One Person at a Time...

Brad's "ON BOARD!" (Officially)

Hard to believe but Worship Coordinator and Youth Leader, Brad French's initial 90-days of employment concludes TODAY, and the elders' council have confirmed his employment as permanent!  That's a great blessing to all of us who call New Life Home.  Brad's love of Jesus, his commitment to excellence in ministry, his many gifts and skills, and his genuine humility make him an outstanding leader at New Life.  Along with Sam, who brings many gifts and skills of her own, they make a great team, and I am truly grateful to God for them and their ministry with us!  May the PERMANENT status of Brad's employment be just that for many years to come!

This Sunday at New Life!

Join us Sunday as our focus will be "ALWAYS Give Thanks!"  In his first letter to the Christians at Thessalonica, the Apostle Paul closed with four commands that call us to ALWAYS do three things and never do one.  The three things we're always to do are 1) ALWAYS rejoice!; 2) ALWAYS pray! and; 3) ALWAYS give thanks!  The one thing we're never supposed to do is NEVER quench the Holy Spirit.

As we bring our 40 Days of Gratitude series to the "home stretch," what better time than the week of THANKSGIVING to remind ourselves that because of God's abundant blessings in our lives that it is ALWAYS time to give thanks!  Bring a friend and BE THERE at 10:00 a.m this Sunday.   (REMEMBER: we're moving across the street to the South Butler Primary Center multi-purpose room this Sunday!!!)

Basketball, Basketball and MORE Basketball

One of the greatest joys of my life has been being part of Abby and Emmy's involvement in basketball over the past eleven or so years.  These days our involvement in Abby's basketball world is WATCHING.  As a first year college student, and "true freshman," on the women's team, she's learning that it's not high school anymore!  While she's seen limited action in the team's scrimmages, she's had the opportunity to hit a few threes, a couple foul shots, make a number of assists, and block a few shots.  Everyone is bigger and faster than in high school, and it's actually fun to watch warm ups as the vast majority of the shots go in the hoop!  Abby's learning to manage her time effectively, and there's no danger of her gaining the "freshman fifteen." The intensity of the workouts has her in the best physical condition of her life, and as in the past her academic performance is always excellent "in season," which at the college level seems to be about 11 months out of the year!

Emmy's "travel team" has their first practice tonight and for Emmy it'll be the 7th year of having dad as coach.  Most of the time that's worked out well, and over the past few years, I've "mellowed" in my approach.  It's a great deal of fun -- along with the momentary frustrations -- when teaching 13 young women about the game of life and the game of basketball.  I guess I'm basically a coach at heart.  As a pastor my role is coaching folks to become followers of Jesus and then coaching them to learn the skills/disciplines necessary to grow more like Jesus and to help others do the same!  In coaching basketball my goals are basically the same, except that the skills being taught are dribbling, shooting, passing, rebounding, etc...  Overall, when the season is over, the most important "victory" will be if each player has a little clearer understanding of how important Jesus is to life, and how important each of them is to Him! 

They Might Have It In Fox Chapel...

Have you ever gone to a store to buy something, only to discover that it was on sale and you didn't know it?  That happened to me today.  I was buying extra RAM for the laptop, and stopped in at Staples in New Kensington, where I found that today 2.0 GB of RAM was just $69.00. There was only one catch---they didn't have it in the store.  "Steve" who waited on us said they might have it in Fox Chapel.  His computer told him they had 7 in stock there.  He called just to make sure.  After five minutes of waiting on hold Steve told us that the Fox Chapel store didn't actually have any in stock.  I asked, "What about Butler?"  He said he'd check.  They had 12.  Really?  He'd call to make sure.  Yes, they really had 12.  So, we drove to Butler and got it.  Still a good deal even with the extra hour of driving, because we brought it home, popped it in and now instead of 512 MB of RAM, the laptop has 2.0 (actually 1.99) GB!  What does that mean?  It means that in the next six months, I'll save about 30 hours of waiting for the computer to load programs and process information.  Wow!  30 hours of time for only $69.00.  That's just $2.30 an hour for 30 EXTRA HOURS!   What a deal!  How much would you pay for 30 extra hours?  You may want to check. They just might have it in Fox Chapel...

Next Step #26

Hi Everyone!

Today we come to the final installment of our “FRUIT” of the Spirit next steps.  The Apostle Paul writes the following in Galatians 5:22-23: ²²But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness, and SELF-CONTROL. There is no law against these things! 

The ninth and final element of the fruit of the Spirit is “self-control.” The interesting thing about the phrase “self-control” is that as it is used in Galatians 5:23 it actually means that the “self” is controlled by the Holy Spirit! Think about it: the worst possible situation for any of us to be in is one of SELF-control. By that I mean that our fallen, sinful selves are in control. It is in the condition of being SELF-controlled that we seek our own will and our own advantage. Yet, the ninth and final characteristic of the Holy Spirit is “self-control.” When we are exhibiting “self-control,” as the Apostle Paul used the word here, we are exhibiting a self-CONTROLLED by the Holy Spirit. That difference makes all the difference.  Let me illustrate:  when I wake up in the morning when my alarm goes off, if I am SELF-controlled, I will say, “I don’t feel like getting up. I’m going to sleep some more. In fact, I don’t think I’ll get up until noon. Then I’m going to do whatever I please for the rest of the day! On the other hand if I am self-controlled, meaning that the Holy Spirit is in control of myself, then, I will get up and focus on the Lord and His will for the day. I will seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Self-control is part of the fruit of the Spirit, because when I’m living in it, I give up my SELF to be controlled by the Spirit. So, let’s make sure that when we wake up tomorrow, and each day of our lives that we let the Holy Spirit reign in our lives, so that self-control will be a blessing for us and all we meet!

This Sunday at New Life!

Overflowing Gratitude!  That will be the focus this Sunday as we move to the fourth week of our 40 Days fo Gratitude series.  Today marks the halfway point of our 40 days, and I can say that in my own daily living, I'm noticing more gratitude for so many things!  Colossians 2:6-12 forms the basis for this week's message, particularly Paul's key statement:  Let your lives overflow with thanksgiving for all he (Jesus) has done.  Have you stopped today to thank Jesus for all He has done?  Have you taken time to notice all the blessings you have received from His hand?  Why not take some time RIGHT NOW to do just that? 

I hope you'll join us this Sunday as we celebrate God's presence in our lives, and continue to see how many reasons we have for saying, "THANK YOU!" for all He has done and is doing among us!  See you there!

Making the Most of Every Opportunity

This past Sunday our Scripture of the day was Ephesians 5:1-20.  Within that Scripture are these words:  Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16 NIV)  I have been reflecting a great deal on what it means to make the most of EVERY opportunity.  Time management--or more properly LIFE management has always been a challenge for me.  I'm naturally good at "winging it," so waiting until the last minute and then coming up with something is my natural MO (modus operandi) for life.  However, that does NOT seem to be what it means to make the most of EVERY opportunity.  To make the most of EVERY opportunity would seem to mean that I would plan my time, and thus my life, listening always to the Holy Spirit for input, and then doing those things that will impact the most people for Kingdom benefits--either salvation for the "lost" or deepening discipleship for the "found."

I've always known that.  I've TRIED to live it for decades.  I remember reading Ordering Your Private World by Gordon McDonald at least 15 years ago, in yet another attempt to get organized, but in a sanctified way.  Now, I'm going to apply my TRAINING vs. TRYING model to this area of my life as I have to prayer and running.  Today, I made a commitment to plan ahead, to work ahead and to live IN THE PRESENT.  Actually, it was just now that the wording came out (winging it within limits, I guess) that way.  But what I mean is that I want to SEE the big picture, to WORK far enough ahead (3 weeks is my initial goal) in the areas of message preparation, Bible Study preparation, and other weekly tasks, so that I CAN LIVE IN THE PRESENT.  Mostly what I do in the present is bemoan the reality that I'm not getting everything done that needs to be done NOW, and planning and working in the future seems like a dream.  But today, has already been different.  I planned my work and worked my plan.  True, it's 7:10 p.m. and part of my plan is to start and end early as far as work is concerned, but in order to get three weeks ahead, one does have to work a little longer to get there in the first place!  I'm now two weeks ahead in two areas, and by tomorrow evening, the goal is to be two weeks ahead in the four areas that I have weekly repeating responsibility.  Then by next week the goal is to be three weeks ahead, and then the goal is to STAY that far ahead. 

Why share this with you?  Two reasons:  1)  Maybe it will encourage you to plan your work and work your plan; and 2) maybe you'll encourage me to stick with it!  Thanks in advance if either is the case!  Here's to making the most of EVERY opportunity!

.

Next Step #25

Next Step #25 – November 3, 2007

Hi Everyone!

If you’ve been following the next steps each week, you know that we’re coming into the “home stretch” in our investigation of the “FRUIT” of the Spirit.  The Apostle Paul writes the following in Galatians 5:22-23:  ²²But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³GENTLENESS, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

The eighth trait in the fruit of the Spirit is gentleness. The Greek word used by Paul may be translated either as gentleness or humility. In either case, the idea is that when the Holy Spirit is in control of our lives the result will be our dependence on God. To be gentle or humble is to recognize that we are not in control, that we depend on someone or something else. In the ancient world of Paul’s time, as in our own, gentleness was not looked on with favor. In fact, the Christian attitude of gentleness was often mistaken for weakness, as it can be today. The reality is when we demonstrate the fruit of humility or gentleness in our lives, our strength comes from God, which means that we are truly powerful! The Apostle Paul reminds us in 2 Corinthians that when we are weak, then God is strong within us (See 2 Corinthians 12:5-10)  As our dependence on God grows, as we live in the fullness of the Holy Spirit, our lives become more and more gentle or humble. Review this past week in your mind, right now.  Did your life show evidence of God’s control, of gentleness, or did pride take center stage more often than not? The key is to continue to call on God to fill and empower us with the Holy Spirit, so that in ALL things and at ALL times we may demonstrate a gentle spirit. Our greatest example of gentleness is, of course, Jesus, who though He was (and is!) equal with God, did not consider that equality as a reason for pride. Rather, He emptied Himself and became one of us, that we might receive eternal life through His death on the cross in our place! (See Philippians 2:5-11)  Take some time right now to ask the Holy Spirit to fill you and empower you that your life may be gentle, humble, and that it may bring glory to God!

This Sunday at New Life!

Join us this Sunday as we take a look at being "Grateful for a Transformed Life!"  One of the most amazing realities of following Jesus Christ is that day-by-day we can become more and more like Him!  The Apostle Paul's letter to the Ephesians, chapter 5:1-20  will provide the text for our in depth investigation into HOW we can become more like Jesus every day, and WHY we must remember to THANK HIM for it.  We hope you'll come to New Life and bring a friend.  (We're easy to find--just come to the Knoch High School auditorium at 10:00 a.m.!  For directions go to New Life.)