On Daily Bible Reading

I began to believe the lie some time in the boom-and-bust spirituality of my teenage years. I thought that if I could read my Bible every morning, I might make it spiritually. Like, if I could just wake up a little early and maybe get some time in with those census lists in Numbers or the divine imprecations on Edom (whose geography still escapes me), I might be able to kick sinning altogether. The Lord just might honor my daily Bible reading with a perfected nature. Spoiler alert: it didn't ever happen. The perfectability, that is. I did succeed eventually in a regular daily Bible reading. But I discovered that I was still thoroughly sinful afterwards. So much for my spiritual hacking of my life.

It might seem strange to start an exhortation for daily Bible reading with what it will not do for you, but here we are (one particular day this Christmas break, I woke up earlier than my young children, a pious feat, to read my Bible and pray before the day started. And then I proceeded to sin against every family member serially before lunchtime). Sometimes our evangelical tradition can treat the Bible like it's a talisman, a kryptonite to our sinful nature. God's Word IS powerful. Indeed, just this morning in my daily Bible reading, I read Hebrews 4:12: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. God's Word is like a searchlight, a surgeon's scalpel, and splint all in one. It has a magic but it does not work magically. There's a difference. It takes active work, thoughtful prayer, and conscious meditation to let the magic/divine power of Scripture transform you.

So here are some reflections for you as you enter the new year.

Why should I read the Bible daily?

  1. Reading the Bible is an important means of grace. That's a fancy way of saying that God communicates his grace to us through the Bible. I do not know any mature and grace-filled Christians who got that way without some sort of regular Bible reading. And the most compelling Christians I know are those in whom Scripture just comes out of their hearts as their regular meditation.

  2. The Bible is where we hear God speak to us. It would be strange if we never listened to our roommate or spouse speak to us. That would evidence something unhealthy in the relationship.

  3. We have lots of Biblical evidence for the necessity of daily communion with God. When the exiles regathered in Ezra, one of the first things they did was rebuild the altar so they could offer burnt offerings morning and evening as well as the daily burnt offerings (Ezra 3:3ff). That's why the Christian tradition developed daily morning and evening prayer.

All right. So how do I read the Bible every day? What should I do?

Well the MOST IMPORTANT TENET of daily Bible reading is to keep the goal of listening and communing with the Lord. Your motive and prayer in Bible reading must remain centered on communion. Everything else will fall into place if you keep Jesus central to the Bible.

  1. That means there's grace when we fall short. Perhaps the worst thing you can do when you miss a day (or more) of reading is to give up. The goal is not about getting it perfect. That's Phariseeical. That's more about your religiosity. When you fail to read, whether one day or several, just jump back in. Keep coming back. That's the important thing. There are still days that I miss, even as a pastor. Sometimes, it's my sin or laziness. Sometimes it feels like I had no control. But the truth is that the Lord IS gracious with us, always pursuing us even when we are missing him.

  2. Meditation and prayer are what set the Word at work. You can read the Bible without ever really engaging God. But it's actually meditation and prayer that gets the Word acting in your heart. Pray before you read that the Spirit will give you a word or phrase you can carry with you throughout the day as a prayer. The goal should be less completing your reading and more on carrying a word or passage with you to meditate and pray on.

  3. Read a Psalm first and daily. The Psalms are perhaps the most accessible piece of daily Bible reading. Most spiritual discipline traditions of daily prayer start with a Psalm. The Psalms orient you to that listening and communing.

If you've never read the Bible daily, shoot for just reading one chapter of Psalms a day this next year.

Or add a chapter of Proverbs. There are 31 chapters of Proverbs, easy to do 1 chapter a day every month.

For you more ambitious who want to read the whole Bible in a year, there are lots of reading plans out there. Do your research on what plan would work for you. It's a transformative thing to read the Bible in a set time, and I've found that the shorter the time, the more formative (I will always remember the time when I read the whole Bible in 4 months. It was like seeing God's redemption in technicolor for the first time!). My only warning for you is that however noble a goal it is to read the whole Bible, see the MOST IMPORTANT TENET up above.

So let's start this year with prayer that God's Word would be planted deep in us, that we might commune with him. Lord, may the word of Christ dwell in us richly, as we teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God! (Col 3:16.)

Pastor Jesse

A Note About Family Services

Brothers and sisters,

This Sunday is our family worship service! This is one of my favorite things about IGC. Every six weeks (give or take), we have a worship service where all our covenant kids remain with the adults for the entirety of the service. This not only gives our children's ministry volunteers a much-needed break, but it also is a fantastic opportunity for our kids to learn how to worship the Lord Jesus! Here at IGC, we believe our children BELONG to Jesus, even before they ever express faith. Indeed, we believe the church is THE family of God, where singles, married, parents, children, empty-nesters, and grandparents are bound together by a baptismal water that's thicker than blood.

Even though this service will have all the usual elements, it will look a little different. During service, there will be some extra explanations of the things we do in worship. And if you're a parent, please note these other changes and ways you can prepare your kids:

  1. Worship. We've picked songs and elements that are simplified and easily engaged in by kids, so you can encourage and help your kids to sing.

  2. Offering. Unlike most Sundays, we'll be taking up a physical offering. This is a great opportunity to have kids give. Encourage them to go through their piggy bank or allowance to give from their own money. Or consider letting them give your family's offering.

  3. Sermon. We'll only have one sermon this family service, but rest assured, it will be a shorter sermon - more of a homily, tailored to a younger child's vocabulary level.

    • It will be my goal to preach a sermon that can engage four-year-olds AND forty-year-olds. We believe that regardless of age, what we all need is the same: to see and hear Jesus in his Word!

    • Also, we won't be giving out handouts as we've done in the past. We want to encourage our kids' full attention to the service.

  4. Communion. We will observe communion together. Even though communion is only for those who have been baptized and publicly professed faith in Jesus, we still want our covenant kids to see us partaking in the Lord's Supper. This is an opportunity to talk to your kids both about what communion is and what they believe. When they come up with you to receive communion, we as elders will pray a blessing over them.

The general rule for this family service is we expect kids to engage and for parents (and friends) to help kids engage. That's because we believe that Jesus IS engaging and does engage kids. Likewise, we will be actively trying to engage them. I think kids generally rise to the level of expectations. That said, there is so much grace and patience extended to parents and kids! This is a new thing. Some kids are going to be more wiggly, and that's ok. 

Looking forward to this Sunday!

Pastor Jesse

Session Update

I can't believe it's already been two months since I started here at Indelible Grace! It has been a delight to serve you, to work beside you, and to get better acquainted with you all!

I want to update you about the good work your session has been doing (The session is the total number of pastors and ruling elders). Let me first say that your ruling elders are extraordinary men of God. Pastor Wade and I are in a unique role to see how much these wise men have sacrificed for you and this church, how much they love you and the Lord. It is beautiful.  

As we enter a new season at IGC, we are discussing our culture as a session, asking aspirational questions about the kind of leadership body God has called us to be. What work has God set before us as elders? How do we as a session become a body that listens to the Spirit together? How can we better shepherd each other as well as you, the congregation?

One result is the decision to strive to communicate more clearly to you about our work as a session. We are committed to a posture of transparency and openness the Bible calls the church to manifest. The kingdom Jesus brings is one of light, not darkness, of uncovering what was once in the dark and secret (Luke 12:2-3). The apostle Paul renounces "disgraceful, underhanded ways" and instead commits himself to the "open statement of the truth" (2 Cor 4:2). In addition, we believe openness respects the Reformational principle that all believers are priests (1 Pet 2:9, stay tuned for our sermon next week!). The Spirit lives among you all, and we want to listen to the voice of the Spirit in the congregation. Our system of Presbyterianism presumes this. That’s why elders are nominated and voted on by the congregation. The Spirit works through you, church members, to accomplish his will.

In light of this transparency, we want to invite you to attend a session meeting! Stated meetings, our regularly scheduled session meetings, are open to any church member in good standing. Our next stated meeting will be on November 7, 2023 at 8 pm at Pastor Jesse's house. Come on, all who are curious! Come join us! If you can’t make this stated meeting, there will be future meetings.

Of course, key parts of eldering require confidentiality. Thorny pastoral issues, church discipline matters, big picture vision, or personnel matters require discretion. The Book of Church Order (the policy guide of the PCA) provides two tools. Executive session, the first tool, is a section of a stated meeting where only session members are allowed. We reserve any discretionary matters for executive session. The other tool is a called session meeting. Called meetings are for a specific purpose and only session members are thus invited.

At the session’s request, we are using several called meetings scheduled for the fall to rethink and potentially restructure ministries around IGC. For instance, our next called meeting will be working towards a philosophy of worship. There are many biblically faithful ways to do worship, and we as a session have a responsibility to determine how IGC's worship should be structured and guided. We will also commit other called meetings to address discipleship, children and youth ministry, mercy ministry, and outreach at IGC.

So, stay tuned! There will be much more communication to come. We are thrilled and thankful to the Lord for this new season. We believe that God is guiding us on this great adventure of being his exile people. He is at work among us!

If you have any questions or concerns about this, please reach out to me or any other elder. Again, we are your servants for the sake of Christ and his glorious gospel! And please pray for us and these exciting discussions. We need your prayers. In his exposition on eldership, the apostle Paul warns that the devil has it out for elders (1 Tim 3:6-7). So please pray for our preservation and perseverance in Christ’s joy.

Yours in Christ,
Pastor Jesse

New Sermon Series: 1 Peter

This week, we're embarking on our fall sermon series in 1 Peter.

We believe that all Scripture is God-breathed, which is reason enough to attend to this book. But I believe there are especially compelling and timely reasons for our church to look at 1 Peter. The apostle Peter writes to encourage a church that has endured hardship. It faces misunderstanding and ostracism from the surrounding culture.

Peter holds out exile as a ruling metaphor for the church. We are an exile people. Yet the Lord promises grace "in abundance" to his people. Indeed, it is in the midst of suffering and hardship that God ministers his grace to needy saints. And 1 Peter constantly holds up the hope of glory for the Christ-follower who endures. It is my hope that we, as a church, might be encouraged in hope and grace for our own exile.

On that note, 1 Peter points to answers of how God's people should live faithfully in exile. What's our relationship to the government? Our employers? Our church leaders? Are we to abstain, abandon, or accommodate to our culture? What distinguishes Christian marriage?

In addition, Peter supplies a rich and Christ-centered ecclesiology - which is just a fancy way to describe our understanding of the church. The church is not merely a bunch of individuals voluntarily assembling together like any other social group. Rather, we are a "chosen race, a royal priesthood, and a holy nation." We are a people chosen by God, saved by God, and held together by God.

So let me invite you to both pray for our series and prepare to receive God's word. May God supply his grace to us. Amen.

Pastor Jesse

A Reflection from the PSC

At this time last year, our church was in a season of weariness, pain, grief, and uncertainty about what God’s plans were for IGC. Last August, when the Pastoral Search Committee (PSC) was formed, many of us were skeptical of what kind of success we’d have in finding a senior pastor — due to our own feelings of personal inadequacy, as well as what we felt was an undesirable work situation for someone to enter into.  

In many ways, being part of this committee was more than we imagined. It was definitely more work than we imagined. The weekly meetings, putting together a packet, and interviews kept us busy these past ten months. It was more unifying than we imagined. We came out of this season feeling like a community. The process required us to be a part of each other’s lives so that we could share opinions safely and respectfully with each other. And it was more sanctifying than we imagined. In describing what we desire in a pastor, we had to hold a mirror up to ourselves. We were forced to pray and seek God constantly because there were so many points in the process when we were unsure about how we were going to make a decision. This work was demanding, but God used it to grow and shape each of us. 

As we’re on the cusp of welcoming Jesse as our senior pastor, we look back at our perceived inadequacies as individuals and as a church, and how challenging of a situation any senior pastor would be stepping into. And we’re reminded of God’s desire to use what is weak and broken to show that he is the one who holds all things together. In this process God reminded us that when we are weak, he is strong; when we are faithless, he remains faithful. We hope this is also a testimony to the church of God’s faithfulness and that you share our excitement for what God will continue to do in IGC. 

Lastly, we want to thank everyone who has labored with us in this process: to our families, the staff, the session, and Josh Eby. We’re thankful for how God used each of you to minister to us.  

Nate Ong, on behalf of the PSC (Julie Gullman, Sini Robinson, John Ward, Elaine Wu, Tommy Wong, Anna Yang, and Tae Yook)

A note from our pastor-elect, Jesse Robinson

We had a congregational vote this past Sunday to approve the call for Jesse Robinson to become our new senior pastor. We are happy and excited to announce that the call was approved by an overwhelming majority. Now that the call has been approved by the congregation, he is now our pastor-elect. Next, Jesse will be examined by the Northern California Presbytery and will be transferred from the Blue Ridge Presbytery. Jesse and his family will then move to California. Lord willing, he will begin ministering at IGC later this summer. His start date will be determined by the IGC session in the coming weeks. 

Special thanks to the Pastoral Search Committee for the time and energy they spent, the thought they put in, and the prayers they prayed throughout the search process. You will hear directly from them in next week's newsletter.

Praise God for his provision for our church!
 
A note from Pastor Jesse:

Beloved brothers and sisters at IGC,

The peace of Christ be with you all! Jessica and I are so thankful for our brief time with you. It was such a delight to meet you, and we so enjoyed the meet-and-greet on Saturday morning, meeting and talking with you all. It left us wanting more time with you!

We're so thankful to the Lord for his mercy in leading us to the saints at Indelible Grace Church. We have been so encouraged in all our conversations. From the pastoral search committee, to the staff, to the session, to the members, we have experienced the presence and grace of our Lord Jesus among you all. It has been a living demonstration of the truth of 1 Corinthians 12:27: "Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." 

Now finally, we rejoice in the Lord for the vote on Sunday! The Lord has been faithful to each step of this process, and we are grateful for this final confirmation that the Lord is calling us to come labor with and among you. Praise Jesus, the Lord and Head of his bride, the church! He is rich and generous to his people and always faithful!

Pastor Jesse Robinson

Why We Baptize Infants

In the coming days the young child of one of our families will be baptized. The practice of baptizing infants might seem foreign to some of us. Many of our members have spent time in churches that only baptized those who were old enough to profess faith in Christ. So why does Indelible Grace Church baptize infants?

First, a very truncated explanation of the theological reasoning:

The account of God's covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15 and 17 is one of the foundational texts for the entire storyline of the Bible. In it God promises an everlasting covenant, not only with Abraham and his immediate family, but with all his descendants. 

It's important to point out that the promise doesn't belong only to Abraham and his immediate offspring. Galatians 3:7 tells us "it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. ” That means that you and I - if we have placed our faith in Christ - are under the same promise that was given some 5000 years ago. If this is true, then the faith that the Old Testament believers expressed is the same type of faith that New Testament believers express; believers in both eras receive God's promise by grace through faith (Genesis 15:6, Ephesians 2:8-9). 

In the area of baptism, what differentiates Indelible Grace Church from our Baptist friends is our understanding of the relationship between circumcision in the Old Testament and baptism in the New Testament. There is a continuity between the promise that God made with Abraham and the promise he makes to New Testament believers. And the sign of God's covenant with Abraham in the Old Testament - circumcision - functions in the same way as the sign of God's covenant with Abraham's descendants in the New Testament - baptism. (See Colossians 2:11-12)

In receiving the covenant promise from God, the sign of faith that Abraham was to administer to himself and to his children was circumcision. To the children of Abraham, the circumcision was a sign of God's pledge to honor his promise to them when the conditions of the covenant - faith in God - were met. In the New Testament, baptism is administered as a sign of faith and a seal - a guarantee that God will honor his promise to the recipient. 

The apostle Peter makes it clear that the promise belongs not only to professing adults, but also to their children. “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ... For the promise is for you and for your children...” (Acts 2:38–39)

God makes the promise to the child who receives baptism. Though she may be too young to understand the promise, God still pledges to honor his promise to wash her clean of sins by the blood of Christ when she meets the conditions of the covenant - by placing her faith in Christ. 

By being baptized, a child is not automatically saved. Nor is it guaranteed that she will ever come to faith in Christ. But when parents have their children baptized, they are claiming the covenant promises of God on their behalf. In effect, they're saying that they will raise their children as if the promise really does belong to them. And as long as the children are under the authority of their parents, they will be treated as a child of the covenant community.

In baptism, the parents are committing to spiritually nurture their children and teach them to trust God and believe in Christ; their home will be built on the promises of God. The goal is that the children would come to know and love the promises of God so much that they will one day receive the promise for themselves. 

This is grace! That God freely offers to us what we cannot earn - or even fully understand. 

Pastor Wade

To learn more about infant baptism, I recommend the following resources:
Why Do We Baptize Infants?, by Bryan Chapell
Infant Baptism, by John Currie
Infant Baptism: How My Mind Has Changed, by Dennis Johnson 

A Reflection on Prayer

[This is a lightly edited transcript of a devotional shared by David Yi (one of our ruling elders) during the congregational meeting on February 26, 2023]

Our church has been centered around the topic of prayer, and I thought to share some of my personal reflections and how they intersect with this season at IGC.

As a relatively cautious person, and in no attempt to say anything “prophetic”, I will say this:

Right now, I’m convinced that God is starting to do something in our church. Something different. Something powerful. It’s not uncommon in a community of faith – whether that’s your family, or your group of friends, or a local church – for God to demonstrate his power and grace after an intense season of hardship and sorrow. We’ve seen that pattern throughout scripture. By God’s grace, I believe we can enter into that kind of season together. I’ve seen things in our worship services. I’ve seen things in our CG. I’ve seen it in the conversations I’ve recently had with friends in our church, in the ways God is moving in their hearts and lives. I see it in our session as we are finding new reasons to praise God and give thanks to him for his faithfulness to us. I don’t believe these are random. I believe they are part of a greater work of God at IGC. This is not to say that all people at our church is experiencing such things. It’s also not to say that things are so great at our church. We still need healing and growing. Maybe you are some someone who in pain, or struggling, or feeling distant from God. But here and there, I have noticed some cracks, and beams of renewal and the light of God’s grace starting to peek through.

But here’s the thing church: We need to pray. We must be absolutely committed to prayer during this season. There are no movements of renewal, revival, or repentance without prayer. When we pray, the Holy Spirit can surprise us with unexpected things. During prayer in one of our recent CG meetings someone in our group started praying for another person who had been struggling and tears were shared among us. When we pray, the Spirit can convict our hearts to confession and repentance. When we pray, the Spirit can enter us into a season of putting to death things in our lives that hinder us from Jesus and replace it with new springs of life. Why can’t we have a revival at IGC? Why can’t we enter into a season where our sin becomes more bitter, and Christ becomes sweeter? Why can’t we experience this throughout the church, even before we know the name of our next senior pastor? Why not? When I texted a brother last week about desiring more from the Lord for our church, he texted me back these two words: “Ask boldly.” Yes, I must ask boldly. We all must ask boldly.

Here’s the thing though. As convinced as I am that we need to enter into a season of intense prayer, I look at my prayer life and realize how embarrassed I am at how weak and underdeveloped it is. I’ve examined it carefully. I’ve been talking to my mentor about my prayer life, and I’ve realized how unbalanced I am in my spiritual life. In Acts 6, the church raised up deacons so that the apostles could focus on the two priorities of the church – prayer and the ministry of the Word. Like a guy who only bench presses and does bicep curls at the gym and never trains his legs and resembles the physique of SpongeBob, I realize how imbalanced I am. Not enough prayer. Also, as someone who is passionate about discipling others, I’ve realized of all the spiritual disciplines I’ve passed onto others for their Christian growth, I’ve not transferred a prayer life very well. The reason is pretty simple – because I haven’t modeled it from my own life.

There might be lots of factors (ahem, excuses) for this. I think about all the Christian conferences I’ve been to and how 90% of them are someone talking, there’s about 8% singing, and maybe 2% prayer. I think about how in praying meetings we often spend 80% of the time talking and sharing, and maybe 20% of the time praying, if even that. I think about my Korean immigrant church upbringing, where prayer was so powerful and rich, and how later in English ministry contexts, as we moved away from our parents’ way of faith, we even threw out their rich tradition of prayerfulness (which we should have held onto for dear life). I think about how in our general theologically Reformed camp (like us in the PCA), it feels like sometimes its more about learning theology than practicing doxology (worship). At times it seems like we’re almost afraid of spiritual experiences. I think about the culture of the Bay Area and how much we value acquisition of information. These all may be contributing factors for sure. But in the end, I know don’t pray because my pride, my spiritual immaturity, and even my unbelief in the power of prayer. I am repenting of this.

In thinking through this, I started to feel riddled with guilt and shame about my prayer life. I started to feel immense conviction that I’m supposed to be praying more and I’m not. How am I going to lead our CG in prayer with my weak prayer life? How am I supposed to love others if I don’t find more time to pray for and with them? Why is prayer so hard? I feel bad about this. Do you guys feel this at all?

As I started to work this out, the Holy Spirit led me to start thinking about the apostles. You know, the prayers warriors who led the early church. These guys were so devoted to prayer. I started re-reading Acts and marking all the places they were praying together. It was amazing. They prayed constantly (1:14, 6:4, 10:9, 12:5, 14:23). And in so many places, it said they were “devoted” to prayer.

I soon remembered these were the same guys who, the night that Jesus was betrayed, kept falling asleep, and failed to pray even after the Lord Jesus specifically asked them – pleaded with them multiple times – to pray and keep watch. Do you remember this story?

Some of these guys were fisherman. They were used to fishing all night long for their work. And yet when Jesus, their Lord and friend who spent 3 years of his life with them, is in such sorrow and agony that he is sweating drops of blood and falling to his knees in prayer, asks them to be a friend to pray and keep watch… They can’t. do. it. They can stay up to fish. Not to pray. This story did not help my guilt. It only added to it.

But here’s where I was comforted by our Lord Jesus. Perhaps you’ll be comforted by this as well. Because unlike us, Jesus, who was full of sorrow and to the point of death, actually prays. Luke 22:44 says this “And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drop of blood falling to the ground.” As we are in the season of Lent, where we reflect more on the sufferings of our Lord Jesus, picture this for a moment. And the next verse, verse 45, it says that Jesus finds his disciples sleeping. [Luke graciously attributes their slumber to an exhaustion from sorrow. Have you ever been exhausted from sorrow and felt like sleep is all you could do?]. How does our Lord Jesus respond? He doesn’t give a stern word of rebuke. He doesn’t say “You weak, faithless fools. I’m about to die for you! And you’re here sleeping? You can’t even say a few words of prayer?” No. Luke tells us Jesus simply says to his brothers, with love and tenderness and concern, “Rise and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Because Jesus knew how much the disciples would have to endure and he was urging them to pray, to help them. But they fail to pray, Jesus is betrayed and all the disciples all flee.

But our Jesus… what did he do? He prayed. He asked God “not my will but yours be done.” And with those prayers, he went to the cross and died for prayerless, sinful, unfaithful disciples like us. Even on the cross, with his dying breath, he prayed to God to ask him “forgive them for they know not what they do.”

I imagine the disciples never forgot how their Lord prayed, and even prayed on the cross. I imagine the disciples never forgot the night they fell asleep and failed to pray. Yet their Lord still died for them. What was the effect of this to their life and ministry?

Just weeks after this event, after Jesus resurrected and ascends, Luke tells us in Acts 1 that the same disciples were back at the mount of Olives – the same mount of Olives with the garden where Jesus was praying, and they were sleeping. They were back at the scene of the crime.  And they come down from that same mountain, they go into the city of Jerusalem together. Acts 1:14 says “all these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer…” They were changed by Jesus. Those prayers in Chapter 1 were the prequel to the Holy Spirit’s anointing in Chapter 2, and then proceeds to record all the mighty things God’s Spirit did through the church.

That same Spirit is powerfully working at our church right now. Listen church! We need to pray. I know it’s hard. I know we may not be good at it. I know I’m undisciplined in my prayer. But Jesus isn’t done praying. Right now, Jesus is at the right hand of God, and Romans 8 says he’s interceding for us right now. He’s praying for us! In the same chapter, we are told that the Spirit himself intercedes for us when we don’t even know what to pray for!

I’ve been reading this wonderful book, A Praying Church, by Paul Miller (I urge you to read it). Dane Ortlund, who wrote the intro, writes this about the importance of prayer in churches – a timely word for IGC:

"A church with rich history, flawless music, powerful preaching, amazing childcare, a paid-off mortgage, and stellar attendance but sleepily operating out of the resources of the flesh instead of prayer is headed toward tragic inconsequentiality.

A church riddled with dysfunctions, embattled and beleaguered, unimpressive in preaching, off-tune musically, small in numbers, and without resources but quietly collapsing into the freefall of faith-fueled praying is a church that will bless this world in a thousand surprising ways and leave a mark that reverberates through eternity."

May our God grant IGC the gift of “collapsing into the freefall of faith-fueled praying”!

For Christ and his church. For his glory and our joy.

Tracy's Return from Maternity Leave

Hi everyone! As of January 9, I am officially back from my maternity leave. Nate and I are so grateful for the extended time I had to get ready for Corey's arrival and transition into motherhood. We can't believe Corey is already 4.5 months old!

Though adjusting to being a mom has been tiring and I am sad for my leave to end, I am also excited to be back in my role. I've missed serving God and IGC as the administrator. At the same time, I am also aware that our church is still in a place of transition, healing, and recovery. I am aware that much of our leadership (pastors, elders, ministry leaders) and many of our volunteers are tired. I have been praying and asking God to give me wisdom on how to best serve the church in this season.

Thank you to my fantastic admin team who filled in for me - Anna Yang (overseeing Sundays), Andrew Nguyen (scheduling volunteers), Dorothy Lee (printing the bulletins + other miscellaneous items/improvements), John Freeman (music slides), and Robin Freeman (communications). Thank you to Jun Yang, who did the audio uploads. Thank you to Pastor Wade, who oversaw the admin team and filled in where he saw needs. Finally, thank you to the music leaders (David Yi, Marshall Ha, Jesslyn Kwong, Dan Kim, and Pastor Wade) who led more frequently so that Nate could have a break as well.

I'm looking forward to working with Pastor Wade, Pastor Tom, and the elders. And I'm looking forward to serving alongside all of you again! Thank you in advance for your patience as I get back in the swing of things!

Tracy Ong

A Reflection on 2022

2022 has been a difficult year for Indelible Grace Church. We’ve gone through a great deal of turmoil and experienced some significant losses. Many of us have experienced the gamut of emotions in light of the troubles we’ve seen - sadness, anger, grief, discouragement, disappointment, relief, resignation, and more. We’ve had good reasons to feel those things, and some of us still need to process the things we’ve been through.

In this liminal season there’s a tendency to either dwell on the past with regret or look to the future with dread and anxiety. But we believe that IGC belongs to God and is shepherded by Jesus. And although he, too, is grieved by what we’ve experienced, we trust that he is present in our troubles and will redeem every painful moment in our history. Therefore, we have confidence that The Lord will use everything that has happened for our good, and that everything that happens in the next season will be with his good hand upon us.

During the summer we spent several weeks looking at Isaiah 42:1-10. The sermon series was an extended meditation on the person of Jesus, his ministry to the world, and his care for the church. In the final sermon in the series, I summarized one of the themes in the passage:

“Jesus is the Servant in this passage. He carries out his mission to make things right - for the people of God - and ultimately the world. There are two images we’re given in the beginning of the passage: the bruised reed and the smoldering wick. These are images of a people who are barely hanging on - through their own sin and rebellion, and also from the trauma of all that life has thrown at them. The Servant notices the reed and the wick and - with great love and tenderness and compassion - he mends and restores the bruised reed; he cups his hands around the smoldering wick to protect it and blows life into it so that it will burn with a bright fire once again.

“The servant in this passage is committed to his ministry. Jesus is the covenant of God for the people of God. We are defined by the covenant - the gospel. And we are equipped by God to do ministry.

“In these verses God says that he will do new things - in our lives and in this church. And he will do it for his glory, for his name’s sake, and for his reputation - because his glory is the most important thing in the universe. And our healing and our rebuilding and everything we do as a church should point back to God and be a testament to his goodness and wisdom and power.”

This is what we always want to be: a church that points the world to Jesus and testifies of the power of the Gospel. No matter what happens in the church and to the church, we must faithfully carry out the mission that has been given to us.

We’ve tried our best to do that this year. And though the grief we've experienced is real and valid, there is also much for us to be thankful for and celebrate. Among other things - we moved back indoors for our Sunday services, members were inducted, a girls discipleship group began, we had our first ever day of fasting and prayer, an interim pastor joined our staff, much of the church participated in a church-wide bible study in the book of Nehemiah, the Sunday morning prayer hour was restarted, we began a search for a new lead pastor, members stepped up to serve the church. And most importantly, Jesus was worshiped.

A bruised reed Jesus did not break. A faintly burning wick he did not snuff out.

And we can look back on this past year with gratitude for his faithfulness and for what he has done at IGC.

Pastor Wade