take when we experience guilt.

Path #1: We ignore our guilt. We pretend that it does not exist. We stuff it down deep inside of us. No one else learns of it and we do our best to forget it. Whether we have had an affair, looked at pornography, stolen from our employer, lied on our taxes, or committed any other offense, we pretend that our sin never happened. And, as we do this, we hope that one day our guilt will no longer plague us. We hope that ignoring our guilt will lead us to forgetting that our sin ever happened.

Path #2: We explain our guilt away. We tell ourselves that we didn’t do anything wrong at all. And if it was wrong, it certainly was no worse than what others do. Why should we be plagued with guilt and shame when we aren’t serial killers or sex traffickers? We attempt to justify our actions and ourselves so that we can rest assured that the guilt we feel is not valid.

The Bible does not ignore our guilt problem. In fact, the Bible tells us that our guilt is real and it is valid. There is certainly false guilt (when another person makes us feel bad for not living up to their expectations), but every human being has real guilt before God. Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Ephesians 2:3 says that we deserve God’s wrath because of our sin. Through the Bible God does not tell us, “Don’t worry about your guilt.” Instead He tells us, “You have guilt. Your guilt is a real problem and something needs to be done to take your guilt away.”

And then we arrive at God’s solution to our guilt: The cross of Jesus Christ. Our guilt leads to punishment, but when Jesus died for our sins, He took upon Himself the weight of our guilt. Far from ignoring or explaining away our guilt, God takes it seriously enough that He places it upon His Son. And when He did this, as Romans 3:26 says, God was both “just and the one who justifies.” God took our guilt seriously, but also removed our guilt from us. It had to go somewhere. And it went to Jesus. Now, as Romans 8:1 says, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” We are free from guilt.

When you experience guilt because of your past actions, don’t ignore that guilt. And don’t explain that guilt away. Those are cheap and inadequate solutions to a much bigger problem. God alone justified. And thank God that He has justified us through Jesus. When you experience guilt, cling to the cross. You are free from it because Jesus took it. You are now free to admit your sin, and to admit that your sin is a big deal. You are free because you are also free from condemnation. You have been set free by Jesus, the one and only guilt-eliminator.

We Need You: Casting Call For The Passion Experience 2013

By Jeff Taylor, Pastor of Worship 

Passion Experience is coming to LBF Good Friday, March 29, but we need YOU! 

The Passion Experience is an interactive worship service that will involve worship through silence, prayer, music, and dramatic reenactments taken from scripture to walk us through the washing of the disciples’ feet, communion, betrayal, trial, sentencing, and death. This production, complete with props, music, and costumes will be a great way to consider all that Christ came and did, in a very impactful and interactive way.

The Passion Experience is a vital outreach to our community, our church, and unsaved friends and family. Our desire is to do this to the very highest quality; not for our glory, but to accurately and passionately point people to Jesus, which means we need your help.

Will you please pray about being part of this event? We need people to fill speaking roles as well as “community roles” that have no specific lines, but are vital in creating the atmosphere in many of the scenes. Whether you have acting experience or not, anyone can be involved, kids too! There will be a rehearsal for speaking roles on Sunday, March 17 at 1 p.m., and for all participants on Sunday, March 24, also at 1 p.m. There will be two Passion Experience services on Good Friday, March 29, at 4 and 6:30 p.m. If you are willing and available to join the cast for this powerful event, please email Jeff Taylor at jeff@lbfchurch.com, or let us know on Sunday via your K.I.T. card.

This Weekend's Message: Love Aroused

Does God want you to have pleasure? This can seem like a tricky question. On the one hand, we might think that God wants us to have pleasure because He loves us. On the other hand, we might think that pleasure is not high on God’s priorities for us, since He gives us all kinds of commands and limitations. Are our desires for pleasure good or dangerous?

The section of Song of Songs that we will cover on Sunday is all about pleasure. And, through this section, we will not be called upon to suppress pleasure. Instead, we will be invited to arouse it.

Dan

Homelessness Conference Draws 200

By Russ Parker, Pastor of Administration 

Over the past year God has brought together a group of people burdened with the issues of homelessness in our local community. This group is called “OUR Homeless” (OUR standing for Ontario, Upland, and Rancho Cucamonga). Ron Weissmann and Gary Keith from our church have been connected to this group from its beginning stages.

Months of planning and praying led OUR Homeless to commission a conference on homelessness. It was our privilege at LBF to host this conference last month. The main purpose of the conference was to build awareness – awareness of the issue in our community and awareness of the works and initiatives that are currently ongoing. Over 200 people from dozens of local churches and non-profits in the area attended on February 2.

Pastor Jeff Taylor and our worship team led us in worship through music, preparing our hearts to deeply consider God’s love for all of His people. Keynote speaker, Philip Mangano (former appointee Director of U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness under President Bush) captivated, educated, and inspired everyone. Mr. Mangano told real-life stories of communities just like ours who had successfully come together to reduce homelessness.

The conference was a fantastic kick-off and now work continues. Next steps are already in motion as we rally together to put love in action and serve those who are struggling with homelessness.