On Sunday, February 27, Pastor John MacArthur preached at Evergreen Church. Hear more from Pastor Rocky as he reflects on that Sunday.

How did you think Pastor John’s sharing at our church went?

The entire Lord’s Day when Pastor John visited our church was amazing! Our Lord continues to show His hesed love for Evergreen Church by bringing gifts like Pastor John to encourage us. Out of his incredibly busy schedule, he preached the Word and took the time to share his personal thoughts with us. People have shared with me that the interview portion of the day felt like our entire church family was able to pull up a chair beside the pastor and hear him share his insights as an older brother. It was fun to hear about his family and the insights that he learned through football. On a personal level, Sharla and the children were super encouraged to have Pastor John take the time to visit our church since I have shared on many occasions with them on how the Lord has been caring for our church through people like him.

Was there any significance to what Pastor John preached (Psalm 19) in relation to where the Lord is leading our church?

It was quite significant for Psalm 19 to be preached as it is one of the signature portions of Scripture that proclaims how God speaks to His people. Pastor John delivered a clear exposition of Psalm 19. Psalm 19:1-6 says that God communicates to all people on a general level through His Creation. Psalm 19:7-14 says that God gives specific revelation to His people. Specific revelation is where God give His own testimony to who He is and how one comes to a saving relationship with Him. In other words, creation may declare in a general sense that a divine creator exists, but the Bible is God’s only reliable testimony to who He is. The Bible is the only inerrant, authoritative and sufficient Word from God. Psalm 19 tells us that we are on the correct path as we emphasize God’s Word in everything that we do.

Why do you believe this was an emblematic moment for our church?

As I think about Pastor John, his commitment to the faithful ministry of God’s Word comes to mind. Therefore, his visit was significant for us as his visit was emblematic of what our Lord is doing at Evergreen Church. The ministry of the Word of God is foundational to the discipleship of our church. Since discipleship is the central theme of the church, this was a foundational teaching on what the church is to focus on. God’s Word is a “Discipleship Essential.”  “They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42) To put it in another way, one cannot grow as a disciple without God’s Word. Therefore, anyone who is with Evergreen Church on the Lord’s Day comes away with a strong emphasis on God’s Word. The Bible is being taught during the Sunday School Hour from 9-10am. The Lord’s Day Service is loaded with God’s Word as we read the Word during our public reading of Scripture. We sing the Word as the praise music is loaded with doctrine. We pray the Word as leaders pray according to God’s Word and we preach the Word as we are committed to expository preaching. Expository preaching is the commitment to preach the God intended meaning of the biblical text for the building up of the Body of Christ. Therefore, the preaching of Psalm 19 was incredibly significant to our church.

What benefit do you see in allowing guest preachers, such as Pastor John MacArthur, to preach at our church?

We are just getting started as we are coming out of two years of COVID-19, and we will begin to see what it feels like to be a member of Evergreen Church.

Pastor John has been faithfully pastoring Grace Community Church for over 50 years, and it is amazing to see their commitment to build up one another through the ministry of the Word and prayer. The benefits from hearing from people like Pastor John are numerous.

First, he is able help paint the picture of what the future could look like some day. As he shared with us, he is looking backwards upon his life as he is in his 80’s and he can recognize the providential moments in his life that has led up to where he is at today. It takes time and patience to see how the invisible hand of the Lord is moving. We are just getting started and it helps to hear from role models who are further down the road. “The Work of the Word” was preached at Pastor John’s 50th anniversary and it provides a picture of what faithful Bible exposition over the course of a lifetime yields.

Second, he was able to encourage us by letting us know how difficult it was for him in his initial years at Grace Community Church in 1969. This is a reminder that Gospel ministry is always filled with challenges. There are always unique challenges when there is a transition in leadership, but the challenges were multiplied due to the COVID-19 season. Therefore, we should expect challenges in the life of the church and understand that it is a part of the process.

Third, he is a living picture of finishing strong. Finishing well is the genuine desire of all followers of Jesus Christ. Paul said that he had fought the good fight and finished the course that was set before him, and a crown of righteousness was waiting for him in Heaven (2 Timothy 4:6-8). A picture is worth a thousand words, and we all need to formulate the vision of a Christian Champion.

Fourth, it is good to see the greater Body of Christ to see more of Christ. This is how the one anothers functions in the greater Body of Christ. Our aim is Christlikeness, and it is helpful to see. It is a great reminder that we are not alone and there are many faithful likeminded brothers and sisters outside of our local church.

Are there any guest preachers lined up the church can possibly look forward to hearing in the future?

The Lord has provided other people from outside of our local church who have come alongside us, and some have agreed to preach on the Lord’s Day. However, I will keep it a surprise for now.

By Pastor Rocky

As Evergreen Church prepares to hear from special guest Pastor John MacArthur this Sunday, 2/27, we thought it would be great for Pastor Rocky to share more about his relationship with Pastor John MacArthur and how much of an encouragement Pastor John MacArthur has been to him personally and to our church.

2014 - Personal Visit

Please share how you first got to know Pastor John MacArthur?

Providentially, our Lord was providing a mentor and friend for me as He would know that I would be called into pastoral ministry. In the 2000’s, I had known about Pastor John MacArthur because someone had gifted me a MacArthur Study Bible and I was listening to “Grace to You” on the radio. Back in 2009, when I served as a coach at the University of Southern California (USC), a portion of my recruiting area was in the San Fernando Valley. Therefore, I decided to stop by Grace Community Church to drop off a copy of our “Marriage Pyramid” that Sharla and I had developed. Weeks later, Pastor John wrote me telling me how he liked it because it was biblical. Providence would move our family to coach for the Seattle Seahawks in 2010 and in 2012 the Ligonier’s Westcoast Conference happened to be held in Seattle and John MacArthur was one of the speakers. Since he is a football guy, I decided to extend an invitation to visit our Seattle Seahawks training facility. Troy and I were able to give him and Steve Lawson a tour of our training facility. From that point on, he has graciously allowed me to contact him for advice or for a visit. In fact, in 2016, as we were wrestling over the decision to enter full time pastoral ministry, I had consulted him about how to discern the call of the preacher.

2017 - Q&A at The Master’s University

How were you able to maintain a relationship with Pastor John MacArthur over the years?

Providence would keep connecting both of us. In 2017, another Ligonier’s conference was hosted at Evergreen Baptist Church and we were able to meet up in the office in between his sessions. During our visit, he had asked me if I had any formal ministry training. I told him that I had begun an online master’s degree in theology while I was coaching. He would extend an invitation for me to sit in the Doctor of Ministry in Expository Preaching program at the Master’s Seminary. Therefore, I audited the program since the summer of 2017 and officially enrolled in the summer of 2021. Being able to be on the campus of the seminary on a regular basis has helped deepen my relationship with Pastor John as well as other leaders of Grace Community Church.

How has Pastor John MacArthur been an encouragement personally to you? To the church?

I can trace back the hand of the Lord moving providentially in my life through the people He has surrounded me with. Even at an early age, I always looked for role models in my life. During my formative years, the Lord provided great role models for me through my own father and mother, the greatest influences in my life. Sharla’s parents have always been a positive model for me as they are an example of generosity. As I began my football journey, the Lord provided the greatest coaching influences. I could not have asked for a better football mentor in Coach Pete Carroll and the other assistants as they have left a massive imprint upon me that would shape the way I approach challenges. Relationships with outside coaching influences such as Coach John Wooden served as a unique source of encouragement to me during my USC days.

It is true that the Lord equips the called. Since calling me to serve Him in a pastoral role, I have been provided a great role model in pastoral ministry through Pastor John. He is always available for a question, but the greatest encouragement that Pastor John has been to me on a personal level is the mutual friendship that we share. As a man who has gone the way before me, he understands my joys and pains. Looking at his life provides me with perspective.

The church can be encouraged by knowing how the Lord is caring for His church by equipping me with so much support from the Body.

2020 - Shepherd’s Conference with Evergreen Pastoral Staff

 What do you respect most about Pastor John MacArthur as a person?

When I think of Pastor John, his enduring commitment to be an expositor of God’s Word comes to mind. This is what our Lord calls His under shepherds to be about. However, the thing that I respect the most about Pastor John is that he is a genuine man of God. As a person he genuinely reflects what he teaches. I love him as preacher, but I love him more as a person. As I get to spend time with him in informal settings, I can see the work of the Word in his life. He reminds those around him what the Apostle Paul said to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:5, “the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart.” He genuinely loves Christ, and people. As I have gotten to know him and see him interact with his family and other church members, I can see the love of Christ in him. The word “encouraging” come to mind as I see him interacting with people. He is one of the most gracious and generous people that I have had an opportunity to know.

Please share how it came about that Pastor John MacArthur is going to preach at our church on Sunday, 2/27.

Pastor John had wanted to preach at our church for a few years, but the COVID-19 season hit and things got very busy for him. Last Monday, I woke up thinking that I should check in with him to see if he would be able to fill the pulpit this year. He responded and asked if February 27th would work. He apologized for the short notice but would explain to me that this may be the only time in the foreseeable future, as the elders of Grace Community Church had given him that week off from preaching so he could prepare for the Shepherd’s Conference (takes place in early March for the equipping of pastors).  Instead of resting, he has made a special effort to serve our local church.

What are your hopes for Pastor John MacArthur’s time with Evergreen on Sunday, 2/27?

The Lord loves His church at Evergreen! He has shown His great love and care by providing people to encourage and equip us. My biggest hope for Pastor John’s visit is that our Lord will be glorified by our people being able to see His providential care for us by providing a unique gift to the church like Pastor John MacArthur. I am eager to hear God’s Word preached by him from our pulpit that Tommy Yamada built for our church, and I am excited for our people to see how our Lord has been working behind the scenes to care for us. For the investments he has intentionally made in us, I am hoping that Pastor John leaves feeling the affection and appreciation that Evergreen Church has for him. This will be a significant moment in the life of our church family.

(And We’re Giving It Away!)

By Pastor Victor Chen

Do you ever wonder what church post-COVID-19 should look like?  

What aspects of church would look the same as before? What aspects of church should look different?

The book, “Rediscover Church” by Collin Hansen and Jonathan Leeman, addresses those very issues. Every church has faced challenges in “reopening” and I believe that “reopening” is proving to be more difficult than “shutting down”.  

Perhaps this time now allows churches around the world to rediscover what it truly means to be the “Church”. This book aims to help us discover that.  

This book gets back to the basic core understanding of what a church is and its essential characteristics and practices. The illustrations are timely, speaking specifically about coming out of “stay at home” orders due to COVID-19.

If there is any chapter I would recommend reading, it would be chapter 3, “Do We Really Need to Gather?”. This is a timely chapter addressing many of the questions our church has faced and is facing since reopening.

I’ll close with a challenging quote from this chapter to encourage you to read more in this book:

“Sometimes people like to say that “a church is a people, not a place.” It’s slightly more accurate to say that a church is a people assembled in a place. Regularly assembling or gathering makes a church a church. This doesn’t mean a church stops being a church when the people aren’t gathered, any more than a soccer “team” stops being a team when the members are not playing. The point is, regularly gathering together is necessary for a church to be a church, just like a team has to gather to play in order to be a team.” (pg. 48, Rediscover Church)

Due the generosity of Crossway publishers, our church has received a limited number of the books, “Rediscover Church”, to give away for free. Please contact me at vchen@evergreensgv.org to receive your free copy.

by Pastor Victor Chen

There is an interesting passage in the Bible that I never quite understood. It was only recently when searching for a passage that about “reopening” church that I finally discovered its significance:

And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. But many of the priests and Levites and heads of fathers’ houses, old men who had seen the first house, wept with a loud voice when they saw the foundation of this house being laid, though many shouted aloud for joy, so that the people could not distinguish the sound of the joyful shout from the sound of the people’s weeping, for the people shouted with a great shout, and the sound was heard far away. (Ezra 3:11–13 ESV)

The people of Israel were allowed to return from exile to rebuild the temple of the Lord. This passage describes the dedication of the foundation of the temple being rebuilt and there was great excitement and joy as a result.

But there was also great sorrow and weeping. Why? The “old men” who had seen the original temple in all its glory wept that things had come to this point. Rejoicing over a foundation? They longed for “how things were”.

And so here in this dedication is a great mixture of emotion, literally shouting and weeping, joy and sorrow, hope and mourning.

As our church reopened many of our ministries, I saw this same mix of emotions.

For those who had grown weary of staying at home and being apart, we were just happy to be together, learning together, fellowshipping with one another and worshipping the Lord together. “Look at what the Lord is doing!”

For those who had been part of the church when it was bustling and full of life pre-COVID, it was sad to see that things had changed so dramatically. ”Can’t we go back to how things were?”

So who’s right? What do we do with these two contrasting attitudes and perspectives?

I don’t think we can completely dismiss the experiences of those who enjoyed our church in previous times. We are always encouraged to look back and remember God’s goodness towards us.

However, I don’t think we can stay in the past and be overly critical of how things are now. Things may never be the same again and dwelling on “how things were” will not help us in moving on.

I found the words of the Lord in Haggai particularly insightful in how to proceed as a church. These words come shortly after the aforementioned passage in Ezra in the biblical timeline of rebuilding the temple. Note, the physical temple never reached its former glory. In fact, it was later destroyed and remains absent today.

The Lord here is pointing to something (or someone!) greater, and that is where I believe the Lord wants us to focus on.

 ‘Who is left among you who saw this house in its former glory? How do you see it now? Is it not as nothing in your eyes? Yet now be strong, O Zerubbabel, declares the LORD. Be strong, O Joshua, son of Jehozadak, the high priest. Be strong, all you people of the land, declares the LORD. Work, for I am with you, declares the LORD of hosts, according to the covenant that I made with you when you came out of Egypt.

My Spirit remains in your midst. Fear not. For thus says the LORD of hosts: Yet once more, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land. And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the LORD of hosts.

The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the LORD of hosts.’” (Haggai 2:3–9 ESV)

Adam recently came to be part of our church and is recently married to our missionary in Japan, Sabrina. Hear from Adam, a missionary himself to Japan, as he shares more about himself.

Please share a little bit of your background and how you came to Evergreen.

I was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. I come from a family of Italian Canadian nominal Catholics. I decided to follow Jesus during my third year at university, becoming involved in student ministry and by extension, missions. I’ve traveled to India and Japan for short-term missionary work, and spent one year in Osaka, Japan (August 2019 – August 2020) for medium-term missionary work. Amid my preparations for my Osaka term, I met Sabrina through an online dating website. As we met in-person and dated in Japan, we decided to meet each other’s families. This brought me to California in September 2020, where I had the privilege to meet Sabrina’s biological family and her spiritual family here at Evergreen.

How has your time at our church been so far? What are you initial impressions of our church?

COVID-19 has definitely made things interesting in my initial engagement at Evergreen. I first started attending Sunday services online. I’ve appreciated the love of Jesus being made explicit during the services, and seeing that incarnated with the people of Evergreen as I’ve been attending in-person.

My initial impression was that Evergreen is big! My home church in Canada is a small percentage of the size of both the congregation and the campus. The size and scope have definitely been a change for me, especially after returning from Japan, where a group of six people every Sunday was a successful turnout.

The few families that Sabrina has invited me into fellowship with have been loving, patient, funny, and encouraging. These families have been intentional in cultivating community with us, not as a duty, but as a natural outflowing of their character and care for us. We’re excited to dive deeper in relationship with them.

What are you most looking forward to in your time at Evergreen?

More than anything, intentional community and the organic discipleship that comes out of that are something that excites me about my time at Evergreen. I’m excited to learn more about the vision of discipleship here, and encouraged to see that vision play itself out within these families of community Sabina and I are engaged in.

How can we pray for you and Sabrina? 

1. Our marriage. We are seeking to cultivate a space where we are living out our identities as family, as missionaries and as disciples. Pray that we prioritize loving God, loving each other and loving others in this.

2. Immigration and citizenship processes that we’re currently involved in. We are seeking to become dual citizens (Canada-USA), and the processes are long. Pray for favour.