2021 - Page 3 of 4 - NCC Cartersville

The Call to Follow

March 26, 2021 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

In Matthew 4:19 Jesus invited Peter and Andrew to follow Him. We know from the Word of God that they answered that call. As a result, their lives would never be the same again. All throughout the gospels, Jesus invited people of every station in life to follow Him. The invitation to follow Christ is still going out today to everyone who hears the gospel.

To follow Him is costly. It requires us to forsake where we are in order to be where He is! We cannot follow Him without being with Him. Our human reasoning and our human wisdom and understanding will often balk at that prospect. We often want the benefits of following Jesus without forsaking the things He calls us to leave behind. Our fleshy nature normally rebels against surrendering to Christ. That can be overcome only if we have the revelation of Who He truly is and what His Kingdom is all about. For what is gained is far greater than what is left behind (Matthew 19: 28-29). Once we see the value of Christ Himself, the cost that is paid is nothing in comparison to what is gained (Matthew 13:45).

To truly be a Christian means that we seek to follow Him with our total being. Following Him is costly, but it is well worth the price!

James W. Black

The Value God Places Upon His Word

March 21, 2021 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

In Psalm 138:2 the Bible says: “thou has magnified thy word above all thy name.”

The scripture makes it abundantly clear over and over again that the Lord’s Name is Holy (Exodus 20:7). His Name (in all of its varied forms) is to be honored and revered. It is not to be taken lightly. But as much as the Lord considers His Name to be Holy and Sacred, He honors His Word even more! He has exalted His Word even above His Name!

If the Holy One places such value upon His Word, how much more should we? We are so blessed in America with such an abundance of the Word available to us. There are multiple translations available (some better than others) that enable us to clearly read and understand His Word. In America no one is without excuse for having access to the Word of God. Most of us in the church have multiple Bibles.

But the question is, do we truly TREASURE the Word of God? Do we place a high value upon it? The greatest expression of value is to not only read it but to apply its truth to our lives and walk in it day by day. To not do so as Followers of Christ is to dishonor His Word.

James W. Black

Living a Life of Praise

March 14, 2021 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

In Psalm 34:1 David said: “I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” David understood the importance of praising the Lord on a continuing basis. Praise is a form of worship and can be carried out in our daily life. Praise is acknowledging the Lord for who He is! Praise is recognizing the Lord for what He has done for us!

A life of praise must be cultivated. It is an act of the will. We choose to praise the Lord. Praise is not a feeling. It can and should involve our feelings, but even when we do not “feel” like praising the Lord, we can still praise Him!

The Word of God is filled with passages that declare and demonstrate genuine praise to the Lord. If you cannot think of anything to say, just pick one of the many passages of scripture (particularly in the Psalms) and make that your own expression of praise to the Lord. Pick any number of verses in the Psalms and speak them back to the Lord in praise. Make the words of scripture your own words! You will find that in doing this your heart will be filled with joy!

Praise invites the Presence of God (Psalm 22:3) to dwell in the midst of where we are! The Lord will always respond to a heart that genuinely praises Him!

James W. Black

The Divine Law of Sowing and Reaping

March 7, 2021 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” (Galatians 6:7-9 KJV).

There is a divine law that God has established in the earth. And it is a law that is just as real as the law of gravity. It is the Law of Sowing & Reaping. We will always reap whatever we sow. It is impossible to sow corn and expect to reap wheat. What is true in nature is also true in human life. Whenever we sow anger, hatred, bitterness and resentment we will reap the same in return. But if we sow love, kindness, mercy and grace we will reap the same again.

The problem of the human heart is that it is filled with all kinds of evil (Matthew 15: 18-20). If one is prodded hard enough and deep enough those things will come out. Our prisons are filled with people who have exhibited and expressed such things. And one does not need to be in prison to realize that such things reside in the heart of each of us! (Jer. 17:9).

But when the seed of Christ is sown into our hearts and we allow it to grow, that seed changes our nature. We are transformed (2 Cor. 5:17)! We are then filled with the love, joy, and peace of Christ that flows from the Spirit of Christ who now dwells within us. We now have the privilege and ability to begin sowing those same seeds of the Spirit into the lives of others. That is what each of us as God’s people are called to do. And if we continue to sow, we will also reap if we will be persistent and patient in sowing. Let us cultivate the fruit of the Spirit that has been sown into our lives by Christ and become faithful and persistent in our sowing. The Lord has promised that if we do so, we shall indeed reap a harvest of what has been sown. And the Kingdom of God will continue to advance!

James W. Black

Wisdom and Understanding

February 28, 2021 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

In Proverbs 4:9 the Word of God gives us this powerful admonition: “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting get understanding.”

Wisdom, which comes from the Lord (Prov. 2:6), is the basis of all understanding. Without the Lord’s wisdom, we truly have no understanding.

The difference between wisdom and understanding is this: Wisdom is the revelation knowledge of knowing WHAT needs to be done. Understanding is the comprehension of WHY it needs to be done!

The Lord can give us the revelation of Wisdom! But if we do not apply that wisdom to our lives or circumstances we will have no way of knowing or understanding its power and effectiveness in our lives. It is through the application of the Lord’s Wisdom that we gain understanding. It is then that we begin to see and understand the WHY! Wisdom and understanding must go together.

It is the Lord’s desire that we grow in both wisdom and understanding. As we do, we will treasure His Word even more and also have a greater and deeper understanding and appreciation for what Christ has actually accomplished for us!

James W. Black

The Power of Faithfulness

February 21, 2021 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault: for as much as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.” (Daniel 6:4 KJV).

Those who seriously follow Christ, have had encounters with God that have powerfully impacted their life. Those are the moments that mark us. We never forget them. They become anchors for our soul! But what about those in-between times?

What about those times when the Lord seems distant? What about those times when we do not seem to feel the intensity of His Presence? What do we do during those times? The answer is that we remain faithful!

All of us enjoy those moments when the Presence of God is undeniable. But we must also learn to follow the Lord in the midst of the mundane; to follow the Lord in the everyday grunginess of life! It is during those everyday mundane things of life that our faith really grows.

We all remember those powerful moments in Daniel’s life when he experienced the Mighty Hand of God working in his circumstances; in the Court of Belshazzar, in the Lion’s Den, the visions of the end times, etc. But what we forget is that between those powerful encounters, there was everyday life. The mundane. The ordinary.

And in the midst of the ordinary is where Daniel’s faith grew and deepened.

It is when we are faithful in the ordinary that God teaches us and establishes us in our walk with Him! What that means is that between those powerful encounters, with God (and we all long for them), we just keep faithfully following Him! We continue fellowshipping regularly with our brothers & sisters in Christ (church). We continue reading the Word of God. We continue spending time with Him alone (prayer). We continue doing what we know to be is right (according to the Word of God) in all circumstances of life. And when we do that, we are laying a foundation that will sustain us in both the difficulties of life and in the highest spiritual moments in life. It is learning to be faithful in the ordinary that prepares us to experience God in the extraordinary!

James W. Black

The Three Anchors of the Soul

February 14, 2021 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

And now abide the faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”(1 Cor. 13:13 NKJV).

Those who follow Jesus, cannot live without faith! Faith is the key that opens the door to our relationship with Him! It is the vehicle that brings us into the richness of His life that He alone so freely offers unto us! Neither can we live without hope! It is our hope in Christ that strengthens us, encourages us and sustains us in the midst of trial and difficulty. It is hope that looks beyond the now. It is hope that looks beyond the darkness and sees the Light of His Glory! It is hope that looks beyond death and sees the promise and the guarantee of eternal life! The faith and hope that Christ offers to us are powerful anchors of the soul! But there is a third anchor that is even more powerful than the other two. And that anchor is love! Of the three it is the greatest and the most powerful!

It is the conscious reality of His love that gives meaning to faith and hope! It is the revelation of His love for us that gives purpose and meaning to life!
Because we are aware of His love, we can put our faith in Him! Because of the reality of His love, we can put our trust in Him and hope in Him even in the darkness!

The reality of His love was demonstrated by the fact that “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!” (Romans 5:8). He did not wait for us to get better or to get our lives together! No, He died for us while we were in the midst of our mess. He knew we we had no power to change ! It was His love for us that held Him to the cross! Not the nails! It was His love for us that enabled Him to conquer death ad hell on our behalf (Rev. 1:18).

It is His love for us that continues to offer us His righteousness and eternally life! (2 Cor. 5:21). Receive His love! Embrace it! Walk in it! It is the most powerful force in the Universe! It will literally transform your life.

James W. Black

Call Unto Me

January 31, 2021 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

In the dark days of Zedekiah’s reign (the last King of Judah 597-586 BC), Jeremiah, the prophet, received a Word from the Lord while shut up in prison. The Word was a word of encouragement, as well as a word of judgment. In Jeremiah 33:3 the Lord invites His people to “call unto me and I will answer thee…”. Jeremiah prophesied that although Jerusalem and the nation of Judah will be destroyed because of their rebellion and sin, God would ultimately restore the nation and bring her the peace that she longed for.

In Jeremiah 33:15, the Lord promised to send “the Branch of righteousness” who will sit upon the throne of David and bring both righteousness and peace to the land. That “Branch of righteousness” is the Lord Jesus Himself, the Messiah. That Branch has now come and ultimately will be revealed to the people of Israel as the Lord has promised.

Everyone experiences dark days band dark moments in their lives. But if we will stand upon the Word of God and call unto Him, He (the Branch of righteousness) will come and bring peace to us in the midst of our darkness. As he has been faithful to Israel, He will be faithful unto us. Call unto Him and He will answer!

When You’d Rather Be Somewhere Else

January 31, 2021 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

In Jeremiah 29: 4-7, the Word of the Lord came to the captives in Babylon. They were to “seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captives and to pray unto the Lord for it: for in the peace thereof, ye shall have peace (vs. 7).

They did not want to be in Babylon. They wanted to be home in Jerusalem. We would too! The life they once knew was gone. Things were different and difficult. But the Lord asked them to pray for the peace of that city so that they would also have peace. The Holy One wanted His people to seek Him where they were despite their circumstances. If they would, He would bless them where they were.

The Lord will do the same for us. There are times in life that we find ourselves in a place where we would rather not be. But we are there and there is nothing we can do to change it. What are we to do? We have two choices. We can become enslaved by bitterness and regret or we can seek the Lord where we are and honor Him there.

If we determine to seek the Lord, He will use those circumstances to work something good into our lives that could never have been done any other way. In other words, God will both redeem and bless in the midst of those circumstances if we allow Him. The greatest example of that is Paul the Apostle. He did not want to be in prison. He would rather be free to minister outside. But while in prison, God used him to write much of the New Testament that blesses and encourages us today. With God, nothing is ever wasted. So, seek the Lord where you are. He is at work in the midst of it.

Assurance of Our Salvation

January 31, 2021 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

One of the greatest blessings of being a follower of Christ is the ASSURANCE the Father gives us about our relationship with Him. Romans 8:16 says that “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (NKJV). In all the other religions of the world, no one can ever fully know or be sure of where they stand with God. But the joy that the followers of Christ have is that we can be sure!

That assurance is provided to us by The Holy Spirit. When Jesus ascended back to heaven after the resurrection (Acts 1: 8-9) the Holy Spirit came to indwell or live inside of each believer in Christ (Acts 2:4). The Holy Spirit (God Himself) now lives in each of us and lets us know that we belong to Him. It is a KNOWING that we cannot describe or explain. But the reality of that “knowing” is demonstrated by a “change” in us (2 Corinthians 5:17).

We think differently. We view life differently. We have a whole new perspective on life and the human condition. We understand things we did not understand before. We have hope that we did not have before. Life has a purpose and meaning that it did not have before. For the first time, we understand and KNOW why we are here. And even more importantly, we know where we are going when we die! What a joy and what a blessing the Father has given to us in enabling us to know we belong to Him!

Year: 2021