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
Contact Us at: 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
I'd love to hear from you!
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