Pastor's Corner Archives - Page 9 of 19

Standing Firm in Liberty

July 1, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Gal. 5:1 KJV).

The Apostle Paul encouraged the Followers of Christ in Galatia to “stand firm” in the liberty that Christ had achieved for them. Some of the Galatian Christians were being tempted and drawn back into the bondage of religious legalism. Paul warned them to “wake up” and not allow themselves to be drawn back into the very thing that Christ had delivered them from!

The Power of Christ delivers us not only from the bondage of sin but also from the bondage of religious legalism. The resulting liberty that Christ provides impacts every area of our Iives. It impacts the culture as well.

It was the liberty of the Gospel that fueled the desire for freedom from the tyranny of England in the American Colonies in 1776. The American culture in the late 1700s was profoundly influenced by the Gospel. Christian principles were embraced by the culture at large whether they were Christian or not. They were embraced because of their profound and positive impact on the culture.

It was not atheism that fueled the fires of freedom in America. It was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was not atheism that motivated men to lay down their lives for freedom in the war with England. It was the influence of the Gospel of Christ. It was not atheism or agnosticism that blessed our nation throughout its history. It was the Gospel of Christ. We are deeply indebted to those who have gone before us and who have modeled for us what it means to be a Follower of Christ in the arena of everyday life.

Let us resolve as Followers of Christ to continue to “stand firm” In our liberty in Christ.
Failure to do so may cause us to lose the liberties that we now enjoy in this nation.

James W. Black

The Blessing of Contentment

June 24, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out of it.”
1 Tim. 6:6 NKJ

One of the great blessings the Lord gives to the redeemed is “contentment”. In a materialistic culture that defines happiness as the accumulation of stuff or having the approval of others, the Word of God brings everything into perspective. Contentment is not found in things or in others. It is found in Christ alone! (Col. 1:27).

The Word of God affirms that it is not how much we possess that brings joy, but rather Who possesses us! It is Jesus Christ living and incarnate in us Who brings contentment and joy. (Rom. 8: 9-11). The Word declares that it is “in him that we live, move and have our being…”. (Acts 17:28). Our life originates in Him for He alone is the giver of life. Our life is sustained by Him for He alone is the preserver of life. Our life finds its true meaning and purpose in Him, for He alone reveals the purpose of our life. Our life finds its ultimate destiny in Him, for He alone reveals our destiny! (Rev. 5:9). Only when we know the reality of these things, which can only be found in Him, can we then come to the place where we cease our striving and learn to rest in Him! (Heb. 4: 9-11).

Many people who have acquired great wealth, fame, and the acclamation of others do not have joy and contentment in their life. Just look at the lives of the elite in Hollywood, business, and politics. Many of them live shallow, hollow, and empty lives.

But the people of God, the redeemed, who are growing in their intimacy with Christ, are joyful and content regardless of how little or how much they have. The reality is that when we have Him and He has us, He provides everything we truly need, including contentment. If we are not content in our Christian life we need to refocus our attention upon the very One who gives us life! When our heart is fixed upon Him, we will discover that He provides everything that we truly need! And He enables us to value and enjoy what we already have!

Rev. James W. Black

The Best Father Anyone Can Have

June 20, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“And I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord Almighty.” (2 Cor. 6: 18 KJV).

Fatherlessness is of epidemic proportions in our nation. And we are reaping the consequences of it on multiple levels. Shattered homes and broken families have left a generation of children longing for affirmation, meaning, purpose, and direction in life. Mothers are vitally important to the family and we are thankful for them. But the heart of every child also deeply longs for the acceptance and love of a father.

Far too many have had fathers who have neglected them, abused them, abandoned them, or totally rejected them. Those wounds are deep. They scar a person for life. Studies have shown that a person’s view of their father also impacts their view of God.

Only Jesus can heal those deep wounds and set one free from the pain.

Everyone becomes fatherless at some point in life. Even those who have had good fathers, experience a deep sense of loss when their earthly father dies. There is a natural void that is left and there is always the longing to be able to see, hear and be with one’s father again. I can remember my 95-year-old mother-in-law talking one day about how she still missed her father who had passed away many years before.

Thankfully God the Father sees and understands the pain that the fatherless experience. In His grace and mercy, He freely and lovingly promises to be a “father to the fatherless” (Psalm 68:5). He offers Himself as the Father that our hearts have always longed for! He is in every way the Perfect Father!

His wisdom is infinite. His acceptance of us is total and complete. His love for us Is unconditional and beyond measure. His power is unlimited. His provision is inexhaustible. He teaches us. He guides us. He protects us. And He is always with us! He will never abandon us! Therefore, receive Him. Embrace Him. Walk with Him. For He is absolutely the best Father that anyone could possibly have! No one who receives Him will ever be fatherless again!

Rev. James W. Black

The Power of Pentecost

June 10, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8 KJV).

The Power of Pentecost is the Power of the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Godhead. It was the Holy Spirt Who hovered over the darkness and the deep waters at the very beginning of creation, bringing order out of chaos (Gen. 1:2). It was the Holy Spirit Who Jesus promised to send to all of us after His resurrection (John 14: 16-18). It was the Holy Spirit Who birthed the Church (Acts 2:1-3). And it was the Holy Spirit who turned fearful men into mighty and powerful witnesses for Jesus after Pentecost (Acts 4:19-20).

Every soul that is born again is born again by the Power of the Holy Spirit (John 3:5-6). Every child of God who experiences the assurance of their salvation is assured by the Power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8: 15-16). Every healing that takes place takes place because of the Power of the Holy Spirit. Every person that is delivered from bondage (addiction, anger, bitterness, depression, fear, worry, etc.) is delivered because of the Power of the Holy Spirit. Every redeemed child of God who has the assurance of eternal life has that assurance because of the Power of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2: 9-12). We can neither live nor function with confidence and effectiveness without the Power of the Holy Spirit. We are totally dependent upon the Holy Spirit in all things pertaining to the King and the Kingdom! The Work of the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with the effort of man.

The Power of the Holy Spirit operating in and through His Redeemed is unstoppable!(Rom. 8:31). The gates of hell cannot prevail against a powerful spirit-filled church (Matt. 16:18). It is only the Power of the Holy Spirit Who births and sustains revival (Acts 19:17-20). It is only the Power of the Holy Spirit that brings conviction of sin (John 16:8). It is only the Power of the Holy Spirit that sets people free. We need a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit individually and corporately so that the life of Christ and the Power of Christ might be manifested in an unbelieving world. We need once again, the Power of Pentecost! Holy Spirit come and reveal the glory of Jesus to us afresh and anew!

Rev. James W. Black

Our Words Reveal Who We Are

June 4, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:24 NKJV).

Jesus declared that what we speak with our mouth reveals what is in our heart.
The words we speak reveal our likes and dislikes. Our words reveal what brings us joy and what brings us sorrow. Our words indicate our understanding or our lack of understanding. Our words reveal our hopes and dreams. Our words reveal our fears. Our words reveal our pain.

If we have been deeply wounded or abused (in our childhood or in a bad marriage or through any number of other situations) those things will lodge in our heart and have a powerful impact on how we interpret and deal with life. That woundedness will express itself through our words. We may be suspicious, bitter, angry, resentful, vindictive, and controlling. We may (in self defense) attack another person with our words when put into an uncomfortable or difficult situation. Those words will simply pour out of us because they have become rooted in our heart through our own painful experiences.

Our words also reveal what is important to us. Our words reveal whether or not Jesus is real and precious to us. If He is precious to us, we will want to share with others about His reality and His goodness we have experienced. And we will want to encourage others to experience His reality as well.

Once we have received Christ into our heart, we must learn to surrender to the Holy Spirit Who is now resident within us and allow Him to fill our heart with His Truth and His reality. Christ changes our heart (2 Cor. 5:17) and he changes what is in our heart (Gal. 5: 22-25). Some things are changed instantly. Others are changed over time (John 8:31-32). But as we continue in His Word and continue in our fellowship with Him, He changes what is in our heart. His Word will heal our heart and begin to fill our heart. His life will begin to overflow our heart. It will always come out in our words. You do not have to be around a person very long to find out if they truly love Jesus! If they do, it will come out! You can hear in their words. And the reality of their words will be confirmed by their actions (James 2:18).

Jeans W. Black

The Key to Fellowship With God

May 28, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop (leave it, let it go), in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your [own] failing and shortcomings and let them drop.” (Mark 11: 25-26 AMPC).

We live in a world that is constantly pushing against us; constantly attacking us and constantly seeking to overwhelm us through a variety of means. We experience betrayal, hurt, rejection and many levels of woundedness in our lives. Those things deeply impact us. Being a child of God does not exempt us from those things. But being a child of God does give us the means to overcome them.

One of the things the Holy Spirit does for us is to empower us to do what we could never do on our own. He empowers us to forgive those who have wounded us. It is not our nature to do that. Our nature is to want to get even. Our nature is to want them to hurt more than they hurt us! We don’t want them to get away with it! We want them to pay for what they have done! We want them to deeply regret what they have done to us!

Only the Holy Spirit can enable us to surrender our pain to Christ. And only the Holy Spirit can enable us to surrender that person to Christ. When we choose to do so, and it is a choice, we then allow Christ to become our vindicator (Rom. 12:19). His powerful love can then free us from the painful emotions that ensnared us. That is the wonder and the power of the Gospel! Our ability and willingness to forgive is only made possible when we realize just how much the Lord has forgiven us! When realize we have been forgiven much, we are then in the position to forgive much! (Luke 7:40-48). It is when we come to the place of forgiving and releasing that person to the Lord that we are made free and are placed in the position of also being forgiven!

So let us determine to walk in forgiveness toward one another so that we may experience forgiveness ourselves and enjoy unhindered fellowship with the Holy One!

James W. Black

When The Light of Christ is Rejected

May 21, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“The wicked freely strut about when that which is vile is honored among men.”
(Psalm 12:8 NIV 1984 Edition).

Jesus came for the purpose of bringing the Light of His Life and His Presence into the darkness of our world (John 1:4-5). That Light is the revelation and embodiment of all that is pure, holy, righteous and good (John 8:12). In Christ there is no greater light, no greater purity, no greater holiness and no greater good. There is absolutely nothing that is higher or greater than Him! It is His Light that reveals what holiness is. It is His Light that reveals what purity is. It is His Light that reveals what righteousness and goodness is. Without that Light we would still be in darkness with no understanding, no direction and no hope of ever escaping the darkness.

The powers of darkness fear that Light. They hate that Light because that Light exposes the wickedness of their work (John 3:19-20). They cannot stand to be in the Presence of that Light! The brightness of that Light paralyzes them. They try to hide from that Light.

When men reject that Light , the only True Light which is revealed only in the Person of Christ, they give an open invitation to the powers of darkness to rule and reign. The darkness will initially seek to rule over the individual. But if left unchecked it will spread to the entire family and ultimately to the culture at large. Once the darkness becomes entrenched, it then becomes emboldened. Once emboldened, it becomes proud and arrogant. Then it begins to promote that which is “evil” as something that is “good” .(Isaiah 5:20). Men will then honor the darkness as something that is normal. The end result is destruction and death. The death of the individual. The death of the family. And ultimately the death of the culture at large (Rom. 3:23).

We are called to be the instruments of His Light in the darkness of our culture (Matthew 5:16). We are not the source of that Light. We are merely the instruments through which that Light shines. Let us so yield ourselves in obedience to that Light, that darkness can no longer strut about.

James W. Black

God Thinks About Us

May 14, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“How precious are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand…” (Psalm 139:17-18 KJV).

It is amazing to consider the fact that the Holy One thinks about us! He not only thinks about us collectively (as the church, the redeemed of God) but He also thinks about us individually! Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that his thoughts toward us are “thoughts of peace and not of evil.” (KJV). The NIV translates this as “plans to prosper you and not to harm you.” Both are true. The point is that the Lord’s thoughts about us are good!

The Lord always desires the best for us. He is always thinking about us how to bring out the best in us and the best through us. He created us to be a reflection of Himself (Gen. 1:17). And when we reflect Him, we bring Him great pleasure. It is much like a parent or grandparent who delights in watching their small children learn, grow and discover their world. It brings us great joy and delight to observe them, to guide them, and to help them in their discovery. What good parent or grandparent would not want the very best for their children or grandchildren? If we are that way toward our own, how much more does the Heavenly Father think about us and delight in us! (Luke 11:13). How much more does He want the absolute best for us in all things?

So let us take great joy and comfort in knowing that the Living God is always in thinking about us! And those thoughts are good! And He finds pleasure in us!

James W. Black

The Attentive Ear of God

May 7, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.”
(Psalm 145:18 KJV).

Have you ever struggled with having confidence that when you pray the Lord actually hears you? Or that He really cares about you and the issues you are facing in your life? Have you ever thought that somehow you are not good enough or that you are not spiritual enough? Have you ever felt like you just don’t seem to have the right words or that somehow your words just do not seem adequate? Have you ever felt awkward when you pray, thinking that you look foolish speaking to someone you can’t even see? Have you ever had the thought cross your mind that said: “What difference does it really make?”

Every child of God has experienced these thoughts and feelings when it comes to prayer. The reason we have such thoughts is because we are all keenly aware of the weakness of our flesh. And all of us are bombarded by the thoughts the evil one and his demons seek to plant in our minds. This is true not only for new believers but for seasoned believers as well. All of these thoughts and feelings are designed to discourage us from praying. The goal is too intimidate and discourage us in order to keep us from praying. The evil one knows the power of prayer far better than we do. He and his demons are fearful of people who pray and churches that pray.

But the great promise of God is that He always hears the heart cry of those who belong to Him. He reminds us that “He is near”. What that means is that He is close to all who truly belong to Him. But also notice that He hears those that “call upon Him in truth.” That means to call upon Him with genuine authenticity. The Lord knows if we are serious about Him or not. We cannot fool God. He knows the motive and intention of our heart. If our heart is right, and our motive is right, the Lord always hears His people! Thus we can always pray with absolute confidence when we call upon Him!

James W. Black

The Blessing of Fellowship

April 30, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” (Prov. 27:17 NKJV).

The Body of Christ is made up of people. And when the Lord redeems us, it is His intention that we be connected and joined with other fellow believers. The purpose is help us grow and reach our fullest potential in Christ. It is designed by the Lord to deepen our faith and to enrich our walk with Him. It is in the relationship of fellowship that we contribute and invest in each other’s life.

Every child of God has infinite value and worth. The Father demonstrated this by sending Jesus to die for us and pay the full price for our sin so that He could fellowship with us. Fellowship is important to the Holy One! The Trinity is the fullest expression of fellowship. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are in perfect fellowship together. Jesus longs to share the wonder and richness of that fellowship with us! He longs for us to be a part of that and to experience that (John 17: 21-23).

In the Body of Christ everyone has things they have learned in their walk with the Lord. Each person’s insight can be an encouragement to another brother or sister in Christ. It is one thing to read and understand the written Word of God. It is another thing to experience the power and the reality of that Word in our life! What we have learned by walking in Truth amplifies the reality of that Truth when shared with others. Likewise what others have learned can enrich us and encourage us as well.

When a tool is sharpened it works more efficiently and effectively. Anyone who has tried to cut something with a dull knife knows this very well. Dullness requires more effort. It is in the relationship of fellowship that we sharpen one another in the Body of Christ. Sharpening one another enables the Body of Christ to be more effective and useful for the King!

James W. Black

Category: Pastor’s Corner