Gardena Retirement Center Outreach

We had a truly blessed time tonight visiting the folks at the Gardena Retirement Center. The woman and men were lovely and kind and gave us beautiful smiles. All glory to God for allowing us to minister to His children.


Jared did a quick intro- followed by a few worship songs. The women and men were clapping and dancing with the joy of the Lord filling the room.


We gave out 'wordless bracelets' which helped us share the gospel in a simple way using colored beads. The people were receptive, even the workers at the facility. Summer shared a scripture and story to encourage everyone and we closed by offering to pray for each person. Prayer is powerful! It was a blessed night and we can't wait to go back! Praise God.

{Image from Typographicverses.com}

Join us tonight at the Gardena Retirement Center at 7pm. We will be sharing the love of Jesus with the folks there during their evening snack time. We will sing worship songs, encourage with scripture and give the residence "wordless bracelets" - with different beads that represent the gospel. The smile on their faces will be worth it as we exercise being a light for God!

Meet us there at 7pm tonight for a blessed time!!

http://www.gardenaretirement.com/

Can you handle the heat? Daniel 3

Last night was the third part of our study "Trust and obey, there is no other way!" This time we took a look at a story found in the book of Daniel featuring King Nebuchadnezzar and three Hebrew men: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. These three men were visitors and foreigners who were forced to move to Babylon and live under the King's reign. However, these three were devout believers and followers of Jesus and proved their faithfulness in the big and small things they faced.

In the story, the King demanded the entire Nation to bow to him. He caught word that the three men S, M and A refuse to submit under his authority. The King confronted the men and gave them a 'second chance' by instructing them once again to bow to his 90 foot statue. The men responded: (v.16) "¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. ¹⁷ If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. ¹⁸ But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”

What an awesome response! Their confidence in God was off the charts! We can learn from their example. As a result, the King raised the temperature of the furnace 7x and threw them in. In the midst of the fire, Jesus met them and the King witnessed four men walking, unharmed in the flames. (3 + Jesus) Wow! An incredible example of obedience and faithfulness rewarded with a victorious life and rescue from death and harm. 

This demonstrates to us that in the midst of the fire, or a trial in our life we can trust God in our circumstances. The true genuineness of our faith will arise (1 Peter 1:6-7) "⁶ In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, ⁷ that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ..."

Your life will be challenging, but praise God you have Christ - Pastor D.

We are reminded here that in any circumstance we face, and any trial we are faced with, God will deliver us or be with us through it. We recognize that God uses small things to teach us obedience in preparation for larger things. Our diligence in the small things will help us make the right decision when faced with something more pressing or life altering. 

Here are a few points to take away from the study. If you remain close with Jesus and allow Him to work in your life during a trial:

1. You will be free (John 8:30)

2. You will walk (Psalm 23:4)

3. You will not be harmed (Psalm 84:11)

Jesus becomes real in the midst of our problems and pain. This is why He allows us to go through trials in our lives. We often can feel His protection and love to the greatest degree when we are in danger, trouble or at the end of ourselves. Don't avoid or ignore the hard things of your life - go through them with Jesus!

The Amazing BRIDGE Race!

Here's a recap of the first annual Amazing BRIDGE Race! Friday, May 18th. (Written by our very own Jose Sanchez aka PTJ aka the dude who plays Jesus in every skit)

- We all broke into groups of four with one drive and one leader
- Each team got one bag filled with instructions, cash, and tools for the race

- We started around 8:00pm and had to meet back at Louie's Burgers in Torrance by 9:45pm
- If you were late, 1 pt would be deducted for every minute
- The winner would be decided by which team could accumulate the most points
- Evelyn's team was pulled over on Del Amo and Hamilton, but thank God no ticket was given (crazy start to the beginning)
- The instructions given to us were broken down into three parts:

1. Challenges that needed to get done before 9:00pm

• Come up with a team name
• Come up with a team song
• Drive to Redondo Beach and recite 1 Corinthians 9:24 Patmos style

2. Video challenges worth 5 pts each (minimum 2 needed to be complete)

• Ex: Have a kid sing a children's Bible song with the team and give him/her a Bible
• Ex: Sing a worship song in a public area
• Ex: Go to a park and sing a theme song from a sitcom while on the swings (see video above. Great singing Anthony Martinez and Queena and nice dancing Steph)

3. Simple challenges each worth 1 pt (minimum 7 needed to be done)

• Ex: Go to the grocery store, buy an orange and then have an employee sign it
• Ex: Give someone who is running a bottle of water
• Ex: Go to a friends or relatives house and tell them you are "thankful to God that you are in my life"

Other cool challenges were: Pump someone's gas, go to the laudry mat and help someone fold their clothes, get a baby picture of a team member, get a picture of a pet of a team member, etc.

The first team to arrive was Jose Sanchez's team followed by Jose's (PTJ) team, Anthony Martinez's team, Leo's team, Evelyn's team and then about 10:30pm Jared's team finally showed up.

Anthony Martinez's team and PTJ's team were tied with the most points. We had a sing/dance off tie breaker. PTJ's team (Team Mexico) won with a Mariachi dance. Awesome time!

Recap of 2 Timothy - Last meeting before Summer!

Hey friends! We had our very last Wed night weekly study before we take a break for the Summer! Ice cream, sunshine, sand between your toes, ....that kind of Summer! We will have plenty of Summer activities for you, along with great ministry opportunities. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let's recap the study from last night. Check out the group shots of the nice looking dudes and ladies.

Pastor D was teaching a Bible College class and Xu was with their kids, so the dudes and ladies really had to step it up. From setting up the classroom, putting out the food, to opening prayer and announcements - we had to run the show! Everything went smoothly thanks to the teamwork and cooperation from the leaders and disciples. We even had an extra surplus of pizza, spaghetti, chicken taquitos and red velvet cupcakes. Mmmm!

After our stomachs were full, we were excited to hear testimonies and teachings from Steph, Jose and Joe. The nights agenda was to recap what the Lord had shown each of us from our study of the book of 2 Timothy over the course of the last few months.

The ladies went next door and heard a great teaching from Steph. She focused on 2 Timothy 1:13 -"Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from Me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus." Here are the takeaways from her Spirit led devotional:

• Be consistent and follow the example of God's consistency [we know our tendency to be very inconsistent people]
• Key word: "pattern"  - to produce a mark or imprint. In John 20:25 doubting Thomas asks to see the imprint of the nails in Jesus' palms for assurance of His sacrifice. In the same way, we should pattern the Word in our lives so that we are confident of His presence and work in our lives.
• In 2 Timothy, Paul never lost sight of the prize. And neither did Jesus. He was always purposeful in what He did and how He spoke. Cling to Jesus when times get hard for you.
• How do we work towards this consistency?
• Fix your eyes upon Jesus [Hebrews 12:2]
• Fix your mind on Jesus [Romans 12:2]
• Fix your heart upon Jesus [Psalm 16:8]
• Believe in His faithfulness [Joshua 23:14]

Steph wrapped up her devotional by sharing a personal testimony of hearing God's voice at the Bridge retreat. The Holy Spirit convicted her to listen to His voice, and follow Him even when He's silent or quieter than she'd like. And the final takeaway: consistency with the Lord, modeled after Jesus!

The dudes got to hear TWO testimonies...how cool. Jose gave an overview of 2 Timothy giving these main points:

• Guard the gospel: Do not let it decay, and be able to defend it [1:14]
• Preserve the gospel [3:14]
• Preach the gospel [4:2]
• Suffer for the gospel [1:8 & 2:3]
• Receive a crown of righteousness [4:8]

He encouraged the brothers to 'finish the race together'!

Joe gave a devotional about the things that stood out to him in the book of 2 Timothy. He reviewed the testimony of Paul, who went from "top dog persecutor" to a prisoner chained for preaching God's Word. He focused on the text that spoke of suffering for the gospel and not having a spirit of fear [1:7] but to face the trials with the power of the Lord. The godly will suffer persecution [3:13] but we must endure hardship as a good soldier [2:3]. He ended his sharing with the encouragement at the end of the book:

"But the Lord stood with me and gave me strength so that I might preach the Good News in its entirety for all the Gentiles to hear. And he rescued me from certain death.^{[b] 18} Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. All glory to God forever and ever! Amen." [2 Timothy 4:17-18]

It was a wonderful night! Don't forget to come to service tonight in the main sanctuary [or watch the live feed online . The Bridge will be performing the drama: BLINK on the MAIN STAGE!!!! The same stage the Pastor preaches from and K.Click plays worship! That stage! It's going to be so cool! Although, all glory goes to God and not to us. Yes! See you there!!!

THE AMAZING RACE

1ST ANNUAL BRIDGE SCAVENGER HUNT!!!

"Do you know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it." ~ 1 Corinthians 9:24

Join us this Friday, May 18th @ 7:30pm for a creative and exciting adventure around town. If you've seen the T.V. show the "Amazing Race", it's similar, but not really. We won't be traveling the world, but we'll be traveling the South Bay. So fun!

Meet us in the church Hamilton parking lot by the Light of the Word Building at 7:30pm! We'll end our night at Louie's Burgers: 1311 W. Carson St. Torrance, CA 90501 (310) 320-0022

Here is what you need to bring:

1. Digital camera or cell phone that takes pictures and records video
2. Comfortable attire including running shoes
3. A safe defensive driver for your team
4. Strength and boldness to complete your very own "Amazing Race"

***Please sign up Wed night at discipleship so we know how many teams we will have. Also, let us know if you are able to drive, since the teams will be designated by the vehicles.

See you there!

 

Trusting God even when it doesn't make sense!

Friday night we gathered for a great study, continuing the series Trust and Obey there is No other way! As we continue Biblical character studies, we took a look into the life of Joshua. 

Joshua was Moses' right hand man. He succeeded Moses as a leader and a great man of God. In the book of Joshua, chapters 5 and 6 we see him rise in leadership in the city of Jericho. He trusts God and immediately obeys when he is instructed to march around the thick and impossible walls of Jericho, to take the city for the Lord. The Lord had told Joshua "I have given Jericho into your hand..." (chapter 6 v.2), and here we see that God is already victorious ahead of us. He had already delivered Jericho into the hands of the people, but needed Joshua to follow specific instructions (have seven priests, with seven rams horns, etc.) in order to prove his trust and alliance to the Lord.

The wall in this story symbolizes any event in our lives that is immovable. Any relationship, or circumstance that stands before us and seems impossible to overcome. Don't we all have walls in our lives? And yet what we learn from this story is to be available to hear from God, listen to what He is instructing us to do and follow through with His plan. We must obey what He says EVEN when it doesn't make sense! This is the most challenging part...because often our plan seems easier, better or quicker than God's plan for our situation. And yet, if we follow our plan, we fail to hear God and obey and this can lead to pain and trouble. 

God never fails us. His team is already victorious and His plan is His best for us. In God there is VICTORY. Before you face the wall that is in your life, ask God to humble you, cleans your mind and heart and grant you purity in your life. A pure heart will allow you to obtain God's grace and proceed to practice obeying Him even when your flesh may want it's own way. Every single situation in our lives is ordained by God and if we are willing to follow His lead, he will lead us into victory and deliver us from the enemy. His strategy is legit, even when it takes longer, seems sillier or lame - but it will always serve a purpose in our life and the lives of others we encounter.   

Enjoy God's victory in your life! Present your walls to Him and ask Him to completely lead you through. He may want the wall to crumble but will first require you to "march around it for days" to exercise a diligent and obedient heart.  What He's asking is not a punishment for you, but a way to lead you into His promises. 

"So the people shouted when the priests blew the trumpets. And it happened when the people hear the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a great shout that the wall fell down flat. Then the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they took the city" (v.20).

Our friendly, spirit-filled and gregarious Pastor D has been praying fervently for the past years for a group of young adults, who gather together, serve God and strive passionately after Jesus. This group picture from our most recent talent show: Audience of One, is a visual testimony of how God answers prayer. It's all in His timing. This group is evidence that He is at work in our lives and the young adults at our church and in our community.

All glory and praise to God for His faithfulness! As we continue to meet and share our lives, "let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near" [Hebrews 10:25]

We would love to have you join us in fellowship, studying God's Word and sharing His love with others. Have a beautiful weekend. Don't forget to bless your Mom!

Skid Row recap: Alex C.

Today we have a guest post from Alex C., sharing a recap of his weekend visiting Fred Jordan Mission in Los Angeles and sharing the love of Jesus to those who live on Skid Row.

"Well hello!

    Skid Row was amazing!! My experience at Skid was something different, it’s not like a mission trip to Long Beach Pike, Hollywood, or even just regular back yard streets… No , this is a place where people are in need, people are on drugs, drunk and just so caught up by the enemy that  you even see people so sad, depressed, angry, and lost.  It breaks my heart. There were even people who cursed God, denied God and even betrayed God... BUT there are also those who love God, seek God and want to know God.

Either way, we were there for all these people. During the trip we walked the streets of LA to pass out invitations to Fred Jordan Mission because we had a message to share. We had testimonies shared, dramas, skits and even a really good devotion shared.

We shared the Love of Christ most of all.   

 After all that we had lunch prepared for them and served them. We got our own plates of food as well and just sat with them and had convos as we ate. It was amazing to be able to eat with them and hear their testimonies. I was sitting with a guy name James, a real nice guy. Very joyful and outgoing. He was a coke addict and has been homeless for a while now.  He told me he needed Jesus and that he wants to be forgiven for his sins. Me and a brother prayed for him and just encouraged him. He also had fell in love with the scripture Jeremiah 29:11! He was amazed to know God had a plan in his life. Overall the trip was a blessing and I can’t wait to go back ;) "

A photo of the dudes on the rooftop of Fred Jordan Mission [Courtesy of Romo's fb]

Trust and obey! There is NO other way!

This past Friday night we began a new series, which will include character studies of folks in the Bible whose lives can help us learn very important lessons about God. 


First up: Abraham and Isaac [Genesis 22]. Before Pastor D shared a message from God about TRUST and OBEDIENCE, we had awesome announcements from Alex C., Josie, Leo and Evelyn. Thanks, guys! We also heard a dynamic testimony from Alex C. about the Lord using him at our Backyard Mission Trip - as he shared Christ's love to high school kids and people at Venice Beach, Long Beach and Santa Monica...but moreso his heartfelt challenge to make it a part of everyday life and to share the hope he has in Jesus with others 24/7!


We also had a beautiful time of worship, which led us in a time of clearing our minds, responding to His Spirit and preparing our hearts to hear His Word.

"Let love explode 

And bring the dead to life

A love so bold

To see a revolution somehow

Now I'm lost in your freedom

And this world I"ll overcome

My God is not dead

He's surely alive

He's living on the inside

Roaring like a lion" 

[Song: God's not dead

Newsboys/David Crowder]

The story of Abraham and Issac is a familiar one. The lessons from the story are so valuable that it's worth taking a detailed look into this story again, and again. Abraham had one son Isaac, with his wife Sarah. At their extremely old age, God had come through on a promise to bear them a child and make him [Isaac] the person used to create many generations to come [Genesis 15]. Abraham and Sarah had their promised child even after devising their own plan to get a baby and having Abraham sleep with his servant Haagar [Genesis 16 Don't we often do that? We make our own plans when we should wait for God's best plan ] Ok back to the story - Abraham and Sarah loved their son Isaac and raised him to know God. We begin to see a story unfold that demonstrates to us, how to trust God, obey God and see how "My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts are higher than your thoughts" [Isaiah 55]

We see a major turning point of faith for Abraham in Genesis chapter 22. God asks him to take his son and murder him. Here we see multiple parallels between Abraham and Isaac and God and Jesus. We see two father and son sets, both obeying Divine instruction to sacrifice their 'one and only' son. Both events occurred on the third day, the sons carried wood to to the altar and were obedient until the point of death.

We also see that Abraham and Isaac BOTH trusted in God and didn't rely on their own understanding. They heard God's voice, knew He was trustworthy and obeyed His commands even when what He instructed appeared to contradict His previous promise. This part of the story is easy to read about but can be very challenging to follow through with. As humans we are wired to understand what's happening and we HAVE to know the what, where, when, why and how. Don't we? And yet we are told in God's Word to trust in Him, with ALL our hearts and not lean on our own understanding [Proverbs 3:5-6]!

Pastor D shared this message from God that was straight from his heart, and his own testimony. When he was asked to staff at church years ago, he had to sacrifice his own grand plans to move to NYC and teach. In essence, this was his 'Isaac' and an act of obedience to God. He exercised TRUST and OBEDIENCE and now, he finds himself as the Missions Pastor at CCSB, and also leading a thriving young adult college group [that's us!] He shared that listening to the voice of God and immediately obeying has led him into a greater and more satisfying place in life then He could have ever come to on his own. 


In the end, the way we practice trusting and obeying God is by getting to know Him. We read His Word and learn that He is trustworthy and has our best in mind. We are reminded that He is all powerful and He loves us unconditionally. This leads us to a place of surrender where we lay down our own rights and plans and allow His hand to be upon us and lead us to the next step. Here, we also practice sacrificing the dreams, plans and things that become overly important to us [our idols] and we surrender those to God as well. By faith we follow our God, whom we come to love. We will be blown away by God as we surrender our lives to God's will and discover His incredible blessings and plans for us.

Dudes & Daughters of the KING Discipleship [Wed night ~ May 2nd]

We had a fantastic time at discipleship this past Wed night. It seems as if everyone is getting closer as the weeks go on and we continue meeting together. We felt God's strong presence during the time of worship at the end, and it was another sweet night of fellowship, learning God's Word, figuring out how it can apply to our lives and sharing our prayer requests. 

This weeks passage was from 2 Timothy 4:9-22, the final part of the chapter in our study of Paul's letter to Timothy. Here, Paul presents his final farewell to his friend Timothy, as Paul is close to death in a Prison in Rome. Earlier in the chapter, Paul stated that he had "fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith" [v.7] and was encouraging Timothy to live the same way.

As we studied this scripture, we saw a very practical side of Paul. He requested for Timothy to follow simple instructions, which included bringing him his cloak, scrolls and parchment [v.13] - the items he needed to complete his ministry. He then shared about a few people that Timothy needed to be informed about for certain reasons. 

The first was a group of guys who deserted him, namely Demas who returned to the world and was no longer available to help in his ministry [v.10]. The second was a request for Timothy to bring Mark along as Paul noted he would be helpful to him in the ministry [v.11]. Lastly, he warned Timothy about Alexander the metalworker who was strongly opposed to the Lord's work and had been harmful to Paul during ministry [v.14].

We can easily identify with each of these 'friends' and people in our lives. There are those who wander from God, curious for the worlds pleasures and can negatively influence us in our decisions and actions. There are those who strongly oppose God and can give us ungodly advice or make us feel bad for standing up for righteousness. But there are also those who can come along side us, help us in ministry and be an encouragement. We should seek out the company of those kind of [godly] friends. 

 With each of these above examples, we learn that we can only rely on people to a certain degree, and ultimately must put our full reliance on God alone! People may come and go, but God remains always. 

Verse 17 tells us, "But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed..." Paul is proclaiming that God is the only faithful one who will get us through and give us strength. He then declares that God will, deliver, rescue and save us from sin, the enemy and ourselves. He also makes a point to state that God is responsible for any who have wronged us or led us astray, and we should not take matters into our own hands. We should always pray for those who fault or hinder us and allow God to deal with them accordingly [Romans 12:17-19]

Here are a couple of verses that can encourage us to rely on God alone. 

Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet all your needs, according to the riches of His glory"

Psalm 146:3 "Do not put your hope in princes nor in the son of man where there is no hope"

We hope you have a blessed week, see you Friday at the Bridge!