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GLB Church July Newsletter!
July is here — and we’re stepping into it with intention, faith, and prayer at the center. This season isn’t just about summer vibes and sunshine — it’s about leaning into what God is doing right now in our lives, in our families, and in our church.
We believe prayer changes everything. Whether you’re showing up in person, tuning in online, or gathering with friends at home, let’s keep praying bold prayers — for breakthrough, for healing, for our city, and for God to move powerfully in and through us. 🙏
This month’s newsletter is packed with exciting updates, can’t-miss events, and opportunities to grow deeper in your walk with Jesus and connection with others. Let’s stay hopeful, stay prayerful, and watch what God does when we show up with hearts wide open.
We’re with you — and praying alongside you all the way.
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Dear GLB Church Family!
Summertime is moving along at full speed! Camps, vacations, trips, concerts and movies in the park, beach days— there’s a lot going on in our surrounding communities and also in our spiritual village in GLB Church. Here are a few things that come to mind of what God is doing and showing us lately:
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LA Church TEEN CAMP had over 275 high school students at Azusa Pacific University for a week of lessons, fellowship, and some good competition. The theme was ‘SEEN’- the fact that no matter our circumstances, our difficulties, our loneliness, our insecurities, our fears, our sin— God sees us, God knows us, God loves us. It was taken from Genesis 16 and the story of Hagar- the first human being recorded in the Bible to give God a name— she is an Egyptian slave woman (a complete outcast and discarded by Sarai after becoming pregnant).. and she gives God the name, ‘El Roí’- the God who sees me. The teens had a week of learning about this and how this can change our lives and inspire us to live lives for God’s glory. It was an amazing time! Many of the counselors came from GLB Church and we are so grateful for these men and women who spent their time off to mentor and inspire our teens.
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LA Church YOUTH CAMP is coming up this month of July- please be praying as over 200 5th-8th graders head up to Idyllwild to experience an incredible time away, unplugged from devices, and learning what it means to be CHOSEN by God. Pray for our counselors and others serving on staff, please!
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We recently began a spiritual leadership training program in the campus ministry called, ‘The Good Tree Collective’. We are meeting on Monday mornings having lessons through the book of James with the goal of becoming ‘good trees’ that ‘bear good fruit.’ Our theme passage is James 3:17-18- “But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace for those who make peace.’ It has been an incredible time so far as we are equipping a group of college students to be men and women of character and wisdom in our current cultural moment.
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The YoPro Singles Ministry is continuing to grow and flourish. We just started an ‘Anchor Team’ who are helping to coordinate different aspects of the ministry and also have some time for equipping and spiritual growth. Many of the college students who have recently graduated have been able to find ways to remain in Long Beach and be active participants in the YoPro Singles as well, which has been encouraging to see.
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Our GLB Church goal for Missions Offering is $83,500. As of June 30th, a total of $91K was given so far!! THANK YOU for your generosity and sacrifice to meet needs around the world! God will bless His people around the world due to the generosity of His people here in GLB. THANK YOU.
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Our June ‘Open Hands’ Family Picnic was a great success as we had a large communal table with everyone bringing something to share to eat. Our prayer and hope was to create an environment for more cross-generational conversations and connections to occur and God truly blessed the time. Thank you to all who planned and participated!
Through the month of July, we will have different ministries lead some of our worship gatherings. July 13th will be led by our YoPro Ministry; July 20th will be led by our Youth Ministry; and July 27th is our monthly OPEN HANDS Sunday with another opportunity to share food at the table and ‘break bread’ together. Please be praying for a great time at camp for our young ones and also for the upcoming ICMC for college students happening at the end of July AND our first ever LA Church JUBILEE coming up! Much love to you all.
A look at our weekly contributions. What we have budgeted and what we actually received.
View all of our upcoming events!
All Calendar Events
Be part of the Guatemala Hope Brigade by helping meet a simple but powerful need — children’s shoes and socks. Inspired by Mark 12:31, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” we’re collecting donations from July 6–July 27, and every item given will go directly to kids in Guatemala.
We also have a need for more small groups to sign up to make lunches at Christian Outreach in Action on the second Saturday of the month for the last half of the year. Please call Erica Burch 562-787-4626 for more info or organize with your group and sign up here.
We are happy to pray for your prayer requests, or have you join us to pray at our GLB Prayer Night at 7:30pm on July 23.
You can email prayer requests to glbprayerministry@gmail.com or enter them here.
Scripture of the Month: James 5:16 (NIV)
“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
In a month where we’re focusing on prayer, this verse is a bold reminder that our prayers matter. They’re not just words spoken into the air — they carry weight, authority, and power when they’re rooted in faith. James doesn’t say prayer is helpful or nice — he says it’s effective.
We chose this verse because it reminds us to pray with confidence — not because we have it all together, but because we’re trusting the One who does. Whether you’re praying over your family, our church, your job, or something deeply personal, know that your voice is heard — and your prayers are powerful.
Let this verse anchor your prayers this month. Pray with boldness. Pray with expectation. And trust that God is already working behind the scenes.
