Northrock Church Blog

In the middle of a lake near Akron, Ohio, is an island that was once the site of a famous amusement park. Shortly after the park lodge was first constructed over a hundred years ago, it caught fire. Firefighters rowed to the island to fight the blaze. A candy vendor working on shore wanted to do his part so he filled a bucket with water, rowed to the island, tossed it on the burning structure and rowed back to shore for more water. It never occurred to him to use the lake water.

While we laugh at the candy vendor, many men try to solve their problems in much the same way. Divine help is available but they ignore it, struggling to solve the human dilemma with human wisdom. After all their exhausting efforts, the fire still burns and little is accomplished.

We try to rehabilitate without a spiritual perspective. How much wiser we would be to dip deeply into the resources Christ offers to change us. This is true with the problems of our society but also with our personal needs. Christ is the answer and church is a chance.

SATURDAY July 27th:  If you've watched China in the last few years, you know they have embraced capitalism with a passion while still professing to be communist. But professing to be one thing and doing another is not unique to communism in China. It's the case for many who call themselves Christians and yet live the way they want to live.

A recent Gallup poll found 72% of Americans believe that Jesus was the Son of God, yet 80% felt each individual should arrive at his or her own beliefs independent of any church. Now those two stats show a huge disconnect between belief and practice, between professing faith and living it. It's called hypocrisy and it's the number one reason people outside the church say they have no interest in Christianity.

Actions reveal what you really believe, no matter how much you profess what you are. Celebrate Northrock’s new home. Decide to bring others with you and make a new or renewed commitment to make a difference in our community and city. Over 1.5 million metro area residents have no church home. 

In a happy, healthy congregation, the members open their lives and homes to amplify the church's message of welcome. The longer you've been connected to Christ and the more fully his Word, power, and Spirit flow through you, the better you get at it. You don't cling so tightly to your stuff but share it with a smile and "offer hospitality to others without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:9).

As we mature, we become servants instead of customers and help people rather than use them. As our culture grows crueler and more selfish each year, genuine acts of kindness and friendship stand out and make our religious talk much more believable. Jesus loves it when we believe him and kniw that all our stuff is really his anyway.

Do your neighbors know what the inside of your house looks like? Have you ever brought someone from Northrock to your home?

Can you stand arrogant and boasting people? I don't like listening to them and neither do you. However, I sure don't mind humility. I will pay attention when someone is willing to admit, "I've been a bozo and a fool, but God showed mercy on me. It is my pleasure to share that mercy with you."

That's why God uses broken pots like you and me. Your flaws, cracks, stains, and chips don't disqualify you. In fact, people who can testify about God's mercy shown to the unworthy sound a lot more refreshing than someone who pretends never to have sinned.

Here is the truth: "Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions" (Ephesians 2:4,5).

It was for just such a sinner as you that Christ came, for just such a time as right now.

Of all the things teenagers do that cause hurt to their parents, being ashamed of them in public is one of the worst. I did it to my parents, and my kids will do it to me. Even though I expect it and even understand it to some degree, it will still hurt. Nobody wants to be thought of as too old, too slow, and too out of touch to be associated with.

I don't suppose God is too thrilled when those of us he adopted by faith into his royal family, his adopted children, think themselves too cool to be identified with him in public. 

The Apostle Paul had much to be ashamed of himself. In his earlier life he thought himself a great champion for God and his law. Later he discovered that he was a poseur and a fraud. He was actually at war with his Savior. His conversion experience changed forever how he viewed himself and the privilege of representing God wherever he went.

His changed philosophy: "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16).

People in the world are absolutely starved for love. All they know is the dog-eat-dog competition to survive. They do a frantic dance to try to get it all before they die--and they hope nobody steals their stuff while they're here. A happy, healthy church can provide a culture and environment where people can be inspired to live a better way.

One of the best aspects of our Christian faith is that we know we're immortal. Since we're going to live forever, we don't have to cheat and steal to get it all now. Instead, we can live out the words of Galatians 5:13: "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love."

When you know you are a royal and immortal priest of God, destined for eternity in heaven, you can freely serve and give yourself away right now. In fact, selfless service is an unmistakable sign of authentic faith. It is an unmistakable sign of the power of Christ living in you.

The apostle Peter was once sprung out of prison by an angel who infiltrated security, cut the chains off Peter's wrists, and led him out. Did he go home after that? No. Where, then, did he go? He immediately went to find his friends. They had been so worried about Peter that they were gathered together praying. Seeing him come through the doors was a stunning and direct answer to their group intercessions.

God loves when you pray not only for other people but with other people, because it helps you pay attention to other people's needs. He says, "If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:19,20).

God loves to hear your solo prayers, but he promises even greater things when you bind your individual heart with other believers' hearts. When you pray together, your burdens become only half as heavy. When you pray together, your joys are doubled.

Join us at Northrock Church for a great Sunday! 

One thing I love about the first wave of the early Christian church is the passion. They were so excited about their faith that they couldn't wait to  get together. Nobody needed to argue them into it. Parents didn't have to bribe, "All right, if you go to church, we'll all go to McDonalds afterward." Nobody had to threaten the teenagers, "You better go to church or you're not going out next weekend."

Instead, "all the believers were together and had everything in common. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts" (Acts 2:44,46).

Every day! They just did it. They loved hearing the truth, loved being with other people, loved sharing their faith, loved getting encouragement from others. They had everything in common. And because they couldn't wait for Sunday to roll around, they met together--every day.

If I've messed up and somebody's going to try to straighten me out, it sure helps if that person comes in humility. Because, immature as I still am, if I feel that somebody is talking down to me, I'll push back and do the opposite, just to demonstrate that you can't push me around.  

When you see someone whose life is spiraling downward and summon up your nerve to get involved, attitude is everything. Love them enough to risk their rejection. Speak with a repentant heart and a soft voice.

James reminds us, "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom" (James 3:13). 

That humble wisdom doesn't come easily. If you have it, it's because you've learned some of your life lessons the hard way. Your words may be just that much more believable if you've benefited from someone else's spiritual help.

When Adam and Eve committed that first sin against God, they hid when they heard him coming. If you could have seen them crouching in the bushes, would you have laughed at them? Probably not. You know exactly what they were feeling, because you've been there--shame, fear, rationalization, and mutual blaming.

When you know someone in your family or Northrock has been rebelling, does that make you despise them? I hope not. You've rebelled enough yourself. Don't judge other sinners. Restore. The New Testament teaches, "If someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently" (Galatians 6:1).

Northrock Church is a support network for you. But it is also a search-and-rescue team, and you're part of it. You have not only God's permission to speak for him; you have his command and plea to do so. When continual, habitual sin takes over people's lives and destroys their relationship with God, don't turn away. Don't condemn. Don't laugh. Don't feel superior. Don't let people hide from their Savior. Only in Jesus will people ever find relief from the guilt in their souls.

I don't have to tell you how many ways people's lives fall apart. Sometimes the enemy  hassles and attacks you from the outside, and sometimes you have an amazing capacity to sabotage your own life.

God knew this, and that's one of the reasons why he invented the church--so you and I would have a spiritual family. We are on a pilgrimage journey, and being together is better than being alone. That's why the Bible tells us, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching" (Hebrews 10:25). 

You and I know people who think, "I don't need anybody. I don't need to go to church. I don't need any of this God stuff. I can handle my own life by myself." Then when tragedy strikes or murphy catches up with them, they are devastated and alone. No man is an island. We are made to be in relationship with others.

As pilgrims we need fellow travelers. We can all keep an eye out for one another. Even the Lone Ranger had Tonto.

There are a couple of basic messages in the Bible. One of those messages is that there is indeed a right and wrong. We are born with an inner voice and a conscience that understands there is a good behavior and, more clearly, a wrong behavior. But our inner voice doesn’t stop there...

You have a lot of negative messages in your head, don't you? The voice tells you you're worthless, a failure, a loser, and ugly and fat and friendless too.

What we do not know by any inner voice is the gospel. We do not know there's hope. Someone needs to tell us that. Someone needs to tell us there's love for the loveless, beauty for the homely, and truth for liars. There's forgiveness for sinners, wisdom for fools, and kindness for jerks. Paul tells you and I what the gospel is in Romans 5:8: "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Did you know that? If so, it's not because you've figured it out by yourself. It's because God revealed it to you by his writers and messengers. Forgiveness of your many sins, comfort for your troubled heart, hope for your exhausted spirit, and immortality for your dying body are all God’s gifts. 

"That's just how I am" is a phrase we use when we don't want to change. That's how husbands excuse their tempers or wives their ancient grudges. That's how students excuse their mediocre grades or employees their rudeness to customers. It's also how Christians excuse their self-chosen immaturity.

Here's a paradox: God accepts you just as you are, warts and all. But he absolutely will not settle for your staying just as you are. As the gospel message of his unconditional love sinks in, he calls you to change yourself to be more like him, using his Word and Spirit and power.

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Ephesians 4:22-24).

If you're not sure where to start on your own life, just ask the people you live with. They will know right away where your changes need to begin.