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