(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

With the new year comes various resolutions that can be easy to start but difficult to sustain. For Christians, the new year can mean restarting a Bible-in-a-year reading plan or attempting to read the Bible everyday.

And like other resolutions, we can start well with Genesis 1, yet sputter at Exodus and give up entirely at Leviticus. Or we keep up through day 15 yet give up somewhere around day 40.

If that’s you, you may think, ”Why should I even try this year?”

Reading the Bible consistently is a difficult discipline to keep (I speak from personal experience). It doesn’t help that reading is becoming more of a lost art, as social media news feeds have relegated us to speed skimming (or scrolling).

The last thing we want as Christians is to view reading the Bible as a chore or assignment we just check off, but engage very little with.

So if you’re having trouble reading the Bible everyday, try starting here.

Try reading a Psalm a day.

Psalms are easy to read because they are songs

What can make the Bible difficult to read, is how many different genres there are in the Bible and their corresponding difficulty. Narratives read easier because they read like story. Genealogies … not so much. The apocalyptic presents a whole range of questions and the laws can read like …. laws.

The Psalms are songs to the Lord meant to be sung, recited and memorized. There’s great emotion captured in the psalms intertwined with great truth about the Lord.

Psalms are easy to read because they are prayers

When we crawl out of bed and crack open our Bibles, we are often searching for something to grasp onto to help us through the day. That is why we can be discouraged when we open the Bible and read laws or genealogies and even narratives. When there is nothing apparent for us to take from the passage, we can make the mistake of trying to “spiritualize” what we read and draw out something that was not intended to be there.

But when we read a psalm in the morning, what we read becomes our prayer for that day. It becomes less about what we can get out of the psalm and more about aligning our hearts with the prayer of the psalmist.

Psalms are easy to read because they come in manageable portions

Reading the Bible regularly according to chapters can feel arbitrary because the chapters or verses don’t always follow the train of thought or movement. That is because chapter and verse designations were put there later by people to help break up the Bible in specific pieces.

The psalms on the other hand, are self-contained units, often with helpful introductions. Aside from a few long psalms, most psalms come in manageable portions. Psalms don’t feel daunting to get through.

But what about the rest of the Bible?

Reading a Psalm a day is not meant to discourage you from reading the rest of the Bible. If anything, it will encourage you to read the rest of the Bible. (The book of Psalms is the most quoted OT book in the NT!)

This suggestion is merely meant to help get you started each day in the practice of daily Bible reading. After reading a psalm in the morning, you can proceed to read a portion of the Bible during your lunch break, afternoon break or in the evening.

In other words, reading a Psalm everyday keeps you reading the Bible everyday!

For those who enjoyed the book, “Gentle and Lowly”, author Dane Ortlund has written a book with a daily Psalm accompanied by a reflection, “In the Lord I Take Refuge: 150 Daily Devotions through the Psalms”. Feel free to contact me at vchen@evergreensgv.org to order a 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)

by Pastor Victor Chen

As we enter the new year, it is always helpful to look back and reflect on the significant moments of this past year. For our church reopening this past year, there were many significant milestones to reflect upon.

Reopening Indoors 5/2/21
“Actually, it was my first time worshipping inside with the church family. It was a great blessing to finally worship together in the sanctuary. I saw the importance of corporate worship and Colossians 3:16 lived out. Corporate worship is special. I was so excited that I recorded us praising the Lord together!” -Pastor Mako Seto

“Finally. Thank you Jesus. This was a beginning and a return to a new normal. I prayed this would be an acceptance of a new normal way of life.” -Pastor Kenny Wada

Reopening In-person Youth Group April 2021

“There was an excitement of students and staff seeing each other face to face. Singing corporately was a joy. It brought a lot of hope for future youth meetings.” -Pastor Paul Moy

Relaunching In-person Adult Church School (ACE)

"It was a joy to see members of our church pursuing growth in the Lord through ACE. My hope was that all who came would find encouragement in their relationship with God and in their life of faith.” -Pastor Terry Gee

While the Zoom class last year afforded opportunities for some to attend who otherwise would not have been able to, there is definitely a sense of connection and excitement to be back in-person again with a room full of people desiring to learn and grow together. I most appreciate and enjoy seeing multiple little conversations, laughter, or prayer happening between various class members before and after the ACE class (which cannot happen as easily with the limitations of Zoom). -Pastor Dan Christian

Relaunching In-person Church School

"What a blessing it has been to see the students return to Church School in-person. The past three months have been filled with excitement, eagerness and encouragement. Sunday mornings have been filled with excitement as students are so happy to see their friends, while the CS teachers get to greet the students in-person after over a year of Zoom classes! The students and teachers are so eager to learn and teach God’s Word, as well as pray for one another. It has also been a time of mutual encouragement as we worship the Lord together in the MPR and share in small groups in the classroom. We have experienced God’s faithfulness and goodness together, as He cares for Church School at Evergreen." -Terri Wong, Church School Superintendent

"As I reflect back on our reopening, I feel so humbled by His goodness. It is such a joy to interact with the children, watch them play, and hear their sweet voices laughing and singing again! It has been wonderful to reconnect with families and welcome new friends as well! I'm so grateful for our entire Church School team, and for our supportive CS families! As we prepared for reopening, we were excited and hopeful. But many of us also had concerns as we navigated uncharted waters in an ongoing pandemic. Through it all, God has shown so much mercy, and continues to prove Himself loving and faithful beyond measure! It is all truly by His grace!" -Debra Ton, Children’s Ministry Associate

I hope these brief reflections remind us of God’s goodness to our church and help bolster our hope in the Lord as we enter the new year. To God be the Glory!

by Pastor Victor Chen

When talking with children about Christmas, we can face a theological dilemma.

We can liken Christmas to Jesus’ birthday in our efforts to explain the significance of Christmas to children. And though it is true that Jesus was born into this world on Christmas (the exact day likely unknown), we see in John 1 that Jesus was there from the beginning with God because He was God.

What can follow then is a endless discussion with a child navigating the difficult theological topics of the trinity, incarnation and the eternal nature of the Lord:

“I thought Jesus was born on Christmas. It’s His birthday, right?”

“Well, yes. Jesus was born on Christmas into this world. But Jesus was there from the beginning. He always existed because He is God.”

“Wait. I thought God sent Jesus on Christmas.”

“He did. God the Father sent Jesus, God the Son, on Christmas.”

“Wait. How come Jesus is a baby when He has been there from the beginning of time?”

And on and on the discussion can go with “why?” interspersed every other second.

To help children (and adults) avoid theological confusion and better understand the significance of Christmas, we can begin moving away from saying that Christmas is Jesus’ birthday and start saying that Christmas is when Jesus, God the Son, came.

We can then go on to share why Jesus came.

On Christmas, God the Father sent Jesus, God the Son, into the world to rescue us from our sin. Jesus did this by taking our place, the punishment for our sin, at the cross. There, Jesus endured the wrath of God the Father for our sin and died as an offering for our sin. God the Father raised Jesus, God the Son, from the grave and as a result, we have new life with God the Father in Jesus.

On Christmas, Jesus came. He came to live in this world, but ultimately to die in our place.

On Christmas, Jesus came to die.

And if Jesus came on Christmas, He will come again.

Jesus will come again to make all things right and make all things new.

We know this for sure, because on Christmas, Jesus came.

So we celebrate Christmas because we celebrate that Jesus came to rescue us.

And we celebrate Christmas to remind each other that because Jesus came, He will come again.

“Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)