Pastor Bruce's Message - March 2015

Hi Folks,

Recently I have been spending a fair amount of time pondering our and my worship of God. I have been reading things that have been challenging me and forcing me to have a better understanding of our   worship of God. He is indeed worthy of our worship, the only One who is worthy. I want to share with you what I read recently in a Devotional that I am using. I hope it will be a challenge to you and your thinking about worshiping God and will give you some things to ponder as well.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. Romans 8:26

“The notion that anyone can worship without the Holy Spirit is not only wrong, but dangerous. The notion that we can crowd the Holy Spirit into a corner and ignore Him, quench Him, resist Him and yet worship God acceptably is a great heresy, which we need to correct. Only the Holy Spirit knows how to worship God acceptably.

We have worship leaders trying to replace the Holy Spirit. I think this is reprehensible. The one who stands before an assembly and leads the worship should be the one who has submitted himself to a fresh work of the Holy Spirit. The best preparation for worship is not rehearsal, but surrender.

Some of our best hymns came from men and women so utterly broken before God that only God mattered.

The Apostle Paul says that it is impossible to pray without the Holy Spirit, and the most powerful prayers are those in the Spirit. Likewise, we cannot worship without the Holy Spirit. I think that it is time that the church of Christ should rethink this whole matter of the place of the Holy Spirit in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Come blessed, holy, heavenly Dove, Spirit of light and life and love, revive our souls we pray! Come with the power of Pentecost, come as the sevenfold Holy Ghost, and fill our hearts today. (A.B. Simson 1843 -1919)

Heavenly Father, whatever it takes, I pray Thee, bring me to the place where only Thou matter, I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.” [A. W. Tozer/My Daily Pursuit pg. 34]

I listen to a song called, “I Can’t Even Walk without You Holding My Hand” written by Colbert and Joyce Croft. The story behind the song is that; sometimes real bad things happen to real good people. It happened to the Croft’s. Sometimes you and I haft to have the test to have the testimony. One night in the privacy of their home they went as far as they could go. They were beaten down so from the weight of this world they felt like they could go on no farther. And everywhere they looked, out of every window all they saw was the storms of life crashing in on them and their family. They felt like there was no way out, and nothing else to do.

That night they fell on their knees in the privacy of their living room and they tried to cry out to God. Their hearts were so broken and they were so discouraged that they didn’t know how to pray anymore. When Colbert bowed his head and tried to pray that he couldn’t pray, all he could do was to weep and all he could say was Lord help me! God would You please make a way? When everybody else said there is no way, God will You make a way? Will You help me? That’s all they could pray.

That night, when they got through praying, they got up and Miss Joyce went over and sat down, they had an old upright piano in the living room, and about 1 o’clock in the morning Colbert came over and flipped the lamp on and sat down beside Miss Joyce. And that night as they sat there, feeling like they didn’t have a friend left in the world, and feeling like they couldn’t take another step, at 1 o’clock in the morning God visited that little house where they were, and in the midst of their storm  at 1 o’clock in the morning, God come walking on the water to Colbert and Joyce Croft, and that night, as they sat there, he picked up a pen and paper, and when he felt like he couldn’t go on anymore,  God began to give Colbert some words to a song:

     Well I thought number one would surely be me,

     I thought I could be what I wanted to be.

     I thought I could build on life's sinking sand,

     But I can't even walk without You holding my hand.

     Lord I can't even walk, without You holding my hand.
     The mountain's too high and the valley's too wide.
     Down on my knees, is where I learned to stay.
     And I can't even walk without You holding my hand.

Through this story, I think we can see that in the midst of the times we are at our lowest, God will intervene, even though we might not think so, or that we might not be able to sense His presence, or when He doesn’t answer our prayers the way we asked Him to. His promise is that He will never leave us or forsake us. Sometimes it takes brokenness for us to see God. 

“…..Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Psalms 30:5

The devotional I shared with you helps us to know the significance of our worship of God, when there is nowhere else to turn, He waits for us to turn to Him. It seems hard for us to learn to turn to Him first, but I am thankful He is patient and always willing to be there. No matter what life has to bring, God is there in our midst and in our hearts.

Friend, if you are going through a difficult time and you can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, I promise you that God will see you through. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalms 23:4 

Switching gears now, I want to mention that on February 17 there was a meeting here at the church with 38 people from our Boards and Committees along with our contractor to discuss where we are with the Trinity Point construction and the logistics of the move. I wanted to give you an idea of what all there is to do, and this list is not an exhaustive list by any means.

Sale of existing facility and marketing plan.

Sale of the parsonage.

Purchase of another parsonage.

Manage and maintain utilities spending and operation.

Maintenance inside.

Maintenance outside.

Purchasing of all furnishings for the new facility.

   Chairs and tables (Decorating Committee?)

   TV’s

   Cabinets

   sound/media/lighting

   platform furniture

   office furniture

   Blinds and draperies (Decorating Committee?)

Keys/key box

Classroom locations?

Video TV Locations and needs

Selection of room colors (Decorating Comm.)

   Suggestion: College and HS art students to paint murals?

Cabinetry in classrooms

Locking rooms and/or cabinets

Whiteboards

Promotion of new facility and opening.

Assimilation

Moving

Security (Don Cloak)

Inventory

Open House

Platform concerns

Baptistery

Where things are being placed on platform i.e. musicians/praise team/instrumentalists

Equipment needs/monitors/mics

Communication from platform to sound booth

Dedication

Building lighting…interior/exterior

Flooring & Trim

Bathrooms

Exterior finishes

Projected finish date

Pave parking vs. tar & chip

New Building Fund Campaign

Finalization of bank documents

 As you can see there is much to think about. WE are looking to be in our new facility no later than the end of March 2016 and there is a possibility that it can be sooner. It is important that all of us, keep on praying, keep on giving financially, and keep on staying the course. “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

Please remember, God has us in the people business! That is the reason for all the sacrifices we make, and all the labor for the Kingdom that we do. I believe that we will be able to do more than we could ever do before and I think this project is a great witness in our community.

God bless you all,

Pastor Bruce