by Bob Hall | Oct 29, 2012 | Uncategorized
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:9-14 ESV)
This story is about two sinners and the universal human need for justification.
Make no mistake, the Pharisee believed that he was a sinner (after all, nobody’s perfect)–but he was also confident that his religious diligence made him acceptable to God. He had (with the help of God, of course) lifted himself above the bar of acceptability. Yes, although he gave credit to God that he was not like other men, he had, in his own mind, justified himself.
By contrast, that “scumbag” publican saw no hope, in and of himself, to be accepted by God. His only recourse was to cast himself on the mercy of God, the means of which would be shortly revealed in the Cross.
His prayer, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” commonly called “The Sinner’s Prayer,” are not the magic words by which someone gets saved. No, it was a cry of the heart that actually said, God propitiate me, that is, in mercy turn your wrath away from me, one who justly deserves it.
How is that wrath turned away? Through Christ—who, through His death, reconciles us to the Father and who alone can justify us.
Indeed, this wrath-deserving sinner “went down to his house justified before God.”
by Jack Roberts | Oct 19, 2012 | Uncategorized
Renewal, for a Christian, is taking place not in spite of difficulties and troubles, but because of them. Difficulties and disappointments and sufferings, even the deterioration of our bodies, are loosening our grip on the things of this world. They are causing our hands to lose the desire to grasp, to hold on to the things of this world, to get some security here. Our security must be in God himself. Our focus must be on that which is eternal, not on that which can be taken from us and will be taken from us soon.
The Lord uses troubles to turn us from loving the world and the things in it. He is committed to getting rid of the idols in our lives. He must be and He wants to be and He insists upon being the center of our lives–the one for whom we have the most affection, the one in whom we delight the most. He has commanded it. Even our stranglehold on good things, like family relationships, our jobs, even things that we do in ministry, helping other people–things that are not evil in themselves–may claim more of our affection than Christ Himself. And so He sends difficulties and trials to take the glitter off of them, to scrub off the facade so you can see: these things are not really all that after all. He does this so that He may fill up our desires and increase our longing to be with Him. Get a hold on this now! You will save yourself a lot of unnecessarily wasted time in your life!
by Bob Hall | Oct 17, 2012 | Uncategorized
People have been asking, “What’s going on? We thought the case was over and done with when the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear our appeal in December of 2011…” We thought so too–but by a stroke of God’s sovereign hand, our case was reopened in Federal District Court thanks, in part, to a new Supreme Court ruling in January of this year.
Judge Preska also ruled in our favor denying a motion by the city to stay the injunction pending appeal. Had this stay been granted, this would have meant that, even though there was a favorable ruling, all of the churches would have had to vacate the schools until the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, ruled on the appeal. This would have been a very awkward and difficult situation for all of us, not to mention it being mean spirited.
Yes, the city is appealing the decision to the Second Circuit. Oral arguments will be presented on November 19th, and then we will wait for a ruling. Please continue to pray for this very important matter, the implications of which stretch beyond what is happening in our general culture with its increasingly visible hostility to the historic Christian faith.
by Bob Hall | Oct 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
When we signed the contract in May to finish the construction on our building, the contractor told us that they expected to be finished by December. We thought to ourselves, “Sure! It’ll never happen.” Now, they’re talking about Thanksgiving and from what we can see, it just might happen.
As far as building construction goes, we are small potatoes compared to typically non-residential construction, and contractors like jobs like ours to “fill in” those gaps in their larger projects. Granted, this would tend to slow things down for us but it would help our cash flow. Guess what? There are no big jobs, or, at least, they are few and far between thanks to our current economy. We are it. They want to finish our building so that they can get their money.
There’s only one problem: we don’t have the money to complete the project. Well, the obvious question is, why did you proceed? We had to. We didn’t want to lose the generous foundation grant. We didn’t want the financial exposure of expired permits and reapplication which would require us, literally, to go back to the drawing board. We have already absorbed the cost of unexpected new building code regulations. We were concerned about deterioration of the existing structure. We didn’t want to lose our tax exemption. The city needs revenue and it does not allow unimproved properties to be tax exempt even though they are owned by a church. Once that tax exemption is revoked, it is a long process to get it back. There are other reasons.
Did I mention that we need this building to multiply our existing ministries and to launch new ones? In order for our church, any church for that matter, to grow, to be alive, we have to be continually reaching out.
A donor is putting forth this challenge. Someone has come forward with a new gift of $50,000 for the building. He is asking you for gifts of any amount that will match (and yes, exceed) that amount. This is not a matching grant. It is a gift that is already in place for which we thank the Lord. But he feels so strongly about the ministry potential behind this building that he is asking you to join him towards seeing it come to fruition. Yes, it will be our house of worship but it is also designed as a multi-purpose ministry center. That is who we are.
We are mindful and grateful of the many and generous gifts that have come in both large and small. We are learning by experience that we serve a mighty God and with Him, all things are possible.
For Jack Roberts and me, we count it a privilege to labor in this corner of God’s vineyard and we thank you for bringing this matter before the Lord.
Together in Christ we are blessed and kept,
Bob Hall, co-pastor
by Jack Roberts | Oct 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
“Our struggle is not against flesh and blood…” Therefore, the carefully constructed strategies of man cannot gain the victory, but only effect cosmetic changes. The Word of God, however, “is quick and powerful…penetrating…” The Holy Spirit brings that Word into the dank, dark dungeons of the soul and breathes life and light. What a never-routine privilege to “hold forth the Word of life!
by Jack Roberts | Oct 10, 2012 | Uncategorized
“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1
‘Shame’ is viewed by many in our postmodern, post-moral society as an archaic remnant of a puritanical past, thankfully left behind by educated, enlightened and psychologically sophisticated people. At worst, it is seen as an abusive, though effective, tool crafted by religious leaders to manipulate and dominate the weak. God’s revelation to us about the things really are, however, speaks repeatedly and unapologetically about true, and clearly deserved, shame. Our first parents hid in shame from God and each other. This pattern has continued in every culture since. It is a telltale indictment of our day that there is such a concerted effort to remove it from the human experience: if there actually is no good or evil, no right or wrong, then there is no legitimate basis for shame. But Jesus Christ, God himself, bore the shame of our true moral guilt so that those who are His should not be ashamed on the final day! We can know now the cleansing of our consciences to serve the Holy God with joy and confidence.
