by Victor Chen

One year ago, I remember thinking the “stay at home” order would be lifted by Easter. Surely, we wouldn’t have to celebrate Easter at home!

Looking back one year later, I realize how often hope in this world is fleeting.

We hoped for the “stay at home” order to last two weeks. It’s been a year.

We hoped that cases would drop. There was a year-end surge.

We hoped that schools would return. It has indeed, yet it does not look like it did before.

We hoped that vaccines would be the answer. It has certainly helped, but it has not been the ultimate solution to our fears. 

Reflecting on all of these failed hopes, I realize there is only one hope that will never fail.

Christ is risen. 

We don’t have to hope our sins will be accounted for. It is finished.

We don’t have to hope whether our salvation is secure. He sits at the right hand of the Father.

We don’t have to hope for life after death. We have it now in Jesus.

So this Easter, let’s stop hoping for things that will disappoint and start hoping in the One who is alive and has overcome.

Let’s not hope in things that will die or fade away.

Let’s hope in Him who is alive and risen. 

He is risen indeed.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (ESV) 1 Peter 1:3–5

Come celebrate with us on Easter at our outdoor service Sunday, 4/4 at 10:30am!

by Victor Chen

This is the fourth part to the previous blog post, “What Are My Children Supposed to Do During Sunday Service?”

Thanks to help of our communications, admin and children’s ministry staff, we have designed various helping aids for your child to listen and stay engaged with Sunday service. These materials are designed specifically for Pre-K through 6th grade. I wanted to take the time to go through and explain each.

Pre-K/Kinder

The final two pages of each week’s children’s bulletin are designed with this particular age group in mind. Your children are able to engage with the message with a drawing or coloring activity. The final page will highlight the sermon series logo.

I would encourage parents to direct their child’s attention to the “keyword” and the hand motion attributed to it. There is also a maze in the children’s bulletin your child can do that leads you to the “keyword”.

1st/2nd Grade

The entire children’s bulletin is designed with this age group in mind. Children are able to track with the order of service, note the preacher and the passage being preached. In addition to the “keyword” maze mentioned previously, there is the preaching passage (in the translation being preached) so the children can follow along and an activity to search for specific words that appear multiple times. Your child should be able to work through the entire children’s bulletin for the duration of the message.

3rd/4th Grade

This age group should be able to listen and track along with the sermon. We have designed generic sermon notes to help your child track with the flow of the sermon and write down the key points. Consider this like a training aid to help your child listen and takes notes during a sermon.

5th/6th Grade

This age group should be able to listen and take notes without the aid of the generic sermon notes. However, your child may still find it helpful to use the generic sermon notes. I would encourage you to provide a journal or notebook for your child to take notes during Sunday service. 

What about my child younger than Pre-K?

I would encourage parents to have their child pay particular attention to the keyword and the hand motion associated with it. Ask your child to track how many times the keyword is mentioned. You can open up a children’s bible and see if there are any pictures associated with the passage being preached. Your child may enjoy doing particular portions of the children’s bulletin as well.

 What about my child older than 6th grade?

The goal from 3rd grade on is to have your child listen and take notes during the sermon. Feel free to make use of the generic sermon notes and try to provide a journal or notebook for your child to take notes in.

The Final Helping Aid

The final helping aid I want to share is you. Do not underestimate the influence you have on your child. If your child sees you actively engaged and listening to the sermon, that will be a tremendous example for your child. Take notes during the message and compare notes with your child afterward. Make Sunday night Family Worship a time to review the sermon and the sermon notes. 

Even with all of these materials we’ve provided, the greatest thing that can help your child listen during a Sunday service is you.

In late 2020, our church was able to bring on Mako Seto as the Senior Associate Pastor of Administration. Hear from our new pastor as he shares more about himself and how the Lord brought him and his family to Evergreen SGV.

Please share some of your background and also how you came across Evergreen SGV years ago.

I am blessed to be married to my wife Amy and we have one son, Jordan who just turned 12 years old! After witnessing the birth of my son, I could not deny God anymore. The birth process was so incredible that I knew there had to be a God! During Amy’s pregnancy, my brother Rocky constantly shared the gospel with me and invited me to Evergreen SGV. (Yes, Pastor Rocky and I are biological and spiritual brothers!) Amy, Jordan, and I were attending Evergreen SGV for about 6 months and then we started to attend Mission Valley Free Methodist Church.

Please share how you became a pastor at Evergreen SGV

Before being called into full-time ministry, I was in hotel management for 10 years working with the Ritz-Carlton, Marriott, Kintestu and Omni hotels.  I worked for hotels in Maui, Palm Desert and Los Angeles.  In 2014, the Lord opened up the opportunity for me to serve at Mission Valley Free Methodist Church as the Executive Administrator.  God continued to give me different opportunities to serve Him and later on I became the Executive Pastor.  After 6 years of serving at Mission Valley, the Lord brought me here to serve as the Senior Associate Pastor of Administration.

What are your responsibilities as the Administrative pastor?

I am responsible for the administrative operations of Evergreen SGV and to shepherd our congregation to love Christ!

How has your time on staff been so far?

It has been awesome serving Christ at Evergreen SGV! I have the great honor of working with faithful staff members and lay leaders.  They have been very welcoming and loving to me. I already feel that Evergreen SGV is my home and I feel so blessed to be a part of this incredible church! 

What are you most excited for at Evergreen SGV?

I am fired up with the direction of our church with our desire to be faithful to Christ!  I love the vision of our church with Christ being our foundation and discipleship being the central theme of our church!  In the past 3 months, I can see how excited our staff is about discipleship and the spiritual growth that is happening within our church with people loving God's Word, with us trusting and loving God more and how we are becoming more like Christ!

Is there anything you would like to share with the church family? 

Evergreen SGV family, thank you for your incredible love and support!  Even before joining our church, you were praying and blessing Jordan as he continues to fight cancer.  Your love, support and prayers are making a huge difference to us! My family and I are so blessed to call Evergreen SGV our church, our home and our family!  

By Matthew Christian

What do you do when the world goes dark?
When all the lights blink out, every glimmer and spark
And you’re stranded with a turbulent heart
Hopelessly staring at a thousand question marks? 

What do you do when words can no longer articulate 
The chaos, the change, the sinking sands sucking the soul away?
What do you do when your heart is restless,
Ever roving and raging everywhere, 
Lost?

What do you do when the pasted smile on your face
Saying “Everything is perfectly fine”
Is painfully fake; a false facade hiding fear and shame
Afraid that others won’t accept your frailty and vulnerability?

What do you do when no one ever really understands
The magnitude of misery that you face day in and day out?
How despair sinks its teeth into your flesh and bone
Transforming your heart into unfeeling stone
No!

I didn’t ask for this 
I didn’t sign up for pain and trauma
I didn’t sign up to see a whole family broken
I didn’t sign up for innocence being scarred
I didn’t sign up to be abandoned and alone
I didn’t sign up for being made helpless
I didn’t sign up to grieve the loss of life
I didn’t sign up. . . for a lot of things
None of us did
Yet here we are
From the first anniversary to the ninth
From diagnosis to treatment
From virus to vaccine
From problem to solution
From normal to upside down
From thriving to barely surviving

We all grieve loss
We all carry scars
We all wrestle with pain
We are all broken in the end

But what if I told you broken was beautiful?
What if I told you shattered pieces can still become a masterpiece of art?
What if I told you the silence was not the absence of God, but His attentive listening?
What if I told you that the emptiness you feel is a grace from God?
What if I told you that your tears are watering a garden of new life?
What if I told you that hope like the stars shines brighter the darker it gets?

The truth of the gospel is the most beautiful to the broken
Each shattered fragment of a dream is for a reason
Redeemable in the hands of the Master Artist 
The silence
An invitation to our souls to lament to a listening and loving Father
Our emptiness
A reminder that this is not our home and to find our satisfaction in God alone
Each tear
Caught in God’s bottle, declare the truth that today is a gift from God filled with new mercies
And hope
Hope like starlight shines bright in our darkest night 

So what do we do when the world goes dark
And we can’t express the depths of our heart?
What do we do when we feel stuck
With the gravity of life weighing down on us? 

I don’t have all the answers
Neither do you
But the One who formed us in our mother’s womb
Is faithful to complete the good work He has begun
Equipping us with all we need for life and godliness
Forgiving our debts and transforming our hearts
And redeeming our life from the deepest pit
He knows. 
He was always by your side.
He is here now.
He will never leave.
Ever.
And He 
Loves
You.

In late 2019, our church was able to bring on Debra Ton as the Children’s Ministries Office Manager. Hear from our new staff member as she shares more about herself and her heart for the church. 

How did you come to Evergreen SGV?

Our family began attending Evergreen SGV in August 2017, though I believe the Lord planted the seed much earlier. Shortly after we moved to our home in 2014, my husband, daughter and I began praying together for His guidance and timing as we considered finding a church closer to where we live.  We had dear friends who grew up at Evergreen, and we made many friendships and connections through MOPS/STEMS. We felt strongly after our first visit that there was no need to search any further.  Evergreen was the first and only church we visited.  The Lord blessed our transition by providing a warm and welcoming community.  He has tremendously blessed us through Biblical teaching, faithful leadership, wonderful ministries and a loving branch.  We are grateful to be a part of this church family and joyfully call Evergreen SGV home.  

How did you become involved with children’s ministries? 

I was recruited to serve as staff director for SBS in 2018 and then was asked to serve in the Pre-K/Kinder Church School class that same year.  I was later approached with the position of Children’s Ministries Office Manager in 2019. These were very unexpected opportunities, but were aligned with my heart for children.  I consider each of these opportunities as a gift from the Lord!  It is a blessing to see children growing in their love and knowledge of Christ and an honor to be able to invest in the next generation.  

What are your responsibilities as Children’s Ministries Office Manager? 

My primary role as the Children’s Ministries Office Manager included welcoming, registering and checking in families, updating information in The Vine, creating the Kids Church rosters and serving schedule and maintaining the office.  

Since the pandemic, many aspects of children’s ministries have either been suspended or modified.  Likewise, my role has evolved.  I currently assist the family pastor, Pastor Victor, by helping with email communication, children’s bulletins, and supporting Church School, including registering and welcoming new families.  Although many things have changed, our desire to walk alongside families hasn’t.  I praise God for the ways He has allowed us to continue to connect and share in the lives of these precious little ones and their families. 

How has your time on staff been so far?  

My time on staff has been amazing!  I am so grateful to be able to serve Him and the Evergreen SGV Church body.  It has been a wonderful privilege to see how God faithfully and graciously provides, and works through such a dedicated, resilient, creative, obedient and faithful group, prior to and during the pandemic. I am humbled to serve alongside people who love the Lord, His church and His people so deeply!  To Him be all glory and praise!