Posts from 2022
The Year of Evangelism
â2023: The Year of Evangelismâ âHow beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, âYour God reigns!ââ Isaiah 52:7 âHow, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach…
The Heart That Grew Three Sizes
Pastor’s Page December 2022 âThe Heart That Grew Three Sizesâ âAnd I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.â Ezekiel 36:26 Every year, pastors approach the Advent Season with a competing sense of joy and dread. Joyful to celebrate the birth of Jesus and the traditions surrounding Christmas. But there is a sense of dread in…
Healing Waters
Pastor’s Page November 2022 âHealing Watersâ âGive thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.â 1 Chronicles 16:34 When I was a boy, I remember celebrating the âFirst Thanksgivingâ at my elementary schools. We would dress up in costumes and put on plays celebrating the hospitality of the indigenous people who welcomed the European immigrants. I remember hoping to get to play the part of an âIndianâ because in my boyish mind, I thought they were…
Roadblocks or Bridges
âRoadblocks or Bridges?â âIt shall be said, âBuild up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstacle from My peopleâs way.ââ Isaiah 57:14 Jesus said, âLet the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them.â (Matt. 19:14a) He said this because the disciples were stopping the parents from bringing their children. I guess this idea of being a hinderance has really been hitting me lately. The pharisees often condemned Jesus for breaking the rules. Sometimes Jesus responded with…
Pin reflections 2022
Igniting a Movement Since its inception, the Church has struggled with issues of race and inclusion, asking questions: Whoâs in and whoâs out? Who has the power and who does not? Who makes the decisions and who does not? The 1960s raised many questions about race and reconciliation, civil rights and institutional segregation and discrimination. These civil problems were magnified in a Church that was commissioned by Jesus to proclaim the gospel to all nations (ethnicities). I believe most pastors…
Los Angeles de Jesus
âLos Angeles de Jesusâ [And Jesus said to them] âNo one puts new wine into old wine skins; otherwise the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and the skins as well; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.â Mark 2:22 SofĂa started a dialogue with the new Los Angeles de Jesus leadership team the other day by saying, âWelcome Charlieâs Angels! Wait. No. Thatâs not right⊠Welcome Jesusâ Angels!â Everyone had a good laugh, and…
Summer Fun
âI have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.â 2 Timothy 1:5 A couple of months ago, I got together with one of my former youth members (heâs in his 50s now). Over lunch, he said his 17-year-old son was questioning a lot. I thought, âOkay⊠Here we go!â thinking of all the potential questions this teen might be asking. …
Adding to Their Number
And day by day the LORD added to their number those who were being saved. Acts 2:47b Pentecost is a unique day in the life of the Church. In the Hebrew scriptures, three names were used to describe this holy day. The most common designation was Hag Hashavuot which means âthe Feast of Weeks.â Sometimes this was shortened to Shavuot which simply means âweeks.â And the third designation was Hag Hakatzir or âthe Feast of Harvestâ to mark the beginning…
Celebrating Women in the Church
[The woman of noble character] who can find? She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come. She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue⊠Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised. Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. from Proverbs 31 I remember a few years…
Abundantly
â[Jesus answered] âI came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.â (John 10:10b) Jesus warns, âThe thief comes to steal and kill and destroy.â But then He continues, âI came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.â (John 10:10) As weâve been going through our sermon series â American Idols: Reclaiming Our Intimacy with God â weâve discussed various forms of idolatry in our lives. Some are obvious, others are more subtle. At the core, idols…
In God’s Time
âBe still before the Lord, and wait patiently before Him.â (Psalm 37:7a) On one of my trips to Molokaâi, Hawaii, with the Laguna Presbyterian Church youth group mission trip, I met a couple of students who told me they were brothers. They looked nothing alike. I asked which was older. The taller boy said, âI am⊠by 5 months.â I saw what was going on; I wasnât born yesterday. I was the guest speaker on this trip, and these boys…
American Idols
âLittle children, keep yourselves from idols.â (1 John 5:21) The final verse of the Apostle Johnâs epistle has always fascinated me: âLittle children, keep yourselves from idols.â After a letter discussing Godâs love and forgiveness, Godâs light and truth, and our assurance of faith, the Apostle John ends his letter with this short phrase: âkeep yourselves from idols. It just seems so off-the-wall, like itâs out of left field, and such a weird way to end a letter. No blessing.…
Weâre Seeking to be Intergenerational, Too!
âOne generation shall commend Your works to the next, and shall declare Your mighty acts.â Psalm 145:4 Our Mission Statement says: Celebrating that which unifies us and that which makes us unique, we are intentionally building an intercultural, intergenerational community of faith in Jesus Christ that cares for, and serves, one another and our city. We are seeking to be intentionally intercultural and intergenerational. Remember, there is a big difference between the prefix âmulti-â and the prefix âinter-â. In multi-ethnic/multigenerational…