New Covenant Fellowship - Union County Baptist 4 Valley Road, Clark New Jersey
Exit 135 off the Garden State Parkway

Thank you for coming by to visit. I pray you will return often; and whenever you have an opportunity please come by and join us. We meet Sundays 8:30-9:30 am; and Tuesday nights 7:00- 9:00pm

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revmiltonb@gmail.com


At Least, “Try”
Esther 4:13-16
Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the kings house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy fathers house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Then Esther bade them return Mordecai this answer, go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

Okay, it's June, time for all weight challenged individuals to get out there and start working some of those pounds off - Right? Well at least that was my plan. I decided to start my workout in the park playing some basketball. Basketball is something that I know well and something I feel good about doing. So yesterday, I got out there in the middle of the afternoon with the sun blazing and my wife warning ‘it’s too hot out there for that. But sun or not, I was determined to do it. If I perished, I perished. (Ok, a bit over the top I know!) But I did run around in the heat and put up dozens of shots. Some went in, many did not; but I noticed I was undeterred by the misses and always encouraged by every shot that went in. Thats when it occurred to me that true victory is not in the results; true victory is in the trying!

As we draw our discussions on faith to a close it dawned on me to ask, “What does faith require of me?” Over the last 5 months we’ve looked at faith from a variety of angles, but for this final segment of this study we are challenged to look inward. What does faith demand of us? And it was while playing ball that I concluded that at the very least, faith demands we try our very best. Think about it; not one basket was made or missed without effort. I learned something with every miss and validated something every time I scored. Like basketball, faith takes effort. You can’t simply activate faith by standing on the sidelines. You must get in the game, take a chance, relax, release and…swish…you will eventually score.

Let’s look at the word of God. Ive long been intrigued by the story of Esther. Its a short, but great book that demands reading. It demonstrates in vivid detail the power of God to protect and intervene on behalf of his people. Though the Jews were scheduled to be annihilated, God worked it out so they were not only delivered, but promoted and blessed. Not only that, but their mortal enemy Haman (who planned the attacks) and his 10 sons were hanged on the very gallows that they built to hang God’s man Mordecai.

Within this delightful deliverance story is an ancillary theme that I’d like us to consider this morning. This theme is about the “power of trying.” When you review the book of Esther you find that the victory we celebrate is the direct result of the consistent and persistent efforts of Mordecai and Esther. It was their righteous living and unyielding hope that caused them to forge forward during seemingly mundane and uneventful times that yielded them a great harvest in the day of necessity. They both lived with impeccable character everyday; so it was not strange that their characteristics took center stage when trials and tribulation came. Haman and his crew lived a life of hatred, trickery and deception. When their day of reckoning came, they were woefully unprepared and suffered a terrible fate because of their lack of character preparation.

Now back to my workout revelation. There is no doubt that I am not the ideal candidate for your average basketball team. Im old, overweight, slower than I use to be, out of shape, etc (you get the picture). However, only I can count myself out of the game. No matter what anyone thinks about my abilities (or lack thereof), only I have the power to discount myself from participation. Only when I say I cant do it anymore do those words really mean anything. Its only when I give up and quit that the game is officially over. But as long as Im willing to try, I can be effective; and I can still win.

Dear Children of God, too many of us have discounted ourselves from effective service unto the Lord for a variety of reasons. Chief among them is status, age, finances, carnal thoughts and a litany of other excuses. The truth is we are still able to be as effective as we ever were with the help of God. Remember, the battle was never ours in the first place. Even when we were young, strong and vibrant, God was still doing all the work. Had Ruth just sat around all would have been lost. But God had placed and prepared her for such a time as this! And he still has work for us to do if we just let him use us the way he wants to. No I can’t play as long as I use to; but I can still get out there. No, Im not as fast as I use to be, but Im much smarter and may not need to use the same tactics to reap similar results. The point is this: don’t quit or discount yourself. Use every bit of your strength, character and effort. And although it may look futile, at least TRY!!!!!

God Bless

Milton B. Hobbs
Pastor
New Covenant Fellowship

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