I Love My Church

Can't wait for April.  This April we are celebrating CHURCH with the I LOVE MY CHURCH Campaign.  There will be special opportunities to express appreciation for New Life, to work on the new property or facility, and to grow in Christ.  Pastor Tom will be preaching messages focused on the vision of New life and our core values -- BEGIN, BELONG, BECOME, and BRANCH OUT.  Join us in April as we celebrate the Lord's church!

Redemption and Reconciliation

The story of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is one of the best known stories in the Bible.  It teaches us about the dangers of a wandering heart, the work of the Holy Spirit, the love of Father God, and the potential for negative attitudes as an "elder brother".

There are a lot of lesson which can be learned in the story, but the main point of the plot is . . . God's love for the lost.  That's it -- God loves you, especially when you are lost! (Romans 5:8)

So what about lostness?!  The Bible teaches us that humanity is lost (that includes you and me).  We are lost in that (1) we "miss the mark of God's righteousness standards " (Romans 6:23), (2) we are alienated from God because of our sin (Colossians 1:21), and (3) we are emotionally and spiritually alone without God presence in our lives (Matthew 4:4).

Redemption changes everything!  Redemption reconciles us with God, restores our relationship with others, and rebuilds in us the image of God.  Join with us Sunday at New Life as we consider the biblical doctrine of redemption.  Blessings, Pastor Tom

Redemption

This Sunday we are kicking off a new series entitled, "Redemption".  It won't last long, so don't miss it.  Redemption is a key doctrine of the Christian faith.  Christianity teaches both righteousness and redemption.  Redemption teaches us about the love of God, forgiveness, grace, brokenness, lostness, and restoration and reconciliation.

There is a favorite story about redemption and forgiveness which preachers use from time to time.  The story takes place near Mexico City.  It seems a father and son had a falling out.  After cross words, the son left home and didn't return.  a year went by and the father longed to find his son, so . . . he placed an ad in the local paper.  It read something like this, "Hose, all is forgiven.  come home.  If you read this, meet me at the city square on Saturday at 12 noon."  That Saturday, when the father went to the square more than 100 "Hoses" were waiting in the square.  -- the story itself is most likely make believe, but the point is not.  Most of us are looking for forgiveness, restoration, and an opportunity to return "home".  God gives us this opportunity in Christ Jesus.

There are many stories of redemption in the Bible . . . 

Joseph’s story in Genesis is certainly one story of redemption—not only the redemption of his own life, but the redemption of his family as well.  Even though, Joseph was sold into slavery, mis-treated as a slave, and spent time in prison, he was later able to declare, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (50:20) 

Exodus records the story of God’s deliverance of his people from slavery in Egypt.  God called Moses (Exodus 3) to lead his people out of slavery.  Following numerous miraculous signs (Exodus 7-11), God delivers his people out of bondage.  In the process, God’s people begin the practice of the Passover Feast which points to the blood of the lamb as the means of redemption for God’s people (Exodus 12).

The OT year of Jubilee — The year of Jubilee is best described as a “Sabbath year of Sabbath years”.   It occurred every 50 years.  The Sabbath year had four provisions: 1) the freeing of all slaves, 2) the cancellation of all debts, 3) the land would lay dormant, and 4) a return of all land to the original owners. (Exodus 21:2-6; 23:10-12; Leviticus 25:13-17)

Ruth 4 tells of the story of Naomi's redemption through Ruth and Boaz.  Ruth was a Gentile woman of Moab, who became an ancestor of King David and the Messiah.  Because of a famine, a Jewish man with his family went to live in Moab.  While there his sons married Moabite women—one of them was Ruth.  Not long after, the man as well as his two sons died, leaving Naomi, Ruth’s mother-n-law destitute.  Naomi with Ruth by her side returns to Bethlehem. It is then that Boaz meets Ruth and later marries her fulfilling the duties of the kinsman-redeemer.  In this way, Ruth became a grandparent of the Israel’s greatest king—king David.


In the New Testament, there is Nicodemus (John 3), Lazarus (John 11), and Zacchaeus (Luke 19), and don’t forget Mary and Martha (John 12), the prodigal son (Luke 15) or the repentant man crucified with Jesus (Luke 23:43).

And what about you?  Are you allowing God in Christ Jesus to redeem you and restore you to God's promises for your life.  Join us Sunday as we consider this important Christian truth.

DATE NIGHT at New Life

The DATE NIGHT Conference is this Friday and Saturday (March 15-16).  Hope you can make it.  We are looking forward to loads of fun, food, and fellowship.  Ministry to your children is provided.  There is still room for a few more to register, so go to http://www.newlifecolumbia.org/date_night.aspx.  You can register online and then just bring a check for $30.00 with you to the event.  We will enjoy dinner on Friday night and breakfast snacks and lunch together on Saturday.  Food will be provided for the children as well.

At the DATE NIGHT Conference you will be encouraged to enrich your marriage by accepting the Date Night Challenge.  See you there.

Daniel - a great man with a great vision

Daniel is an exceptional character in the Old Testament, and like all great heroes of faith, Daniel’s character was forged in the fires of adversity.  As we look back at Daniel’s life, we also look up to him because of his humility, his sense of responsibility for wrong doing, his hopefulness, and his faithfulness to God—all of these characteristics made for a truly great life.

Don’t get me wrong, Daniel lived a great life, but his life was certainly not great like “celebrity great”.  His greatness would probably be ignored by our standards today.  His life was in many ways quite difficult.  He was an exile for 70 years in a foreign land.  His homeland lay in ruins and his people had been scattered by Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians.

Like all the heroes of the Bible, we admire Daniel because of his faith and faithfulness to God even though his immediate circumstances were not what he wanted them to be!  Hebrews gives us other examples of faith—people like Abraham, Noah, Moses, and Rahab who believed God even though they often didn’t see the results of their prayers or faith-filled lives.  Here’s what Hebrews 11:39 says, “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.”

That something better was Christ Jesus.  The heroes of faith looked forward to the day when Messiah would arrive, we look back and by faith await his second coming.  The crucial question is . . . how will we live in the meantime?

Daniel lived a great life focused on God's plans and purposes.  As a result he received insight into dreams and visions.  Daniel saw what God saw even before it happened.  I wonder how much more we could see, if we lived a little closer to the Lord through prayer and the study of scripture.  

Join us this week as we take a look at what Daniel saw in the vision of the Seventy Weeks (Daniel 9).
See you at 10:15 AM at our new location (1300 Blue Ridge Road).