One Person at a Time...

This Sunday at New Life!

Join us Sunday as we move to the second message in our 40 Days of Commitment Series: In Spirit and Truth!  The focus is our commitment to worship, and we'll be celebrating the Lord's Supper together.  Who or what is the focus of YOUR worship right now?  Is it God--really?  How does that get lived out not just on Sundays, but throughout the week?  Be there as we take on this vital priority in our lives as Jesus' followers.

Concert of Prayer--TONIGHT!

Pastor Darrell Dement of SEAPC joins us this evening at 7:30 p.m. at Elmcroft in Saxonburg for a "Concert of Prayer!" We'll praise God together and offer intercessory prayer for the nations. Darrell will have video updates of what God is doing through SEAPC in Tibet and Cambodia, and we'll also lift up the current needs of our local ministry and mission here at New Life. Please join us! We'll be in the Roebling Room. Any questions give me a call at 724-352-4196.

Remembering Clyde...

My good friend Clyde, who has fought a valiant battle with leukemia over the past two years won the final victory this morning as he died to this life and joined all the saints who have gone before us to be with Jesus. I am reminded immediately of the Apostle Paul's encouragment to the Christians at Thessalonica when he said, "We do not grieve as the rest of men who have no hope." He didn't say we don't grieve. He said our grief is different from those who have no hope. I am deeply saddened by Clyde's passing. No one wanted to see the construction of our mission outpost at 127 Knoch Road more than Clyde. He was constantly encouraging me and challenging me to move the congregation forward with it. Clyde's love for Jesus erupted like a volcano through the process of disease that he has gone through these past two years. His faith and constant reliance on Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit through each up and down (and there were dozens of them!) was an inspiration to all of us who visited him at home or Shadyside Hospital were he lived many of his days since 2007. On Thursday when I have the honor of officiating at Clyde's funeral, it will be one of the easiest and hardest tasks to undertake. It will be easy because if I have ever been able to proclaim that a man belonged to Jesus, Clyde did! It wil be hard, because even though he was ready to go, and his body had been overcome by the disease, I will miss him a great deal. Clyde is one of the surest testimonies of God's grace I have known. By his own admission, he took many wrong turns along the way before letting Jesus be His Way. If anyone ever knew the meaning of grace, Clyde knew. And now he knows the fullness of that grace and the joy of being welcomed with his "Well done good and faithful servant. Enter the joy of your Master's kingdom." We DON'T grieve as the rest of the world, who have no hope, but we do grieve, and in our grief we proclaim: Thanks be to God who gives us the victory, through Christ Jesus our Lord!

Did You Know?

According to a friend, he following Youtube video was played by Sony at their executive conference this year.  Whether it was or not, the sheer magnitude of change is incredible!  The final question on the screen at the end of the video has a simple answer:  God is STILL in charge of it all, and is the only one to give meaning and purpose!

This Sunday at New Life!

I can't wait for Sunday!  Reflection, the music group from Geneva College that New Life's Nate Davies is part of will be leading the music, and presenting "Everything" as the offering of praise.  We kick of our 40 Days of Commitment that has the potential to transform all of us in lasting ways, as have previous 40 Day journeys at New Life. The CLUB update will have a surprise AND some specifics about what God is doing in our process to move us to 127 Knoch Road.  This is a Sunday to be there for sure!

Correction!

One of you noticed that I said the staff would be going to Colorado on May 2-6, but that it's actually Mar 2-6.  You'll still need to come this Sunday to find out WHY!

When Does God Give Up On Us? – Part 7 –“Not the Father’s Will!”

One of my all-time favorite verses is Matthew 18:14, Jesus said, “It is not the will of my Father in heaven that even one of these little ones should perish.”  God loves us.  He flat out loves us!  He doesn’t want us to die temporally or eternally.  In fact the psalmist reminded us that precious in the sight of the Lord are the death of His saints.  By now, I'm sure you’ve seen that God never gives up on us.  Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that none DO perish, because if we give up on Him, or never turn to Him, or reject His love, grace and salvation, He will honor that, and we will be separated from Him forever.  Always remember:  if anyone gives up—it’s us not God, because His will is that NONE, no one, NOT ONE perish.  That’s why He’s so worthy of our worship and praise!  He's the God who never gives up, and never let's go. 

When Does God Give Up On Us? – Part 6 – “I Stand at the Door and Knock!”

If you want to know when JESUS gives up on us a great verse to remember is Revelation 3:20, “Behold! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.”  I know that Jesus spoke these words to believers.  Billy Graham knows that, too, and it hasn’t stopped him from using it for many decades to remind non-believers that Jesus is never more than our opening the door away from being part of our lives!  Jesus is waiting---He’s waiting whether we’re believers and we’ve temporarily forgotten about Him, or we’re not even sure that He’s there!  Jesus will give up on us, when we can no longer fog up a mirror, but not before, so OPEN the door today!

Back to It Tomorrow!

After two days in Tampa, three days with Nancy at the Family Life Weekend to Remember and two days of vacation it's time to get back in the saddle tomorrow!  Actually, the two vacation days resembled planning days more than vacation, but God is doing so much cool stuff in my life, my marriage and New Life right now, that purposeful vacation is a great way to ease back into the flow.  A few of things to look for if you're a New Lifer:

• The 10-100 prayer challenge coming up March 1 (I'll let you in on what it is this Sunday!)
• 40 Days of Commitment starts this Sunday--so BE THERE!
• This Sunday's CLUB update will be more specific than any in a long time!
• New Life's going to be on the move--more on Sunday!
• New Life's Staff is going to be in Colorado May 2-6.  Come this Sunday and find out why!
• Are you catching my drift?  Sunday is going to be a big day--JOIN US!

When Does God Give Up On Us? – Part 5 – “Sins as Scarlet!”

 

Today’s installment of “When Does God Give Up On Us?” finds us “turning the corner.”  Our first four posts focused on our sin, and how we have turned from God.  Today, Wednesday and Thursday we’ll see how our sin moves God to action on our behalf.  Let’s look at a well-known verse from the Prophet Isaiah the first chapter:  ¹⁸ “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.”  A couple of quick and interesting points:  If I asked you, “What color is sin?” Many would respond, “Black.”  In fact, we sometimes say that a person’s soul is as black as sin.  The bible tells us that sin is RED.  More importantly, even when we have sinned so much that our sins are like scarlet or crimson, GOD will make them white as snow!  In fact, Jesus’ blood shed on the cross is the “cleaner” that turns us from sinners to saints.  Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, so we can be cleansed and made new.  When does God give up on us?  He doesn’t.  The key is that we must turn to Him!  We must receive the freely offered cleansing for our lives.  It’s likely that if you’re reading this post that you already know that.  If you don’t there’s no greater gift that being cleansed of our sins and made clean before God—and God is the one who does it, because no one else can.  Only God could satisfy the penalty for our sin, and He did that in Jesus.  If you haven’t responded to God’s offer of cleansing TODAY would be a great time to do it.  If you have, take some time and thank God again for His amazing grace and cleansing power!