July 2, 2023

July, the seventh month, begins the second half of the year. We have completed 181 days. We have 184 days left to complete 2023.

Please note that we will have In-person Worship Services every Sunday for the month of July at Temple Baptist Church, 850 Venice Blvd., Los Angeles at 8:00 am.

Tuesday, July 4, 2023, is Independence Day and is observed as the birth of our nation.

The nation was born out of a commitment to create a country based on the creed that "All people are created equal and entitled to certain inalienable rights among them life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This is the way the Declaration of Independence says it. The challenges which occasioned the birth of America still require the determination and resolve "to form a more perfect union"; realizing that we are a work in progress. 

Given the rise in nativist interest, some support the policy of protecting the interest of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants and others, ignoring the Fourteenth Amendment which granted citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States, including formerly enslaved people and provided citizens with equal protection under the law. The strife between truth and falsehood is so prevalent today that it is ludicrous. It has been quoted by Voltaire, “Anyone who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.”

Imagine how prevalent conspiracy theories that embrace falsehood over the fact and untruth over truth. The contentious conversations with vitriolic verbiage promoting violence are injuriously deadly, to say the least. While we may have come a long way and made many strides, the struggle continues to maintain and sustain those accomplishments as they will be caught in the drag of yesterday, as the composer put it, “A fool will lose tomorrow, reaching back for yesterday.”

Sunday July 16, 2023 Mid-Year Church Meeting 

(Agenda / Prayer / Verification of Quorum /Minutes of the Annual Meeting January 2023 and Informational Meeting April 2023/ Pastor’s reflections / Diaconate Reflections /Trustees Reflections - (Chairman’s Report, Updates on Structural Repair, In-person Worship, Investment Committee, Henderson Community Property) / Budget and Finance Commission budget for July – December 2023 /Presentation by Chair of the Leadership Committee preparing for our return to our sacred space / Projection of Calendar of Events for the remaining portion of 2023 /Conclusion and Adjournment / Benediction.)

Sunday, July 23, 2023 is being observed as Male Emphasis Day. Our men from the Men’s Breakfast Club will be leading in worship.

Sunday July 31, 2023, Missions Emphasis Sunday

Thank you for your continued commitment to this fellowship of faith.  Your patience and perseverance have been exception as we have faced the protracted absence from our sacred space due to the pandemic and structural damage. It will not be as long as it has been. “Be not weary in well doing for we shall reap if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9.

I want to commend those who have risen to the occasion to do what has been necessary to navigate us through the long season of adjustment. The commitment of your capacity, skill set, and willingness to do what was necessary to maintain ourselves as a fellowship simply a marvelous indication of your love of the Lord. Thank you.

Continue to give commensurate with your capacity through the mail, Givelify, and Zelle. When we return there will be other obligations that will require that we have to raise our level of contributions to make the adjustments necessary to function adequately.

With every good wish, I am,

Yours in Celebration of God’s Love,

-Pastor

Dr. William S. Epps, Senior Pastor