Pastor’s Blog (Page 10)

Missions is not a side interest for any church worth its salt. It is one of the main tasks of the church to think globally, to extend the Gospel, to share what God has given us. The local church is never an end in itself. It must reproduce. Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations”… So get involved in missions.

All evangelism that leads to repentance and faith is a work of God. He alone can open the heart to believe. Nothing in evangelism needs to be based on psychology, or salesmanship, or manipulation, does it? How can men accomplish what only God can do?

Christ’s life, death and resurrection is the best news ever! I admit, however, that the beauty of the story of God humbling Himself to save rebels may not, by itself, persuade everyone. Some will doubt. It is beautiful… but is it true? Here are a few brief arguments for the truth of the Gospel.

Every church…every Christian, is a steward of God’s truth. Paul calls the church “the pillar and support of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). And of stewards, Paul said, “it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy” (1 Cor 4:2). Being trustworthy for the truth is our first…

As the holiday season winds down and we all get back to “reality” in the new year, I pause to reflect on the simple ways God has blessed us. It is always good to take the advice of the old song and “count your blessings.” Remembering God’s goodness sustains us in the trials to come — and there will be…

Why are we drawn to mysteries? People hope for some grand purpose or over-seeingpower that knows “what’s really going on.” Unbelievers and pagans attempt to tap into those powers in all sorts of ways. Sometimes, rather than trust God, Christians search for same kind of insight that the pagans seek…

My Church Building Experience We have it! After long years of working through the pricey maze that is Los Angeles County to get a building permit, we have it in hand. We are all excited, and we should be. It is a great thing to build a home for our congregation to serve the Lord in our community. My hope is it will used to faithfully serve Christ…

Church in America has often become a kind of self-help culture where we learn to make healthy choices and feel good about ourselves. It’s hard to link any of these ideas to the Bible – Jesus seems to speak mostly about self-denial when he speaks of the self. That really needs to be our driving motivation…

After many years of good AFBC people volunteering countless hours, energy and skill, and many others giving their talents and resources, it appears we are finally ready to “arise and build.”; If the final permits are not in hand when you read this, they soon shall be. Let’s do it together. Let’s arise and build.

One aspect of the Second Commandment we didn’t address in our recent sermon series was the issue of visualizing Jesus in our prayer life. We discussed at some length representing the incarnate Christ for instruction or inspiration in story books, art, film or drama. What about creating images in the mind?