True story: About 25 years ago one of the other churches in town was having parking problems. They only had off street parking and there just was not enough spaces for the number of cars people drove. So, the pastor went next door to visit the manager of a small factory which had a parking lot for employees adjacent to the church. The factory was closed on Sundays so he asked if the church attendees could park there on Sunday mornings. The manager was more than pleased to share the gravel parking lot with church members.

Several years later there was a heavy snow on a Saturday night. The parking lot had deep snow drifts and was not plowed out by Sunday morning. One of the church members contacted the factory manager and scolded him soundly for not plowing out the lot for the church people. By the following Sunday there was a locked fence around the parking lot. There was no intervention the pastor could do that could undo the damage done by that one inconsiderate church member.

Sometimes we forget that what we are enjoying today does not really belong to us. Could it be that if we abuse the gift of grace given by God that we could find ourselves locked out of that grace?

Tags: grace, parking, thankful

We have an elderly widow in a nursing home that has expressed a desire to become an official member of New Hope. We have membership guidelines that includes completing the New Members Class, active attendance, and submitting a photo. This shut-in lady can do none of that. So, officially, she is ineligible.

However, we are cutting her some slack due to her circumstances. She did attend here periodically in the past, has been baptized, accepted the Lord as her Savior, and now desires to become a member. Why should we deprive her of her desire in her last days?

So, we are bending our rules for her. This weekend our elders will consider her application, and, I expect, approve her as a member. Do you agree or disagree that we should bend our rules for this lady? Why or why not?

Tags: church, grace, standard, widow

‘Rock of Ages’, verse 2: “Not the labors of my hands Can fulfill Thy law’s demands;

Could my zeal no respite know, Could my tears forever flow,

All for sin could not atone; Thou must save and Thou alone.”

This hymn was written in a time when the protestant Church of England had broken away, or split off, from the Roman Catholic Church. Roman-ism taught that deeds of repentance were necessary for sin to be forgiven. Toplady correctly noted that none of the works of my hands can satisfy the law’s demands. No matter how much zeal I can muster or how many tears of remorse I may shed, they have no effect on my sin that holds me in bondage. God and His grace are the only hope we have. “You must save, and You alone!”

Tags: grace, hymns, salvation

In his book One Anothering, Richard C. Meyer recalled this incident:

I was a student minister at a little church up on the Hudson River – I’d go up every weekend from Princeton, where I was in seminary. I met my wife in that church, in fact. “Fellowship” consisted of a monthly meeting of the women’s association and an occasional men’s breakfast, where you had a baseball or football player come in and give his testimony.

Then one weekend, I found out some shocking news: a teenage girl in the congregation had left town to go to her older brother’s. She was pregnant. I said to the dear woman who told me, “Could I go and see her?”

“Oh, no,” she replied, “You’re the last person she wants to know what’s happened.”

Suddenly it hit me: That’s what’s wrong with the church in our time. It’s the place you go when you put on your best clothes; you sit in Sunday school, you worship, you have a potluck dinner together – but you can’t bring your life! You leave behind all your pain, your brokenness, your hopes, even your joys.”

How do you think New Hope is doing in that area?

Tags: care, church, grace, mercy

One Sunday after worship, a pastor found a small, stuffed animal in one of the pews. It was tattered and very dirty. His first impulse was to throw it away. Then he realized the fact it had been brought along to church indicating it was loved by some child.

Often we look at someone who is worn or diseased, tattered and torn by life, and our first reaction is to turn away. The way we react to them says in effect, “You are worthless.” Yet, if we allow the love of God to control us, we cannot reject any person, regardless of their condition.

Everyone, no matter what their inner or outer condition, is loved by God. Jesus taught us this when He said, “Anyone who comes to me, I will never drive away.”

Think about the lesson of the loved stuffed animal today when you come upon someone unlovely.

Tags: grace, love, mercy, sin

Middle School children were playing in a volleyball tournament. They had an early game at 8:00 AM and the next one was not until 11:00 AM. One of the parents volunteered to take everybody to breakfast at her restaurant. There were about six or eight couples and children. The food was served cafeteria style. They got in line with the other people who were at the restaurant that morning. Some were the invited guests and some were paying guests.

The parent who invited her friends positioned herself next to the cash register and as each one passed in front of her she would tell the girl at the cash register that those she had invited did not have to pay because they were with her. The cost of each meal was still entered into the computer, but that they did not have to pay. Others who did not know her, however, had to pay.

What they experienced that morning is what each person will experience at judgment. Each one will stand before the owner of the universe and those who know Him will be given eternal life, but those who do not know Him will pay the full price of their sins.

Can you think of a better example of grace?

Tags: grace, judgment