Arabic Language Testing…

نرحب باحبائنا المتكلمين العربية

شكرا جزيلا لزياتكم موقع كنيستنا ““The Orchard بالغة العربية. نحن موجودون في ضواحي شمال غرب شيكاغو، حيث نخدم هناك بنشاط منذ عام ١٩٥٢. اجتمعنا حديثا لمناقشة كيف نخدم احباءنا العرب في المنطقة. إذا كان لديكم أي أسئلة رجاءا لا تترددوا في الاتصال بنا. بارك الله فيكم وفي كافه امور حياتكم. وسنكون سعداء لان نراكم قريبا وجها لوجه. لمزيد من المعلوات رجاء الاتصال بالاخ/ مدحت جبرائيل.

Love the LORD our God with all your heart…

In our Glenview Bible Study group we have been studying the book of the Deuteronomy. “Love the LORD our God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength (Deut 6:5).” As a true worshiper, I love the LORD with all my heart, soul, mind, strength…however, when I truly think the Scripture, how possibly I could do this as we still own  our sinful nature. ???? I am sometimes devastated. Pastor Colin in his sermon preached about this point. In our power and effort we are very limited to love our LORD God with all our hearts, but our Savior, who forgives our sins, can lead us to “love God with more of my heart and more of my soul and more of my strength (much-ness).” I cannot love God with my power, but Pastor Colin is right that Christ love in me is able to love our LORD God more deeply.

What Keeps You Going?

“Everyone born of God overcomes the world.” 1 John 5:4 (NIV)

If you are a Christian, you experience two things: First, you know that you are in a struggle. Temptation is all around you. Your awareness of it is heightened. You often feel your own weakness. Second, you know that have been given power. Christ lives in you.

I love the way Paul puts it “To this end I labor, struggling with all His energy which so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 1:29). He is saying “This Christian life isn’t easy. I labor at it. It’s a struggle for me. But the reason I am able to engage in this struggle is that I have been given power. His energy! It works powerfully in me!”

If you talk to a person who has never been born again, and you say “Christ is with you,” it won’t mean anything to him. It sounds like empty talk to him. But the Christian gains strength from this. The presence and power of Jesus Christ in his life is what keeps him going and gives him hope!

What do we overcome?

“Everyone born of God overcomes the world” 1 John 5:4

What does John mean when he says that believers overcome “the world?”

“For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.” 1 John 2:16

This is what Christ enables you to overcome! The new birth puts you in a position where you are able to deal with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.

This is an amazing promise! “Everyone born of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4). It does not say that you overcome the world instantly or completely. Throughout this life you will always find yourself in a battle with sin and temptation, but your warfare will lead to victory.

Where does victory begin?

“Everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world – even our faith.” 1 John 5:5

Victory begins when you recognize that Jesus Christ has given you power to overcome. I have met many people who say they are Christian who simply do not believe this. They insist that they are powerless. They say “Pastor, you don’t understand! The temptation is bigger than I am.” It may be bigger than you, but it is not bigger than Christ, and if you are born again His Spirit lives in you.

So the Christian is not in despair. There may be times when you say “What a wretched man I am.” But then you will also say “Thanks be to God who delivers me through Jesus Christ my Lord.” Regeneration makes the Christian life possible. You can’t live this life by adopting new values. You live this life by becoming a new person.

That is what God offers in the Gospel. The Gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes (Romans 1:16). Not the instructions, the requirements or the expectations of God, the power of God!! For the salvation of everyone who believes.

by Pastor Colin S. Smith

When I survey the wonderous cross

Bishop Ryle tells a story about an Englishman travelling in America. [3] He meets an Indian who talks with great enthusiasm about Jesus Christ…

“The Englishmen is rather reserved, as they tend to be, and he says to his new friend, “You are always talking about Jesus Christ.  Why do you make such a big deal of Him?”

The Indian knelt down and gathered some leaves, some twigs and some moss, and placed them in a circle on the ground.  He picked up a live worm and put it in the middle of the circle. Then he lit the leaves.

As the flames rose, the worm began to move, but every way it moved, it got nearer to the flame, and so after a few moments, the worm curled up in the middle and prepared to die.

The Indian reached his hand into the flame, picked up the worm, and held it next to his heart.  Then he said, “I was the worm—helpless, hopeless and on the brink of an eternal fire.  Jesus Christ stretched out His hand.  He saved me from the fire, and took me into the heart of his love.  That is why I make much of Him.”

[3] By J. C. Ryle, “Holiness:  Its Nature, Hindrances, Difficulties and Roots,” p. 245, Moody Publishers, 2010
http://www.amazon.com/Holiness-Abridged-Hindrances-Difficulties-Classics/dp/0802454550/

Joy Greater than His Suffering

What does Jesus see when He looks on His people?

You know the Lord Jesus Christ will look over a vast company of redeemed people that no one can number, and already He sees you…forgiven for your sins, healed from your wounds, brought out of your sorrows and into His everlasting joy.

Here’s the amazing thing: “after the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life and be satisfied!” (Psalm 53:11) Christ counts His joy in you greater than all his suffering, and he lives to bring you into that joy.It’s almost frightening to think about being loved that much, but in Christ you are loved more than you ever dared to dream.

by Pastor Colin Smith

Believe or not…

Believe or not…. the Gospel music is very popular in Japan. Not only Christians but also non-Christians loves to sing a gospel music. Many my friends are very surprise when I tell this story because Japanese seem to be quiet and does not show much facial or verbal expressions themselves. Where the trend came from? At least I know that the movie called “sister act” became very popular in Japan. Many Japanese people are fascinated and encouraged of the free singing style of the gospel music. You can watch a Japanese gospel choir from here.

Plan A or plan B… God knows…

“As many of you know, a friend of mine and I have been training to climb Mt. Rainier. On May 31, we stood at the base of the mountain in rain and whiteout conditions. Despite the less-than-ideal weather, we forged ahead to Rainier’s south-side high camp, Camp Muir at 10,080 ft. The following morning, however, we had to turn around due to an incoming storm threatening three feet of snow.
Returning to Rainier three days later, we hoped that we might have a second shot at the summit. As we made our way to the trailhead, we stopped at the ranger station to register for the climb. There we learned that the avalanche danger was extremely high on the upper mountain. After a few minutes of discussion, we decided to abort our attempt—knowing that our wives would let us come back later if they knew that we were making wise decisions about our climbs.
The following morning there was a massive avalanche on the south side of Rainier. Had we chosen to climb the previous day, my friend and I would have been right in the middle of that slide. Reflecting now on the event, I am very grateful for the wisdom that God gave us to turn away from a goal that we had worked very hard to achieve. As with our walk with God, sometimes we have to wait a while longer than we would like to reach the end-goal of our dreams. As for Rainier, we live to climb another day. As for God, the best is yet to come.”