City of Refuge Fellowship

Thank you so much to everyone that helped with our first Clothing Closet Open House on May 15th. We had more clothes donated that we ever hoped and were just as blessed by the amount of volunteer help we received to sort, organize and prepare for the event. During the course of the Open House we were able to give clothing to at least 40 people and were able to talk with and pray for several of those that stopped in.

We are already planning the next open house and look forward to being a blessing to even more families in the Burlington community. If you have clothes you would donate or need more information please call the church office at 609-531-0816 or email abie@cityofrefugefellowship.org.

This morning as I was dropping my older son Noah off at school I told him to walk behind the van to the sidewalk because of the traffic that was moving in front. He jumped out and then stood there at the van for a second. I was looking the other direction, expecting to see him walk out from behind the van when I heard a knock on the window. It was Noah, he asked, “did you say to walk in front or behind the van?” I smiled and told him again that it was behind; he gave me a thumbs up and took off. For some of you this may sound a little funny, but after he left I had to smile because I was really happy with him. Of course the argument can be made that he should have listened better the first time I told him, but in reality, my happiness, even pride came from the fact that he did not panic when he couldn’t remember and he didn’t do what just seemed best to him, he stopped to ask again, not afraid that I would chastise him for not knowing the answer, but instead choosing to be sure of obedience over the fear of looking like he had not paid attention.

If we are going to be honest there are times in which all of us don’t hear, don’t remember or even, simply don’t listen. We all have moments in our lives in which we don’t know which way to go, we are not sure of what our next step should be or even if we are where we are supposed to be at the moment. Those times create a storm of emotions and a list of options. Many times we decide to do what seems best at the moment, “I am not sure whether to stay or go so I will make a list of the pros and cons and make a decision from there.” There are also times when we simply resort to what worked the last time we were in a familiar situation, most of us have a fallback position, “when all else fails . . .” Then there are the times in which we know we should ask God but for some reason we don’t. For each of us there is a different reason for not asking, but they all come from the same source. Some of us are attacked by pride, we won’t ask because we are able, or at least believe we should be able to figure it out. Some of us are racked by guilt and bad theology, we believe that if we were more of what God wanted us to be then He would more readily give us the answers we seek. I say this is bad theology because it makes us more sovereign than God; it puts His will in the hands of our behavior rather than His grace. Then there are those of us that won’t ask because we are gripped by a fearful, wrong image of God. We fear that He will smite us for asking, for bothering, for not knowing already, for not being as mature as we should be. But Jesus said, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest.” James wrote, “You have not because you ask not.”

All of our reasons for not asking God come from Satan. He lies to us about who God is, what God is like and what God expects from us. He wants us to believe that God is pleased by our strength and the way to get in His good graces (as if the truths of His breath of life in us and His death and resurrection are not already proof of our standing in His love) is by overcoming on our own. And yet, God tells us that when we are weak He is strong. Satan wants you and me to believe that God thinks we should know better because then we won’t depend upon Him for the strength of His grace to overcome sin. If we are guilt-riddled then we will never cry out for help because we will believe that we should help ourselves, even worse we will believe that God thinks we should help ourselves. But God says that when we are tempted that He is faithful to provide an escape for us, He knows our weakness and forever works to give us His power to overcome sin and walk in freedom. The enemy of your soul wants you to fear God, not in reverence but in rejection. His desire is that we would have such a veiled image of God that we would constantly fear that He will reject us and yet over and over again in Scripture when God or His messengers were revealed they first spoke, “Fear not.” John wrote for us so beautifully, “Perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” The fear of punishment is the fear of being rejected by God; it is Satan’s lie that keeps us from drawing close to God with our questions, our hopes, our doubts and even our need for forgiveness.

In Scripture we see all of these examples. When Adam was presented with the one thing that God had told him not to eat he believed the lies of the serpent and gave in to the desire of his eyes. What is worse is that when God confronted him he was ready with an excuse, “The woman you gave me”. The reality is that being tempted is not sinning and even more, being tempted does not make us helpless. Adam and Eve had been prepared by God, He had spoken clearly, they could have walked away, even more, I believe they could have called on Him. Imagine how different everything would have been if Adam and Eve would have stopped and called on God, told Him all of the serpent’s accusations and allowed God to speak. You and I still have this option! When we are tempted, when we are doubting, when we are unsure, we don’t have to give up or give in, we can stop and ask, we can watch and pray, we can wait for God to make clear that which is now so unsure.

King Saul was waiting for Samuel to come and make a sacrifice to God during a time in which the Philistines had Israel surrounded. Samuel said that he would be there in seven days, but now he was late and Saul decided he had to do something and so he broke God’s law by offering a sacrifice that only priests were permitted to offer. It seems that as soon as he was finished with this sacrifice that Samuel arrived and questioned Saul about what he had done and why. Saul’s excuse was weak: the people were afraid and Samuel was not present, he had to do something. We have never been called to just do something, we are always called to trust God and to only do what He asks of us. This concept of proving ourselves to God, or making our own way is utterly misguided, it leads us to disobedience which always leads us to difficulty!

Finally, Jesus told a parable about a man that left “talents” for his servants to care for while he was away. He gave 5 “talents” to one servant; he invested and turned it into 10. He gave 2 “talents” to another servant; he invested it and turned it into 4. He gave one talent to a third servant; he was afraid to invest it and so he buried it so that he would not lose it and made no profit at all. When the man returned he praised the first two servants for being faithful but the third he chastised as being lazy. The servant reasoned that he had been afraid of losing the “talent” and so he did nothing with it. The man responded that at the very least he should have put the “talent” in the bank so that it would have earned interest. Fear causes paralysis; it keeps us from doing anything at all. Living in fear is almost like guaranteeing that we will live in disobedience. Many of us reason that even though we do little right at least we have not done anything wrong; James makes it clear that this thinking is far off by writing, “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”

I believe the thing that moved me the most this morning when Noah chose to stop and ask again what he was supposed to do is that it showed me a level of trust. Our relationship is growing to the point where he believes that he can trust me to guide him but he can also trust me to love him, not harm him. I believe that God longs for us to get to that very same place with Him. He is not sitting in heaven waiting to see if we will “get it right.” He is not disgusted that we didn’t hear or didn’t listen, He longs to be heard, but I believe just as much, He longs to be asked, to be trusted and to show His love. No matter what anyone says, we are not pawns in God’s hands, just being moved for the sake of His plan; we are children, dearly loved, patiently guided and perfectly cared for. God does not speak and then back away to see what we will do, He speaks and leads, He whispers and guides, He sings and carries. If you are struggling with where you are today, ask God, if you have already asked Him, ask again; He is not in heaven waiting to punish you if you fail, He is walking with you planning to give you a hope and a future. In Genesis 6 God told Noah that He was going to send a flood to destroy everyone and everything other than him and his family. God told him to build an ark and then God told him exactly how to build it, gave the measurements, the design even the kind of wood to use. At the end of the chapter the Bible says something great about Noah, “Noah did everything just as God commanded him.” I want to live in that kind of obedience, but I am learning that the only way I can be that obedient is if I am willing to trust God completely, willing to believe that He loves me eternally and willing to put aside my doubts, my fears, my expectations and my worries and simply believe that He knows the plans that He has for me. And when I am unsure of those plans, all I have to do is ask.

We have set aside every Tuesday as a day of prayer for our National leaders: President Obama, the Senate and the Congress. Each week we present a specific focus, birthed from Scripture, that we can agree and pray together.

Our National Leaders will walk as children of light in the Lord, in all goodness, righteousness and truth, finding out what is acceptable to the Lord, and will have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. Ephesians 5:8-11

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules the people groan. Proverbs 29:2

Therefore, I will exhort that first of all supplication, prayers, intercessions, and giving thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.  I Timothy 2:1-3

We have the great privilege of hosting Angela Bale, missionary in Durban, South Africa this weekend. We will be having an informal breakfast on Saturday at 10:00 am at 18 East Broad Street; an evening service on Saturday at 7:00 at St. Mary Street United Methodist Church, 483 St. Mary Street and then Angela will be speaking at our Sunday service at 10:00 AM. I believe that this weekend is a time in which God desires to impart His Spirit, His mission and His passion for the lost into our community, that God is going to call people, young and old, to missions service both here in Burlington and abroad and that He is going to move miraculously through the power of His Word and the ministry of His Spirit. Please come and join us for any or all of these gatherings, if you have any questions please call our church office at 609-531-0816. For more information Angela Bale’s bio is below:

Angela Bale and her son Ezra are Assemblies of God missionaries serving in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. They work in evangelism with unreached people groups- specifically Thai and Chinese Buddhists; Turkish, Egyptian, and Indian Muslims; Indian Hindus; and many European peoples involved in witchcraft and the New Age Movement. Angela has worked in leadership training youth and young adult leaders as they minister to at-risk teenagers in Durban’s Indian townships. Both Angela and Ezra believe in the power of the Gospel and are fervent evangelists. Ezra has led several of his friends to Christ. Angela has ministered in many local churches in preaching and teaching, training and discipleship at the Durban Teen Challenge, and as the Academic Dean of the newly revitalized Global University- kwaZulu Natal campus of the Bible College. Angela will be married in September to Shawn McKeon and the entire family is looking forward to returning to South Africa to continue ministering to those who need to hear about the life changing power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

There was a recording difficulty this morning. Please go forward approximately 5 minutes to find where the recording of the sermon began.

We all face disappointments in life. We have times in which our expectations are not met, in which the timing of God does not seem to line up with the timing we had hoped for or even when the current outcome simply does not seem fair. If anyone in Scripture could have complained about fairness or been disappointed with a situation it would have been Caleb. He was one of the spies sent to search out the Promised Land. He came back with a good report and urged Israel to go at once to take the land and to trust God to conquer their enemies and provide all that He had promised. Sadly, Caleb was overruled, the Israelites feared their enemies and rejected God’s promise of help and provision and decided they wanted to go back to Egypt. Because of their rebellion that generation was disciplined with 40 years of wandering in the wilderness before the next generation was allowed to go in and possess the Promised Land. Caleb and Joshua were rewarded for their faith and obedience, they would not die in the wilderness like the rest of the generation, but they would have to wait 40 years before they would go in and possess the land they were waiting for.

What we find is that Caleb did not complain about fairness, He did not rail at God about what he deserved and he did not allow disappointment to make him bitter or ungrateful. After 40 years they went in and took possession of the Promised Land, five years after they first entered the land Caleb went to Joshua and declared that he was ready to receive the land God had promised Him. He told Joshua that at 85 years old he was as strong as he had been at 40, that he was ready to fight and that he was ready to receive all God had promised. Many times we face situations like this with a different attitude. We get disappointed that things did not work out the way we had hoped and we are tempted to give up, to become negative, bitter or afraid. Disappointment desires to defeat us, it is an emotional tool of the enemy that attempts to remove our trust in God’s goodness and our hope in His love. I believe that Caleb teaches us three important characteristics that give us the ability to overcome disappointment and to walk in victory: courage, faith and an overcoming spirit. I pray that as you study the life of Caleb that you will choose courage, that you will ask for faith and that you will believe that within you is the same Spirit that overcame death through Christ Jesus. We don’t have to be disappointed, we can live in confidence and surety. God is faithful and all that He promises is sure to come to pass!

This Friday night, May 14th is our next Community Worship Night. We will be meeting at the Knights of Columbus, located at 366 East Broad Street at 7:00 for a time of corporate worship. Please come out and bring a friend with you to enjoy God’s presence and hear His heart for us and our community.

If Ruth taught us that following God through tragedy is all about love then Abraham teaches us that following through the unknown is all about trust! There will be many times in our lives in which we will be unsure of what comes next, the key to faith is learning that God is never in that position. He always knows our next test, next triumph, next obstacle and next opportunity. When we face situations that are unknown to us I believe it builds faith for us to remember that nothing has ever been unknown to God. Abraham’s life is often defined by the 25 years of waiting for a child. During those years we see many trials and many tests. There were moments in which Abraham thrived in faith, being sure of what God would accomplish and then there were other moments in which he gave in to fear and took matters into his own hands. In the end though, God’s perfect love cast out Abraham’s fear and His perfect plans all came to pass. My prayer today for each of us is that we will confess our fears and doubts to God and let Him build in us the trust that is necessary for us to see the fulfillment of all of His plans and promises for our lives. The waiting is not about punishment, it is for our healing and God’s glory. Strength can only carry us so far, but trust, trust gives us the ability to walk in God’s strength, knowing and believing that all of His promises are yes in the Amen!

Ten years ago today my life changed. At the time it was the most difficult thing I had ever experienced, it was the death of a dream, the end of a season and a rejection that I took much too personally. Generally I am pretty confident in God’s calling on my life, in His will for me and in the path that I believe He has led me on, but there are a couple of days each year in which I find myself with some questions, with some doubts, battling fear and hoping that the fruit of my life will be fruit that lasts. Today is one of those days. I am writing today in part for my own indulgence, for my own reflection but also that others of us that struggle with the past, with the outcome and with the paths that we have been put on, might know that we don’t struggle alone and that God does, indeed, work all things for good.

This past Sunday I heard myself declaring that no man and no circumstance could change God’s plans for our lives, that His plans were perfect and that only our disobedience could thwart His purposes for us. It is funny how God works, when I was speaking those words on Sunday today’s “anniversary” was not on my radar. Ten years ago I was in a place and a position that I was sure was going to last for many, many years. God had given me a love for and a vision for the community I was in, I was sure that I had figured out how He was going to fulfill that vision and use that love. I had mapped out His plan for my life and I was happy and content with the plan I had chosen for God. As you read this, and as I write it, I can see all of the things wrong with the picture being painted. Suddenly, without warning and I believed without provocation it was all turned upside down. Someone else made a decision for me that I was not willing to make for myself. The position I was comfortable in was no longer available to me, the place that I was sure would be my home for life was now telling me that I was no longer needed, that it was time to move on.  I was sure that this scenario had to be wrong, surely if I were to leave I should have been the one to make the decision, right?

During that time in my life I thought a lot about David. I read a lot about the season in his life in which he was sent away from Israel, had to hide, align with Philistines, lead a band of “mighty men” that were mostly of ill repute as far as the rest of the world was concerned. I thought about how hard it must have been for David, not simply being away from his home, from his family, from his friends but also being away from his calling. David had already been anointed the next king of Israel, he had been a great warrior for the nation and even a soothing musician for Saul, but then it was Saul himself that despised him, that was jealous of him and consumed with killing him. Now before I go on, my situation was not that of David and Saul, it was not of a wrong and a right, an anointed and an expiring, not at all. My experience and what I hope to share is not about people but providence; not how we respond to each other but how much we are willing to trust God. Where it did relate was in mind and in God’s kindness. I was sure of God’s calling for my life, I just had no idea of His timing, His way of fulfilling His purpose or even how much preparation was needed in my life before I could truly walk in what God was speaking to me and about me. The parallel is not in the characters of the story but rather in the comfort of the experience that God leads, even into seasons and places of preparation that are produced by what feels like rejection.

At different times over the past ten years I have tried to make sense of it all. There have been moments that I have blamed others, but quickly and obviously there has never been truth in those places. Is the will of God really dependent upon men? Is God’s purpose for my life really so fragile that the people around me have the power to make it come to pass or keep it from happening? No, that belief only creates bitterness and robs of faith. I know for sure that I am not in any place or out of any place because of anyone other than God’s plan and my level of obedience. David had to come to the place of faith where he understood and believed that he was not out of God’s will, meaning that God had set Saul up as king and had anointed David as the next king. It was not going to be David’s job to establish his kingdom or to remove Saul’s; it was all about God’s will, His purpose and His desire. David’s position in the wilderness was in God’s hands and of God’s doing, not Saul’s.

At other times I have looked closely at my reactions, my decisions in this episode. There is nothing more debilitating than the internal conversation that starts with, “I wish I would have”, or “I should have” or even “I wonder if it would be different if I had”. The reality is that there are things I wish I would have done differently, there are things that I was wrong about and have repented of to God and also to those that were affected by those wrongs, but do those things void God’s plan, do they remove His blessing and my calling? During his exile David made some decisions that can only make us shake our heads in retrospect. He fled to Gath of the Philistines, can you imagine what David’s reputation was in Gath? He had killed their greatest warrior when he was only a teenager, He had led Israel in victory over them and made the Philistines the subjects of Israel. He must have been their national enemy and here he was seeking refuge? When he requested food and help from a man named Nabal and was refused David gathered his men, drew swords and prepared to destroy Nabal, his family, his servants and everything he owned, all because he rudely refused to give them bread. Most obvious were his two encounters with Saul. Twice David had opportunity to kill Saul and forcibly take the kingdom that God had anointed him to receive. The first time David realized he could not harm Saul but to show Saul that he could have killed him David cut off the corner of his robe. The Bible says that “David’s heart troubled him”, he should have never touched Saul or his robe, he did not need to prove what he could have done, he needed to trust God to fulfill the calling and anointing that He had established. David even chose to partner with the Philistines to go to battle against Israel. Had it not been for the Philistines rejection of David he would have marched into battle against Israel.

None of us are perfect in our decision making, not me, not you and not even David. The beauty of God’s love for us is that He does not require perfection, He provides it. We are not able to stand in front of Him spotless, but He is “able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless”. There are consequences to poor decisions, but there is also redemption, forgiveness, character building and restoration. The Apostle Paul wrote, “He who began a good work in you is faithful to complete it”. The path that God set us on is the path that He leads us on; He is faithful and responsible for the destination as well as the preparation and the journey. God is leading us on a path of righteousness that leads to His glory and our fulfillment. The path takes many twists and many turns, it meets many people and is full of the trouble the He has overcome as well as the joy that is complete in Him. We cannot judge each moment by our understanding or by the feelings that the current circumstances may bring. I believe we must evaluate the path according to God’s presence, His character and His promises.

Let’s fast forward to the day in which David finally takes the throne as Israel’s king. He reaches the moment that God had spoken to him and over him years earlier. He receives the crown that the prophet Samuel had anointed him to receive and he has to look back over the path that brought him to the throne. As he looks around he may see mighty men, men of valor and trust that he would have never known if he had not been hiding in the cave of Adullam. He sees his wife Abigail that he would have never known if not for the encounter with Nabal and I am sure he sees himself differently. He is probably more humble having been through the difficulties of hiding and rejection; more confident in God’s providence seeing that in spite of all of the struggles he is found exactly where God said he would be and I would believe more faithful, knowing that everything he has in life is from the hand of God alone because if not for God he would have been destroyed long before.

Ten years have come and gone for me and as I look from here to there I see much more than I could have ever anticipated. There is still some hurt but no open wounds, there are still some questions but there are also a lot of answers. Like David, there are people that are in my life, people I love and trust, that I cannot imagine living without, that I would have never chosen if not for being put on a path I did not choose or understand. I have had experiences that have shaped me, changed me and molded me into the kind of man, husband, father, pastor and friend that I would have never experienced if I had been allowed to set my own course. There has been forgiveness, grace, mercy, growth, struggle, doubt, fear, triumph and most of all God’s love and presence. Ten years later I am grateful for the path that God chose for me, I am even grateful for those that He used to set me on this path. Again, there are still days when it hurts, still days when I wonder why, still days when I question if I am even where I should be, but the overwhelming truth is that God has been with me and that is all any of us will ever need. Today if you are on a path that you did not choose for yourself I want to encourage you to ask God if it is the path that He chose. Sometimes the way He moves us feels like rejection to our flesh but is actually God’s protection for our lives and our callings. Saul rejected David, but God led him and prepared him to become the king from whom the Christ would come. If you feel rejected, know this, God comes close to the humble, trust Him, embrace Him and believe that His providence is in control, He is leading you and guiding you and He will fulfill His great purpose for your life. As for me, I finally feel ready, ten years later I feel that I am finally ready to reap the harvest of due time. I believe that my heart and my mind are finally yielding to God’s love, His Word and His purpose and while there have been many times I have wanted to faint, many times I thought I was simply finished, I look around and see God’s goodness, His love and His purpose. Ten years ago today my life changed, thank you Jesus for changing my life!

On Saturday, May 15th, from 10:00 AM-2:00 PM, we will be opening a clothing closet at our ministry building at 18 East Broad Street, Burlington. The clothing closet will provide free clothing for all ages to those in the community that are in need. All of the clothing available is gently used but still in good condition and quality. If you or your friends and neighbors are in need of clothing please come and be blessed. If you have any questions you can call the church office at (609)531-0816.

We are all called to be followers of Christ, to trust Him to lead us and to willingly stay near Him on the path of righteousness that He has purposed for our lives. In Scripture we find many examples of followers, each with their own path and their own purpose. I believe that in the midst of their stories we can find strength, hope and encouragement for our own lives, to follow closely to Jesus and to stay on the path that has been chosen for us.

Through much loss Ruth persevered, endured and triumphed, becoming a part of the lineage of Christ. God’s hand in her life shows us many things about character, God’s and ours, but three themes that we will see today are: providence, love and redemption. No matter what we have experienced or are in the midst of right now, Ruth’s life teaches us that God is in control, that His love for us is infinite and that everything He does is for the purpose of redemption. I pray that Ruth’s life will give all of us the courage and strength to follow Jesus, even through tragedy.