1. A Packed Schedule

I pray more when I have margins in my schedule. This is a no brainer but for some reason I keep going in circles when it comes to this hinderance to prayer. I think the reason is because I enjoy being needed and getting things done. If there’s something good that needs to get done and I can do it, I think to myself, “Why not do it?” If I can help my kids out, ease my wife’s hectic schedule, save some money and fix something on my own or spend some time with a discouraged friend, then why not do it? But prayer is born out of facing all the things we can’t do in life. We turn and cry out to the Lord because we can’t do something or we don’t know how to do something. But a busy life is usually busy because we are invested in what we can do. So when I’m consumed with what I can do, then I have less time to sit and think about the many things that are beyond my control but not beyond Christ’s love in me. But when I have time to sit and face the things beyond my control but not beyond the Spirit’s love in me, that’s when I start to pray.

2. An Unstressed Life

I pray when I’m in need. I cry out to the Father when a dear friend is diagnosed with cancer or with some illness that I’ve never heard of before. I plead with Jesus when a dad or mom has been laid off of work and they have children to care for, rent to pay and now a new job to find. I come before the Spirit when I’m stuck in conflict and yet I’m longing to respond with the humility and love of Jesus. I intercede before the Lord for friends when they are holding on to the truth that they are new creations in Christ, while at the same time fighting their old nature that’s betraying their sainthood. I pray when I or others are in need. But when life is not stressful, when family relationships are at peace, when friends are doing well, when my business plan is rolling out “as planned”, when I’m not sick, when the people I interact with are pleasant and respectful… that’s when I pray less.

3. A Conflicted Heart

Prayer is personal and intimate conversation with the Lord. It’s open and unhindered communication with one who knows us better than we know ourselves. So, if I am doing something or desire to do something I know is contrary to the Lord’s character, or if I am dwelling on things I know are not pleasing to Him… well, I’m not going to want to talk with Him. We experience this relational dynamic almost every day in our family, friends and work relationships. If you’ve failed to meet a deadline at work, you’re not going to want to go out to lunch with your supervisor. If you’ve cheated on a test or turned in copied homework, then you’re not going to stick around after class and chat with your professor. If you’ve chosen not to listen to your parent or ignored your spouse’s request, then you’re not going to initiate conversation with them. The same is true with the Lord. Your prayer life won’t move forward until you’ve faced the conflict you know is between you and the Lord.

Our Lord Jesus Christ proclaims in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell  shall not prevail against it.”

It is extremely exciting and encouraging to see how our Lord is building His church at Evergreen! He gives us specific commands for our church in Matthew 28:19, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” This is why discipleship is the central theme of our church. We define discipleship as, “Intentional relationships that build Christ-likeness”.

The early church provided us with essentials for discipleship in Acts 2:42, “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.” Just like a building requires concrete, steel, wood, and glass, there are critical essentials that are required for discipleship. The four essentials are 1) God’s Word 2) Fellowship 3) Commitment 4) Prayer

Many of us can agree, that we are encouraged when God’s Word is faithfully preached at our church.  Also, we appreciate the opportunity to partake in communion to express our commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, we believe that prayer is a necessity in our relationship with God. But, what about fellowship? If fellowship is a high priority to you, praise God!

However, if it is not, I want you to examine your heart and honestly answer the following questions:

·       On the Lord’s Day, are you planning to just attend service and leave right after?

·       Have you been consistently attending our monthly Fellowship Sundays?

·       Are you intentional throughout the week by fellowshipping with other Christians?

·       Do you have 2 or 3 close Christian friends at Evergreen Church?

Of the four critical essentials, I am afraid fellowship may not be a priority for some of us. So, lets dive deeper into the topic of fellowship by asking three questions.

1.     What is fellowship?

Koinonia is a Greek word that appears 20 times in the Bible. Koinonia’s primary meaning is “fellowship, sharing in common, communion.” In our society today, you can find all kinds of fellowship. It is sad to say, but you can argue that the world has a better understanding of fellowship than the church does. You can have fellowship around your career, ethnicity, life stage, sports, or even being fans of the music band BTS. So, what is it that unites believers? The answer is Jesus!

Here at Evergreen Church, we define Christian fellowship as “Intentional Christ centered relationships”. Not just hanging out with friends and co-workers, but intentional Christ centered relationships. This idea of fellowship is a reflection to the unity of the Trinity.  In John 17:22-23, Jesus is speaking to the Father.

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.”

Our fellowship with others begins with our fellowship with God. This unity in Christ is what brings people together. Regardless if you are a Bruin or Trojan, regardless of age, background, race or social status. 

2.     Why is Fellowship important?

1 Thessalonians 5:11 tells us, “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.” It involves a shared life, a common purpose, a unified goal. The Bible often talks about how believers are to relate to each other. In fact, the phrase “one another” is found approximately 100 times in the New Testament and it is impossible to have a “one another” relationship without fellowship. Fellowship is required for discipleship to happen!

We are given many commands concerning how we are to treat the body of Christ. As 1 Corinthians 12:27 says, “Now you are Christ’s body and individually members of it”. The fellowship within the church is critical for us to build Christ-likeness.

Fellowship allows the following to happen: building one another up (Romans 14:19 and Hebrews 10:24-25), confessing sin and praying for one another (James 5:16), serving one another (Galatians 5:13), being devoted to one another (Acts 2:42-43 and Romans 12:10), encouraging and admonishing one another (Colossians 3:12-17).

Ultimately, fellowship glorifies God and allows the world to see the super natural love that we have for one another!  Christ tell us in John 13:34-35, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

3.     How can you get connected into fellowship?

I strongly encourage you to visit the Welcome Desk in the lobby or fill out a connection card on our webpage.  Also, every 2nd Sunday of every month, we have a Connect Luncheon where you will have the opportunity to meet our pastors and church members. If you are interested, please contact me, Mako, directly HERE.

Listed below is variety of ways to get connected with fellowship at Evergreen Church:

·       Life Groups (over 20 small groups throughout the SGV)

·       Youth Group

·       College Group

·       Young Adults

·       55+ Ministry (fellowship for people 55 and older)

·       Mom’s Ministry

·       Children’s Ministry

·       Women’s Ministry

·       Adult Christian Education (Sunday school from 9-10am)

·       Prayer Ministry

·       Support Ministry

·       Sports Ministry

·       Fellowship Sunday (1st Sunday of every month)

All-Church Equipping Conference, October 14-15, 2022

Who is God? And how important is it, for us as Christians, that we have a right perception of God?

Christian pastor and writer A.W. Tozer answered that question in this way:

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like.

We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God.

A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy (New York: HarperCollins, 1978), 1.

 How we think about God affects our worship of Him. What we believe about Him influences our praying, our parenting, our counseling, our evangelism, our working, our resting, our planning for the future. Every area of our lives is impacted by our perception and thoughts of God.

Because this is of such vital importance, not only for us as individual Christians but for us as a church family, we are planning an equipping conference for our whole church this fall, and the focus is on the doctrine of God. We are blessed to have pastor and professor Dr. Erik Thoennes come to teach us about this foundational doctrine, and our hope is that as we behold our God in deeper ways, our hearts and lives will reflect His glory more and more (2 Corinthians 3:18).

When our own Pastor Jeremy worked as an adjunct theology professor at Biola, he was privileged to serve under Dr. Thoennes, so he is super excited that all of us are blessed with this opportunity to learn from him as well. This is Pastor Jeremy’s introduction of him to us:

Dr. Erik Thoennes is a professor and chair of theology at Talbot School of Theology, Biola. He also serves as a pastor at Grace Evangelical Free Church, La Mirada. Dr. Thoennes is Biola's most sought after professor of theology as he is known for teaching theology in a way that connects biblical doctrine to practical life, discipleship, and missions. He has taught theology and evangelism at the college and seminary levels and has received the Biola University award for faculty excellence and professor of the year. In addition to teaching in the local church, and at Biola University, he is also an author and frequent speaker at various conferences and retreats such as Mount Hermon's Family Camp.

It's a joy to have Dr. Thoennes teaching us on the doctrine of God. I know you will be blessed at this conference as he helps us Behold our God.

COVID restrictions have interrupted our usual rotation of church retreats and we have not been able to have our all-church summer conference since 2018. Therefore, this equipping conference is designed to be an all-church event to gather us together around the Word of God in a manner more conducive to our varying degrees of health risk (i.e. less than 24 hours with no overnight accommodations). It will begin on Friday evening, October 14, and continue Saturday morning through afternoon on October 15, all on the Evergreen Church campus. So mark your calendar and plan to attend with the whole family! More details and registration coming soon.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news;
lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news;

lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, “Behold your God!” 

Isaiah 40:9

For many, summer means a slightly slower schedule, maybe because of less school, less homework, less sports programs and practices, and maybe less time in the car.

However, if you have teenagers, perhaps summer means spending more time in the car driving kids to and from social activities, or taking the family on vacation requiring long car rides.

How will you fill the time? A more important question is, how will you as a Christian “[make] the best use of the time” for the sake of Christ’s name (Eph 5:16)?

Suggestion: Read (or Listen) to Christian Biographies!

Christian biographies are incredibly helpful in the life of God’s people. As weird as it sound to some, in reading Christian biography, it’s like we are introduced to a long-lost uncle or auntie in the faith who can help us walk after Jesus, insofar as they do the same (1 Cor 11:1).

In diving into their lives, we gain role models as we see how Christians in current and previous generations entrusted themselves to God while living for Christ and his cause. We learn how they held fast to the faith against heretics and persecutors, and went on to love them with the truth of God’s grace and forgiveness in Christ. We find examples of those who entrusted themselves to their sovereign God in prayer, and those who have suffered deeply in this fallen and sinful world but who came to trust in Jesus who rights all wrongs and makes all things new. And in meeting all these people, we are reminded that God is our God of steadfast love and mercy in Christ.

I can testify that reading Christian biographies has spurred me on to greater trust and faithfulness to Jesus. This is what reading these types of books mean to me. It’s not first and foremost not an academic venture.[1] To me it is primarily an effort of the soul—a desire to be led to higher ground (especially when I’m in the metaphorical spiritual mud), by a brother or sister in the faith, so that I might see the glories of God in Christ, through the life of one who has gone before. Reading Christian biography for me is a spiritual and practical venture. God has blessed us with ancestors in the faith that we might stand on the shoulders of these giants, and be helped to see our eternal treasure in Christ with greater clarity, while navigating this world with greater Christlikeness.[2]

Do you desire to redeem the time? Do you desire to be encouraged in the faith? Consider reading or listening to Christian biography this summer.

Some Recommendations

Here’s a decent place to start if you are looking for recommendations. 

For older children and young teens, check out the 10 Girls / 10 Boys who Made a Difference books by Irene Howat. Readers will be treated to brief introductions (15 pages or so) to major Christian figures in church history. Amazon indicates these books are for 7-12 year olds.

If you are a teen and are up for reading 160 pages or so on a particular individual, see also the Trailblazers set, in which Howat is also an author. There are so many encouraging Christians to read about in this series so it’d be great to take advantage of it.

For more experienced readers, check out this biography (200 pages) on John G. Paton, missionary to the New Hebrides Islands in the South Pacific. I just finished it and WOW!, what a story this was!  Be spurred on as you read how Paton and his family went to dwell amongst, and evangelize cannibals! Despite the cannibals’ self-professed worship evil, and their attempts to kill him and his family more than once (thank God they failed), they persisted for Christ their sufferings, and came to see many come to know salvation in Jesus.

Pick up Sharon James’s book entitled In Trouble and In Joy: Four Women who Lived for God, where you’ll read about the lives of four prominent Christian women from the 17th and 18th centuries. James also has a full-length treatment of Ann Judson: A Missionary Life for Burma. To encourage you in your reading, know that one of my seminary history professor’s most cherished books in his library was a 1st edition of Ann Judson’s memoirs.

Of course, don’t forget John Piper’s biographical essays in 21 Servants of Sovereign Joy. Each of the 21 chapters is around 35-40 pages (one chapter covers one individual). And for all you who love listening to books and messages, all of this content can be found in audio form as Piper’s book is an edited version of a series of talks he gave to his church. How exciting!

What are You Waiting For?

Grab some people from church, read and discuss together, and be encouraged! Then pray that God would help us by his Spirit, live for the fame of his name.

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[1] Academic study of Christian figures in the past is certainly a worthy venture as Christian biographies is a result of the academic study of a particular individual.

[2] I love the language of standing “on the shoulders of giants.” This specific phrase and concept in general comes from John of Salisbury (12th century) who actually paraphrases another saying, “We are like dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of giants….we are able to see more, and further than they, not indeed by the sharpness of our own vision or the height of our bodies, but because we are lifted up on high and raised aloft by the greatness of giants.”

By Pastor Rocky

As Evergreen Church prepares to hear from special guest Pastor Mark Dever this Sunday, June 19, we thought it would be great for Pastor Rocky to share more about his relationship with Pastor Mark Dever and how much of an encouragement Pastor Mark Dever has been to him personally and to our church.

Who is Pastor Mark Dever?

Pastor Mark Dever is a uniquely gifted man who has a particular passion for the local church. He and his wife Connie moved to Washington DC where he has served as the Senior Pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church since 1994. CHBC has been around since 1878! The Lord has used Pastor Mark in a unique way to impact the local church globally. He is also the president and founder of 9Marks Ministries which exists to serve and equip local churches with valuable resources that are all designed to build healthy local churches (www.9marks.org). The ministry produces books, blogs, podcasts, journals, conferences, interviews, etc. The 9Marks is designed to provide resources to help produce healthy local churches. He has authored several books on the church. “Nine Marks of a Healthy Church” is a hallmark book that has heavily impacted me and many other pastors. In it, Pastor Mark offers up 9 distinctives that a healthy church is marked by. The book has given me a clearer picture of how the Lord has designed the church to be.

Please share how you first got to know Pastor Mark Dever?

Providence is the short answer. It goes back to 2003 when Pastor Jeremy Yong moved to Washington DC to live with his future brother-in-law. Capitol Hill Baptist Church became his new church home and he got to know their Senior Pastor. Jeremy would join the first class of interns under Pastor Mark and would be asked to remain on the staff as a Pastoral Assistant. Jeremy would be trained to help oversee discipleship, membership, life groups and adult education at CHBC. We at Evergreen Baptist Church are benefiting from the investments that Capitol Hill Baptist Church made into Jeremy Yong almost 20 years ago. As Jeremy and I became friends, he introduced me to Pastor Mark, which opened the opportunity to develop a friendship.

How has Pastor Mark Dever been an encouragement personally to you? To the church?

Pastor Mark has encouraged me through our friendship. He is extremely passionate about discipling and has been an incredible model of a discipling man. He is intentional in everything that he does to connect people with one another. He has been intentional about contacting me whenever he came to Southern California, and he allows me to tag along with him. We have been able to FaceTime or text to check in with each other for various things.

He invited me to bring some pastors to join him at the “Weekender” at Capitol Hill Baptist Church. The “Weekender” is an intimate gathering of pastors where we can have a behind the scenes look at the life of Capitol Hill Baptist Church. Therefore, four pastors from our team who were able to attend the “Weekender.”  We were given a living picture to see how the culture of discipleship is lived out in the local church. We observed their Elder meetings and saw how they prayed and cared for the flock. A sizable portion of the meeting is dedicated to discussing and praying specifically for specific church members. The affection that the Elders and congregation have for one another was evident during their membership meeting as they discussed how to care for various church members.

Breakfast with Mark Dever; Elder’s Meeting

What are your hopes for Pastor Mark Dever’s time with Evergreen on Sunday, June 19?

Pastor Mark has agreed to preach at our church, and we are extremely excited about it. I am hoping that our church family will be able to be encouraged by seeing firsthand how the Lord has been caring for Evergreen Church. The Lord shows how much He love us by gifting us with brothers like Pastor Mark into our lives. We will be blessed by strong preaching. I am super grateful to the Lord that our church family can personally see firsthand those who have taken a special interest in our local church. It’s all from the Lord!