Moving Toward "Home"

Home is a word with a very unique meaning to me.  I grew up with loving parents who moved about to various places because of my father's work.  We spent several years in a small town not far from Saint John, New Brunswick, called Hampton.  It was there that my parents bought their first house, which happened to quickly become our home.

Some people live in houses, but we as a family lived in a home.  Houses are buildings or dwelling places, but not necessarily homes.  It takes loving families to make a house a home.

It was our haven of rest and safety.  Our parents were always there.  They properly feed us and cared for our every need on a daily basis.  They were the loving embrace we depended on whenever we scraped our knees or had our feelings hurt.

Our home was the place where we gathered three times a day around the family table to eat our meals together.  Many discussions took place in those moments; some of them were pleasant with lots of laughter, and some of them were very serious with great words of discipline.

Each night we would turn in for our sleep, tucked in by one of our parents with a kiss on the cheek.  We felt safe in our beds in our homes.  Our father seemed like a giant who could take on any problem that might threaten his brood; although, as we grew older he seem to shrink in size.

Our home was also our point of mission.  Whenever there was a crisis to face as a family, this was our gathering place to figure it out together.  There were many family gatherings in our living room to discuss what might lay ahead.  One such discussion was when our grandfather died.  Mom and Dad explained to us the meaning of life and death, and eternity.  Sometimes to us children the problems seemed almost insurmountable.  But we simply looked into the faces of our mother and father and our fears quickly subsided.

What a wonderful illustration to what a church family should be.  We are currently thinking of purchasing the building that we now worship in, to make it our home.  My personal dream is that it will become a home and not just a facility where we meet; and that we will enjoy one another as brothers and sisters in Christ as we seek the Holy Father's blessings upon our lives.  Hopefully we will feel His loving embrace each time we gather in our home, and it will quickly become our point of mission as we serve God for the furtherance of His Gospel.

Last Monday night our Building Committee met to discuss how to move ahead with finalizing a potential purchasing price for the rental-home that we now meet in.  One of our Committee members put together an advertisement to keep us all informed, and a part of the process.  I've included the advertisement:

Hello Church Family;

I am excited to report that the Elders met and asked the Building Committee to be reactivated and we had our first meeting on Monday.

The Building Committee Members will be contacting individuals this week who will give guidance concerning an Asessment/Inpection and completion of the Phase 1 study for our current place of worship as well as meet with representatives from the Dioceses.  Based on our findings; decisions will be brought forth as to how we will proceed regarding our current church building and/or land development. 

Financial reports will be updated to help us all understand our financial position as we move ahead.  We will be updating you on our findings on a regular basis.  We hope you join us in anticipation and excitement as we watch to see what God has planned for New Life Baptist Church. 

Amy Russell on behalf of the

Building Committee

Blessings everyone and have a great Friday,

-Leo

The Spiritual Wisdom of Biblical Parables (Luke 10:25-37)

Last night was Vesper Service night at New life Baptist.  We are working our way through the Travel narratives of Luke chapters nine through eighteen; specifically focusing on the parables.  Lat night we discussed/studied the great Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Every parable is rich in the wisdom of God toward spiritual living.  We must remember, even though Jesus was wisely correcting the lawyer who came to Him with the great question, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" He was also teaching His disciples lessons about spiritual living to the glory of God.  They were there in the crowd when the lawyer approached Jesus to test His theology and Biblical interpretation.  Their eyes were intently on Jesus.  They certainly understood the question of the this well-educated lawyer in the Law.  How would Jesus answer such a complex question?

The lawyer's focus was on obedience to the Law, and on what he could do to save himself.  He correctly cited the Law of Love as to what he could do.  What he didn't realize is that it was impossible to perfectly keep the law of love at all times.  He can try to keep it, and maybe most of the time succeed, but at some point in time he will surely fail.  As James 2:10 says,

"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it."

There are many great lessons in this one parable alone.  One point Jesus was making is that no one can do anything of themselves to gain eternal life.  In order to do anything to that end, it must be done to perfection and that perfection can never be tarnished by failure.  Who can accomplish such a feat?  Only Jesus.

The parable itself is about "being", more than it is about "doing".  The Priest and Levite were unable to be a good neighbor to the man who had fallen victim to robbers because of their religious obligations.  But the Samaritan was a good neighbor by His actions of mercy.  If being a neighbor is about "doing" first than it is nothing more than a sense of duty.  But if it is about "being" first, then it is about the quality of one's character; to be like God through Jesus Christ.  The Samaritan proved to have more of a character of God than the religious leaders did who were wrapped up in keeping the letter of the law.  The moral of the story is:  "Be like God to everyone and you will be a good neighbor."

Praise God for these wonderful lessons on love.  Love is the basis of all that is spiritual.  If you have not love, then you have nothing (1 Corinthians 13:2-3).

Blessings,

-Leo