Pastor's Corner Archives - Page 12 of 17

THE LOST ART OF BEING STILL

June 26, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“Be still and know that I am God… (Psalm 46:10 KJV).

One of the most ironic things in American life is the fact that we have more time saving devices at our disposal than ever before in history and yet we seem to have less time. Time has become a precious commodity in American life. The truth is that there are still 24 hours in a day. But we choose to fill it up with more things. We have become so busy in life that we have forgotten how to live and enjoy life.

Even those who know the Lord find it difficult to spend time with Him. The key is rediscovering how to be still. Being still requires intentionality. It requires not being rushed or hurried. It requires finding a quiet place. It requires shutting off distractions (computers, cell phones, tv, radio etc.). It requires turning our full attention to the Lord. It requires opening His Word and reading with a desire to listen. It requires sitting still in His Presence and turning a verse of scripture over in our minds thinking of each word and each phrase; letting its message take root in our heart. It requires just reflecting on the Person of God as revealed in Jesus. It requires sometimes just observing and taking in the wonder of His creation all around us and being in awe of His creative power. It requires being still enough to become conscious of His Presence. It requires waiting. It requires sometimes just sitting quietly before Him and not saying a word.

And it is in the stillness and quietness of those moments that we hear the “still small voice” of the Lord speaking softly to us in our spirit. In those moments He reveals Himself to us; reminding us that He is with us, reaffirming His love for us and like a loving Shepherd gently nudging us in the direction He wants us to go. In the quietness of those moments He reaches out to us and invites us to follow Him on the path He has chosen for the day. And as we step out onto the path we sense the gentle touch of His hand guiding us along the way.

It is in the wonder and the mystery of being still that we rediscover once again that He is God and He is with us! And it is in Him that we discover the meaning and purpose of the journey.

Rev. James W. Black

Evidence of The Holy Spirit Working in The Home

June 19, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers…” (Malachi 4:6 KJV).

Elijah was one of Israel’s greatest prophets. The Word of God declared that before the Lord would come and establish His Kingdom that Elijah would return to prepare the way (Malachi 4:5). Jesus revealed to his disciples that John The Baptist was that Elijah (Luke 1:16-17, Math. 11: 10, and Math. 17:11-13)! Jesus was declaring that the same anointing that was on Elijah was on John the Baptist. The Holy Spirit operated in him and through him in the same degree of power that He operated in Elijah during his day. Malachi then described what happens when the Holy Spirit comes and does His work in the family!

The Holy Spirit will bring reconciliation in the family. He will “turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers..”. His deep work in the heart of the fathers would cause them to genuinely love their children. They would delight in their children. Their children would in turn bring them great joy! The children would not be seen as a burden or a bother but be seen as the blessing that God intended them to be (Psalm 127:3-5). As a result the children would also delight in their fathers! The relationship would produce mutual joy.

That is what The Holy Spirit does when He is invited into our lives and into our homes!
He reconciles broken relationships. He brings His love, His joy and His peace into the home. He brings harmony. He brings meaning and purpose to the family. He enables each member of the family to value and treasure one another. And The Holy Spirit enables the family to become a refuge from the darkness of the world around it. Each member of the family will find joy and delight in being with one another. And Christ will be exalted in the midst of the family.

To see a family that genuinely loves and cares for one another and to see that Christ is honored in the midst of that family is evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work within the family! Such a sight brings honor and glory to the Lord and demonstrates that Jesus is truly alive! So let us be encouraged to enthrone Christ in our lives and our families! He wants to do a marvelous work in each of our families that will be a testimony to others!

James W. Black

How Do Others Know You?

June 5, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“…I thank my God throughJesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.”

Everyone is known in some measure by what they do in life. That is especially true for men, but it is also true for women as well. We may be known as a teacher, a truck driver, a factory worker, a mechanic, a computer technician, an office worker, a business man (or woman), a homemaker, a caretaker, a photographer, a baker or a thousand other occupations. And while all of these things are meaningful and important they only define what we do. They do not define who we are.

In writing to the Church at Rome, Paul was blessed by the fact that they were known by their faith in Christ! In fact, their faith in Christ was known all over the world!
Whenever anyone spoke of the Church in Rome, people everywhere identified them as genuine followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Of all the things we could be known for, the most important thing that we could be known for is to be a genuine follower of the Lord Jesus Christ! Yes, we should be known as people of excellence in all that we do in any field of work or service. But above all it should be our desire to be known as a genuine follower of the Lord. In other words, when people speak of us, they not only speak of the excellent work that we do, but they also attest to the fact that our faith in Christ is evident, genuine and real.

So while it is not our goal to seek the favor and the affirmation of others, it should be our goal to have the reality of our walk with Christ and our faith in Him affirmed not only by those inside the Body of Christ but by those outside of it as well. And if we make the effort to live what we say we believe, and we do it with a measure of consistency over a long period of time, it will become known. And the reality of that should cause us to rejoice in the Lord and bring glory to Him and not unto us.

James W. Black

Trusting God in The Face of Adversity & Great Loss

May 29, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

Everyone experiences adversity and great loss at one time or another in life. The level and the depth of that adversity and loss varies with each individual, but going though it is simply a part of life. Being a child of God does not exempt us from it. This past week a prominent and former local pastor and his wife found their 21 year old daughter deceased in her apartment. There was no foul play; no suicide, no drug overdose. The autopsy could not determine the exact cause of death. It was hard. The loss was unbelievably painful!

Then there was the horrific and senseless school shooting at an Elementary School in Uvalde, TX. Nineteen children killed along with two teachers who died trying to shield them from the gunman. As a nation, we are shocked and grieved by such unspeakable tragedy.

But no one has experienced more adversity and loss than a man named Job.

In this classic contest between God and Satan, Job became the focus point of the conflict. Satan was certain that the only reason Job honored and served the Lord was because of the blessings God poured out upon him. Satan knew Job’s flesh (his human weaknesses) but God knew his heart. Because of this, the Lord allowed Satan to touch everything dear to Job. He literally lost everything but his own life (with the exception of his wife).

In the midst of his despair and confusion; in the midst of his pain and loss, in the mist of his frustration with life, Job declared “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him…” (Job 13:15). This is a remarkable and powerful statement! In the midst of such great pain, adversity and loss, Job declared that he would still trust God in spite of everything. Even when he didn’t understand.

This is the key to walking with the Lord. Walking with God does not mean that life is always easy. But it does mean that no matter what happens, we can still trust Him! And like Job we will eventually come through it and be able to give praise and honor to the Lord. Our faith will be deepened and strengthened. And The Holy One will get glory.

James W. Black

Who Do You Serve?

May 22, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“…choose you this day whom ye will serve; …but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15 KJV).

Everybody serves somebody, whether they are atheist or agnostic. The atheist serves at the altar of his own intellect and reason. To the atheist there is no God. He believes that through his intellect alone he can understand and explain everything. In essence the atheist is a god unto himself.

The agnostic neither knows nor cares if God exists. He is content to live a life that is completely indifferent and void of God. He and the atheist make good companions. For in their pride and arrogance they often attack and ridicule those who do know the Lord. They consider themselves to be intellectually superior.

The religious fall into two categories; those who simply engage in dead religious activity and those who truly know and follow the One True and living God!
In whatever camp a person aligns themselves with, they do so by choice.

Joshua had seen and followed the Living God from the time he was in Egypt to the time that he and the nation entered into the land that God had promised them some 40 years before. He had experienced hardship and difficulty but through it all he had also witnessed the Mighty Hand of God! To him, there was no other choice. He knew the reality of God. He knew the power and the promises of God. He knew the faithfulness of God. So as he came to the close of his life, he challenged the people of Israel to choose who they would serve. Would they serve the God who had revealed Himself to them in a multitude of ways, or would they choose the dead and powerless gods of the nations whose land they had entered. The God of Israel offered life. The gods of the nations offered death. For Joshua, the choice was clear. He would choose the One True and living God!

The others, like Joshua also had a choice. They could serve the One True and living God, or they could serve a god of their own making. Both life and death rested upon their choice. We too are offered the same choice today. We can choose to follow and serve the only True and living God (the only God who gives eternal life) or we can choose to follow the gods of this world (selfishness, pride, greed, lust, power and entertainment). Both then and now the decision has eternal consequences. Who do you choose to serve?

James W. Black

Gods Way is Perfect

May 15, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner

“As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is tried; he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.” (Psalm 18:30 KJV).

The word perfect is a rich word. It means “being entirely without fault or defect; flawless, absolutely pure, and complete.” (Webster). That is how the Word of God describes God’s way. His way is flawless, absolutely pure and complete. There is nothing than can be added to what He says or what He does to make it better.

God’s way is perfect because God Himself is perfect. There is nothing that can be added to Him! He is not outdated. He does not need revising. He is the complete embodiment of the ultimate perfection. He has always been and will always be. He has always been the same and will forever be the same. (Heb. 13:8). Therefore because God is perfect, His Word is perfect, His Salvation is perfect and His Way is perfect! Whatever He says or does is not only flawless, but it is also complete!

That should bring us great comfort because The Holy One is doing a great work in each of our lives as His redeemed! Paul the Apostle reaffirmed this when he said: “he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it (or complete it)” [parenthesis mine] until the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6). So, while none of us are perfect, we are all in the process of being perfected.

The Lord will use a multitude of tools and circumstances to accomplish this task. He knows the “best way” to do it. But make no mistake about it. The Lord always completes whatever He starts. And when He is finished it will be perfect!

That work that He has begun in us will be completed when we see Him in glory; not before. So relax and let God do His work. He is doing a good job in you. And when He is finished, it will be perfect because His way is alway perfect.

James W. Black

The Lord Does Not Fret Over The Wicked

May 7, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner / Uncategorized

“The wicked plots against the just and gnashes at him with his teeth. The Lord laughs at him, for He sees that his day is coming. (Psalm 37: 12-13 NKJV).

When we hear and observe the things that are happening in our culture and the world, if we are not careful, we can allow ourselves to get caught up in them. We can allow ourselves to become so disturbed and angered by them that we are robbed of our joy! This is a tool of the adversary. That is why it is vitally important that we keep the right perspective.

It is important to remember that although it may appear, at least for the present, that those who engage in evil and wicked acts often seem to get away with what they do, the truth is that no one who does such things will escape the judgment and the wrath of a Holy God (John 3:36). Nothing is hidden from Him! He sees everything (Psalm 139: 11-12). The wicked in their arrogance and pride wrongly interpret God’s perceived delay as God’s indifference. Even worse, they interpret God’s delay as impotence! They believe that He either doesn’t care or is unable to intervene in what they do. But God does see! God does care! And God does know all the evil plans of the wicked and He laughs!

The Sovereign God knows the end of the wicked. He knows how many days they have left. (Psalm 139:16). They do not know that their very next heartbeat is in the Lord’s hands! In their arrogance and pride, they think that they are in control of their ultimate destiny. But the day will come when all of the wicked will stand before a Holy God and on that day they will tremble in His Presence (Rev. 20: 12-15). The Judge of all the earth will one day hold court and the judgment He renders will be final! For the unredeemed, it will be a fearful and dreadful day! The Word of God declares that it is a “fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Heb. 10:31).

So while it is important to be aware of what is going on in our world, there is no need to fret. God doesn’t. He knows the ultimate outcome! He is coming! And the kingdoms of this world will surrender to the Kingdom of Our God! (Rev. 11:15). Until then, let us rest in Him, trust in Him, and continue to be His light in this world. (Matthew 5:14-16).

James W. Black

The Greatness of God

May 1, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner / Uncategorized

“All nations before him are as nothing and they are counted to him as less than nothing and vanity.” (Isaiah 40:17 KJV).

When we consider the greatness of empires both past and present and the impact they have had upon the world (Greece, Rome, England, and the US to name a few), we are awed by the fact that in spite of all their greatness, power, wealth and the influence they had in the world, they are as “nothing” in the Presence of the Living God. The very thought of that gives us a small glimpse of the magnificence and greatness of God!

Our God and His Kingdom are far greater than any nation that has ever been or ever will be. And He has redeemed us and called us to be a part of His Mighty Kingdom! Not only are we redeemed to be a part of His Kingdom, but we are also redeemed to be a part of His Family! As a part of His Family, we will be given authority and power to execute His will and purpose throughout His Kingdom for all eternity.

Although the Kingdom has not been fully manifested because Christ has not yet returned, the redeemed are already in the Kingdom and have been given power and authority to execute His will on the earth even now. At present, our current assignment is to hear His Word, listen to His voice, and obey what He asks us to do. We must remember that we are currently in training. Everything that we are going through right now is God’s way of training us and preparing us to rule and reign with Him in eternity. The day will come when His Kingdom will be fully revealed and we will see Him in all of His glory! At that moment everything else will fade away in comparison to Him! What an awesome and mighty God we serve! His greatness is beyond our comprehension!

James W Black

Following Jesus

April 24, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner / Uncategorized

“…Jesus said unto his disciples, ‘If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24 KJV).

Following Jesus is costly. Jesus made that abundantly clear from the very beginning. He told those who wanted to follow Him, to make sure that they first counted the cost (Luke 14:28-33). He wanted them to know that following Him not only required the “denying of ourselves” but it also required the “death of ourselves” (Romans 6:6). Our lives must be “nailed to the cross (Gal. 2:20). Only then can we be resurrected to a “new life” (Rom. 6:5). Jesus exemplified this with His own life (John 12: 24-26). It was only after His death on the cross that Jesus would be a resurrected! Many who express a desire to follow Jesus want the resurrection, (the new life), but they do not want the cross. But we cannot have one without the other.

But once that happens everything changes (2 Cor. 5:17). Our lives are transformed from being self centered to being Christ centered. We care more about what please Him than what pleases us. Our greatest pleasure in life is found in seeking Him, knowing Him and experiencing Him. Following Jesus is not centered upon us. It is centered upon Him. And yet though that we find the greatest joy and satisfaction in life!
It is there that we discover the joy of His Presence. It is there that we discover the wonder of His Grace and His love. It is there that we experience the Peace of His forgiveness! It is there that we finally discover the life that we always wanted. A life filled will meaning, purpose and hope! It is there that we discover our reason for living!
The English writer G. K. Chesterton said it well: “The Christian life has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult and left untried.” I would encourage you to follow Jesus! It is worth everything it costs!

James W. Black

The Power Of The Blood

April 17, 2022 by NCC-Admin-1 in Pastor's Corner / Uncategorized

“…ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by the tradition from your fathers; but with the precious blood of Christ…(1 Peter 1: 18-19 KJV).

The value of the Blood of Christ cannot be fully comprehended by the human mind. To the unbelieving world it means nothing. To the unbelieving world it is foolishness. But its value is not determined by the world. Its value is determined by God the Father! And the Father places a very high value upon the Blood of His Son!

The Blood of Jesus Christ is the most powerful element in the universe. It is the Blood of Christ shed for us on Calvary that purchased our redemption (Rev. 5:9). The Blood of Christ is so powerful that it paid in full EVERY CLAIM that sin and the kingdom of darkness had (or ever will have) upon us (Col. 2: 13-15). It is the Blood of Christ that gives us access to the peace of God (Col. 1:20). It is the Blood of Christ that enables us to be declared righteous (Rom. 5: 8-9). It is the Blood of Christ that enables us to have fellowship with God the Father and enables us to become a part of His family (Eph. 2:13).

It is the Blood of Christ that causes the demons to flee (James 2:19). It is the Blood of Christ that brings healing (Isaiah 53:5). It is the Blood of Christ that destroys EVERY stronghold (2 Cor. 10:4). The Blood of Christ contains the very Life of God Himself (Lev. 17:11). And that Life is eternal! It is the Blood of Christ that give US eternal life (John 10: 28). May we be ever thankful to God for the Blood of His Son, Jesus Christ!

Rev. James W. Black

Category: Pastor’s Corner

But no one has experienced more adversity and loss than a man named Job.