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Message from the Preacher
April 4, 2011
Hello All,
The church is described in the Bible as "God's
household" and the "pillar and foundation of truth" in 1 Timothy 3:15.
What an honor (and responsibility) given to us by God to be able to be
all of those things!
As a "household", we at Waterfront Christian
Community are delighted to welcome you as part of our family. When you
think of the word family, in this world today, often we think of
dysfunctional families. In fact, many of us
came from such a family. But as the church, God has called us to be a
greater and more exciting kind of a family! A true family, especially a
church family, should be one of love for one another, trust, open and
honest communication, fun, laughter, instruction, learning, sharing with
and caring about one another, praying for one another, growing and
learning together, overcoming obstacles and struggles together, and
always, but always keeping the relationships in tact. At Waterfront, we
delight in the fact that Jesus is the Head of our family and that all
the things mentioned just now as part of a functional family are
happening at WCC and growing! Our common bond is the love of Christ in
us and we take no human credit for what God is creating in His household
at WCC. It is truly a "God thing"! We also have five committed, loving,
caring, and Godly elders to oversee the inner workings of the household
of God to ensure that it stays that way! Our family
wants to share the love and blessings with others who don't know this
kind of love yet, and so we welcome you to visit with us and "feel the
love" and share in the blessings of such a family!
As the "pillar
and foundation of truth", we also are extremely committed to ensuring
that God's truth is the only truth acceptable in His household. We find
this truth to be in his inspired Word, the Bible, and not in the
opinions of man or the traditions and rituals in many churches. We
preach and teach only what the Bible has recorded as to how the family
should function and how we as individuals can be overcomers and be
productive, purpose filled, joyous and full of peace in this often crazy
world. We build our lives on this truth as our pillar and foundation.
The pillar helps to hold up the structure and the foundation of Jesus
Christ is who we build upon. No greater foundation can be laid than
Jesus Christ our Lord. As a church, it is our responsibility
before God to teach people the proper way to build. Again, the only
acceptable truth is God's truth and this is what we teach at WCC. God
has been pleased with our efforts over the years and this is evidenced
in the changed lives, the victories and blessings He has provided, the
growth and baptisms we have had recently, and the great plans we have
for the future together.
If you want to be part of such a loving
family who holds to God's truth so devotedly, we invite you to come
Sunday mornings at 10:00 and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 for Bible study.
On Sunday, we have Junior Church for four years old and up, and nursery
for the little ones. If you want to make your family part of our
family, we don't think you will be disappointed!
Love in Christ,
George
Hello Everyone,
In just the last month alone, this question has come to me from three different people, one even from another country. This may be an indication that people are having doubts and struggles on this matter of suffering. The question is similar each time-- "Why is there so much suffering in this world, from babies with defects, to incurable diseases, to natural disasters if God is so loving and great?" And then the second question that naturally follows is "Why doesn't God do something about this?"
The best way to answer these questions, I believe, is to remind people that when God created everything, including man, it was in perfect condition. God said when He was all finished that "it was very good" (Genesis 1:31). We must remember now, however, that we live in a fallen world, no longer in this original perfect state. When Adam and Eve sinned, not only did man's nature fall from the perfection which God created and had intended, but also creation itself fell from perfection (Romans 8:18-27). Not only do we have a fallen, sinful nature that is inclined towards sin, but now we live in a fallen world where bad things happen to all people, even good people. The winds, for example, have fallen from perfection. Now we have tornadoes and hurricanes that kill innocent people. Volcanoes and earthquakes are a symptom that the earth is violently shaking in its fallen state and tsunamis, lava flows, falling buildings and destruction of many kinds result killing thousands and tens of thousands of people. Plane parts fail and jets fall from the sky and many people, including good people, get killed. In a perfect world, man could build perfect machinery that would never wear out. Germs fell from perfection. Now we get cancers and other diseases that were never intended by God. Genes fell and so we have birth defects in little babies. We see the whole creation "groaning" (according to Romans 8:22) and sometimes the 'pain' of creation causes us great pain and makes us groan. None of this is God's fault, for remember, God created a perfect world and perfect people to live in it. The blame can be traced all the way back to Adam and Even, the first parents and the choice which they made to disobey God which in turn brought sin into the world causing everything to fall from its original perfection and therefore affected us all in a negative way for thousands of years since. God created a perfect world. Man has messed it up. The end result is that we all suffer in many ways that mankind should never have had to suffer.
Why doesn't God do something about this? He has-- in a marvelous way!!! When God sent Jesus to take our sin to the cross and give us His righteousness, He defeated sin. Then when God raised Jesus from the dead, He defeated death. So the two worst enemies of man, sin and death, which came into the world through Adam and Eve, have been removed by Jesus. So even though bad things happen to all people, good and bad in a fallen world, at least those in Christ have the opportunity to leave this world some day and go to heaven, a perfect place where there will be no more sin or pain or crying or death. So we travel though this world dealing with whatever comes our way with God's help, not blaming God, but thanking God that He will get us victoriously through whatever comes. Even sickness and death have ultimately been defeated because just as God raised Jesus from the dead, so He will raise all those who are in Christ. In the meantime, we wait, pray, trust, persevere, hope, grow, stand firm, and allow God to transform us from within so that our fallen state is being prepared for glory through "Christ in us", the "hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).
If you have comments or follow up questions on this subject, please feel free to e-mail me. I gave just a brief history of suffering. There is much more that could be said on the subject. I will be happy to answer any of your additional questions.
Hope this helps in some way. Love to all,
George
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Another Message from the Preacher:
Jesus Christ is alive and wants to live among us and in us! Since this is true, then our Christianity should also be alive and exciting. As we strive to know Christ better and become more and more transformed into His likeness as the Scriptures teach, then our church meetings become more alive and exciting as well. It's nothing manufactured by man; rather it's the natural fruit of the Word of God growing in us that makes life (and therefore church) genuine and meaningful. If you're looking for a body of believers who only want to know the truth about Christ and live it in a genuine and sincere way, then come join with us every Sunday and grow with us in Him. The Lord and I cordially invite and welcome you to Waterfront Christian Community!
George Gregory
Preacher – Waterfront Christian Community Church
