Why There Must Be a Place Like EBCLA Today and Tomorrow

Sunday, January 12, 14

CHURCHES ARE DYING AND NOBODY REALLY CARES


CHURCHES ARE DYING AND NOBODY REALLY CARES

insular, intolerant, smug HYPOCRITES


CHURCHES ARE DYING AND NOBODY REALLY CARESDOES GOD STILL NEED THE CHURCH TODAY?

insular, intolerant, smug HYPOCRITES


“GOD, LIKE ALL REVOLUTIONARIES, DESIRES THE OVERTURNING, THE RADICAL ALTERATION OF THE WHOLE SOCIETY—FOR IN THIS THE REVOLUTIONARIES ARE RIGHT: WHAT IS AT STAKE IS THE WHOLE WORLD, AND THE CHANGE MUST BE RADICAL, FOR THE MISERY OF THE WORLD CRIES TO HEAVEN AND IT BEGINS DEEP WITHIN THE HUMAN HEART. BUT HOW CAN ANYONE CHANGE THE WORLD AND SOCIETY AT ITS ROOTS WITHOUT TAKING AWAY FREEDOM?


“GOD, LIKE ALL REVOLUTIONARIES, DESIRES THE OVERTURNING, THE RADICAL ALTERATION OF THE WHOLE SOCIETY—FOR IN THIS THE REVOLUTIONARIES ARE RIGHT: WHAT IS AT STAKE IS THE WHOLE WORLD, AND THE CHANGE MUST BE RADICAL, FOR THE MISERY OF THE WORLD CRIES TO HEAVEN AND IT BEGINS DEEP WITHIN THE HUMAN HEART. BUT HOW CAN ANYONE CHANGE THE WORLD AND SOCIETY AT ITS ROOTS WITHOUT TAKING AWAY FREEDOM?

GERHARD LOHFINK


“IT CAN ONLY BE THAT GOD BEGINS IN A SMALL WAY, AT ONE SINGLE PLACE IN THE WORLD. THERE MUST BE A PLACE, VISIBLE, TANGIBLE, WHERE THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD CAN BEGIN: THAT IS, WHERE THE WORLD BECOMES WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO BE ACCORDING TO GOD’S PLAN. BEGINNING AT THAT PLACE, THE NEW THING CAN SPREAD ABROAD, BUT NOT THROUGH PERSUASION, NOT THROUGH INDOCTRINATION, NOT THROUGH VIOLENCE.


“EVERYONE MUST HAVE AN OPPORTUNITY TO COME AND SEE. ALL MUST HAVE THE CHANCE TO BEHOLD AND TEST THIS NEW THING. THEN, IF THEY WANT TO, THEY CAN ALLOW THEMSELVES TO BE DRAWN INTO THE HISTORY OF SALVATION THAT GOD IS CREATING. ONLY IN THAT WAY CAN THEIR FREEDOM BE PRESERVED. WHAT DRIVES THEM TO THE NEW THING CANNOT BE FORCE, NOT EVEN MORAL PRESSURE, BUT ONLY THE FASCINATION OF A WORLD THAT IS CHANGED.

EBCLA POST-TSUNAMI JAPAN TEAM 4 @ KOKUBUNJI BAPTIST CHURCH


“CLEARLY THIS CHANGE IN THE WORLD MUST BEGIN IN HUMAN BEINGS, BUT NOT AT ALL BY THEIR SEEKING THROUGH HEROIC EFFORT TO MAKE THEMSELVES THE LOCUS OF THE NEW, ALTERED WORLD; RATHER IT BEGINS WHEN THEY LISTEN TO GOD, OPEN THEMSELVES TO GOD, AND ALLOW GOD TO ACT.” — GERHARD LOHFINK

KATHY HUBBARD WITH THREEOF THEIR FIVE ADOPTED CHILDREN


WHY THERE MUST BE A PLACE LIKE EBCLAtoday & tomorrow | 1Peter 3:13-18


EBCLA SEEKS TO BE A BETTER CHURCH, ONE THAT’S OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO FOLLOWING JESUS.


EBCLA SEEKS TO BE A BETTER CHURCH, ONE THAT’S OBVIOUSLY TRYING TO FOLLOWING JESUS.

1Peter 3:13-15a If with heart and soul you’re doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you’re still better off. Don’t give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master.


IF PEOPLE THINK WE’RE ARROGANT AND OBNOXIOUS, THEY WON’T BELIEVE A THING WE SAY.


IF PEOPLE THINK WE’RE ARROGANT AND OBNOXIOUS, THEY WON’T BELIEVE A THING WE SAY.

1Peter 3:15b-16Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you’re living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They’ll end up realizing that they’re the ones who need a bath.


WE ARE WILLING TO SUFFER FOR DOING THE GOOD THAT GOD DESIRES.


WE ARE WILLING TO SUFFER FOR DOING THE GOOD THAT GOD DESIRES.

1Peter 3:17-18It’s better to suffer for doing good, if that’s what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That’s what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others’ sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God.



DISCIPLINED

CONFORMING

PRECISE

PREDICTABLE

POLISHED

IMPRESSIVE



UNRESTRAINED HOPESunday, January 12, 14

GENUINE HUMILITY

UNRESTRAINED HOPESunday, January 12, 14

GENUINE HUMILITY

UNRESTRAINED HOPE UNEXPECTED HOSPITALITYSunday, January 12, 14

BECOMING A BETTER EXAMPLE OF A JESUS-FOLLOWING CHURCH AT TIMES CAN LOOK CHAOTIC & MESSY


BECOMING A BETTER EXAMPLE OF A JESUS-FOLLOWING CHURCH AT TIMES CAN LOOK CHAOTIC & MESSYUNPLANNED COLLISIONS & THINGS WILL GET DAMAGED


BECOMING A BETTER EXAMPLE OF A JESUS-FOLLOWING CHURCH AT TIMES CAN LOOK CHAOTIC & MESSYUNPLANNED COLLISIONS & THINGS WILL GET DAMAGEDMUST ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND WHAT JESUS ENVISIONS FOR HIS BODY TO BECOME


BECOMING A BETTER EXAMPLE OF A JESUS-FOLLOWING CHURCH AT TIMES CAN LOOK CHAOTIC & MESSYUNPLANNED COLLISIONS & THINGS WILL GET DAMAGEDMUST ALWAYS KEEP IN MIND WHAT JESUS ENVISIONS FOR HIS BODY TO BECOMEDOESN’T HAVE TO BE PERFECT, BUT THE CLOSER WE GET TO THE END, THE MORE WE SHOULD LOOK LIKE WHAT JESUS WANTS




GOD IS FORMING EVERGREEN BAPTIST CHURCH OF LOS ANGELES INTO A FAITH VILLAGE: A UNIQUE SOCIAL COMMUNITY WHOSE LIFE TOGETHER IS BOTH A PICTURE AND PREVIEW OF WHAT GOD IS DOING IN AND FOR ALL CREATION.

onpurposewhy evergreen matters


Spiritual

Why There Must Be a Place Like EBCLA Today and Tomorrow