Quick Sunday School challenge: Define “Sacrament”. Time’s up. Did you get it? I didn’t think so.

The term “sacrament” means very little to most of us. Originally referring to many of the doctrines and practices of Christianity, it came to be used for anything that had a mysterious or secret significance. As Westerners, we tend to avoid engaging in practices we can’t fully understand, and so we often neglect many things that were important to the early church. In this way, sacraments have begun to drop out of the practice, and vocabulary, of Christians today.

Baptism is one of the two remaining Christian rites that are properly deemed “sacraments.” It is so known because, although we can understand much of what Baptism symbolizes, we don’t fully understand what actually takes place when we baptize someone. It is one of those practices that people aren’t quite sure what to do with. Should we fully immerse someone in water or simply sprinkle water over them? Should it be reserved for older believers who know what they’re doing, or should infants be included as well? Is it simply a symbolic act, or does God actually in some way confer grace through it?

Some people react to these points of dispute by avoiding baptism altogether. After all, Scripture makes clear that baptism itself does not save us; only our trust in Jesus Christ can do that. Some denominations refrain from the practice altogether unless specifically requested by a member.

Yet the Bible teaches that baptism is an essential part of the new Christian’s life. It is the first step of obedience to be taken by the believer. In Acts, every baptism took place almost immediately following the believer’s confession of faith. The ideal attitude of the new believer is seen in Acts 8, where immediately after hearing the gospel, the eunuch says to Philip the evangelist, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”

A common way of expressing baptism’s purpose is “an outward expression of an inward reality.” This is a good way to sum up what we know of it. Baptism is first and foremost identification with Christ. Through this act, the one baptized signifies that he or she has surrendered themselves to the lordship of Jesus. Furthermore, being immersed in the water symbolizes death to the old life, while coming back up represents the beginning of our new life. This parallels, and symbolizes our taking part in, Christ’s own death and resurrection. (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12)

Secondly, Baptism is identification with the church. Not only do we publicly associate ourselves with Christ in this act, but we show that we now part of a visible community of believers, rather than the world. (Acts 2:41,etc.) It may have been easier to see this in the early church when persecution was so widespread, but it is still true that to be baptized is to take a visible stand for Christ with other believers. It is for this reason that LCBC encourages church membership in conjunction with baptism. The one baptized is typically new in his or her faith, and needs the support and encouragement of a body of believers.

In the end, however, baptism remains a “sacrament” because there is an element of mystery to it, a part of it we can’t completely get our minds around. We practice it not because we fully understand it, but because Jesus Himself commands us to do it. This is perhaps one of the more overlooked aspects of the Great Commission: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matt. 28:19)

 LCBC is about to undergo a transition in the position of "Senior Pastor.” Pending the approval of the church members in a vote that will take place on April 18, Pastor Hubert will be the lone Senior Pastor of the church, while Pastor Wes will the adopt the new position of Equipping and Outreach Pastor. Many people are wondering about how this will work out practically in the life of the church. To address some of these concerns, Pastor Wes has put together the following responses to some common questions that we have been asked over the past few months.

 

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) about the LCBC Pastoral Staff Transition

1.     Question: Will there be any change in the LCBC preaching schedules, especially in the 9am worship service?

Answer: No.  For the next few years there are no anticipated changes in the preaching schedule for either worship service.  It is expected that in the more distant future (3-5 years), Pastor Jaron will be preaching more frequently since he is currently busier in his ministry of establishing the youth, college, and young adult ministries.  It is expected that Pastor Wes will preach less frequently than the present 3 out of 4 Sundays as he expands the outreach of our church in the next 3-5 years.

 

2.     Question: Who will oversee DTS (Discipleship Training)?

Answer: DTS will continue to operate as it has in the past.  At the present, Pastor Hubert oversees the Chinese DTS with the assistance of a few leaders, and Pastor Wes fulfills the same role for the English DTS.  In the future, we believe that God will provide the right person to fill the elected church council position of “Discipleship Director.”

 

3.     Question: Will Pastor Hubert be the lead pastor for overall church and church council issues/matters?

Answer: Yes.  As senior pastor, Pastor Hubert will be the pastor who is responsible for the general oversight of the church ministry.  This does not mean that he will lead by himself, as he serves together with two other pastors, deacons, and the church council leaders.  Our pastoral staff has always interacted as a team of “equals” but differing in pastoral roles.  Just because there is one lead pastor (senior pastor) does not mean that the other pastors are unnecessary or unimportant.  Just because all staff pastors work together does not mean that there is not a need for a lead pastor.

 

4.     Question: Who will oversee the English congregation ministry and care?

Answer: Pastor Wes, with Pastor Jaron assisting, will continue to be responsible for leading the areas of ministry within the English-speaking congregation, ministries, and services.

 

5.     Question: Will Pastor Wes’ new pastoral role of “equipping and outreach” reduce his time and ministry at our church, and thereby increase the ministry load of the other two pastors?

Answer: Yes and No.  The only immediate change to our pastoral staff roles would be the increasing of Pastor Hubert’s “administrative” oversight over the general ministry of our church.  Previously, Pastor Wes as senior pastor had an increased ministry load, having the responsibility of “administrative” oversight for 25 years.  The amount of time committed to the ministry by our pastoral staff will NOT change; only the allocation of our time will shift.  Pastor Wes will not be doing the outreach himself as much as he will be equipping others to do much of the outreach.  He may need to spend some time outside the church at times to initiate outreaches or to help develop a leadership core team, such as a Asian Bible Church in Chico..

 

6.     Question: Will Pastor Hubert’s vision be different than Pastor Wes’ vision when he was senior pastor?

Answer: No, not in a general direction and purpose of our church since this has already been articulated in our church mission statement and in our church’s Vision 2025 for over ten years.  But yes, in a more subtle way as our two pastors are different and have different gifts and abilities.  There are some areas where Pastor Hubert has strengths that Pastor Wes does not have, and vice-versa.  Any vision that God gives to Pastor Hubert about possible changes to our church ministry will be articulated to our church leaders and members in the same way that Pastor Wes has done in the past.

 

7.     Question: Why is there a need for our church to change senior pastors?

Answer: Pastor Wes initiated this request for our church to consider a “senior pastor transition” after receiving God’s vision on preparing our church for an eventual pastoral transition.  He first shared his vision with our deacons, church council, and church member.  Subsequently, our church council and members voted to allow Pastor Wes and Pastor Hubert to enter into a two-year co-senior pastor mentoring relationship that started in 2008 and is ending this year. A few aspects of what God revealed to Pastor Wes concerns the following:

 

(a) Prepare the church for change and the eventual end of Pastor Wes’ vocational ministry into his retirement within the next ten years.

 

(b) Provide for the proper transition and support of Pastor Hubert and Pastor Jaron into the leadership of the church while Pastor Wes is still serving as part of the pastoral staff team.

 

(c) Provide for additional spiritual and pastoral growth as Pastor Hubert and Pastor Wes assume new ministry roles.

 

 

Service toward other churches is of the strengths and ministry platforms of LCBC. Our leadership has a heart toward strengthening ministries in need, so that people even beyond our own circles and communities can be reached for Christ. In two of these ministries, several of our members have become involved, giving heavily of their time and energy to help them grow and thrive. This month, we wanted to give you an update on Asian Bible Church in Chico and Vietnamese Hope Church in Sacramento and invite you to partner with those serving these churches through prayer.

 

Asian Bible Church

Soon after officially agreeing to financially assist Asian Bible Church, the sole pastor stepped away for family health reasons. We were left supporting a church with little in the way of leadership, and whose members were rapidly leaving. Unwilling to let this church die and seeing the continued need for an Asian church in the Chico community, Pastor Wes trained and began sending up men to fill the pulpit every week. Since then, he has also started training leaders within the church to help strengthen it from the inside.

 

At least eight people came to Christ through this ministry in 2009. One of the church leaders, who was part of the church start-up group in 2000, shared with Pastor Wes that the “smaller” church family today is much more committed and spiritually healthy than the “larger” group had been in the earlier years. Slowly, God seems to be rebuilding and strengthening this church for the work of reaching the Asian community in Chico.

Pastor Wes shares that the emphasis in 2010 will be two-fold: discipleship of believers within the church and outreach to the Asian Chico community. There seems to be much outreach potential particularly within the foreign student population at Chico State, one student of which came to Christ at ABC this year within one week of arriving from China. Pray for the development of the people at this church and for their outreach efforts this coming year. Pray also for the LCBC preaching team as they prepare messages and each travel 200 miles each month: Jim Farrell, Terry Chew, Phil Leung, Henry Khoo, and of course Pastor Wes.

 

Vietnamese Hope Baptist Church

Our relationship with Vietnamese Hope began when we answered a call for help with their youth ministry. Norbert Gee and his family have ministered to this church’s teens and college aged kids for over three years. Norbert has taught them and mentored them, while Jenny and Deanna have led them in worship on Sundays. This year, the Gees also coordinated a multi-church volleyball tournament, a fellowship and outreach event that was very successful.

Many of the youth continue to grow in their faith in Christ and their love for one another, and two were baptized in 2009. Norbert requests that we pray for their continued growth in the grace and knowledge of Christ, particularly in the areas of daily prayer and Scripture reading. Pray also for several youth who have had to relocate to other cities, and for a family of five girls who recently became orphans as their only remaining parent died of cancer. Fortunately, these girls are currently being cared for by Christian families.

Vietnamese Hope is currently facing a major challenge regarding their building plans. They are currently meeting at Fourteenth Avenue Baptist Church, but they are limited at this facility and the youth group is even apparently forced to have their meetings outside. The church is currently seeking the City’s approval of their design plans in order to obtain a building permit. Pray for God’s direction and the church’s unity regarding the building project, and also for God to sustain the youth during this difficult time.