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The Reason That We Sing

The Reason That We Sing

March 5, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“O come, let us sing unto the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of  our salvation.”  (Psalm 95:1 KJV). 

The Word of God speaks a lot about singing.  That is because God created us to sing.  Singing is a part of the human experience.  It is part of human expression.  All people from all nationalities sing.  The unredeemed sing.  But there is no singing that can compare to the  song of the redeemed! 

There are a multitude of ways to express gratitude toward the Lord and one of those ways is singing.  The Book of Psalms is a compilation of ancient songs (and prayers) sung to the Lord both in  public and private worship.   Music flows from the heart and stirs the soul. The Lord gifts people with the talent and ability to write music and words that enables those who sing to express their thoughts and feelings to the Lord.  When we sing the words that others have written, those  words  literally become our own!   That is why music and singing is such an important part of worship. 

Someone once said that music and singing tills the soil of the heart and prepares it to receive the seed of God’s Word.  Praise and adoration to the Lord expressed through singing invites His Presence to be manifested. (Psalm 22:3). 

The beauty of singing corporately together is that when we blend our voices, our voice  does not have to sound  perfect.  Our voice blended with  others  becomes a part of the whole.  For what the Lord is listening to is the expression of our heart, not how perfectly we sing.  There is something powerful and precious when a congregation lifts their voices as one unto the Lord to give Him honor and praise! The Lord delights in hearing the songs and praises of His people! 

Therefore whenever we sing, let us focus our hearts upon the One who has redeemed us and express unto Him our gratitude and joy in the salvation He has provided for us! 
Let us blend our voices together and lift up His Name together in song!  The scripture says that our singing does not have to be perfect.  It simply asks us to “make a joyful noise” unto the Lord. When our singing is truly from the heart,  It is a sound that brings Him great pleasure! 

James W. Black

The Gift of God’s Peace

The Gift of God’s Peace

February 26, 2023 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts.  For as members of one body you are called to live in peace.  And always be thankful.” (Col. 3:15 NLT).

We live in a chaotic world.  This chaos is the result of living in a world that is enveloped and governed by sin.  Division strife and conflict is everywhere.  Sadly, discontentment, bickering, strife and turmoil is the norm rather than  the exception.
We see and hear it in the newscasts daily.  It is pervasive in individuals, families, communities, organizations and nations.  This chaos is the result of sin which expresses itself through selfishness and a self centeredness.  It even impacts churches, whenever God’s people take their eyes off of Jesus and become distracted and focused on  the weaknesses, flaws, failures, and imperfections of others within the Body of Christ.  It is interesting to note how we somehow expect and even demand that others,  walk more perfectly than we do; all the while forgetting that we  also have feet of clay and are usually blinded to our own flaws.  We deceive ourselves into thinking that our weaknesses and flaws, which we even may acknowledge,  are not nearly as bad as those we see in others (Mat. 7:3-5).   

But into this chaos comes Christ!  And with Him comes His peace!  It is His gift to us;  personally and corporately.  It is available to  our family,  our community and our fellowship.  One of the amazing things about Jesus was that He was always at peace.  He rested in the Peace of God, the Father.   He was never anxious.  He was never worried.  Jesus  was at perfect peace even when the ship  carrying Him was tossed on the waves and appeared (at least to His disciples) to be sinking (Mat. 8: 24-27).  As He  stood before Pilate, knowing full well what awaited Him, He was a peace!  He was at peace because He had fully committed Himself into the hands of His Heavenly Father (Mat. 26: 39-46). and He completely trusted  Him to take care of Him in and through all circumstances.  (John 18: 36-37).   

This same peace is available to every follower of Christ.  It comes with our salvation. It is a part of living and being in Christ. But notice the passage: “let the peace of God, that comes from Christ, rule your hearts.”  The peace comes from Christ, but we  must allow (or let) His peace  rule and reign!  We do that by surrendering ourselves unto Him, relinquishing the chaos to Him, and letting His peace lift us above the chaos. The chaos may not change but we change. We change our perspective and we change our position. And because we have chosen to surrender ourselves and our chaos to Him, His peace is then released so that it can have full reign in our lives. 

James W. Black

The Nearness of God

The Nearness of God

December 4, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.”
(Psalm 145:18 NKJ).

The holiness of God makes Him unapproachable.  But the mercy of God and the grace of God revealed through the blood of Jesus is an open invitation  to enter  into His Presence.  God  longs to reveal Himself unto us.  He longs to fellowship with us.  He longs to be near us.  He longs to be with us!

 The entire  Bible is the story of redemption and the revelation of God’s desire to be with  us.   Through sin everyone is separated  from God.  But through Jesus everyone can be  forgiven.  Everyone  can be restored.  Everyone can be made whole. Everyone  can have  fellowship with God.   Everyone can come into His Presence.  Everyone can  be near  Him!  It is an open invitation.  There are  no exceptions.  There are  no exclusions. 

Because He is Spirit, God  can be with each of us personally no matter where we are. We are limited, but He is unlimited.  We are finite but  He is infinite.  Our finite mind struggles to grasp the reality  that God can be everywhere all at the same time!  But the things that are impossible with men, are possible with God!  (Luke 18:27). 

The key to experiencing the nearness of God is to genuinely want it.   That is what is meant by the phrase “in truth.”   We genuinely and truly desire to know Him.
We genuinely and truly desire to be near Him.  We genuinely and truly repent and turn from our sin.  We genuinely  and truly come unto Him with an open and yielded heart. We genuinely and truly desire Him above everything else (Math. 6:33).  .  And when we do, we will find Him (Jer. 29:13).  In fact, we will discover that He has been there all along,  We just didn’t know it!  (Gen. 28:16).  He is not very far from any of us!  (Acts 17:27). 

James W. Black

The Gift of Peace

The Gift of Peace

November 27, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth,  give I unto you.  Let not your heart be  troubled, neither let it be afraid.” John 14:27 (KJV).

 When Jesus spoke these words to His disciples, He was on His way to the cross.  Within just a few hours He would be brutalized and tortured.  The unspeakable pain and anguish He would experience  would be  magnified  billions of times over by the reality of  my sin and your sin being  placed upon Him by God the Father!   He would be judged as if He Himself had actually committed the sin (2 Cor. 5:21).  But  He was totally and completely innocent!  What is amazing is that in the face of all of that Jesus had perfect peace.  And He promised  His followers that He would give them that same peace!  What Jesus promised to those disciples, He still promises unto us.  His gift of peace is a remarkable and marvelous gift. 

We live in a world that is devoid of peace.  Not only is there armed conflict taking place around the world, but the greatest  conflict is within the human heart.  Families are broken and falling apart. In the desire for peace people seek to numb the pain and emptiness of their lives with  drugs, alcohol and the relentless pursuit of material things.  But the relief is only momentary.  It does not last.

The peace that Jesus offers is three fold.  First and foremost it is peace with God.  Jesus paid for our sin that we might be free from the impending judgment of a Holy God upon our sin (John 3:36).  The wrath of God was fully satisfied on the cross (Isaiah 53:11) and that finished work forever sealed  and guaranteed  by His Mighty Resurrection (Rev. 1:18).

Secondly, it is peace the peace of God within ourselves.  The empty void within our lives is filled by His Person and His Presence within us.  It is in Him that we find our purpose, the meaning of life and indescribable joy!  (Col. 3:15).

And finally it is peace with one another (Eph. 4:1-3).   When we experience  Peace with  God we also discover the Peace of God.  It is only then  we can experience peace with one another.  The gift of God’s peace sets us free  from having to prove to others that we have meaning,  value and  worth.  We are fully and completely valued, accepted and loved by the most important Being in the entire universe, the Lord Jesus Himself!  It cannot possibly get any better than that!  Why would anyone settle for anything less?

James W. Black