March 19, 2007
By Anna "Banana" Jackson
I know... I know... it seems almost impossible. But as amazing as it sounds, it appears to be true. For the last three Sundays we've been visiting Hope Chapel Christian Church (http://www.hopechapel.org/) in Hermosa Beach, CA -- and from what we can see so far, we really have found a church focused on bringing the lost to Christ -- BIBLICALLY. (The history of the church and their statement of faith can be found here: http://www.hopechapel.org/HChistory.htm.)
 We found the church through a connection with one of their associate pastors, Steve Sanchez (his evangelism blog can be found here: http://www.evtales.com/).
Several times in the past few years Steve has brought evangelism teams from his church out to participate in open-air preaching with Ray and the gang from the ministry. However, somehow the first time I met Steve on one of these outings I had gotten the impression that his church was in San Diego. Then about 3 weeks ago, while Dale and I were chatting with Ray, we found out Steve's church was really in Hermosa Beach... so we decided to visit.
When you walk into the lobby of the church, right above the coffee and donut area is the evangelism bulletin board. (When was the last time you were in a church with an evangelism bulletin board? Or if they actually had one was it located anywhere that people would see it?) This board announces upcoming evangelism events, what happened at previous events, and so forth... it's very exciting stuff if you're interested in bringing the lost to Christ.
 This church has a goal of giving out a million tracts this year. A fact they proudly announce with a huge purple banner in their sanctuary. (I think Steve said they're up to 200,000 already!) The church liked the million dollar bill tract so much that they arranged for permission to print their own copies to include their church's website address. In fact, if you go to their website, the first thing you'll see is "Are you here because of the million dollar bill?"
The church bulletin contains multiple events both teaching evangelism, and putting that teaching into practice. And Steve told us that The Way of the Master is required reading for all the pastors in the church.
When you enter the church bookstore, you see that the entire front middle shelf, from top to bottom, is a condensed version of the Living Waters ministry bookstore. No kidding. The books on that shelf are almost 100% ones from the ministry. There's no magnifying glass needed to find this bookstore's evangelism section!
 On to other subjects you may be interested in...
The worship music is excellent. We've been told that each of the church's four services have a slightly different style musically. The one we've been attending is just perfect for us. It's a wonderfully worshipful blend of modern praise choruses and a few old hymns. The preaching has also been excellent. We got to hear Steve preach the first Sundayand the main pastor, Zac, has preached the other two Sundays we've visited.
Since moving out here to California in 2002, we have visited many churches. (We became members of a local congregation several years ago, but ended up leaving mainly because of child care issues.) But every church we've attended for any length of time has been so frustrating. It's just maddening to hear the "wonderful plan" coming from the pulpit -- especially if you've given the pastor copies of Hell's Best Kept Secret or The Way of the Master book. It's frustrating and draining to teach The Way of the Master training course and end up with only one person who becomes a committed "fisher of men." In my opinion, it's even scary to send your children into a Sunday school situation where they're going to have the deadly opiate of the "wonderful plan" lie told to them over, and over, and over, and over again for the next 16 years of their lives.
Unfortnately that's where 99% of the church is at.
The fantastic news is that we've apparently found a church where that's not the case. We just couldn't be happer and wanted to share this with all of you... and of course extend an invitation for you to come and join us.
So, if you're beating your head against a brick wall at your own church, please come visit with us. Even if you're beating your head against a brick wall at your church -- and you feel the Lord is calling you to continue to stay there -- then maybe you can come visit with us once a month... or once every other month, just to be refreshed and refocused.
Much love to you all,
Anna "Banana" |
Dale is the visual effects artist for The Way of the Master television series.