Northgate Christian Community

Last week, Pastor Jon spoke about how God restores and uses even burnt stones for His glory. Similarly, God takes burnt gates and redeems them for His purpose. We are called to be living stones and gates and even though the world may burn us or reject us, God heals and builds us up. In our own lives, gates represent choices what we allow into our lives, our families, and our city depends on which gates/doors we open and which gates we close. As living gates and stones, we are created to not only keep sin out but also release heaven on earth by lifting up our environment with prayer and words (Psalms 24:7-10).

Pastor Jon integrated the excitement and anticipation of the groundbreaking of the expansion project with the events of the book of Nehemiah. He reiterated the theme from the previous two weeks that this project is not about a building; it is about people. As was Pastor Bender's vision for those who he didn't know, the building project is about making a place for those who are yet to come. This comes with a heightened sense of responsibility and focus that requires prayer and intercession in order to accomplish greater things that God has for the church body. Pastor Jon concluded his message by explaining an example of a pottery wheel that he used in his first sermon with an emphasis placed on the fact that God can take burned stones and transform them into a new creation. Burned stones in his example referred to people who have been hurt in their family, relationships, career, and previous churches.

Nehemiah 1:1-11 depicts Nehemiah's heart for Jerusalem and its people. His instinctual response upon hearing news of Jerusalem's hardships was to cry out to God and intercede for Jerusalem. Nehemiah identified with the people of Jerusalem during and confessed their sins instead of accusing others for Jerusalem's plight. In doing so, he not only took ownership of Jerusalem's past transgressions but also of its future. Similarly, Pastor Jon challenged us to view Buffalo in the same light that Nehemiah saw Jerusalem. Buffalo has long been in a period of disarray and dormancy; but it is also on the cusp of revival. Like Nehemiah, we should continue to intercede on behalf of our city and its people.

Pastor Jon introduced a new series on Nehemiah and how the direction of the church should follow the principles that Nehemiah led his life by. He explained how the series is not meant to be surrounded by the expansion project of the church as much as it is about building people up both in the church as well as the community. Nehemiah’s life journey led him to go from being the cup bearer of the king to building up people to accomplish something greater than they could ever imagine on their own by rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. Pastor Jon also laid out the historical background that laid the foundation for Nehemiah’s success, ranging from Adam and Eve in the year 4000 B.C. to the life of King David in 1000 B.C.

For generations leading up to Jesus, the Israelites celebrated the Passover. However, this event was a foreshadowing of the true Passover in which Jesus, the messiah, died for our sins on the cross. Many parallels can be drawn between the Jewish Passover and the crucifixion, including the invitation and sacrifice of a lamb without blemish. However, unlike the sacrificial lamb during Jewish Passover, Jesus’s resurrection three days later was proof that he was the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies. His resurrection is proof that there is life after death and proof that God has won the victory and defeated death and sin. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Pastor Jon spoke about the discipline of study and meditation on the word of God. He noted that the bible was written by people who were inspired by the working of the Holy Spirit and how the stories of the bible were be woven together as if they were told by the same person because all of the writers were inspired by God. God promises us great things when we meditate on his word. Pastor Jon mentioned that it is important to not only focus on the teaching of the scriptures from an intellectual perspective, it is also important to allow the Holy Spirit to teach us through meditation on the scriptures. He concluded his message by describing the triumphant entry of Jesus on a donkey and how that served as a prophetic declaration of Jesus' love for us.

The world operates on and demands from us an attitude of restlessness. If you aren’t working, someone else is working to get ahead. If you aren’t doing something, you are wasting your time. Even now, some of us are thinking about something we should be doing or something that has to get done. Jesus was busy, but he also took time to rest (John 21:25, Mark 6:31). Our God is a God who rests and offers rest (Matthew 11:28-30). He invites us as we are, not as we should be and says, come to me and I shall give you rest. Chris examines three forms of rest and how the rest God gives us fits into these paradigms:1. Leisure – fun – fellowship: freedom from activity or labor2. Sleep: repose, sleep; specifically: a bodily state characterized by minimal function and metabolicactivities3. Rest for the soul

Pastor Jon spoke about the discipline of fasting and outline the fact that fasting is an opportunity to encounter God. He mentioned that fasting allows us to dial in and receive the goodness that God is pouring out on us. He concluded his message by mentioning various reasons for fasting; so our families can come into what God has for us, so we can become more sensitive to the Spirit, so we may break habits or bondage in our lives, and so we can build our lives around eternal priorities. Fasting develops self-control, which is a fruit of the Spirit.

God’s kingdom is a kingdom of giving. God gave His kingdom to Jesus, Jesus gave his kingdom to us, and we are called to give His kingdom to others (Luke 22:29-30, Matthew 10:8, John 20:21 ).  His Kingdom culture is a giving culture. As disciples, we are invited to become givers because:1. God is the great giver and Jesus invites us to come and follow Him2. Giving establishes our trust and confidence in God, not in other people or ourselves3. We give in response to God’s grace4. Giving reminds us that God alone is our provider5. Giving helps keep our priorities straight6. God honors and rewards giving7. When we give, we get to partner with GodWe don’t have to give, we get to give!

Pastor Jon spoke about the importance of prayer and emphasized that prayer is not an obligation, it is a privilege. He also explained that times of struggle and difficulty allow for discipline and give way to perseverance. He concluded his message by explaining a series of five reasons why we should pray: to develop a relationship with God, to understand that God rewards those who pray, to counter the fact that we are constantly under attack from the enemy, to bring the peace of God into difficult situations, and to demonstrate the fact that God's kingdom is on earth as it is in heaven.

Penn Clark writes, “One directive of the great commission is for us to make disciples. I believe this means helping people become disciples Of the living Christ, not disciples of us. It's amazing to realize Jesus is still calling and training disciples today, just as he did over 2000 years ago. The only difference is now he is invisible but he relates to us much in the same way he did with his disciples when he walked around Galilee spending time with us, letting us ask questions, teaching us about how the kingdom works. If we embrace the process, he will train and equip us as he did the original 12.” The bottom line is this: Jesus must become our master, teacher, and we must be his disciples first and foremost. Discipleship means I don't have to follow Jesus, I get to!

Chris Parker speaks with us this week on what it means to be a "Christian".  He shares his perspective on being the light and salt in the world.