Rescued From The Darkness

Friday, October 31, 2025

Joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light. For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His Beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  Colossians 1:12-14

The believer who has placed their faith in Christ has done so in response to His sacrifice.  That sacrifice was for a reason…an eternal gift of life.  Like greedy immature children, we forget the effort and sacrifice of the gift itself.  We take it and run, sometimes never looking back until we are in dire need.  When we speak of “being saved” we often fail to consider the full scope of what occurred to provide for our salvation and restoration of fellowship with God.  As a reminder, we are going to highlight some key words from the passage above.  I love putting them all together in one sentence: I am qualified, rescued, transferred to His kingdom, and redeemed because of what He did for me!  

Qualified – There is absolutely nothing that you or I can do to qualify ourselves for what the Holy God of the universe has freely given us.  We do not have to try out, audition, prove ourselves, or pass a test to get what He has given.  Best of all, we can’t flunk out either.

 

Rescued - He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm. Psalm 40:2 – One of my all-time favorite verses.  He loved me enough to pull me out of the quick sand of sin and darkness, and not just one time either.  I was saved once and for all but I still find myself knee deep in the miry clay from time to time and every single time He pulls me out. 

Transferred – Transfer means to move from one place to another.  That is what He did for us when He rescued us.  He moved us from Satan’s domain into the kingdom of His Beloved Son, a place of grace, mercy and forgiveness.  We have been relocated to a place where we belong, to His kingdom.  We are now subjects of His kingdom, His laws, and belong to His community.   

Redeemed – In the transfer, we were redeemed, released from bondage and set free from the power of sin and darkness.  Jesus paid the ransom and redeemed us forever from our sin.    Our debt was cancelled and we have become handpicked heirs to His kingdom.  

I don’t know about you, but that makes me feel safe and secure.  It wasn’t just something that happened on a whim.  It was by His design, purposefully carried out.  Planned and executed by the God of the universe because He loves us and finds us worthy, even from the pit of slimy, miry clay.  He qualified me when I could never qualify myself, a worthiness I could never attain on my own.  I am grateful beyond measure for this ultimate gift from Him, the King of Kings.  I am qualified, rescued, transferred to His kingdom, and redeemed because of what He did for me! 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 1 Peter 1:3-5

The Real Test of Faith

Wednesday, October 30, 2025

Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you--unless indeed you fail the test?  2 Corinthians 13:5

The way we came to know God is through the exercise of faith.  The way we develop our spiritual strength and knowledge of God is through faith.  The way we began is the way we continue. For some, after receiving Christ by grace through faith, they begin the futile practice of trying to please God and grow through religion.  God is not pleased with religion in place of faith.  As a matter of fact, the Bible says in Hebrews 11:6 "Without faith it is impossible to please God."  You can do the right thing and still not be pleasing God because you’re not doing it in faith. You are trying to be in control instead of letting God be in control.  

The real test of faith comes when our concept of God and the reality of our lives conflict and we can’t understand why something is happening. If we had really had our way, our faith would never be tested…but God would never have the chance to prove that faith worked.  Our declarations of faith would ring hollow. We would simply be echoing empty religious clichés learned in church and Sunday School.  No skeptic is ever convinced or won over by that kind of faith. God builds our faith by testing it. 

Faith is like a muscle and when it’s stretched, and it’s pulled, it develops - Your faith develops as it is tested. The testing of your faith is more about who God is than who we are. God’s desire is that we know Him and experience His goodness in our lives. The positive end of a test of faith may not be a change in circumstance but a greater knowledge of God and His love and power in our lives. 

Four Ways God Fortifies Our Faith

·      By Testing Our Obedience – Sometimes God will ask us to do things that seem impossible in our human minds.  And they are impossible in our human strength.  But in Christ, and through faith in Him, all things are possible.  Having faith is like taking a risk, stepping blindly off the side of a cliff.  We can’t see what is ahead or understand it at all, but we trust our Heavenly Father.  

·      By Providing for our Problems – Nothing ever happens by accident.  Every single thing happens for a purpose – even the hard things. But God’s hand on our lives provides protection, provision, and purpose.  The times when we have to fully rely on God are always the hardest.  We know better, we have extraordinary faith when life is running like a well-oiled machine, but when we have to truly rest and trust in Him for something, sometimes we struggle.  Ok, actually we beg, cry, doubt, negotiate, and slump into a heap of discouragement.  Then when He provides, we marvel in awe and wonder at the miraculous work of His hand.  I do love it when I get it though.  I have those moments when God totally comes through in a God way and I get it.  I see that it was Him providing and telling me that He will take care of me.

 

·      By Using Our Resources – God expects us to use our resources in a way that is glorifying to Him.  He expects us to be good stewards of our money – His money.  It’s interesting that in giving God not only tests our faith, but the Bible says in Malachi that giving tests God. "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the LORD of hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows. (Malachi 3:10)

·      By Making us Wait – If every prayer were answered immediately, we wouldn’t need faith, or God.  It is in the times of waiting that we press into Him the most.  God wants our faith to grow and He wants us to learn to trust Him.  It pays to be patient. Just remember this: While you are waiting God is working. You’re not waiting alone. Waiting in faith God is working. God is doing things behind the scenes, in your heart and other people’s hearts that you cannot even see. 

The Hard Work Of Real Forgiveness

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.  Psalm 147:3

The Hard Work Of True Forgiveness 

This past Sunday Pastor Jim spoke on verse 12 of Matthew 6 - And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12; Mark 

Forgiving is love’s toughest work and love’s biggest risk. It can be especially tricky when we are not ready to forgive, or someone has hurt us so badly we feel we cannot do it. Not forgiving someone who has wronged us or hurt us can lead to a life of agony and bitterness, not for them, but for us.  Dealing with the hurt and anger you may feel deep inside is necessary in order for true forgiveness to happen.  

Jesus expects forgiveness from his people. It is evidence of a relationship with Him and that his forgiveness is evident in our lives. The grace of God is evident in us when we forgive and that same grace will bring forgiveness to us when we need it in the future. 

Let all bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. Ephesians 4:31-32

I have realized there are some people that I probably have not truly forgiven. I say it that way because I believe that maybe a lot of us think we have forgiven someone, or we want to believe we have, but really we have just tucked it away in a corner of our heart because we don’t want to face it. If we face it, we have to acknowledge it – the pain, the betrayal, the hurt. You cannot forgive something you don’t even acknowledge. 

Christians are supposed to forgive – Jesus called us to forgive others as we have been forgiven, so I am a Christian –Of course I have forgiven them. Right? It is what I am supposed to do. We don’t have to talk about it – it is not even a thing. 

I believed that it is an automatic response because I am a Christian. I automatically forgive you, no matter what, because I am a child of God, and I have been forgiven so much. I don’t need to think about it, and I don’t want to think about it. The truth is I don’t want to feel it. If I can go right from the shock of realizing what has actually happened, tuck it away quickly, and on to automatic false forgiveness, I don’t have to actually feel the pain of what has happened to me. This process of automatic forgiveness happens most often when the pain is so overwhelming that we can’t bear the thought of processing it – and we cannot on our own. 

How can we ever face the magnitude of such great pain, acknowledge it to work through it, heal, and forgive? There is no way we can walk through such pain alone. There are counselors and therapists that are trained to help and sometimes we need a professional to help work through the deep hurt we carry. There are pastors and ministry leaders that can help us. The most important person to help us through our hurt is Jesus. No one loves us or cares about us more. He has been with us and seen everything we have been through. He binds our would and heals our hearts like no one can, and in a way we never thought possible again. 

Are you carrying the weight of deep hurt and unforgiveness?

Perhaps you are carrying some deep hurt tucked way down in your heart?

 Maybe you believe you have forgiven them, but you have not done the work of forgiveness? 

The hard work of forgiveness is your work to do for you. It may involve the person that hurt you at some point because there is healing in offering forgiveness – even for someone who does not care or want it. Forgiveness is for you because the weight of unforgiveness will crush you and you don’t even realize it is happening. 

Acknowledge the hurt. Say it out loud, but you need to be prepared because this will affect you in a way you might not expect. It can be overwhelming to say out loud what hurt you. You can’t heal what you won’t face and naming what happened and how it affected you is a helpful step to release it.

With your open hands, release that pain to Jesus. Let him take it from you and carry it for you. It doesn’t mean you will never feel the pain again, but it means you have brought Jesus into your healing and trusted him to be with you. 

You have just ripped a band aid off, but it is the beginning of healing and true forgiveness. The hard work of forgiveness is, well, hard, and it is a process. Lean into God’s bountiful grace and be kind and patient with yourself. He is with you and will give you what you need to make it through. 

Finding God's Forgiveness, Mercy, and Grace

Monday, October 27, 2025

And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12

This week Pastor Jim continued the series on The Lord’s Prayer, titled “Pray Like This,” with verse 12 of the Lord’s Prayer, And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:12  The Lord’s prayer is a model Jesus gave us to help us pray in the right way – a way that will help us live and look more and more like him every day. Our key truth for this series is, “To pray like Jesus prayed is to see like Jesus saw, trust like Jesus trusted, and live like Jesus lived.”

What is a proper understanding of our sin and how we can be reconciled with God and others?

Sin is rebellion against God and when we have sin in our hearts our relationship with him is broken and forgiveness from God is the way it is mended. Asking God for forgiveness requires us to first acknowledge that we are sinners. We must realize that we need his forgiveness because of our sin.  

As believers we all still sin at times because we are human and will always be battling our sin nature. Satan tempts us to sin against God. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 5:8, Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Make no mistake – he is on the prowl doing whatever he can to take our focus off of God. He twists God’s very words. He knows what our desires are and what will entice us. We have to be vigilant to guard our hearts and minds. 

Sin is an idolatry problem within our hearts. If we are chasing someone or something other than God it will be reflected in our actions. Our actions and deeds are the outcome of our attitudes and thoughts. When God is not the core and center of what we worship it will be reflected to those around us. Whatever we are worshiping will be evident in how we live out our lives.

Thankfully, we need forgiveness, and God is willing to forgive. Sin requires a payment. It is a debt we owe and the price tag goes up with every sin we commit. God is a just God, requiring payment, but God is also a merciful and gracious God who forgives. 

Mercy – God shows  mercy when we deserve punishment, and he doesn’t punish us.

Grace – God’s grace is unmerited, undeserved favor from him, that we could never earn.

God has mercy on us by withholding the punishment we do deserve and sending Jesus to die in our place so that we could be forgiven and have eternal life with him. Grace given to us freely as a gift but bought with the highest price – the shed blood of Jesus. 

Just as we are forgiven, Jesus expects us to forgive others. When we forgive, his grace is evident in our lives and that grace will bring us forgiveness in the future. Knowing how much we have been forgiven, how could we not forgive others? True freedom comes when we forgive others instead of holding on to unforgiveness. 

This is also true when it comes to forgiving ourselves, which can be harder than forgiving others. We are harder on ourselves and often our own worst enemy.  If we can’t forgive ourselves then we have made an idol of ourselves because our approval means more than God’s. If God can forgive us, we can forgive ourselves and others. 

Pastor Jim asked these questions yesterday at the end of the service: 

Have you acknowledged your sinfulness before God?

Do you realize the separation it has caused?

If not, will you acknowledge your need for God today? 

The good news is that forgiveness is for everyone who will come to him acknowledging their sin and asking for his forgiveness. Will you call out to him today? 

Pray Like This... “And Forgive Us..."

Pray Like This...
“And Forgive Us..."
Matthew 6:9-13; 14-15 (CSB)

 

- Prayer - “Prayer is a personal conversation with a holy and loving God that reorients our reality and makes all things possible.”

- Key Truth - “To pray like Jesus prayed is to see like Jesus saw, trust like Jesus trusted, and live like Jesus lived.”

Main Question: What is a proper understanding of our sin and how we can be reconciled with God and others?

 

1.        We need forgiveness. 

- "The essence of sin is not just a performance problem but a worship problem.”- Timothy Keller

2.        God is willing to forgive.

3.        We are to offer forgiveness.

 

After the Message: 
Participate in the NSBC 70 days of prayer. Download the NSBC App and turn on notifications to receive daily prayer prompts.

When God Is Silent

Friday, October 24, 2025

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. Mark 11:24

When God Is Silent

Have you ever thought that the unanswered text or email of a friend or loved one must mean that they are mad at you? Or maybe a misinterpreted gesture that you are sure means that they don’t like you, or they don’t respect you? Later, when talking to that friend, you find out that your friend wasn’t thinking any of those things at all. When our mind gets the better of us, we can actually regress into an elementary mindset!

Just as we can misinterpret a friend’s silence, we can also misinterpret God’s silence. If you have ever prayed, chances are you have experienced His silence at some point. God does not usually answer our prayers instantly, and whether you have experienced a moment of silence or a season of silence, it can feel like a lifetime in a desolate, barren wasteland. We pray and pray, desperate heartfelt prayers, and yet it seems like God is ignoring us. Our minds can totally knock us off the rails, usually the work of Satan. In the silence, thoughts roar inside our heads that can lead us to feel despair, lose hope, and believe God has completely abandoned us. Nothing is happening, or maybe things even get worse. 

Satan loves to get into our heads - to whisper these lies and try to make us believe them. He wants to try to take our faith away and leave us powerless in his grasp. When we have been praying desperately about something, and absolutely nothing is happening, these lies can overwhelm us if we are not on guard.

God is sometimes silent, but He is never absent, no matter how alone you feel. Satan would 

have us misinterpret His silence for abandonment. God is always at work and sometimes 

the work is waiting in faith. His timing is perfect, and He is working while you are waiting.

God loves us and He does hear our prayers. He cares about us even when it seems He doesn’t. He sees our tears, He hears our cries, He knows the burdens. His words to us are:

Even when you don’t feel My power…

Even when you don’t feel My presence…

Even when your prayers are not answered immediately or in the way you want them to be answered… 

Even when you think you are unworthy and undeserving of my love and help…

I am working everything for your good. You are my child and I love you and care about you.

The silence does not mean he has turned His back on us. It does not mean He doesn’t love us or He thinks we are unworthy. In the silence, He is working. In the silence, He is answering – in one way or another. It may be different from what you expect, but It will be the very best answer for you. Sit with Him in the silence and let Him fill you and drown out the lies. Trust Him and lay it at His feet. Leave it with Him and know that He cares for you.

Manna For Today

Thursday, October 23, 2025

And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness, 3and the people of Israel said to them, “Would that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the meat pots and ate bread to the full, for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Exodus 16:2-3

Manna For Today

The children of Israel fled Egypt to escape Pharaoh and the terrible treatment they were getting as slaves. They fled Egypt, escaped through the Red Sea as God parted it miraculously and landed in the wilderness. They brought some food with them, but eventually that ran out and they were looking to Moses asking where their next meal was going to come from. God said He would provide, and He did. He provided manna from Heaven, just enough for each day. The Israelites grumbled and told Moses that they wanted to go back to Egypt because at least they had “pots of meat” there.  

They had forgotten about the bad things that happened to them there, the way they were mistreated. They just remembered that it was way easier than being in the wilderness and not knowing where the next day’s food would come from – having to trust God for everything. They couldn’t see the way through the wilderness, and they were only given enough food for each day. They worried and grumbled about what would happen tomorrow. They tried to gather up extra mana when Moses told them to only get enough for that day.  And when they took too much, God caused maggots to grow in the extra mana they were taking and storing. They had forgotten. They wanted to do it their way instead of trusting God.  

Are you worried about tomorrow or the next step, trying to solve the problem yourself? When God delivers us from “Egypt”, He doesn’t expect us to go running back. He wants us to go forward through the wilderness with Him. He wants us to depend on Him for the very food that sustains us and the very next step we are supposed to take.  He doesn’t want us to run back to abuse or back into a situation where we are mistreated because at least there is a meal plan. It sounds crazy but its easy to do if that’s all you’ve ever known. In a twisted way it is even comfortable and secure. When you have never had security in your life, you take whatever you can find. But God has so much more to offer us, even in the barren wilderness. He provides what we need, and it is always enough. His security is eternal, and it doesn’t come with the price tag of abuse. His security comes free to all with love and provision to sustain us through every wilderness of our lives.  

What a beautiful picture for us of God's faithfulness. Not only did he deliver them from bondage but he provided everything they needed, exactly when they needed it. Even in the rebelliousness the manna was still there every morning. The wilderness is hard, but beautiful, because in the wilderness we are transformed. The wilderness helps us learn to trust God more than ever. In the wilderness we learn that our way is the wrong way. During the pandemic we witnessed, and participated in, people panicking and buying way more than enough of everything. Some of us may still have supplies from five years ago. God gives us our daily bread. He gives us enough - what we need. We struggle to feel like it is enough and we struggle to believe he will do it again and again but God is faithful. He has proven it over and over - everyday and he is worthy of our trust. 

Are you trusting God for to meet your needs everyday? 

Do you struggle to be content with what God has provided for this moment?