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VALLEY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH

Do Not Be Afraid!

6/29/2014

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Let me ask you a question, ‘what are you afraid of?’  I’m not asking about spiders or snakes or things that go bump in the night; rather what is it that causes a knot in your stomach; that causes you to lie awake at night or to wake up in a cold sweat; that sometimes overwhelms you and threatens to shake you to the very core of your being?  

Fear, uncertainty or instability is nothing new for the people of God. Every generation of believers has faced moments when fear has threatened to overwhelm their faith.  To which God, in His Word simply says…do not be afraid.  It is the single most repeated command in all of Scripture. 

Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. (Genesis 15:1)  

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  (Deuteronomy 31:6)  

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. (Isaiah 41:10)  

Over and over and over again in His word God speaks to His people…do not be afraid.  God’s word to you today is the same: do not be afraid.  We don’t have to cave into fear, to doubt, to uncertainty or instability.  It is possible to abide, to rest fully in Christ.   

This was a core belief that sustained the Apostle Paul through all the ups and downs of his experience.  One sentence from his letter to the Philippians is a gift to any and all who have ever wrestled with fear, anxiety or uncertainty.  

I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13)  

This verse tells us how Paul managed to live above his circumstances. He did it only by the power of Jesus Christ dwelling in him.  For Paul, the secret of contentment was not a stiff upper lip or a positive mental attitude; He was content because he had learned to rely completely on Jesus Christ. 

In Christ he finds his source of strength, no matter what comes his way.  In Christ he has discovered the one thing which can truly satisfy the human soul.  So whether his circumstances are easy or difficult, whether he has a lot or a little irrelevant to Paul because he's found something bigger, something better; that which serves as an anchor for his soul.  His life is secure in Christ!  

True contentment in this world cannot be explained apart from the power of Christ at work within us.  But, you have to know Christ!  It is Christ and Christ alone who gives us the strength we need.   

You may wonder, is it enough? Is Jesus Christ enough to face the challenges and difficulties of this life?  Is his broken body enough? Is his shed blood sufficient?  Is his intercession in heaven enough to sustain us? Yes, yes and yes; a thousand times yes!  

Jesus Christ is enough…I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

So my friends at Valley… let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith , who for the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.  (Hebrews 12:1-3)

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A Journey of the Heart

6/14/2014

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In his book, The Journey of Desire, John Eldredge writes:  There is a secret set within each of our hearts.  It often goes unnoticed, we rarely can put words to it, and yet it guides us throughout the days of our lives.  It is the desire for life as it was meant to be. 

As I have had opportunity to reflect on my own journey; call it ‘mid-life crisis’ if you want; or maybe it has something to with where we are as a family—moving into the empty-nest stage; or maybe it has something to do with coming to the end of my 7th year of ministry at Valley—desiring to be faithful to the call of our Lord to walk together with the people of Valley for this season, but wondering where the  journey is going to take us, to take me.  Whatever it is, there is within my heart an emptiness; ‘something is missing’.  I have a nagging sense there more to which I am to lay hold of; something, perhaps just beyond my grasp but there to be taken. 

Ben Curtis and John Eldredge in their book The Sacred Romance, write about this.  Some years into our spiritual journey, after the  waves of anticipation that mark the beginning of any pilgrimage have begun to ebb into life’s middle years of service and busyness, a voice speaks to us in the midst of all we are doing.   There is something missing in all of this, it suggests.  There is something more. 

I have always sought to honor Christ by serving Him; by serving His people, His church and there have been times along the journey when I felt so alive I would describe my life as being on a divine adventure.  But, as Eldredge observes:  For many of us, the waves of first love ebbed away in the whirlwind of Christian service and activity, and we began to lose heart.  Our faith began to feel more like a series of problems to be solved or principles that had to be mastered before we could finally enter into the abundant life promised us by Christ. 

I began to feel more like a hired hand than a beloved child; burying myself in ministry activity without ever ask, where is all this taking me?  Somewhere along the journey, I feel as if I lost my identity.  As I entered into the CREST experience, I found myself asking, what do you do with that voice that cries from within, ‘there is something missing; there is something more’?

This is the journey I have been on; wanting to honour the covenant relationship I have with God and wanting to be faithful to call of God in my life; looking for a lost identity and for clarity as I seek to discover what it is God has for me in the remaining days of my life; and desperately wanting to experience the fullness of life Christ offers. 

Jesus said…The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.  (John 10:10)  Most often when I hear teaching on this verse the focus is on the back end of the this text, but I’ve come to realize Jesus puts both statements together for a reason.

God's offer is life in all its fullness but right now that life is opposed; there is an enemy with a different agenda; one who wants to steal away the fullness of life Christ promised; one who assaults the very heart of those who follow Christ; who knows     what my life could be and trembles.  So I must stay on the journey; on the path God has laid out for me and along the way I must guard my heart for it is the well spring of life. (Proverbs 4:23)

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Only Jesus

6/1/2014

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Where will you be when you get where you are going? 

We are all on journey and we intuitively know the journey does not end at the grave.  The Bible speaks to this truth when it reveals, He (God) has also set eternity in the human heart.  (Ecclesiastes 3:11)  Written on every human heart is this sense that there is life beyond the grave.  When the journey ends, when you finally arrive, where will you be?  When it’s all said and done – what will you have to show for your life? 

In Philippians 3, the Apostle Paul lists some impressive credentials on his spiritual resume; that might provide him with a sense that his journey will lead him to heaven based on who he is and what he has done. 

If anyone thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more:  circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.  (Philippians 3:5-6) 

Paul had all the right stuff; Jewish descent, a rich family history, highly educated, social status and a reputation as being a religious man.  What more could you want? 

If being religious could earn you a right standing before God, if following all the outward rules and rituals could earn you place in heaven, then Paul should have had a guaranteed front row seat, next to Moses and Elijah.  His religious resume was as good as it gets, he was the cream of the crop, what more could you want? 

There are a lot of people who subscribe to this kind of religion.  Maybe their resume is not as impressive as Paul’s, but it’s good.  They try to do and keep the rules, what more could want?  Surely that’s enough!  But Paul says…it’s not enough.  He weights it out and concludes it’s not enough. 

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things.  I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.  I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.  (Philippians 3:7-11) 

As Paul considers his life, as he weighs out what is really important and what is not important, he draws up a spiritual profit-loss statement and concludes only one thing matters:  I want to know Christ (Philippians 3:10)  That’s what the Christian faith is all about, trusting Jesus completely.  You can make it a lot more complicated than that but the Bible says it all comes down to Christ; being found in Him.

Which brings me back to the question, where will you be when you get where you are going?  When you finally come to the end of your journey, what will you have to show for the 50, 70 or 90 years you were on this earth? 

Two thousand years ago Jesus asked the question this way:  What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?  (Mark 8:36) 

We are all on a journey through this life to life eternal and sooner than we think, our days on earth will be over, then what?  At the end of the journey, where will you be? 

Do you know Jesus, or are you still hoping your religion will be enough to get you to heaven? Weigh it out; figure out what it is that matters and what doesn’t and then come to your own conclusion.  The Bible says, if you don’t know Jesus, you are in danger of losing your eternal soul.  When it is all said and done nothing matters but knowing Christ and being found in Him.

Would you like to go to heaven? Here are the two words that can take you there:  Only Jesus  

Time how short! Eternity how long! Life how precarious and vanishing! Death how certain! The pursuits and employments of this life who vain, unsatisfying, trifling, and vexatious!  God’s favour and eternal life how unspeakably precious!  (Thomas Scott)

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    Author

    Ken Clarke has been the Pastor at Valley since 2007. He lives in the Oliver area 
    with his wife Janice ; they have three adult children, Lisa, Scott & Tiffany (Riley), Andrea & Jason (Noah, Luke).

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