I love my city, Alhambra! Alhambra is a unique city in the Los Angeles Region, sharing a border with East L.A, South Pasadena, San Marino, San Gabriel and Monterey Park. It is not quite a suburb but it is not completely urban either. It is a transitional city with growing numbers of immigrants. The population is mostly Hispanic and Asian but White, Black, Burmese, Sri Lankan, etc. are also represented. We are a diverse city with over 40 churches. But history has shown the Church to be fragmented. God continues to call the people of God in Alhambra together through Jesus.
On Wednesday night, Thanksgiving eve 2006, over 400 people representing over 9 Alhambra Churches (Protestant and Catholic) came together to worship and give thanks to our God. Multiple ethnicities, cultures, traditions and languages were woven into the service.
Pastors reflected from the book of Ephesians, a book that Paul wrote to the people of Ephesus to encourage them to see their city and world through Kingdom lenses, to see that the Kingdom of God is bigger than they think and that they are a part of it. The Church is bigger than we think it is and is not bound by our buildings and walls. Rather than each church taking a segment of the service to work on, we combined the elements of the service so that the people in all the churches worked together. The service included a multi-church orchestra, worship team and gathering. During the service, people were already talking about ways we can come together and be a light for Jesus to our city. One pastor's words especially linger. He challenged us to see that the greatest way to impact our city and world is through our collective worship of the one true God. When we worship Jesus, our Beloved, that is what expands the Kingdom of God in our city because our eyes are on Jesus and that points others to Him and what He is doing in our world.
Rather than our differences keeping us apart, we are brought together by what unites us; Jesus! And when the Church comes together in Jesus, the world sees the love of God for the world. May we be the Church of Alhambra that God calls us to be: people of compassion, love, hope, unity and Jesus. As we, the Church are made ONE in Jesus, so the Kingdom of God is realized more fully here in Alhambra as it is in Heaven.
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It is encouraging to see what you are doing in Alhambra. To hear that Catholics, Protestants, and Ethnic pastors are coming together is a witness to the God's moving in your community. Why do you think pastors are willing to come together?
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