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Articles from this month's issue of the Berean News |
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Viewpoint Sometimes, we can get too busy with projects and obligations. Other times, we can get too stressed out from our worries and cares. Then there are still other times when our emotions can overwhelm our ability to think and reason. It's at all those times that we often completely lose sight of the Creator; and it's at those times that we need the Four S's. "Be still, and know that I am God." Ps. 46:10 Once, when I was a young boy, I was just sitting on the lawn, staring out into oblivion. My uncle came and sat next to me. He plucked a blade of grass, and showing it to me, he declared it was amazing. I looked around at the millions, if not billions, of blades of grass all around me, and then looked at him with that "look". Then he said to me, "Think about how this blade of grass started as a little seed, and then grew. Think about how God has provided everything it needs to grow. It really is amazing!" It was at that moment in time that I really began to appreciate the things God has done. From that small seed a mighty oak has grown. I now like to sit on the lawn and marvel at the love of God.
"Jesus woke up before dawn and went to a solitary place and prayed." Mark 1:35 I don't define the word solitude as being alone, because, in reality, I am never alone. I must admit, there are times when I think I'm alone, and that's when I need to remember that my definition of solitude is being alone with my Creator. We all need time alone with our Creator, preferably out in his beautiful creation, walking and talking with our God. If you have the time and resources, try Glacier National Park in Montana. If you're short on resources, find the time and take a walk in the forest preserves. In any case, what's important is to spend time with Him alone.
"God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated." Eccl. 7:29 Compared to some people's forms, my federal income tax form is relatively easy to fill out. Yet, every year, I'd rather shovel manure in a pig sty than fill that thing out. Why? Because when I'm done shoveling, I can look around and feel a surge of great satisfaction. However, after filling out that tax form, I only feel a throbbing headache. I am sure God laughs at the senseless complexity of that form. DNA molecules are extremely complex, yet they make sense, and I trust the day will come when I will consider them simple. God can be complex and simple at the same time, because everything God does makes sense. If something makes sense, it will ultimately seem simple. If we find our lives becoming hopelessly complicated, we need to eliminate the things that don't make sense. Everything God does has a basic simplicity to it. Can that be said of us?
"Trust and obey, for there's no other way." James H. Sammis I said that when something makes sense, it will have a basic simplicity. So, when I get right down to the basic core of my faith, I find these words, "trust and obey" etched into my soul. You would think that something as basic as that could not be forgotten. Wrong! I forget so often. I get so wound up in situations that I forget that years ago, I vowed to surrender everything to God. I forget that I gave up my life in consecration to Him. You'd be a fool to surrender to someone you didn't trust. I surrendered to God because I knew I could trust Him, and I always can. May we each remember to use stillness, solitude, simplicity and surrender as we seek a closer walk with Him. Proverbs 3:5-6 sums it up well. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." -Jon Larson |
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Perspective It has finally happened. After years (actually decades) of looking, praying, trying, and praying, we have purchased a new church building -- and successfully sold our present one. Just to mention some of the more recent attempts: There was the church in Villa Park. After heated business meetings, the motion to buy it failed by one vote. There was the church in Westchester. After many meetings and much turmoil, we were outbid by another group. There was the land in Lombard. After deciding that maybe we should build and having numerous meetings with governmental bodies, our bid was rejected and another church bought the land before we could even consider raising our bid. Well, over a year ago, the Church of God (an Adventist group) made an offer on our church. We accepted an agreement whereby they would rent from us for a year with the rent money going towards their purchase price. Then we would have free rent from them for a year. When we should have closed with them, their loan application was rejected by the bank. We did not void our agreement, but gave them time to try other sources for their loan. In the meantime, the land that we had bid on had a large sign go up on it that read, "Future Home of the Church of the Nazarene of Lombard." We checked out the present church where the Church of the Nazarene was meeting. They were very gracious and let us look at their church (three times) even though they had not yet put it on the market. Their pastor encouraged us to make a bid if we wanted to. We voted to bid $750,000. This was in early October. The Church of the Nazarene thanked us for our bid, but said they had not yet determined a price or their needs. They said they would get back to us after the first of the year. Late in January we received a letter from them saying that in conjunction with a realtor, they had established an asking price of $950,000. They were immediately listing it with the realtor, but we were exempt for 90 days because of our prior bid. (There were several other churches also interested.) We upped our offer to $850,000. Three weeks later, they voted to accept our offer. The same weekend the Church of the Nazarene was voting on our offer, we received confirmation from the Church of God of the approval of their loan. (We had decided that we could not make a purchase if our church was not sold.) God's timing was wonderful. There is a sense that He has clearly indicated that this move is His will for our church. We are anticipating a March 1 closing. The new church building will give us a far more central location. It has a larger chapel than ours. And the chapel is on the ground floor and has padded pews! There are more and larger Sunday school rooms and additional rooms at the back of the chapel for small group studies or discussions. These rooms can be opened to the chapel to handle overflow. There is an attached two-story building in which each floor is larger than our present basement. There is a large parking lot, much grass around the building, and an additional lot that can be used for outdoor activities. The church is located in a very nice residential neighborhood. And there is a very large park across the street. Any negatives? The kitchen is very small. It is usable, but we will no doubt wish to expand and remodel it sometime in the future. We have included all our tables and chairs, pulpit, organ, pianos, sound system, etc. in our sale. We are not receiving these items in the new church, so there is much we will need to purchase. We have already had promises of donations of an organ, one piano, and a riding lawn-mower. The price seems staggering to many. But most feel the church and property are well worth it. We doubt that we could build anything comparable for under a million dollars. With the money from the sale of our church, the money we have been saving for a new building for years, and over $105,000 pledged by our church members, we are in need of about another $100,000. We will also need additional funds to furnish the church and buy a sound system. And, of course, our monthly expenses will be larger because this is a much larger building in a more expensive town. We feel we can handle all of this with a maximum mortgage of $100,000 to $150,000. Of course, some of us believe in miracles and hope that by March, no loan will be necessary. (We are accepting donations.) We are excited. The events that have transpired seem to be a definite answer to much prayer that God's will be done. We have had a very good experience sharing our present building for the last year. We believe that we will likewise have a very good experience and relationship with the church we are buying from. We have learned much and have grown as a congregation through the experiences that have brought us to this point. I am personally eager to see what else the Lord will teach us as we make this move. We are very blessed as a congregation and as individual Christians. We ask that you pray that all that will yet transpire will be in accordance with what God wants for us. We wish also to be a blessing to others. One other thing. You will have to quit referring to us as the Cicero Church. We will soon be the Berean Church of Lombard! (To see photos of the new church, see Our New Church Home.) --Larry Urbaniak |
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In Christ we have: A love that can never be fathomed. A life that can never die. A peace that can never be understood. A joy that can never be diminished. A hope that can never be disappointed. A happiness that can never be interrupted. A rest that can never be disturbed. A light that can never be extinguished. A strength that can never be overcome. A glory that can never be clouded.A beauty that can never be marred. A purity that can never be defiled. Resources that can never be exhausted. |
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Other Items 56th Annual May Convention See the program details on our Events page! |
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Roy's Reflections By day it gnawed at him, but nights were even worse. He had betrayed his dearest friend. Not privately, not secretly, but blatantly, out in the open for the entire world to see. And now it was too late to say, "I'm sorry." His friend was dead. Peter tossed sleeplessly, unable to find a position that felt comfortable. Outside he could hear the sounds of Jerusalem stirring to life. This city he had once loved to visit, he now hated. It held too many painful memories impossible to erase from his mind. Today he would leave for Galilee and fishing, though even fishing held no allure for him now. "How could I have so utterly shamed him? How could I? Peter, you stupid coward!" For the thousandth time he cursed himself, "He was my friend! How could I have done this to my very best friend?" He could see Jesus riding that donkey down the hill into Jerusalem to the cheers of thousands. He saw him in hot anger overturning coin-laden tables in the temple. "You have made my Father's house a den of thieves!" the Master had told them in carefully measured but biting words. Peter recalled blind men abruptly seeing, lame men suddenly walking, and loathsome lepers' skin turning baby-soft within a moment of Jesus' touch. He saw Jesus' smile, his compassion, and his hours of gentle teaching. He felt the Master's hand on his shoulder after a long day of caring for the multitudes. The accompanying words repeated themselves over and over in his mind, "Thanks, Peter, for your help today. You are a faithful friend ... a faithful friend ... a faithful friend." Tears began to well up in Peter's eyes. Faithful? Me? When the High Priest's soldiers had tried to arrest Jesus, Peter had defended his Master with a sword. But later, when a servant girl had challenged him with, "You're one of his disciples, aren't you?", he had denied it with an oath. A mere servant girl! But again and again he had compounded the cowardly lie until the cock crowed, and Jesus' eyes from far across the courtyard met his. Sad, disappointed eyes. Then he had broken and run. Run from the High Priest's home into the dark streets. Run until he could run no more. Run until he had flung himself onto the cobbled streets, sobbing. Later that morning he had watched from a distance as they mocked and tormented his friend, finally nailing hands and feet with huge spikes, and suspending him from a cross until his life was spent. He couldn't bear another day in this city! The thin light of dawn had appeared under the door. Night was finally over; today he would leave. Today he would run away, back to the only life he knew. Today Peter would leave this miserable city behind. Bang! Bang! The nearby door shook as someone kept banging on it. Peter reached for his sword, and quietly took his place behind the door. "Peter, John, it's Mary! Let me in!" It was a woman's voice, Mary Magdalene, one of Jesus' close friends who had traveled with them for months. He unbolted the door and Mary slipped inside. She took several deep breaths before she could speak, then blurted out her message: "They've stolen the body! Jesus' body is gone, and we don't know where they've put him!" John, who was wide-awake by now, looked at Peter, and then threw on his clothes. Peter was out the door running, running down the streets, tearing around corners, headed for the garden tomb where Jesus' body had been laid. Now John was close behind. Younger and faster, John soon outdistanced Peter. By the time Peter got to the tomb, John was standing outside the door peering in. The huge stone, designed to prevent desecration of the tomb, was rolled away. Peter brushed inside. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dimness of the damp limestone cave. There was the linen gravecloth that had been wrapped turn after turn around the body. It lay on the chiseled stone shelf where the body had been. Yet now with nothing inside, its coils lay collapsed, empty, like a chrysalis after the butterfly has emerged. Folded separately was the cloth that had been around Jesus' head. Peter looked at John and motioned him inside. How curious! If the tomb had been robbed and the body stolen, he would have expected the wrappings to be nowhere in sight. Or perhaps strewn in haste around the narrow stone room. Yet here they were, orderly, as if laid aside, no longer needed. John looked at Peter. Peter looked at John. Peter could catch the faintest smile playing at the corners of John's mouth. What if... ? What if... he is risen? Peter walked back into Jerusalem, but each step was a bit quicker than the one before. He was asking himself ... "What if he is risen?" As Peter turned the corner onto the street where he was staying he saw a figure waiting for him at the door. A very familiar figure &emdash; Jesus! Peter ran to meet him! Indeed... HE IS RISEN!! --Roy R. Boswell |
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