God’s Provision In Uncertain Times
NLF 2/15/2003 Esther 4:1-16 1 Corinthians 15:50-58
Rick
Today we celebrate three years of God’s provisions in the life of New Life Fellowship. God has taken a thought and an idea in the minds of some, and turned it into a church touching the hearts and lives of people. One of the most awesome things about God, is God making provisions for things, long before we understand the reason behind it. Before New Life Fellowship could begin, God had to do an amazing work of stirring the hearts of the people at Glenville.
Toby
There were three things God did at Glenville to open the way for New Life Fellowship. The first was God placed it on our hearts to increase the number of lay pastors at a time when it appeared we had enough. Without that increase in lay pastors, we would not have been open to launching a new church and stretching ourselves even thinner.
Rick
The second thing was an increase in the number of people who committed themselves to learning the word of God in Lifesharing to understand the purpose of the church. The local church does not exist for itself, but for whatever the purposes of God might be. Glenville’s call to bring people into a right relationship with God was not to be limited to bringing them into it’s four walls.
Toby
The third thing was the rising up together as a congregation for the vision of the New Life Center. That process took many of the saints at Glenville to a higher level in their walk with the Lord, and they made themselves available to God for ministry. The New Life Center vision energized Glenville to do something it had not dreamed of before.
RICK
During the first six months of New Life Fellowship, people signed up at Glenville to go and worship at New Life Fellowship for four weeks at a time to begin the congregation. Some came over and never went back to Glenville as their primary ministry calling , because God had a plan here for their lives.
TOBY
Helen Britt became the senior lay pastor to whom many at New Life Fellowship look to for counseling and wisdom. The Armstrong and Sullivans families came and built the foundation for and built a solid Youth Worship program. The Thornton’s came with a spirit of service to give of themselves wherever they were needed. Sam came out of his shadow and became an eager volunteer in the church.
RICK
The Holloways and Cospers began using their gifts and talents in ways they had not dreamed of doing at Glenville. Terri Johnson found herself directing a choir and teaching youth group. Tony & Carmen and their children rose to level of giving of themselves in a pastoral family role that has been truly incredible. Their gifts of preaching, teaching, and leading worship have blossomed here at New Life Fellowship. Mary Mosely, has consistently reached out to her friends to bring them into the life of the church. These were the initial ones that God was making provisions to use in the first year of the church.
TOBY
At the same time God was raising people up out of Glenville, God was moving in the hearts of people here in the Miles Park area. Even before we had come to New Life Fellowship, God had spoken to Barbara Jackson that she was to come to this church. When she came, her first Sunday here, they were about 45 minutes early. They still waited even though they lived across the street. Little did we know how great an impact the Jackson and Smith family would have in making a difference in the life and growth of the church. They became critical parts of the ministries that were started.
RICK
That first year also included the Copeland, the Owens, the Lewis’s, the Lee’s and the Malone’s. Our joy though is that God continued to add for the next two years people and gifts to the life of the church. Without the hard work of you who came later combined with the sacrifices of those who were here at the beginning, New Life Fellowship would not possess the energy and spiritual life it has today. God is continuing to send us what we need to grow as evidenced by Jeff and Derrick’s joining the church today.
TOBY
God has blessed us with some tremendous singers, great dancers, wonderful people willing to serve, outstanding leaders, and unique opportunities for ministry. Several of you have visions not only for ministries that the church can do, but you also have visions for ministries you’re believing God to raise up out of your own lives.
RICK
In the same way God was doing a work in Glenville to give birth to New Life Fellowship, God is doing something in New Life Fellowship to give birth to something else that we currently do not see. You see, we cannot boast that our church has grown the largest in the past three years in Cleveland. We cannot boast of many miraculous signs and wonders. We cannot say a number of things that the Lord has blessed other three year old churches with, but we can say the hand of God is upon us. We can say, God called us for a reason. We can say, we know what it is to be touched by God. We can say, God’s provision has been there to meet our needs.
TOBY
In our Old Testament reading we read of Queen Esther and Mordecai. Esther was on orphan child who lost both of her parents to death. Her older cousin Mordecai took her as his own daughter. They were in a foreign country, with no connections to the powers that be. Their people had been brought to the nation as conquered slaves. When a search was made by the King for a new queen many would have said she had no chance of being chosen. You see she was an unknown young lady, from an unknown people, with an unknown background. At best she had the slimmest of slim of chances of being chosen.
RICK
But the good news is that the slim chance she had was based on the God factor. The God factor can change any equation. When your slim chance is based on what God has in store for you for His purposes, your slim chance becomes God’s guarantee.
When God brought Esther to the throne, everyone was probably asking why did she get to be the one chosen? Sure she was beautiful, but there were others who were equally beautiful. God set Esther on the throne when he did, because of something God knew was coming in five years.
RICK
God’s plan is always an unfolding one. God changed Glenville, so that some of you here today could get saved. Without God placing Glenville in the position He did to take a step of faith, some of you would not have a heart that’s directed toward God. New Life Fellowship has been able to reach into some hearts for God that Glenville could not have reached. This three year celebration is a celebration for both churches. But just as God used Mordecai to bring up Esther, and God used Glenville to bring up New Life, God had a purpose for placing Esther on the throne and a purpose for raising up New Life Fellowship.
TOBY
Sometimes it is when true challenges begin to come into our lives and our future is uncertain, that we begin to discover why God placed us in the position we may have. Esther was enjoying her position in life as Queen. Whatever she wanted was hers. She knew what a good living was really like for her day. Many people would have loved to have been in her shoes.
She did have a secret in that no-one knew her Jewish background. Mordecai had told her not to tell anyone about it. Her cousin Mordecai, watched her from a distance. He did not try to get anything from her because of his special relationship to her. He did not want his connection to her to possibly get in the way of what God might have for her in the future.
RICK
But one day Mordecai became the source of some serious trouble. There was a guy by the name of Haman, who became very angry with Mordecai. Haman had more pride than most people, and he had an ego larger than you could imagine. The King had issued a law, that his subjects were to bow down in honor of Haman. Mordecai would not bow down when Haman walked past him even though the law commanded it. Mordecai felt that as a Jew, he should only have to bow to God.
TOBY
Haman became so upset with Mordecai, that simply killing Mordecai was not enough to satisfy his rage. He wanted to not only kill Mordecai, Haman also wanted to kill every Jewish person in the entire kingdom. Haman was the king’s personal favorite advisor, and he got the king to write a law requiring that on the 13th day of the twelfth month, all Jews, young and old, women and children were to be killed and their property was to be taken.
RICK
Neither Haman nor the King knew that the Queen was a Jew. When the news hit the streets of this new law, the Jews were in mourning everywhere. Mordecai tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and ashes, and went through the street crying wildly. The whole city was thrown into confusion as the Jews shook with fear, and their enemies could not wait for the 12th month to arrive to destroy them and get their property.
When Esther heard about Mordecai’s behavior she sent him new clothes, but he would not accept the clothes. Then she sent to find out what was wrong with him. Mordecai sent word about the new law and a copy of it to Queen Esther.
He told Esther, “Go in to the king and plead for mercy for the lives of the Jews.” Esther sent back the message, “I can’t go to the king without being asked for, because if I do, the law says anyone approaching the king without permission will be killed unless the king points the gold scepter to him and spares his life.”
TOBY
Up until this point, Esther was enjoying the life of being queen. Life was good. God had placed all kinds of provisions around her. For five years things have been going well. Now she is being asked to do something that can completely cost her everything that she has around her. We should never get too comfortable in our surroundings, because we need to be prepared to risk losing it in order to be faithful in serving God.
Esther could only see some uncertain time ahead in her future. If she did nothing, life would change. Many of her people would die. If she did something her life would change. She might die. The king had removed his first wife from being queen for refusing his request. He could do the same thing just as quickly to Esther. The king had not even spoken to her for the last month. She did not know if she was on his good side or his bad side at the moment. Now did not seem like a good time to ask the king for a favor of changing the law.
RICK
New Life Fellowship, as we celebrate our third year anniversary, God has placed some uncertain clouds in our future. Even as he tells us to do more in reaching those who are lost What are some of the uncertain clouds? Well, the charter school will no longer be here after June. Where will the $36,000 in new income come from that we were receiving? At the same time our denomination has expected us to increase our own growth in our giving, so the money coming in each year is reduced from the previous year.
TOBY
This is the year in which we will change our relationship from being Glenville’s daughter church to become her sister church when we have a separate session and board of deacons. What changes will that bring? Our leadership will look differently at the end of 2004 than it did at the beginning. How will that affect us? Some of you from Glenville have decided that New Life Fellowship will definitely be your home, but others of you are still undecided. At some point you will make a decision. Some of you have only known New Life Fellowship as your church.
RICK
God has brought us to this time and this place for a purpose. God raised us up as a church and now is asking us, are we willing to go to a new level in Christ before this year is over. A level of genuinely seeking to win others for the cause of Christ. A level of taking seriously God’s call for us to be tithers. A level of committing ourselves to learn and t0 apply the word of God. A level of offering God our very best in terms of our service.
By saying yes to stepping up we are guaranteeing that there will be many more celebrations to come. If we look back and see God’s unexpected provisions for us in the past, we can be assured of God’s provisions for our uncertain times.
TOBY
At first Esther looked for a way to try to get out of having to change from where she had been comfortable. She said in so many words, “I would like to try and help out, but I don’t see anyway that I can under the present circumstances.”
Way too often there is the temptation to excuse ourselves from the call of God because of something we see that might come between us and our comfort or our security. Let us never forget, as Christians, we are where we are in life, to be ready to be used by God to make a difference.
When Jesus said for us to pick up our cross and follow Him, he was letting us know there would be times when our future would be uncertain, but to know that he had already walked the path before us. Jesus said pick up the cross and follow him, not walk beside Him or in front of Him, but follow Him.
RICK
When Mordecai receives Esther’s message of non-commitment, he is very displeased with his cousin. Here he and their people, are facing the possibility of being murdered by mobs and she has not committed herself to doing whatever she can to stop it. He thinks that she thinks, “oh well, at least I will be safe here in the king’s palace.”
Mordecai sends back the message, “Look! Don’t think you’re going to be safe just by keeping your mouth shut about your Jewish background. If you do not help us, God will make a way through somebody else, and you will perish. You need to consider this, Esther. When you look at the odds of you being in the place you are today, just maybe God put you in this place five years ago, to make a difference right now.”
TOBY
New Life Fellowship, God has us in a place in which we must choose our destiny. God has brought us together, with this set of people, with these particular gifts to make a difference in Cleveland and the surrounding vicinity. We have already had to weather some storms as a church and we have come out victoriously. As we prepare to stand up on our own two feet as a church, the enemy would like nothing more than to make us believe, we can’t do it. Yet we know there is so much potential in this congregation, and that with the power of Christ there is no reason for us to fail.
RICK
Esther makes the decision, “I do not have to survive.” Until we make that decision for Christ, “I do not have to survive”, then we are not free to go and do everything God may be calling us to do. Now Esther knows that she can not do it in her own strength.
She sends a message back to Mordecai, “Look I know there are difficult days ahead. I’m not sure of God’s provision for the future. So I want you and all the Jews in the city of Susa to fast for me for three days. I and my maids will also fast. Then I will go in to the king even though it might cost me everything I have including my life, but I’ve thought about this thing. Even though I know it is against the law, I’m going to see the king. If I perish, then I perish.”
TOBY
By committing her life to the cause, “Esther takes her place in history among the saints of God who have declared, I’m yours Lord. Everything I am. Everything I’m not. Everything I have, Everything I Got. Try me now and see. See if I can be completely yours.”
With three years of ministry behind us, let us serve notice on Satan, that we have made up our minds to give our all to God to build this church. If we perish in the process, then we perish, but it will be because God has ordained for it to end. Until such a declaration should come from heaven, our eyes and our vision shall be set on being used by God to do all that He calls us to do. We will use the resources and the provisions He provides.
RICK
The church is one of the most powerful weapons God has in changing lives. You see when you join any other organization, you are only making a temporary decision for your life. But the church involves decisions which go into all eternity. We are not simply introducing people to Christ for the here and now. We are introducing people to Christ because we know that death is coming, and it is the ultimate weapon in Satan’s arsenal.
But by bringing people to Christ, we rob death of its power. Just as death could not hold back Jesus Christ in the grave, death cannot hold any of his children. There are only two options for believers. Either we will be dead when Christ returns or we will still be alive. Either way, the Scripture tells us the dead in Christ will rise , and in the twinkling of an eye, all of us will be changed into a body that cannot be destroyed and together we will meet the Lord in the air.
TOBY
There is no other organization in the world that can prepare people for this coming moment other than the church. New Life Fellowship is not here simply for itself. It is here to make a difference. God’s Choice Choir, GANG, and New Life Praise Choir, keep on singing because you’re making a difference for eternity. Dancers, keep on dancing you’re being used by God for His purpose.
RICK
Woman To Woman keep on mending and building the hearts of Women. Hoops For Life, you’re providing more than a basketball game. You’ve providing a battleground for God to claim the lives of youth who may not be in anyone’s church. Summer Program staff, keep investing in the lives of those young people who will go on to become leaders in our society. Your influence lasts far longer than you might think.
TOBY
Those of you who do the little things like ushering, coffee hour, keeping basketball scores, providing meals, serving in the nursery, greeting, visiting newcomers, building the web site, making possible the tv program, operating the music, and more should know that you may not see the impact you’re having in the kingdom of God but it’s there. You are God’s provision in the midst of uncertain times for others and you do not even know it. There’ a young paralyzed man, who faithfully watches our broadcast. We are God’s provision for him in his circumstances.
RICK
There is a three fold challenge in 1 Corinthians 15:58 as we celebrate our third anniversary and face some uncertain times. The first says, “my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm.” Let us stand firm knowing that God is still in control. The second says, “let nothing move you.” We know that God called us into being as a church. Neither our difficulties or challenges will move us from fulfilling our call to be in this community.
TOBY
The third says, “always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” Some of you have labored long and hard and have not seen the fruit that God is sending our way. Be encouraged, because in Christ, your labor is never in vain. God is already using you to be a blessing to someone else. Who knows how many hundreds and perhaps thousands of people will come to know Christ, because of the presence of New Life Fellowship. God has given us an awesome task and responsibility as a body of believers.
Esther risked it all and went in to see the king. The death she feared never came about. In her faithfulness, she brought about a great deliverance for her people. She established herself as a model for us to all be willing to follow. When it comes to doing the will of God, if we perish, we perish, but we’re going to do what we know we have to do.
RICK
As we launch into this year of ministry which will span 2004 and 2005, that same provision provided by God for Esther is undoubtedly waiting for us. Let’s put it all on the line by giving our all and our best for the sake of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. No doubt we will discover, there is a stronger and more powerful New Life Fellowship waiting to come down upon us in the years to come. God has called you here today, to use you to make it happen. Be part of a dream that’s bigger than yourself by becoming a part of the body of Jesus Christ. God makes provisions for us, during the uncertain times in our lives.
