NorthStar Church Blog

A few weeks ago my sister and her 3 kids came to visit. Together with my own, that made 5 kids of the “4 foot and under” variety playing in the basement.

They did their thing. Played with toys in ways I’m sure the manufacturers never intended. Took just about everything out of its designated spot and introduced it to various playthings from every other part of the room. “Chick town,” a miniature community which remains set up as part of my children’s ongoing play, was partially destroyed by toddler activity. If a Barbie-sized governor had happened to fly over the basement in a remote controlled helicopter, I’m sure we would have received emergency funding for disaster relief.

The kids tried to clean up, but their mess was just too big for them. It was beyond their capabilities. They couldn’t grasp the overall picture of what needed to be done to make it right again. So I stepped in. And as I went around cleaning up (2 days later…I kept the door shut avoiding the mess for that long afterward), I was grateful we have a God who does the same thing for us.

I love the NLT version of Psalm 139:5, “You go before me and follow me…” It reminds me that sometimes we make messes too big for us to handle. We can try to put broken pieces back together, repair relationships, make things right again–but often it’s beyond our capabilities. We need a Heavenly Father to go behind us and do what only He can—work it all together for good.

No mess is too overwhelming for God. Nothing is beyond His capability. Let Him go behind you and make goodness out of your devastation, neatness out of your chaos, and beauty out of your messes.

As we start out our series on the Lord’s Prayer, we were all challenged to write our own prayer using the Lord’s Prayer as a template. Here’s Pastor Roscoe’s:

Father of my family and those I love, Your name is magnificent and different from anything else I’ve known here on earth. Father, make things on earth as they are in heaven, and use me to do it and show me how to do it. Father, today I yield myself, my attitudes, and my will to Your will and plan. Provide my family with the necessities of life so that I will daily depend upon You and the extras we will share with others. Help me to remember that I can never forgive someone as much as You have forgiven me. Help me not to ruin Your name because of selfishness, pride, greed or lust. Keep the forces of evil at bay so we can make You famous in New York. You are ruler of the universe, the King of Heaven and Earth, and are worthy of a life of praise now and forever. Amen.

We’d love to post yours too! Give it a try and send it to kristen@northstarchurch.com!

We had a miracle take place in our home the other day– We got a letter in the mail from the tax department. I know what you’re thinking. “Since when do miracles come disguised in NYS Tax Department official envelopes?” It said we had made some mistakes in our calculations, and so the amount of our refund would be different than we had calculated . Even though it was in our favor, my husband (aka “tax man”) was offended that he could have made a mistake…so he went to investigate.
Our tax documents were in a filing cabinet, newly moved to the basement, in a little nook near the furnace. We don’t usually have a reason to go there, but praise God he did that day! While looking over the documents he smelled gas…and after closer examination found a gas leak in the main (don’t ask me where or what the gas is even for, let’s say he’s “tax man” AND “knows all the things about the house that his wife has no clue about man”). We called National Grid, they came over and found not one, but 2 gas leaks! A disaster had been avoided.
Unfortunately, National Grid can’t do much about another kind of leak that can cause a great deal of damage…Heart leaks. The Bible says, “guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23) Whatever is in our hearts leaks out. Everything. Be it good things or bad things…they bubble up like a spring and inevitably leak out. Sometimes in slow, steady leaks, and sometimes like a geyser.
Are you on the verge of a disaster? Does your heart need some fine tuning? Now is a good time to ask God to point out anything in your heart that doesn’t belong, and seek His help in replacing it with what does.

It was time for a dog.
We had our eyes set on “Chips.” He had been in the shelter for about a month, and had not yet been adopted. He growled at people, barked when they walked by his kennel, and scared kids. It was no wonder people didn’t even give him a second glance, especially without knowing his story.
Chips had lived with a family for 3 years. They lived in Florida. When his humans divorced, custody was given to the husband, who had to move in with his mother. But the mother said, “no way, no dogs.” So after a life of playing with tennis balls, catching frisbees, going for walks and sleeping in warm beds, Chips was surrendered to a shelter. When we heard his story, it made sense that he was not happy being locked up with a hard floor to sleep on and nowhere to expend his abundant energy. People had let him down. He was probably confused…and angry. To us, his story explained a lot.
When we saw Chips we saw past his behavior at the shelter. We saw a dog that needed a new hope. He was more than eager to come home with us, and in the 3 days that he has been with us he is already a far cry from what he was at the shelter. He plays with our kids. He snuggles up next to us. He’s barked only twice. And we’ve given him a new name for his new life with us.
Like Chips, all of us have a story. Many stories, in fact. We have stories that might explain some of the habits we have, or things we like to do. We have stories that might explain why we live where we live, work where we work and worship where we worship. We also have a story of where we have been, but we, too, have a Loving Father who sees past our faults and longs to adopt us, bring us into His family, and give us a new hope. Eagerly go with Him! Your new story can start now!
“…And the Lord will give you a new name….for the Lord delights in you and will claim you as his own.” -Isaiah 62:2,4

Many years ago, author Stephen Covey created an illustration of “emotional bank accounts” to describe the interactions that affect relationships. We make deposits in others’ accounts when we do things like sincerely forgive, keep commitments, attend to little things, and show personal integrity. In the same way, we make withdrawals whenever we break that person’s trust, and intentionally or unintentionally hurt them.

Just like we have emotional bank accounts with people, we have a spiritual bank account with God. And little by little, over time, we all get “in the red.” We sin, we fall short of God’s standard, we mess up our records.

But on Easter, Jesus made a deposit into our accounts. He paid it all, He laid down the biggest payment the world has ever seen. And he didn’t even ask for us to pay it back. All He asks is for us to admit we messed up, ask Him to show us the way from now on, and to let others know that their accounts have been reconciled too.

Are you still in the red? Are you trying to clear your debt by working as if it all depends on you? You won’t see it on a commercial, but you can come to church this Easter and hear how to be forgiven of it once and for all.

Because of Easter, we can all be back in the black.

Did you ever stop to think about how the ministry of Jesus and His disciples continued? How did it happen? How were they able to do it financially full time for 3 years? We remember from the gospel that Judas was the treasurer but where did the resources come from? Did they sell Jesus memorabilia? I mean they did a lot of traveling, teaching, miracles, etc, but I never really thought about it much. I guess maybe I just thought it “appeared” or that maybe Jesus turned water into wine every night. In this passage, Luke gives us a glimpse of how the ministry continued. The ministry continued because of the support of those who had been blessed by the ministry. Not that these women and men were trying to pay back a debt, but instead they wanted to see this good thing continue. They wanted others to be reached with the same message that had changed them.

Today our giving carries on that act of thankfulness and gratitude. Our lives have been changed by the message of Jesus, specifically here at NorthStar, and we want to see the message of Jesus continue at our church so that others may be changed as we have been.

As you give, thank God for the changes He has brought about in you and your family, and pray for those in whom God still wants to work. When you give you are creating a partnership with God to change lives here in our community through our church!

A lot of people ask why our church isn’t named after a saint, like Saint Peter or Saint Joseph, or why aren’t we named after a heavenly virtue like love, fellowship, grace, or faith?

We have found that people are looking for a stable guiding North Star in their lives. We believe that light is Jesus Christ and we want to point people in that direction, and we also hope that our church can that kind of light in the community.

Our logo is made up of three triangles, each one representing a person of the Trinity..the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The swirl in the middle comes from Acts 17:28 which says, “For in him we live and move and have our being.”

I often don’t wear my helmet. I know what you’re thinking…that’s dangerous! And you’re right. Not wearing my helmet is downright reckless!

Ephesians 6:17 tells us to put on the helmet of salvation every day. And do you know what happens when I forget? My mind turns into a demolition zone by the wrecking ball of my unhealthy thoughts. The ball comes swinging in saying things like, “You really screwed up today!” and “The jig is up! Now everyone’s going to know who you really are!”

If we base our self-worth on what we think about ourselves..or on our achievements, possessions, talents, love relationships, status, or “how we did that day”, we’re as doomed as the dilapidated building inches away from the wrecking ball. Identity based on anything but who we are in Christ is inherently unstable! The minute anything goes wrong we fall apart and we’re filled with thoughts of worthlessness, paranoia, fear, and anguish.

Without the helmet, we’re unprotected. Psalm 119:50 says this: “Your promise revives me;
it comforts me in all my troubles” (NLT)…As believers we have the promise of salvation. Why? Because God loves us so much! We don’t have to DO anything to be loved. Put on your helmet of salvation and put your mind at rest in God’s great love for you!

Do you know your mission?

As you know, NorthStar’s mission is: “To help people exchange ordinary living for extraordinary life through the transforming power of Jesus Christ.”

And NorthStar’s Children’s Ministry mission is: “To make church the best hour of a child’s week”

But what about your own mission? We all need goals or we end up unfocused, doing too much (or too little!), and with no direction. The Bible says we are to become like Christ…that is our goal. But it’s not the kind of goal we can just check off of a “to do” list at the end of 2010! If you (like me!) feel like you have a long way to go to even bear the slightest resemblance to Him, remember you have to start somewhere. Serving in a ministry is a big step. Spend time with God, get to know Christ and you’ll have a much better idea what you’re striving for. Baby steps add up!

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin.” Zechariah 4:10

I haven’t written it down yet, but I’m mentally working on my Christmas list. This year, it’s not going to be an itemized inventory of all the things I need to buy to make our holiday perfect and meaningful, but instead a list of all the things I don’t need to buy so that I can make this Christmas truly meaningful to others. (Candles come to mind…Our house can smell like a regular Christmas factory after I’ve been candle shopping.)
This season, NorthStar is challenging its members to take the focus of Christmas off of creating warm and fuzzy holiday moments for ourselves, and instead focus on the things that break God’s heart. Things like poverty. Orphans. Disease. When you look at issues like that, things like a new tree topper to replace the one that broke awhile back, Zhu Zhu Pets (if you don’t know what they are, Google them), and even evergreen-scented candles just don’t mean as much. Money saved on things that seemed so necessary for a joyful Christmas can instead be used for things that truly are necessary for the lives of others.
I’ve learned through the years that we don’t need as much as we think we need to have a Merry Christmas. Every now and then (ok, quite frequently) I don’t send cards. I stress about the perfect picture, I end up sending way too many and before you know it a hundred dollars is spent on something that will be thrown away. And you know what? Christmas goes on, I haven’t been disowned, and I still have friends. A few years ago we made another big change in our Christmas traditions. After a morning of feasting on cinnamon rolls and all of the other goodies that practically decorate the house on Christmas morning, we would have a big Christmas dinner…usually turkey, stuffing, pretty much a repeat Thanksgiving but with no parade. A few years ago it dawned on us that we didn’t need that big Christmas dinner. For one, people are usually full before they even sit down. For two, somebody always has to run around like a Luke 10 Martha . And then there are the dishes.
So now, we put a big pot of clam chowder on the stove, a few appetizers strategically located out of the dog’s reach, and we help ourselves when we want it. We spend our time playing games and enjoying the company of family.
In the end, our bellies and our wallets thank us. And this Christmas, although we may never be personally thanked, we know someone else that Christ died for is thanking us too.